Based on the information gathered, Shi Chun again picked out three groups of troops to target.

The three groups of troops were from Di State, Wei State, and Jiao State. The larger ones assembled over a thousand men, while the smallest also had a force of three hundred.

Relatively speaking, the various states were becoming increasingly aware as they fought each other. After a long and brutal slaughter, the sects intending to vie for supremacy within the states realized they couldn't stand alone and gradually began to merge. Originally, each fighting on their own, they could mostly only muster up a group of a hundred people.

Of course, this kind of merger could only be said to be a degree of cooperation. At critical moments, they could support each other, and when there was profit to be had, they would join forces to attack and then divide the benefits.

The reason Shi Chun chose to target them was based on proximity; they were closer to where Shi Chun's forces were positioned, and that was all.

He pointed to the three groups of troops marked on the atlas and said to Laner, "Contact those three and confirm whether their forces are all concentrated together. If they are stationed separately, figure out the number of separate forces and whether we can grasp their precise locations."

Xiang Laner did as instructed, despite her confusion, and began to make contact one by one for confirmation.

The replies were as Shi Chun expected. The troops from the various states were not all stationed together. People held suspicions about each other, afraid of being stabbed in the back by allies. The number of troops and their approximate locations were not exactly secrets; the spies they had planted knew all about it.

However, one detail was uncertain: the location information. The Sky Rain Meteor Conference had entered its later stages, and unlike the situation in Xuan State, it was rare for troops from the various states to stay in one place without moving. They moved almost daily in search of prey.

Shi Chun thought about it and then said, "Ask them if they can get in touch with the various groups of troops from each state at any time."

Xiang Laner did as requested.

The responses were somewhat similar. As troops from the same state, making contact naturally wasn't an issue, but it wouldn't be easy to do so at any given moment. It would be best to notify them in advance to allow for preparations.

After contemplating again, Shi Chun decided to give the spies the authority to act, "Tell them we want to attack a group of troops tomorrow. It should not be a large batch, ideally a few dozen people. Have them find a way to infiltrate and keep tabs on their movements at all times. We will inform them in advance to withdraw before we strike. Ask them if they can cooperate with this plan."

Xiang Laner immediately relayed the message to the operatives in those three groups.

This time, each family took a while before they responded one after another. Some said they could do it, others said they would try their best. After communicating, the result was that there should be no major issues.

For Shi Chun, having this support was enough. He picked up three black cloth bags from the ground and handed them to Xiang Laner, "I need you to run around a bit. These three bags need to be delivered to them."

Xiang Laner was baffled, "What exactly does this mean?"

Shi Chun replied, "Tell them that when our forces eliminate the target, these Insect Extreme Crystals must be found on that group of people."

"..." Xiang Laner's mouth gaped open in astonishment. Despite racking her brain, she couldn't figure it out. She finally expressed her inability to understand with great difficulty, "To go through all this trouble just to put these Insect Extreme Crystals into their hands and then snatch them back, are you out of your mind?"

Regardless of whether he was out of his mind or not, Shi Chun had entrusted her with the task and then went straight back to his own camp.

By the time he returned, it was already dark.

More than three thousand men continued to drill; they had to keep going even at night, as there were nighttime communication signals to learn.

Learning that some people from the sects were rather unruly and were waiting to communicate with him personally, Shi Chun promptly went to do his duty. He took each person aside, tested their skills, and then those people disappeared.

The troops continued their drills until midnight. Shi Chun saw that it was about time and had Wu Jinliang dismiss everyone for rest.

After the dismissal, a multitude of curses echoed from behind, some of which floated to the ears of Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang. The two men exchanged glances after hearing them but had no other reaction.

On a starry night, most people were resting, but some were startled by noises. Master Mai was one of them.

He noticed that people occasionally breached their guarded perimeter. Those intruders, upon being detected by the on-duty guards, were all taken to discuss the matter with Wang Sheng.

After several such instances, Master Mai could no longer restrain himself and stopped one person coming out from a meeting to greet them. Only after confirming their identity did he find out they were also people from the sects of Xuan State, and Wang Sheng had sent them out as spies.

These so-called spies were no one else but the six sect members who had been dragged into this by Chu Jingtang and had not shown themselves until now. Shi Chun was using them as spies.

In any case, they scoped out whatever Shi Chun told them to, and they had no idea what sort of mess they were actually probing into. Overall, there was no danger.

At daybreak, Shi Chun received a message from Xiang Laner, which prompted him to mutter the customary underworld slang of East Nine Plain to Wu Jinliang, "Gather up."

Wu Jinliang immediately grabbed his knife and dashed out, rhythmically clanging his large blade with a resounding "clang clang," the noise echoing across the field.

More than three thousand troops, upon hearing the signal, immediately emerged and spontaneously found their respective groups to assemble.

After quickly assembling, everyone couldn't help but look at each other, wondering how this had become routine.

They realized that despite the complaints from yesterday's drills, it seemed today there was some sort of effect.

Shi Chun appeared and gave a shout, "Let's go."

He leaped forward first, and Wu Jinliang gave a hand signal, also shouting, "Go."

Over three thousand people, not knowing what they were going to do, just followed along confusedly…

After nightfall on the school grounds, Young Master Nan sat restlessly in the spectator stand, wandering alone in a corner. Every so often he would press down three fingers on his palm, pondering the remaining two. He would also occasionally peek at the seats reserved for distinguished guests.

The whereabouts of the Miao family were unknown; they had not shown up today, nor was it known if they would come at all, at least not for the time being.

After much hesitation, he still quietly summoned the person in charge of this area and whispered a command, "Call Shi Chun out for a check, but don't say it was my order."

"Okay," the person in charge responded and left.

Before long, Shi Chun appeared in the mirrored image, standing atop a cliff gazing into the distance. Even though the scope of the mirror was limited, one could see a large group of people behind him.

Shi Chun's appearance on the school grounds brought silence once more; everyone stared blankly, feeling that something was off about Shi Chun today. Why did it seem like he had brought so many people with him?

The person operating the Heavenly Mirror must have been curious as well, not demonstrating the usual indifference when observing others. The image came alive and suddenly zoomed out. While Shi Chun's features were no longer clear, the dense masses of several thousand troops behind him were fully displayed.

This was not simply bringing along a group of people. This was the formation of leading an army of thousands.

Clearly, all those people were treating him with respect.

Elder Ke of Wukang Mountain and Elder Yin Huixin both stared in stunned silence. They were now a bit afraid to see Shi Chun in the mirror, as he always brought surprises that they could hardly withstand. What was this performance today? They couldn't understand it!

Young Master Nan, too, was bewildered, equally unable to comprehend. The image of Shi Chun and his people in the mirror stood still without moving. Not long after, the image abruptly disappeared and switched to another sect.

However, murmurs gradually started spreading from the Xuan State's side of the school grounds as many sects there recognized the composition of the troops led by Shi Chun.

After the news had made its way to Young Master Nan's ears, it troubled him once more. He paced nonstop in a corner, scratching his head and occasionally looking toward the screen, wondering what Shi Chun was really up to. Was he truly leading several thousand troops from Xuan State?

Shi Chun was waiting on the cliff, having stopped at a position still some distance from their destination.

Earlier, when Master Mai had asked what they were planning, Shi Chun had casually brushed it off by saying they were exerting effort for Xuan State to emerge victorious.

In the distance, a search party of nearly forty people took a break in a sunken terrain with a lower elevation after a burst of rapid movement under the golden sunshine.

After the troops concealed themselves in the sunken terrain, they had to arrange sentries. One man volunteered, and after getting permission, he handed the package on his back to a man in black wearing a headscarf, "Brother, it's inconvenient to act with this. Please keep an eye on it for me."

"Okay," the man nodded, accepting the package and casually placing it in front of himself.

The man then waved over four fellow sect members and left with them.

They did not intend to return. They ran along the trench for a distance before emerging and rapidly departing. Along the way, they took out a talisman to contact Xiang Laner.

Upon receiving the message, Xiang Laner quickly relayed the situation to Shi Chun.

On the cliff, Shi Chun looked at the talisman in his hand and then handed it to Wu Jinliang, "Start."

After Wu Jinliang saw it, he returned it and swiftly called over the leaders of ten groups, detailing the target's precise location to the ten leaders and demanding that the encirclement of the target location be completed within the agreed time.

There was no need for intricate arrangements, as the troops had already been effectively distributed during yesterday's drill.

The ten groups of troops were designated as East Second Road, West Second Road, North Second Road, South Second Road, and Central Second Road. Each direction had two groups of troops, left and right. To execute an encirclement, the eight groups of East, West, South, North, and Central Road troops only needed to follow their group names and directions, and the encirclement would naturally be orderly and efficiently completed.

This was the most effective troop organization method forged through countless battles by Shi Chun and his men in the Land of Exile. Regardless of the terrain, anywhere, anytime, as long as the order to encircle was given, there was no need for verbose arrangements—everyone would instantly know their own position to encircle.

Was this for real? While everyone was in shock and doubt, Shi Chun suddenly cast a spell and called out loudly, "Whichever direction the target runs, that team must hand over three members from their sects to die. Choose who deserves to die from within your own team. If the encirclement isn't timely, kill the team leader first. I'm not joking, and I'm not afraid to offend the sects behind you. I have already killed more than twenty people yesterday. Central Second Road, follow me!"

As he finished speaking, he led the way, flying down towards the vast wilderness below the cliff.

The leader of Central Second Road was a bit stunned but still waved his hand, signaling his men to follow suit and fly down.

Wu Jinliang, with a sly smirk, also ran off.

The remaining eight groups of troops, unsure of what to do, were pressed for time and could only go and see the situation first.

Thousands of troops one by one flew down the cliff, forming eight groups of horsemen dashing away.

With 3,800 people, despite their large numbers, each one was tremulous, unsure of the grand scale of the operation they were about to undertake.

Once they managed to surround the target after a burst of frantic chasing, just as they had practiced, everyone was somewhat dumbfounded. Some even chuckled at the absurdity, thinking of all the fuss for this? What a false alarm.

Confronted by the encircling formation of several thousand troops, the few dozen people being surrounded were also a bit shocked; they had not seen such a grand scene before.

The people in front of the school grounds mirror were left speechless, but Young Master Nan couldn't help himself and stealthily played it again.

With a vast disparity between the forces, the leader of the surrounded fifty people shouted, "Ladies and gentlemen, we don't have the Insect Extreme Crystal on us. None of us has it on our person. We can prove it to you."

Suddenly, Shi Chun's amplified voice resounded, "Central Second Road, kill!"

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