Chapter 103: Great War

Chapter 103: Great War

“Senior, there is a problem,” former Vice Leader Tan reported. He was one of the cultivators who had decided to travel with me and the unofficial leader of the group. I was in the main cabin of my ship working on my cultivation.

The counter cube and arrays used to keep energy around the ship was about two thirds as effective as a nexus crystal. The movement of the ship itself was a major reason why energy was lost. Still, it was more than enough for cultivation, which made the cultivators on board quite happy.

“Speak,” I said. We had been traveling for over a decade now. There was a mortal crew that sailed the actual ship and the cultivators who handled expenses and other high-level issues. I had only been bothered three times in the past. Two of the times had been due to leviathan attacks. The third time was when pirates attacked. All of these events were easily resolved.

Right now, we were at port and would be sailing to the next canal, which implied there was a problem with the planned route. “The canal we want to take falls between two Empires and is currently the central part of their war.”

“Aren’t canals normally built through the middle of Empires?” I asked.

“The boarders have shifted over time. The Tree Empire split into the Leaf and Wood Empires. A pair of brothers over a millennia ago. The canal revenue was shared, but tensions have recently escalated and now there is war,” Junior Tan explained.

“Is the canal blocked in any way, or do both sides just attack whoever is passing through?” I asked.

“Both. To reach another canal it is at least two year trip,” Junior Tan added. That was how long it would take to reach the next canal. For a canal to be profitable, there weren’t that many. The journey had to be a minimum of a year away by ship. Even then they were often further due to terrain and political considerations at the time they were built.

“If the fighting stopped how long would it take to clear the canal?” I asked.

“Not that long. A couple days to a month. But the fighting would have to stop. Since it is a war between Empires, there are cultivators are both sides as well,” Junior Tan explained. That would be annoying, but I wasn’t going to make a detour.

I slowly got up from my reclining chair I was laying down on to focus on my cultivation. I picked up my sword that was set down on a nearby table. “Who controls the port?” I asked.

“It is split depending on which side of the canal. We are currently on the Leaf Empire’s side,” Junior Tan explained. I nodded slowly at this, as I made sure my sword belt was properly secured around my waist.

“Well, they are lucky then. We will support them in the conflict and punch through the canal. In return for our support, they will mobilize workers to clear the canal as quickly as possible from any blockades,” I laid out my plan for the upcoming conflict. “The representatives?” I asked while I put my large hat over my head to hide my face and my different appearance from these people.

“We can see the Lord Governor of the city right away. There will also be members of the Leaf Sect present,” Junior Tan said. I nodded at this.

“I will meet with them immediately. For nothing shall stop us,” I declared resolutely. Junior Tan sent one of the other cultivators as a messenger while the rest remained behind to guard the ship. We then proceeded to advance to the Lord Governor’s fortress. The guards quickly made way as we advanced to the great hall.

I counted ten cultivators in the room as well. This was clearly a key city for the Leaf Empire to have so many cultivators stationed here. It made sense, since it was one of the entry points to the canal, which the war was over.

“Announcing, Senior Yuan Zhou of the Heavenly Alliance,” Junior Tan said. Everyone inclined their heads even the other cultivators. I guess word of my cultivation had been conveyed.

“Greetings Senior Yuan Zhou. I am Lord Governor Ting, a representative of his Imperial Majesty of the Leaf Empire,” a man on a throne wearing ornate armor had gotten up and inclined his head towards me.

“I am Junior Po of the Leaf Sect, Senior Yuan Zhou,” the elder cultivator who was clearly in charge inclined their head towards me as well. It was nice to be the top cultivator and get a lot of respect.

“I require passage through the canal on my journey to the Great Desert. Since I have arrived in your Empire first, I shall aid you in return for clearing the canal as quickly as possible. My understanding is that the Wood Empire has amassed cultivators and soldiers on the opposite side of the canal in force?” I asked.

“Yes. We have reached a stalemate with the occasional raid going back and forth. If either side begins amassing soldiers in one location to cross, the other side will as well. While footholds have been gained in the past, the cost in cultivators, soldiers, and wat material has been immense,” Lord Governor Ting explained.

“The other issue is that each side has a rapid response force of their strongest cultivators. In the event that either side crosses to the other side of the canal, then that rapid response force will strike,” Cultivator Po explained.

“How many cultivators are in this force?” I asked.

“Around a hundred,” he replied. I nodded slowly at this. It would be a pain to kill that many, but it would be no threat.

“Easy enough to deal with,” I replied. There was shock across the room.

“Forgive me senior, but your level of strength...to kill that many cultivators?” Cultivator Po asked.

“I could kill a thousand cultivators without breaking a sweat,” I replied without lying. “I will act immediately and expect the Leaf Empire to follow up.”

“What exactly is your plan?” Lord Governor Ting asked nervously.

“I will assault the city across the canal, killing the cultivators and soldiers. Your forces will move in and seize it. Then I will be advancing my ship up the canal, while clearing out the opposite side of any resistance. Once we reach a blockage, you will have your work teams quickly remove it, while I remove any opposition. If you wish to take territory or make other gains, I do not care as long as the work crews move at a rapid pace,” I declared.

“You plan to take them all on yourself? That is impossible!? Even for a senior in the Soul Enlightenment Realm, such a thing would not be possible,” Cultivator Po said. I began to draw out my sword and the tension spiked in the great hall.

“I will not cripple you for your offensive words, but I will teach you a lesson. Defend yourselves,” I said and moved. The stone floor shattered as I kicked off of it. Cultivator Po was barely reacting by the time the flat of my blade struck his gut. He folded over my blade and went flying into the wall behind himself with a crash.

I then casually cut down and deflected the thrown metal weapons two other cultivators unleashed upon me. I moved once more. I kicked one, who went flying into a wall and used the pommel of my sword to hit the other. Their eyes went cloudy as they collapsed on the ground, bleeding from their head.

Killing people was easy, far too easy. But killing hundreds, or thousands, it would be a waste of energy. My goal was to use as few projected slashes as possible and rely on the innate superiority of my blade when attacking. Also, there was a small but not insignificant chance that both sides might team up to attack me. It was better to have a clear ally right from the start. They would not risk upsetting me since they would already be gaining massive advantages by joining the attack and seizing the canal.

Eight cultivators rushed into the great hall a few minutes after I had finished my massacre. Six men and two women. Their martial robes and the symbol of their sect making it clear they were cultivators. Also, I could see the small bit of energy inside their bodies as well.

There was no need to say words to dead people. I launched myself towards them as they brought up their swords. I easily cut them down before they were even able to counter attack. The first corpse fell to the floor just as I finished beheading the eighth cultivator. The rest fell to the ground in the seconds afterwards. Despite the massive mess I had made, not a single drop of blood marred my robes.

I swung my sword, to remove the blood on it, splattering it against a nearby wall. I then exited the great hall as soldiers rushed towards me. I didn’t bother asking for a surrender. Something I had learned about the Great World was that they didn’t have slavery. There just wasn’t enough food and the poor people were basically slaves regardless.

Also there was a long history of spies, betrayals, and national loyalty. All of that combined togeather to create a strong anti-slavery culture, which was horrific. While many idiots might have thought not having slavery would be a good thing, it made any kind of conflict extremely brutal.

The bandits I had killed earlier did not have good morale. They were desperate and surrender meant death. With no slavery, no kingdom or empire was about to feed or take care of hundreds or thousands of prisoners. That meant the losers were summarily executed. If someone was a noble, then they might be taken prisoner for a large ransom.

But the common people had no chance. Even the civilians would be heavily purged of all men to make way for people from the opposing force. Women would be given to the soldiers instead of money, along with housing and land, taken directly from the populace. Nobles didn’t like paying their soldiers with money, which was why they got the spoils of war.

In smaller conflicts this wouldn’t happen. Nobles would just be replaced and only a small portion of the population. But since it was a conflict between empires with standing armies, it was total war. It was all or nothing for every single person on both sides.

All of this brutality could be laid at the feet that there was no slavery. Without any way to make use of the losers, it was better to execute them all to prevent future banditry. That was why what followed was horrific and something I hoped to avoid.

Soldiers, civilians, women, and even children rushed at me once I had exited the main building for the city with whatever weapon they had. The richer people were probably fleeing, but the poor had to win or die. That meant killing me.

It was a human wave tactic. “One Swing To Sperate Heaven And Earth.” Over a hundred people died in that attack. Adults were bisected, while the children were beheaded. I hoped that I made a strong enough impression that these people would turn around and realize that it was futile to attack me.

“He is probably exhausted! Keep attacking!” That shout and similar ones went up across the crowd over the screams of their dying comrades. Hundreds more people charged at me, knowing they would die if they didn’t win. My heart hurt from all the deaths, but this was the consequence of warfare with cold weapons and there being no chance of surrender.

I swung a second time as the people closed in, trampling on the bodies of their comrades. More people collapsed to the ground bisected. In fact the ground was no longer visible from the sheer amount of blood and viscera covering it. I felt incredibly sick. I hated this. But there was no better alternative.

Even if I had tried diplomacy, it would have taken years and been easier to find another route. Any non-violent alternative would have taken far too long. The ultimate leaders, the Emperors, were not close to the front lines. Pausing a conflict on such a scale was not a simple matter either. And I would have to enforce the peace. Also, the canal passed through too much territory. Only the Emperor on either side would have the authority to grant passage.

All these lives were not worth my time. That was what it ultimately came down to. It was easier to kill these people in order to gain passage rather than going around or finding an alternative. It was heartbreaking, but I refused to be delayed for years.

I swung a third time as people rushed across the corpses beneath them. Instead of being cut around their cut, many were cut off at the groin or their thighs, making it take longer for them to bleed out. The screams were unbearable, and while they didn’t harm me physically or my cultivation in any way, they impacted me emotionally. I had to force to keep my bile back. Several of the people had dived into the piles of corpses dodging the attack and kept rushing at me with whatever they had in their hands.

It was almost like they were zombies, but I could see the desperation etched into their faces. There was no other alterative but to win. They all knew that, which was why they kept rushing forward. The first to reach me was a child with a wooden stick in their hands.

I swung and the small girl was instantly killed. While I would like to call this a massacre, it truly was a battle. The field of corpses slowed down the charging people enough, that I could cut them down as they reached me, building up a wall of bodies.

They screamed as they rushed me, fear gripping their hearts, but they had no choice. One after another, it didn’t matter, I cut them all down. When people came at me from behind from the main government building, having climbed over the walls, I cut them down as well. When arrows were sent in my direction, I easily knocked them out of the air.

This was a city with at least a hundred thousand people. I had probably killed two thousand by the time I didn’t see anyone else rushed me. There were mounds of corpses all around me. The one patch of ground that didn’t have a body laying upon it. Everything else around me was blood soaked with the occasional pitiful cry or scream coming out from someone who had still yet to die.

I heard shouting in the rest of the city. Cultivators and soldiers were probably landing already. I hesitated. I didn’t want to kill any more people. But I had started this path, I needed to finish it. I quickly crossed the field of corpses on the street and made my way back towards the canal. I had been hoping against hope that the people wouldn’t have rushed me, which was why I hadn’t killed them while racing towards the administration building. That had been a foolish thought.

Now I cut down anyone I came across. Each swing of my sword added another victim to my tally of kills. Eventually I reached a line of soldiers and people rushing towards the canal and walls. I cut into them from behind and kept moving forward.

Even with large numbers, these people still couldn’t win and I always had the option to retreat. Slowly but surely, I cut my way through to the gate I had entered the city earlier. With my attack, the soldiers on the other side of the gate along with the cultivators of the Leaf Empire were able to push through.

I advanced at the front cutting down the people in front of me, the soldiers spreading out behind me in a wave to attack people rushing in from the sides. With people supporting me from behind, the battle proceeded more quickly.

That was when I noted several of the cultivators I had been traveling had arrived behind me, covering my flanks as I went through the city in a large loop around the main building, cutting down anyone I came across.

I had looped through the entire city back to the gate when there were no more people to kill in front of me. The soldiers and cultivators from the Leaf Empire would finish off the rest.

“I am done. Lead me to the ship, Junior Tan,” I gave out an order. The cultivator inclined their head towards me and led me back. The rest of my group followed as well. I could see the distaste on some of their faces. None of them had participated in a total war between Empires.

Once we made it to the ship in the port, I noted more ships were ferrying across soldiers to enter the city. Lord Governor Ting came off one such ship with his personal guard. He bowed deeply towards me. He had probably been waiting for my return if I had to guess.

“Senior cultivator Yuan Zhou, thank you for your assistance,” he said.

“I plan to rest and the move up the canal. Have you assembled work teams to help clear it?” I asked.

“They stand ready. As we move up soldiers will also cross, and the army will follow along the opposite bank. We will sweep up along the entire canal. Word has already been sent to the other garrisons,” Lord Governor Ting explained. I nodded at this. At least he was on top of everything so things could keep progressing quickly.