Second Time

Chapter 81 - First Battle

The Rainbow Mist Peak disciples arrived at the location Shao Yue had given them, a mountain pass that separated some mortal cities from the advance of the devil's path army. In total, they would be defending around seven million mortals and some low-level sects.

Other Immortal Steel Sect disciples were already stationed on the pass, around six hundred of them. They were evenly split between Nascent Soul and Spiritual Manifestation cultivators. The women bolstered their strength greatly.

Most of the inner disciples got to work setting up a camp they could stay in. Tents started popping up on one of the mountains, a fair distance away from the other sect disciples for privacy reasons. Cai Fei set up arrays to further protect them.

The twins headed to the main camp to seek out the other alchemists. Peng Fuyi and Zhu Jiao went with them to carry out their roles. Lin Xifeng used her earth qi to reshape the surroundings, making the pass easier to defend. Xiao Shi'er found where the other sect disciples were training and gave them advice on how to improve their swordplay.

After everyone had gotten settled in, the direct disciples gathered in their camp's main tent. They sat around a round table. With Shao Yue not present, everyone turned to Cai Fei.

"I'll leave the strategizing to Jiao," Cai Fei said. She had no desire to be a leader.

Zhu Jiao cleared her throat. "According to the scouting reports, there are two groups of devil's path cultivators in the vicinity. One has a size of around five hundred people, led by one Heavenly Realm cultivator. The other is eight hundred, led by two. We can expect them to attack together."

"Thirteen hundred?" Peng Fuyi frowned. "We're outnumbered by almost double. Didn't Shao Yue say she wouldn't send us anywhere too dangerous?"

"Not too dangerous," Cai Fei corrected. "But, a little danger is fine to her. We won't be able to grow if it's too easy."

Zhu Jiao nodded. "Anyway, the most important thing is to kill the three Heavenly Realm cultivators. There are nine of us here. As long as we can cut off their escape route, it won't be a difficult task, especially with the sword formation. Not only will it be a notable loss to their forces, the morale of the lesser cultivators will plummet and allow us to finish the rest of the battle easily."

Chen Chunhua asked, "Well, how do we stop them from escaping?"

"It would be easier if Liling was here," Peng Fuyi thought aloud. "She has that earth movement skill."

"We'll have to rely on deception and Fei," Zhu Jiao answered. "Our advantage is that they don't know our composition. First, we need to lure them closer. To start, our disciples will focus on ranged attacks, waiting for the line of battle to come closer to the camp. Once the Heavenly Realm cultivators make their move, we'll jump out and try to focus one down as quickly as possible before they clue into what's going on. Fei will use her stealth abilities to wait behind enemy lines. If they try to flee, she will assassinate one of them. Ideally we get all three, but two is also a big victory."

"If they don't split up, I can probably take both," Cai Fei said. "If they do split up, hm, I'll go after the one that heads east. If the situation allows, you can go after the other."

"Right. If the battle looks shaky, we'll have to help out immediately and won't have time to chase down the third."

"Sounds boring," Xiao Shi'er complained.

"Don't worry, I haven't finished," Zhu Jiao consoled her. "Fei will head behind enemy lines. Shi'er will go to the front lines from the start. Without showing a Heavenly Realm expert of our own, the enemies might not bring out theirs. Once they do show up, Shi'er will retreat to where the seven of us are hiding and we'll enact the plan as previously stated. Any questions?"