Cultivation Nerd: Chapter 373

Chapter 373 - The Chain of Command

To be honest, I wasn’t too worried about dying myself. I had four Foundation Beasts already rushing here, just in case things got out of hand. Still, before that happened, I intended to squeeze some information out of our guests.

“So? Are you going to try and kill me now? And how did you even learn I was coming here?” I asked.

The female sighed.

“You’ve built a name for yourself,” she said. “When we learned you were coming, we prepared for another massacre like what happened with that monster Song San. But instead… everything stayed quiet.”

“Really? That’s interesting,” I said.

It wasn’t, not really.

But it did imply that the Azure Frost Sect had a spy at the Core Formation level.

The problem was that the list of suspects was far too long. Aside from Song Song and my teacher, almost everyone else had a motive.

They might not even be actual spies. Some could simply be opportunists, trying to milk rewards from the sect’s decline before fleeing. Still, anyone bold enough to pull that off while Song Song was unofficially in charge had to have nerves of steel. She didn’t need concrete proof to start killing; gut feelings and minor suspicions were often more than enough.

She was the type who would rather kill five innocents than let one guilty person escape.

“We also heard that you massacred a dozen Foundation Establishment elders who attacked your library,” the male disciple added, finally finding his voice. “Most people now consider you a Core Formation–level threat, so we took precautions.”

Only Core Formation cultivators would have sensed that fight. That supported my theory even more.

Though now, part of me wondered if they were simply trying to make me paranoid.

I sped up my thoughts just enough to buy time, careful not to push myself to the point where it felt like time fully stopped.

Then I formed a hand seal. A clicking sound echoed in my ears, like gears turning. Their array rippled like disturbed water as the Qi along its surface shifted. My array unfolded over theirs, overlapping and threading through it as I guided the Qi with deliberate precision. By strict definition, this counted as forming a new array. But in practice, it was closer to decoding theirs, unraveling its structure piece by piece before tearing it apart.

I stopped overtaxing my mind and released my first Foundation Technique. The blue array that generated the icy thorn cones fractured instantly, shattering like brittle glass.

The hold of the thorny ice vines on the barrier around me vanished. I was reunited with my disciples, able to act together again.

They still had their tamed snake beasts, though, with their barely mid–Qi Gathering level of strength.

The young woman frowned at the sight, while the man looked more unsettled than afraid. It felt like they still had a few cards left to play.

“You must be the leaders of the enemy camp on this front,” I said, voicing my guess. “Why did you think it was smart to come here on your own?”

If they truly intended to kill us, they wouldn’t have talked this long. They could have, but that would’ve meant they were stupid. And anyone patient enough to spend hours inside a beast’s stomach to execute a plan clearly wasn’t foolish.

“We are here to negotiate with the leaders of your camp to try and make this more like a mock war between us, to lower the casualties,” the man said, laying all his cards on the table.

It was reckless. He should have tried to negotiate for more first, then gradually lowered his demands. From his perspective, I was trapped, and they had already demonstrated they could reach me despite my sensory range.

“You should have done better research. I’m not actually the leader of the main camp,” I said, gesturing lightly. “As you can see, I only have my two disciples with me.”

From the corner of my eye, I noticed Jiang Yeming and Tingfeng tense, ready to act. I signaled them to relax.

“Come on now, let’s not kid ourselves,” the woman said. “If you want something changed on this battlefront, you’re the only one who can do it. If the so-called frontline leader tried to change anything, the crazy woman who’s taken charge of your sect would kill him for disobeying her wishes.”

So the informant really was high up. Very high.

“What choice do I have but to agree with your deal to save my life?” I shrugged, raising my hands.

The two Azure Frost Sect members exchanged looks. The woman studied me closely.

“I hate guys whose lying comes like second nature to them,” she said.

I hadn’t expected anyone to try suing for peace at this stage of the war.

“Can you guarantee your people won’t attack?” I asked.

“Yes,” the woman said.

“But accidents might happen,” the man added.

She tried to project confidence, but even she didn’t sound fully convinced. There was always the possibility this was a long con, peace on the surface, betrayal later.

Do I accept it?

They weren’t wrong. Even if I wasn’t officially managing the front, I could influence the one who did. The pacifist part of me wanted to take the chance and reduce casualties.

But reality was harsh. Even if their intentions were genuine, what would the Azure Frost Sect do when they saw reports of their warfront leaders holding back? It likely wouldn’t even reach the sect proper. The Core Elder overseeing this front, whose job was to ensure no Core Elder from our side intervened, would crush the idea immediately.

“Is there anyone else who agrees with your plan? Anyone high up in the chain of command?” I asked.

“I can convince him,” the man said.

“Then sure,” I replied. “We can give it a try.”

It was more of a test than anything else, to see if they would actually accept the offer. And they did, without even probing our strength or testing whether they could still take us out.

“Thank you for putting your trust in us,” the man said.

“There’s still something bothering me,” I replied, resting a hand on Jiang Yeming’s and Tingfeng’s shoulders. “Why go out of your way to organize a passive ceasefire against what your sect clearly wants?”

At the same time, I mentally recalled the beasts under my control, halting their approach. These two were interesting. Empathy among cultivators, especially those without the power to force the world to bend, was rare.

“I…” The man hesitated, clearly reluctant.

“My best friend died in this useless war,” the woman said. “She was his sister. She died saving my life. So now, as repayment, I’ll take care of her brother.”

“This war is pointless,” the man muttered, his voice low but audible. “Young disciples are dying in droves. We’re sects, not nations fighting over land. What are we even doing?”

“So you don’t want revenge on us, the sect that killed her?” I asked.

His clarity surprised me.

“She died at the beginning of the war, and nothing has changed since,” he said. “How can it be the fault of some no-name disciple? It’s the institution behind it, the one pushing us to kill and slaughter without reason.”

For the first time since meeting them, I stopped seeing them as potential corpses and started seeing people worth knowing.

Even if this was an elaborate scheme, I was willing to take the risk.

“I’m sorry about your sister,” I said. “It looks like we’ll be working together, at least for now. Can I ask your names? Mine is Liu Feng.”

Knowing someone’s name and history made killing them harder. It made them human.

I hadn’t bothered digging too deeply into the upper ranks of the opposing camp; that was technically someone else’s job. But my thinking was changing.

“My name is Wu Weian,” the man said. “And she is Mu Xiong.”

“I can introduce myself,” the woman pouted.

“Well then, Wu Weian and Mu Xiong,” I said, “I hope we meet again under better circumstances, and not across a battlefield.”

They nodded. After a brief glance at the blue-scaled snakes behind them, they turned and began to leave.

“We’ll be going now,” Mu Xiong said.

“Whether we meet again depends on fate,” Wu Weian added, bowing his head. “This may be our last meeting. But thank you for taking a chance on us.”

I nodded and watched them disappear into the distance, my thoughts already drifting elsewhere, quietly assembling plans for whatever came next.

Wu Weian and Mu Xiong weren’t particularly dangerous, even if they had chosen to attack. But that was only because they had come with peaceful intentions.

If they had instead turned those sharp minds toward planning an ambush, the situation could have become troublesome. With several Foundation Establishment Cultivators working in tandem, elements interlocking like pieces of a puzzle, they might have been able to bring me down.

Fortunately for me, they lacked key information, such as my mental technique for controlling beasts.

Planning never meant knowing everything. After all, my original plan for Song Song to slowly take over the Blazing Sun Sect hadn’t unfolded as expected.

Instead, she had simply… taken over while I was in a coma. Violently, yes, and with casualties; but it worked, and I hadn’t sensed any instability since.

Then again, Cai Hu, my teacher, had never cared for positions of power. Muchen had already thrown his lot in with Goldwatch City and was merely extracting the last benefits he could from the sect before leaving.

Those two were the leading candidates to be the next in charge after Zun Gon died.

Either way, things were going well.

Just then, a bus-sized tornado of snow erupted nearby, spinning violently before compressing inward. The whirling white mass condensed, limbs forming from the storm itself, until it became a four-armed white bear. Its sharp eyes locked onto us, cold and radiating instinctive menace.

This was one of the beasts under my control.

And it wasn’t alone.

The ground beneath us bulged and cracked, dirt heaving upward as something massive shifted below. A crimson eye slid open beneath the soil before the earth split apart entirely. Moments later, the head of a three-eyed silver snake emerged, its body following as it rose fully into view. It was the size of a small car, its scales gleaming faintly beneath the dirt.

A deep hooting cry echoed overhead as the wind suddenly pressed downward. From above, a carriage-sized white owl descended, wings spread wide. It struck the ground with crushing force, splintering a nearby tree beneath its weight.

A Snow-Feathered Owl.

Finally, the thunder of hooves approached. A massive two-headed white deer, large enough to rival a small hut in size, came into view. Each step it took sent cracks spidering across the ground.

A Two-Headed White Deer. Even among monstrous beasts, it was a rare sight.

The beasts kept their distance, forming a loose square around us. Jiang Yeming looked suspicious and uneasy, while Tingfeng had already drawn his sword, his expression calm.

“Don't worry, I have a deal with them,” I reassured my disciples.

Then the Qi surged outward from the beasts; an act that did nothing to reassure my students. I responded with a hand seal of my own, synchronizing their energies and casting an array that sent a pulse of Qi into the ground, where it was slowly absorbed.

Insurance.

If my new “friends” decided to break my trust, they would pay for it.

I might have been a pacifist at heart, but I wasn’t foolish enough to rely on blind trust alone.