"Stop!!"
The Second Elder's beard quivered with rage as he stamped his foot.
Watching Tang Xiao's resolute back, he knew his nephew was as stubborn as that mule, Tang Hao. Once he had made up his mind, not even nine oxen could drag him back.
If Tang Xiao really went alone and fell into Bibi Dong's hands, then without their Sect Master and their only Titled Douluo, the Clear Sky Sect would be close to destruction, even with their natural defenses.
"Come back! Who said we weren't going to save them?!"
The Second Elder roared, stopping Tang Xiao just as he reached the doorway.
Tang Xiao halted and turned around, looking at his uncle, who had been trying to stop him all along, with a complicated expression.
"Uncle..."
"Alas..." The Second Elder let out a long sigh. "Why are you so impatient, child?"
He glanced around at the elders, whose expressions varied, then gritted his teeth and relented:
"Since the Speed Clan is surrounded, and Bibi Dong is personally leading the main force there, if we charge straight in, we'll face two Titled Douluo, a new Pope whose depths are unfathomable, and several thousand Soul Masters. Even if we rescue them, we'll be badly battered ourselves."
"That would be foolish."
The Second Elder walked over to the map and jabbed a finger at three other locations:
"If we're going to save them, we have to be strategic."
"If the Speed Clan is the bait and the main force is there, then the forces attacking the other three clans must be stretched thin! They might even just be putting on a show!"
"We're not going to the Speed Clan!"
Tang Xiao froze. "Not going to the Speed Clan? Then where?"
"We're going to save the Strength Clan, the Defense Clan, and the Breaking Clan!"
A glint flashed in the Second Elder's eyes. His tone grew confident and ruthless:
"We do the opposite of what they expect!"
"Doesn't Bibi Dong want to use the Speed Clan to lure us into a trap? Then we won't go head-to-head with that hard target just yet! We'll sweep aside the siege around the other three clans with the speed of thunder!"
"As long as we move fast enough, we can save those three clans first and gather their forces together with our Clear Sky Sect's elite."
"Then we'll have enough leverage and manpower!"
"After that, we'll ride the momentum of a great victory, join forces, and break the siege around the Speed Clan!"
"That's the safest approach, and the one that preserves our strength best!"
At this, the Second Elder looked at Tang Xiao, his tone carrying a hint of admonishment:
"Sect Master, this is still a gamble."
"We're betting that Bibi Dong is arrogant enough to concentrate her main force at the Speed Clan and neglect the other three!"
"As long as we can take out her scattered forces first, the tide will turn!"
"This..."
Tang Xiao fell into deep thought.
There was no denying that although the Second Elder's plan took a roundabout route, it was far more sensible than charging straight into Bibi Dong's arms.
If they could first save the Breaking Clan, renowned for its offensive power, and the Defense Clan, with its astonishing defenses, they would have a major advantage in the battles to come.
And it also gave the elders a way to back down—not that they refused to help, but that they'd save the easier targets first, avoiding the strong and striking the weak.
"Fine!"
After a long while, Tang Xiao nodded firmly. The red in his eyes faded a little, replaced by the cold intent of a man who had regained his composure.
"We'll do as you say, Uncle!"
"Gather the troops at once and split into three groups... No! Concentrate our forces!"
After a moment's thought, Tang Xiao rejected the idea of splitting up. "If we're going to avoid the strong and strike the weak, we need an overwhelming advantage!"
"We'll head for the nearest clan first: the Strength Clan!"
"If we save Tai Tan and the others, our forces will grow stronger!"
The Speed Clan's stronghold.
The air reeked of blood, and the once-peaceful forest had been reduced to scorched earth.
Bibi Dong looked at the casualty report in her hand, her expression grim.
"Two thousand elite soldiers against fewer than five hundred members of the Speed Clan, most of them old, weak, women, and children..."
Bibi Dong's voice was thick with anger. "And we still lost one hundred and thirty-six dead and one hundred and twelve seriously wounded?!"
Bibi Dong slammed the report to the ground.
Was this the Soul Master army that Spirit Hall prided itself on? Facing the Speed Clan, a group who could only run and had almost no offensive power, and still suffering a casualty rate that could only be called disgraceful?
If they'd been up against the Breaking Clan, with its explosive offense, or the Defense Clan, with its astonishing defenses, would half those two thousand have been lost?
In the Sea of Consciousness, Nan Feng couldn't help clicking his tongue at the sight.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. This casualty rate has certainly given the word 'useless' a whole new meaning."
"I've long heard that Spirit Hall's Soul Masters are pampered. They howl like wolves when they're winning, but the moment they face any real resistance—or the other side fights to the death—all they can do is fling Soul Skills around at random."
"Five hundred brittle fighters who can only run managed to take more than a hundred lives from us. If the forces had been evenly matched, or if we'd run into those hammer-wielding lunatics from the Clear Sky Sect..."
"What the hell kind of battle would that be?"
Nan Feng shook his head, his voice full of disdain. "All right, stop looking at that humiliating report. Hurry up and get ready to move out."
"Move out?"
Bibi Dong froze. "Where? Back to Spirit City?"
"Why go back to the city? We've only just warmed up," Nan Feng said.
"Of course we're going to support the other three clans."
"Support them?"
Bibi Dong furrowed her brows, unable to follow the old spider's train of thought. "Wait. Wasn't our plan to besiege the target and lure in reinforcements? Weren't we supposed to stay here and wait for Tang Xiao to bring the Clear Sky Sect's main force to rescue the Speed Clan, then use the terrain and our ambush to deal them a heavy blow?"
"What if Tang Xiao comes after we've left and finds nobody here?"
"Like hell he will!"
Nan Feng rolled his eyes. "If his brain isn't full of water, he won't come here!"
"Why?" Bibi Dong was even more baffled. "At the Elder Hall, you swore that the Clear Sky Sect would rescue the Speed Clan first, for the sake of face and family ties. You even said that was their weakness."
"Girl, I was just fooling those old fossils!"
Nan Feng gave her a look that said, Are you stupid? "If I hadn't said that, would they have left the Elder Hall? Would they have agreed to this plan of splitting our forces? Would they have let you bring two thousand men to fight a battle we were bound to win?"
"If I hadn't made the Speed Clan sound like a strategic stronghold that had to be contested, would they have felt safe enough to go slack off on the other three fronts?"
Bibi Dong: "..."
"And you should use your head, too." Nan Feng pointed at the ruins outside. "First of all, why attack the Speed Clan? To enrage the Clear Sky Sect and force them to leave Clear Sky Peak, which is like a tortoise shell. That part was right."
"But we've got two thousand Soul Masters, two Titled Douluo, and a Pope whose depths are unfathomable, all surrounding one little Speed Clan."
"And what happened? A few scouts happened to escape, and they just happened to bring the news back to the Clear Sky Sect that we'd split our forces into four and were attacking all Four Great Clans at once."
"What does that mean?"
"It means we've laid our cards on the table! We might as well carve the word 'trap' into our foreheads and show it to them!"
"The Clear Sky Sect's elders are selfish, but they're not stupid. Would they walk into such an obvious trap?"
"The Clear Sky Sect cares about face, but they don't want to die."
"If they really came straight to rescue the Speed Clan, they'd be giving up their geographical advantage and facing our main force. That would be the worst possible move."
"As long as there's even one sensible person in the Clear Sky Sect, they won't choose that path."
Bibi Dong furrowed her brows. It seemed she'd grasped something, but not quite. "So you mean..."
"The reason I had you spread the news that all Four Great Clans were under attack at the same time was to point them toward the obvious path," Nan Feng said.
"Look, the Speed Clan is a trap, and the main force is here. What about the other three clans? Those are feints, with only thinly spread forces."
"If I were Tang Xiao, or one of the Clear Sky Sect elders..."
"I'd choose to avoid the strong and strike the weak!"
"I'd go save the Strength Clan, the Defense Clan, or the Breaking Clan first!"
"Those three clans are strong fighters. Once rescued, they can serve as cannon fodder and bolster their ranks. And over there, they're only facing feinting forces, so the risk is low and the reward is high."
"Once they've joined forces with those three clans and built up a strong army, they can come back and challenge us. Wouldn't they be in a much better position then?"
"They'd save face by sending troops, reduce their losses, and let their vassal clans take the hits."
"That's exactly the choice those hypocritical old fossils would make."
At this point, Nan Feng spread his hands, as though it were only natural:
"So Tang Xiao absolutely won't come to the Speed Clan."
"His route right now is one hundred percent aimed at the nearest clan, either the Strength Clan or the Defense Clan."
"What would we stay here for? To freeze in the wind?"
"Of course we're going to predict their predictions and cut them off!"