The forces of the various great clans gathered and headed forward.
"After you pa.s.s this mountain pa.s.s, you'll see the Lake of Death," said Ao Tian Xing as he pointed in front on horseback.
Chu Yang smiled and his eyes shone with a sharp glint as he looked at this mountain pa.s.s.
How could he not be familiar with this place?
In his previous life, he obtained the fourth part of the Nine Tribulations Sword here.
Today, after he pa.s.sed this mountain pa.s.s, he would face unspeakable dangers! Broken hearts of sword, the Lake of Death, the lake with no sh.o.r.e!
Chu Yang thought coldly to himself, "I want to see how will this Lake of Death leave me stranded."
Mo Tian Ji looked at the mountain pa.s.s for a long time and said nothing.
After Tian Xing ordered the group to advance, Mo Tian Ji was jolted from his reverie.
Then, Mo Tian Ji did something. "Clan Head Ao, Brother Dong, Elder Xie… for this battle, the results will be disastrous. No matter whether we win or lose, we'll incur heavy casualties."
Then, he coughed and said, "However, right now, who is in charge of the soldiers' formations? This is not clear."
Dong Wu Lei, Luo Ke Wu, and the rest all said in unison, "Brother Mo shall be in charge."
Xie Zhi Qiu said, "I heard about you, Master of Manipulation and Calculation, and I want to see how astute you are."
Mo Tian Ji looked at Ao Tian Xing, who kept silent for a long while, and then said, "If that's the case, Clan Head Mo shall be in charge of commanding our army. How about it?"
He knew that Mo Tian Ji said this because he wanted command! However, while he knew that he was a famous Clan Head, his skills as a strategist could not rival those of Mo Tian Ji or Chu Yang.
None of them dared to underestimate the two of them and hence, they decided to let them have their way.
Mo Tian Ji took in a deep breath and said, "I'll take up command!"
He did not even try to refuse it as he took up command of it straightaway.
Chu Yang looked at him interestedly.
Mo Tian Ji turned his head over to instruct the men from the Ao Clan and the Xie Clan to report to him. Then, he thought, "If others are in charge, they may not know the situation as well and they may lead us into danger. However, when I'm in charge, no matter how many people die, I'll keep him alive!"
After a round of calculation, he realized that the Ao Clan had 571 men. 50 of them were Martial Emperors, 2 of them were Martial Monarchs, and the rest were Martial Kings. They formed the strongest contingent.
The Dong Clan had one Martial Monarch, 17 Martial Emperors, and 90 Martial Kings. They ranked second.
The Ji Clan had nine Martial Emperors and 64 Martial Kings.
The Luo Clan had eight Martial Emperors and 40 Martial Kings.
The Mo Clan had five Martial Emperors and 190 Martial Kings. Many of them were summoned by Mo Tian Ji recently.
The Gu Clan had one Martial Emperor, who was Clan Head Gu. They also had 20 Martial Kings.
The Xie Clan was in the worst shape. Initially, they rivalled the Dong Clan but now, they only had one Martial Monarch, six Martial Emperors, and around 30 Martial Kings.
Right now, they had four Martial Monarchs, 96 Martial Emperors, and almost 1000 Martial Kings!
This was a vast force! Indeed, if the opponent had no external reinforcement, they would be able to achieve a decisive success with their current strength!
This force comprised almost all of the most powerful forces of the three top clans!
Right now, only a few powerful cultivators were left behind to look after their clans. They really used their full strength!
"Is there any information about those from Dark Bamboos?" Mo Tian Ji asked.
"Jun Xi Zhu and Young Master Wei are doing closed-door cultivation. Everyone from Dark Bamboos have gone underground and can no longer be found in the martial world. There's no new from them," reported Ao Tian Xing. His intelligence was remarkable as he knew about the developments of the three major dark forces.
"A pity," Mo Tian Ji sighed. Then, he ordered, "From now on, we'll no longer organize ourselves by our clans. All Martial Kings gather together and familiarize yourselves with each other. The same applies for Martial Emperors and Martial Monarchs. According to your own experiences, find a partner and find the best method to overpower or resist an opponent. You must complete this in half a day so that you will have an idea on how to fight. After half a day, if you still have no idea, please don't take part in the fight!"
Mo Tian Ji's voice was solemn and ominous like a thundercloud. "Begin!"
With that one command, everyone started to spread apart.
Ao Tian Xing's eyes brimmed with admiration. Since they agreed to combine their forces to fight, it was crucial for everyone to get to know each other. Furthermore, those who did not know what to do even after so long would only create troubles for others. It was better for them to leave now.
"Chu Yang, gather with Dong Wu Shang, Xie Dan Qiong, Gu Du Xing, Ji Mo, Luo Ke Di, Rui Bu Tong, Tan Tan, and Xie Ao Yun. Your job is to handle any emergencies when the time comes! Chu Yang will lead this mission."
As Mo Tian Ji spoke, he did not look at Chu Yang but instead, he looked at Gu Du Xing and Dong Wu Shang.
Their expressions did not change but Mo Tian Ji could clearly see from their eyes that they were trying to get him to 'relax'.
"Look after Chu Yang at all costs! Don't let him wander off on his own and don't let him get injured! Nothing is permitted! Even if we lose this battle, Chu Yang must remain unscathed!"
This was Mo Tian Ji's arrangement and instructions. Gu Du Xing and Dong Bu Shang were not the only ones who were instructed. Ji Mo, Luo Ke Di, and Rui Bu Tong got the same message.
As for Tan Tan, Chu Yang worried about Tan Tan. Secondly… Mo Tian Ji hoped that if an unexpected danger presented itself, Tan Tan could awaken one more time…
That would be more powerful than any protection they could provide…
Mo Tian Ji's brains whirred and other than a few of them, the rest were kept in the dark as to what he was thinking.
Then, Mo Tian Ji started to distribute resources, give speeches on strategies and tactics, various ways to counter their enemy, which included defence against poison, a.s.sa.s.sination tools, and ambushes. It seemed to be targeted at every single Clan, every single cultivator who was above a Grade 5 Martial Emperor …
After he finished his speech, everyone was convinced of his prowess. Who could have thought that under such tight preparations, the Master of Manipulation and Calculation would already have finished his calculations…
After his arrangements, everyone set off instantly in silence. This time, they did not stop as they charged toward the mountain pa.s.s.
After they walked for three to four kilometers, they noticed that the road split into three. Two roads led to the east and west while one led onward.
Into the clouds.
This path led straight to the Lake of Death!
At the start of this path, a stone stele stood. On it, one could see the words 'Path of Life and Death, Netherworld Pa.s.s' carved onto it.
The words were blood-red and they appeared in front of everyone like a blood river.
A chill went down the hearts of everyone who saw these words. They felt their hearts sink as if a stone was pressing down.
Everyone fell silent!
"These words… were apparently written by Supreme Martial Artist Chen Feng," said Mo Tian Ji. "Legend has it that many years ago, Supreme Martial Artists Chen Feng and Liu Yun fought here. The battlefield of the Middle Three Heavens was here and before Chen Feng went on top of the mountain, he grabbed the earth and fas.h.i.+oned it into a stele. With his hand as a brush, he wrote these six words."
Ao Tian Xing continued, "After Chen Feng went on top of the mountain, he was able to exert pressure on everyone underneath the mountain with these six words. When Liu Yun got here, he faced the stele for an hour without doing anything as he tried to suppress the pressure from it. Then, it exploded soundlessly and two paths, which led to the east and west, appeared. They broke through the mountain and with a laugh, he went on top of the mountain. After one day, the words on the stele turned red and has remained so ever since!"
Ao Tian Xing pointed to the two paths, which included the one everyone walked on, and said, "These two paths are probably the smoothest and best paths in the entire Middle Three Heavens. After ten thousand years, it did not change at all. It's even harder than cosmic steel!"
Everyone walked here, deep in thought, and hence they did not notice it. At this moment, they realized that the road was extremely smooth. There was not even a single hole in it. It was smoother than a girl's face.
Some of the more powerful people from their contingent did not believe it. They drew their swords and stabbed the road with the tip of their swords. With one crack, their swords split into two but the road remained smooth and perfect. Not even a single white dot appeared!
Could it be this hard? Everyone inhaled a breath of cold air.
A battle between two Supreme Martial Artists ten thousand years ago created so much pressure that they actually flattened the ground. Until now, its pressure was still there!
Some of them were awed by this strength. At this moment, two people started to giggle.
Ji Mo arched his eyebrows mischievously and said, "Little wolf, when will we have our next fight? We can leave our own legend."
Luo Ke Di agreed, "That's right. We can't let everyone be obsessed about the past only. By then, I'll stick out my waist and you face away from me in a bowing posture. Then, you try and crash into me and boom! We would have made another path…"
When everyone saw this, they did not know whether to laugh or cry. They looked at these two oddly and sighed helplessly. "When would these two idiots learn to be serious?"
Huyan Aobo and Xie Dan Feng thought for a long while without getting the joke. However, when they saw the perverted expressions on the faces of the men around them, as well as their sn.i.g.g.e.rs, they knew what was going on, especially when some Martial Monarchs had odd expressions on their faces and were laughing in a creepy way…
They knew instantly it was not something good.
Huyan Aobo was enraged and lifted Ji Mo up. Just like this, Ji Mo was suspended in mid-air and spanked by his fiancée like a little kid. He cried out in pain…
At this moment, a thunderous sound could be heard. Evidently, a large group was coming.
"I'm afraid it's them," said Mo Tian Ji, frowning.
A look of panic appeared on everyone's faces. They stood there without moving as they stared in front.
They could not move as they were too close. If they were enemies, they would be struck from behind and suffer a disadvantage. It was better for them to observe the situation than to move without caution.
The thunderous sound approached and became increasingly deafening. Then, a huge black flag rushed forth from the mountain pa.s.s opposite, waving in the wind!