STARTING MY CULTIVATION WITH TIME MANAGEMENT

Chapter 812: Chapter 49 Siege

Regarding the donation drive proposed by Long Long, the first batch of Cultivators from the Feathered Clan, who were set to retreat, displayed extremely high enthusiasm.

While generously donating a variety of Cultivation Treasures, Flying Swords, and Miraculous Pills and Elixirs with openhanded spirit, they also went out of their way to privately contact familiar Cultivators staying behind in Yuanjiang City, giving them similar instructions:

“Make sure to grab my precious item during the distribution of donated goods; you must secure it first and keep it safe for my return!”

This was a moment that tested the warmth of relationships.

Those who were indifferent would outright refuse, claiming it was Long Long’s random distribution and they had no such ability, then leave indifferently amidst the other’s wails of despair.

For those with deep friendships, naturally, no words were needed. A nod was a man’s promise, not to be broken.

The most dreaded are those who are indifferent but pretend to be warm-hearted hypocrites, verbally agreeing to help enthusiastically while plotting to take the items for themselves, then later denying any recognition… If you encounter such a person, all you can do is admit defeat.

The various unsightly behaviors of the crowd go without saying. While both tasked with either staying or retreating, Long Long and Long Hu didn’t have as many disputes; on the contrary, there was an air of warm affection between them.

“Be mindful of conserving strength when you activate the True Fire Fan; don’t overconsume your True Yuan,” Long Long instructed her, “As long as the tunnels are dug deep enough, there should be little risk of being discovered in the short term.”

“Understood,” Long Hu obediently replied.

“These Feathered Clan Cultivators may seem to be on our side, but we can’t fully trust them,” Long Long continued to caution, “If possible, observe carefully during the underground retreat to see who is truly close to us and who is duplicitous, then ally with some and dismiss others. At least ensure you call the shots during the retreat. Do you understand?”

“Understood,” Long Hu responded with a beaming smile.

“Ally with some, dismiss others.” This phrase matched perfectly with what she had recently learned, so the little fox intended to give it a good try.

“Although Qiu Ying was initially forced into his position, it’s clear that he’s not entirely without ideas,” analyzed Long Long earnestly, “He just lacks confidence and is often easily swayed. If any of the Feathered Clan try to push him to seek power, you just need to verbally knock him back, and he’s likely to step down voluntarily.”

“Even though Qin Lie was sent by Qin Chaocang to aid us, there’s no doubt there is also intent to monitor. Don’t tell her everything, keep an eye open, got it?”

Long Hu obediently confirmed his instructions one by one, sparking some emotion in Long Long.

What’s this feeling like sending a daughter on a long journey?

After sending away Long Hu and the first retreat group, Long Long called over the deputy general responsible for assisting him among the remaining forces, asking:

“How does the allied army regularly conduct siege operations?”

The deputy general, named Lou Ming, was originally assisting Qiu Ying in command. Since this city lord was a military novice, Lou Ming was the one handling most of the affairs.

Upon Long Long’s inquiry, Lou Ming answered earnestly:

“The frequency is uncertain; sometimes they attack the city three times a day, sometimes they don’t come at all… Looking at it now, they probably won’t attack today.”

“Hmph, psychological warfare,” Long Long contemptuously scoffed through his nose upon realizing why the White Tiger Divine General carried out such irregular operations—it was to keep the Feathered Clan of Yuanjiang City on edge.

Lou Ming also felt helpless. Sometimes even if you understand why the opponent acts a certain way, you can’t actively stop them; this is what’s called an ‘open conspiracy’.

Just as Long Long was about to continue his sharp critique, a sudden loud noise came from outside.

The city is under siege!

The two of them hurried out of the house and saw a huge formation shield rising above the city.

Countless flames, thunder, and shockwaves exploded like fireworks across the shield in the sky, making Long Long feel as if he were a mouse crouching inside an upside-down fishbowl, nervously watching numerous ferocious cats swipe through the glass.

Lou Ming, however, had become numb to the situation and only said:

“I must rush to supervise the defenses, I will take my leave now.”

“Hmm,” nodded Long Long.

He quickly scanned outside the city and indeed found that the siege positions in the south, east, and north were all outputting firepower towards the city.

The southern position, having to guard against sudden attacks from Qin Sitong and Kong Ping, was clearly more reserved in its offense, while the northern and eastern positions were unrestrained in their attacks, sparing no effort.

Long Long found a safe spot, lay down comfortably, and after observing for a moment, roughly estimated that the attacking and defending forces were evenly matched, making it difficult to determine the victor in a short period.

Of course, since the supplies inside the city were completely cut off while the siege positions could be replenished from Central State, a prolonged assault would surely lead to Yuanjiang City’s defeat.

So why would the White Tiger Divine General play this game of irregular attacks?

After a moment of thought, Long Long figured it was likely to save on costs.

War is, of course, expensive. Judging by the current attacking lights in the sky, they are mostly from magical treasures or formations, with very few divine skills or spells from cultivators themselves.

Magical treasures and formations are activated using True Yuan and crystal stones—they represent money! Looking at the incessant glittering above, one can see countless funds vanishing every moment.

If a direct assault until the city’s fall needs ten thousand tons of crystal stones, but an intermittent attack strategy can demoralize the defenders with only six thousand tons, the White Tiger Divine General would definitely choose the latter.

In Long Long’s view, knowing how to minimize war expenditures is something the White Tiger Divine General surely excels in.

Considering this, if I rescue everyone, causing the already invested war costs to go to waste, wouldn’t the White Tiger Divine General be infuriated?

Thinking this way, I shouldn’t leave too early; it’s better to let the enemy expend more ammunition.

“Hey, don’t screw this up!” Even the Kunlun Mirror couldn’t stand by anymore, its reminder coming through, “The enemy is an Immortal Rank Demon! Even if you manage to win a battle of wits by fluke, a flick of his finger could squash you to death!”

“Isn’t that what you and Suming are for,” retorted Long Long, implying that if necessary, he would simply transform into the Tai Yin Sword Master. Was he really afraid of some old ancestor from the Demon Race?

“Not playing the role of Long Long anymore? No longer want to be a fox?” The Kunlun Mirror delivered a double hit, and it was a critical one at that, leaving Long Long speechless, only able to hum in disagreement.

Meanwhile, the siege battle finally came to a pause.

A large amount of data was summarized by the various frontline units. Information such as which barrier showed signs of weakening when attacked, and which barrier counter-attacked at what time, were all clearly annotated and compiled, ending up in Lv Yan’s hands.

Qi Yingzhu admired from the sidelines. By now, she understood how important intelligence was to warfare, and she knew how difficult it was to extract useful clues from such a mass of data.

“The data is incorrect,” Lv Yan suddenly said.

Source: .com, updated on Novlove.com

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