Beastmaster of the Ages

"This is your first warning. If you try anything again, you'll be feeling that for a whole day. Stop being so stubborn. I know you guys full well. You're all crooks who'll commit any and all atrocities without remorse," Tianming said.

"Aaaack!" The Snowsun Quadspecters breathed heavily as they looked at each other, eyes filled with despair. But like Yun Tianque, they still didn't choose death even after all this.

"Take some time to get your emotions in order. After that, you'll say only what I tell you to say."

"Yes…." The four of them shed tears of humiliation as they lowered their heads. People like them had no principles, which made them easy pawns to manipulate.

……

A lot of time had passed since the specters had entered the Myriadfold Skycloud Formation, yet nothing seemed to have changed. The Tumulus Pill God had already informed Li Wushuang of Yun Tianque's betrayal, and she immediately sent reinforcements, tasking them with the takeover of the formation. The newcomers would arrive soon.

The Tumulus Pill God had wanted to advise Li Wushuang to have the two hundred plus thousand people retreat in advance to the Supracloud Sanctuary so they would still be able to hide inside the sect once the specters succeeded, but Li Wushuang still didn't want to retreat. She was constantly being updated on the army's movements, and believed that they would still make it.

"If the Snowsun Quadspecters take too long…. I hope Lady Wushuang will temporarily give up on the saplings." Though, it was all too clear to him that she didn't want to leave the saplings at all, especially when they could change at any time without notice. Yun Tianque's betrayal was already aggravating enough for her, and the Tumulus Pill God was waiting for the reinforcements to arrive before they entered the formation for an assault.

Right then, Fu Han, one of the specters, came out of the formation. He seemed really excited to see the old wargodean. "Tumulus!"

"Why're you so badly injured?" he asked, his eyes twitching with surprise.

"It couldn't be helped. Yun Tianque's rather capable and it took quite a lot of effort for the four of us to deal with him."

"And?"

"That fool was far too confident in his formation and didn't know that my brothers and I were formation gurus. Naturally, we undermined the formation and had his life in our hands. We forced him to give us the formation core. My brothers have the core in hand, so please inform Lady Wushuang that we're ready!"

"Are you serious?" The Tumulus Pill God was utterly elated. Yun Tianque's betrayal had made him really anxious, so much so that he didn't think the specters would actually come through. Finally, his wargodeans could retreat.

"Of course! Why would I joke about this? Lady Wushuang would have our heads if we messed around."

"You have a point. I'll bring the good word to her. I'm sure she'll greatly reward the four of you for rendering such a service to her."

"Solving her worries is the mission of us brothers. By the way… she's waiting for the troops of the Supracloud Sanctuary to take over the sapling sites, right? I'll have Yun Tianque send them over immediately. His life is ours to do with as we please, so that shouldn't be a problem," Fu Han said.

"Alright. Make sure to not let him out of your hands! There's something more urgent: immediately familiarize yourself with the formation core and open the formation."

"No problem." The moment Fu Han said that, the mist before them started dissipating; the formation seemed to be receding. "The formation has been undone. I believe they've succeeded. Don't worry and have them retreat right now!"

"Alright, I'll leave this place to you." Unsurprisingly, the Tumulus Pill God's main concern was the hundred thousand plus wargodeans that had accompanied him. They were still in Li Wushuang's hands, so he felt really unnerved about leaving them to come to the Supracloud Sanctuary. Since the specters had taken Yun Tianque hostage, they should have a firm grasp on the situation here, so he took his leave. "Remember to have Yun Tianque send men! Lady Wushuang won't budge an inch if the sapling sites aren't taken over."

"Okay!"

Either way, the Supracloud Sanctuary was now under control. The Tumulus Pill God knew that Li Wushuang was going to wait until the very last moment. Even if the cannon fodder didn't come to take over the sapling sites, she would still retreat at the critical moment.

Tianming, however, had given them a false impression that the specters had succeeded with the intent of making Li Wushuang let her guard down. Before this, she had already been considering the retreat even if it meant leaving the sapling sites unattended, but that would mean more than two hundred thousand elites would come to the sect's doorstep. Not even their formation would be able to withstand an assault of that scale. But the good news should prompt her to start waiting for the cannon fodder once more, delaying her retreat. The longer she was willing to wait, the better things would be for Tianming.

……

Seeing the Tumulus Pill God return to Aix Lake, Li Wushuang asked, "Why'd you come back here?"

"Good news, Lady Wushuang." He had returned because he wanted to lead the wargodeans to retreat so that they wouldn't end up as fodder. They had an easier time following his orders, after all.

"Good news? I wanted you to help the specters drag the people of the Supracloud Sanctuary out to take over the sapling sites. That's our first priority. Did you rush all the way back here because you're worried I'll send your wargodeans to their deaths?"

Li Wushuang's temper had been really unstable ever since she heard of the betrayal. Even if the specters succeeded, her rage wouldn't be quenched. She was starting to feel that things were falling out of her control more and more.

"Lady Wushuang, I simply believe that the Snowsun Quadsaints are more than capable enough to handle it. They already managed to deal with Yun Tianque," he said, trying his best to excuse himself. There was already a rift between the two of them; he was starting to get more and more frustrated because of her. Not only did she treat those of the Supracloud Sanctuary as less than human, she was just as indifferent to the loss of lives of the wargodeans and Blueblood Starocean cultivators. Even now, she was refusing to retreat, still trying to obtain the perfect outcome by making sure the sapling sites weren't lost. She simply didn't care about what her actions would cost.

Phew! The specters truly did save us wargodeans… but that only caused Lady Wushuang to start waiting for the arrival of the fodder once more, he lamented. There was nothing he could do. The alliance's army had just arrived on the continent, after all, and Li Wushuang still had time to wait for the sites to be secured.

Li Wushuang sternly looked at him and said, "Quick, bring more people back to the Supracloud Sanctuary to speed up the process. Have as many Supracloud Sanctuary cultivators come as possible. Make sure to take anyone with any authority there hostage."

"Understood!" There was nothing he could do but nod. He gave his wargodeans one last look and sighed inwardly before going off on his latest errand.

……

Strong winds caused the branches and leaves of the divine tree to rustle nonstop. Amidst the branches were roughly seventy thousand people. They all looked at a white-haired swordsman, awaiting his orders. The man was none other than the Wind Swordlord.

He received a transmission stone, read the message, and felt his killing intent surge. "Yun Tianque announced that the Supracloud Sanctuary is cutting ties with the celestial orderians after hearing about the alliance. He's sealed up the Myriadworld Skycloud Formation! That way, if the two hundred thousand plus enemies don't leave the continent, they'll have no escape! Li Wushuang, your day of reckoning has come…."