Chapter 454: Redtree Rebels vs River Remnants

With the Krysali deep in the uncharted parts of the Southern Rivers, Kai felt more confident waging a war. The plan meant leaving the ship, but the three of them could actually travel faster via Thunderbird's Wings. Once they had set up all security precautions they could think of, it was just Kai and his wives pushing south toward the enemy.

At least for a while. Before they even reached the regions of open warfare, Omilaena split from them to try to reestablish contact with Nymidria. Before they fully committed to a war, they needed to make sure they knew the battlefield.

They could also use an inside look at their opponents, but there was no consistent way to contact Hul Ping. If the young man knew what was good for him, which Kai was not remotely convinced of, he would keep his distance. Until then, the best he could do was find the Redtree rebels and learn just what had become of them in his absence.

If they had been defeated when he went to support Zae Zin Nim, Kai would have regretted the result, if not his decision. Instead, he was surprised to find that the majority were still alive. They hadn't retreated like he had suggested, instead taking over a major town that had been a Verdant River sect outpost. With the sect in retreat everywhere thanks to the attack, they didn't have enough cultivators to put down every minor uprising.

"You've returned, master!"

"The Verdant River dogs ran in fear!"

"We were victorious!"

Everyone cheered for him as he arrived, but they went silent when Zae Zin Nim landed beside him. When their murmuring resumed, a significant amount of it was about her, including the usual comments about her beauty and jade-like skin. He didn't think she wanted to be praised like this, not here and especially not now, and without a second glance she left to commandeer one of the more isolated buildings.

Since she probably wanted her space, Kai met with the leaders of the Redtree rebels. He was able to remember many of their names, but he was surprised how little he felt about most of them. They followed him because they respected his power, not because they were on the same side. Still, their people had been mercilessly slaughtered for the sake of young masters becoming immortal.

When he told them about it, there was a little outrage, but not as much as expected. Many seemed interested in how exactly the process worked and he had to tell them that only Omilaena knew the details. Some asked about rumors of an attack on the Loam of the Gods, but he lied there, since they wanted to keep that information secret in case they needed it later.

After confirming everything and setting up new guard formations, Kai went to catch up with Zae Zin Nim and see if anything was wrong. There didn't seem to be, to his surprise, and they passed the evening making plans. That night she joined him in bed with unusual insistence, and he wasn't sure what was behind that, even though he wasn't complaining.

"You realize they're going to make assumptions about us," he said, after they had caught their breath. She lay sprawled across his chest, hair fanned out over his side and the bed.

"Let them."

"I just know it might reflect back on you, somehow. I'm not what anyone expects of a man here, so they probably assume-"

"Don't ever say things like that." Zae Zin Nim squeezed him tighter. "You're the husband I chose."

"Alright." He stroked her back as they lay still for a while, his thoughts slowly returning to their plans. "We should be cautious, just in case the enemy is planning a serious counter-attack. Are you okay with being bait?"

"For Xir Xan Khan?" She propped herself up on his chest and regarded him thoughtfully. "I presume you will leave visibly, then see if he tries to target me again?"

"I was thinking you could lead some of the rebels, just so all of them know you're no one to trifle with, but yes. Your identity is known to them, so there's no point hiding. Take out some of their cultivators and rub their faces in it."

"That's a good plan. I think I can take any one of them, even Xir Xan Khan, but if they bring their patriarchs or other Sky Souls, I will need backup."

"I'll be waiting, don't worry."

As it happened, there was no need for their caution. Zae Zin Nim led raiding parties over the next several days, flattening every Verdant River cultivator in her path, and the sect never managed to field any serious opponents. Kai lurked nearby, hoping to ambush anyone who tried to take advantage of her isolated position, but he lurked in vain.

Eventually they came to accept that their opponents were in too much disarray to mount an effective resistance. The heir to the Verdant River sect was dead, after all, and most of the other young masters didn't care about his sect beyond what it could give them. They heard news that Yul Wei Ren had pulled back troops to guard their headquarters and was simply indulging himself as the realm fell apart around him.

Because Omilaena had robbed and destroyed the facility making immortality elixirs, the campaign to harvest the peasants had ended. To Kai's mind, that should have taken out the largest threat, but he found out that he was wrong a day later.

A group of Verdant River cultivators had banded together, including two powerful Earth Souls, and decided to exterminate the Redtree rebels. It wasn't a key military objective, just vengeance for their attacks... and vengeance backed by the might of a sect was dangerous indeed. By the time Kai heard the news and arrived, a great many of the rebels had been slaughtered.

"Master, help us!"

"They're striking from the outpost!"

"There's a great vault there, and they're using the resources!"

Kai thought they could probably have taken down the outpost if they used their Redtree medallions as explosives, but the leaders of the rebels no longer relied on such tactics, instead using the medallions as signs of their position. He supposed it didn't really matter, since he and Zae Zin Nim could handle everything.

And his plans for taking the outpost didn't matter at all, because Zae Zin Nim was motivated by the reports of a sect vault. She led the charge, literally flattening the watchtower with a massive Coldfire Palm that incinerated most of the defenders. All he needed to do was follow and take out a few of the survivors with Manticore Quills.

While the Redtree cultivators cheered, Kai and Zae Zin Nim broke into the vault. This one was smaller, but still filled with the usual treasures like medicinal pills and flying swords. All she seemed to care about were the deep sections, which contained more esoteric materials.

"Oh, this is one of the ones Omi mentioned." Zae Zin Nim sat down with a scroll, apparently ready to work on her Physique again.

For his part, Kai judged that everything else was low value to him. He took a few of the resources he thought might be useful for the Krysali, and he always kept poisons for Omilaena, but the rest he just heaped into an armful. When he reemerged from the vault, he was surprised to find the Redtree leaders all waiting for him.

"You've won a great victory, master!"

"And such treasures!"

"Master is so generous, can't we have a few of your scraps?"

He blinked, surprised that they would assume he would really hoard everything for himself. Especially since it cost him so little to give up this relatively weak qi. As his answer, Kai dumped the armful of resources into a pile in front of them.

"I brought these out for you," he said. "We can share them."

"Master is so generous!"

"Incredible! Is this a Heavenly Jade Verdant River sword?"

Yet it seemed like the leaders were planning to hoard it all for themselves, either shoving everything into spatial items or just large pouches if they didn't have one. Kai frowned and took a hand, forcing them to distribute the resources more equally. This seemed to bother them more than if he had taken them all for himself, but they had no choice but to obey.

As far as he was concerned, and tried to explain, it was just a matter of strategy. None of the Redtree cultivators could stand up to a Sky Soul, even with more resources, so their closest military goal was to increase the number of cultivators who could join formations. That meant focusing on the lower stages who were close to leaping to the next stage. Maybe they couldn't fight against Earth Souls, but formations were the only way they would be useful, and the only way to meaningfully increase their military force.

Of course he was praised for his wisdom, but Kai questioned how much they really listened.

The battles seemed to be going well, and they pushed further into Verdant River territory. Soon they would be within range of the more important vaults, but they had yet to encounter any serious opposition. His plan had originally been to eliminate some of their most dangerous opponents, so he was mildly put out that no one dared to face them.

When he did sense a powerful force approaching, it turned out to be just Omilaena. She had a serious expression on her face, and when she leapt off her sword she replaced it in her satchel in a business-like fashion.

"Nymidria had terrible news. We need to throw out the old plan and go on the run again."

Kai groaned. "Are you serious?"

"Not even slightly." Omilaena grinned and rapped a knuckle against his chest. "She's pissed about the Loam and perfectly willing to help. It's time for us to hit one of the big vaults."