Free Web NovelChapter 2116: Chapter 2153: Preparing for Battle
Seeing that the Tie Family’s people, under the command of Tie Hualong, had boarded the warship, Ding Fan and the Second Elder slowly walked out of the forest. At this time, the Second Elder was somewhat puzzled and asked Ding Fan, "Ding Fan, why didn’t you rush up with the Tigertooth Apes just now? If you charged out suddenly, catching Tie Hualong off guard, you might have even killed him."
"That’s impossible. The terrain outside the island is open, and Tie Hualong is too far from the forest. If he lets his people desperately block the Tigertooth Apes and attacks them with his inner strength from a distance, these Tigertooth Apes, lacking intelligence, would surely die at his hands. Our reliance is on these Tigertooth Apes; if they die, wouldn’t we be doomed too?"
Ding Fan shook his head and said to the Second Elder.
His words made the Second Elder break into a cold sweat. He originally thought that if they had ordered an attack just now, a surprise assault with special troops might have yielded some effect. Now, thinking back, if they had charged out, the ones who might have died would have been these people of the Skeleton Sect.
"Truly well-reasoned. I didn’t expect you, Ding Fan, to be so young yet so mature in thought. It’s a pity that Tie Laogui wasn’t provoked just now. If he had been enraged by you and chased you into the forest, it would’ve been perfect. What a pity, what a pity!"
The Second Elder shook his head and sighed, regretting that Tie Hualong hadn’t fallen for Ding Fan’s tactics. Just then, he suddenly remembered something and shouted, "Oh no, someone stop the Martial Sect Master from pursuing them, don’t let her charge out of the forest!"
On Wu Qingxia’s side, the Tie Family still had a Third Level expert from the Divine Realm. If Wu Qingxia got carried away by victory and led her six Tigertooth Apes out, as Ding Fan had suggested, and the Tigertooth Apes were killed, then the Skeleton Sect would face a disaster. Currently, the entire Skeleton Sect relies on these servant apes, and they must not be killed.
Hearing the Second Elder’s words, a Scout Cavalry Elder immediately rushed towards Wu Qingxia’s direction. Although Ding Fan really wanted to go over, Tie Hualong and his people hadn’t gone far, so he didn’t dare move recklessly and had to let the Scout Cavalry Elder relay the message.
Half an hour later, the Scout Cavalry Elder, who was at the Second Level of the Divine Realm, returned and reported with some helplessness to the Second Elder and Ding Fan: "To report to the two lords, I was too late. The Martial Sect Master and the Fourth Elder grew overconfident and charged out of the forest. While they did kill nearly four hundred of the Tie Family, three Tigertooth Apes were lost."
"Oh no, they’re still young. Now, it’s a loss of over a hundred thousand Black Obsidian, but how is the Martial Sect Master and her group?"
Despite his heartbreak, the Second Elder was more worried about the safety of Wu Qingxia and the Fourth Elder. The Tigertooth Apes can be repurchased with Black Obsidian in the future, but lost lives cannot be restored.
"To report to the Second Elder, everyone is fine, apart from the three Tigertooth Apes, our people suffered no serious casualties!"
The Scout Cavalry Elder said to the Second Elder, just as a scout ran over and reported to everyone: "Report~ Tie Hualong has retreated, and all the people from several directions of the Tie Family have retreated back to Tie Family Island."
At this moment, several elders within the Skeleton Sect exchanged glances. A martial artist asked the Second Elder, "Second Elder, are we just going to let them run like that? Shouldn’t we seize the opportunity to chase them and attack Tie Family Island?"
The Second Elder also had this thought. In his view, the Tie Family had become like beaten dogs now, and the Skeleton Sect still had eight Tigertooth Apes comparable to Third Level experts of the Divine Realm. If they all attacked together and caught up to Tie Hualong and killed him, then Tie Family Island would be theirs, and they would rule this sea area.
"If you want to go, go ahead! I’m not ready to die yet!"
Ding Fan remained unexcited and said coldly to the group.
"Ding Fan, why are you saying that? What’s wrong with pursuing our victory? Tie Family is already scared of us, if you’re afraid, you don’t need to go."
One of the elders got angry; he was someone who had been separated during the Great Python Mountain battle and finally made his way back to the Skeleton Sect. He felt he earned merit and was confrontational with everyone.
The Second Elder stopped him. By now, he had calmed down, thought for a moment, and said to several martial artists eager to pursue, "Ding Fan is right. Tie Family Island is not like Xinkai Island. Tie Hualong has been operating there for so many years, the setup on that island is definitely significant. Think about it, we just deployed for a few days here and managed to beat them like this, but they’ve been setting up for over ten years. Wouldn’t attacking them be like sending lambs to the lion’s mouth? Our current reliance is on these Tigertooth Apes, yet we still lost three. If we storm the island, and all Tiger Tooth apes are killed, we’re done for too."
The elder became even more anxious and shouted at the Second Elder, "But if we don’t act, aren’t we doomed as well? The Tie Family already knows our trump card, Tie Hualong will definitely find a way to deal with the Tigertooth Apes. Are we just going to watch as they find ways to kill us?"
The Second Elder felt the elder was also correct and, after some thought, said to everyone, "Here’s what we’ll do: we’ll wait a while, see what Elder Wu Ren’s intelligence reports. If the Tie Family has all retreated to Tie Family Island, we’ll surround it. We won’t go in, but wait for an opportunity. Once an opening appears, we’ll wipe them out in one stroke."
Upon hearing the Second Elder’s words, everyone quieted down. After around half an hour, Elder Wu Ren had scouted thoroughly. Tie Hualong did not stop, immediately gathering all remaining Tie Family members back to Tie Family Island, retracting their defenses, and guarding against the Skeleton Sect’s attack.
The battle’s outcome was a complete victory for the Skeleton Sect. Though they lost three Tigertooth Apes and under thirty ordinary martial artists died, only one Second Level Elder of the Divine Realm died! In comparison to the Tie Family’s losses, the Skeleton Sect could be said to have suffered almost no losses.
The decision makers huddled together, and everyone was buzzing, discussing the next step in the fight. At this point, leaving the Tie Family any chance to strike back was impossible. If they didn’t take this opportunity to destroy the Tie Family, when the Tie Family retaliates, the ones in trouble would ultimately be the Skeleton Sect.
Almost everyone agreed with the Second Elder’s plan: first charge onto the outer island of the Tie Family, wait for the right moment, and as soon as the Tie Family shows any weakness, eliminate them immediately.
To be honest, Ding Fan didn’t want them to take risks, but just like the elder said, staying on Xinkai Island was not a foolproof plan. He thought it over for a long time, but couldn’t come up with anything better, so he remained silent.
His Sirius inheritance has a time limit which had long passed by now. He was very weak and particularly wanted to rest, but under the current circumstances, he didn’t dare to sleep. If he fell asleep and Tie Family launched a counterattack, it would be too late to do anything, so he had no choice but to stay awake.
Everyone clamored until the Second Elder finally decided on an attack plan. The Second Elder decided to lead the expedition, bringing with him all the fighting strength of the Skeleton Sect, along with those eight Tigertooth Apes, to attack Tie Family Island. The Fourth Elder, Wu Qingxia, and a few Second Level Martial Artists from the Divine Realm and ordinary martial artists were left to guard Xinkai Island.
Ding Fan was the top force of the Skeleton Sect and was also asked to join the Second Elder in attacking Tie Family Island. Ding Fan did not refuse, although he really wanted to sleep; he still forced himself to board the warship with them.
The warship headed towards Tie Family Island, while Ding Fan entered the cabin to sit and rest, using this time to restore some of his over-exhausted vitality and spiritual power.
This time, the Skeleton Sect was really putting everything on the line. Nearly all of its Second Level experts from the Divine Realm were here, along with more than half of the First Level martial artists. But even so, the total number of people from the Skeleton Sect was fewer than a hundred. There were simply too few martial artists in the Skeleton Sect.
However, the martial artists of the Skeleton Sect were all excited, believing that even though they were few in number, they had eight fearsome Tigertooth Apes. Defeating Tie Family Island would only take seconds, wouldn’t it?
As long as they destroyed the Tie Family, the Skeleton Sect could move onto Tie Family Island. With such a huge territory and the Crimson Flame Bodhi in hand, the Skeleton Sect could develop rapidly. Once they’ve established a firm foothold, many strong individuals would come to join them; by then, would they have a shortage of people?
When everyone reached the sea area around Tie Family Island, they were met with a silent scene. The usually bustling dock was now quiet, with no one in sight. Moreover, all of the Tie Family’s warships had disappeared.
The Skeleton Sect’s people did not dare to advance rashly. They first circled Tie Family Island several times and found that the entire outer island seemed deserted. There were no martial artists, and not even a single scout cavalry from Tie Family could be seen.
The warriors of the Skeleton Sect were at a loss. After circling around so many times without seeing anyone, they were unsure of what to do. Initially, they thought they could station themselves on the outer island, maneuver easily, and go about freely, but now it seemed nothing like that.
If they were to land, this was land managed by Tie Family for over a decade, with one or two thousand martial artists and including Tie Hualong, three Third Level experts from the Divine Realm. If they landed and got surrounded, there’d be no talk of rising; they’d be eradicated.
Yet, if they retreated, the warriors of the Skeleton Sect were unwilling. After organizing such a grand expedition to travel so far only to make a big noise without much action, doing a few laps in front of Tie Family Island and heading back, it wouldn’t sound good.
"Elder Wu Ren, take a few top-notch scout cavalries ashore to investigate carefully. If anything seems off, return immediately. Be extremely careful."
The Second Elder still issued a reconnaissance order to Elder Wu Ren. No matter what, since they were already there, let Wu Ren and the others scout it out.
Elder Wu Ren received the order and immediately took a few of his best scout cavalry ashore. They carefully started probing the island, disappearing towards the direction of Tie Family Fortress.
An hour later, while everyone on the outer island was waiting on the warship for news, they saw a figure flying back, with an expression of bitterness— it was Elder Wu Ren. free𝑤ebnovel.com
"Elder Wu! What happened? Where are your men? Why did you come back alone?"
Seeing Wu Ren board the ship, the Second Elder asked repeatedly. Hearing the Second Elder’s words, the lucky-to-escape Elder Wu Ren shook his head and said, "It’s tricky. The area outside Tie Family Fortress is crowded with people. Tie Hualong personally acted, and my men were completely annihilated. Had I not escaped quickly, you wouldn’t be seeing me now."
"What should we do now..."
The Second Elder was somewhat speechless upon hearing this.
The situation on the island was unclear, and everyone dared not land. Each person looked at the other, dumbfounded, saying nothing.
As time quietly passed, two hours went by in the blink of an eye, when suddenly someone shouted, "Look over there, people are coming!"
Everyone looked towards Tie Family Island and saw Tie Hualong, leading two Third Level experts from the Divine Realm, followed by hundreds of people, calmly walking along the main road on the dock.
"Warship, retreat one hundred zhang, prepare for battle."
