Chapter Fifty-Two: The Battle of Huaiwu

The day after the autumn equinox was drawing ever closer, and Zhou Qi led his logistics team to begin their work.

For the assault team, each member received one Returning Spirit Pill and five low-grade spirit stones; the cover team, five Returning Spirit Pills and fifteen low-grade spirit stones per person; the formation team, ten Returning Spirit Pills, ten Strength Pills, ten Vitality Pills, and fifty low-grade spirit stones each; while for the kill team and logistics team, each member was issued twenty Returning Spirit Pills, twenty Vitality Pills, twenty Strength Pills, and two hundred low-grade spirit stones.

Upon seeing this allocation plan, Zhou Qi could no longer hold back his frustration—this provision was perhaps even inferior to what the Zhengyi Sect had after his own support. The logistics team, who would not even see combat, received the same as the kill team, while the assault team’s supply was pitifully meager.

Was there to be discrimination even here? Were the lives of cultivators with lower cultivation worth any less? Had not everyone started from the Qi Refining stage? Zhou Qi argued his case with all the reason he could muster, but he could not sway the elders’ minds.

Helpless, Zhou Qi dipped into his own resources, raising the assault team’s supplies to match those of the formation team, raising the cover and formation teams’ supplies to the kill team’s standard, and increasing the kill team’s allocation by another tier, hoping in this way to give these cultivators a greater chance at survival.

High-ranking cultivators could not empathize with those of lower rank, but he was different. If he had the means to help and did not, his conscience would not rest easy.

The logistics team’s allocation remained unchanged, as they were not to take part in combat. Naturally, this measure drew complaints from team members, but Zhou Qi made it clear they were welcome to petition the sect leader for a transfer to another team if they wished for better conditions. Only then did the complaints subside.

It was little more than symbolic protest, after all—making a scene before the sect leader would not reflect well on anyone.

The first day after the autumn equinox finally arrived.

On the fields of Huaiwu, the entirety of the Celestial Couple Sect and the Life and Death Sect poured forth, assembling on opposite sides. Each had brought forth their respective guardian spirit beasts: Life and Death Sect’s was a gigantic black ape, a hundred zhang tall, grasping a massive staff, pounding its chest before the ranks of its sect; while Celestial Couple Sect’s was a pure white Ice Phoenix, wreathed in mist that seemed to freeze the very air, the two spirit beasts glaring at one another, ready to strike at any moment.

The sect leaders—Long Chengye of the Celestial Couple Sect and Han Yuanzheng of the Life and Death Sect—locked eyes as well, each flanked by four Nascent Soul cultivators. Behind them ranged armies of Nascent Soul, Golden Core, Foundation, and Qi Refining cultivators, each rank clearly distinguished, arrayed in a single line.

Neither side made the first move; all awaited the decree of the Heavenly Dao Sect, which had set the terms of this battle—when it would begin, when it would end. Who could say if the Heavenly Dao Sect would send someone to give the order? If either acted without leave, would they not risk punishment from above? Both Han Yuanzheng and Long Chengye were uncertain how to proceed.

The second day after the autumn equinox dawned, but still no emissary from the Heavenly Dao Sect appeared. The two sects faced each other for a day and a night, their initial animosity giving way to a growing awkwardness.

A thunderous roar broke the silence—the black ape beat its chest, while the Ice Phoenix, unwilling to yield, let out a piercing, provocative cry.

The two spirit beasts were of different species, and the longer they stared, the deeper their enmity grew. The black ape found the Ice Phoenix’s lofty bearing insufferable, while the Ice Phoenix regarded the ape as unbearably ugly, its upturned nostrils especially repulsive.

At first, the two spirit beasts managed to restrain their tempers under the pressure of Long Chengye and Han Yuanzheng, but after a day and a night of confrontation, they could endure no longer.

The black ape leaped into the sky, staff in hand, its mighty step shaking the earth. The Ice Phoenix, too, beat its wings and soared aloft.

No sooner had they taken to the air than battle erupted. The black ape’s staff expanded, growing ever larger, and swung toward the Ice Phoenix’s head, rending the air and leaving traces of spatial fissures in its wake.

The Ice Phoenix swept its wings, conjuring a massive ice shield above its head. The staff could not advance an inch further. An icy sword rose from the phoenix’s beak and thrust toward the black ape.

The black ape drew back its staff, shattering the ice sword with a single blow. But the Ice Phoenix was unperturbed—again and again, ice swords surged forth, stabbing at the ape from every angle.

Enraged, the black ape beat its chest with both fists. Its body swelled, black fur turning a blood-red, eyes glowing scarlet. Two beams of red light shot from its eyes, blasting toward the Phoenix, who continued to spit forth sword after sword.

The Ice Phoenix beat its wings all the faster, layers of ice shields forming around its body. The black ape’s attack was formidable and not to be taken lightly. Only after the Phoenix had conjured nine layers of ice shield did it desist.

Each time the red light struck an ice shield, it pierced through, but with every layer, the beam weakened, until, after the eighth shield, the light dissipated, unable to breach the Phoenix’s final defense.

The two spirit beasts unleashed all their magical powers against each other, yet neither could claim the upper hand. At last, they abandoned spells for close combat—the Phoenix’s sharp beak tearing chunks of flesh from the ape, while the ape’s massive hands battered the Phoenix, drawing blood and sending white feathers flying.

Blood and feathers rained down from the sky as the two beasts fought with abandon, caring nothing for their own wounds so long as they could rend flesh from their foe—a scene as brutal as it was bloody.

The onlookers below grew anxious, each hoping for victory for their own side, yet bewildered—how had these two spirit beasts come to blows so suddenly, daring to act without the Heavenly Dao Sect’s command?

Before long, the fight ended. The black ape was covered in blood, much of its flesh torn away; the Ice Phoenix was stripped of every feather, its proud and noble bearing lost. Had Han Yuanzheng and Long Chengye not intervened in time, the two would surely have fought to mutual destruction.

Exhausted, the spirit beasts were withdrawn by their respective masters, and the standoff resumed.

Han Yuanzheng and Long Chengye found themselves in an impossible position. With no word from the Heavenly Dao Sect, were they to wait indefinitely? As the proverb goes: vigor at the first drumbeat, waning at the second, exhausted by the third.

If this confrontation dragged on, their people would die not in battle, but from exhaustion of mind and spirit.

"Sect Master Long, this conflict arose from your obstinacy. Now, it is beyond your or my power to control. Regardless of victory or defeat, our two sects must see this through to the end," Han Yuanzheng said in a low, resolute voice.

Long Chengye nodded grimly, his divine sense already locked on Zhou Qi, who stood at the rear of the Life and Death Sect’s logistics team. His eyes held both hatred and a peculiar sense of relief.

Zhou Qi’s heart leapt—Long Chengye’s murderous intent was plain as day. Would he disregard the rules set by the Heavenly Dao Sect and strike at him?

"There’s no need to say more, Sect Master Han. Only battle remains," Long Chengye replied, eyes fixed on Han Yuanzheng, his gaze unwavering.

"Battle! Battle! Battle!” roared over a hundred thousand cultivators of the Celestial Couple Sect, igniting the battlefield in an instant.

On the Life and Death Sect’s side, the cultivators responded in kind: "Kill! Kill! Kill!"

Long Chengye and Han Yuanzheng exchanged a glance, and in the blink of an eye vanished into the clouds, their four Nascent Soul cultivators following close behind. In an instant, they were gone, their battlefield high above; for if they fought on the ground, the aftermath alone would annihilate countless lower-level cultivators.