"Sect Master, this is bad! The enemies stationed on the Red Mountain city started to move, they are trying to conquer the near cities and everyone that we sent to defend those locations, are unable to be contacted now. No one is able to inform me of the complete details of what is happening there. What is worse... There are signs of the Wu Martial Kingdom army coming from the south."
"The South? How's that possible?" Huo Shihong was so shocked that he even tried to stand up, completely forgetting about his condition.
"I don't know. Their soldiers were seen gathering in that area, but it is so far away from Red Mountain city, that it doesn't seem to be real."
"You're telling me that we weren't able to notice the Wu Martial Kingdom soldiers, crossing our whole territory?" Huo Shihong couldn't believe that the Blazing Phoenix Sect has gotten so weak now. After their predicament inside the Fire Labyrinth, most capable elders died and now, practically all the elders were new in their functions. That culminated into a huge disorder.
"Our eyes were on Red Mountain city all the time, and that has probably made our territory riddled with blind spots. Sect Master... What are we going to do? Do we send more men to Red Mountain? Or do we try to investigate the situation in the southern borders?"
After hearing the elder's explanation, Huo Shihong seemed to suddenly realized something.
"No... That isn't right... Red Mountain is a trap!"
"A trap?"
"If we move our main troops towards there, we going to get in trouble. Their strongest cultivators are probably on Red Mountain city. It was a trap to capture our eyes and give them time to position their core pieces on the other side of our country. If we send any more soldiers or disciples there, we are going to end up splitting the forces and losing the conflict."
"Then... What are we going to do?"
"Announce it to the public! We are at war! Make the normal citizens stay inside their residences or to go to safe shelters. Recall every single one of our forces from around the country and reposition them here on the Blazing Phoenix City. We must fortify our core, while unfortunately, discarding the possibility of protecting the less important territories."
"But, are we going to give up those territories like that? What about Red Mountain city?"
"No choice! This is war, not a simple game of hit and run. Furthermore, we aren't against a single enemy and while we are at the dark, our enemies know about our predicament, position and forces; that's why the only chance, is to unite here."
"Understood, I will pass down the orders."
The elder left the room in a hurry. After the conversation, he understood the perilous situation they were in and did everything to haste the process. He ran to one of the secret formations inside the sect grounds and activated it.
CHIRP!
An immense quantity of energy gathered in that formation and a huge Phoenix Made of Fire surged upwards. It circled the sky on top of the Blazing Phoenix Sect, making the environment turn hotter.
This phoenix was able to cover the whole sky while drawing the Mana and Qi in the environment, to make the flames brighter, However, if one looked closer, he would be able to notice that it lacked actual battle power. But this formation was not meant for an attack, but to serve as a beacon.
People from all across the nation were able to see it, and the officials from the Blazing Phoenix Country, understood the message behind it. This was one of the most important signs and all of them knew about it.
It was a signal of war!
Most of them started to order the forces under them according to the protocol. Heading towards the Blazing Phoenix City with urgency.
While those things were happening, the army from the Wu Martial Kingdom, was waiting for the signal of the Lion's Pride Golden Palace in order to start moving. In fourteen days, traveling through many channels, they were able to gather ten battalions of five hundred men each, inside the southern borders of the Blazing Phoenix Country.
At the moment they saw the phoenix of fire in the distant sky, many officials wearing martial robes of different colors were gathering in a strategic meeting.
Standing side by side, there was the Commander of the army, a man with a dark green martial robe, together with a person clad in a blue robe and wearing a hood that covered a great part of his face.
The Commander's aura was at the Mana Perception late-stage Realm, the same strength Huo Shihong had. However, Huo Shihong was the leader of the Blazing Phoenix Sect, while this man was just a subordinate that led the Wu Martial Kingdom forces to war.
The Wu Martial Kingdom was the second strongest nation of humans in the continent of Alteria. Of course, this rank excluded existences like the Higher Grounds, since they didn't want to be put together at the same basket with the weaker existences. Higher Grounds were a step above and no one dared to question it.
Huo Shihong feared that a person like that Commander would be joining the war, because it would be really hard to take a person of that strength out, since the Blazing Phoenix Sect wasn't in the best condition. However, what he didn't know, was that there were Mana Control and stronger cultivators acting on the shadows. Those cultivators alone, were enough to decimate their whole forces.
However, they could only act from behind the curtains and that was actually a blessing in disguise. If they were to act openly, the Blazing Phoenix Country would have already been easily conquered by now. However, the price would to expose Velgor interests in the Human Territory; what none of the Twelve Shadows dare to do.
The man standing beside the Commander, was none other than Wu Shaohui, Caizhi's brother. He was donned in a blue martial robe and everyone seemed to treat him with even more respect than how they treated the Commander, even though he was weaker than him.
That's because of his astronomical status, as the second son of the Wu Martial King. Although he was in the middle of a serious meeting, he was wearing a hood, and no one dared to ask him to take it off. That was a solid proof of how status mattered.
Suddenly...
The Sound Transmit Formation in the middle of the room lit up. The man operating the formation put his Qi on it and the connection was established.
"Everything is ready, you can begin." A representative of the Lion's Pride Golden Palace said and disconnected the formation from his side right after. He seemed to say those words while showing some disdain, but everyone ignored his disrespectful attitude.
"That's the signal we were waiting for. Get ready! We are going to attack tomorrow morning. The operations are going to start at 5 am. You're all dismissed from the meeting." The Commander gave his orders, following the script the Lion's Pride Golden Palace has given him.
Wu Shaohui, like everyone else, left the meeting and entered his particular tent. All the officials saluted him with respect on the places he passed through.
His tent was one of the biggest tents on the whole base. It was way better than what the other people had, being comfortable enough to house eight people inside easily.
He started to put his things on top of a table, when he suddenly felt a cold sensation behind him, as if a frigid breeze was passing through. What wasn't a normal thing to happen in a totally closed place.
When he turned around, he saw a man dressed in black staring at him.
"Hehehe... Look if it isn't Young Master Shaohui... I'm honored to be in your presence." The man said while slowly approaching Wu Shaohui.
Shaohui didn't know who that person was and his first reaction was to shout for help, however, he felt his body being paralyzed by an aura a thousand times stronger than his own, and even his voice wasn't able to leave his throat.
"Don't worry Young Master Shaohui, you won't remember anything." After saying that, he put his hand on top of Wu Shoahui's head and a purple light started to shine. Slowly, a Soul Trap invaded his soul, lodging deep inside, where no one would be able to notice.
"Hehehe, you're going to be a perfect dummy..."
Swoosh...
A cold breeze passed by and his body vanished.
Wu Shoahui's unfocused gaze started to return back to normal.
He brought his hands to his eyes and rubbed them for some time. He was feeling really sleepy and weary, and he wasn't able to recall what happened on the last minute.
"It may be because I'm tired from traveling...." He mumbled in a low voice, treating it as fatigue.
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