In the northwestern reaches, at the headquarters of the
According to plan, Patriarch Kuzhu should have arrived a full month ago. Yet as of now, he still hadn't shown up.
The Kuman side had sent word saying that Patriarch Kuzhu had encountered some unexpected situation and couldn't get away for the time being. He needed a while longer, and instructed the four great tribes not to act rashly, but to wait patiently.
But the four tribes had waited and waited, and their patience was nearly exhausted.
That day, the leaders of all four tribes gathered together.
"My lords, the Patriarch has run into some trouble, and we have no idea when he'll grace us with his presence. If we keep sitting here waiting, we're giving the humans all the time they need to make their preparations. This really doesn't suit our Kuman style of striking fast and finishing things quickly!"
"Exactly! Our Kuman people pride ourselves on coming and going like the wind—that's where our advantage lies. If the humans finish setting their defenses, what's even the point of going? Right now, every last human faction has heard the news and fled in terror to Glazed King City to take refuge. They've hauled all the good stuff with them. Even if we sweep through their settlements one by one, there won't be much worth plundering. We can't very well come all this way just to slaughter a few commoners out of spite, can we?"
The Kuman barbarians were bloodthirsty by nature, but in the clashes of the martial world, massacring commoners was generally forbidden. Only the most depraved and conscienceless races would stoop to that.
After all, cultivators slaughtering commoners offended the natural order of heaven. At the lightest, it damaged a warrior's own fortune. At the worst, it brought ruin upon the fortune of their entire race.
"My lords, I have a bold proposal," one of the tribal chiefs said with a smile.
"Chief Bei, what brilliant insight do you have? By all means, do share."
"Insight is perhaps too generous a word. I've simply analyzed the situation, and right now in the human domain, nearly all the powerful cultivators have gathered in Glazed King City. Why should we stay here and hold our ground? Our armies could press forward and besiege Glazed King City instead."
"But the Patriarch hasn't arrived yet—wouldn't advancing be too rash?" someone raised an objection.
"Hmph! The Patriarch hasn't come, so we simply won't launch an assault. Besiege without attacking—what's wrong with that? Besides, by surrounding Glazed King City, we can crush their morale and keep them trembling in fear and anxiety. Then when the Patriarch finally arrives, we sweep through them like an unstoppable force. Wouldn't that be far better?"
The one who had made this proposal was King Bei, the chief of the Bei tribe—the strongest warrior in his tribe and one of the most formidable among the Kuman barbarians.
The representatives from the other three tribes all fell into deep thought.
After a moment, another tribal chief spoke. He wore a headband with a green feather tied to the back of it, and every leader from his tribe behind him wore the same headband-and-feather combination.
This man was none other than King Jade Feather, chief of the Jade Feather tribe—one of the four great tribes.
"I actually believe King Bei's proposal, though bold, is perfectly feasible. Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. As long as we proceed cautiously, support each other, and cooperate sincerely, advancing to Glazed King City and surrounding it first would indeed buy us a great deal of time!"
For the Kuman barbarians, time was everything.
When they swept through the human domain, the only resource they needed to fight for was speed—the faster, the better.
The Kuman barbarians' population and numbers were far too small compared to the humans. They simply couldn't afford to be drawn into a prolonged war.
Once trapped in a drawn-out conflict, even if every Kuman warrior was formidable in battle, they would likely be unable to withstand the humans' strategy of throwing bodies at the problem and trading soldiers one for one.
"King Gu Nuo, King Yuan Qiang—what do you two think?" King Jade Feather smiled faintly, looking toward the remaining two tribal chiefs.
King Gu Nuo had skin the color of burnished bronze and was, among the four chiefs, the only one who managed to be both strikingly handsome and possessed of an unmistakable masculine vigor.
He was also the biological father of the Prince of the Gu Nuo tribe.
King Gu Nuo had a great deal of pent-up frustration. His Gu Nuo tribe had originally been the first to arrive in the human domain, poised to seize the initiative—but that brat
So when King Gu Nuo heard the proposal to besiege Glazed King City, he nodded readily: "I support King Bei's proposal. Speed is paramount in war. If Patriarch Kuzhu knew, he certainly wouldn't blame us for acting on our own."
Three of the four chiefs had now voiced their support. Only the Yuan Qiang tribe's chief had yet to speak. King Yuan Qiang had a wild mane of golden-brown hair, thick and unkempt like a lion's, giving him an extremely fierce and imposing appearance.
King Yuan Qiang broke into a wide grin: "Since no one's against it, I'll naturally go along with the group's decision." This fellow may have looked rough and boisterous, but in truth he was the type who never offended anyone—slippery as they come.
"But how exactly should our armies advance? We can't just bunch all four tribes together—that would be far too conspicuous. And we'd be easy targets for traps." King Yuan Qiang rolled his eyes and voiced his concern.
"King Yuan Qiang makes a fair point, and it's one I've considered as well," nodded King Bei. "The warriors of our four tribes are each quite headstrong in their own way. Packed together, they'd actually be less efficient. We should split into four columns and set out separately."
"Split our forces? Is that really wise?" King Jade Feather wasn't entirely sure.
"Why not? Right now, the human main forces are all concentrated in Glazed King City. Every major first-rank sect has been left virtually empty." King Bei's tone was firm. "Look at this map of the human domain. From here in the northwest to Glazed King City, there are too many major powers along the way."
"Here, we have Danhuo City—once the most prosperous city in the human domain. And here, the first-rank sects: Heavenly Sound Temple, Immortal Sky Capital's territory. Over here, the Heavenly Sword Sect. Further to the northwest lies the Heavenly River Palace. To the west and southwest, we have the Heavenly Dragon School and the Nine Yang Heavenly Sect. All of these places sit along the route to Glazed King City! If we split into four columns, we might well be able to pick up some spoils along the way. The fattest targets in the human domain are the first-rank sects. Monks can run, but can their temples?"
King Bei's proposal set all four tribal chiefs' hearts racing.
They had already reaped considerable rewards from seizing the Moon God Sect's headquarters. Although the Moon God Sect had carried away the bulk of their valuables before fleeing, it was impossible that they had managed to take everything.