Altura

I stepped onto the wall, clutching the staff. Before me stood an army of beasts three thousand strong, all Plantlings or higher. While we had gone through seven waves, we were still far from beating something like this . Not with our usual strategy. Too few of the attacks were effective. And the attacks and beasts’ defenses would completely wreck the gorge. Not that it was going to survive with our new plan.

“So are we sure that this plan shall work?” I asked.

“No, your grace. I must accept guilt over this, I did not expect so many Plantlings in this army, and I did not expect them to come so early.” Aswelth replied.

“Oh please, Aswelth. No one expected this. Stop blaming yourself and start acting. Go, kill the one on the left, I shall take the center with the Gold level Adventurers and the Sixth Battalion can take the right.” I said as I jumped off the wall.

I had introduced a hierarchy into the Guild, separated by cultivation levels. Bronze was Seedling, Silver Sapling and Gold was Plantlings. No member had broken through to Plant yet, though Xerte was the closest and would likely reach it by the end of this wave. Of course, that would only happen if we survived.

I landed on the ground with a thump and immediately made a sweeping motion with my staff, releasing a streak of lightning. The air crackled as a purple wave swept through the ranks of Plantlings. The guard attacked from the wall, doing little but gaining Qi nonetheless.

And then off I went, killing as many beasts as I could. An exploding sphere of fire to the right. Then freezing on the left. And top it all off with some good old lightning on the head. A strategy that seemed to be working.

I swept through the army, beating at beasts and killing them, from Late-Plantlings to Early, within minutes I had killed dozens. And that count continued to rise. I spent Qi liberally, having over a hundred thousand making me mostly indifferent about it. I knew that it would eventually add up, but that was why I was keeping track.

Not spending Qi was not an option. Too much was at stake. And there was my first real foe. A Mid-Plant. Now how do I kill it? A mole of some kind, really, really small too. Lighting then. I shot lightning at it, aiming for its head. After all, that was the best place to aim things like lightning. The mole reacted immediately, spinning in place and parrying it off its twisting body. I didn't even know that was possible.

Well, I suppose shooting lightning wasn’t exactly the most ‘possible’ thing in the world, but somehow this came as a shock. How exactly did it work? I did not know. But it did, and that was all that mattered at the moment. Now it was time for me to react back. Ice was the next up, let's see it parry that.

Sending some Qi I tried to freeze the mole, only to once more be rebuffed. A strange defense indeed. How much could I bet that any element would be rebuffed by the mole? Now for the wild card, the staff.

I grinned as rammed the staff into the mole, halting its spinning. And then blew a bunch of lightning in its face. The only reason it worked was because of how much stronger I was than the mole physically. But it worked. The mole died, and I was back to killing things.

Kerrin

Kerrin sighed as he stepped around another boulder. The trip to the palace had been massively cut short, the Archduchess had pointed him to a treasure trove of wealth. Sadly, that wealth had been in a secret realm that lead him straight to the Capital. Going back wasn’t really an option, Kerrin was already a Plant.

So Kerrin went to the palace. The King had been happy to receive him, giving him luxurious quarters. But then something changed. Kerrin had not known exactly what happened, but he had been sent into what appeared to be a higher level area than before.

An area he was told, even had Treelings within it. The King had laughed at his protests and said that since the Archduchess felt that she was ‘big enough’ to declare war, surely he could handle a Treeling. And that angered Kerrin.

While he did not know what exactly had gone down in the duchy, he was sure that the Archduchess wouldn’t declare war over nothing. Now Kerrin was sure about one thing, he was going to hunt down every single beast in this area. Even that Treeling.

Gathering a ball of blood, Kerrin shot towards a bunch of rhinoceros beasts. A huge blast occurred as he threw the ball right at the nearest rhinoceros, making it burst into a bunch of blood that further slammed into other rhinoceroses. But Plant stage beasts were not idiots, the rhinoceroses soon moved away, rendering the blood balls useless. But Kerrin was far from done. The blood balls then started spinning, gathering wind and power as they swept the herd in. Qi poured into his Plant as the herd died, growing it.

Crossing achieved!

Mid-Plant Stage!

Ah, there it was. Before long Kerrin would be strong enough to kill that Treeling and become one himself. And then he would see to whoever was foolish enough to oppose the duchy.

Altura

After killing what must have been hundreds of beasts, I had to return to the fortress, surprised to find it in a heightened state of activity. I would have thought that with there finally being loses from this war the fortress would be upset. But it was not.

“What is going on, Xerte?” I asked.

“The fortress is celebrating the victory, your grace, and the sacrifice of our comrades. The sixth division returned a few hours ago missing about a hundred members, and they set it up to remember them.”

“At the moment they and twenty Gold ranked adventurers remain the only casualties of this war, your grace. The record keepers from the Administrative Wing are calling it a record victory, your grace.”

"General Aswelth alone killed 1753 beasts, a number that will likely increase as he cleans up the rest of the beasts, you killed 783 by the last count. The nine hundred or so other beasts were mopped up by the rest of us.” Xerte said.

I could see a little sadness in that smiling face. And that was when I realized. The fortress wasn’t celebrating, it was grieving. But grieving not a tragedy, but a victory. In this Xianxia world, glory had a lot of importance, and these people likely did not want to dishonor the fallen by truly grieving them.

No, they would break out the liquor, clap each other on their backs, but not grieve them. Doing that would betray what they died for. Victory.

“Perhaps it is time I joined.” I said, gently, gathering the little Qi I had recovered.

“Listen up! Today, we faced over three thousand beasts, and prevailed! Today we proved that we may be the smallest, most remote duchy, but we are a duchy! No forest will fell us! Not today, not tomorrow! But let us also not forget the lives that were lost to the horde. So all those that fought today, let us combine the rest of our Qi and salute our comrades. So that it may know, we live!” I said, trying to be encouraging.

The crowd roared in agreement as QI gathered before me. I added a little of my own to guide the mass straight to the forest and then, at the last minute incanted.

‘Fire, oh fire dragons, show your might, show this forest that you still stand. Show it the might of this duchy!’

And the fire shot towards the forest, causing a large forest fire as it burned a huge swath of it.

And then the party resumed with renewed vigor. Soon enough, Aswelth joined me on the wall, saying, “So, showing the forest who's boss, huh?”

“Yes. Too much has been lost to it already.” I answered.

“And I fear more will be lost before it is done, but that is the nature of these things, your grace. What gives also takes.” Aswelth said.

“Perhaps, but that does not mean that I shall not regret this loss. And the people that caused it. Has Lady Illiana found anything?” I asked

“Yes, your grace. Lady Illiana discovered some spatial fluctuations coming from the Jade Sect, but she deduced that they were not, in fact, initiated by someone from the duchy. According to her, the fluctuation were from someone using the [Shadow War] skill, a skill known only to the Confederacy.” Aswelth answered.

“So, the Shadow Prince and his organization is responsible.” I stated.

“Yes, but she did suspect that they had help.” Aswelth said. Yes, I suspect that too Aswelth. I suspect that too.