Rise of the Wang Clan: Starting with a Portable Farm

Chapter 171: Recovery

At the Burning Heaven Sect, Sha Dinshan was meditating in a hall on one of its peaks.

An elderly Golden Core cultivator in red robes suddenly entered. His wrinkled face suggested that he was at least four hundred years old.

“Junior Brother Sha! It’s a disaster!” the elder gasped, his expression grave. “We’ve received reliable intelligence. That old scoundrel Du Guangchao is actually attempting to break through to the Nascent Soul realm!”

Sha Dinshan calmly finished his practice and opened his eyes.

“Senior Brother Zhu,” he said, his voice flat. “Is this not exactly what we predicted? There is no need for panic.”

“But what if he succeeds?” Zhu Neng remained anxious. Though older and earlier to reach Golden Core, his impetuous temperament had kept him from leading the sect.

“Reaching Nascent Soul is hardly easy,” Sha Dinshan said. “Du Guangchao probably acquired a Nascent Soul formation aid on the Qianyuan Continent recently. Even if he refined his true essence perfectly and began at once, it would take at least two years to reach the final stage and summon the lightning tribulation. Barely one year has passed. If he could already succeed, Nascent Soul cultivators would be everywhere in the Southern Sea.”

Zhu Neng sat and poured himself tea. After drinking it, he calmed somewhat. “I worry they might have another card. What if the trip to the Qianyuan Continent was only a diversion?”

“You think they obtained a Nascent Soul formation aid long ago? If so, Du Guangchao would have made his attempt much earlier. His long wait shows that the Qingyuan Sect had none, or at best an inferior one he dared not use.”

“We should still be cautious. Shall we move early? If we let those families attack the Qingyuan Sect’s subordinate forces alone, they may accomplish little,” Zhu Neng said.

Sha Dinshan shook his head.

“Those Foundation Establishment families hardly matter. I sent them to test the Qingyuan Sect and remove some minor obstacles. As long as we stay still, the Qingyuan Sect will not dare reinforce its subordinates. The families may win something; if they lose, we can simply support others who wish to serve the Burning Heaven Sect.”

In truth, the Burning Heaven Sect had never intended to launch its war alongside its subordinate families. It was using them as disposable scouts. Even Ji Shuguang and the others were not told: they dealt with the families regularly, and a careless remark could spoil the plan.

Gu Lizhan and the others would have been disheartened to hear this. Had Gu Lizhan not followed the sect’s orders, why would he have gone to the Ye family’s Double Dragon Mountain, and why would his own family have been overrun? Sha Dinshan cared nothing for their survival. For the Qingyuan Sect’s fourth-rank spirit mountain, he would even sacrifice his own Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Wang Hao hurried back to Wang Family Ridge, informed Wang Yanzhao, and secluded himself in his cave to heal.

Maple Leaf Market had begun mobilizing Qi Refining cultivators during the attack on the Gu family. Given the distance, war could break out within a month. Wang Hao had to use every day.

His physical injuries were manageable. The damage to his soul, however, could not heal on its own in so little time.

He decided to refine Mind-Concentrating Pills. These second-rank, high-grade pills helped strengthen the soul and would also nourish his spiritual sense to some extent. They were less effective than pills made specifically to heal spiritual sense, but he had no better option.

Wang Hao had previously refused to spend fertilizer to accelerate the Spirit-Nurturing Fruit. Now, he emptied his farm warehouse to buy enough fertilizer to skip the fruit’s remaining eight years of growth.

His alchemy experience served him well. The refinement went smoothly, yielding two Mind-Concentrating Pills.

He looked at the round purple pills in his hand, took a deep breath, and swallowed one.

As he meditated, his brows sometimes tightened and sometimes relaxed. His injuries gradually healed.

Twenty days later, Wang Hao emerged from the cave looking much better.

He flew straight to the mountaintop to see Wang Yanzhao.

Seeing his healthy complexion, Wang Yanzhao smiled with relief. “I’m glad you’re all right. The Lei family sent word yesterday: Maple Leaf Market’s people have crossed the border. Their Qi Refining disciples will reach Lei territory in at most ten days. If their Foundation Establishment cultivators make a sudden attack, battle may begin within a day or two.”

This would differ from the raids Wang Hao and his companions had launched. Moving so many cultivators at once required a warship or another large flying vessel, which Maple Leaf Market lacked. Most would have to travel by ordinary means.

Wang Hao doubted a strike by an elite force would help them much now. After losing two families, their elite strength roughly matched that of the Five Families of Green Bull and might even be slightly weaker.

Burning Heaven Sect territory was more thoroughly developed, however, and held more mortals. Larger mortal populations produced more cultivators. Foundation Establishment Pills limited the number who could advance, but their lower-level forces were more numerous.

The Si family alone had over a hundred cultivators after less than two hundred years, while the Wang family had taken four or five centuries to reach that number. Si Ji’s much criticized practice of borrowing seed accounted for only half; the rest were natural descendants. The Ye, He, and Gu families each had over three hundred Qi Refining cultivators. Even sending half would outnumber the Five Families of Green Bull.

Still, Wang Hao could not dictate the enemy’s plans. Perhaps Maple Leaf Market would attempt a surprise attack after all; the Wang family had to stay on guard.

On the map, the border between Maple Leaf Market and Green Bull Market was narrow. During the beast tide, the Wang and Li families and Green Bull Market had held the front line. Now the Lei and Zhao families were the most exposed.

The Li family, near Severed Origin Mountain, was safest. The Wang family’s Ruojun Mountain was relatively secure too, which was why Wang Hao had proposed withdrawing its defenders to concentrate on Wang Family Ridge. If the Zhao family fell, Wang Family Ridge would become the front line.

Ideally, the Wang and Li families would send some forces to aid the Zhao family, while the Cheng family aided the Lei family. But they were not defending walled cities. The Zhao and Lei lands were vast; only their spirit mountains could be held. Maple Leaf Market’s forces could pass through and attack the Wang family directly.

Without sufficient incentive, the Wang and Li families would not reinforce them. If the enemy’s main force committed to besieging the Zhao and Lei families, though, they would not stand idle. They understood that when the lips were gone, the teeth would be exposed. They would first need to be sure their own lands were safe.

The Five Families of Green Bull had agreed to aid one another when necessary. Somehow Lei Liheng had persuaded the Cheng and Zhao families to bring their entire households to help the Lei family.

The Zhao family’s decision was understandable: weak and on the front line, they were almost certain to lose if they defended alone. The Cheng family stood in the middle of the five and was relatively safe from any direction, though that safety had limits.

Lei Liheng must have offered them something they could not refuse.