The Fu Clan had no idea they were facing a master at their own game. In a war of attrition, the Lang Clan wouldn’t lose out to anyone. They hadn’t brought the entirety of their military to this conflict, but they had used a hundred thousand Dragoons to set up the perimeter before the war and now half of them were brought into this conflict. The more than a thousand Fu Clansmen would cause terrible damage to the Chong Clan using these vicious self-sacrificial tactics. By being willing to inflict such harm upon themselves to injure their enemies, they hoped that the Chong Clan would give up and leave them a chance to escape.

It was just too bad for them that the Lang Clan considered this level of losses to be a pittance. If things continued on as they were they projected losses of five thousand. Losing ten percent of their troops in a single battle was not optimal, but it was an entirely different concept when applied to a war. Wiping out the enemy’s final stronghold while losing only ten percent of one’s troops would be considered a masterstroke for these Lang Clan Generals. Unlike the forces on this world, they were all used to directing massive numbers of troops. An army of cultivators in the hundreds was already an impressive force, but these fellows were used to maneuvering ten thousand Dragoons at a time.

Even if Dragoons lacked individual strength, the formations they used easily made up for that gap. The average Dragoon was only barely at a rank 3 level of power. Yet, in testing hundred of them using the new formations could take on a rank 4 cultivator, and a thousand could face off against a rank 5. Of course, this would only last a short while as every attack would cause injuries to the Dragoons. There was also a limit to this approach as no number of them were able to stand up to a Nascent Soul. A single member of the Purple Mist Sect had been able to fight against a hundred thousand Dragoons and escape whenever he wished.

Sage wanted to turn away from the meat grinder that this battle had turned into, but he was also wary of any final tricks that the Fu Clan wished to play. He continually activated the Foresight technique and watched out for trouble. He saw the layers exploding before it happened, but the Fu Clan was just too vicious. If he called out a warning to draw the Dragoons back, then the Fu grit their teeth and bled to maintain their formations. They would always hold out until the last possible moment and sacrifice themselves to take the greatest number of Dragoons with them as they could.

A few hours later, the fourth defensive line was breached and when they were moving towards the next there was word sent from the outer perimeter. A hole opened up in the ground and a few hundred of the Fu Clan tried to escape. The Lang Clan on guard swarmed over them. Without their formations to hide behind they were utterly devastated and one of the Purple Mist Sect scared the Fu Patriarch back into the hole. The old man caused the tunnel to cave in, so the Dragoons were busy trying to excavate it again.

Sage was pleased that he’d set up a perimeter in advance, since the Fu Clan had somehow avoided the other Branch Clans and tunneled so far away from their headquarters. Even better, the Lang Clan impressed him by expanding the perimeter and setting more patrols to hunt for tunnels in progress.

For the most part, his own involvement in this war had dropped to the minimum. The Nascent Souls of the Chong Clan didn’t really see the rest of the Lang Clan as an equal, so Sage had used his higher status to get an opportunity, but the Lang Clan had taken over completely. They were showing off their capability in taking over 10,000 Wave Province. There would certainly be many questions on where they came from. Thousands of Lang Clansmen and hundreds of thousands of Dragoons just sprouted up overnight, but none of them were willing to say a word so others would be left to speculate. Of course, those few who knew about Sage’s ‘Green Core’ would probably know exactly where they came from, but that knowledge was held only by a select few.

The rest of the battle was something of a foregone conclusion. The Lang Clan merely had to pay with enough blood and the Fu Clan was finished off. The Chong Clan got themselves involved in the Fu Patriarch’s last stand, which happened when there still seemed to be four more defensive lines. The old man had hidden himself in a secret chamber on the ceiling and caused a sudden cave-in that killed the spherical Dragoon formation. Then he leapt out and rushed towards the command tents to attempt a decapitation attack. Sage saw it coming and notified them in advance. The Chong Clan’s Nascent Souls rushed out and surrounded the old chap. They used their numerical advantage in order to keep the old man from using a suicide attack on them, peppering him with attacks from range and tying him up with various means. Everyone else evacuated the tunnels to get away from the terrible battle of rank sixes. Many more died from cave-ins and four of the Chong Clan Nascent Souls were heavily injured, but none of them died. They suffered quite a lot by fighting at a handicap, but no more of them died so it was considered a great victory.

The Chong Clan left the cave and started to celebrate while the Lang Clan sent in fresh Dragoons to finish the war. Hours later they ground through the last defensive line and the Chong Clan marched in like victorious conquerors to claim all the spoils. The Lang Clan’s forces retreated and returned to the surface, pulling back from Good Fortune City to set up camp outside the cover of the immense peach grove. They were careful not to put themselves in a position that the Chong Clan might worry of an attack from behind. The other Branch Clans were still helping them maintain control of Good Fortune City, and were a buffer between the Lang and Chong Clans.

Yating seems to be worried the Chong Clan will backstab them now. The kid is far more wise than I was.

Thankfully, there were no more surprises in the war. The Fu Clan was finished off and then Chong Clan set about digesting this big meal. Over the next few weeks, the Chong Clan’s factions each took over the rulership of one of the counties of Lucky Star Province. In this way nearly half of the counties fell under their direct control. Each of the factions also gained direct territory that was under their control. In the future, even if they lost favor among the main clan they could still be supported by the county they controlled.

Sage guessed that the Chong Clan was too stifled by old laws and rules and they were taking advantage of this opportunity to have something of a fresh start. The factional war they’d been involved in for a long time had hampered their growth and now they were eager to break out of that cage. At this time, Sage chose to attend a meeting with the Chong Clan as he was informed that something important would be decided.

The fate of the Branch Clans, huh? Sounds like I’m up for an interesting day.