They're crossing the river, and so are we!

The Holy Manifestation True Lord's decree descended, and the golden bell outside the central command tent rang three times to relay the order: "Chen Wei, Chief Official of the Bright Hall's Folk Customs and Morals Inspection Bureau, is hereby promoted to Vanguard Officer!"

The decree transformed into golden light and scattered across the camps.

The immortal officials who had been working out strategies a moment earlier fell quiet briefly, then erupted into discussion.

"Chen Wei of the Censorate-Chen Qingquan got the vanguard's great seal?"

"Which Chen Wei?"

"Who else? That genius who drew a little chick eating rice at the Bright Hall competition a while back, bagged a hundred thousand years of merit, and attained the Dao as a True Immortal!"

"Oh! That genius! He really is far beyond all the other geniuses."

"Wouldn't that make him a heaven-surpassing-"

"Shh! Fellow immortal! Let's not go there. He's definitely close to the Holy Manifestation True Lord. We'd best keep our mouths shut!"

"I said it all along! His prospects are limitless!"

In the strictly hierarchical Heavenly Court, obtaining a military tally with real authority required either illustrious military achievements or connections reaching to the heavens. The immortals stood on the decks of their Flying Boats, outwardly maintaining their dignified bearing while privately exchanging a furious flurry of secret voice transmissions.

The immortals speculated wildly, and the rumors grew more outrageous with every retelling.

When the news reached Li Yin's Flying Boat, the atmosphere was entirely different.

Smash!

A celadon teacup hit the floor, sending porcelain shards flying everywhere.

"Keep stirring things up! Go on!" Li Yin was so furious that even his Dao Fruit throbbed faintly. He ground his teeth. "Chen Qingquan, just keep stirring! Stir until the True Lord loses the battle and the Heaven-Reaching River descends into chaos! At worst, we'll all go down with you!"

He was Pure Qi.

He had burned the midnight oil, poured his heart's blood into studying military texts, and combined them with immortal formations. Only after all that had he finally devised the One-Line Long Snake Formation, its head and tail supporting each other, its advances and retreats measured. If the enemy struck its head, its tail would respond; if they struck its tail, its head would respond; if they struck its center, both head and tail would respond.

What a brilliant military stratagem.

And it had been rejected?

Yet Chen Wei, who knew nothing but bootlicking and spouting bureaucratic platitudes, had somehow won the True Lord's favor with a load of nonsense?

Why?

What did the True Lord see in him?

The One-Line Long Snake Formation was such a fine strategy! Why wouldn't he adopt it?

Li Yin trembled all over with rage. This was no appointment of a vanguard-it was a slap across his face in front of everyone!

Beside him, Zhao Dakang, the Immortal Official assigned to attend to his brushes and ink, bent low and approached, carefully avoiding the shards underfoot.

An expert at reading expressions, he saw that the exalted immortal was truly furious and hurried to flatter him. "My lord, please don't be angry. It isn't worth damaging your immortal body. What does the Folk Customs and Morals Inspection Bureau amount to? Nothing but a hastily assembled makeshift outfit that lucked into a little merit. A couple of big cats and little kittens-what could a handful of minor immortals possibly achieve?"

Li Yin cast the Immortal Official a sidelong glance without speaking.

Zhao Dakang had a point. Deep down, he had never thought anything of that little office.

So what if Chen Wei was a True Immortal?

His foundations were shallow, and he had no backing whatsoever.

The only thorn in Li Yin's heart was that unfathomable deputy, Yang Niansan.

At first, Li Yin had suspected that Yang Niansan was an avatar sent by the Third Holy Mother. To get to the bottom of it, he had called upon every connection he had and spent a fortune in Spirit Stones making inquiries. Eventually, he received reliable word from Hatred-Transcending Heaven.

The Third Holy Mother was accompanying the Great Heavenly Venerable on a visit to the Dao Ancestor, the Supreme Old Lord, in Hatred-Transcending Heaven.

The Great Heavenly Venerable's travels involved elaborate protocol and a tightly controlled itinerary. With her true body attending him in Hatred-Transcending Heaven, how could she possibly send an avatar to endure hardship on the Heaven-Reaching River's front lines?

Impossible.

Absolutely impossible.

An unorthodox cultivator of independent origins like Chen Wei could never have the good fortune to win the Third Holy Mother's favor.

Once he reasoned this out, Li Yin felt his spirit platform clear, his pent-up frustration swept away, and his thoughts flow freely. His sense of superiority seized the high ground once more. Chen Wei had merely gotten lucky. The True Lord wanted some useless cannon fodder to probe the enemy's strength on the front lines, that was all. Whether he lived or died would be left to heaven.

Li Yin's eyes shifted, and a plan came to him.

He patted Zhao Dakang on the shoulder, his tone gentle. "Dakang, you've been with me quite a while now, haven't you?"

"Three hundred years, my lord!" Zhao Dakang replied respectfully, overwhelmed by the attention.

"Good!" Li Yin took out a fresh teacup, personally filled it with Immortal Tea, and placed it in Zhao Dakang's hands. "All these years, you've worked diligently, shouldering every burden without complaint. I've seen it all. As it happens, there are a few openings directly under my control! I have a task that requires you to make a trip yourself. Once it's done, it'll be time for you to move up."

"My lord, do you mean... a Heavenly Immortal post?" Zhao Dakang's eyes shone. Wild joy surged through him, and even his voice trembled.

"Oh, what's this about Heavenly Immortals?"

Li Yin lifted his teacup and clinked it against Zhao Dakang's. "A True Immortal post!"

Zhao Dakang's hand shook, spilling tea down half his body.

After three hundred years of serving tea and pouring water, securing an established Heavenly Immortal position would already have been a meteoric rise.

He paid no attention to the spilled tea. His eyes reddened, and his words tumbled out incoherently. "Th-this... Oh, exalted immortal, you... you really have given this humble official an enormous surprise!"

Li Yin took a sip of tea, ignoring Zhao Dakang's loss of composure.

A generous reward always brought forth brave men. Since the waters of the Heaven-Reaching River were going to turn muddy, he might as well stir them up.

Meanwhile.

Above the clouds, a hundred and eighty great Kui Ox drums stood in a single row, and mighty warriors swung their drumsticks in full arcs before bringing them crashing down.

The drumming shook heaven and earth, churning the river below into towering waves.

Inside the Flying Boat's cabin.

Chen Wei sat high in the seat of command, clad in Brightlight Armor, with a Standard Immortal Sword at his waist and the Vanguard Seal beside his desk.

From the outside, the newly appointed Vanguard Officer looked spirited and confident, deep as a still pool and steady as a mountain, every inch a commanding general.

In truth, he had no confidence whatsoever. He had never led troops.

He had studied hard in the mortal world and copied books in the Heavenly Court.

Waging war?

That was a military officer's business.

Although he had secured instructions from the True Lord to proceed gradually, and understood that this expedition was largely for show.

Blades had no eyes, and Demonkind would not care whether their opponents were putting on an act.

He had to be careful when leading troops out to stir up trouble. He absolutely could not get himself killed.

His guiding principle of survival was simple: if the enemy stayed still, so would he; if the enemy moved, he would run first.

Below him, Ma Muzhi, Pang Long, and Xiao Yan stood on either side. Yang Niansan was absent. She had said she felt unwell and was returning to the Heavenly Court for a while, but she had left Chen Wei a brocade pouch.

Lady Yang's exact words had been, "Open it at a critical moment. It can save your life!"

Hearing that, Chen Wei had tucked it away like a treasure.

Any magical treasure that Yang Niansan said could save his life had to be something good.

At that moment, Pang Long stroked his long beard and strode forward with measured, stately steps, offering his plan in a ringing voice. "My lord! Since we've been ordered to serve as the vanguard, our first battle must establish our might! How can we shrink back like turtles? Why not take the initiative and attack?"

"Attack?" Chen Wei raised his eyelids slightly.

"Exactly! This humble official has learned through inquiries," Pang Long continued fluently, revealing the top-secret intelligence he had just obtained, "that the Lion-Camel King can no longer restrain himself. He intends to lead his elite Demon Soldiers across the river to fight, breaking the stalemate on the water!"

Chen Wei frowned.

The Lion-Camel King crossing the river would be a serious problem.

Suddenly!

Pang Long raised his voice and unveiled his core tactic. "My lord! In that case, as military strategy teaches us, Strike Them Mid-Crossing! When the Lion-Camel King's army crosses the river, we should ride the wind and cleave the waves to meet them, displaying our heavenly might! They're crossing the river, and so are we!"

Chen Wei set down his teacup, his gaze approving.

On the surface, he appeared deep in thought. In reality, his brain was spinning so hard it was almost smoking.

But reject it outright?

That would damage his reputation as a spirited Vanguard Officer. He needed a way to cross the river and make a commotion while ensuring that no fighting could possibly break out.

Seeing Chen Wei remain silent, Pang Long assumed his lord was concerned about casualties and hurried to reassure him with a smile. "There's no need to worry, my lord. We're merely crossing the river! The Heaven-Reaching River is already under the Heavenly Court's jurisdiction. It's perfectly natural for us to patrol and station ourselves in the middle of the river. Just a routine patrol."

One remark woke the dreaming immortal.

Chen Wei's eyes lit up, and his spirit platform suddenly cleared.

Of course!

They were only crossing the river. Who said crossing a river meant they had to fight?

As long as the Thirty Thousand Heavenly Soldiers did not raise banners of attack, they could remain still unless the enemy moved. The two armies could simply stare each other down on the river.

That would perfectly fulfill the True Lord's decree to proceed gradually, while also sowing mutual suspicion between the Three Demons and the Five Great Demon Sages.

It would make Demonkind hesitate to strike the rat for fear of breaking the vase, accomplishing several things in one stroke.

What was this called?

One track of thought, open at both ends.

"Excellent! Wenhe, this is a splendid plan!" Chen Wei sprang to his feet, unleashing his full commanding presence as he issued orders. "Relay my command! The army will move out for the center of the Heaven-Reaching River! Pang Long will oversee coordination and deployment. The greater the spectacle, the better! Make sure the Demonkind on both banks can see perfectly clearly that we're going on patrol!"

"Ma Muzhi will handle logistics!"

"This humble official obeys!" Pang Long and Ma Muzhi answered in unison.

"My lord! What about me?" Xiao Yan grew anxious. Why had he been left out? How could he advance without anything to do?

"You, you-impatient again!" Chen Wei pointed at the hotheaded young man and smiled. "Stay by Lord Ma's side and learn more about logistics management. Old Ma is an expert. Learn well from him."

Ma Muzhi's eyes shifted. He understood.

Logistics.

A lucrative assignment!