Chapter 1877: Arriving at the Frontlines
Zhang Feng and the others also understood what Zhao Hai meant. With this plan, the Black Tiger Gang would be able to tie the other sects using benefits. This would allow the Black Tiger Gang to become more powerful and solidify its position as the leader of the Freedom Alliance. At the same time, with more people on its side, the Black Tiger Gang would be able to develop more quickly.
Zhang Feng closed his eyes and thought about the advantages and disadvantages of Zhao Hai’s plan. Ever since becoming the Gang Leader, Zhang Feng began to weigh the positives and negatives of every decision that the gang made. After all, every decision he made would affect the entire Black Tiger Gang.
After some time, Zhang Feng opened his eyes and said, “Alright. Let’s be daring or we’ll starve to death! Since we’re already planning to go big, then let’s go all the way. Our Freedom Alliance will divide the Great Realm of Cultivation with the nine super sects!”
Zhao Hai looked at Zhang Feng and then smiled faintly as he said, “Good, I’m relieved with Senior Brother’s decision. First Senior Brother doesn’t need to worry. As long as a balance is maintained, the Freedom Alliance wouldn’t be in chaos. We’re the leader of the alliance, so we need to maintain our strength. But at the same time, the sects under us cannot form huge factions. If factions are formed, then the alliance leader would suffer. Therefore, we need to win people over while suppressing some. This way, we could ensure our grip on the alliance. These things will be left to First Senior Brother to deal with. I’ll just fight on the frontlines.”
Zhang Feng laughed, “You rascal. So you’re going to the frontlines now?”
Zhao Hai nodded and said, “I’ll head there. We need to give the nine super sects a good beating. Only then will they respect our existence.”
Zhang Feng gave a nod, “Alright, then I’ll leave the frontlines to you. Leave the rest to me. By the way, Little Hai, when will you reach the immortal stage? It would be great if you can reach the immortal stage soon. At this point, both the Freedom Alliance and the Black Tiger Gang are relying on your support.”
Zhao Hai gave a bitter smile as he said, “I’m trying. But I know I won’t reach the immortal stage soon. My cultivation method is very special. This allows the density of my spiritual qi to be ten times compared to normal cultivators. This allows me to be invincible in my cultivation stage. However, because of my dense spiritual qi, it is more difficult for me to progress. I need to amass ten times more spiritual qi before trying to break through. Therefore, it would be difficult for me to quickly increase my cultivation.”
When he heard Zhao Hai, Zhang Feng couldn’t help but stare. Then he replied, “I see. No wonder you’re very strong. Being able to fight immortal experts in the transcending tribulation stage.”
Zhao Hai forced a smile and said, “That could be considered as a great advantage. But if I really fought an immortal expert, I could only run away and save my life. It’s close to impossible for me to win.”
Zhang Feng nodded, “No matter what, the Black Tiger Gang and the Freedom Alliance need to get stronger. If you reach the immortal stage one day and enter the Soaring Dragon Realm, it would be troublesome if we couldn’t protect ourselves.”
Zhao Hai forced a smile and said, “Let’s talk about it when the time comes. I don’t even know when I’ll break through. The stronger I become, the more difficult it becomes for me to increase my cultivation. The only reason I broke through to the transcending tribulation stage was because of the Great Elder’s help. Otherwise, I would still be at the core formation stage at this time. Fortunately, I have the Undead to provide me with faith power, making my path forward easier.”
Hu Liangchen patted Zhao Hai’s shoulder as he said, “It’s alright. Once our strength stabilizes, the Black Tiger Gang will do all it can to support you.”
Zhao Hai smiled bitterly and said, “It’s fine. Let’s take things slow. My breakthrough isn’t an urgent matter. I’ll head to the frontlines first. I’ll take the first army with me as well.”
Zhang Feng nodded, “Rest assured, besides you, nobody can command the first army. Haha” Zhao Hai also smiled. Then he cupped his fist towards everyone before leaving.
Seeing Zhao Hai leave, Zhang Feng turned his head to Hu Liangchen and said, “I couldn’t imagine where we would be without Little Hai.”
Hu Liangchen smiled bitterly and said, “Without Little Hai, the Black Tiger Gang would no longer exist.”
Zhang Feng also forced a smile. He knew what Hu Liangchen meant. If it weren’t for Zhao Hai’s fortunate arrival to the Black Tiger Gang, the gang would have split into two by internal fighting. Then when the Heavenly Demons arrive, the gang wouldn’t have made proper preparations. As to where the Black Tiger Gang would end up, it was difficult to see.
Without the sudden rise of the Black Tiger Gang, the Freedom Alliance wouldn’t have been formed. And without the Freedom Alliance, the variables that caused the Heavenly Demons to be expelled wouldn’t exist. The Heavenly Demons might have already taken the Great Realm of Cultivation for themselves.
All of these things were brought about by the existence of Zhao Hai. Therefore, Zhang Feng was correct in saying that he wouldn’t know where the Black Tiger Gang would be without Zhao Hai.
At this time, Zhao Hai arrived in the frontlines. The frontline was currently located not far from the Hundred Flowers Valley. Currently, the person taking charge of the frontline was the Great Axe Sect’s Li Kuangge.
Li Kuangge was the commander of the Freedom Alliance’s second army. Although his ability wasn’t still very far from Zhao Hai, he already gained experience in battle. Therefore, he was able to resist the nine super sects while commanding the troops on the frontline.
However, it was clear that the main factor in the battle was Li Kuangge but the immortal experts. Without immortal experts to stop the immortal experts of the nine super sects, the frontline wouldn’t be able to stand.
Li Kuangge was also aware of this fact, so he was calm. Upon arriving at the frontline, he didn’t immediately fight the nine super sects. Instead, he solidified the defense. He knew that it would be a death wish to clash with the nine super sects. Therefore, he utilized the defensive methods he learned from fighting the Heavenly Demons. At the same time, he had the immortal experts take charge in stopping their counterparts.
But upon hearing the news that the main army of the nine super sects was coming over, Li Kuangge couldn’t help but worry. He heard that the first army had returned to the Freedom Alliance. However, Zhao Hai was nowhere to be seen.
Li Kuangge knew that the only way out for the Freedom Alliance was Zhao Hai. If Zhao Hai doesn’t come or has suffered an accident, the Freedom Alliance was done for.
Fortunately, there were immortal-level Undead in the frontlines. The existence of the Undead meant that Zhao Hai was somewhere safe. As long as Zhao Hai was fine, then Li Kuangge wouldn’t lose hope.
The frontline has been arranged into a huge fortress by Li Kuangge. But with the strict defensive stance of the frontline, the cultivators were beginning to be dissatisfied. However, the cultivators didn’t say anything. They also understood what was happening. They were all people who participated in the battle against the Heavenly Demons. The people who were a bit dissatisfied were the veterans of the Freedom Alliance’s first army.
The current first army was a mix of recruits and old veterans. All of them rotated in shifts in the battlefield, so some of them were left behind while the others fought the Heavenly Demons. The reason the veterans were dissatisfied was because they weren’t used to defensive methods in dealing with the enemies. When they battled against the Heavenly Demons, these people have always been on the offensive. So naturally, they didn’t like Li Kuangge’s performance.
Li Kuangge was also aware of this. However, he didn’t budge under these people’s pressure. He also has experience during the war against the Heavenly Demons. He was also aware of his capabilities. He was just waiting for Zhao Hai’s arrival. Once Zhao Hai arrives, he would immediately hand over the control of the frontlines.
Fortunately, the nine super sects didn’t go all out in attacking. They just sent several scouting attacks. To be honest, the army of the nine super sects wasn’t as powerful as the Heavenly Demon Armies. Therefore, Li Kuangge was relatively relaxed.
On this day, after Li Kuangge completed his routine inspection of the camp, he flew towards his residence. Then suddenly, he heard a cheer. Li Kuangge’s heart jumped before he turned around and rushed towards the transmission formation plaza.
The transmission formation plaza was built after the troops arrived. It consists of ten large transmission formations and 50 smaller ones. Its output was quite strong. This allowed the Freedom Alliance to send reinforcements to the frontlines as well as help with retreat when necessary.
Li Kuangge flew to the transmission formation plaza because he thought of something. The atmosphere of the camp had been very bad lately. Everyone knew that they were against the nine super sects. To be honest, to these smaller sects, there was a shadow of fear towards these powerful sects. Knowing that they were at war with these formidable enemies, they weren’t able to display all of their strength due to fear. This caused the mood of the camp to be suffocating.
At this time, there was only one thing that could cause the camp to cheer and that was a vision of a change in the war. In the Freedom Alliance, there was only one thing that could flip the situation of the battlefield, and that was Zhao Hai’s arrival.
Zhao Hai was the only person that could change the war! This was something that the entire Great Realm of Cultivation knew. Even the Heavenly Demons who had been expelled knew. Only Zhao Hai’s appearance would cause the camp to cheer.
And just as Li Kuangge thought, after he arrived at the transmission formation plaza, he heard chattering sounds. Turning his head, Li Kuangge immediately saw Zhao Hai followed by some people from the first army. These people were surrounding Zhao Hai with respect and worship in their eyes. Although they were talking about army matters, they looked like children who saw their idol in person. Li Kuangge couldn’t believe that he would see such an expression on transcending tribulation experts.
These cultivators haven’t spoken to him with such expressions. However, Li Kuangge wasn’t jealous at all. On the contrary, he felt relieved. With Zhao Hai here, the load could be taken off Li Kuangge’s shoulders. To be honest, Li Kuangge felt that he wasn’t suitable to be a commander.
At this time, Zhao Hai noticed Li Kuangge’s arrival. He immediately cupped his fist towards Li Kuangge and said, “Mister Li, you’ve worked hard. But now that I’m here, I’ll have to take command. I hope Mister Li won’t take offense.”
Li Kuangge smiled and said, “Mister is too polite. I’m aware that I have no talent. To be honest, I have been holding on these few days. I’m just waiting for mister to arrive. Now that Mister is here, I can get back to becoming a foot soldier.”
Zhao Hai laughed, “Mister Li really underestimates himself. Right, Mister Li, the rest of the first army will arrive soon. Their accommodations need to be arranged.”
Li Kuangge nodded, “It’s already been taken care of. Mister can rest assured.” After he said that, he led Zhao Hai to his residence. Before long, they reached a cave. Li Kuangge gestured towards the cave and said, “Mister, this will be your residence. It has a meeting room as well as a study room.”
Zhao Hai nodded, then he said, “Mister Li, come join me inside. I have something to discuss with you.” Li Kuangge nodded, then he entered the cave alongside Zhao Hai.
After the two sat down, Zhao Hai took out a bottle of spirit wine. He offered a cup to Li Kuangge before saying, “Mister Li, I want to ask about the current state of the frontline.”
Li Kuangge gave a nod, “The frontline is doing quite well. The nine super sects began their attack ten days ago. At that time, the Heavenly Demons have yet to be expelled from the realm. But there is already news that they were having a hard time and were slowly retreating. It’s possible that the nine super sects wanted to use this opportunity to catch us off-guard. It’s good that we were able to prepare in advance. The nine super sects brought out 100 immortal experts in the beginning. But since Mister left some immortal-level Undead, around 30 immortal experts of the nine super sects were killed. This caused their army to retreat. In the following days, they no longer attacked as much. Nor did they send out their immortal experts. But since we have less people, we’re still forced to be defensive.”
Zhao Hai nodded, then he asked, “If the attack started ten days ago, why wasn’t I informed?”
Li Kuangge smiled bitterly and said, “This is a decision made by the alliance leader and the others. Since the Heavenly Demons haven’t been driven out at that time, they were afraid that Mister would cause a conflict with the nine super sects. Therefore, they decided to withhold the information from you. I think the nine super sects also thought about this, so they dared to begin their attack. However, they didn’t expect that we were already prepared. Their plan didn’t go as well as they expected.”
Zhao Hai nodded, “That’s good. In any case, the Heavenly Demons have already been driven out. It wouldn’t be too late to deal with the nine super sects.”