Starting My Cultivation With Time Management

Chapter 717: Chapter 51: Calmly Walking into the Ambush Circle
 

Several Horned Clan cultivators were patrolling along the coast.

Human cultivators were accustomed to flying with Sword Control, while cultivators from the Demon Race, depending on their species, mostly excelled in various Escape Techniques or Divine Travel Techniques.

For example, the Feathered Clan could fly without the aid of any Magical Treasures by flapping their wings; the Horned Clan also mastered a Divine Travel Technique that was akin to a certain step technique, allowing them to traverse great distances in an instant,

Long Long lay hidden in the depths of rivers, observing these Horned Clan cultivators who strolled leisurely with a breeze beneath their feet. Although their burst speed could not match Ling Yunpo and Senior Sister An’s Cloud-Parting Eight Trigrams Step, they had the advantage of low consumption and endurance, making it an exceptional skill for traveling long distances.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t learn it, for there were barriers of bloodlines between different races, and Secret Techniques and Divine Skills were not interchangeable. It seemed unnecessary to create a separate minor account of a Horned Clan member…

He quickly reined in his thoughts, and only after those cultivators entered the encirclement did he swiftly release a long and lingering dragon’s roar.

The expressions of the Horned Clan cultivators drastically changed, and before they could accelerate to flee, a overwhelming Dragon’s Might pressed down, making their bodies feel as if they were filled with lead, completely immobilizing them.

Then, a torrential current rolled out from the rivers, trapping the Horned Clan cultivators from all sides. Lastly, numerous Flying Swords pierced fiercely into the water, like a thousand arrows through the heart, slaying these Horned Clan cultivators.

Deterred by Dragon’s Might, trapped by Water System Daoist Magic, and then slain with Flying Swords—this was the quick-kill strategy Long Long and his cohorts had devised. The most critical core of this tactic lay in the deterrent of Dragon’s Might.

As long as they were successfully intimidated by Dragon’s Might, it was almost as if they had fallen into an Illusion Technique, unable to control their bodies, with their minds in a daze… If not for this, these Horned Clan cultivators would not have been so powerless that they couldn’t even fight back, remaining rigid in place to be slaughtered.

Long Long’s exceedingly high Bloodline Rank was the underlying confidence that allowed him to subdue these Horned Clan cultivators with Dragon’s Might.

In this manner, after killing about twenty Horned Clan cultivators in five or six rounds, the spirits of the young dragons were greatly lifted, their fighting spirit high, with some even laughing and claiming “the Horned Clan cultivators were nothing much.”

However, Long Long felt something was amiss, and looking at the expression on Qin Chaocang’s face, it seemed the Great Elder also sensed something unusual, as he was stern-faced and silent at the moment.

The first round of sneak attacks could be explained as being prepared against the unprepared, but by the second and third rounds, even the most inept commanders behind the Horned Clan should have noticed that the frontline troops were disappearing abnormally frequently.

Even if they couldn’t come up with countermeasures, the least they could do was to send someone over for a large-scale search, right? But they didn’t.

It could be that they were intentionally letting us grow complacent, quietly plotting some vicious trap!

With this thought in mind, Long Long also became somewhat restless.

He was not doubting the strength of the Great Elder Qin Chaocang, but what if the Qilin Clan also had a Great Elder to restrain Qin Chaocang? What then?

As a seasoned spy, Long Long knew better than to place his life and safety on the reliability of anyone else. He hurriedly called Long Hu, Qin Zhou, Qin Ye, and others for a private meeting to discuss.

“I feel something is off,” he stated bluntly. “The reaction of the Horned Clan is too sluggish. This is not like the response one would expect after having dozens of cultivators ambushed. I suspect they are plotting something.”

The Qin siblings looked puzzled. With their limited experience, they could not discern the plausibility of what Long Long was suggesting.

However, Long Hu firmly stood by Long Long’s side and said:

“I also feel something is very wrong! Everyone think about it, if this is a trap, then the Horned Clan must have prepared a very powerful move behind the scenes!”

Although the Little Fox spoke earnestly, he was merely repeating Long Long’s words with emphasis and intonation, without providing any new arguments.

“I know what you are saying,” Qin Zhou said hesitantly. “But in the end, there is no evidence, is there?”

“If the Horned Clan is indeed plotting some killing move against us, we definitely need to inform the Great Elder and the others… But if it turns out to be a false alarm, then we would become the laughingstock of everyone,” Qin Zhou added.

Young people are always concerned about their face, and since most of his companions were descendants of high-ranking members of the Dragon Clan and friends within the circle he got along with, causing a fuss would mean embarrassment if it turned out to be scare for nothing. Being the subject of ridicule in their tales was almost as bad as social death to Qin Zhou — worse than dying on the battlefield.

Qin Ye knew what his brother was amusingly thinking about and quickly spoke out:

“Then just don’t tell them, isn’t that fine?”

“After all, this is just our speculation, there’s no need to tell everyone, right?”

Well said! Long Long really wanted to applaud Qin Ye.

As for evidence, of course, I have none; I’ve merely made a meticulous guess based on the situation that seems logical and reasonable.

When it’s time to flee, I’m afraid you won’t react in time, so I mentioned it offhandedly as a reminder. Yet, you think about notifying the whole team, for what?

If it really happens as I predicted, you should think more about how to save your own life!

Qin Zhou was still somewhat hesitant, but ultimately, he couldn’t refute and simply remained silent.

Although everyone started to become vigilant, just as Qin Zhou said, there was indeed no evidence, so they all continued playing their own roles in the team as if nothing had happened.

Several days later, the number of slain Horned Clan cultivators had exceeded thirty. The confidence of the young dragons was almost overflowing, and some even proposed to continue infiltrating further north to harass and intercept the main forces of the Horned Clan cultivators.

Such a jest-like “guerrilla warfare tactic,” of course, was not approved by Qin Chaocang.

Guerrilla tactics are based on a high degree of familiarity with the environment. If the Qilin Clan were to attack Eastern State, with the Dragon Clan’s home field advantage, guerrilla warfare might be plausible, but here in the equally unfamiliar South State, perhaps even less familiar than it is to the Horned Clan since they fight with the Feathered Clan every year.

Moreover, cultivators don’t have supply lines, making infiltration behind enemy lines even less meaningful.

Although he found it absurdly laughable, Long Long did not speak out to refute in the team because he vaguely sensed that the team’s optimistic mood was a bit excessive.

Could this be what the Horned Clan’s commander behind the scenes wanted to see?

“Something’s wrong,” Qin Chaocang also sensed the dangerous anomaly, “We’re pulling out.”

“Ah? Why?!” Now, the young dragons were all protesting.

They had been sailing so smoothly up to now that everyone had the illusion of “even without the Great Elder, I can do it”, and they all started to try to persuade him:

“Great Elder! With our morale so high, why withdraw now? Have you never heard that the first action is the strongest, and then the strength wanes?”

“If we haven’t encountered a formidable enemy, how can we retreat without explanation to our allies in the Feathered Clan?”

Though their arguments were manifold, the core idea was that they wanted to stay on the battlefield to earn merits. They heard Qin Chaocang decisively say:

“Retreat immediately! This is not up for your discussion!”

With the anger of the Azure Dragon Great Elder, relying on his many years of prestige in the clan, he forcibly subdued everyone and made them bow their heads to the command.

The crowd turned in the direction of Water Escape and hadn’t gotten far to the south, when suddenly they heard a thunderous boom from far away.

An earthquake? Long Long, with his premonition and scanning ability, realized immediately that the banks on both sides were collapsing under violent tremors, completely blocking the waterway ahead!

There was indeed a trap!