Alivar continued walking, following his group while trying his best not to make a sound. After marching for three days straight, the surrounding environment had started to change, and the stinky and humid swamp had started to disappear, leaving in its place a lush green forest.
At the start, this change wasn't obvious. However, in the last hour, the number of trees surrounding them had greatly increased, while the familiar puddles of stagnant water had become an increasingly rare sight in their journey.
Suddenly, Yun Qiang stopped their march.
Alivar's pupils shrank. However, he didn't fall into panic. Instead, he got closer to the front and formed a triangle formation with Sun and Lee. As he did this, his captain moved in front of everyone, while his other teammates hid themselves behind the nearby trees or bushes.
This was the tactic that their captain, Yun Qiang, had decided to employ while closing in on their goal.
The idea behind it was simple: show yourself as a small team and either convince the enemy you are not worth the effort or ambush them if they try to chase you.
When Alivar saw the enemies, he kept his breath for a second and exhaled only when he finished counting them.
Without counting the captain that led them, they were a group of six cultivators. Each one of them looked well trained and ready to fight. It was by far the largest group they had encountered since leaving the Rainy Fort.
Suddenly, a man holding a sword rushed towards them, while Yun Qiang reacted a second slower, letting them meet a quarter of the way there.
Alivar's pupils shrank. The speed of a Foundation Realm cultivator never stopped amazing him. During their march, they had encountered six or seven small groups, and each time Yun Qiang and the enemy captain had always moved like lightning.
However, Alivar didn't move. Instead, he followed the four directives Yun Qiang had given them in the previous days.
First, don't engage the enemies. Wait for them to come to you.
Second, don't advance and focus on defense. Show that you don't want to engage in a life-or-death fight.
Third, stay close to the formation and protect each other.
Last, don't retreat by yourself. Retreat with the entire team.
Yun Qiang moved forward, his spear steadily encountering the enemy sword. The clash wasn't a violent one. Both of them were trying to gauge the other's strength before giving it their all in this fight.
After this brief clash, the enemy stopped his advance and tested the waters with a small lunge, while Yun Qiang used the spear to keep him at bay, forcing him to back off mid-attack or risk injury.
This went on for a few exchanges until the man made a few secret signs to his subordinates, letting them engage while he kept Yun Qiang at bay.
However, just as the enemy's Qi Gathering cultivators drew closer to his team, Yun Qiang rotated his spear, dodging the incoming lunges while thrusting the tip towards one of the man's subordinates. Everything happened in the span of a few breaths, and even if Yun Qiang didn't manage to kill the Qi Gathering cultivator, he managed to send a clear message to the other captain.
He wanted to keep this battle a duel and not a total fight.
Evidently, the man's subordinates also understood it and started dragging away their injured comrade while still keeping a tight formation in case Yun Qiang's teammates decided to attack.
In a mortal war, this much restraint would have been unusual. But cultivator battles were different. Unless both sides wanted to fight for territory or something valuable, there was no reason to turn every encounter into a fight to the death.
Besides, Yun Qiang went out of his way to look like a small group that had pushed into enemy territory. There was no reason to make a big deal out of them.
Sure enough, after a few more exchanges and tests, the enemy took up a defensive stance and moved to the right, leaving an opening to his left, letting Yun Qiang move away from him.
Yun Qiang took this opportunity and moved while ordering a retreat.
However, Yun Qiang didn't dare to let his guard down, and when they reached the point where the others were hiding, he quickly ordered Sun, Lee, and Alivar to fall into position.
There was still a chance the enemy would give chase.
In that case, they had to end the fight as quickly as possible.
Luckily, nobody came.
Yun Qiang let out a sigh of relief and told his team to rest for a few minutes.
His tactic had worked this time. However, he didn't know how long it could last.
A small scout group didn't look like much when close to the official border. However, he knew that the further they got, the more his group became an eyesore to the enemy's army.
Eventually, they would reach a point where hiding wasn't an option anymore, and they would have to open a path with violence if they wanted to reach their objective.
Only in that moment would the drawbacks of his tactic become apparent.
It couldn't be executed if the enemy was already too close, and if they decided not to let them escape, reinforcing the few members acting as bait would become difficult. A mistake in either situation could be lethal.
Yun Qiang looked into the distance before taking a map from his space ring.
The map was rough and didn't have many details or a scale, making it difficult to use. Luckily, Yun Qiang had spent the last few nights studying it while drawing their route, making it easier to identify their current position.
His gaze flew towards a small area of the map.
The area he was looking at was situated in the southeast of the map, and it was just a few days' walk from the Astarian Fort, making it difficult for any party to reach it unspotted.
This was their destination.
He studied the map for a few minutes. He estimated it would take them about a day and a half to reach their destination and another day or two to familiarize themselves with the territory. This meant that he had to spend at least two days deep in the enemy territory before he could return from this mission.
"Let's move out. Today is the last day we use this tactic. Tomorrow, we will fight seriously, so prepare yourself."
Yun Qiang tried his best to hide the doubt in his voice. He wasn't sure if this was the right choice; however, he didn't see any alternatives. Their group was too big to move through enemy territory silently and without leaving a trace. Eventually, they would be discovered.
The only thing he could do now was make sure they were ready when the time arrived.
-Astarian Fort- Sacred Empire
Tian Judao stood atop a white cloud, his eyes fixed on the horizon.
"Did you read the most recent reports?"
His voice was authoritative, and only a hint of affection could be heard in it.
Tian Jian cupped his fist as a sign of respect before responding.
"Yes, father. The Rose Kingdom is launching an attack from the Rainy Fort, and a few groups were already spotted nearby the Liten River."
"And how will you react to them?"
The old man didn't ask this because he didn't know what to do. He asked this because he wanted to test his son's knowledge. A general needed two things, knowledge and strength. Tian Jian definitely had the latter; however, he still lacked in the former. Sometimes he was too arrogant and focused too much on small details without understanding the bigger picture.
"I have already diverted our forces from the south. They will need a week to arrive. In the meantime, I'm ready to dispatch the hunter groups to deal with the incoming forces."
Tian Judao cast a quick glance at Tian Jian. His son had various options to defend from this attack. He could have set up traps, called for reinforcements, or asked the Dragonic Sword Sect to help him. Instead, he had chosen to use the hunter groups to stall for time while his own forces arrived.
He nodded.
"Relying on your own forces is good. However, this isn't the reason why you want to use the hunters to stall for time. Right?"
Tian Judao turned.
"Father..." Tian Jian looked down. He couldn't stand his father's gaze.
Judao's gaze softened.
"Jian, when will you stop oppressing your brother? Nobody is supporting him anymore, and the youngest has almost caught up with him."
"You are the chosen heir of the family. Not him."
There was a small pause between the two.
"I understand, father. I will let Tian Lao reach the Golden Core Realm after this battle..."
"However, I don't think he is fit to lead a Legion."
Tian Judao nodded. He agreed with his firstborn. Even if he wanted Tian Lao to progress with his cultivation, his character was too flawed, and he couldn't lead a legion.
"You don't have to worry. I will have him removed from service after this war is over."
"Now go and give the order to the hunter teams."
Tian Jian's eyes shined, and he thanked his father before leaving him alone.
When his son left, Tian Judao smiled. He was content with his son's way of thinking and maneuvering. Even though he had agreed to his father's request, Tian Jian had still found a way to suppress Tian Lao one last time. In fact, by asking his father to dismiss his brother from military service, Tian Jian had effectively condemned him to irrelevance within the Tian family.
In the Tian family, military achievements and mastery of the sword were the foundation of one's status and influence, and without either, Tian Lao would have little value to the family. After this, even Tian Lian, Tian Judao's youngest son, would have more influence than him.
Tian Judao's approving smile widened.
"Now, let's see what the Rose Kingdom has in store for us."