336: Battlefield Details

'True Lord Haoran doesn't trust me!' Aboard the Flying Boat, Liu Xuan thought to himself as he watched the sea of clouds receding.

Given True Lord Haoran's status, if he truly intended to take Liu Xuan as a Disciple, he would have at least kept him by his side to teach him for a while, rather than dismissing him after just a few words, let alone holding a grand apprenticeship ceremony.

'Enough! It doesn't matter whether he trusts me or not; having this status is sufficient!'

Liu Xuan planned to first head to the Black Leopard Fortress to rendezvous with his original body, then find an excuse to leave the front line together and go to a rear city like Bone Fiend City to develop industries.

Talismans, Alchemy, and Formations couldn't be developed quickly, so Liu Xuan planned to establish a large-scale Artifact Refining Workshop to mass-produce Flying Boats and standard Magical Artifacts on an assembly line, while simultaneously processing various Materials like Ores and spiritual wood from the Peach Blossom Sect on-site.

Although large Flying Boats in this world were also refined through collective efforts, the overall mindset was still stuck on the Artifact Refiner overseeing the entire process, so production volume could never be increased.

Liu Xuan was different; he had redesigned the Flying Boat blueprints, breaking down the large Flying Boats into countless components to be outsourced for refining, developing a massive system similar to an industry.

Once developed, it would definitely be enough to subvert the entire landscape of Artifact Refiners in this world.

The path of Artifact Refining in the cultivation world had its limitations; the higher the rank of an Artifact Refiner, the more they valued their comprehension of the laws of heaven and earth, as well as their own understanding and growth.

Consequently, they focused more on the overall control of the Magical Artifacts and Magic Treasures they refined.

Everyone was selfish, and every Artifact Refiner tried to keep their secrets to themselves, making it difficult to develop an industry-like system.

Liu Xuan didn't want to change the industrial landscape of Artifact Refining in the cultivation world; he just wanted to use it to develop his Family. His advantage was that as the Family grew strong, he himself would grow strong.

'It might not be that the Artifact Refiners of this world are unable to develop industrial refining, but rather that the higher-ups don't allow it for some reason. I must keep a low profile; for now, this can only be limited to the Liu Family's sphere of influence. I shouldn't take steps that are too large!'

Of course! This was just Liu Xuan's speculation; as for the specifics, he would need to test the waters bit by bit.

While pondering, the focus of Liu Xuan's consciousness returned to his original body, Wang Qiao.

Black Leopard Fortress.

The phantom image of that Black Panther had already vanished, leaving only that massive sword light above the fortress.

It was likely the Black Panther's turn to head out for battle, while Shen Yunshu stayed to guard the fortress.

Inside the fortress's main hall.

A massive map floated directly in front, as Shen Yunshu gave the newly arrived Wang Qiao a detailed introduction to the current battlefield situation of the Peach Blossom Sect.

"The territory of the Peach Blossom Sect is generally oval-shaped, with the two furthest points being over two hundred thousand li apart, and even the closest points exceeding a hundred thousand li!"

Shen Yunshu pointed to a green area on the outer edge of the map and said, "This area is the safe zone that has basically been occupied by the South Courtyard of the Beast Taming Sect."

"The safe zone currently covers nearly half of the entire Peach Blossom Sect territory. Beast Taming Sect Disciples have established grand Formations by linking the Spiritual Veins, making it difficult for the Yao Race to launch a counter-offensive."

Then she pointed to a red area in the middle. "This is the front-line area where the fighting is intense. The Black Leopard Fortress where we are now belongs here."

The red area on the map zoomed in, highlighting an Earth Vein Node with a Beast Taming Sect flag planted on it. Two large characters were written on the flag: Black Panther.

"The remaining gray areas are the territories still controlled by the Peach Blossom Sect. Our task is to continuously capture the Peach Blossom Sect's Earth Vein Nodes until they are all occupied."

...Shen Yunshu spoke for a long time, and Liu Xuan finally understood. The key point of this war was the continuous capture of Earth Vein Nodes—in other words, territories possessing Spiritual Veins.

The Peach Blossom Sect's territory was too vast! It contained countless Spiritual Veins. As long as the Army of Cultivators occupied these Spiritual Veins and linked them into a grand Formation, the power of the entire battle Formation would increase, leaving the Peach Blossom Sect with even less ability to resist.

All strategic objectives were carried out based on the Earth Vein Nodes, and the Black Leopard Fortress was currently one of the key nodes on the front line.

What Shen Yunshu needed to do was defend the various Earth Vein Nodes in the vicinity of the Black Leopard Fortress, and then lead the Army of Cultivators to capture the Peach Blossom Sect's Earth Vein Nodes in the gray area.

The same was true for the Peach Blossom Sect's side; while resisting the Beast Taming Sect's offensive, they also had to try and retake the nodes that had been captured.

Large nodes like the Black Leopard Fortress were actually relatively safe on the front line; since the Beast Taming Sect held the advantage, the Peach Blossom Sect lacked the capability to counter-attack.

The most intense fighting occurred at the small Spiritual Vein nodes along the long front line. They were sometimes captured by the Beast Taming Sect and sometimes taken back by the Peach Blossom Sect's Yao Race. Every time a node changed hands, countless Cultivators and Yao Race members lost their lives.

The map continued to zoom in, and the area around the Black Leopard Fortress became clearer and clearer. Shen Yunshu pointed to a spot on the boundary between the red and gray areas.

"In a while, I will take you personally to capture this Second-rank Spiritual Vein node so you can experience the battlefield atmosphere for yourself."

From the map, this location was a valley about a thousand li from the Black Leopard Fortress.

Liu Xuan originally wanted to refuse, but on second thought, since he was already here at the battlefield, he might as well take a look.

Seeing the real situation on the front line would give him a deeper understanding of the war, allowing him to better decide on the Family's development strategy.

Shen Yunshu then continued to introduce the Peach Blossom Sect's Outposts adjacent to the Black Leopard Fortress, including which powerful Yao Beasts were stationed at each Outpost and how much resistance they would face if they tried to capture them.

She also covered which of the already captured Outposts were stable, which were prone to being retaken, and how much force was currently stationed in each location... The battlefield was far more complex than Liu Xuan had imagined. Even by the time the Late Golden Core Stage Black Panther returned, Shen Yunshu had not finished explaining everything.

"Alright! That's all for today. You can study any other questions slowly later; if there's anything you don't understand, come and ask me."

Shen Yunshu put away the map and issued a series of orders to her subordinates. Soon, an army of tens of thousands of Cultivators was mobilized from the fortress, heading toward the designated valley.

Calling it an Army of Cultivators wasn't entirely accurate; the force numbered around sixty thousand, half of which were the Beast Taming Sect's Yao Beasts. The Yao Beasts were generally massive, so they didn't look much different from a Yao Race army.

The vast majority were at the Qi Refinement Stage level, with only about thirty or so Cultivators and Yao Beasts at the Foundation Establishment Realm.

Most of the Beast Taming Sect's Foundation Establishment combatants were distributed to guard various small Spiritual Vein nodes, so not many were assigned to Shen Yunshu's command.

Even so, with tens of thousands of troops in Formation, the Evil Qi and Demonic Qi soared into the clouds. The Aura was far beyond anything the Sect guard units Liu Xuan had seen in Yongning back then could compare to.

The sky-soaring army fiends, linked and enhanced by the battlefield grand Formation, expanded countless times over, reaching a level that even Liu Xuan found heart-shaking.

'With such an army, I'm afraid even an ordinary Early Golden Core Stage Immortal Master wouldn't be able to withstand it and would have to retreat. No wonder Golden Core True Persons are so cautious on the battlefield.'

Although the military Formation was powerful, its speed was not fast. As long as one didn't get trapped by the army or try to force a confrontation with the Formation, a Golden Core True Person wouldn't be killed by the army.

When two armies clashed, it was often the Cultivators who suffered heavy casualties, while the Golden Core True Persons serving as commanders generally had a way out. Up until today, the total number of Golden Core True Persons killed on both sides didn't exceed ten.

"Depart!!"

Shen Yunshu's command echoed throughout the entire army.