A tall man wearing a rune-cloak stood before what would be the core of the allied forces for the battle to start in a pair of hours. With Lord Xiao of the Blue Tree City on his right and Lord Wei of the Boundary Hill City to his left, there was no doubt that this man would the one to lead them to battle.

The overall layout for the battle had been already discussed, and at this moment a single order was given out

"Disperse and assume positions"

***

Wu Guang had no real experience leading forces into battle, even during his life as Bai Qi. Still, he had seen enough to at least know what was supposed to happen. And the plan that was actually drafted by Lord Xiao and Senior Rui did not look bad. Or at least he would not have done better.

Albeit the numbers of the enemies could be slightly superior, the fact that the beach could only receive between three and five rowboats or a single small ship at a time gave an enormous advantage to the defenders. Well, that and the fact that from what the informant had passed, no one expected that the invasion force would be intercepted right away. General Ou did expect them to be seen and enter combat after landing, but even he could not predict that the enemy would pull out several hundreds of cultivators and receive them during landing. Or at least that was what everyone on Wu Guang's side thought.

"Well, now let's see if our enemy is nice enough as to follow our predictions" Wu Guang, currently known as Chen Guang said in a low voice while turning towards the city lords, and then dismissing them as well...

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The early morning sky on this 10th day of the war was practically foretelling the contents of it. With the blood-colored dawn of the east and the deep crimson clouds that of the north, it was like if heavens themselves expected blood to flow...

And at this moment, the two men who served as the commanders of their respective sides, at least in name, were standing tall and observing their respective horizon. With only a mere ten miles of distance between them, but unable to see each other yet...

"Begin the approach. Wang clan, forward!" The cloaked and hooded man that had been assigned by the Eagle Kingdom army to lead this invasion gave out the order to commence. And as soon as he did, dozens of cultivators pressed themselves against the oars and ten rows of four boats, each crewed by ten people began gaining speed, intending to quickly slide across the last miles separating them from the beach.

Wu Guang could not see the approaching army, but he sensed that only a few minutes were left before he did... And so, he threw a last glance to the beach that would soon become the stage for a bloody play. With about eight hundred cultivators under his command, at least nominally, Wu Guang for the first time felt like a small piece of something bigger. Granted, he had no real affection for neither the city guards nor even the overall population of the island, but somewhere amongst the small, not more than 25 people each, groups, the ten he considered his team, and so his responsibility stood. The initial stage of the plan was already on the way, with every one of these groups assuming positions at different distances from the shore, ready to rush in waves as soon as the command was given.

In any case, his position was one of the most easily visible ones, being just half a mile from the beach, and on top of the only elevation around. And so that meant, that the one to be noticed first, as well the one to start the engagement would be no one else than him. Wu Guang once again checked the rune-cloak that he was wearing, confirming that it fully concealed his aura and appearance, but would reveal the former as soon it was needed to. Then he slowly reached for the enormous siege bow he had loaned from Lang Zheng.

The bow was crude in appearance, but that could only fool someone without experience dealing with such implements of death. After all, the six-foot-tall, and almost a feet wide 'bow' was made of the best possible materials and even though it had not a single rune engraved on it, it could shoot an arrow up to five thousand feet of distance. At least if the user's strength permitted him to do so.

His movements did not escape the eyes of the group under his direct leadership. Comprised of three dozen veterans with cultivation between the advanced Spirit realm and the beginner Soul one, it was meant to serve both as the strongest group... And as the one to draw most of the opposing side elites.

"Commander?" The man that was nominally his aide, but actually was the one in command of this group asked. His name was Xiao Kang, and he was a distant relative of the Blue Tree City lord, as well as the general of its guard. When Lord Xiao had asked for volunteers for the most dangerous squad, Kang had not doubted even a second before pushing himself into the role. Afterward, he was slightly appalled when that dangerous role turned out to be the bodyguard of this unknown commander. After all, would not such a person stay behind the lines? But no, it turned out that it was indeed one of the most dangerous places to be... After all, who could have expected that the commander would also be the main bait for the enemies?

"We will see them soon, very soon" Wu Guang half-whispered before checking the bow and preparing one of the heavy, 48 inches long arrows.

***

He Lan was lately feeling very disappointed by the family he served. Not only his older sister, the pride of their small He family had been lost to one of the Wang's plots, but then the entire Wang clan suddenly turned traitors to their Sect, and even to the Island they all called home.

Internally he knew that he could not change anything, and could not even escape the grip of his masters. Still, that did not make him feel better, no, on the contrary, it made everything even worse.

"But now! As soon as we land and begin moving, I am sure there will be a moment to slip off. I doubt that they will notice a puny 7th level Spirit realm cultivator during the fights that will inevitably occur, and so I should be able to disappear" This though, the one that he will be able to at last break off from his masters and escape was enough to make him grip the oar until his knuckles whitened. He did not even think about what he would do after escaping, after all, there was just one thing for him to do. He would rush towards any of the true people of this island, and not caring what power or clan they hailed from, he would immediately join them, as well revealing all that he had gathered on his treacherous masters!

"Dry oars for the approach on my command!" The man standing at the rear of the boat and controlling its direction with the rear oar half-shouted a command, and He Lan immediately raised his head to look towards the front. "The shore! It's so near!" He was surprised that he had not noticed that they had already moved so close to their landing point, less than a mile remaining.

***

"They are here! Activate the beacon" Wu Guang barked towards the people behind without turning from the small points that were slowly increasing in size, turning into rows and rows of boats.

"On your command! Light up!" Xiao Kang immediately acknowledged and ordered.

"Send the fake scouts!" Wu Guang barked the next order.

And in less than a moment, three cultivators of his group rushed towards the beach, allowing the people on the boats to see them, before wildly flailing their arms and dispersing into different directions.

***

"Lord! The first rows are about to make landfall. They saw a few cultivators, most probably a patrol!"

"And?!" The cloaked and hooded commander impatiently shouted.

"They began running into the Wildlands before the vanguard could react!"

"Shit! Sound the horn, we are moving in entire force right away"

"But..."

"No buts! They will require at least four hours to bring reinforcements here, and we can not meet them while unloading. Send the command to sink boats if needed, but I want all of our men unloaded in the following three hours" The commander angrily gave his orders. "Why, why there was a patrol here right now? Did General Ou not know that the landing point was already known to the barbarians? Or he simply did not tell me?" At the same time, his mind raced to find an explanation. After all, wasn't this supposed to be a perfectly planned hidden operation? Weren't they supposed to land stealthily and then attack the so-called allied forces from behind?!

***

The first row of four boats had yet to enter the shallow gorge that was the only approach to the beach when a thunderous horn resounded...

"They bought it! Move to the next part!" Wu Guang ordered while at the same time tensing the bow and aiming at the nearest boat. Even though it was just a formality, the first shot of this battle was his, and he would not back from the responsibility of starting what could be the last battle for a lot of the people present.

"Silent Arrow" He muttered while releasing the arrow and coupling it with the technique he had never used until now...

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He Lan did not know the meaning of the horn that had just sounded, but he could guess it. He was sitting at the front of one of the four leading boats, and he saw the three men that noticed the boats and ran away, most probably to inform the true defenders of the island about them... "Damn!" He could only exclaim internally, as what he less wanted to do was to truly fight them. "Wait... But maybe I can surrender to them? Oh yeah, I can do that!" As this sudden thought crossed his mind, He Lan allowed himself to wishfully smile, and then...

"Projectile incoming!" A man from the boat next to them suddenly shouted.

But the shout came too late for the cultivator that wanted to live by his moral codex and who did not want to fight against the people defending the island on which he was born...

It simply came too late for He Lan to register the shout contents, notice the incoming arrow, and try to avoid it...

*Thud*

The arrow pierced through the common robes that He Lan wore, exited from behind, and continued forward with such force that it penetrated the bottom of the boat, and disappeared into the now slightly blood-tinted water...

"Check on him!"

...

"He's... He's dead!"

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Wu Guang acknowledged the disappearance of one of the presences that he could now feel and prepped another arrow.

The plan was to make the enemy believe that there were only a few cultivators on the beach and force him to speed up his landing before the probable reinforcements arrived.

Only that there was no need for the reinforcements to arrive, after all, they were all here already...

"Five bows on my command" Wu Guang ordered while releasing another arrow.

He then followed with another one, and another one, before shouting

"Now!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, five rushed towards the beach, and as soon they entered a range of a thousand feet began shooting.

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"Update from the vanguard! There are five cultivators armed with bows on the beach!"

"How much until they land?"

"In an incense stick of time, Lord"

"Tell them to expedite"

"On it!"

***

"Continue rowing! Don't care about the oars or the boats around! Prepare to jump into the water as soon as you can! Avenge our fellow men!" Continous commands sounded on the boats. There were just a hundred feet of the deepwater left to cross, and some of the bravest, or stupidest people had already jumped and began running on water.

But the speed they could generate wasn't much different from the boats, and they turned themselves into perfect targets for the bowmen.

On the grand scale of the things, the actual damage inflicted by the five bow-wielding guards was pretty small, with only a few dozens of wounded or dead. Still, it was enough to disorganize the first row of boats, as it was only comprised of forty people.

And with Wu Guang's arrows claiming a life each, when the first enemy cultivator landed, he was also the last one of the entire group.

"There are Soul realm cultivators present in the third row. Call back the bowmen, NOW!" Wu Guang ordered right away.

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In truth, the number of people killed was not important for the plan at all. The objectives of all that had just transpired were simple, to make the enemy commander expedite the landing, even at the cost of damaging his boats, and to create difficulties for the first boats, effectively slowing up and sowing chaos in the entire landing process.

Both objectives seemingly were reached, with most of the force already entering Wu Guang's sense field, and at least three boats crashing against the beach and creating a makeshift barrier that the ones to land would need to bypass.

"Hmm... Wu Guang muttered while using a moment to analyze what he sensed before suddenly exclaiming in surprise

"Him?!"

"What's the matter, commander?" Xiao Kang did not miss the surprise behind the exclamation and asked.

"I know who's the enemy leader, or at least who is their strongest unconcealed cultivator!" Wu Guang did not reveal that his senses had managed to reach a mile and a half from him, and simply implied that the cultivator he mentioned was present in his field.

"Who?"

"The leader of the 'Leaf Shadows Sect' Wang family... Wang Ling!"

"What?!" This time Xiao Kang could not contain himself.

Sensing the agitation in his aide's voice, Wu Guang immediately snapped him out of any thoughts he may have

"Don't get distracted Guard General"

"Yes!"

And a few moments later Wu Guang ordered the start of the next stage of their plan, namely his group revealing itself and then...

The battle that would directly affect the War, albeit in a far more different sense from what anyone expected... has now properly started.