Legend of the Great Sage

n territory.
It would give them a colossal geographic advantage, and they could avoid any enemy sneak attacks while travelling.

This battle tactic had always been publicly-known.
One of the consequences of the constant years of war was everything was clear.
All of the tactics and strategies had been used hundreds and thousands of times already.
They did not even have to analyse the map.
All of the possibilities had already occurred in the past.

If the Human realm possessed a hundred different methods to deal with this tactic, then the Demon domain possessed a hundred and one tactics as a counterplan.
That was why a battle tactic like this remained and was still used.

Under these various restrictions from reality, the unexpected incidents that occurred on the battlefield were often even rarer than on the chessboard.

Once war began, there would not be any more room to use any strange tricks or schemes, nor were there heroes that could easily turn the tide of war.
All that would remain would be a bloody meat grinder.
It would boil down to which side could feed it more flesh and blood.

Li Liehuo was completely aware of all of this.
The defensive system of Black Cloud city was built on the Formation of Black Clouds and Roaring Thunder and the two armies.

They established armies so they could organise their flesh and blood better before they fed it to the meat grinder.

Now that Chao Tianjiao was gone, the Xuanwu army was basically incapacitated.

It was not just because she was powerful.
More importantly, the Xuanwu army had been founded under her name, and she had built up great prestige through countless battles.

Only with prestige was there unity, and only with unity was there strength.
A random direct disciple could not replace her position.

The situation now was if they could not feed the meat grinder the flesh and blood of mortals, then they could only feed it the flesh and blood of cultivators.

But which cultivator was willing to do something like that? If regular cultivators refused, the direct disciples could still keep them in check.
If the direct disciples refused, who could still force them into making sacrifices? Speaking of which, even he, the “first senior brother”, was reluctant to.

He even began to miss Chao Tianjiao slightly.

By now, he had reached the Scorching Fire hall.

The Scorching Fire hall was filled with whispers that gradually quietened with the sound of his footsteps.

The direct disciples all bowed, “Senior brother!”

Li Liehuo saw them gathered in groups of threes or fives, either standing or sitting.
Some leaned against the wall while hugging a sword, while others just sat on the discussion table.
Only Ge Xing sat properly.
He could not help but furrow his brows, ordering, “Sit down properly!”

Everyone took their seats successively.
Even the female disciples who were about to question Li Liehuo had been taken aback by his authority.
The direct disciples that had not been to Black Cloud city also noticed how the atmosphere here was completely different from the Direct Disciple hall.

“The army of the Demon domain has probably set off already.
They’re determined to uproot Black Cloud city this time, so the scale of their attack is unprecedented.
If we want to protect Black Cloud city, please mentally prepare yourself for half of us here dying.”

“What!? Half of us dying? Senior brother, you’re not joking, are you?”

The direct disciples all responded differently.
Some paled in fright, some were in disbelief, while others sank into their thoughts silently.
They never expected Li Liehuo to actually be so pessimistic.

Le Tian played around with a pair of dice in interest.
This was a fine opportunity to gamble.
They could wager on whether they could protect Black Cloud city or not.
However, he did not want to face the wrath of the “first senior brother”, so all he could do was add to what Li Liehuo said mentally.

Even if half of us die, we might not necessarily be able to protect the city.
That’s just the largest loss you can mentally accept.

Pi Yangqiu seemed to read his thoughts.
He communicated, “Hehe, this ‘first senior brother’ is still too inexperienced after all.
He’s already overestimated their determination.
I think we’ll be done as soon as we lose a third of us.
It’s been far too peaceful over the recent years after all.
There aren’t a lot of old guys remaining who have been through the large battles.”

“He’s afraid of frightening them out of their wits, clearly! Heh, do they really think they can’t die just because they’re Human Sovereigns?”