Chapter 722 - 219: Time to Leave
If there’s a martial arts mishap, or an injury that requires high-level elixirs to heal, can a loose cultivator afford it?
During a realm breakthrough, a loose cultivator with no foundation can only rely on oneself to explore and discover. In contrast, for those from noble clans, with experts aplenty, there are always elders and great powers of high realms ready to offer guidance, and even help stabilize your realm...
All that Gu Jinjia offered to Chen Yan today was like a golden path that allows a loose cultivator to leap through realms.
However, Chen Yan had ample reasons to refuse.
He was not a bottom-level loose cultivator; he had cultivation techniques, he had a background—his own grandmother was a Venerable of the Ghost Race.
Moreover, he came to the Domain Realm for more important matters, and he couldn’t tie himself down to just one place like Snow Cliff Pass—if he were to enter the Commander’s Mansion, join the soldiers stationed at Snow Cliff Pass, he would lose his freedom, and wouldn’t be able to leave easily.
Besides these reasons, there was an even more critical one!
Chen Yan knew he carried too many secrets! Whether it was the clandestine route that allowed him to freely enter and exit the Domain Realm, or that his father, Chen Jue, was the top wanted criminal in the Domain Realm... these secrets made him unwilling to stay long under the government’s watchful eye.
Seeing Chen Yan’s disinterest, Gu Jinjia, being broad-minded, did not press further.
Subsequently, the two chatted about some casual topics.
Discussing the course of the war this time, since the battle was over, many things no longer needed to be kept secret. Gu Jinjia told Chen Yan: "In fact, this battle was initially carried out step by step according to our plan, but eventually, an unexpected event arose—such a huge accident naturally unsettled the newly appointed Town General. Originally, we should have led the army back to Snow Cliff Pass earlier, but these days, we have had to stay outside, saying we need to find the person who disrupted our plan."
Chen Yan’s heart skipped a beat: "What do you mean?"
"The original plan was for the Fierce Beast Race’s army to press the border, allowing them to attack the city for days while we only defended and did not attack, even showing weakness appropriately, leaving some gaps, showing a stance of weak defense, drawing the full strength of the Fierce Beast Race to be held here.
And after a long siege and our appearances of weakness, the Fierce Beast Race would likely mobilize more troops from the rear. By then, gathering more of the Fierce Beast Race outside the pass, and having the Town General set fire in the sea of trees, cutting off their retreat... Once their troops are exhausted, and their supplies depleted, attacking from both sides might result in a full victory.
In one battle, we could annihilate a hundred thousand young and strong from the Fierce Beast Race, leaving them breathless for thirty years!!
But after the unexpected event, the final battle was moved forward, and the number of the Fierce Beast Race gathered outside the city was far less than planned before the battle.
This battle only destroyed thirty to forty thousand of their troops, a success that fell short by more than half."
Chen Yan couldn’t help but tremble inside, his face froze, and he whispered: "The unexpected event you mentioned..."
"It was the changes in the heavens and earth on the Icefield." Gu Jinjia shook his head with a bitter smile: "If we could have fought for another two months, the rear of the Fierce Beast Race would have moved more troops up, and launching an attack then would have been better."
Chen Yan remembered something and asked: "During the war, I was hiding in the Snowfield and saw the Fierce Beast Race army retreat, so why didn’t the Snow Cliff Pass garrison send troops to pursue along the way? A good opportunity to expand the victory was lost in vain."
Gu Jinjia looked at Chen Yan, shook his head, and said: "The original plan was to keep them here longer, have more people come up in the army, and at that time, break the rear route of the sea of trees, cutting off their food supply and retreat.
But suddenly... although the Fierce Beast Race outside the city was in chaos, their primordial qi wasn’t damaged, and more importantly, they hadn’t depleted their military supplies. The whole army retreated, and their underlying strength remained—pursuing at this moment would be much less effective!
Moreover, to pursue on the Snowfield, it is best to do so in open areas, in the vast space, letting those walking of the Fierce Beast Race run for their lives in fleeing. Our Thunder Riders chasing in the rear doesn’t need to fight; just chasing can kill half of these Fierce Beast Race by exhaustion!
But after the Icefield collapse turning into a large lake, there’s no room for cavalry to maneuver.
The retreating paths of the Fierce Beast Race on the Icefield have sparsely remaining narrow passages. In such space, cavalry cannot deploy, which means it’s not about dogs chasing prey, but forcing the Fierce Beast Race to engage us hand-to-hand in narrow spaces—cavalry isn’t used this way.
Besides, most of the Thunder Riders in our city were taken by the Town General to the sea of trees.
So, I say, the timing of the Icefield collapse was not very advantageous for us."
Chen Yan hung his head and gave a bitter smile. To cover it, he splashed water on his face, then said in a complicated tone: "So, causing the Icefield collapse actually backfired?"
"Not entirely." Gu Jinjia finally said something slightly comforting to Chen Yan: "Matters are multifaceted. Although the outcome of this battle was smaller than expected, our losses were also smaller than expected.
The original plan was to fight under Snow Cliff Pass for two months—two months of defensive war, we def would have suffered considerable casualties. According to the original battle plan and simulations, we would lose at least thirty thousand, to swallow a hundred thousand of the Fierce Beast Race!"
But now, these people didn’t have to die.
Analyzing the current situation, this battle only caused us a few thousand casualties, but exchanged for thirty to forty thousand of them, we gained significantly!
Moreover, the Icefield collapse into a lake, although it made chasing difficult, made the Fierce Beast Race have to walk back on foot. After the Icefield collapse, they can only detour, adding to their travel distance significantly, and by then, lacking food, even without our pursuit, I fear they would also lose a batch."