hotmtlnovel Chapter 103. War Erupts (1)
Chapter 103. War Erupts (1)
Chapter 103. War Erupts (1)
The Green Eyes Ten Thousand Poisons Art had now fully reached the fourth stage.
Although its range may be limited, he could now attack enemies from a distance using poison.
Zhou Xuchuan didn't leave a single mole alive. After all, their mission was to disrupt and coordinate issues within the battlefield. Moreover, they had infiltrated the sects to obtain information in the first place.
Their mere presence was a threat, and they weren't the type of people who would crack even under torture.
Besides, he himself knew more information than they did.
"As for his face... I don't know who this is."
Zhou Xuchuan removed their masks, but he couldn't recognize any of them. He searched their clothes, but found nothing that could reveal their identities.
They were all wearing masks and black clothes, so it was clear they wouldn’t have brought anything that could identify them in the first place.
He gathered the scattered corpses and loaded them onto his shoulders, two at a time. With all his might, he ran to the nearby Yellow River and tossed the bodies into the water.
Unlike the plateau where the camp was located, the water was deep, and the current was strong, making it the perfect place to destroy evidence. Fire would be too risky, as he could be tracked by the smoke. Burying the bodies wasn't an option either, since digging a grave large enough to bury so many moles would be noticeable.
Unlike burying the bodies, tossing them into the deep river lowered the possibility of them being found. Moreover, the moving water would make it difficult to recognize them if they ever happened to be found.
"Now, it's time to slowly return."
The next day dawned.
Naturally, there was an uproar because of what happened the previous night.
Twenty Peak experts had disappeared overnight.
"Gasp! What the hell is going on?"
“It must be a tactic by the Evil Valley or the Demon Cult!”
“They must have sent assassins!”
Experts disappearing just four days before the war wasn’t something that could be ignored.
Everyone unanimously agreed that it was the work of the Evil Valley or the Demon Cult.
“But why hasn't the Nangong Family lost anyone?”
However, that didn't mean there weren't other suspicions. The Nangong Family was also being watched closely.
Of the five major forces of the Righteous Faction’s Martial Alliance gathered here, each of the forces had lost experts except the Nangong Family. It would have been odd if they hadn’t been suspected.
"Are you suspecting us right now?"
"That's a bit much."
As expected, the response was far from pleasant.
"Enough! Everybody calm down," Immortal Shang Ming intervened.
"According to the guards, there was no sign of disturbance. This means all twenty or so people must have left on their own. Isn't that strange? For now, I ask that you all stop suspecting it was one of us. That might be exactly what the Evil Valley and the Demon Cult want."
"Hmph."
"Hmph."
Immortal Shang Ming's intervention barely prevented a fight from breaking out.
"While I want to investigate, we only have four days left until the faction war. Let’s postpone this matter for now. We'll strengthen our guard patrols while preparing for the Seven Swords War.”
"Are you suggesting we should bury this matter, Immortal Shang Ming? When some of our juniors and seniors have gone missing?!"
"It's not that I don't know how you feel, but don't you also know that in the gangho, there are times when you have to just throw up your hands and admit there's nothing more you can do? Disciples of my sect are among those who've gone missing. Do you really think I don't understand how you feel?"
"Hmph."
"It'll be disadvantageous for us to form an investigative task force from the warriors we have now. I'll send a letter to headquarters and ask the Beggar Gang to investigate, so let's leave it to them."
Immortal Shang Ming was capable. He hadn't risen to the position of Sect Master just because of his cultivation. He hadn't been a hero in Zhou Xuchuan's future for nothing.
Meanwhile, Zhou Xuchuan, the mastermind(?) of everything, was quietly watching the situation unfold.[1]
‘Immortal Shang Ming really is impressive in any lifetime. More importantly, it seems that it was too difficult for Martial Heaven to plant a traitor within the Five Great Ancient Families, seeing as none of the spies were from the Nangong Family.’
The Five Great Ancient Families prioritized blood relations and were somewhat closed-off, making it difficult to infiltrate them. Above all, wasn't the former Patriarch of the Nangong Family the Martial Alliance Leader? It wasn't easy to avoid his eyes.
‘Additionally, they leveraged not being able to infiltrate the Nangong Family. If the moles' identities were exposed, or if something like this were to happen, the Nangong Family would naturally be suspected. That could have even led to discord. What a horrifying plan.’
Zhou Xuchuan stuck his tongue out and made his next preparations.
‘Next, I'll deal with the traitors in the Evil Valley. But, as the patrols will be strengthened, it'll be hard to go out tonight.’
Zhou Xuchuan was able to learn who the traitors were after hearing the names of those missing.
Aside from the Nangong Family, they were all disciples who had made a name for themselves in the four major forces. Moreover, there was a big name within them, too.
A Peak Realm disciple of a Mount Heng Sect elder who was close to a swordmaster.
Blessed Existence was not far away.
While the Dark Heavens Association had devoted itself to the Seven Swords War, Blessed Existence, who oversaw the entire Dark Heavens Association himself, had to pay less attention to each individual operation.
Blessed Existence gritted his teeth as soon as he heard those words.
"It feels like I'm getting haunted by some pesky ghost. This confirms it. Someone knows about the Association."
"How could that be?"
"Twisted Melody. If you don't adjust your thinking, you're going to end up eating your words. That's arrogance talking. Tread carefully."
To be honest, it wasn't really arrogance. Twisted Melody's reaction was quite normal.
The Dark Heavens Association had hidden its identity from the Martial Alliance, the Evil Valley, and the Demon Cult for a long time.
It was hard to believe that there was an enemy who had discovered secrets of the organization that were even hidden from them!
"I'll order Vast Gate and Pure Faith (玉衡) to investigate anyone who may know about our organization and might betray or reveal it. Twisted Melody, you should do the same, too. Find that bastard, capture him, and bring him back alive. He’s more valuable than the entire Seven Swords War."
Their master plan would change dramatically depending on how much the enemy knew about the Dark Heavens Association.
Blessed Existence saw this unidentified enemy as a danger to their entire Association.
"To think there was another enemy like the Phantom Bow Swordsman that we can't identify..."
Blessed Existence bit his fingernails in frustration.
Blessed Existence, Vast Gate, Twisted Melody, Pure Faith!
A whopping four Heads of the Seven Stars Division began to chase Zhou Xuchuan.
***
‘Unfortunately, I'll have to give up on the Demon Cult.’
There was no time left. Considering he had taken down two sets of moles already, Twisted Melody and the Dark Heavens Association should have already been alerted by the lack of reports and begun their operations.
Moles planted in six of the seven major forces had already been dealt with. Even if one of them was left, it shouldn't have a big impact on the war.
The same went for the traitors and spies. Without the moles, there was no reason for any traitors to reveal themselves.
Three days later.
The Martial Alliance, the Evil Valley, and the Demon Cult finished their preparations for the war amidst the conflicts and gathered on the plateau in front of the manual.
There were three thousand warriors gathered, a thousand from each of the Three Factions.
Woosh~
A slightly chilly breeze swept past the iron box containing Blood Muscle and Tendon Classic, displayed at the center of the plateau.
After being tightly guarded until the night before, everyone retreated without a fuss.
Once everyone retreated to their respective Factions, no one acted suspiciously.
"The day has dawned!" Immortal Shang Ming's voice rang out.
It was so loud that it echoed all the way to the enemy camp.
"The Blood Muscle and Tendon Classic is rightfully ours!" the Raging Fire Blood Demon shouted, leading a thousand Demon Cult members.
"Is that why you secretly assassinated our experts? Because you wanted it so badly?" the Flower Scattering Palm shouted, enraged about what happened three prior.
"As if you should be saying that right now!"
"As expected of the Evil Faction!"
The Martial Alliance reaction was just as intense because they had also been attacked.
While the Demon Cult initially responded with confusion, wondering what sort of nonsense was going on, they quickly calmed down.
They seemed excited by the impending battle, their eyes gleaming with bloodlust from the influence of their demonic qi.
"Might will rule all!" the Raging Fire Blood Demon growled.
"Kill them! Loot them! Take what is ours! Engrave the law of the Demon Cult into their bones! Might is everything!"
ROAR!!!!!!
A roar so powerful, it seemed to shake the heavens, reverberated through the air.
The Martial Alliance and the Evil Valley followed suit as the seven great forces all advanced toward one place.
The destination, of course, was the center of the plateau.
The swift special forces of each force separated themselves from the main armies while the rest prepared to clash with the enemy forces in front of them.
1. The (?) is in the raws. ☜
2. See TL notes. ☜