Chapter 252 – The Shadow Unit
Fiend Wang punched at Tao, but he simply brushed it off with his legs.
In the meanwhile, the Blood Fox was watching the situation while creating blood webs. She was using these to keep anyone out of the cave while the duo recovered.
They were very thin and fragile, so any kind of movement would break them and alert the Blood Fox.
There was a slight issue with this as the shockwaves from those Humans Cultivators broke her blood webs easily and she would have to repair them every so often.
However, she did not let her guard down, she observed everything cautiously so that nothing escaped her gaze.
This proved necessary as some Cultivators were sneaking around the cave, however the Blood Fox managed to quickly deal with each one by ambushing them.
Her blood could be manipulated freely, so she changed its shape to a spear and pierced those Cultivators.
It didn't end with that, as more came, but this time they were dressed in black.
Unlike the previous group, they instantly saw the Blood Fox and surrendered with a simple question.
"Is this where the Treasure is?" One of the Shadow Units asked.
The Blood Fox tightened her grip. These were much more powerful and would cause trouble for her.
They nodded at her reaction. "While the Heavenly Blessing is approaching and shows the Treasure's location. It only shows the general location." He slowly explained, which confused the Blood Fox.
"Hey!" Another Shadow Unit slapped his head. "You can't explain for shit." Then he turned towards the Blood Fox. "What he means to say is that we will guide them away from the real location that leads towards the Treasure, so we can buy more time for reinforcements."
The Blood Fox pursed her lips, this explanation was much better, but she still did not have any intention of saying anything.
The Shadow Unit looked troubled. "You should defend the Treasure or contract it while we buy time, as there are more to come. There are supposed to be 4 ships from the North, but only 1 has arrived, which means there are more on the way."
The Blood Fox stiffened, she didn't like those numbers.
"We also have our own reinforcements, but we might arrive a step late like always, that's why we ask to contract the Treasure-" The Shadow Unit explained one last time, but he was interrupted by the Blood Fox.
"It's not a Treasure..." The Blood Fox spoke expressionlessly.
"How can it not be-" Another Shadow Unit started to speak, but then he suddenly stiffened.
Non-lustful Foxes can't be part of THAT faction, which means they don't have a home. Moreover, since they don't have a home, they don't have a safe place to Evolve...
The Shadow Unit stared at the Blood Fox. "Dear lord, we are in trouble."
The Blood Fox's lips twitched.
"You wouldn't know how long it would take...?" The Shadow Unit meekly asked, almost making the Blood Fox laugh.
The Blood Fox shook her head and he groaned in pain, his team behind him stared at him strangely.
"Let's return, the plan has changed, we need to use force on those northern bastards." The supposed leader commanded and they went back.
The Blood Fox tilted her head. She hoped that this was a good decision, but she could only pray that everything would turn out alright.
...
The small team returned to their camp. Their leader was still fighting.
"Reporting." The Reconnaissance Unit was here to report their findings.
"Did you find the entrance to what we need to guard?" A male voice asked.
"We believe that we found it." The Reconnaissance Unit bowed towards their superior.
"Speak." The Strategist asked.
"We encountered a Blood Fox near a cave. We believe that the cave leads towards the Evolving Beast." The Reconnaissance Unit reported their findings.
"You were supposed to find a Tre- wait, did you say Blood FOX?" The Strategist narrowed his eyes, like he was looking at filth.
"So instead of scouting, you were enjoying yourselves?" An extreme level of bloodlust seeped out of his body, scaring the Reconnaissance Unit.
"She was not lustful and kept a steady mind." The Reconnaissance Unit leader said without batting an eye.
The Strategist was confused, but he pieced the information together. "Oh lord..." He sat roughly into the chair. "Any idea how long it will take?"
"She did not know." The Reconnaissance Unit reported truthfully.
The Strategist sighed weakly. He was a pacifist and didn't like wars, yet it seems that killing this time was unavoidable, especially with the reports of reinforcements from the northern side.
"Change of plans, who doesn't surrender will be killed." The Strategist said gravely and the Reconnaissance Unit was shocked.
They all knew that he hated killing.
"Understood, I will relay that information." The Reconnaissance Unit bowed and went to spread the new orders.
...
The tide of the battle immediately shifted. The Southern Cultivators no longer held back from killing their opponents. They now used their full force on them.
Fiend Wang was shocked by seeing this, but her hands were tied with this bastard and she could not save her Sect's Disciples. "Tao!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, her prestige would plummet because of this.
"Yes, wifey?" Tao Xin smiled, while he didn't agree with this kind of order, he also did not stop the others. He would just keep his wife in check so that he didn't have to kill her.
Fiend Wang's face burned from his words. Her energy leaked through her body enhancing her already devastating blows.
The shockwaves increased and the battlefield became even more chaotic.
...
The battle continued, but the Northern Sect was pushed back a great deal. They had to retreat into the half-destroyed ship in order to recover. Fortunately at least some of the Defensive Arrays were still operational.
They holed themselves inside the ship and their downfall stopped.
Fiend Wang was glaring at Tao Xin, but did not go out. Without others, it would be suicide and she could only watch her cheating former husband from afar.
Tao Xin sat down, recovering his energy while waiting for more opponents, while he was gentle with his wife... he would not be gentle with anyone else.
Tao Xin pulled the Concealment Talisman and Communication Talisman, reporting to the Strategist.
"We need to keep guarding this, until it's finished." The Strategist said through the Talisman.
Tao Xin frowned. "That can take months..."
"You better recover your energy then." The Strategist snorted disdainfully, he was upset that Fiend Wang was still alive as this would complicate everything.
"I will do my best." Tao Xin hung up on the Strategist and sighed.
The Strategist kept cursing through the Talisman, but noticed that the connection was already cut; he cursed even more, startling the Cultivators walking around his special tent.
He was frustrated that the biggest obstacle was not removed. It would only get harder from here and he naturally had to report it to the higher-ups...
Unfortunately, he could not do that as this whole place and surroundings were cut off from the outside world. Not in the literal meaning, but any means of communication outside this place was impossible.
The only indicator that something was happening was the overly large Heavenly Blessing Cloud, but at this point, it bordered the Heavenly Disaster Cloud, which concerned him.
A Treasure or rather a Beast that could invoke this kind of reaction was... well, to say it was rare was an understatement. He did not experience anything like this in his 400 years of life and even the older Cultivators around him said it was insane and some of them were over 600 years old!
This thing will turn into a complete mess and doom for everyone if they fail. They can't fail!
...
Tao Xin looked towards the northern sky. He could see another 3 flying ships approaching, raring to kill them.
The Strategist reported that they were coming and he had to kill Fiend Wang as soon as possible, but he was not willing.
He could not fulfil that mission, but that didn't mean he couldn't mess up the Northern Sect's Cultivators.
He immediately barraged their shield with light kicks, but those kicks still carried enough force and Qi that it rocked the flying ship. Another thing that he wanted to accomplish was to cut all of their communication and thanks to his powerfull Qi he succeeded.
This was a double-edged sword, if they had a High-Grade Communication Talisman, then this whole thing would go up in flames. But the flying ships kept approaching without a single clue, believing that their allies were shot down from the skies.
Tao Xin smirked, while he was unwilling to kill her, that didn't mean he minded killing everyone else!
*CREAK**CRACK*
A familiar sound to everyone. The screaming Fiend Wang tried to warn them, but her voice was drowned by her former husband's kicks.
She glared at him spitefully and if gaze could kill, he would be dead hundreds- no, thousands of times!
*BOOM**BOOM**BOOM*
Three respective tremors spread as the flying ships crashed onto the ground. Unlike the Fiend Wang's flying ship which was of high quality, these crashed and split in fall or were partially destroyed.
Tao Xin could see the Cultivators frantically running around trying to figure out what had happened.
This brought even more time for Tao Xin and he kept the light barrage on as a means to prevent communication for the time being.
He tore a High-Grade Communication Talisman and reported to the Strategist. "I have crashed their reinforcement's flying ships, they are partially or completely non-functional."
Tao Xin could hear a click of a tongue from the other side. "You will have to work overtime as our allies are not close to this place." The Strategist sounded angry.
"Moreover, the Western bastards intend to join too." He gnashed his teeth as the Advanced Reconnaissance Unit reported to him. It was bad enough that those Northern assholes were here, but even West came! What's next?! The East?!
"Reporting! The Advanced Reconnaissance Unit spotted flying ships from the East! They carry symbols of the Eastern Sects!" The Cultivator hurriedly reported.
"What the Fuck!? What's next!? The Founders will descend?!" The Strategist cursed loudly. Things got even more complicated and they didn't have the manpower to do anything about this.
Even more obstacles popped up in their path and they could only hope to persevere until the Evolution finishes...
He was not that concerned about the Eastern Sects as they were weak compared to the others, but the West Sect was a big issue as their Young Master had the weirdest quirks.
He even tried to contract a Sacred Beast to have him as a means to warm his soup! The Strategist didn't want to deal with that madman, but now he got a report that the same person was approaching?! Can't he run away home and under bedsheets until this whole thing passes?!
