Chapter 84: Current Situation

"Wait a moment! Is this Transformation Realm practitioner called Feng Zi reliable?"

Seeing that Lu Hanwen was about to continue speaking on his own, a not-so-young Transformation Realm Martial Artist stood out and questioned him.

Regarding this kind of doubt, Feng Zi merely held onto Qinglin and was too lazy to even pay it any mind—he would never fall into the trap of having to prove himself.

Furthermore, with Lu Hanwen and Li Shou here, there was no need for him to do something so impatient.

"Are you questioning Lu Hanwen, or are you questioning me?"

Somewhat unexpectedly, it was Li Shou who spoke first, asking coldly.

That Martial Artist naturally knew the identities of Lu Hanwen and Li Shou and dared not act presumptuously again, only stuttering in reply: "N-no, that is not what I meant..."

"Is it 'no', or is it 'dare not'?" Lu Zhiruo raised an eyebrow and pressed.

Seeing this, a nameless fire rose in the heart of that Transformation Realm Martial Artist:

What kind of joke was this? It was one thing for the young masters of the Lu Family and Li Family, but now even a little girl at the Martial Master realm dared to talk back to him, a Transformation Realm Martial Artist?

But before he could flare up, Lu Hanwen said calmly: "Zhiruo, these people are all Transformation Realm Martial Artists and the pillars of Yangquan City; do not be too insolent."

It sounded like he was reprimanding Lu Zhiruo, but anyone could hear the relationship between the two.

The Transformation Realm Martial Artist who had intended to flare up could only shut his mouth in frustration upon seeing this.

Instead, an elderly Transformation Realm practitioner with failing Qi and Blood standing beside him stepped out to smooth things over: "Enough, enough, Jiang Huajing is also acting out of public interest..."

"After all, when facing the first wave of the Beast Tide, Yangquan City paid a great price to barely hold the city."

"And we who have gathered here must face nine Spirit Monsters and the Demon behind them; everyone has put their lives on the line."

Seeing the situation gradually ease and this small disturbance subside, Lu Hanwen stopped pursuing the matter and continued with the main topic:

"Yes, nine Spirit Monsters and the powerful Demon commanding them—this is the opponent we must face—"

"Lord Yue Hong, you and your two fellow disciples have been scouting for several days; you should know the true strength of that Demon, right?"

Facing Lu Hanwen's gaze, Daoist Yue Hong replied candidly:

"Yes, it is a snake Demon. According to our perception, its strength should be at the Golden Core peak, which is what you call the Grandmaster Peak."

Before Lu Hanwen could press further, Yue Hong explained in one breath: "A Demon that can cultivate to this realm has practiced for at least a hundred years."

"But according to the records of my Qingyue Sect, there has not been a Beast Tide in the Beiyu of Zhenbei Dao for nearly three hundred years."

"I have communicated with my sect's masters and reached two conjectures—one, this snake Demon is extremely adept at hibernating and has been hiding in the deep mountains all along;"

"Two, it is because the war in the north is intense, and this Demon slipped through a gap in the defensive line."

"The north..." Hearing this term, Lu Hanwen repeated it subconsciously.

The surrounding Transformation Realm Martial Artists also fell into silence upon hearing this.

Although Feng Zi had heard of the so-called "Northern Battlefield" a few times, he knew nothing about it and could only listen as Yue Hong continued:

"You all may not know yet, but about half a month ago, His Highness Prince Yong, who had not appeared for a long time, manifested his Dharma Body and used supreme power to behead two great enemies with his sword!"

"The Demon army's formation fell into chaos, repeatedly crashing into our military lines, and the fighting is exceptionally intense."

"Because of this, in accordance with Prince Yong's decree, the Golden Core elders of my sect and other great experts of higher realms have all taken their disciples to reinforce the front line."

Hearing this, Lu Hanwen understood the implication: "In other words, we have no reinforcements; the people here are all the combat power we have."

To this, Feng Zi was quite open-minded: "Why say such discouraging things? Just do what needs to be done!"

Listening to Feng Zi's words, Lu Hanwen smiled: "Brother Feng Zi is right. Then I will detail the strategy that you have all agreed upon—"

"There is no clever way to deal with a Beast Tide; we can only consume the Beast Tide's strength head-on."

"The first step is for you Martial Artists and Martial Masters to form battle formations to tear the Beast Tide apart completely and expose the Spirit Monsters hidden among the beasts;"

"The second step is for every Transformation Realm combatant to pin down one Spirit Monster, with one additional Transformation Realm Martial Artist roaming the battlefield to assist and expand our gains as quickly as possible;"

"The third and final step: as the number of Spirit Monsters gradually decreases, that Demon will surely lose its composure, and we will surround and attack it!"

The strategy was simple and sounded highly feasible, so Feng Zi naturally had no objections.

Seeing Feng Zi agree, Lu Hanwen added: "Before this, we were stuck at the second step."

"After all, we only have nine Transformation Realm combatants who can be committed to actual combat; we lack a tenth Transformation Realm Martial Artist to break the balance of power."

"And in the midst of a Beast Tide, every moment of delay is another moment of danger; we cannot take the risk."

Indeed, this was also a very important consideration.

Hearing this, Feng Zi could not help but nod repeatedly, expressing his agreement.

Yue Hong, who was to the side, also explained: "Although we have a fourth Foundation Establishment cultivator, Fellow Daoist Miaokong's lineage is very special; it is extremely difficult to engage in direct combat before forming a Golden Core."

Hearing Yue Hong's explanation, Feng Zi suddenly realized—

It turned out that in the corner of the large tent, there had been a beautiful woman in moon-white Daoist robes standing in the shadows all along.

And before this, he had not sensed her presence at all!

Sensing Feng Zi's gaze, the woman only shook her head slightly and said: "I am ashamed that I cannot be of any use."

The existence of this woman made Feng Zi clearly realize once again the truth that "there are people beyond people, and heavens beyond heavens."

He withdrew his gaze, calmed his stirred mind, and thought: "In other words, I am the one who will act as the 'person roaming the battlefield'?"

Lu Hanwen smiled and replied: "Yes, I am most at ease with Brother Feng Zi taking on this responsibility."

Feng Zi had no objections to this arrangement; he just shrugged and said casually:

"It's not a troublesome task. I accept. When do we start?"

"Rest for the night, and we will start tomorrow." After thinking for a moment, Lu Hanwen made his decision and said firmly:

"Every day we delay, the pressure on Yangquan City increases; we must finish this quickly."

To this, Feng Zi just nodded slightly, indicating his approval.

Since the main force for the expedition against the Beast Tide had been confirmed, the Martial Artists and cultivators present left one after another to announce this decision to the Martial Artists in the camp.

Lu Hanwen had extra thoughts at this moment, so he looked at his younger sister: "Zhiruo, are you responsible for joining the Martial Artists' battle formation, or will you act with me?"

Lu Zhiruo was not very satisfied with either suggestion: "No need, I will continue to act with Feng Zi."

Hearing this unexpected answer, Lu Hanwen looked at Feng Zi in great surprise, then looked at his sister, his gaze wandering back and forth between the two of them.

Sensing her older brother's gaze, Lu Zhiruo sighed helplessly, jumped up, and patted him on the head:

"What are you daydreaming about... I had no idea my own brother was so good at imagining things—"

"Feng Zi and I have already been traveling together for a while, so we have developed a basic level of rapport; this arrangement is the most logical one."