It was a woeful indictment of the intelligence apparatus of the Silver Waters Sect that the first sign they saw of trouble was when food stopped being shipped down river. The twins had been monitoring their activities waiting for a response, but Xiulan was surprised it had taken them this long.
They had made no demands or vague threats. Instead, they had simply sent an army of outer sect members and a few inner sect members to attack the canal and destroy it.
It was almost comically straightforward. Xiulan had assembled a collection of her own forces to oppose the coastal cultivators. The Canal was almost finished, and this was the crucial stage of construction just before they were going to let the water into the channel.
It had to be let in gradually or too much pressure would be put onto the structure. That was exactly the Silver Waters Sect’s goal. They were attacking the dam wall that was holding river water back from the canal.
The conflict was happening just outside of Spillwater but Xiulan could not count on any aid from the city except the limited support of Combine students whose cultivation was not high enough to make a difference.
Fu Jinjing had made a beautiful set of armour for Yen Wen. Xiulan’s lovers were clustered around Xiulan on top of a small hill. They could all fight, but Xiulan did not what to put any of them at risk if she did not have too.
Yen Wen stood off a little to the side, coordinating her guards defence efforts and launching a continuous stream of arrows at our enemies. The Silver Waters sect had not expected such tough resistance. There reports had not mentioned that they would be fighting a proper force of cultivators. The Combine was supposed to be a collection of weak farmers.
Still Xiulan tsked and said, “we are still too weak. We have not had enough time to fully train our own forces to large sect standards. Would you girls mind helping? I will watch over you to make sure nothing happens to you.”
Zheng Ling rolled her eyes, “the rest of us are cultivators too you know. Not only Yen Wen is a warrior.”
She, Fu Jinjing and Bai Meirong dashed into the fray and had an immediate impact. They were not the most technically proficient fighters, but their cultivation had reached the ninth level of foundation establishment just as Xiulan’s had. Xiulan had been making money steadily and her cultivation had skyrocketed.
The battle was starting to shift in their favour when that same man who had accosted them on the boat for throwing a party immerged onto the field. He shouted, “enough,” and made a dash for Zheng Ling.
His cultivation was higher than hers and he had clearly specialised for quick brutal fights. He slipped past Zheng Ling’s guard and landed a blow that Xiluan heard cracking a rib.
Xiulan saw read and without even think about the cost chose to eliminate him. Xiulan raised her hand and snapped her fingers. She was expecting him to explode in the same why those she eliminated usually did. Evidently, he was too powerful of a cultivator to deal with that way.
The sound of Xiulan’s snapping fingers echoed in the air, growing louder with each reverberation. Suddenly a golden lightning bolt struck down from the sky and obliterated the man.
The lightning produced no thunder and there was no scorch mark left on the ground where it had struck. It was as if the lightning had vaporised him. There was not even any associated heat felt by those around him.
“The host has chosen the most inefficient option and spent one million gold coins to eliminate the target,” the system trilled breaking Xiulan’s shock.
The rest of the battle had stopped at the sudden intervention of golden lightning from the heavens. Xiulan used the silence to say, “this battle will stop here. Tell the Silver Waters Sect that this kind of conflict serves nobody. I do not want a blood feud between us. If they desist from attacking my holdings, then there is business I wish to discuss with the Sect. If the Sect cannot let the death of that man go, then I will have no choice but to bring my influence more directly to bare against the sect.”
The remaining Silver Waters sect cultivators fled the field as if they had been given a stay of execution.
Xiulan ran down the hill to Zheng Ling, calling out, “little Ling are you alright?”
Zheng Ling seemed to be in better shape than Xiulan had originally assumed. She was already applying an ointment to her side and smiled weakly, “I will be fine. This bone will just take a few weeks to recover but there will not be any permanent damage.”
Yen Wen approach breathing deeply due to all the qi she had expended on arrows. “Was that man not the Patriarch’s son. I doubt he will agree to do business with us now that his son is dead.”
Xiulan shook her head and responded, “he will not but I was not making the offer to him. I made the offer to the sect. The twins tell me that there is an internal power struggle happening in the politics of the Sect. Perhaps the other faction will be keener to avoid conflict.”
Yen Wen chuckled, “those twins sure are dedicated spies. How do you get them to talk to you though? I have never been able to get a word out of them.”
Xiulan paused in thought. That was true when she had first met the twins, they did not talk to anybody. They were mute. She had been so busy with other things she had not realised that at some point they had started to whisper in her ears.
It was probably long past time for Xiulan to have a proper talk with them. Finding out their names would be a start.
In the city the people were celebrating. Cheers and firecrackers sounded out in equal measure.
SmithJuly Thank you for reading. For five advanced and bonus chapters check out my Patreon at patreon.com/SmithJulyNovel
It was a woeful indictment of the intelligence apparatus of the Silver Waters Sect that the first sign they saw of trouble was when food stopped being shipped down river. The twins had been monitoring their activities waiting for a response, but Xiulan was surprised it had taken them this long.
They had made no demands or vague threats. Instead, they had simply sent an army of outer sect members and a few inner sect members to attack the canal and destroy it.
It was almost comically straightforward. Xiulan had assembled a collection of her own forces to oppose the coastal cultivators. The Canal was almost finished, and this was the crucial stage of construction just before they were going to let the water into the channel.
It had to be let in gradually or too much pressure would be put onto the structure. That was exactly the Silver Waters Sect’s goal. They were attacking the dam wall that was holding river water back from the canal.
The conflict was happening just outside of Spillwater but Xiulan could not count on any aid from the city except the limited support of Combine students whose cultivation was not high enough to make a difference.
Fu Jinjing had made a beautiful set of armour for Yen Wen. Xiulan’s lovers were clustered around Xiulan on top of a small hill. They could all fight, but Xiulan did not what to put any of them at risk if she did not have too.
Yen Wen stood off a little to the side, coordinating her guards defence efforts and launching a continuous stream of arrows at our enemies. The Silver Waters sect had not expected such tough resistance. There reports had not mentioned that they would be fighting a proper force of cultivators. The Combine was supposed to be a collection of weak farmers.
Still Xiulan tsked and said, “we are still too weak. We have not had enough time to fully train our own forces to large sect standards. Would you girls mind helping? I will watch over you to make sure nothing happens to you.”
Zheng Ling rolled her eyes, “the rest of us are cultivators too you know. Not only Yen Wen is a warrior.”
She, Fu Jinjing and Bai Meirong dashed into the fray and had an immediate impact. They were not the most technically proficient fighters, but their cultivation had reached the ninth level of foundation establishment just as Xiulan’s had. Xiulan had been making money steadily and her cultivation had skyrocketed.
The battle was starting to shift in their favour when that same man who had accosted them on the boat for throwing a party immerged onto the field. He shouted, “enough,” and made a dash for Zheng Ling.
His cultivation was higher than hers and he had clearly specialised for quick brutal fights. He slipped past Zheng Ling’s guard and landed a blow that Xiluan heard cracking a rib.
Xiulan saw read and without even think about the cost chose to eliminate him. Xiulan raised her hand and snapped her fingers. She was expecting him to explode in the same why those she eliminated usually did. Evidently, he was too powerful of a cultivator to deal with that way.
The sound of Xiulan’s snapping fingers echoed in the air, growing louder with each reverberation. Suddenly a golden lightning bolt struck down from the sky and obliterated the man.
The lightning produced no thunder and there was no scorch mark left on the ground where it had struck. It was as if the lightning had vaporised him. There was not even any associated heat felt by those around him.
“The host has chosen the most inefficient option and spent one million gold coins to eliminate the target,” the system trilled breaking Xiulan’s shock.
The rest of the battle had stopped at the sudden intervention of golden lightning from the heavens. Xiulan used the silence to say, “this battle will stop here. Tell the Silver Waters Sect that this kind of conflict serves nobody. I do not want a blood feud between us. If they desist from attacking my holdings, then there is business I wish to discuss with the Sect. If the Sect cannot let the death of that man go, then I will have no choice but to bring my influence more directly to bare against the sect.”
The remaining Silver Waters sect cultivators fled the field as if they had been given a stay of execution.
Xiulan ran down the hill to Zheng Ling, calling out, “little Ling are you alright?”
Zheng Ling seemed to be in better shape than Xiulan had originally assumed. She was already applying an ointment to her side and smiled weakly, “I will be fine. This bone will just take a few weeks to recover but there will not be any permanent damage.”
Yen Wen approach breathing deeply due to all the qi she had expended on arrows. “Was that man not the Patriarch’s son. I doubt he will agree to do business with us now that his son is dead.”
Xiulan shook her head and responded, “he will not but I was not making the offer to him. I made the offer to the sect. The twins tell me that there is an internal power struggle happening in the politics of the Sect. Perhaps the other faction will be keener to avoid conflict.”
Yen Wen chuckled, “those twins sure are dedicated spies. How do you get them to talk to you though? I have never been able to get a word out of them.”
Xiulan paused in thought. That was true when she had first met the twins, they did not talk to anybody. They were mute. She had been so busy with other things she had not realised that at some point they had started to whisper in her ears.
It was probably long past time for Xiulan to have a proper talk with them. Finding out their names would be a start.
In the city the people were celebrating. Cheers and firecrackers sounded out in equal measure.
SmithJuly Thank you for reading. For five advanced and bonus chapters check out my Patreon at patreon.com/SmithJulyNovel
