153 The Seven Sects

After a night of much-needed rest, Ed awoke early in the morning to the sound of someone banging on his door. He yawned as he stood and stretched his body. After getting dressed, he opened the door and saw the butler that had greeted him just yesterday.

"Good morning." The butler respectfully bowed. "Sect Leader Long is waiting for you in the dining room with breakfast."

"Thanks." Ed nodded and walked past him.

Tao sat alone at the long table in the dining room. "Ed." He waved as he bit into a slice of bacon. "We'll be leaving soon, so eat now if you're hungry."

"Mm." He nodded and sat down. A plate of eggs, bacon, and toast was in front of him. "Where are we headed and how long will it take to get there?" He asked.

"Normally all multi-sect meetings are held at the Purple Origin Sect, though we obviously can't do that now." He replied. "To my understanding, we're meeting at the Water Snake Sect today. Someone should come to pick us up soon."

"The Water Snake Sect?" Ed rose an eyebrow. "Where's that?"

Tai gulped down a cup of coffee. "Mount Everest."

Ed's eyes widened in surprise. "We're going to climb the tallest mountain in the world?"

"Thankfully not." Tai shook his head. "We're catching a ride."

Just as he finished speaking, a portal appeared in the room. It seemed similar to World Walker's portals, but also different. Nobody stepped through the portal to their side.

"That's our cue." Tai said as he stood up and walked towards the portal. Ed hurriedly followed behind him.

As the two stepped through the portal, it felt like they were simply passing through a sheet of water. It was a completely different feeling compared to World Walker's portals, which tended to pull your body with extreme gravitational force.

They appeared in a small meeting room with no windows and minimal lighting. It seemed to be a place for secretive meetings. Fortunately, the hardwood floors were warm, making the room feel extremely comfortable despite being atop a freezing mountain. The only furniture seemed to be a round table and some chairs.

Ed couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed, as he had expected to see the mountain itself and not just the insides of a room built atop it. Looking around the room, he spotted a Chinese woman with long black hair sitting at the round table with another woman standing behind her. They both wore blue robes with black trim. It seemed she was the leader of the Water Snake Sect. Other than them, there were ten other people that had just entered in groups of two through various portals similar to their own. 'Was Tai only allowed to bring one person with him?' He wondered to himself.

"Ahem." The Water Snake Sect Leader coughed to gather their attention. "Please have a seat everyone." Everyone walked to the table and took their respective seats. "Now then." She continued while gesturing her hand towards Tai. "As you all know, we have a new member amongst us, which not all of you will be familiar with. So, let us do introductions. As I'm sure everyone already knows, I'm the founder of the Water Snake Sect, Ying Yue."

A bald man wearing green robes smiled politely. "Thank you, Sect Leader Ying." He turned towards Tai. "I am the founder of the Wind Hawk Sect, and you can just call me Dongfeng." He looked to his left. "Why don't you go next, brother Di."

A dark-skinned man wearing loose yellow robes leaned lazily in his chair, almost seeming to slide off it. He had long brown curly hair. He lazily glanced at Dongfeng. "Hard to introduce myself when you do it for me." He snorted, seemingly having nothing else to say.

"Haha." Dongfeng laughed bashfully. "Well, brother Di is the 2nd head of the Earth Armadillo Sect."

Sect Leader Di glared at Dongfeng. "How many times do I have to tell you? I changed the sect name to the Earth Dust Sect. I don't like playing your stupid animal names game."

Dongfeng chuckled, saying nothing in reply.

"Guess I'm next." A burly man with long silver hair, a short beard, and sharp eyebrows said. He wore silver robes that matched his hair perfectly. "I am Sect Leader Xia of the Lightning Eel Sect. It's nice to meet everyone." After giving a slight bow, he sat back down.

The last two sects were both led by young women that surprisingly looked like twins, except that one wore black robes and the other wore white. It was made even more interesting when considering each had long straight hair that contrasted to the color of their robes. They both stood at the same time and glared at each other.

"I am Sect Leader Li of the Dark Phoenix Sect." The black-robed woman with white hair said.

"I am Sect Leader Wan of the Light Tiger Sect." The white-robed woman with black hair spoke at the same time.

Both woman glared at each other before sitting back down.

Tai stood up while waving his fan towards his face. "Hello seniors." He politely bowed. "I am Sect Leader Long, the 2nd head of the Fire Dragon Sect. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

It was only now that Ed realized Tai had switched from his usual robes to the official Fire Dragon Sect robes that were mostly red and orange in color. In fact, the additional guests in the room all wore robes matching their respective sect leaders. There were even a couple of foreigners amongst them. However, he was the only odd one out, still wearing his usual black robes, and it seemed the others took notice of this as they stared at him.

Tai noticed the awkward situation and gestured towards Ed. "This is my personal friend from America. You've probably heard of him at some point. He goes by the name Forge and leads an organization known as Harmony."

"Ha!" Di, the Earth Dust Sect Leader, snorted. "I've heard of the crazy bastard!" His eyes almost seemed to show respect when looking at Ed, whereas he only held contempt for everyone else in the room.

"A foolish man from what I know." Sect Leader Ying of the Water Snake Sect sighed while shaking her head.

"We should welcome any additional forces that are available to us." Sect Leader Dongfeng of the Wind Hawk Sect politely smiled and nodded towards him.

The others seemed indifferent, not caring to speak on the matter.

"Ahem." Sect Leader Ying coughed into her hand. "Moving on. The war will start in four days. We're here to discuss preparations. As you all know, my sect and the Fire Dragon Sect hold the most members. Therefore, I think it is most appropriate that we lead the charge in the coming battles. Your thoughts?"

"You just want to hog the glory for yourself!" The black-robed Sect Leader Li snorted, a scowl on her face.

"You're just being petty." Sect Leader Wan replied. "Please forgive my sister for her rudeness." She smiled apologetically towards the others.

Sect Leader Li glared at her, dark mana radiating from her eyes.

"Now, now." Sect Leader Xia of the Lightning Eel Sect interrupted. "Let's all try to get along. We've got the numerical advantage, so does it really matter who leads the charge? It should be an easy war anyways, so let's take things one step at a time."

"Brother Xia is wise as always." Dongfeng smiled.

Tai glanced at Ed, helplessness in my eyes. He didn't speak but Ed could immediately tell what he wanted to say. 'See?! See how foolish these old idiots are?! Not only are their plans crap, but they underestimate the enemy!'

"You're all a bunch of morons." A voice rang out, seeming to mirror both Ed and Tai's internal thoughts.

"Oh?" Xia rose an eyebrow. "Then what do you propose, Sect Leader Di?"

The Earth Dust Sect Leader forced himself to sit up from his lazy leaning position in the chair. He slowly looked around the room, staring at each person briefly. "Let's forget about the bullshit of whether the war will be easy or not. I'm not going to preach to the deaf about proper thinking." The others were about to interrupt him, but he held up his hand to show he wasn't finished speaking. "Regardless of that, we should at least use the most basic common sense for the coming battles. You want to put fire and water cultivators on the front lines? Fire cultivators are almost entirely offensive in nature. Water cultivators are balanced at best. Why would we purposefully push our casualties higher than they need to be? Anyone with an ounce of common sense should know that earth cultivators have the strongest defenses. We should lead a slow charge while building our defenses along the way. Light cultivators can assist with barriers. Lightning and fire cultivators can press the offensive after defensive lines are formed. Healing cultivators should stay in the back, guarded by the water cultivators. Any objections?"

The room went momentarily silent.

"What about the dark cultivators?" Sect Leader Li questioned.

Di lazily glanced at her. "It'd be better if your father was still alive. We could really use a necromancer." He sighed. "Well, we'll just have to make do. Dark is good for causing chaos. Sneak behind enemy lines and throw things into turmoil before quickly retreating. It'll reduce casualties while we form defensive lines and press the offensive."

Li grimaced when hearing about her father, but she nodded in agreement.

"Fine." Sect Leader Ying agreed. "We'll go with your plan. Moving on, how are things going with pulling out our elites from the Purple Origin Sect?"

Dongfeng smiled. "All Wind Hawk cultivators of any value have escaped through the forest.

Li and Wan spoke at the same time. "All clear."

Xia sighed. "Most of mine are out, but there are still some remaining behind."

"Alright." Sect Leader Ying nodded. "As discussed previously, only a small portion of the Fire Dragon Sect, Earth Dust Sect, and Water Snake Sect forces will be pulled out. It's a shame that so many will have to be sacrificed, but it's the price that must be paid for the war."

"Wait a minute." Tai frowned in confusion. "What's this about pulling out sect members? I never agreed to anything?"

"Ah, right." Sect Leader Ying smiled. "We've been pulling out elites out from the Purple Origin Sect in preparation for the war. Unfortunately, those left behind will have to face Sect Leader Fang's wrath. But if we tried to have everyone leave, he would no longer hold back, accelerating the start of the war. Hence the necessary sacrifices."

Tai's eyebrow twitched as he slammed his hands on the table. "Are you mental?! Our best chance to strike was using the elites already within the sect! We outnumbered the core Purple Origin Sect members drastically! You've sacrificed our forces and given up a golden opportunity for nothing!"

Sect Leader Di snorted. "You underestimate Old Man Fang." He crossed his arms. "I'm the one that suggested the pull out of our elites. Once they activate their defensive formation, any forces within the Purple Origin Sect are as good as dead. Be grateful that you have a few days to extract some of your remaining forces."

"Defensive formation?" Tai frowned in confusion. "What's a defensive formation?"

"It makes sense for our young friend not to know." Dongfeng chuckled. "It's commonly known amongst the higher ups of the various sects that Sect Leader Fang built his sect there in honor of Ancestor Yu's relief memorial left behind. However, only a few know that the memorial also houses a secret ancient formation. It is an art long lost to time, but it's said that it was put in place by Yu the Great himself. But it's only ever been used once by the Purple Origin Sect." He turned to look at Di. "And only one of us was there to see it on that day."

Sect Leader Di frowned as he lazily leaned back in his chair. "That... Was a shocking day. I was visiting Old Man Fang to discuss an intersect training exercise when it happened. To think the Wind Nightmare would attack the Purple Origin Sect. But Old Man Fang managed to activate that ancient formation. The entire sect lit up with lines of bright lights. The next moment, there was a blinding flash. When it vanished, I heard a roar like I've never heard before. It was like a hurricane a hundred times over. Then I saw the Wind Nightmare's long body torn to shreds as it retreated."

Tai frowned. "If what you say is true... then how are we supposed to win the war?"

"Everything has a limit." Di calmly replied. "Who knows, the formation might even have other uses. Regardless, it must have a limit to its power, as all things do."

Ed rubbed his chin as he listened. "Could the Purple Origin Sect training rooms be related to Yu the Great's formation?" He questioned.

The others all turned to him, surprise in their eyes. Di nodded. "The Purple Origin Sect's training rooms have long been a mystery even to us. How could one possibly control laws without the constant effort of a cultivator? Only formations would make sense as an answer."

"If that's true, then it's likely for the formation can make use of all 49 paths and even create millions of cheap and strong warriors." Ed frowned. "The battle may be far more difficult than we bargained for."

"I'll have my people on the inside investigate." Sect Leader Ying interrupted. "Is there anything else that needs discussed before we start?"

Everyone at the table shook their heads.

"Good." She smiled. "As agreed upon previously, we'll be setting off from the Water Snake Sect. Please send your forces through the portals over the next few days so that we don't overload them. With that." She stood up. "The meeting is adjourned."