War Council Politics

Back in his rented pavilion, he found his “Senior Brother Lü” and the Fire Dragon Boy both seated in the ground-floor hall. Mu Peiling sat quietly by the side, keeping them company like a hostess.

When she saw Han Li enter, she immediately rose and asked with a hint of concern, “Patriarch, Senior Lü and Senior Lan have been waiting for you. Did something happen?”

“It’s nothing. Go upstairs and rest for now. I’ll talk with the two seniors a while longer.” Han Li rarely gave Mu Peiling a faint smile and spoke gently.

“Yes, Patriarch.” Mu Peiling obediently performed a curtsey, asked no further questions, and went upstairs.

Han Li watched her retreating back, very satisfied with her intelligence. But as he thought about Nangong Wan’s matter, he unconsciously let out a sigh.

“What’s this? Younger Brother Han getting a bit sentimental now?” Lü Luo was delighted to see Han Li return and teased him slightly.

“Hehe, you jest, Senior Brother. Senior Brother Lü and Fellow Daoist Lan are here about today’s council meeting, I take it.” Han Li smiled faintly, took a seat beside the two, and spoke unhurriedly.

“You are correct, Brother Han. It’s indeed about the Moulan people. The two of us have already sent word to the Alliance. We’ve also informed the other Heavenly Dao Alliance members in the city. Most of them understand that if the nest is turned over, no egg will remain intact. They are all willing to help the Nine Nations Alliance hold back the Moulan vanguard until reinforcements arrive. Of course, getting these Nascent Soul cultivators to act will require some spirit stone compensation; that much is unavoidable. I don’t think the Nine Nations Alliance will be stingy, either. While the Moulan are an enemy to all cultivators, the Nine Nations Alliance is the first to bear the brunt. That is no lie.” Lü Luo explained slowly.

“In that case, what is there to discuss? Although I have only recently advanced, Han will certainly do his part to repel the enemy.” Han Li nodded, a trace of curiosity in his voice.

“You don’t know the full picture yet, Brother Han. A joint delegation from the Righteous and Demonic Paths suddenly came to visit us with a proposition. Fellow Daoist Lan and I found their reasoning somewhat sound, so we must be cautious.” The Fire Dragon Boy cut in, a slight gravity showing on his face.

“What kind of proposition? Could it be that they fear the Nine Nations Alliance will use this opportunity to weaken our three major powers?” Han Li’s eyes flickered a few times before he chuckled lightly and spoke with a knowing half-smile.

“Oh! Brother Han truly is exceptionally perceptive; you guessed it in one go. However, the possibility of the Nine Nations Alliance moving against all three major powers at once is not that high. It’s far more likely they would secretly align with one or two houses to make a move against a specific power. That is not something our Heavenly Dao Alliance wants to see. Otherwise, even after repelling the Moulan Dharma Warriors, the cultivation world would not find stability. Our Alliance absolutely cannot let this happen! We cannot let the powers of the Heavenly South fall into a state of imbalance.” Lü Luo was startled for a moment, then spoke with a wry smile.

“Oh… and what do the two seniors suggest?” Han Li’s lips curled slightly as he asked, his expression unchanging.

“It's simple. While the cultivators of our three major powers can temporarily follow the Nine Nations Alliance’s orders, we cannot allow them to use this as a pretext to weaken our strength. As for the specifics, we’ve had some preliminary talks with the Six Demonic Sects and the Righteous Path. The plan is to negotiate a set of feasible terms at the council meeting tomorrow to ensure this situation doesn't arise. At the very least, if our three powers dispatch a certain number of high-level cultivators, the Nine Nations Alliance cannot hide their own elders away and refuse to send them into battle. For this, we need you, Brother Han, and the other cultivators to offer your support.” The Fire Dragon Boy stated calmly.

“That’s no problem. I have no desire to be stabbed in the back while fighting the Dharma Warriors.” Han Li agreed without a second thought.

“That settles it. Besides you, Brother Han, we will also contact some other fellow Daoists. This will give the Scarlet Cloud Sect or the Principle Inversion Sect no room to oppose it. I hope this great war can end quickly. Otherwise, I fear many of our Heavenly South comrades will fall!” Lü Luo let out a long sigh first, as if momentarily overcome with melancholy.

“Hehe! For someone of our cultivation level, preserving one's life in a great battle is still possible as long as we remain cautious. Last time the Moulan invaded, Lan took down quite a few Dharma Warriors. It seems I’ll be opening my kill count again this time.” The Fire Dragon Boy, however, gave a cold laugh and said with a flash of murderous intent in his eyes.

Hearing this, Han Li cast a slightly surprised glance at the Fire Dragon Boy.

This cultivator, who appeared as a mere youth, was only an early Nascent Soul cultivator, but the killing intent he exuded was far denser than others of the same rank. It seemed he had indeed taken many lives.

Lü Luo and the other man chatted with Han Li a while longer about the specifics of the next day's assembly and shared some speculations about the sudden appearance of the giant beast and the unfamiliar Dharma Warriors before finally taking their leave.

As Han Li saw them to the pavilion’s entrance, Lü Luo hesitated for a moment before turning back to ask an additional question:

“Younger Brother Han, you went to see that old acquaintance today. How did it go?”

As he asked this, Senior Brother Lü’s gaze was fixed intently on Han Li’s face, as if trying to glean something from his expression.

“It was nothing at all. We merely caught up and talked about old times.” Han Li replied without batting an eye, his expression perfectly calm.

“Good! That puts my mind at ease.”

Upon hearing this, Lü Luo’s hidden concern was largely dispelled. He chatted cheerfully with Han Li for a few more sentences before leaving in peace alongside the Fire Dragon Boy.

Han Li stood at the pavilion’s entrance, watching the two enter another nearby pavilion. It seemed they truly were in the process of contacting other cultivators.

It looked like those two held some kind of official position within the Heavenly Dao Alliance. Otherwise, why would they be the ones approached for the council meeting and to act as spokespersons for the Righteous and Demonic Paths?

Han Li rubbed his chin, lost in thought. Then he turned and went back inside his own pavilion.

…

The following day’s council meeting saw a sudden surge in the number of Nascent Soul cultivators attending, more than doubling the previous count. Besides the elders from the Righteous Path, Demonic Path, and Heavenly Dao Alliance, there were also a fair number of rogue cultivator old freaks.

This took Kun Peng of the Scarlet Cloud Sect and Madam Qi of the Principle Inversion Sect, who were chairing the meeting, quite by surprise.

In the end, regardless of whether the Nine Nations Alliance had originally harbored other intentions, they were forced to agree to various conditions proposed by the assembled cultivators.

The most important of these was that, no matter what task required high-level cultivators, all four major powers had to dispatch an equal number of participants. This was to prevent any power from using underhanded schemes to secretly harm cultivators from another faction.

What surprised Han Li later on was that the Nascent Soul Elder Council of the Heavenly Dao Alliance, upon receiving the summons from Lü Luo and the Fire Dragon Boy, debated the matter and decided that each sect within the Alliance would send one Nascent Soul elder, or several Core Formation cultivators, to reinforce Tiandian City. Naturally, due to the great distance, these reinforcements would take some time to arrive. Until then, the cultivators already present, like Lü Luo, would follow the Nine Nations Alliance’s orders to stall the Moulan offensive.

To be fair, once the reinforcements arrived, the cultivators who had already fought the hardest would be credited with a major contribution, allowing them to return to their sects and avoid the later battles. The newly arrived reinforcements would then take their place in the coming war.

For now, following the council's discussions, both the Fire Dragon Boy and Lü Luo had accepted their assigned tasks and were heading off to reinforce various front-line positions.

Han Li, along with two other Nascent Soul cultivators and seven or eight Core Formation cultivators, was dispatched to support a strategically vital location on the Yu Kingdom border, which was guarded by a powerful restrictive formation.

This was a position the Dharma Warriors had to capture to advance. There were over a dozen similar strongholds along their route.

If these were not cleared, the Moulan could never truly consider the occupied territory secure or be at ease.

With their current strength insufficient for a decisive battle against the Moulan, the Nine Nations Alliance could only rely on their geographical advantages and the painstakingly prepared restrictive formations to gradually delay the Dharma Warrior army's advance.

Otherwise, given the flying speed of the high-level Moulan Dharma Warriors, it would take them barely a month to fly from the battlefront to the very walls of Tiandian City.

The Moulan army had yet to reach the restrictive formation stronghold Han Li was assigned to reinforce, but the only high-level cultivator stationed there was a single Nascent Soul cultivator from the Nine Nations Alliance.

In previous Moulan incursions of this scale, having one Nascent Soul cultivator stationed there, supported by the array formation, was enough to hold off a certain number of Dharma Warriors for a while.

However, given the ferocity of the current Moulan offensive, such a small force would be very difficult to defend against.

The cultivators of the same rank journeying with Han Li were an old man named Ma from the Haoran Pavilion of the Righteous Path Alliance. He was gaunt but hale, with an ethereal, immortal air. The other was the green-robed, vulture-faced old man Han Li had seen in the meeting hall the other day, named Gu Shuangpu.

Although Han Li only noticed a single spirit beast pouch at the man’s waist, the faint aura emanating from it made even Han Li feel slightly uneasy, suggesting the beast within was extraordinary.

All three were at the early Nascent Soul stage, so there was naturally no hierarchy of superiority among them.

Fearing that the Moulan army might reach their target stronghold ahead of them, the three quickly agreed to leave the seven or eight Core Formation cultivators behind. They would fly ahead at high speed, letting their juniors catch up on their own.

During the journey, Old Man Ma proved quite talkative. He chatted and laughed with Han Li and the other man along the way, as if they weren't heading to face the Moulan army but were merely on a sightseeing trip.

As for Gu Shuangpu of the Imperial Spirit Sect, his face was perpetually dark and gloomy, and he hardly spoke a word. One could only wonder what was on his mind.

Han Li, for his part, wore a smile on his face and regularly chipped in with a few words in response to Old Man Ma, giving the two an impression of being cultured and refined. Since both were also aware that Han Li was a newly advanced Nascent Soul cultivator, they didn't place much weight on his combat prowess.