Traveling through time to cultivate immortality: a life and death test

Just as everyone was arguing, Lei He suddenly looked shocked and stood up.

"Master Lu is here. Everyone, follow me to welcome him!" Lei He immediately stood up and led everyone to fly out of the sect in a hurry.

Outside the sect, Lu En and Wu Chang looked at the Xuantian Sect's protective formation seriously, commenting on it, as if they were discussing how many flaws the formation had.

"Lord Lu, your presence here brings honor to our humble Xuantian Sect!" Lei He saluted respectfully.

"Greetings, Lord Lu!" Everyone followed suit and saluted.

"My fellow Taoists, you are welcome. Let me introduce my junior brother, Wu Chang." Lu En greeted everyone with a smile. He was amiable and showed the demeanor of a superior who respects the wise and humble.

"Greetings, Lord Wu!" Everyone immediately saluted.

"Greetings, fellow Taoists." Wu Chang saluted with his fists clasped. Seeing that everyone had worried expressions on their brows, he guessed that the situation on the battlefield must be unfavorable.

"Lord Lu, Lord Wu, please come in. We have prepared some drinks to welcome you." After both parties finished their introductions, Lei He suggested that everyone go in for dinner.

"There's no rush for a welcome party. Just take us directly to the meeting hall." Lu En waved his hand to refuse. He also knew that the war situation was urgent, so he could talk about drinking and entertainment later.

"Well, my two lords, please come in!" Lei He observed their expressions and saw that Lu En and the other two were concerned about the war, and he immediately felt reassured.

Arriving at the meeting hall, Lei He immediately gave a concise overview of the current unfavorable battlefield situation and the focus of everyone's endless discussion. Lu En and Wu Chang listened patiently, expressionless, as if the demonic force's menacing presence had no effect on them. After Lei He finished his presentation, he stood aside with his hands hanging down. The others remained silent, awaiting Lord Lu's instructions.

"Don't panic, fellow Daoists! We arrived here a month ago and have been gathering intelligence. The first is that the Hehuan Sect has indeed secretly sent a group of Foundation Establishment disciples to assist in the battle, approximately one hundred in number. But don't panic, we already have a countermeasure. Staff Officer Wu will now present the battle strategy." Lu En spoke calmly. Upon hearing that Hehuan Sect disciples were indeed participating in the battle, they were all horrified. When Lord Lu announced a countermeasure, they were both surprised and delighted. Unsure of what the countermeasure might be, they were all anxiously awaiting the outcome.

"Everyone, look, the enemy is dividing their forces into multiple groups and fighting simultaneously across an area of ​​more than a thousand miles. They must be divided into various places, so our core strategy this time is to 'lure the enemy deep into our territory and defeat them one by one'!" Wu Chang didn't waste any words and directly stated the core strategic idea. Seeing his confident look, everyone seemed to have confidence.

"First of all, this war is an invasion war in which the evil ways attack the righteous ways, so the other side is an unjust army. On the contrary, we are defending with justice, so our people's hearts are more useful. We must quickly organize the regional cultivators to form a militia force and set up some reward and punishment measures. As for how to publicize and mobilize, and how to organize the cultivators, Fellow Daoist Lei and Master Yang, you will make the specific arrangements." Wu Chang stated the first strategic mobilization, and Lei He and Yang Guang accepted the order and would immediately carry it out later.

"Secondly, we have to fight this war in three stages. The first stage is a strategic retreat. We have to retreat step by step to achieve the goal of luring the enemy into deep. Not confronting the enemy head-on is to preserve our manpower, and voluntarily giving up most of the area and military facilities is to delay the enemy. But we must pay attention to two points. First, we must disperse the enemy's forces as much as possible, and second, we must destroy half of the mining area and construction facilities before retreating." Wu Chang said.

"Staff Officer Wu, why is the occupied area not completely destroyed but only half destroyed?" Chen Limin was a little confused.

"The purpose is to delay the manpower of the demon cultivators. If it is completely destroyed, the demon cultivators will completely abandon the occupied area and then gather troops to attack elsewhere. If it is half destroyed, the demon cultivators will spend some time and manpower to rebuild these areas in order to seize resources." Wu Chang explained, and everyone understood instantly that this was a conspiracy and the other party had to fall into it.

"We need to strategically abandon this entire area." Wu Chang walked over to the military map and drew a large circle with his finger. Everyone was heartbroken. These mining areas, markets, cities, plantations, and monster areas had all been the product of so much effort. This battle was going to destroy them all. Even if they drove back the demon cultivators, rebuilding them would be a massive undertaking. The losses caused by war were truly enormous.

"There are two key points to remember when retreating strategically. First, don't retreat too quickly; you need to give the illusion of being defeated. Second, you need to preserve your own manpower while simultaneously destroying as many of the enemy's as possible," Wu Chang added. Everyone was perplexed. How could they both preserve themselves and destroy the enemy? Wu Chang observed their concerns but remained silent. Each of the ten teams he had brought with him included experts from the Restriction Department, so deploying these destructive restrictions wouldn't be too difficult for them.

"The second phase, the strategic stalemate, requires us to gather our superior forces and engage in large-scale military operations against the enemy in these locations. This is when the hidden treasures held by each of your sects will be put to good use, inflicting heavy damage upon the enemy." Wu Chang then explained the strategic direction. Speaking of sect treasures, Lei He and Yang Guang both smiled confidently. It seemed they possessed a number of these powerful treasures, and they would surely give those demonic creatures a hard time.

"The third stage is a strategic counterattack, gradually recovering lost territory and capturing at least one-third of the enemy's territory. To achieve the final victory of the strategic counterattack, we need to eliminate as many enemy forces as possible in the first and second stages, especially the core combat force of the foundation-building cultivators." Wu Chang was excited for a moment when he talked about the final goal of counterattacking into the enemy's interior and occupying one-third of the territory.

However, everyone understood that these steps, while easier said than done, were far more complex to execute. A single flaw in any one link could potentially reverse the tide of war. Luring the enemy deep into their territory was a good strategy, but the danger was that it would ultimately lead to a swifter end. Destroying the enemy's vital forces was even more difficult to achieve. This objective required dividing the enemy forces, using the many to defeat the few, and the strong to defeat the weak. Both the Xuantian Sect and the Jiuyang Sect had limited manpower, and their Jindan masters were evenly matched, each holding the other in check. Their Foundation Establishment cultivators were even weaker, as the other side had the support of the Hehuan Sect's Foundation Establishment disciples.

"The overall strategy is as above. Everyone has no doubts, right? As for tactical execution, we will set up a command center on the front line. I will be in charge of the command center to direct this war. Does anyone have any questions?" After Wu Chang finished his introduction, Lu En directly asked for the command right with an attitude that left no room for questioning.

"I will follow the arrangements of Lord Lu and Lord Wu." Lei He and Yang Guang looked at each other, with deep worry in their eyes, but finally agreed to hand over the command.