This chapter has been brought to you by me, and WanderingGummiOfDoom.
Chapter Five Hundred and Sixty One – The Beginning of War
"This is the intelligence we have gathered, we have identified jies with chaos rifts." Xie Shan's face was tired but his eyes were unusually bright. "There are three jie in total!"
"East Flow Jie, Middle Granary Jie and Cloud Gate Jie."
The enormous mirage showed a gigantic jie map.
Gongsun Cha listened closely, fearful he would miss a detail. Ma Fan, Wei Ran, and the others stood in ordered ranks.
"There hasn't been any action at East Flow Jie's chaos rift. Cloud Gate Jie's chaos rift leads to the yao territories, and Earth Universe Sect in Cloud Gate Jie is very powerful and possess six battalions. They control almost half of Cloud Gate Jie." Xie Shan's intelligence was very detailed as he steamed on. "Our best target is Middle Granary Jie. It isn't just the closest to us, its largest local sect was defeated. They are in chaos. It has been confirmed that the attacks are a mo battalion. It is definitely the mo territories behind the chaos rift. Because there have not been any mo hostages, we are unsure at the moment which jie it is."
"As long as it leads to the mo territories, it is valuable to us." Gongsun Cha caused everyone to sit up in alertness.
He stood up and slowly scanned the crowd. Everyone sat up straight.
"Everyone should know what is going on with Shixiong." Gongsun Cha's tone was very calm but his ruffled bangs could not stop the light of his eyes.
"Our goal is very simple, reinforce Shixiong! But if we enter any mo jie, we will create an endless struggle with the surrounding mo territories."
"But we must reach into the mo territories so we can reinforce Shixiong." Gongsun Cha had clearly thought this through. His rationale was clear. "We can create our own mo battalion using Guard Camp and Shi Dong. These mo battalions can enter the mo territories and then reinforce Shixiong. We can even turn Cloud Sea Jie into a place where yao, mo and xiuzhe can coexist. This is hard, but not impossible.
Everyone showed thoughtful expressions. After a few moments of thought, they nodded slightly and fighting spirit started to burn in their eyes.
Lil' Miss smiled slightly. The bashful smile of the neighbor's boy appeared. The eyes behind the bangs grew even brighter. His calm tone was filled with an indescribable insanity. "But before this, we need to take over the chaos rift and the territory that can lead into the mo territories! We need more battalions! We need more resources! We need to become stronger!"
Everyone's eyes flashed crazily. They felt as though their blood was burning.
"Are you ready?"
The demonic slight smile and the furious fighting spirit crossed like light and dark on Gongsun Cha's raised face.
"Yes!" Everyone stood up and shouted together.
Gongsun Cha walked next to Middle Granary Jie on the mirage. He turned around, his bashful smile filled with cold fighting spirit.
"The war has begun!"
———
Shi Dong's progress in Little Savage Jie was extremely quick. Right now, he had taken over all of Little Savage Jie. In the past, he had not been trusted but he had fame in Little Savage Jie. Everyone knew that Shi Dong was a very strong battle general.
So when Shi Dong suddenly returned to fight, other than his former leader that called for his head, no other power said anything. In the mo territories, events like this happened everyday. For those noble families, there were things like glory and honor; but for these little factions, the strongest was king. Whomever had the biggest fist was the leader.
Shi Dong faced off against his former boss. Before he could attack, the boss' subordinates mutinied. Everyone knew that Shi Dong had not to been fully trusted but the boss, but everyone also knew how strong Shi Dong was. Being former allies they also knew better than other people. To stay alive, they directly surrendered.
After the great victory, Shi Dong dissolved the local battalions according to Lil' Miss' orders and selected the elite ones to replenish Grey Camp,
In a short period of time, Grey Camp had expanded to three times its former size yet he had only picked the top quality mo troops.
However, he also knew that it would take a certain amount of time for this reformed Grey Camp to be battle-ready.
But with [Great Day Hardship Guard] he had enough confidence he could make Grey Camp into a top-rank battalion!
However, he clearly underestimated Turtle Island's strength.
He received Lil' Miss' orders for Grey Camp to send members in a rotation to go to Turtle Island and undergo special training.
Special training?
He was slightly puzzled. What kind of training was special training?
However, these were orders and he knew what his duties were, instantly arranging it.
———
Zuo Mo did not know that there were countless eyes watching their journey.
The name of Butcher Guard Camp intimidated small forces and attracted the attention of larger forces. Though they were not willing to provoke Guard Camp, it did not stop them from secretly investigating them.
There had clearly been a fierce battle here. The market's ruins and the burnt black soil all pointed to this.
Everyone's nerves were tight. They were not worried about encountering bandits, but were very worried about encountering large battalions, especially xiuzhe battalions.
It was a dangerous matter for Shou Ping's group to fight against xiuzhe, enemies they were unfamiliar with.
Zuo Mo didn't want to encounter them either because his identity might be exposed. Even though Guard Camp didn't appear any different than mo after Wei's teachings, but those large sects were immeasurable in skill. If he was exposed, it definitely would not be fun.
Those people that exterminated mo would exterminate them as well.
Celestial Planet Guard and Guard Camp carefully kept their guard up. From the way they did this, it was possible to see the difference between the two groups. Every person in Celestial Planet Guard seemed to be anxious fearing they would face great enemies as they moved carefully. Everyone in Guard Camp had calm expressions. Only the light that occasionally flashed through their eyes exposed their wariness.
The skill could be instantly judged!
Shou Ping shook his head inside, and was deeply impacted. He quickly threw all stray throughout to the back of his mind. Everything in front of him was unusual.
A black shadow suddenly flashed by and entered the ranks of Guard Camp.
So fast!
Shou Ping was shocked. The speed of this scout surpassed all people in Celestial Planet Guard.
———
"There are two groups fighting up head, both mo, the fighting is fierce." A Wen reported the situation that was occurring up ahead.
Zuo Mo's brow creased. This path was one they had to travel, they could not go around it.
"Let's go see."
———
The troop moved silently and the intense battlefield quickly appeared in front of them.
The sky was in chaotic. A small group of mo were surrounded by numerous mo that had dark green wings on their backs. These dark green mo were grouped together like packs of wolves that scattered and gathered, covering the sky, and howling.
"They are Green Yaksha!" Wei reminded Zuo Mo. "They are extremely fast and not weak offensively, innately cold-blooded and desirous of slaughter. They are most skilled in attrition battles, you have to be careful."
"What weaknesses do they have?" Zuo Mo asked. If Lil' Miss was here, he definitely would not ask this question. Lil' Miss seemed to know all the yaomo.
"They like to fight, are easily angered, and their tempers are not well-regulated." Wei said rapidly, "However, you need to be careful, while normal combat mo are not disciplined, it is easy for battle generals to come out of green yaksha. Those above silver are pretty good, and actually, snake mo also easily produces battle generals."
Zuo Mo's gaze quickly landed on a mo wearing a bright red cape on the battlefield. This person was well-built and extremely brave. He stood with empty hands at the front of the formation. Every time he attacked, it was a ball of fire. If the green yaksha that charged were not careful, they would be burnt into ash at a visible rate.
The fatalities of the defending battalion was high. The reason they had not been defeated yet was mostly due to this large mo.
"Daren, they seem to be protecting someone," Ye Ling said in a low voice. He was experienced and instantly detected it.
Zuo Mo made a sound. He had also noticed this. There were only three hundred people left in this battalion but they were still resisting and protecting an old person.
The fatality rate of the green yaksha was also high but they were in a frenzy, wave after wave battering against the other's battle formation.
With every wave numerous corpses would drop from the sky, but fatalities would also occur in the other's battle formation.
Zuo Mo's expression changed. One side did not care about fatalities, the other side did not retreat a step. The battle was intense and fierce. He had heard Wei and Pu Yao say before that the mo were skilled in battle and that their battles were unusually cruel. Having seen it with his own eyes, it really was so. In comparison, the battles between xiuzhe troops were lacking.
When Shou Ping saw the green yaksha, his expression changed.
Especially when he counted that there were seven to eight hundred green yaksha flying in the air. The green yaksha were not rabble like bandits. Seven to eight hundred yaksha were enough to take down a city.
Thinking about the ruins of the market they had walked past, Shou Ping's heart sank. Had it been these green yaksha that were responsible?
He couldn't help but turn to look at Zuo Mo. He saw the other had an expression of ease without any visible panic. He felt embarrassed inside. He was a battle general but he hadn't seen battle yet; he wasn't comparable to this youth.
Zuo Mo's expression was calm but he was slightly panicked inside. He was not as freakish as Lil' Miss, but his judgement had been honed with practical experience and he was much stronger than average silver battle generals.
The fighting most likely would not finish up in a short period of time.
The large man's side had fewer people but they were resolved and there seemed to be someone directing them. Their defence was very strict. Other than charging at them, the green yaksha didn't seem to have a good solution.
The battle probably would continue through to tomorrow night, Zuo Mo guessed inside.
But what he did not want to encounter such a delay.
The two sides fighting quickly noticed Zuo Mo's group.
An old voice suddenly came from the formation behind the large man. "Which friend is this? This one is Tao Xing from Endless City, please, Friend, give this one a hand in aid. After this battle, this one will give heavy thanks!"
The other was asking for help, but he still maintained his mannerism and there was no panic in his tone.
"Tao Xing!" Shou Ping's pupils suddenly expanded as he exclaimed.
Translator Ramblings: Transportation formations, yao trees, blood pools … … I think that the trees are the most environmental friendly.