In the northwest, at the Moon God Sect's headquarters, the great armies of the Bitter Barbarians' four major tribes had fallen into a state of anxious restlessness.
According to plan, Old Ancestor Kuzhu should have arrived a month ago. But to this day, he still hadn't shown up.
The Bitter Barbarians had received intelligence saying that Old Ancestor Kuzhu had encountered some unexpected situation and couldn't get away for the time being. He needed a while longer and had told the four major tribes not to act rashly, but to wait patiently.
However, as the wait dragged on, the patience of these four major tribes had been nearly exhausted.
On this day, the high-ranking members of all four tribes gathered together.
"The Old Ancestor has run into unforeseen circumstances, and we have no idea when he'll grace us with his presence. If we keep sitting here, we'll have given the humans all this time to prepare their defenses. This is truly… not in keeping with our Bitter Barbarians' tradition of swift battle and swift victory!"
"Exactly! Our Bitter Barbarians pride ourselves on coming and going like the wind. That's where our advantage lies. If the humans finish their preparations, what's the point of even fighting? Right now, all those human factions have already fled in terror to Glazed Royal City for refuge. They've taken all their valuables with them. Even if we sweep through them one by one, there won't be much to plunder. We can't exactly make this trip just to slaughter a few commoners to vent our frustrations, can we?"
The Bitter Barbarians were bloodthirsty, but in the martial world's confrontations, the principle was that civilians could not be massacred. Only a handful of deranged races would stoop to such a thing.
After all, cultivators slaughtering civilians offended the harmony of heaven. At best, it would damage a warrior's own fortune. At worst, it would damage the fortune of the entire race.
"Gentlemen, I have a bold proposal." One of the tribal chiefs spoke up with a smile.
"Chief Bei, what brilliant insight do you have? Do share it with us."
"I wouldn't call it brilliant. I've analyzed the situation. Right now, nearly all the strong fighters in human territory have gathered at Glazed Royal City. Why should we remain stationed here? Our great armies could simply keep pushing forward and lay siege to Glazed Royal City."
"But with the Old Ancestor not yet here, wouldn't it be too aggressive for us to advance?" someone raised a doubt.
"Hmph! If the Old Ancestor hasn't arrived, we simply won't open battle. Surround them without attacking — what's wrong with that? Besides, by besieging Glazed Royal City, we can crush their morale and keep them trembling in fear. When the Old Ancestor finally arrives, we can sweep through them like an unstoppable force. Wouldn't that be far better?"
This proposer was the chief of the Bei Tribe, the Bei Tribe's strongest warrior and one of the Bitter Barbarians' most formidable fighters.
The other three tribes fell into deep thought.
After a moment, another tribal chief spoke. He wore a circlet on his head, with a green feather tied to the back of it. Every high-ranking member behind him wore the same combination of circlet and feather.
This was the chief of the Emerald Feather Tribe — one of the four major tribes — bearing the title Emerald Feather King.
"I actually think King Bei's proposal, though bold, is entirely feasible. In extraordinary times, we must take extraordinary measures. As long as we exercise caution, support one another, and cooperate wholeheartedly, advancing first to Glazed Royal City and besieging it would indeed buy us a great deal of time!"
For the Bitter Barbarians, time was everything.
Their whole purpose in sweeping through human territory was to seize time — the faster, the better.
The Bitter Barbarians' population, their numbers, when compared to the humans, were far too small. They simply could not afford a drawn-out war.
Once bogged down in a prolonged conflict, even if every Bitter Barbarian warrior was a fearsome fighter, they would likely be unable to withstand the humans' human-wave tactics and exchange strategies.
"King Gu Nuo, King Yuan Qiang — what do the two of you think?" Emerald Feather King smiled faintly, looking toward the chiefs of the other two tribes.
That King Gu Nuo had a bronzed complexion — among the four great chiefs, he was the only one who was strikingly handsome while still radiating masculine vigor.
He was also the biological father of that prince of the Gu Nuo Tribe.
King Gu Nuo had actually accumulated quite a bit of pent-up fury. Originally, his Gu Nuo Tribe had been the first to arrive in human territory and could have seized the initiative, but that boy Jiang Chen had meddled and shattered his plans for a preemptive strike. And in the end, that same Jiang Chen had ambushed his son, leaving the boy still not fully recovered!
So when King Gu Nuo heard about besieging Glazed Royal City, he nodded as well: "I support King Bei's proposal. Speed is precious in warfare. Even if Old Ancestor Kuzhu knew, he certainly wouldn't blame us for acting on our own initiative."
Of the four great chiefs, only the Yuan Qiang Tribe's chief had yet to weigh in. King Yuan Qiang had a wild mane of golden-brown hair, resembling a mighty lion — an extraordinarily imposing and fearsome sight.
King Yuan Qiang grinned broadly: "Since no one objects, naturally I'll go along with the majority." The fellow looked rough and hearty, but in truth he never offended anyone — thoroughly shrewd and smooth.
"However, how exactly should our armies advance? We can't very well have all four tribes' armies march together as one — that would be far too conspicuous. And it would make us easy targets for traps." King Yuan Qiang rolled his eyes and raised his own concern.
"King Yuan Qiang raises a valid point. I've considered this as well." King Bei nodded. "Our warriors from all four tribes are quite headstrong. If we gather them all together, it would actually hamper our efficiency. We can split into four routes and set out separately."
"Split our forces? Is that wise?" Emerald Feather King was not entirely sure.
"There's nothing wrong with it. Right now, the main human forces are all holed up in Glazed Royal City. The great First-Rank Sects are all rather hollow." King Bei's tone was firm. "Look at this map of human territory. From here in the northwest to Glazed Royal City, there are too many major powers along the way."
"Here — Danhuo City, the most prosperous place in the former human domain. And here — the First-Rank Sects Heavenly Sound Temple and Indestructible Heaven Capital's territories. And here — Heavenly Sword Sect. Further to the northwest is Heavenly River Palace. To the west and southwest, there are also Heavenly Dragon Sect and Nine Yang Heavenly Sect. All of these are paths that lead to Glazed Royal City! If we split into four routes, we might even be able to reap some benefits along the way. The fattest targets in human territory are the First-Rank Sects. They may flee like monks, but can they carry their temples on their backs?"
King Bei's proposal made each of the four tribal chiefs' hearts race with temptation.
This time, by seizing the Moon God Sect, they had already reaped considerable spoils. Although the bulk of the treasures had been carted away by the Moon God Sect, it was impossible that they had managed to carry off everything.