Chapter 39: CH-39: Between the devil and the deep blue sea! (2)

The elders immediately looked towards him while Jian Yulan’s expression didn’t change much.

Elder Ye casually walked inside while rubbing his chin awkwardly and found an empty seat before sitting down.

"We are in a little bit of trouble, it seems?"

Several elders couldn’t help but smile bitterly at his words. The Blood Moon Sect was waging war against them, ambushing them outside, and calling it a little problem was certainly something only an outsider could do.

One of the elders explained the situation to him, after which Elder Ye’s expression became somewhat more serious.

"So the Blood Moon Sect is outside?"

Elder Ye rubbed his chin thoughtfully before looking towards Jian Yulan.

"Then why don’t we simply wait?"

Jian Yulan’s eyes narrowed, clearly displeased, but Elder Ye just leaned back in his chair, nodding as he tried to convince them to minimise their actions.

"They are outside your sect, while we are inside it, and the protection formation is already active, so unless they have a way to break through it, they don’t have much of an advantage."

Another elder nodded, clearly understanding Elder Ye’s stance of neutrality but didn’t say anything against it.

"That is exactly what we were thinking."

The elders also felt a bit relieved after knowing of Elder Ye’s presence here.

Although Elder Ye was not from the Sword Sect, his presence was enough to change the situation significantly.

He was a Core Formation cultivator from another major sect, and if the Blood Moon Sect had only expected to deal with the Sword Sect, then the sudden appearance of another Core Formation cultivator, who was from another sect entirely, would certainly make things considerably more complicated for them.

One of the elders slowly spoke, bringing out the positive factors, causing agreement throughout the hall.

"With Elder Ye here, the situation has effectively become two against one if the Blood Moon Sect intends to bring another Core Formation cultivator."

"We don’t even need to fight them directly; we only need to make them believe that attacking us would be too costly."

Jian Yulan’s expression became dissatisfied, giving Elder Ye a sour look, but she didn’t speak out anymore, already knowing it was futile anyway.

The Blood Moon Sect would now have to consider Elder Ye’s presence before making their move.

Elder Jian also reluctantly agreed after pondering for a bit. The other elders relaxed slightly upon hearing her agreement.

One of them immediately began explaining the next steps.

"The lockdown will remain in place until we understand their intentions, and all disciples will remain within the Sect Hall or designated safe areas. The protection formation will stay active at maximum strength, while the elders will take their positions around the core defensive formations."

"If they attempt to negotiate, we will hear them out, but we will not lower our guard."

"And if they truly attack..."

"Then we will show them why the Sword Sect has survived for so many years."

The elders talked for a long while, pondering over security and checkpoints, finally planning out a clear course of action.

Outside the Elder Hall, the Sword Sect remained unusually silent as countless disciples waited inside the Sect Hall, unaware of the exact situation but able to feel the tension spreading throughout the sect.

...

Gu Changsheng sat quietly beside Dong Mulan, while Ye Che and Su Mingyue remained nearby.

Ning Rongrong had already started whispering to Dong Mulan about what they should do if the sect actually went to war, though Dong Mulan’s attention seemed to be drifting towards the possibility of having another meal before they left.

Gu Changsheng noticed her expression and immediately understood.

"Don’t tell me you’re thinking about food right now."

Dong Mulan turned towards him with complete innocence. Obviously, she could be hungry after the Sword Sect was being ambushed, not that the two scenarios were related anyhow.

Ning Rongrong covered her mouth, trying not to laugh, while Su Mingyue shook her head helplessly.

Even in a situation like this, somehow Dong Mulan’s priorities remained completely unchanged.

However, Gu Changsheng’s smile slowly faded as he looked towards the entrance of the Sect Hall.

He couldn’t shake off the feeling that something was coming.

Unknown beings had gathered outside, ready to attack, though the Sword Sect had activated its protection formation and the elders were preparing a countermeasure.

But still...

...

Meanwhile, far outside the Sword Sect, several figures stood silently outside the protective formation surrounding the Sword Sect, their bodies concealed beneath dark robes as they looked towards the enormous canyon entrance from a considerable distance.

The Sword Sect’s protection formation had already fully activated, and faint ripples of Spiritual Energy could be seen spreading through the surrounding mountains like invisible waves, causing the air itself to feel somewhat heavier.

A group of cultivators stood together on a mountain peak, their expressions calm despite the fact that they were currently in another’s territory.

None of them seemed particularly worried.

At the front of the group stood an elderly man with a pale complexion and long grey hair, his eyes carrying a strange coldness as he stared towards the distant Sword Sect.

His robe was dark red, while a faint crescent-shaped emblem of a blood-red moon was embroidered upon his chest.

He was an Elder of the Blood Moon Sect.

Behind him stood several other cultivators, each of them possessing powerful cultivation, though most of them were deliberately concealing their auras.

One of the elders finally broke the silence.

"The Sword Sect has activated its protection formation, as expected."

The old man nodded calmly. Another elder looked towards him with a slightly confused expression.

"They already know we are here, so shouldn’t we begin the attack?"

The old man immediately turned his head and looked at him as though he had just suggested something particularly foolish.

"Why would we attack?"

The elder blinked, looking confused. He wasn’t in the meeting where they were planning the attack a few days back, prioritizing ’household matters’ instead.

"Because... we came here to attack them?"

For a moment, the surrounding Blood Moon Sect cultivators remained silent. The old man stared at him for several seconds before finally sighing.

"You really need to think before speaking."

The elder scratched his head awkwardly, looking somewhat embarrassed, and apologized for his absence from the meeting once again.

"The point is to make them believe we are here to attack them."

The old man slowly explained, his eyes narrowing as he looked towards the distant Sword Sect.

Several elders nodded in understanding, while the elder who had asked the question quietly stepped backward, deciding it was probably better to stop talking before he embarrassed himself any further.

Another Blood Moon Sect elder folded his arms and looked towards the Sword Sect.

"So, they have already entered lockdown?"

The surrounding elders remained silent for a moment, and the atmosphere gradually became more serious as everyone began considering the implications of their current situation.

The Blood Moon Sect had deliberately appeared outside the Sword Sect with enough force to trigger the protection formation, yet not enough to make their intentions immediately obvious.

They had made their presence known and had allowed themselves to be detected, even ensuring that the Sword Sect would have enough time to react.

All of it was intentional.

The elder standing beside the embarrassed elder transmitted his voice to explain.

"If we wanted to destroy the Sword Sect, we would have brought considerably more people."

"Even with their protection formation disabled, attacking a sect of this size directly would cost us too much, and there is no reason to pay that price when we don’t actually need to destroy them."

The embarrassed elder nodded slightly, expressing his thanks and saying no more.

The old man looked towards the distant Sword Sect, his expression becoming colder.

"We need their attention, and we need them to believe that this conflict could escalate at any moment."

"News of the Blood Moon Sect surrounding the Sword Sect will spread sooner or later, and when it does, every sect within this region will begin paying attention."

"That means the more dangerous we appear, the more attention we attract."

But there is a limit... If they appear too strong, the surrounding sects may intervene immediately, which would be troublesome for them.

They need to look dangerous enough to force everyone to watch, but not dangerous enough to make the others unite against them. ℯℯ𝑙.

The elders exchanged glances, and the entire situation slowly began to make sense.

Their presence outside the Sword Sect wasn’t meant to result in a full-scale battle, merely a bait.

As long as everyone was watching them, nobody would be paying attention to whatever was happening ’there’.

"It’s fine time the throne welcomes a new king!"

The old man mumbled slightly, though the other elders didn’t hear it, nor did they know that they themselves were but mere cannon fodder in the war to come.

Just then, an elder shielding his face with a mask came flying across, his voice carrying awkwardness and worry.

"Elder, there’s a mishap!!"