After two weeks of non-stop marching, Gray and the other prisoners reached the vicinity of Jade Hill Town. The army stopped and made camp at the site of a large battle, only a few hills away from the town. The grass all around was trampled and torn. The ground was stained with blood. The mood in the air was heavy as if the bandits had suffered a great defeat.

Gray sat down with the people in his rope line, resting their weary feet and aching joints. His group was still in good shape but some were unlucky and lost members during the day. Those that perished under the harsh sun and unbearable march were simply cut from their line and left for the wolves.

He waited for the bread but it didn't come. Instead, one of the elders rode over to the prisoners and their guards.

“Give me a hundred slaves, unbind them and give them tools to dig!”

“Yes! Second elder!”

Gray tensed, alarmed by the intensity of this person's spiritual energy. It was far beyond Tang's paltry strength.

He didn't want to be selected in case he would have to walk by the elder. He didn't want to be discovered but there was no controlling who the guards would pick. He tried to make himself as small as possible and hoped for the best.

Time dragged by agonizingly. He watched and counted silently as the bandits pulled lines of prisoners forward by their ropes. If he was chosen, depending on the situation, he would have to make a run for it. He preemptively loosened the bindings around his wrists just in case.

In the end, he wasn't chosen. He was in the middle of the mass of prisoners and the hundred were pulled from the edge. However, it was still a tortuously close call that made his stomach churn.

Gray valued his own life above anything else. This was a survival instinct honed by brutal years in the King's Mountains. Infiltrating the Lake Mine was dangerous but he had considered risks and made a decision. Infiltrating the entire bandit army was another matter altogether.

He didn't know when he had become so stupid and careless. Perhaps it was the false sense of superiority from his special gifts. Perhaps it was the confidence in his little bit of strength after a few minor breakthroughs. Perhaps he let being the foreman and being admired by a large group of people get to his head.

If he was in the mountains and he had met a fully-grown timber lion, he would have already run far away. That kind of life-threatening danger was immediate and clearly recognizable. He never played around with his life in such situations. But humans were different, their threat was tangible and yet also intangible. Humans weren't as predictable and that made them even more dangerous.

After berating himself, Gray remained in a heightened state of awareness, as if he had returned to the difficult times of his youth. Until he got away from these bandits, he was going into full survival mode, ready to fight, ready to flee...

The bandits remained unaware of Gray's presence. The one hundred prisoners selected were herded to the middle of the battlefield. They dug up the surrounding earth and piled it atop a nearby hill, making it even taller and giving it a cone shape. Flags of the Duanmu Clan were planted around the peak as a monument to the fallen.

As night fell, a huge bonfire was lit on the manmade tower of earth, illuminating the elders that gathered at its base. The army surrounded them and even the prisoners were dragged over to witness the ceremony.

“People of the Duanmu Clan! People of Abundance Town!” A voice boomed out, coming from the oldest and strongest elder, “This was the site of the first battle in this war, this war against the invaders from the south and against our perpetual enemy, the Patel family. Here, in this first battle, we have won a stunning victory!"

There was a moment of confusion before the other elders cheered. The army quickly followed suit.

“Here, we drove off the enemy, their captains, and even the Jade Hill Lord that dared to take the field. It was a difficult battle but we won the day. We caused them heavy casualties and forced them to flee back to their town!"

“Hooray!”

"Duanmu Clan!"

"Yeah!"

The cheers were more energetic and genuine now.

“Tonight, at the site of the first battle for our homeland, we commemorate the brave warriors of the Duanmu Clan who sacrificed their lives. We will keep their memories with us forever. We will seek revenge for them when Jade Hill Town falls! We will not let their deaths be in vain. We will win!”

“We will win!”

“We will win!”

The roar of the army shook the ground. Their fierce and stormy passion combined into hatred for their enemy, the Jade Hill Lord!

A few more elders made speeches, describing the order of battle. The ceremony concluded with a reading of the list of casualties. Each person was someone’s offspring or parent, a relative or a friend. The town was one big family and a loss for one was a loss for them all.

The army dispersed afterward and Tang Duanmu limped to his tent and laid down painfully on the bed. He had suffered serious internal injuries from that single strike. The Jade Hill Lord's spiritual energy had burst out upon impact like an explosion, crushing his flesh and bones around the left side of his upper body. His torso and the left side of his face were bandaged up to cover the open wounds caused by shattered sword fragments.

“Third Elder! Greetings!”

“May I see him?”

Several voices came from outside.

“Granduncle. Come in!” Tang said.

Third Elder Xiong Duanmu came in and dismissed the clan warriors behind him.

He looked at Tang and shook his head. “I’ve brought some medicine. Let me treat your wounds.”

“Thank you…”

The old man sat on the bed and carefully undid Tang's bandages. There were several open slash wounds across Tang's left chest as well as one long gash on his left cheek. His relatively handsome face would now forever be marred by battle.

Strengthening realm cultivators had improved physical abilities as well as better recovery and healing. However, the ability to completely heal from wounds without a single scar was not available to those who practiced low-quality cultivation arts. They had it better than ordinary people but it was far from a perfect recovery. Every cultivator accumulated scars as they aged, it was unavoidable.

“Eleventh Elder, he…” Tang began.

“He… did not survive that encounter with the Jade Hill Lord.” The third elder said as he spread a medicinal paste on Tang's wounds.

“Why didn't grandfather...”

“Of course not. We cannot drag down the morale of the army after just the first battle. For now, as far as anyone outside of the elders and commanders know, he is still alive but wounded.” The old man placed a chunk of spiritual stone by the bedside. “Do not worry about anything except your own recovery for now. When you can fight again, you will be able to avenge your defeat today.”

“But the Jade Hill Lord is a Spiritual Control Realm master. How am I supposed to fight that?”

“With numbers! We have three thousand clan members. We still have ten elders and you. He is only one person with only a small force. And don't forget, there's still our plan.”

“I understood.” Tang replied reluctantly.

His granduncle patted his head, "Tang, you performed admirably today. Your usage of the fifth style Soaring Blade of Grass to defend yourself at the last moment was perfect. A lesser man in your position would not have survived. Use this battle as a learning opportunity, this brush with death as inspiration to complete the finale style!"

"Yes!"