Chapter 1151: Coordination

Proofreader: Papatonks

“Sect Leader Ling, right this way!”

In the boundless snowfall, a dozen people traced the sky. A middle-aged man with a split mustache held a smile as he sucked-up to the elder next to him, “This time we caught a central area spy. Baili Jingwei must be itching to crush us.”

The elder frowned, “I still thought it would be one of his envoys, to settle things. Didn’t he go after Devil Palace so far? Why can’t he just lay his ambition to rest for our lands and instead send more spies? Sect Leader Bu, it’s thanks to your cautious nature in not letting your guard down against central area all these years. Putting you in charge of northern lands’ defenses was the right choice.” 

“Sea Bright Sect Leader Ling, you’re too much. It’s the Sun Sea Sect’s responsibility, ha-ha-ha…” The middle-aged man laughed in pride.

Due to Bu Xingyun saving the four lands’ leaders at the right time, he had gained Ling Yuntian’s trust the past century.

Northern lands’ five sects, besides Sea Bright Sect’s domain, were all left to the Sun Sea Sect’s supervision, which meant more than half of the land’s matters. Adding to that the fact they were close to the border, he also dealt with its defenses.

Sun Sea Sect’s track record was impeccable the last century, with no slip up, making Ling Yuntian trust him even more.

Bu Xingyun had now run to Ling Yuntian to apologize for finding a central area spy infiltrated in their home, taking full blame for the lax watch. The spy was also under interrogation and that he held important information about Baili Jingwei’s actions. 

Ling Yuntian requested to examine it at once. Bu Xingyun took Sect Leader Ling to this frozen wasteland, where he found the spy to look for more clues.

But what welcomed them was a mass of white in every direction, yet no spy.

Ling Yuntian frowned, “Sect Leader Bu, where is he?”

“Yes, where?” Bu Xingyun looked around skeptically.

“Ha-ha-ha, Sect Leader Ling, isn’t the spy you’re after right here?”

Whoosh~

Three powerful men jumped in front of them. One wore a sinister smile as he glared, another held a wine gourd with a red nose taking a sip now and then, and the last was a cold youth with an empty sleeve, drifting in the winds.

“Baili Yuyun? What are you doing here?” Ling Yuntian gasped, “Why hasn’t there been any word that a Sword King crossed the northern lands’ border?”

Bam!

Ling Yuntian was sent flying as he left a trail of blood. Behind him, Bu Xingyun’s voice dripped with malice, “That’s because I let them in without being seen, ha-ha-ha…” 

“You?!”

Unable to believe the betrayal, Ling Yuntian gnashed his teeth, choking on words.

Bu Xingyun cackled, “Ling Yuntian, I never liked you since a century ago. Why must the Sea Bright Sect be the leader of the five sects? Why should we listen to you? I’m a Sect Leader just as well, so why should we scrape like dogs, catering to your whims? Humph, weren’t you so eager to know the spy among the four lands? Well, you guessed it, me!” 

“You?!”

“Precisely, a shame you old coot thought yourself so clever, letting me handle the search. I just had to find a scapegoat and that’s that. How can a dotard be worthy of leading northern lands? Ha-ha-ha…” Bu Xingyun mocked.

Ling Yuntian was outraged, “Why save us all those years ago?”

“You sure are delusional. You think I wanted to?”

Bu Xingyun scoffed, “If it weren’t to save the Sword Star Empire’s backbone, the Patriarch, to give the order and stop the assault, I wouldn’t even have tried looking for you. Here’s the cold, hard truth, there was no other way. Prime Minister Baili needed you alive to hold talks.”

Ling Yuntian’s face twitched, his heart a mess. 

[It was all Baili Jingwei!] 

But the old men were too blind to see the truth, even treating this vile beast as their savior, handing northern lands’ safety to him.

Ling Yuntian’s heart was torn in regret.

“Did Bali Jingwei also plan for Bali Yuyu to destroy your sect? Just so you could slip into the Sea Bright Sect?”

“Uh, well…”

Bu Xingyun’s face shook, blushing from being put on the spot.

Baili Yuyun laughed, “Ha-ha-ha, Sect Leader Ling, you’re wrong there. Only recently we acted and learned of Sect Leader Bu, with Prime Minister Baili the only one aware of his identity all this time. That was a total misunderstanding, the Sun Sea Sect taunting Yuyu and ended up being put in their place. Even though the Sun Sea Sect was fine, Sect Leader Bu entering the Sea Bright Sect is only logical. What’s the use of such a huge sacrifice? His mission then was to break your barrier, but Zhuo Fan made a mess of things.”

Ling Yuntian understood while Bu Xingyun was ashamed, feeling overwhelmed each time he recalled that rotten luck of the past, so he switched topics, not wanting to face it, “Sword Kings, Ling Yuntian is caught now. Should we begin the Prime Minister’s plan?”

“Right, Prime Minister aims for speed, a swift victory!”

Baili Yuyun nodded, “With Ling Yuntian hostage, the Sea Bright Sect is headless. We will straight up raid Sea Bright Sect and finish it. When it falls in our hands, the other sects are nothing by themselves.”

“Don’t forget the guardian experts in the Sea Bright Sect, the Snow Peak Four Elders! And Ouyang Changqing as well!” 

“We know, that’s why there’s three Sword Kings handling this operation.”

Baili Yuyun glanced at the one-armed youth, “Jingtian, you beat Ouyang Changqing in the last war. You might’ve lost an arm, but he shouldn’t pose a problem. I and Wine Sword Immortal will handle the elders. We’ll help you once we finish them off.”

Baili Jingtian shook his head, “No need, I can handle it.”

“That settles it. Sect Leader Bu, get your men ready to welcome our army. Work with them to take down northern lands. Then you’ll be its king!”

“Right!” Bu Xingyun’s eyes shone as he cupped his hand.

Fooling Sea Bright Sect disciples into opening the barrier, the Sword Kings brought their central area’s elites inside and started killing. The howls and cries rang across the sky as everyone ran for their lives.

The Sword Kings searched and searched, yet there was no sign of Ouyang Changqing nor the four elders. They were just gone.

In the eastern lands’ Shangguan clan, savages stormed it, led by a woman and Sword King Feiyun by her side.

Seeing the ghost town, Shangguan Feiyun demanded, “Moniang, where is everyone? Why is it empty?”

“I’d also like to know.”

The woman gnashed her teeth, “My son’s killers have slipped away. Did you get too eager and tip their scouts off on your coming here?”

Shangguan Yulin rolled his eyes, then glared, “Shangguan Moniang, you think I’m luckless as Shangguan Yulin, full of disappointment? I led my men for a raid. They could listen to the wind and still couldn’t scatter so fast. What of you then? Did you double-cross us? I heard Yan’er has been close to you for the past century and you are quite trusting of her.”

“She just feels guilty for my loss.”

Shangguan Moniang raged, “They killed my son! I’ll have revenge, even if I have to search the farthest depths! Second cousin, you have to help me!”

Annoyed, Shangguan Feiyun waved her off with scorn, “Don’t let what you see blind you. This is a national matter. Stop thinking only of revenge. We need to take eastern lands. Guard, send word that the Shangguan clan is empty, and that the eastern lands are headless, so the army can march in. We’ll coordinate and we can take down the eastern lands in a week!”

“Yes!”

A man bowed and was off to send his report. Shangguan Feiyun’s eyes shone with excitement.

[I’m the king of the eastern lands at last!]

The same occurred in southern lands, with the Murong clan being overrun by an army led by the Dragon Cleaving Sword King. He then worked with the outside forces to sweep the entire southern lands.

Baili Jingwei’s plan to cut the head was highly effective.

Their inside men were in charge of the border, letting Sword Kings slink in with a crack force. They reached the heart of the territory where the command was. By taking them out, the rest were stragglers powerless to resist.

And since it was only to handle one group, the attack force could be kept minimal, helping at hiding its movements. By coordinating with the outside forces, they spread out from the inside, taking down all resistances. 

This made the border defense pointless as three lands fell practically overnight. The Western lands were alone…