Chronicles of the Heavenly Demon

Chapter 133 – Martial Exchange (1)

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There was a small commotion when the Green Forest Stronghold blocked the road, but the Demonic Army’s march continued onwards. 

Of course, the army did not stop using their secret lines to obtain information about all fronts of the war. 

The reason a meeting was currently going on was because of some information obtained through these secret lines. 

“Looks like they’re planning to take the battle to the water.”

As the Strategist spoke, Woon-seong turned to look down on Qinghai Lake. 

The Wind Demon Fist King swung his meaty fists.
“The ships nearby were all sailed somewhere else, while even the small unused fishing boats were burned down.
How are we supposed to take them in an aquatic battle?”

At the Fist King’s words, the others nodded. 

It was clear that things had become a nuisance. 

But they still had to fight them. 

If the Demonic Army ignored the Qinghai Alliance and kept moving, they would be fighting behind enemy lines. 

“Tsk.”

Woon-seong clicked his tongue and looked at the Strategist. 

Woon-seong had a good brain, but it was the Senior Strategist who worked on military operations and led the soldiers. 

He was the Brain of the Heavenly Demon. 

Others might not be able to, but he would have a way. 

As Woon-seong looked at him, the eyes of the officers gathered were also on the Strategist.

And the Strategist did not disappoint.
He smiled, one that clearly meant there was a way. 

The Wind Demon Fist King, who was itching to fight, recognised the meaning behind the smile and complained: “If you have a strategy, hurry up and tell me.
I’m so frustrated I might die.”

The Strategist nodded at the Fist King, then pulled out a black pen. 

He swung the pen over a piece of parchment.

Schick.

With a few marks, he drew a map of the area surrounding Qinghai Lake.
He pointed somewhere. 

“It is not properly marked on the map, but this is the Heart of the Lake.”

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“The heart of the lake?”

The ‘world inside of a gourd’ sounded a lot like ‘center of the lake’ and was often used to refer to midheaven or a hidden passage.
However, among the fishermen here, the ‘heart of the lake’ could be interpreted in a slightly different way. 

Mahādeva, the Heart of the Lake.
It was a small island literally at the center of the lake.
[1]

A place that was barely visible or accessible to others; you would never know it existed unless you lived nearby or had an aerial view.

That place was called the Heart of the Lake. 

And how did Sang Gwan-chuk know about it?

“And there is a hidden branch of our Cult at the Heart of the Lake.”

Woon-seong tilted his head when he heard the word ‘branch’.
Even the Heavenly Demon did not know the location of all the branches. 

However, he had known the rough locations of the branches near Qinghai Lake.

This was because Qinghai had been an important location in the last war too, when the Demonic Cult had been attacking Gansu. 

But this was the first time he was hearing about a branch inside the lake. 

Sang Gwan-chuk bowed his head slightly, perhaps because of Woon-seong’s curious stare. 

“This branch was created in case the enemies would force us to battle in Qinghai Lake, like they are now.
When the Leader headed to Zhongyuan, he was in a hurry and we could not report about the new branch.”

At that, Woon-seong nodded. 

Since Woon-seong had returned from Zhongyuan, they had all been busy preparing for the war.
There was indeed no time to report. 

And what was not important was not that it hadn’t been reported, but what made the Strategist so confident about this branch. 

“Is there a ship here? ”

At the Fist King’s words, the Strategist nodded. 

“I ordered them to buy ships in secret, so boats were bought from several different merchants.
Not all of our troops can fit, but it should be enough to carry 6,000 men.”

“Oh.”

“Truly a strategist.”

A lot of people cheered.

It couldn’t have been so easy to secretly prepare enough boats for 6,000 men.

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Moreover, if it had been prepared after Woon-seong journey to Zhongyuan, it had been done in less than a year

“Well done.”

“I just did what I had to do as the strategist of our Cult,” Sang Gwan-chuk humbly responded to Woon-seong’s praise.

“By the way, is it even possible to hide such a large fleet?”

Qinghai Lake was enormous.

If you stood on one side of the lake, you couldn’t even see the opposite of the lake properly.
If someone didn’t know it was a lake, they might mistake it for the sea. 

Of course, the area surrounding the Heart of the Lake was also enormous.

It was not a problem of whether that many boats fit, but about whether they would be seen. 

Someone would definitely see a fleet of that size. 

Sang Gwan-chuk continued, not concerned with such worries, “The area is surrounded by hills and wide forests.
Also, there are a lot of wild animals running about in the forests, so most people do not enter the area.”

He paused, then continued, “It is not difficult to enter the Heart of the Lake, but the water flows backwards and rushes from the outside, so fishermen stay away.
Without a large boat, they would not be able to withstand the currents.”

As the Strategist said, it was a fortune to find such a place.

“So even the Heavens are helping our Cult.”

Of course, my revenge too. 

Woon-seong clenched his fists tightly. 

Sang Gwan-chuk said, “Sichuan is looking down on our Cult.” 

***

Qinghai, Orthodox faction. 

There were hundreds of boats lined up in the middle of the lake.

The boats were of all sizes and shapes.

If there was one thing in common, it was that there were many martial artists with swords and spears gathered on deck. 

They were all Martial Alliance members of Qinghai Province.

Some of the ships were chained together.
Wooden planks spanned between some of the boats, allowing more people to stand above the water. 

They were nervous because they did not know when or where the Cult of the Heavenly Demon would appear. 

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Though, many still held that the Cult of the Heavenly Demon would never appear on Qinghai Lake. 

The attitude of these martial artists was a testament to the horror and fear of the Cult of the Heavenly Demon. 

So the soldiers were standing together while the sect leaders gathered on the main warship to talk. 

“Alliance Leader Yeon, I have something to tell you.
”

Seeing the small group of sect leaders rushing towards him, Yeon Seong frowned for a moment.
But he soon hid his emotions. 

“What a crowd.
Looks like everyone has something to say to this Lord.”

At his words, the sect leaders swallowed saliva.

Then one of them spoke as if it was difficult to make noise, “It is good to stop the Demonic Cult, but I think it was too harsh to drag off all the fishermen and burn every single one of their small fishing boats.
And we didn’t give them any compensation…”

At their words, Yeon Seong snorted in his head. 

“Orthodox” to the end. 

There were always people like this.

People who cared about the lives of civilians and wished to live with them in harmony.
And Yeon Seong was part of the group who regarded this kind of person as stupid. 

He was in the Martial Alliance because it made him good money, but his disposition did not fit in with the Orthodox. 

Not only that. 

Currently, the majority of the sects that claimed to be Orthodox felt similarly to Yeon Seong. 

In addition, it was generally those leading the larger sects who felt the same. 

But look at these guys.

Fewer than thirty of them had come to speak to Yeon Seong.

It’s easy to get caught in the life of a coward. 

Of course, he didn’t reveal any of his thoughts.
With a handsome smile, he responded, “Even so, wouldn’t it be a terrible deal if they fell into the hands of the Demonic Cult? I had no choice.” 

“Hmm.”

Those words were not completely convincing. 

Yeon Seong continued, “Besides, even if there is a small sacrifice now, wouldn’t it still be better than their lives under the rule of the Demonic Cult? This was inevitable on both ends, so I hope that you honored sect leaders will not take it to heart.”

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“Hmm, I see.
”

Reluctantly, they nodded.
It seemed somewhat reasonable. 

Yeon Seong clicked his tongue and turned around. 

How annoying. 

In fact, this was not the first time he’d said such things

In the past few days, several sect leaders had come over and they’d had similar conversations. 

Of course, Yeon Seong said the same thing everytime.

Yeon Seong was beginning to get annoyed. 

At least when the Demonic Cult arrives, all those grievances will disappear. 

It won’t be too bad to see a bunch of Demonic dogs rolling around the edge of the lake without boats. 

I armored the boats, but there’s no need to worry about fire. 

They were in the middle of the lake, on a clear day with a perfect view. 

An arrow would never be able to reach them. 

And with not all ships connected, even if one blew up, not every ship would be destroyed. 

We just need to take it easy until the reinforcements arrive. 

He did not only believe in the support of the Martia Alliance. 

He suddenly remembered the visitor who had seen him a few days before the ships were brought to Qinghai Lake. 

Even though they had seemed a little dry and cold, he had immediately recognized his visitor. 

He believed that with her on his side, they would have enough time to escape. 

Yeon Seong’s smile was dark. 

Qingcheng’s Sword of Earth. 

That was the identity of the young woman who had visited him a few days ago. 

[1] the island is commonly called Haixin Mountain (mountain at the heart of the sea)

TN: advanced chapters are up again, though they won’t be proofread