Could Divine Soldiers Have Fallen from Heaven?

The rain had weakened, but for those marching in secret, every step was still mired in mud.

"We can go no farther. Scouts are lying in ambush ahead, likely cultivators. We cannot gauge the situation there, and it would be unwise to charge forward rashly. We would be easily discovered."

A cultivator darted back and stopped the troops moving stealthily through the darkness.

Sun Gaotian, right commander of the central army under Zhang Hu, asked, "How far are we from the grain depot?"

The cultivator replied, "About five li, I think?"

After some thought, Sun Gaotian ordered the troops to stop skulking about. The five thousand men went straight onto the official road, formed up in orderly ranks, and marched openly toward their target at an unhurried pace, heedless of whether they would be discovered.

When they encountered sentry posts demanding identification, the cultivators simply flashed over and killed them.

Not far beyond a sentry post, a Moon Butterfly swept out of the forest to investigate. It was clearly being controlled by a Song Kingdom cultivator.

A cultivator on this side flicked out a copper coin with his finger, knocking the incoming Moon Butterfly straight from the air.

A shout immediately rang out from the forest. "Who goes there?"

Right Commander Sun Gaotian replied, "Xu Laiping's river-defense patrol."

A figure flashed over to inspect them. Clearly, he had not been so easily fooled and intended to verify their identity in person. Two cultivators on this side immediately joined forces and rushed at him, and the two sides began fighting at once.

After several sharp blasts, they easily killed that cultivator. However, the sounds of battle were far too conspicuous. They had drawn close to the enemy's lair, and there was no longer any concealing the commotion.

"Advance at full speed!"