“Speed is always an important element of strategy.”

When the disciples heard the words of Elder Li, they were elated.

With the level 5 Spirit Beast Centipede in their journey, it was as if another Core Formation stage cultivator was on their side.

“However, we may not all fit on this Centipede. So those of you, who have beast mounts capable of keeping up with its speed, should ride on their own.”

The disciples immediately hopped onto the back of the Centipede while few dozens of disciples mounted their own Spirit Beasts.

“If there are no questions, then let’s depart.”

Core Formation stage cultivators, by themselves, were capable of flying—meaning, even without the use of flying swords, they could travel by flight. And that was also true among their counterpart Spirit Beasts.

However, unlike Nascent Soul cultivators—as well as level 7 and above Spirit Beasts—they would not be able to do it in long travels due to the limits of their cultivation bases.

Apparently, continuous flying could quickly drain one’s spiritual Qi energy.

The only exception in this principle was when the Spirit Beast itself possessed wings, either by nature or obtained through evolution.

Unfortunately, Qai was yet to exploit such short flight abilities with his Ant General and Ant Soldiers as an ‘advantage’ in battles given the fact that most of his previous fights did not need the use of it.

For this journey though, the level 5 Spirit Beast Centipede would have to travel on land. Apparently, such a method would be more efficient to sustain its spiritual Qi energy.

Besides, the rest of the beast mounts had much lower cultivation bases so the entire entourage needed to keep a certain pace.

And so, when Elder Li commanded his Spirit Beast to proceed, its huge body oddly crawled on the ground with its numerous sharp legs.

The entire trip would take them an entire week to reach the battlefield.

Apparently, the Scarlet Feather Sect—just like the strategy that Precious Tree Sect devised—met its adversary on the boundary of its territory.

And so, the group would still have to cross the entire region under the jurisdiction of the sect to reach the place.

Geographically, the fated battlefield happened to be an undulating area.

However, from the reports they received, the Scarlet Feather Sect had set up several defensive array formations on the hills across the battlefield to block the onslaught of the Broken Moon Sect.

When Elder Li noticed the speed of Qai’s Spirit Beast, he called for him.

Qai came and found that there were 2 other disciples summoned by the elder.

One of whom was Lin Feng—the previous ranked number 1 outer disciple but now an inner disciple. The other was also an inner disciple in the late Foundation Establishment stage named Guan Yijian.

The elder called for them because they had something in common. All of them possessed Wind elemental Spirit Beasts.

Lin Feng rode on a level 2 Leopard while Guan Yijian was atop a level 3 Falcon.

“The 3 of you shall form a temporary team and head first to the Scarlet Feather Sect and report them our arrival.”

As the elder said that, he handed them a Jade slip containing the map of the terrain.

“But when you encounter enemies along the way, don't hesitate to come back. Your safety is of utmost priority.”

Elder Li appointed Guan Yijian as the leader of the 3. And as soon as he finished all his instructions, he told them to leave at once.

The first half of the trip, obviously, would not pose any danger since they just needed to traverse clan territories within the region. But once they entered another region, they could not be certain of their safety.

True enough, since their small group had exceptional beast mounts, they arrived quickly at the Bai Clan—the final territory within the region—in just a matter of a day.

The Bai Clan evidently made some heavy preparations for war.

That was because in the event that the Scarlet Feather Sect fell down, then its territory would be the frontier that would have the responsibility to hold off any siege attempt by the Broken Moon Sect.

Apparently, the Bai Clan arranged multiple defensive array formations along their boundary lanes.

It was already good enough that their territory was separated from the neighboring region by a wide river.

In a sense, there was at least a natural barrier that the enemies would have to cross.

Thus, the Bai Clan took it to their advantage to set up some traps under the river.

When the group of Qai arrived near the river, they were received by an elder of the clan.

As it turned out, it was actually the father of Bai Chen—the ultimate winner of the concluded ranking competition among the outer sect disciples.

Unfortunately, Bai Chen was grouped with the disciples headed to the Shu Clan territory so he was not present when they came.

“Haha, if it isn't nephew Guan Yijian and nephew Lin Feng.”

“Senior Uncle Bai, we were sent ahead by Elder Li to make a report to the Scarlet Feather Sect about the reinforcement’s arrival.”

“That’s good. Then our clan must properly receive Elder Li and the sect disciples later when they come here..”

The elder wasn't done with his words when he finally noticed Qai. His expression was awkward since he clearly could not recognize the third disciple.

If Elder Li were to choose a small advance party, the group must have some known standing in the sect.

Qai saw the clan elder’s confused look so he immediately stepped forward with cupped hands and respectfully greeted the elder

“Senior, this junior’s name is Qai, an outer disciple of the sect.”

“Ah, so you must be the person my son had talked about. Haha, that foolish son of mine said that his rank was all due to your graciousness. I hope that son of mine did not threaten using our Bai Clan in order for you to give up the match.”

“There was none, senior. It was purely out of admiration of Bai Chen’s abilities that I conceded in the match.”

The elder felt good with Qai’s demeanor and even proud of the latter’s praise over his son so he immediately changed the subject and did not delve deeply into the matter in order not to embarrass Qai even a bit.

“Haha, come, come. The 3 of you should rest first. It will be night soon, so it's safer to proceed with your mission tomorrow.”

“Then we will have to thank senior for your clan’s generosity.”

Bai Chen's father thus toured the 3 to show them the defensive arrangements they made along the river.

During a hastily organized tea gathering, the clan elder introduced them to some of the talented cultivators of the Bai Clan’s younger generation as well as to some of the known rogue cultivators whom the clan recruited for the war.

One of the clan descendants grabbed the opportunity to challenge Qai into a friendly match to which the latter happily obliged.

Apparently, that descendant was Bai Chen’s rival in the clan and wanted to gauge his progress by exchanging pointers with the current rank number 2 among the outer disciples of Precious Tree Sect.

Qai of course convincingly won but he gave his challenger some face by giving the other a good fight.

Seeing that the affair was a positive one, 2 of the recruited rogue cultivators similarly challenged Guan Yijian and Lin Feng.

Surprisingly, the rogue cultivators proved themselves to be worthy opponents despite their loss.

Many still wanted to challenge the 3 sect disciples but the urgency of the war situation did not allow for it.

That night, Bai Chen’s father also provided the 3 of them and their Spirit Beasts a nice place to stay together with some cultivation pills—much to their satisfaction.

Early the following day, Bai Chen’s father saw Qai and his group off as they resumed their mission.

Consequently, Qai’s performance during the match made a good impression on his 2 seniors brothers which noticeably warm their treatment of Qai a bit.

And Qai took the trip as an opportunity to ask the 2 a few questions in his mind which were left unanswered to broaden his horizon about the cultivation world.