Translator: TheBrokenPen Editor : Dhael Ligerkeys What an uncanny coincidence it was that not only did Lu Ye’s squad share the same number of members as the enemy squad, even their composition of Cultivators based on ranks was exactly the same. Anyone would have hoped for a squad with better men or a stronger rank composition any day. But with the vastness of One Hundred Peaks, a squad composition similar to Lu Ye’s squad was only too common. The contesting factions in this Conference needed to field a lot of personnel to cover as much ground as possible. To that end, with every faction similarly strapped for good men and quality resources, they needed to divide all their good men into different squads to make up the balance. In just a handful of minutes, the Qin raiding squad lost almost every one of its members. The final surviving member, a Fourth-Order Cultivator, managed to flee with his tail between his legs. It was not because he was better than his opponent that he managed to flee unscathed, but rather, due to his good luck. He wasn’t knocked off his mount early in the initial exchanges of the battle, and before he could dismount and fight, he saw how easily Lu Ye had dispatched his squadmate. By the time Lu Ye and Xie Jin took down his squad leader, he had long been gone with not so much as a backward glance. Tao Tian Gang had tried to give chase but to no avail. There was no way he could ever catch up to his fleeing enemy on foot. Xie Jin and the rest of the squad regrouped. Standing amid the blood they bled and the carnage they wrought, the members of the raiding squad traded disbelieving looks between one another. [Is this it?! Since when did skirmishes become so easy?!] Lu Ye’s squadmates were no strangers to gritting and gruesome battles as members of Green Feather Mountain’s raiding squads and their battles never lacked pools of blood, maimed limbs, and charred patches of soil. Skirmishes between squads of similar strength and rank composition were never cakewalks. But this time, not only were they victorious – they were glorious. Four out of five enemies were dead and aside from Qiao Qiao Er who was mildly injured, the rest of the squad were fine. It was incredible. Everyone’s eyes panned to Lu Ye. They knew what had happened. They had seen it. It was Lu Ye who had made short work of his opponent and that started the ball rolling when he went to assist Xie Jin and together, they killed the enemy leader. [The man who singlehandedly thrashed his way through Tai Luo Clan territories, no less!] they thought in unison. As much as they admired Lu Ye when they heard the tales of his derring-do, almost all of them could confess dismissing a huge part of his triumph to good luck. But now that they had witnessed his prowess up-close, they could now concede that it was not all luck. It was his power and his skill that made all the difference. His quick defeat of the enemy Fourth-Order Cultivator was the reason that their squad could trample over the enemy squad with unprecedented ease. Xie Jin exhaled heavily with relief. His faith and confidence in bringing Lu Ye into his squad were not misplaced. Small wonder why Tang Wu held such great interest in him. He gave Lu Ye a curt nod of approval, then he barked, “We have thirty seconds! Clear the area!” Everyone scrambled to work. The victory was more than just the death of four Cultivators. Amber too had slain one of their mounts, the one owned by the Fourth-Order Cultivator Lu Ye killed at the start. The rest of the mounts had absconded during the chaos and with their masters or mistresses now dead, they would never return to the Qin encampment. They would become wild Spirit Beasts, free to roam the lands unfettered until they were killed or captured by other Cultivators. That would mean that this skirmish was more than just a simple win. Lu Ye and his squadmates have decimated a Qin raiding squad in its entirety and this could prove very useful to the future outcome. Lu Ye scurried over to the carcass of the Spirit Beast that Amber killed and carved it into pieces before putting the meat away inside his Storage Bag. The meat could be a source of nutrition for him and Amber. When their thirty seconds were up, everyone clambered back up the saddles of their mount and followed Xie Jin’s lead, continuing their original mission of reinforcing the defenses of a hill now besieged by Qin forces. The fighting had begun and the Green Feather Mountain defenders were struggling to stave off the waves of attacks sent forth by the Qin invaders. But Green Feather Mountain controlled no more than thirty hills at the moment. This allowed them to concentrate a greater number of Cultivators on the defenses of its current holdings. That made trying to capture this hill a fool’s errand. But the Qin forces were aware of this as well. The attack was all for Han Zhe Yue’s benefit to show that they were carrying out her orders to chip away at Green Feather Mountain’s supremacy. The raiding squad that came with the Qin vanguard had broken away to intercept the Green Feather Mountain raiding squad which was coming to reinforce the defense. Under normal circumstances, this should make the invasion – or rather the feint – a safe undertaking with few to no losses. Except that the circumstances turned out to be very unusual as soon as the raiding squads met. On the Shadow Moon Disc, four out of five dots that were supposed to be the Qin raiding squad had vanished in quick succession when the skirmish had only just begun. There was only one survivor, a lone dot that managed to flee unscathed. Qin Wan Li could not believe his eyes. But he quickly recollected himself and ordered a speedy retreat of the vanguard squad to prevent from being trapped on two fronts. On the other hand, the Green Feather Mountain forces weren’t too happy either at recent developments. They had been losing a lot of territories and men lately. The Qin attack gave the defenders just the outlet they needed to vent their recent frustration and perhaps regain some justice for their fallen comrades. That the defenders had more men than the retreating Qin invaders launched their morale off the charts. Their mission was supposed to be done the moment the Qin vanguard squad was withdrawing, but an order came and the leader of the Green Feather Mountain defense squad flailed an arm and gave his men a rousing call to arms, “KILL THESE MONGRELS!” The defenders of the hill flooded down the slopes like a huge deluge. Spells zigzagged back and forth like the firework display of a circus as the battle ensued mid-hill with the defenders now mounting a retaliation of their own. It was through great difficulty that the Qin vanguard squad managed to make it down to the foot of the hill when a raucous series of rumbles thundered from its wing. The leader of the vanguard jerked around and looked. It was a cavalry of five and once he saw who it was, he froze. Who else would it be if not Xie Jin and his squad? The squad of five, riding on their mounts, came stampeding at full speed in the same arrowhead formation as before and plowed right through the Qin vanguard squad, sending them into total disarray as a clamor of steel gnashing on steel erupted and men began falling to the ground with pools of blood spreading from under them. But Xie Jin did not stop and dismount. Rather, he wheeled his mount around and led his squad into another charge to fully wipe out the Qin vanguard squad. The raiding squad smashed through the ranks of the vanguard squad, eviscerating what resistance still left before Lu Ye and his squadmates finally dismounted to mop up what was left of the enemy. Wielding his saber, Lu Ye darted around the mess, looking for more targets. With the Spiritual Pattern “Protection” shining brightly, he parried an attack that came his way before he reciprocated, killing an enemy Cultivator with one blow using his saber, smearing the grass meters away with his blood. There were two Fifth-Order Cultivators in the Qin vanguard squad, but the rest were Second- or Third-Order Cultivators who could barely stand a chance against Lu Ye. He could finish them off with just two or three blows while some were slaughtered with just one blow: one powerful stroke that could even snap their weapons in half, killing them instantly. Every once in a while, he would fire a spell, making him so deadly that despite just being a Fourth-Order Cultivator, no one could last more than three seconds against him. Shrieks of agony and dying curses filled the field of death and slaughter. It was a huge loss for the Qins. Qin Wan Li could only watch with despair and disbelief as one after another, the red dots that denoted his men discorporated from the display of the Shadow Moon Disc. Even Han Zhe Yue was hardly amused, for she had never witnessed such a one-sided beatdown before – not since the Conference was first held. Most battles in the Dragon Spring Conference ended with manageable losses – even if it was for the losing side. The victorious side would just take the win and refrain from pushing their luck and risk being ambushed or trapped instead. But right here, right now, the Qin vanguard squad was being decimated right before their eyes and what remained of its members were swiftly being massacred. Its surviving members labored to defend themselves as they retreated towards another nearby hill where it was occupied by Qin forces. The defenders there needed time to mobilize before they could come to their fellow comrades’ aid. In the meantime, Lu Ye had found one of the Fifth-Order enemies of the Qin vanguard squad. Killing an enemy one rank above his would yield the most rewards – an additional ten Spirit Stones to the original twenty. That would mean killing a Fifth-Order enemy would yield a thirty-Spirit-Stone reward, allowing Lu Ye to purchase three flasks of Spirit Restoring Pills. Right before Lu Ye now, he saw not a heavily-bloodied and wearied Fifth-Order enemy, but a glittering heap of Spirit Stones! He had agreed to participate in this Conference not only because he wanted to repay Green Feather Mountain for helping him, but more importantly, he needed more resources. Therefore, he would never let the chance of killing a Fifth-Order enemy slip away. Lu Ye’s saber came up before curving back down so viciously that the cold and keen flash of the weapon’s blade illuminated the Fifth-Order Cultivator’s stern and defiant countenance as he launched an attack of his own. Yet barely a split-second later, he quickly regretted his belligerence. His attack fell harmlessly against Lu Ye as if he was trying to hit a wall. No amount of damage he dealt could get past the aegis of Spiritual Pattern “Protection”. Yet in contrast, whatever Lu Ye was doing, it was working. Scarcely ten seconds had passed since the moment they flung blows at each other and here he was with numerous slashes and lacerations that had belched so much blood that his tunic was heavy and sticky. Verily, he could have long been dead if not for his timely activation of a Golden Body Talisman Paper which had saved his life. He gawked at Lu Ye with frustration, incredulity, and shock fraught in his eyes. [HOW?! WHAT WEAPON IS THAT HE’S WIELDING?! HOW ON EARTH COULD THIS BE POSSIBLE!] But that was it. Before another thought came to mind, Lu Ye’s hand shot up and a shiny red projectile the shape of a large and well-fed bird came darting straight at his chest. With reflexes that he could rely on to keep himself alive a little longer, he evaded the attack. The bird-like projectile brushed past him by mere inches but that was all the opening Lu Ye needed. Lunging even before he knew his opponent would dodge the attack, Lu Ye’s saber came slashing down right at his head. Having sampled its deadliness, the Fifth-Order Cultivator would be tremendously appreciative to forgo a repeat of what he just lived through. He ducked and rolled on the ground to escape like some filthy animal – something that was obviously a humiliation for one with his strength and power. He sprang to his feet immediately once he reached safety. Or so he thought. The tail of a whip glowing with spiritual energy coursing up its length coiled around his throat before it jerked him backward. The force pulled him off his feet. Lu Ye pounced at the chance and attacked. The first stroke weakened the protective aura maintained by the Golden Body Talisman Paper, the next shattered it into oblivion, and the third disemboweled him. By the time he crashed to the ground, he was no more alive than a piece of oak with a pool of morbid red drenching the grass beneath him. Lu Ye looked up to find Qiao Qiao Er flashing him a flirting wink. But the bloodstain and swell on her face only made her too unsightly to behold! “Watch out!” Qiao Qiao Er called suddenly. The tip of a spear thrust straight for the back of Lu Ye’s head. But that attack too struck the protection of his Spiritual Pattern that deflected the sharp tip away. Lu Ye spun around and seized the pole of the spear and swung his weapon furiously down the spear’s length. The blade of Lu Ye’s saber carved through his assailant’s hand, severing off his palm at the center, causing the assailant to stagger backward, clutching his maimed hand with blood still gushing out amid his screams of pain before a stroke by another passing by Green Feather Mountain acolyte with his sword ended the agony with a coup de grâce. One’s reaction and mindfulness towards his or her surroundings were what would ensure one’s survival in a pandemonium such as this. “GREEN FEATHER MOUNTAIN SCUM! WE’RE COMING FOR YOU!” a sonorous roar boomed from not far away. The Qin reinforcements had finally arrived. They had been spoiling to ride the moment they received their orders to support the vanguard squad’s retreat, and they thought that they could reach in time and form up with the vanguard for a renewed assault. But now that they had arrived, they realized that they were too late. The vanguard squad was all but decimated. In place of what should be the Qin vanguard squad were more than thirty Green Feather Mountain Cultivators, all of them seething with the blood of their enemies and their morale as high as the clouds, surrounded by the corpses and broken limbs of what should be formerly the members of the vanguard squad they should be meeting up with. Even the ground was practically flooded with the blood from the dead. The Green Feather Mountain Cultivators all panned their gazes at the origin of the voice with the same bloodlust glowing in their eyes. The Qin Cultivator who yelled earlier immediately regretted his outburst. Even the rest of his men screeched to a halt immediately. “G-Get back! G-Get back quick!”