At any other time, Song Xianming's approach would have meant spreading his already limited strength even thinner, handing the enemy the perfect chance to drag them all down together.
The reason he dared to take such a bold risk now was that he had keenly spotted a weakness in the Silvermoon Demon Wolf clan's campaign.
On the surface, the wolves appeared to be pressing in with overwhelming force. But after waging a prolonged, grueling war in the Border State, they had already suffered heavy losses. Their strength was no longer as solid as it seemed.
And in such a state, they had chosen to split their forces, sending the larger portion against the Wuling Sect and the Liuyun Sect.
Whether this was due to overconfidence or some other reason, it undoubtedly eased the pressure on the Song clan.
If the wolves had concentrated all their remaining strength to attack in one wave, even Song Xianming might have felt some unease. But under the current circumstances, he was confident he could match them blow for blow.
The force headed for the Song clan was formidable, yes, but numbers were its fatal flaw.
Unless they could resist the urge to prey upon the hundreds of thousands of mortals in the clan's domain… resist wiping out the dozen or so cultivation clans in the Wangyue Mountains… and ignore the Wang and Yu clans snapping at their flanks…
If they couldn't, they would have to split up their forces. And once they split up, their power would be greatly diminished.
In that case, the Song clan could not only withstand them but might even launch a counterattack.
The wolves did have another option: to focus first on eliminating the Song clan's outer "wings," cutting them off from all support, and only then striking the isolated main force.
That tactic could indeed ruin Song Xianming's plans, maybe even turn the tables entirely.
But the Song clan would never sit idly by and watch that happen. If the wolves struck at the Wang clan or any affiliated cultivation family, the Songs could unite with the Wuling and Liuyun sects to crush the other demon wolf army and perhaps even devour it whole.
At that point, the wolf force before them would become the prey trapped inside the urn.
There was also a middle-ground option for the wolves: the great demon personally leading a handpicked elite to keep the Song clan pinned down. But that, too, played right into Song Xianming's hands.
On the surface, it would be the Song clan tied up. In truth, the great demon would also be tied down, and the situation would remain far from dire.
Before long, the Song clan moved into action. All clansmen outside were recalled.
Messages went out to the Wang and Yu clans, as well as the Wuling and Liuyun sects.
"Everyone, what are your thoughts?"
In the newly built main hall of the Liuyun Sect, Liu Hongye sat in the chief seat. Liu Hongyan and another Liu clan elder were to his left; Grand Elder Xia Ai and two other elders, both from rogue cultivator backgrounds, were to his right.
Though they were gathered under one roof, the division between them was stark, each representing a different interest group.
At Liu Hongye's question, Xia Ai lowered his eyelids lazily, looking for all the world as if he were asleep. The two elders beside him copied his manner, as though they hadn't heard a word.
A flash of irritation passed through Liu Hongye's eyes, though he could do nothing about it.
Since the Liu clan's flight south from the north, they had lost many clansmen. The battle in the Liuyun Mountains had cost them even more, leaving only a few survivors. Even after promoting all the Liu survivors to high positions, he still lacked the strength to truly control the sect.
To make matters worse, the proud, highborn Liu cultivators looked down on the outsiders who had joined the sect later. This led to frequent clashes.
Xia Ai and the other rogue cultivator elders, on the other hand, had quickly banded together. In short order, they had become able to stand toe-to-toe with Liu Hongye himself.
Now, nothing could be done in the sect without Xia Ai's approval.
"Grand Elder, you are a man of great virtue and prestige. What are your thoughts on this matter?" Forced to swallow his pride, Liu Hongye asked again for his opinion.
Only then did Xia Ai open his eyes slightly and say lightly,
"Demon beasts are invading. Since our sect has taken root in Lingzhou, we cannot stay out of it.
"The Song clan has already taken the main burden upon themselves. There's no harm in following their plan. As for the disciples within the sect, I will speak to them. I trust they will put the greater good first."
"In that case, I must trouble you, Grand Elder." Liu Hongye clenched his hand under the table, but kept a mask of "sincere" gratitude on his face.
Only he knew how suffocating it was to sit in this seat. If not for the need to stick together in hard times, he would have killed this arrogant old fool long ago.
A similar scene played out in the Wuling Sect. After much back-and-forth, they too agreed to follow the Song clan's plan.
The Yu and Wang clans, by contrast, agreed readily that their assigned tasks were the lightest, after all.
And so, the fragmented forces of Lingzhou reached a rare, temporary consensus: to face the Silvermoon Demon Wolves' assault together.
Song Xianming stood with his hands clasped behind his back, watching the sun sink slowly toward the horizon. The constant movement of his fingers betrayed that his mind was anything but calm.
"Big Brother, are you worrying about the coming battle… or about Changsheng?" Song Xianyun came to stand beside him, smiling faintly as he asked.
"A bit of both," Song Xianming replied. "Tell me, Twenty-First Brother, should we use that place?" He turned to look at the clan brother who appeared even older than himself, his tone uncertain.
"Big Brother… it hasn't come to that, has it?" Song Xianyun's face paled. He knew exactly what Song Xianming was referring to.
That was a hidden escape route prepared long ago by the Song clan's ancestors for their descendants.
Extremely well-concealed, it led outside the Great Qi cultivation world and could only be used once. Even Song Xianming himself did not know exactly where it would lead.
Within the entire clan, only Song Xianming and Song Xianyun knew its precise location and the method to activate it; not even the young clan leader, Song Changsheng, had been informed.
By the clan's ancestral rules, it could only be activated when the Song clan faced an existential crisis. In the past five hundred years, it had been used only a handful of times, and each time, the clan had managed to survive in the end.
The last time it had been opened was during the massive invasion of the Lieyang Sect.
"Big Brother… do you truly believe the situation has already reached that point?" Song Xianyun was visibly startled. Though the Silvermoon Demon Wolves came with great momentum, he still felt they were not as great a threat as the Lieyang Sect had been.
After all, demon beasts were not the same as the Lieyang Sect. The Lieyang Sect's invasion had been aimed solely at the Song clan, allowing the rest of Lingzhou to stand aside and negotiate from a position of strength.
This time was different. The tragedy of Border State was fresh in everyone's minds. The wolves were here to wipe out all of Lingzhou.
As such, regardless of past grudges, the major powers of Lingzhou would join hands to face them together. This alone reduced the pressure on the Song clan by severalfold.
Moreover, demon wolves were not adept at breaking formations, nor did they possess the endless variety of tactics that human cultivators employed. With only a single great demon, it would be extremely difficult for them to breach the Song clan's protective formation.
From any angle, it did not seem to warrant activating the escape route.
Thus, he regarded Song Xianming's concern with a hint of skepticism.
Song Xianming sighed softly and said,
"Third-tier formations aren't unique to us. The Lin clan in Border State also had a lower-grade third-tier defensive formation, and yet, they held out for only a few days before it was breached.
"I suspect the Silvermoon Demon Wolves possess some special formation-breaking method. That's why I believe we must prepare for the worst."
"Then, Big Brother, which clansmen do you think should be sent?" Song Xianyun's heart sank. He knew well the power of a third-tier formation.
When Liu Hongye and the others had attacked the Liuyun marketplace, they had not only smuggled in agents to cause internal disruption, but had also used two third-tier formation-breaking talismans.
And that had been against a formation that hadn't been fully activated.
With proper preparation and a third-tier formation master overseeing it, even three or four great demons would have difficulty breaking through.
The Lin clan, while lacking a third-tier formation master, still had several second-tier masters, yet they had lasted only a few days.
After a moment's thought, Song Xianming said,
"Changxue, Changqin, Qingshi, Qinghong, Qingxia… have them led by… Luzhou. If the protective formation is breached, they will take with them the three main ingredients for refining Foundation Establishment Pills, and leave through that route."
These were the most outstanding youths of the Song clan's younger generation. Together with Song Luzhou, the exceptional alchemist, and the Foundation Establishment Pill ingredients, even if the Song clan was destroyed, so long as they escaped, there would be hope for revival.
"Understood. I'll make the arrangements." Song Xianyun nodded and left quickly.
Song Xianming stood silently, gazing at the endless mountains ahead, until… the last ray of sunlight was swallowed by the horizon.
Awooo!
A massive white wolf, more than ten zhang long, stood atop a boulder and howled to the sky. The force of its presence made all the surrounding beasts bow their heads.
Pale moonlight washed over its body, the half-moon mark on its forehead glowing brightly. Its thick, layered fur bristled like steel needles, and its green eyes gleamed with eerie light.
This was the "King" of the Silvermoon Demon Wolves.
Of course, the title was only nominal; only after breaking through to the fourth tier could it truly be considered a demon king. For now, it was merely the pack's leader.
The Silvermoon Demon Wolf clan ranked among the top ten in the entire Ten-Thousand Mountains, yet they had very few wolves at the great demon level. At present, Silvermoon was the only one.
This was due to the nature of their bloodline: the mortality rate when advancing from the second to the third tier was extremely high. But once that hurdle was passed, the bloodline would evolve, producing a true Silvermoon Demon Wolf.
Not only would its body and intellect grow stronger, but it would also awaken a powerful innate divine ability, and that was the source of Silvermoon's confidence in this campaign.
Awooo… awooo.
A massive black-furred wolf approached and bowed respectfully.
"No," Silvermoon growled, its eyes flashing with irritation. "We march through the night. Lingzhou must be destroyed at the fastest speed possible to complete the Demon King's mission!"
To think this mutt dared to ask about hunting for blood-food before fulfilling the Demon King's orders is unacceptable!
The oppressive aura rolling off Silvermoon forced the black wolf flat to the ground, its submission enforced by the power of bloodline suppression.
Moments later, the demon wolf army surged forward with renewed speed. In just a day and a night, they crossed a vast stretch of Lingzhou's uninhabited land and reached the foot of the Wangyue Mountains.
Silvermoon ignored the small cultivation clans along the way, wasting no time on them.
To it, these were merely sheep waiting to be slaughtered. Once the Song clan was gone, they would become nothing more than rations for the pack.
The Song clan was already fully prepared. The protective formation had been activated, heavy layers of mist blanketing the entirety of Cangmang Peak, making it impossible to see what lay within.
This was the Thousand Illusion Maze Formation, crafted at great cost by the clan's ancestors. Powered by a third-tier spiritual vein, and anchored by the lower-grade magic treasure Phantom Mist Veil and the mid-grade magic treasure Steady the Rivers and Mountains, it combined offense and defense into one formidable whole.
Over five hundred Song clan cultivators, led by Song Xianyun and the other Foundation Establishment elders, stood ready within the formation. Even though they had all passed the clan's combat trials, the sight of the wolf tide sweeping toward them made their palms slick with nervous sweat.
Awooo!
Silvermoon climbed a low hill and let out a long howl.
Hundreds of first-tier wolves, led by more than ten second-tier wolves, charged into the mist.
This was a common beast tactic for breaking formations: send in low-tier beasts first to probe and wear down the defenses, then follow up with brute force to shatter the array.
Simple, but effective.
As the wolves entered the formation, Song Xianyun roared,
"Men of the Song clan, follow me and kill the enemy!"
"Kill!"
The Song cultivators instantly dispersed, using their identity tokens to merge seamlessly into the mist.
The hunt… had begun.
....
A massive wolf moved cautiously through the dense mist, its copper-bell-like eyes darting about as it scanned its surroundings. From time to time, it cast spells in an attempt to disperse the fog.
Yet every time it managed to clear away a patch, more mist would quickly roll in to fill its vision once again.
This both irritated it and made it uneasy.
Ever since it had entered this place, it had been separated from the main pack, and there was a strange force pressing down on it, weakening its strength by nearly thirty percent.
It wanted to retreat, but it could no longer tell which way was out. Its only choice was to keep moving forward, occasionally letting out a long howl in the hope of finding its kin.
Just then, a chill ran down its spine. It immediately leapt sideways with all its strength.
Its paws had barely left the ground when a slash of sword qi swept in from behind, carving a scar a zhang long into the earth.
"Awooo!"
Landing, the giant wolf instantly entered battle mode. Its bloody maw opened wide, revealing pale fangs as it unleashed a blade of wind toward the direction the attack had come from.
Bang!
The wind blade cleaved through an ancient tree, but the attacker was nowhere to be seen.
The wolf's eyes flicked warily about, and it knew the enemy was hiding somewhere in this damned fog.
Swish
A sudden rustling of leaves.
The giant wolf immediately sent several more wind blades slicing toward the sound.
The next instant, an uneasy realization struck it had sensed no enemy there at all.
Shhhhk!
The air tore open with a sharp hiss.
The giant wolf hurriedly gathered its demonic qi into a shield.
A razor-edged sword qi shot in from its left.
The shield shattered instantly.
The wolf's eyes went wide in alarm, and it tried to dodge, but its enemy had no intention of giving it the chance.
With a flash of cold light, a longsword lunged from the mist, piercing through its hide and heart, pinning it to the ground.
The giant wolf let out a final, despairing whimper before its life slipped away.
From the mist stepped Song Qingxia. She spared the corpse only a single, indifferent glance. With a graceful wave of her hand, the longsword flew back into her grasp.
One smooth flick of the blade, and the blood was gone. The sword gleamed even sharper than before.
Clang
The steel returned to its sheath, and Song Qingxia vanished back into the fog to seek her next target.
The same scene played out in multiple places at the foot of Cangmang Peak, where wolves were slain, but Song clan cultivators also fell, their bodies and souls extinguished.
Song Xianming stood in the cold wind, formation flag in hand. His gaze cut through the heavy mist to lock onto the enormous white wolf, his eyes brimming with killing intent.
Sensing something, Silvermoon turned its gaze toward the mountain peak there, and a fierce will to fight was surging into the sky.
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