Villain Cultivator

Chapter 461 – Guo Jia and Sima Yi

= Five months ago =

Guo Jia and Sima Yi traveled from Siren City to Xiangyang City, located at the north of the Southern Province of Aves Continent.

The journey was smooth at the beginning as every city and village now had surrendered to Miaomiao. No one dared to mess with Sima Yi, who wore the uniform of Ten Path of Nirvana Sect's disciple.

On the contrary, merchants, commoners, and cultivators tried to gain their favor. They showered Guo Jia and Sima Yi with various gifts, hoping that they could remember their names.

Guo Jia was experienced in this. He welcomed all gifts and took notes of their names even though he didn't care about them.

On the contrary, Sima Yi inwardly looked at these bootlickers in disdain. Yet, he pretended to accept their help, but he always forget their names or their faces the next day.

Because of the obstructing people along the way, it took them a month before they could arrive at the southern region.

Upon arrival at the southern province's territory, they no longer found any human.

Every place was deserted!

"This is different from what I had imagined."

Guo Jia wasn't impressed by the abandoned cities, towns, and villages that he had passed by. They gave off the vibe of a destroyed kingdom.

As for Sima Yi, who had already heard the inside news, he was unfazed by the deserted towns. Instead, he paid attention to Guo Jia's expression, complexion, and body language.

Oda Nobunaga guided him well. Currently, Sima Yi's mental age was more mature than a 12-year-old child. He was the same as a veteran politician, who had a keen observation.

"Senior, you'll be surprised after you see the REAL military units of Xiangyang City."

"Oh?"

Guo Jia hadn't talked much with Sima Yi, but he was curious about him now since he seemed knowledgeable.

He decided to test Sima Yi with something that he already knew.

"Do you have any info about Xiangyang and the local military?"

"Yes. Xiangyang's current protector is Senior Dian Wei, the Vice Sect Master of our sect. She is also our strongest fighter."

"That's interesting. So, Lord Mao is going all out against Liu Biao?"

Guo Jia already knew about Dian Wei's current duty and her troop placement. However, he didn't approve of this strategy as it was too naïve.

The mobility and firepower of cultivators were different from mortals. Direct borders were meaningless in war.

Secondly, cultivators were selfish creatures. Unlike regular soldiers, who required teamwork and order to work as one, they tended to rely on their strength instead of working as a team.

Instead of fortifying the border areas, Miaomiao and Dian Wei could have focused their attacks on one or two points and kept putting pressure on Liu Biao's experts. That way, their enemy's morale and order would have collapsed.

Therefore, fortifying at Xiangyang was pointless. Guo Jia planned to change it.

But Sima Yi believed it was the other way around.

"Wrong. I believe Lord Mao is playing a long game to win the war without a fight."

"Care to share your insight?"

"Sure. Senior Dian Wei's placement is due to her nature as an Arachne. From my source of intel, she needs to give birth to her spiderlings, and Siren City is not the right place to do so. Coincidentally, Senior Dian Wei was supposed to hunt Huang Hansheng and Liu Biao when they were at Xiangyang, but she arrived too late. Thus, Lord Mao and Dian Wei decided to use Xiangyang City to breed new troops and let Senior Dian Wei give birth to her babies without troubling Siren City's citizens."

Guo Jia smiled as the info was plausible.

"What about Fairy Liu Guang's troops? I heard Lord Mao dispatched her with an army? What army is she commanding?"

Sima Yi glanced at Guo Jia in disdain. He thought that this nascent soul expert hadn't done his homework, "A million-strong insects, namely man-eating termites. Every termite's combat strength is equal to a 5th-stage cultivator with three elemental continents."

"That strong!?" Guo Jia pretended to be shocked.

"It's Fairy Liu's unique ability. Any insect or pest under her control grows at a monstrous speed. I'm sure that a portion of her troops is now comparable to 6th-stage cultivators."

"Hoh?"

"Instead of testing my intelligence, Senior Guo, you should start worrying about how you will explain yourself in front of Lord Mao's wives. They are not some girls that you can flirt with."

"…"

Realizing that his intention was discovered, Guo Jia coughed and feigned ignorance. He stopped talking and continued flying toward Xiangyang City.

…

= Xiangyang City =

As soon as Sima Yi and Guo Jia reached Xiangyang City's airspace, they had goosebumps.

The entire city was covered by spider webs!

All buildings had been removed and replaced by organized cocoons, aka spider's food granary. Several mountains of orc and oni's skeletons were noticeable from the sky.

Moreover, a thousand giant spiders already leaped to the sky to peek at Guo Jia and Sima Yi up close. Fortunately, none of them was hostile against the duo.

While the two strategists were astonished by the state of the city, they heard a telepathic voice.

'Miaomiao has informed me about your arrival. You're a month late. Come to the central plaza. I'll tell Dian Wei to open a path for you.'

"…"

Guo Jia and Sima Yi gulped. They slowly descended to the spider web city.

The tangled spider webs were opened as if someone had cleared it for them. They managed to land at the center of the city without touching them.

However, as soon as their feet touched the ground, they sensed ten thousand red eyes staring at them as if they were looking at their prey.

And they heard a clear voice.

"They're not food, children."

SAK SAK SAK

Ten thousand spiders of various sizes withdrew and disappeared from the duo's sight. Then, a charming Arachne walked out of the spider web wall and greeted them. Next to her, another attractive woman followed after the spider woman.

Liu Guang introduced herself.

"I'm Liu Guang, the commander of Termite Army, and this person is Dian Wei, the Grand Commander of Xiangyang City. You must be Guo Jia and Sima Yi, correct?"

Both Sima Yi and Guo Jia nodded and cupped their fists.

Before the men could formally greet both women, Liu Guang continued, "Let's save the formality for another time. Miaomiao informed us that we have to listen to your advice regarding our troop adjustment, war plan, and the campaign against Liu Biao and Huang Hansheng. I want to hear your opinion right away."

"Alright."

Guo Jia voiced his thoughts right away. 

"Warfare between cultivators is not the same as warfare between mortals! Instead of focusing on our army size, we should prioritize our troop quality, combat strength, and our top fighters. Even if we could defeat their goons, as long as their 9th-stage expert is still alive, we can still lose the war. Therefore, we should focus on increasing Senior Dian's strength and gather our top experts into a unit. Then, we strike the headquarters of our enemies to end this war once and for all. With that, we can decrease unnecessary casualty!"

Liu Guang nodded while Dian Wei picked her nose, not listening to the advice. The former turned to Sima Yi next.

"What about your opinion?"

Sima Yi shook his head, "I'm here as Senior Guo Jia's Aide. I'm afraid that I might reveal my immature thoughts if I were to say anything."

"My husband said that you're smart, though. No matter what you're thinking, let's hear it."

Sima Yi sighed. He had planned to not contribute anything since he wanted Guo Jia to finish this mess as soon as possible. Still, since he was being forced to voice his thoughts, he reluctantly revealed his opinion.

"Senior Guo's suggestion is already enough. However, I believe that Lord Mao purposely leave his enemies alone for a reason, and I don't think we should pressure them too harshly."

Guo Jia and Liu Guang raised their eyebrows, "Why?"

"A cornered rat will fight like a lion when it is desperate. Now that Liu Biao, Huang Hansheng, and Ling Cao still have a place that they can treat as a home base, they aren't being pushed to despair. Therefore, their guard will be lax as time passes. The longer the peace, the weaker they will become. Then, when our combatants are ready, we can annihilate them with a surprise attack when they least expect it."

Liu Guang smiled while Guo Jia was surprised. A second later, the latter nodded as if he had enlightenment.

"I see. So that is what our Lord might have thought. However, Junior Sima, if we leave them alone for too long, won't they recuperate from their losses and come back to bite us?"

"If both sides have the same foundation, resources, and personal asset, indeed, this entire war plan is doomed to fail. But Senior Guo, do you think that our resources, personal asset, and our people's cultivation speed are the same?"

"Hohoh? I see."

Guo Jia thought of the endless elixir water, pills, element Qi, and natural herbs in Cernun Forest. Indeed, with so many natural resources, the cultivators on Miaomiao's side would grow faster than Liu Biao's side even if the latter had the support from the Holy Land.

It took time for reinforcement from the other side to arrive. Moreover, judging from the recent emergence of Liu Yan's Oni and Orc Army, the Great Liu Clan was not unite as one, so reinforcement or support might not come for Liu Biao at all.

In short, in a long term, Siren City had the absolute advantage.

"Anything else you want to add, Sir Guo?"

"Aside from that," Guo Jia gave up his war plan. For now, he wanted to reorganize the army structure. "I would like to share my humble thoughts about army reorganization."

"Cool, let's hear it-"

GROWL

While they were happily chatting, someone's stomach growled.

Everyone turned to Dian Wei, whose eyes were brim with tears.

"I'm hungry. Can I go back and find something to eat?"

"…"

…

= Five Months Later, Xiangyang City =

After testing Guo Jia's idea, changing the military structure, Liu Guang was impressed.

Termites were smart. Liu Guang handpicked a few strong ones to be the unit's captains, and they didn't disappoint her.

Instead of commanding every unit by herself, her army could operate in platoons and small units without her instructions. She could simply set a policy and let the platoon captains or lieutenants complete the unit's assignments.

Now, a million termites were separated into 220 battalions, and each battalion consisted of 50 companies, made of 100 termites.

Alpha termites emerged from the soldiers as they instinctively evolved by the need of Liu Guang. They become Termite Generals, Commanders, and Lieutenants of their units.

In addition, termites had no individual desire like humans. Their minds reacted to Liu Guang's thoughts, and they moved without complaining.

The training of these termites was completed in four months. As for the remaining month, they were busy replacing Dian Wei's spider troops on the frontline.

Giant spiders were recalled to recuperate in Xiangyang City while the trained termites were sent to the borders.

But before Guo Jia could reform Dian Wei's army, he finally faced a challenge.

Unknown wolf-like fiends began invading the southern region, and a few cultivators from Liu Biao's side were spotted around the borders.

Liu Guang, Dian Wei, and Guo Jia rushed to the frontline to intercept the intruders. As for Sima Yi, he remained behind to guard the city and ask for reinforcement from Siren City and Zither Tongue City.

The skirmish occurred during the period when Azazel was touring the land and handling the invitation letter. While the Selection Tournament was around the corner, Xiangyang City and Southern Region became a chaotic war zone.

Ling Tianlong's Taoties attacked them!

Ling Cao and Huang Hansheng were also on the move. They sent their underlings to probe the Southern Region!

...

= Southwest Region =

A naked young man with long hair and a white tiger tail slowly crawled out from a hole. As soon as he could see the Sun again, he laughed.

Zhou Gongjin raised his hands to the sky, feeling confident after staying in the time-distortion void for a thousand years.

He managed to acquire the bloodline power and Gan Ning's fortune that he had hoped for, including many treasures and supreme techniques from the higher realms.

He was now an 8th-stage cultivator!

"Bofu, this time, I'll protect you! Ling Tianlong, you're dead meat!"