After spending so long in the murk, the light was dazzling. Jian brought his hand up to shield his vision from the rays of the setting sun. His eyes adjusted to the light almost as soon as he completed the motion. It was the first concrete benefit from the recent improvement to his constitution. He hoped it was the first of many, but his thoughts were pulled from contemplating the future by the view in front of him.

He and Meirong had emerged on top of a hill. Below them was a steep slope, what mortals would consider an impassable cliff, leading to an expansive plain. A small hill in the center of the plain was surrounded by an army camp. Jian and Meirong would have been able to make their way down the hill and into the camp in the time it took for an incense stick to burn, if not for the demonic beasts in the way.

As the sun went down the beasts poured out of the shadow of the hills to swirl around the army camp. A block of cultivators marched out of the army camp to face down the beasts. Jian couldn't see anybody imposing order on the demonic beasts, but they at least had the wit to avoid charging into a prepared position. They snarled and snapped at the soldiers, but did not dare to venture within arm's reach.

"How exciting," Meirong said.

Jian nodded in agreement. While it was alarming to see so many demonic beasts gathered in one place, having a chance to watch such a grand battle from a safe distance was a valuable opportunity. Many cultivators held their best techniques close to the vest, refusing to use them anywhere that outsiders might see unless it was a matter of life and death. Facing down a beast swarm of this magnitude was precisely the situation where everybody would be forced to go all out.

"We need a plan," Jian said.

Now that they could see what was ahead of them, they really ought to do something other than just stumbling forward blindly through the secret realm. No doubt they would be richly rewarded if they could charge forth and slaughter the beasts in front of them, but even Meirong would have a hard time putting a dent in the massive hoard down below.

There ought to be some sort of guiding intelligence behind this. It was already rare enough for conditions to permit the artificial creation of a splinter plane. It wasn't completely impossible for a splinter plane to form on its own, but it was incredibly unlikely. The tower and formation that they had bypassed in order to get here had been built to a deliberate design. Jian thought it likely that this plane had been built for a purpose as well, though he didn't know what that purpose might be.

"I think we can watch and play it by ear," Meirong said.

Jian sighed, but he wasn't truly upset. It was hard to come up with a plan before they had any information to work with. At least she was content to watch events play out instead of jumping into the fray.

"I wonder how long-" Jian began, before he was cut off by a chorus of howls from down below.

The sun had just slipped beneath the horizon, and whatever restraint the beasts had been laboring under had been lifted. They howled with savage joy as they charged forward, their forms merging together in a solid mass just as their voices came together in a veritable wall of sound. Jian could feel the vibration in his gut despite the distance.

The cultivators down below didn't show any sign of panic. A horn blasted out, the sharp sound piercing through the noise of the beasts, and the army moved as one. Their change in position didn't seem to have much effect, until Jian noticed the faint golden streamers joining each man to his neighbor.

"A combat formation," Jian said. He wanted to sketch out a diagram of what he was seeing, but he couldn't bring himself to look away.

Combat formations allowed armies of cultivators to function as a single unit. Not just in the sense of a mortal army of soldiers that reacted together and focused their strength well. No, a combat formation allowed for the pooling of spiritual energy, elevating the individual cultivators well beyond what they were normally capable of doing.

The problem with combat formations was that once a formation was well known, other cultivators could develop countermeasures. They learned how to disrupt the formation, which in the worst case could cause a backlash that harmed the formation users. That made combat formations a precious secret of large clans and sects, not something to be used lightly.

Here, facing down a mass of demonic beasts, such considerations weren't in play. The soldiers might take word home of the formation, ruining its use against other cultivators, but the demons would hardly benefit from such knowledge.

The beasts were hardly helpless. They had an instinctive grasp for disrupting the use of spiritual energy that could rival anything human cultivators developed through careful analysis. Still, seeing the cultivators below fall into such a well-practiced formation gave Jian greater hope for their prospects in the coming fight.

The front line of demonic beasts crashed into the cultivators, raising a horrendous din. They couldn't do much more than causing noise, though. As Jian watched, the cultivators slaughtered that first line with ease. It was simple butchery. He didn't even see them use any techniques.

The tide of beasts didn't care. They pushed forward, relentless. The second line was cut down just as easily as the first. So was the third. By the time the fourth line hit, though, cracks were beginning to show in the cultivator's defensive line.

Another horn blast rang out over the battlefield, and the cultivators began to give ground. They moved together, leaving behind ground carpeted with dead beasts. The foremost beasts continued to push forward, thirsty for blood, but this was a retreat, not a rout. Any beast that got ahead of its fellows and closed with the cultivators was cut down.

Jian was impressed. The cultivators had been in a dangerous situation. Beasts breaking into their defensive line didn't just mean that they faced attacks from multiple directions. It also had the chance of disrupting the formation entirely. The sudden loss of strength could have destroyed the whole army. Whoever was in charge had seen the danger and responded decisively, regrouping in a new defensive position.

If the commander was wise, the troops were obviously well trained. Carrying off a retreat and then resetting to fight at a secondary defensive line was one of those things that was much easier said than done. Jian had been confident that they were watching an army of elites as soon as he had seen the combat formation. Now that he had seen them maneuver under pressure he knew that he was seeing a veteran fighting force.

The beasts weren't impressed. They continued to press forward in a massive tide. They spread out as they ran, beginning to pressure the flanks of the human army. To Jian's eye it didn't look like the beasts were employing any deliberate tactics other than running forward as fast as they could, but the effect was the same regardless.

The edge of the human formation began to bend backward. Instead of a line of battle, they were presenting more of an arc. It was better than letting beasts attack them from the sides or behind, but the spread out formation made it easier for more beasts to get in on the attack. Once more, holes began to appear in the human formation as individual cultivators were ganged up on and overwhelmed.

Jian expected to see another retreat, though he didn't like the army's chances of disengaging while their flanks were being pressed so hard. Apparently the commander didn't like those odds either, as he decided to make a move in person.

Up until now, all of the fighting had been done by cultivators who were roughly in the realm of body tempering or perhaps early on the road to core formation. That was in line with what Jian knew of combat strategy. While it might be satisfying for a high level combatant to plow through masses of enemy soldiers like a god of war, the end result would be tragic if it left him at a disadvantage when the higher level cultivators on the other side made their move. Thus, battles usually began with lower level cultivators probing the enemy's strength.

The change in the flow of battle was announced with a mighty thunderclap. The center of the beast tide was crushed. From above, the broken bodies marked out an almost perfect circle, showing where the commander's attack had landed. The area involved was larger than the courtyard where Jian lived.

"Amazing!" Meirong said. "He harnessed the power of gravity with that attack."

The army of cultivators roared out in approval and pushed forward. It was the first time that they had taken the offensive. The beasts were stunned by the impact and offered little resistance as the humans pushed them back. Before long their battle line was as straight as a ruler and they had regained much of the lost territory.

"It's impressive," Jian said, but shook his head. "The army is in trouble, though."

The commander's move was impressive, no doubt. But an attack like that came with a cost. How many more times would he be able to launch such a devastating blow? Even worse, would he be left helpless before a high ranking beast? The army of cultivators had impressive momentum at the moment, but it was never a good sign when the high level cultivator on your side was forced to make the first move.

As though it was summoned by Jian's remark, a bloodthirsty aura rose from the midst of the pack of beasts. Nearby beasts were pushed away, clearing a space. A few simply keeled over in place. Jian's chest tightened as it rolled over him, leaving him short of breath. The human army faltered in step, then fell into line at a shouted command and braced for impact.

The physical stature of the beast had grown after it released its aura. What had been just one beast among many in the massive tide was now a colossus, standing over twice the height of a man and looking more than capable of knocking down a city wall even without the use of any spiritual energy.

Jian grimaced. Even with the aid of a combat formation, it would be a tall order for the human cultivators to hold the line against something that massive. He forced himself to watch as the beast charged forward. Even if he wanted to look away, the bravery and sacrifice of the cultivators on the front line deserved to be remembered.

He almost missed the flash of motion. The commander darted out from inside the ranks of the human army, intercepting the charge of the enormous beast. The impact stopped the beast in his tracks, triggering a shock wave that was visible as a ripple in the air. The small beasts closest to the clash exploded into a bloody mist. Luckier beasts that were a bit farther away were still knocked off their feet and sent rolling.

Even the human army, braced for impact and protected by the combat formation, had trouble weathering the storm. The men on the front row were knocked back off their feet. They were lucky that the beasts had been disrupted just as badly, allowing the second line of cultivators to step up and present a defensive front.

Meanwhile, the clash of titans was just beginning. The massive beast had been shocked by the initial impact, but it didn't look like it had been badly hurt. Once the initial shock wore off it reared up on its hind legs, letting out a challenging roar, then stomped down to crush its challenger underfoot.

The commander deflected the blow. The ground rumbled as the beast's feet landed. Even watching from a distance, Jian could feel the earth tremble under his feet. The commander might not have taken the blow head on, but even simply diverting the strike of a beast with such strength was beyond any ordinary cultivator.

Nor was he content with standing on the defensive. Even while the aftershocks of the beast's stomp were still roiling the ground, the man lashed out with a warhammer. It was an enormous weapon, or at least it would have appeared so in any other circumstances. The head must have been the same size as Jian's torso. Against an ordinary human it would have been comically oversized. Facing down the massive beast, it looked like it might just barely be large enough to hurt it.

The blow struck home, catching the beast on its knee. It shrieked in anger, the sound alone enough to send a stab of pain through Jian's head, but all its rage couldn't keep it from stumbling. The commander didn't waste any time, whipping the hammer back around and catching the knee of the beast's other front leg.

The beast's shriek was cut short as it fell face first into the ground. Jian clenched his fist in excitement as the cultivator brought his hammer around for a finishing blow. Unfortunately, it seemed that both of them had underestimated the vitality of the battered beast.

Relying solely on the power of its rear legs, the beast was able to shove itself forward. Its face skidded along the ground in a most undignified fashion, but the move was undeniably effective. Its forehead caught the cultivator flush in the chest, sending him flying back.

The commander was sent streaking back into the defensive line. Jian thought it would be a tragic sight, but much to his surprise the commander came to a stop the instant his feet touched the blocking arm of a front line cultivator. The soldier didn't take a single step back at the impact, and the commander pushed forward and drifted to the ground as though he was as light as a feather.

Both man and beast had largely ceased fighting, instead turning their attention to the clash between monstrous powers that would decide the battle. For the moment, the battlefield was eerily silent.