"Over the past decade or so, the Star Boundary has been fighting one battle after another, purging internal enemies, and the results have been rather satisfactory. The Demon Race remnants still lurking in the Star Boundary have either been hunted down or subdued by Chang Tian and the others. The Demonic Heavenly Dao has been beaten into the ground, and its Dao Master Can Ye was injured by Lord Ironblood several years ago and has been hiding ever since. But that same decade has also served as a buffer period for the Demon Race to prepare on their side. The passage between the two realms has been sealed for so long — who knows what conditions are like over there?" Li Wuyi chuckled and shook his head. "For all we know, once we reopen the passage, there will be a massive Demon Race army on the other side, fully armed and waiting for us to walk right into their trap."
Yang Kai nodded in agreement. "You're right, Senior."
"Which is precisely why we cannot charge over — certainly not in such a reckless manner!" Li Wuyi rose to his feet and strode to the centre of the great hall with his hands clasped behind his back, then turned to face Yang Kai. "You know what the Two Realms Passage is like. The entrance is only so large, and there is a fixed limit on how many can pass through at once. If the Star Boundary's armies rush in blindly, they will suffer losses. The same applies in reverse. So we need to set up our defences around the passage. Once all the various armies have been drilled and coordinated, we open the passage and let the Demon Race come to us. We crush their morale first before anything else!"
Yang Kai inclined his head. "The Demon Realm won't last forever, and the Demon Race is more anxious than we are. If they discover that the Two Realms Passage has been opened, they will definitely send forces to investigate. Too few will accomplish nothing, and too many will be devoured in one bite."
Li Wuyi laughed. "Exactly. They should be the ones in a hurry. All we need to do is hold our defensive line around the passage. As long as the line holds, the initiative remains firmly in our hands. When the day comes that the Star Boundary has the upper hand, there will be plenty of time to go on the offensive."
Yang Kai considered for a moment. "That could take a very long time — decades, perhaps even a hundred years."
"Any price is worth paying if it keeps the Star Boundary safe and stable."
"I understand." Yang Kai stood and cupped his fists. "The Jizi Army has arrived on the battlefield. If you have any orders, Lord, please give them freely."
Li Wuyi said, "There is no need for your Jizi Army to take part in setting up the Grand Formation. Other armies will handle that. However, the Jizi Army will not be idle. Once the Two Realms Passage opens and the Demon Race comes flooding through, your Jizi Army will be expected to engage them head-on. In the meantime, I will arrange a place for your army to camp, and then have your troops drill in battle formations. Large-scale warfare is nothing like ordinary fighting. In the midst of a vast sea of soldiers, personal cultivation is sometimes not the deciding factor in victory or defeat. Fortunately, though the Jizi Army is newly formed, it contains no small number of seasoned veterans. Pass those orders down and let Yao Si handle it — he will know what to do."
"Very well," Yang Kai agreed.
Li Wuyi then led him to the enormous sand table and drew a circle with his finger over a section of it. "A thousand-li radius centred on this point — that will be the Jizi Army's encampment. You may handle the army's internal affairs as you see fit. If there is anything you do not understand, go ask the other army commanders, or come to me directly."
Shortly after, Yang Kai exited the great hall, oriented himself, and shot up into the sky.
A little over the time it takes to burn a stick of incense later, he materialised over a desolate stretch of the Western Domain's wastelands — an uninhabited no-man's-land. Standing in mid-air, he gazed into the distance and could faintly make out the location where the Two Realms Passage had once existed.
This had been the border between the Demon Realm and the Star Boundary, and once a gathering place for the Demon Race. But ever since Yang Kai had returned more than a decade ago and sealed the passage, the area had gradually fallen into decline until not a soul remained.
Although the place was utterly deserted, everyone in the Star Boundary knew that if the Demon Race ever came, they would still come from that direction. So the Seven Mist Sea had mobilised all the various armies to deploy the Grand Formation with the passage's location as its centre. Fifty-five armies had surrounded that barren stretch of land so tightly that not even water could leak through, waiting for the Demon Race to breach the boundary and walk straight into the trap.
Glancing left and right, Yang Kai could see vast encampments stretching out several thousand li in either direction, teeming with people — clearly the camps of one Star Boundary army or another.
Encampments of this enormous scale appeared every few thousand li, forming a gigantic circle around the passage's location.
As he was surveying the scene, a beam of brilliant light erupted from a main camp several thousand li to his right and shot straight toward him, blazing with dazzling radiance as it cleaved through the sky.
In the span of a dozen breaths, the light arrived before him and resolved into the figure of a wizened old man.
Yang Kai smiled and cupped his fists. "Lord Fu!"
This old man was none other than Fu Renjie, the commander of the Wuyin Army, whom Yang Kai had seen earlier in the great hall at the Seven Mist Sea. The old man had been rather brusque upon their first meeting, but he turned out to be quite an amusing character.
Fu Renjie burst into hearty laughter. "I was wondering why this area had been left empty all this time with no army stationed here. So Commander Li had it planned out all along, saving it for you, Lord Yang."
Yang Kai glanced in the direction the old man had come from and raised an eyebrow. "That over there is the Wuyin Army's encampment?"
"Indeed it is." Fu Renjie beamed. "It seems we will be neighbours from now on." As he spoke, he cupped his fists again. "I will be counting on your kindness in the future, Lord Yang."
"Hardly!" Yang Kai returned the gesture promptly. "I have only just arrived and know nothing at all about military affairs. It is I who should be asking for your guidance, Lord Fu."
Fu Renjie laughed. "It does not matter if you do not know — as long as Yao Si does. Why else would they have gone to all that trouble to poach him from under my nose?"
Yang Kai smiled sheepishly and looked over to the other side. "Lord Fu, do you happen to know which army is camped over there?"
Fu Renjie's expression turned serious. "Cangmo."