This chapter has been brought to you by me, and WanderingGummiOfDoom.

 

Chapter Seven Hundred and Sixty Three – Chao Xin’s Plan

“What what does the report from Thunder Sound Temple say?” Lin Qian asked.

Chao Xin shook his head. “Nothing, they have been very low-key recently. Yang Yuan Hao is training his battalion, his Thunder Sound Battalion has been expand three-fold. It probably will take some time to finish training.”

The name Yang Yuan Hao caused Lin Qian’s gaze to unnoticeably focus. He asked, “Have we found Yang Yuan Hao’s origins?”

“Yes. He is originally the disciple of the second elder of Thunder Sound Temple but he was not thought of highly before. When the Thunder Sound Shen Methodology appeared, he was spectacular and rose up to quickly become the best battle general of Thunder Sound Temple, and the best of the Nine Great Dhyana Sect. However, this is already related to his master. The second elder is the younger brother of the sect leader.”

Chao Xin was unbridled in nature but he was careful and attentive when doing his work and was deeply relied upon by Lin Qian.

“Other than Thunder Sound Temple, is our progress in the other temples going well?” Lin Qian asked.

“Thunder Sound Temple,  Splendid Buddha Temple, Venerable Lotus Temple, Laughing Maitreya Temple, it has not been smooth in these four temples. Heart Leaf Temple has been heavily infiltrated by Tian Huan. The one that we have made the most progress is Skanda Sect. We are fighting with Tian Huan for the others: Great Buddha Sect, Karma Temple, Surangama Heart Sect.” Chao Xin knew all this like the back of his hand.

“It is not easy to infiltrate the great temples!” Lin Qian smiled helplessly.

“Of course.” Chao Xin took a sip of wine and said unconcernedly. “We first aim for the borders, it is easy at first and then becomes difficult later, this is the right way. However, Heart Leaf Dhyana Sect’s attack on Mo Cloud Sea’s seal formations is detrimental to our actions.”

“Yes, it inadvertently alerted them.” Lin Qian frowned. “They are a group of idiots!”

“Heart Leaf Dhyana Sect wants to show fealty towards Tian Huan and were impatient. I don’t know who it was that found this weakness, but the skill of the mission was really terrible. No wonder Heart Leaf Dhyana Sect is ranked last among the Nine Great Dhyana Sects.” Chao Xin shook his head and then said, “But for Mo Cloud Sea, not being able to use the transportation formations is a noose around their throat. We also need to guard against this movement as we also have the same weakness of the transportation formations.”

Lin Qian nodded. “Go do this.”

Chao Xin acknowledged. “Alright.”

However, none of them thought much of this as a great matter. The transportation formations were a weakness, but unlike Mo Cloud Sea who were overly reliant on the formations, Kun Lun’s transportation were mostly by jie rivers. While they had to spend more time travelling, it was much cheaper. If Kun Lun used transportation formations over all of its vast realm, then the expenses in this area would be enough to kill Kun Lun.

Due to this, most of Kun Lun’s transportation formations were set up in important places and these places almost all had battalions stationed there to guarantee safety. They only needed to increase the security level of the battalions stationed there.

“After Xue Shidi’s battalion has finished expanding, why don’t we use the Nine Great Dhyana Sects as an opening?” Lin Qian asked Chao Xin.

Chao Xin said unrestrainedly, “That is not good!”

Lin Qian smiled, and poured another cup of wine for Chao Xin. He asked sincerely for guidance, “Then what should be done?”

“The Nine Great Dhyana Sects have many people with different intentions. If they feel an outside threat, they would abandon their own aims, unite, and  face the invaders. Thunder Sound Temple is the strongest, and once they unite, with a top battle general like Yang Yuan Hao, they would be a hard bone to swallow.”

Lin Qian was thoughtful. Chao Xin raised his wine cup and threw his head back to drink. He was full of enthusiasm. “But if we treat them peacefully, without threatening their existence, the inner conflicts will gradually become evident. We can scheme and recruit a portion of them, moving in the shadows. The Nine Great Dhyana Sects will be defeated without any attack over time, this is the best plan!”

“You are right!” Lin Qian was full of admiration and then turned to another problem. “Then in which direction should we expand?”

“Hundred Savage Realm!” Chao Xin’s voice was loud, a blush on his face. “The Nether Realms produced a king, and is an enemy on the same level as us. We should not really fight them. Also, we know little about the nether realms, and it is not wise to enter. But Hundred Savage Realm is full of warlords, and the best place to begin.”

As his interests were stirred, Chao Xin became half-dressed as he drank multiple cups. His gaze was intoxicated as he said slowly, “Looking at the world right now, Tian Huan, the Nether King and the yao are enemies of the same level as us, they all possess one realm of land, have any experts and generals. But if one looks closely, there are differences. Kun Lun, Tian Huan, and the Nether Realm were integrally united. The Yao Elder Council constantly fights internally for power. The new generation as led by Ming Yue Ye and the older generation led by the Chief Elder are fighting in secret. This is an opportunity for our Kun Lun.”

Lin Qian’s eyes lit up. “We will secretly support Ming Yue Ye?”

Chao Xin smiled and then shook his head. “No! Ming Yue Ye’s wings are not grown yet. Our benefit from supporting her will be limited, and once she is in power, the first thing that she will do is to reorganize the Council of Elders in order to get them to be of one mind, and then bite us.”

“Then we will suppress Ming Yue Ye?” Lin Qian asked in response.

“We will support a third faction.” Chao Xin was bright with light. “Three factions fighting is a state of equilibrium, and the one able to cause sustained infighting. Also, both the Chief Elder and Ming Yue Ye will need to fight to gain support of the new faction. Most importantly, the third faction would be the weakest faction, and cannot break free of our control.”

“Great plan!” Lin Qian sighed.

Chao Xin’s excitement settled slightly and he said with a light laugh, “We cannot rush this, and need to plan this slowly. It will probably take five to ten years for it to be effective.”

Lin Qian laughed out loud. “I am still young. Ten years, I can even wait even if it is twenty years!”

Chao Xin nodded. “It is not easy for Daren to have such a state of mind.”

“Mo Cloud Sea has challenged the Mo Marshal Alliance, Mister, what do you feel they desire?’ Lin Qian mentioned another topic.

For some reason, he felt danger from Mo Cloud Sea. He always had a feeling that this little power that was just a few dozen jie would one day become his archenemy. This indescribable feeling of danger always made him extremely wary of Mo Cloud Sea’s every move.

It was unexpected to many that Mo Cloud Sea had suddenly started to attack Mo Marshal Alliance.

Chao Xin’s brow also furrowed. “It is slightly puzzling. This time, the main commander is Bie Han. This shows how much importance they place on this campaign, it means that it is a big one. Also, it is Bie Han and not Gongsun Chao. This also implies that their aim in the campaign this time is not to attack cities and take over territory, but more akin to rapidly destroying or capturing something. Bie Han’s battalions are also puzzling in their movements. Bie Han is definitely disguising their intentions. We most likely will know the aim of a battle general of Bie Han’s level only when the battle is finished.

Lin Qian was silent.

 

———

 

“Intentions! We need to find their intentions!

Inside the conference hall, Hai Jin Yun’s voice echoed. His figure was tall yet thin, his complexion faintly gold, his eyes narrow and long. His cheeks were sunken inwards, his gaze as sharp as a sword and seemed able to penetrate people.

His voice was thin and high pitched, giving people a feeling of metal grinding. At this time, it was filled with great fury.

Hao Jin Yun’s temper was easy to set off and he quickly became violent. The subordinates trembled, and the conference room was deathly silent.

Hai Jin Yun forced down the fury inside. He rubbed his forehead. His anger was not directed against his subordinates. He knew their skill level. He was angry at himself as he could not identify Bie Han’s intentions.

When he learned that the enemy this time was Bie Han, an unprecedented pressure filled him. However, this had not caused him to collapse but rather stimulated his strong fighting spirit. He felt his blood boil at the thought of fighting against such a top level battle general.

Yet as time went on, the movements of Bie Han’s campaigns became even harder to understand.

If they could not find Bie Han’s true intentions, he would end up the reactive party. Facing a battle general of Bie Han’s level, it was enormously dangerous to be the reactive party.

Several hours passed, and he received an insect message from an old general, Quan Pei. They had encountered Bie Han!

This was not of great surprise to him. He would not be surprised at any action that a battle general like Bie Han would do. Also, from the location of the encounter, Bie Han seemed to just be attacking the reinforcements.

Was Bie Han’s goal really Bright Mountain Jie?

He didn’t believe it!

But what reassured him slightly was that old general Quan Pei said in the insect message that they were delaying the other by using guerilla tactics against them in order to drag on the battle for them to arrive.

General Quan Pei’s seemingly conservative strategy was actually the best in his view. They were fighting on home territory. If they could take up enough time, their advantage would increase like a snowball rolling off the mountain.

Yet eight hours passed, and Hai Jin Yun did not receive any more insect letters from old general Quan Pei.

This unusual situation caused Hai Jin Yun to have a bad feeling. If the situation was normal, Quan Pei’s second in command would send an insect message every four hours to report on the state of the battle. There were only two possibilities when there were no messages after eight hours. One was that the battle was so intense that they didn’t even have the time to send insect letters. The other possibility was that they had been completely eradicated.

Based on convention, the first possibility was most likely.

Quan Pei was skilled in battle formations. If he decided to enter a battle of attrition by relying on guerilla fighting, he definitely would not be destroyed so easily. It was extremely difficult to exterminate a battalion that had decided to fight in a guerilla fashion, much less finish it in eight hours.

However, as time advanced, Hai Jin Yun’s bad feeling increased.

His emotions started to become restless. He tried to put his attention on searching for Bie Han’s target. So many dazzling and spectacular actions proved that Bie Han had a clear goal in mind. He was only disguising it.

“Where is Shang Daren?” He suddenly stopped walking and asked.

“Shang Daren has already reached Bright Home Jie, and is about three days away from us,” the subordinate hurriedly said.

Hai Jin Yun suddenly stopped walking. There wasn’t any restlessness to be seen in his eyes. He said in a deep voice, “Set up base here, and wait for Shang Daren!”

Ten hours had already passed … …

Hai Jun Yun knew that the situation he had thought most unlikely probably already became reality.

 

Translator Ramblings: Politics and more politics.