'A special vanguard?'
Qi Ping frowned upon reading the message. 'Are the enemies coming so soon?'
The message had been sent within the last month, and there was no further detail available. With a mere thought, he located Lin Yue and hurried to his position.
"Dean, you've arrived!" Lin Yue, who was currently studying a map of the Star-Sea Continent, quickly stepped forward and cupped his hands in greeting.
"Yes," Qi Ping nodded. "I saw the message from a month ago. Meng Tianqi and the others received word that a vanguard would soon arrive. Do we have more details? Arrival time, scale, strength?"
Lin Yue shook his head. "We haven't been able to find out. The Heavenly Dragon cultivators have become suspicious of them. They seem to have formed closer ties with a different group of people, similar to our arrangement. No further word has leaked."
"That makes things difficult."
"Indeed. We can't even tell if this 'vanguard' is a bluff. It might exist, it might not, or it could be the entire main army trying to catch us off guard by making us complacent." Lin Yue continued, "After consulting with Senior Meng Tianqi, we decided to have them maintain the appearance of 'playing both sides.' They are currently viewed as fence-sitters by the other faction. While they don't have full trust, they can still gain some information and avoid being cornered prematurely."
"That is indeed the best choice for now. However, it also carries the risk of them being targeted for a purge. Do we have a counter-strategy?"
"Thanks to the teleportation arrays you set up, they have been gradually moving their core personnel and foundations to a secret base over the past year. If an insurmountable danger arises, they can use the arrays to escape immediately."
"Oh, and another thing," Lin Yue added. "The Star-Sea Alliance is planning to hold a core meeting in two months, requiring everyone to attend. We suspect it is a 'Feast at Hongmen.' (TN: A Chinese idiom referring to a trap disguised as a banquet). If they go, they might be ambushed; if they don't, their stance will be fully exposed. They are currently undecided and wanted me to ask for your opinion, Dean!"
This was an open scheme. They were simply waiting for Meng Tianqi's group to make a move.
"A trap, is it?" Qi Ping's brow arched, but he quickly relaxed.
This was indeed a thorny issue. If Meng Tianqi and the others were ambushed at the Alliance headquarters and suffered heavy losses, it would be a devastating blow to Qi Ping's future plans. But staying away wouldn't yield good results either.
"Forget about the meeting. Tell them to drop whatever they are doing and come here via the teleportation arrays immediately!"
As he spoke, a flash of killing intent crossed Qi Ping's eyes.
"Understood! I'll notify them at once!" Lin Yue didn't hesitate. He completed the task swiftly and then looked back at Qi Ping. "Dean, are you planning to strike directly?"
Looking at Qi Ping's demeanor, Lin Yue had a rough guess as to his intentions.
"Yes. Since they want to play at traps, I'll just flip the table entirely!"
Soon after Lin Yue sent the messages, the eighteen figures who had met Qi Ping previously all gathered within the secret spatial teleportation chamber of the Qingtian Domain. At this point, their lives and destinies were irrevocably tied to Qi Ping's ship; there was no other choice.
Once everyone arrived, they presented themselves before Qi Ping.
"Venerable Bee!" the eighteen leaders greeted respectfully.
"No need for formalities," Qi Ping waved them off. "I'm sure you've guessed why I called you here today. But before I announce my decision, I want to hear your thoughts. What do you think about this upcoming Alliance meeting?"
Qi Ping's gaze swept over every person in the room. Although he had already made up his mind, this decision involved the overarching strategy and the survival of everyone involved. Hearing different perspectives might help him avoid any blind spots in his own perception.
"Venerable Bee, we have discussed this privately many times and considered various scenarios. However, whether we go or not, the outcome seems bleak. Therefore, we believe we must transcend this line of thinking entirely," Meng Tianqi spoke up.
"Transcending the thinking?" Qi Ping looked at Meng Tianqi with interest.
"Yes. Since there is no good outcome regardless, and they are waiting for us to reveal our hand, we might as well flip the table while they are waiting. We have already spent the last year preparing for this eventuality anyway!"
"Furthermore, that vanguard from the Heavenly Dragon Continent is about to arrive. We don't know the extent of the enemy's strength. In the face of such an unknown, we must resolve our internal divisions as quickly as possible and forge ourselves into a single, unified block!"
"Our advantage in this fight is that we have already achieved a solid, unified front. The others are different. According to our investigation, aside from a few who have fully defected to the Heavenly Dragon side, most are merely in a state of self-interest. They look like a vast crowd, but in reality, they are a pile of loose sand!"
"Moreover, they are still unaware that besides our own combat power, we have your hidden cards, Venerable Bee, and the wartime mobility provided by the linked teleportation arrays."
"The only thing to fear is whether they have trump cards provided by that person from the Heavenly Dragon Continent."
"Regardless, I believe now is the time for battle. Only by seizing control of all the hubs of the Profound Heaven Grand Array as early as possible can we control the initiative in the coming war!"
As Meng Tianqi finished, his eyes were filled with a resolute and decisive light. His entire aura began to condense to a peak, and a unique Dao-rhyme began to emanate from him. The Laws of Life and Death manifested naturally around his body...
Enlightenment!
Qi Ping's eyes lit up. He immediately signaled for everyone to remain silent; no one was to disturb Meng Tianqi's breakthrough!
Before the war, having Meng Tianqi—the person with the highest cultivation and law comprehension—achieve a breakthrough was undoubtedly an auspicious omen!
Two hours passed, and Meng Tianqi remained in a state of deep epiphany for the entire duration. After those two hours, his comprehension of Life and Death shattered its previous limits. The bottleneck that had been stubbornly holding him back for years crumbled with a thunderous roar!
"Life and Death... I have broken through! Hahahaha!" Meng Tianqi laughed heartily.
In that moment, personal survival, the fate of his sect, the life and death of the continent in the coming war—these powerful convictions had interwoven and converged, finally helping him push his Life and Death laws to the Perfection stage of Void Refinement! He had even faintly touched upon a higher realm.
Sensing that nearly Unity-stage law intent, everyone, including Qi Ping, was shaken.
"Good! Truly good! Congratulations, Friend Meng, for breaking through your shackles!"
Qi Ping looked at Meng Tianqi with surprise. This man was indeed a rare talent. To have the courage to abandon his sect's meager resources and focus entirely on comprehending laws and manuals required immense grit. It was no wonder he could push the Laws of Life and Death to such a height!
He had likely researched these laws to an extreme depth in the past but lacked the spark of visceral experience to grasp the core essence. This moment, facing a choice that would determine the fate of all things, had provided the perfect catalyst to integrate his accumulation.
"Congratulations, Friend Meng!" the others chimed in, echoing Qi Ping's congratulations.
Meng Tianqi's breakthrough was a boon for all of them! His combat power was already among the top in the Star-Sea Continent, with many believing he could contest for the second rank. Though no one knew for sure without a life-and-death struggle, his breakthrough now left the true ranking in question.
Everyone also realized a possibility: this war might be Meng Tianqi's "ascent to godhood." The coming conflict, involving the death and rebirth of countless lives and the continent itself, was a natural training ground for the True Intent of Life and Death. With Meng Tianqi's talent, he would surely seize this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
If Qi Ping could provide the high-level resources he promised, Meng Tianqi had a real chance to become a peerless powerhouse during this war!
"Thank you, everyone, for protecting me!" Meng Tianqi bowed sincerely to the group, then cupped his hands even more solemnly toward Qi Ping.
He knew that if he hadn't been in Qi Ping's domain, he never would have dared to enter such a deep state of epiphany so recklessly. The need to guard against enemies would have surely hampered the effect. He looked at Qi Ping with a gaze full of gratitude. In this moment, he truly felt Qi Ping's charisma; only such a man could become a leader everyone trusted.
"There is no need for such politeness. Your breakthrough is a victory for us all! The coming war is your natural training ground; make sure you grasp it well!" Qi Ping reminded him with a smile.
Based on Meng Tianqi's history, he was a man of intense personal color. His path was one of trials and tribulations, requiring deep realizations and life-and-death experiences to advance—unlike Qi Ping, who focused on farming and development. Almost every one of Meng Tianqi's previous breakthroughs had been driven by the threat of death; those perilous moments were when he advanced the fastest.
"Thank you for the reminder, Venerable Bee. Regardless of the outcome of this war, I, Meng Tianqi, swear by the Heavenly Dao to follow you faithfully."
Meng Tianqi now saw clearly that following Qi Ping was the path most suited for him. With Qi Ping's natural leadership and ability to nurture resources, following him would make obtaining critical materials much easier. He didn't mind being a subordinate; otherwise, he wouldn't have led the others to defect in the first place. What he truly sought was an environment suitable for seeking the Dao and pursuing the path to immortality!
"Good! Then let us continue our discussion. My thoughts align with yours. Since starting the war now is the best timing, we shall simply flip the table!"
As those words fell, fueled by the atmosphere of Meng Tianqi's breakthrough, a powerful killing intent surged in everyone's eyes. This sharp intent and resolute will signaled the beginning of a war that would fundamentally alter the fate of the Star-Sea Continent.
With the decision made, Qi Ping began coordinating the battle plan with the group. Using the detailed intelligence provided by the eighteen leaders, the targets were quickly identified: over twenty cultivators confirmed to have fully defected to the Heavenly Dragon side.
This included the man rumored to be the "Number One Cultivator" of the Star-Sea Continent—the person closest to the Heavenly Dragon faction. No one was sure if this person was a mercenary or an actual agent of the Heavenly Dragon Continent; even the other leaders knew little about him.
However, a disagreement arose regarding how to handle the "Number One" Void Refinement cultivator. Without knowing his true depth, should he be their primary target? What if he possessed unknown trump cards? He was the only person the group lacked confidence in defeating. As for the others, as long as they weren't all clustered together, they could be handled with ease.
Faced with this uncertainty, Qi Ping decided to pause.
"Friends, I will decide on the primary target before we strike. I have a way to perform a divination, but I need some time."
"Before we launch the attack, I will design a combined-strike formation based on your individual strengths. In this battle, we will use the teleportation arrays for support. There is no need to divide our forces; we will strike as one and crush the opposition!"
"Now, you may begin preparing to teleport your core members into the Qingtian Domain."
The subsequent preparations went smoothly. After Qi Ping obtained their ability profiles, he began researching a formation. In a large-scale war, a proper formation could elevate the collective strength of a group by an entire grade.
Meanwhile, to deal with the mysterious "Number One" cultivator, Qi Ping used his Treant clone to fetch Xiao Xianhu. He intended to use his Earth Immortal Druid power to channel the providence of the entire Qingtian Domain into the tiger, allowing it to probe the depths of this mysterious expert.