I Can See Your Combat Power

Chapter 623: Chapter 619: Complicated

Mizhu was certainly furious. He never thought the Tang Clan’s concentrated attack would be so forceful. His most promising junior, Mizhu Jianxing, had an unparalleled sword and shield style among the Mi Clan, and was an exceptional martial artist with the potential to create a new school of True Green Arts. Yet in front of his own eyes, his head was shattered into pieces by a volley of Extreme Mang Finger attacks.

The Tang Clan’s Martial Ancestors ambushed Mizhu Jianxing the moment he finished using his Spirit Art, without giving him any chance to react. The hopeful star of the Mi Clan was killed just like that, hit directly; even his Spirit Shield made of cast Yanjin meteorite was entirely shattered.

Pulling out the diamond-shaped fragment from his bosom that still bore the marks of the Extreme Mang attacks, Mizhu pinned it to the table, lamenting, “Are you waiting for all of the young Martial Ancestors of the Mi Clan to die before sending reinforcements?!

Mijin looked at the diamond fragment embedded more than halfway into the table, then at Mizhu, who was a mix of grief and rage. It was clear that this old fellow was seeing red. Never before had the Mi Clan suffered such extensive losses in their thousand-year reign over the south. He understood Mizhu’s pain.

But it was precisely because he did not want young lives to be wasted that he could not make a rash decision. Mijin took a deep breath to calm his emotions and turned to Mizhu, “Have all the stewards and strategists taken out. Without my command, no one is allowed to enter.”

His dismissal of the others indicated that there were confidential matters to discuss. Mazu regained some of his senses, but the anger in his eyes had not yet subsided. If Mijin could not offer him a satisfactory explanation, he would refuse to leave.

Mijin, who had always kept a stoic expression, stood up. Sadness washed over his face, and he bowed deeply to the diamond fragment stuck in the table like a tombstone, mourning, “The Mi Clan will never forget the sacrifices of our young Martial Ancestors. However, sending reinforcements now is not the best timing.”

Raising his head, Mijin explained to Mizhu, “The Pan, Bai, Bie, and Wan families did not sincerely join us. They were coerced by the threat of the Bloody Crow Shadow Picture held by our young clan leader. Even though Mijin destroyed the Bloody Crow Shadow Picture in front of the leaders of the four families, they still do not fully trust us. After all, if these pictures end up in the hands of the Xu Clan in Yuanzhou, these four families will be uprooted by the sacred grounds they have accumulated over the years and their nine branches will be exterminated.”

“The four families and we are not on the same page. Even when I offered them vast rewards for reinforcing us the second time, they still held back at least one group of Martial Ancestors. Do you think I am unaware of what they are considering?” Keeping everyone away, Mijin opened up to Mizhu. He wished as much as Mizhu did to take advantage of the situation and aim to flatten North Mountain, but the complex composition of the allied forces made this idea seem like a pipe dream.

The situation in Xiling was more complicated than ever before.

“And then there’s the Xiao Clan of Red Cloud Mountain to the east! I’ve already authorised the Second Elder to agree to all of the Xiao Clan’s conditions just to get them into battle as soon as possible. But Xiao Jinlin, the old fox, seems to have made up his mind to drag out time. As long as the Xiao Clan does not make a move, I can’t play my trump card in South Ridge Monster Valley!” Mijin took a few steps towards the sand table, pointed to the force holding down Red Cloud Mountain represented by a flag bearing the Xiao Clan’s emblem and added gravely, “If we give it our all, and Xiao Jinlin launches a surprise raid on our South Ridge, do you think the four clans will do everything they can to help us resist the Xiao Clan, or will they seize the opportunity to massacre the Wind Media Department?”

After listening to Mijin’s analysis, Mizhu realised that there seemed to be so many hidden dangers in the formidable South Ridge Monster Valley. But he still couldn’t easily agree with Mijin’s judgement of the Xiao Clan, “Xiao Ziyu was killed by Tang Luo. How could Xiao Jinlin help the Tang Clan?”

“Xiao Ziyu? Compared to the entire Xiao Clan, that kid is not worth mentioning!” Mijin’s eyes flashed with a cold light as he spitefully pointed out, “Do you know how many sects reached out to him with an olive branch when he toured the world? Some of them were even Tier One Heaven Sects. If he had just agreed to join a sect and cut ties with his family, he could have been acknowledged as a Grandmaster, and the King Realm would have been within reach! But for the sake of the Xiao Clan, he refused every sect’s invitation. How could such a person, who puts his family first, risk his family for the sake of a prodigy who has passed away?”

After listening to Mijin’s heartfelt words, Mizhu’s anger vanished. But he still didn’t quite understand, “Risk? This battle is just a dispute between the Tang and Mi clans. What does it have to do with the Xiao Clan?”

“If any of our clans, the Tang or Mi, dominated Xiling, do you know who would be next in line?” Mijin shook his head, “The principle of ‘when lips are gone, the teeth will be cold’ is very clear to Xiao Jinlin. Even if our target is only the Tang Clan, Xiao Jinlin would place the Xiao Clan in the next target’s position. So, the Tang Clan can be defeated, but they must not be exterminated.”

“What do you mean?” Mizhu was confused. As a pure martial artist, he believed that a victory was a victory, and a defeat was a defeat. There was no need for any casing around it. But from Mijin’s words, it seemed as if Xiao Jinlin was hoping to see the Tang Clan defeated, but not terribly. This was puzzling.

“No matter how intense the battle, there will be a day when peace is restored. Even if the Mi Clan annexed the Tang Clan, we would still be severely wounded. But the Xiao Clan will not allow us to exterminate the Tang Clan. They will likely ally with the weak to strike the strong, as this is the way for the weak to survive. At this point, the Mi Clan is powerful, so if the Tang Clan starts to show signs of defeat, the two families will naturally become allies.” Mijin gripped the edge of the sand table, pointing to the red flag on Red Cloud Mountain, saying, “The old fox hasn’t agreed to our conditions to enter the battle because he is figuring this out. If we exert our full strength now…”

Mijin moved the markers representing his soldiers and the supply of beasts in South Ridge Monster Valley towards the frontline of North Mountain. The green flags representing the Mi Army surrounded the entire North Mountain. At the same time, the Mi Clan’s base, South Ridge Monster Valley, was stripped of all its forces.

“Naturally, the Tang Clan will show signs of defeat. But in that case, they will bring forth their secluded elders to resist us. If these old fools give their all, even if we put everyone on the line, we wouldn’t achieve the results you expect. Instead, we would engage our Martial Ancestors in another desolate battle and lose even more lives.” Mijin straightened, looking into Mizhu’s eyes, explaining, “Extermination is just a fantasy. Just thinking about uprooting the Tang Clan with just the seven families is indeed daydreaming. In this battle, if we can kill half of the Tang Clan’s ranking members, it would be our greatest victory. If we could exhaust the energy of those secluded old fools in the Tang Clan to death, it would be an additional gain. And now, with the scale of the allied forces and our original arrangements, all of these can be achieved. So I won’t give you even one more reinforcement Martial Ancestor.”

“Because I need to ensure that our base remains impregnable. Unless Xiao Jinlin agrees to fight for the Mi Clan, the current scale of the allied forces is the maximum amount of force I can deploy to you.”

The real undefeated chess player isn’t the mad one who aims to expand once they gain an advantage, but the one who considers all details, ensures their own invincibility first, and then maintains the advantage until the end.