Chapter 127: Whose Plan Is This

Fierce battles raged on nearby mountain peaks. From a distance, various colored lights flashed continuously, and spiritual energy fluctuations were incredibly chaotic.

Qingyu Mountain had formally launched an assault on the Tailuo Sect, deploying five or six assault teams simultaneously. Each team targeted a different peak, where intense battles unfolded with dozens, or even hundreds, of cultivators engaged.

Halfway up the mountain, Xie Jin's team remained on standby.

The five individuals and their mounts remained completely silent, quietly recovering and conserving their energy.

Their mission was simple: await the enemy's hunting team. If the opposing team failed to appear, they were to join forces with the nearest allied assault team to eliminate enemy cultivators.

The Qin family had already been intimidated, leaving Qingyu Mountain free of internal concerns and able to engage the Tailuo Sect in a full-scale battle.

Half an hour into the main battle, Xie Jin suddenly opened his eyes and quietly commanded, "Go!"

The five immediately mounted their steeds. Lu Ye took the lead, with Xie Jin and Tao Tiangang in the middle, and Song Xie and Qiao Qiao'er bringing up the rear.

Originally, Xie Jin had led the formation, but he had sustained an injury in a battle the day before. Although not critical, the wound was significant enough to impair his performance.

Ultimately, Lu Ye was chosen to take his place.

To their surprise, subsequent battles proved significantly easier. With Lu Ye charging at the vanguard, enemy casualties often occurred almost immediately, allowing their team to quickly gain a numerical advantage.

Recalling their various joint battles over the past few days, the team members increasingly believed Lu Ye's background was extraordinary.

The five individuals and their mounts thundered forward.

Xie Jin pointed the way for Lu Ye, who was at the very front. Instead of heading towards the peak, they charged towards the other side of the mountainside.

Lu Ye immediately understood. This meant they were going to intercept the enemy's hunting team. It also implied that their allies held an advantage in the battle on the peak; otherwise, the enemy's hunting team wouldn't be dispatched as reinforcements.

"Five of them: two at the fifth layer, three at the fourth layer," Xie Jin roared from behind Lu Ye. "You take one, I'll take one!"

Lu Ye nodded.

Qiao Qiao'er chuckled, "They certainly think highly of us."

The fact that the enemy had deployed two fifth-layer cultivators specifically to counter their hunting team showed the Tailuo Sect's significant concern. It wasn't surprising, given how many enemy cultivators Lu Ye's team had eliminated in recent days; no one dared to underestimate them.

"They've changed direction and are heading straight for us!" Xie Jin roared once more.

He didn't need the reminder. Lu Ye, leading the charge, had already faintly spotted several rapidly approaching figures, their distance shrinking fast.

While still thirty *zhang* away, Lu Ye locked his gaze on the leading fifth-layer cultivator. The man had a fierce expression, a small mustache on his chin, and appeared to be in his early twenties.

Lu Ye raised his hand and cast a spell. However, due to the violent jostling, his aim was poor, and the spell missed its target.

He cast a second, this time with much better aim, but the opponent dodged by crouching low.

With the distance between them now less than ten *zhang*, Lu Ye slowly drew his long saber.

The opponent's mount was an unknown beast, resembling a lion and a tiger. As they sped past each other, Lu Ye raised his saber and struck down at the fifth-layer cultivator atop the beast.

As the opponent dodged past, his mount unexpectedly twisted its body and collided with Amber.

Amber roared. At the same time, Lu Ye felt a powerful impact, sending him flying. He rolled several times on the ground before regaining his footing.

He quickly scanned his surroundings, realizing that everyone behind him had suffered the same fate: all were knocked off their mounts and struggled to their feet. This applied not only to his team but to the enemies as well.

It appeared the enemy preferred to fight on foot rather than from their mounts.

Lu Ye's gaze lowered slightly as he tightened his grip on his long saber. Their opponents' actions suggested they were highly confident in eliminating them.

Where did such confidence come from?

There was no time for further thought. The moment he landed, Lu Ye charged forward, striking his saber towards the mustachioed fifth-layer cultivator's neck before he could fully regain his balance.

The opponent quickly raised an arm to block the strike.

With a clang, the sharpened saber failed to sever the opponent's arm, instead striking like it had hit metal.

Lu Ye immediately realized the opponent must have been wearing some type of arm guard. No wonder he dared to block the saber directly.

This individual was likely a body cultivator. Though not particularly muscular, his vital energy and blood were exceptionally vigorous.

Moreover, his reactions were incredibly swift. Before Lu Ye could retract his saber, the man punched towards his chest. Lu Ye quickly pulled back, drawing his saber diagonally.

A grating sound echoed as sparks flew. The mustachioed man threw another punch, and Lu Ye quickly raised his saber to block. Under the immense force, he was sent stumbling back a few steps.

Beast roars echoed as the ten mounts engaged each other in pairs. Meanwhile, Xie Jin and the others had also found their respective opponents, each displaying their unique skills.

"They're not fourth-layer!" Song Xie's startled cry suddenly rang out.

This shout genuinely alarmed everyone.

The intelligence Xie Jin had received came from Tang Wu via the Shadow Moon Disk. On the disk, each differently colored light point represented a different faction, and the hue of the points indicated the cultivators' cultivation levels.

This Tailuo Sect hunting team of five had appeared on the Shadow Moon Disk as two fifth-layer and three fourth-layer cultivators. While not a weak composition, Lu Ye and his team weren't intimidated. Xie Jin, being a fifth-layer cultivator, could hold off one enemy of equal rank, and Lu Ye had a proven record of defeating fifth-layer opponents. The others merely needed to handle their assigned targets.

Therefore, before the battle began, everyone's morale was relatively relaxed, believing that even if they couldn't secure a victory, they wouldn't face significant danger.

However, once they engaged in combat, Song Xie was horrified to discover that his opponent was, in fact, a fifth-layer cultivator. What terrified him even more was that his foe was a spell cultivator, unleashing a barrage of spells that prevented him from closing the distance. He could only flee awkwardly, a strategy that would inevitably lead to his demise.

"Ah!" Another scream pierced the air; it was Tao Tiangang. As he cried out, his body reeled backward uncontrollably, revealing a foot-long gash on his chest, flesh torn and exposed.

His opponent, having gained the upper hand, pressed the attack relentlessly. Judging by the spiritual energy fluctuations from his strikes, this individual was clearly also a fifth-layer cultivator.

Qiao Qiao'er instantly panicked. Fortunately, her own opponent was indeed only a fourth-layer cultivator and hadn't displayed any fifth-layer cultivation. However, the current situation was gravely disadvantageous to their side. What they believed to be a team with only two fifth-layer cultivators had suddenly become four, and while the numbers were still equal, this created an overwhelming disparity in power.

As soon as either Song Xie or Tao Tiangang fell in defeat, the enemy would gain a numerical advantage, snowballing their superior position.

In the grand hall, Tang Wu's expression was grim. He looked up at Han Zheyue and muttered, "A woman's heart truly is like a needle at the bottom of the sea!"

By this point, he realized he had been outmaneuvered. The Tailuo Sect possessed a method to suppress cultivation levels—a technique not entirely unheard of, though uncommon among lower-tier cultivators. Ordinary spirit talismans lacked this capability; a 'Qi-Concealing Talisman,' for instance, merely obscured all spiritual energy, rather than actively suppressing cultivation.

Achieving such an effect required a specific spiritual pattern, which also had to be permanently inscribed onto the cultivator's body.

This demanded the intervention of a highly skilled spiritual pattern master, and commissioning such an expert came at a significant cost.

The Tailuo Sect itself didn't possess such a figure, meaning these two fifth-layer cultivators must have been arranged by them in advance. Their deployment at this precise moment had truly caught Qingyu Mountain completely off guard.

Han Zheyue no longer exhibited her previous irritability. She covered her mouth and chuckled, "Men are truly easy to deceive." She cast a sidelong glance at Tang Wu. "Did you really think I didn't know that tiger-riding boy was part of this hunting team?"

Her previous behavior had, in fact, been nothing more than a ruse to mislead Tang Wu.

"Although you've made various misleading arrangements these past few days to obscure my vision, I've been watching him closely. I know exactly where he is." Han Zheyue raised a slender, jade-like finger and tapped the Shadow Moon Disk at the point where the two hunting teams clashed. "The Qin family's heavy losses in recent days are largely due to this boy. Such an individual naturally needs to be dealt with quickly. So, I'll start by dealing with your hunting team."

Her finger slowly moved upward, pointing to a mountain peak where blue and black dots were clashing. She continued, "Then I'll send reinforcements here. Once everyone here is eliminated, my Tailuo Sect's assault teams can tear a gap in your defensive line, push straight through, and invade your rear. At that point, we'll kill everyone we see, two by two, until you're fleeing in terror, hahahaha!"

Tang Wu's expression was grim, for this had originally been *his* plan. If Xie Jin's team could eliminate the enemy's hunting team, they would then reinforce the nearby battle, where Qingyu Mountain already held a slight advantage. Xie Jin's team joining the fray would have steadily expanded that advantage.

In her previous deployments, Han Zheyue had pulled many of her forces from the rear of her territory to the front lines, leaving the rear defenses extremely weak. If the battle on the front-line peaks could be won, and enough enemies eliminated, then the rear defenses would be as flimsy as paper for Qingyu Mountain. At that point, they could attack any peak they desired.

Today's battle was arguably the most crucial engagement of the entire Dragon Spring Gathering. Victory would ensure boundless opportunities, while defeat would be irreparable for either side.

Tang Wu had initially believed Han Zheyue's decision to reallocate cultivators from the rear to the front lines was a tactical blunder. However, it now seemed this woman had foreseen everything; her earlier displays of frustration and anger had merely been a disguise.

She had allowed Tang Wu to make his various deployments, then opportunistically turned his own plans against him, transforming them into her own strategy.

Tang Wu's eyelids twitched. He knew he had severely underestimated Han Zheyue, and the price of that miscalculation was almost unbearable.

To the side, Qin Wanli watched in trepidation. Compared to cunning individuals like Tang Wu and Han Zheyue, he felt like nothing more than a naive little rabbit... For the Qin family to rise, the path ahead was long and arduous indeed!