Demon Sword Sect’s Undercover
Chapter 483 - 483 482 Tit for Tat

483: Chapter 482: Tit for Tat 483: Chapter 482: Tit for Tat The Chasing Wind Bandits and Cang Pirates, the two most powerful pirate groups currently active near the Lizhi Sea, began to slowly approach each other.

Hou Niao looked ahead, his heart as calm as usual.

Sooner or later this day would come, the law of survival at sea is such, without establishing the ranks and strengths, peace will never be attained!

It was about deciding who would back down and who would bow their head in submission after conflicts of interest erupted between the two pirate groups at sea.

Thus, the vessels of King Wucheng’s manor were merely a pretext, the focus was not really on the value of the goods or the face of King Wucheng’s manor.

The focus was on, the Chasing Wind Bandits targeting the Shan Sect’s clandestine goods was an invitation for the Cang Pirates with a full-fledged Shan Sect background to resolve their maritime status!

Hu Ya was subdued and now it was time to rearrange their ranks to see who would be the top dog and who the second.

Among the three major powers of pirates in the Lizhi Sea, Hu Ya is backed by the Wu Sect, and since they are caught in the vortex of the Anhe Daoist Sect and cannot extricate themselves for the time being, they are unable to take care of other matters; the Cang Pirates had already been taken over by the Shan Sect, while the backers of these Chasing Wind Bandits were the renowned Southeast Daoist Sects, also one of the most powerful Daoist power groups in the Jinxiu Continent, with several countries’ strength surpassing that of Wu Sect, truly a behemoth.

In facing a Demon Sect like the full-fledged Shan Sect, the Chasing Wind Bandits were far less aggressive than Wu Sect.

This was determined by their position, so secretive undercutting and providing limited support to the Wu Sect did occur, just like the prior Southwest Daoist debate, but they never took a front seat.

This concerned the internal power struggle of Daoist Sects, but fundamentally, their stance toward the full-fledged Shan Sect was hostile.

Previously, with Hu Ya Bandits in the midst, the two bands of pirates did not come into contact.

Now, as the territory of Hu Ya Bandits was slowly eroded away to disarray, with Cang Pirates expanding southward and Chasing Wind Bandits moving northward, contact was inevitable, naturally leading to many contradictions.

If not resolved, it would sooner or later escalate into a major war, which might not be beneficial for either side.

It is ill-advised for a single power to dominate a region; balance is critical since a single group genuinely cannot control such a vast region.

So, the current situation is, Hu Ya is now confirmed as the third power, and now it’s time to decide who is the top power.

This would also determine who owns the resource-rich territories where both sides interact.

My area is my own, and the same goes for you.

Because both parties had such needs, this meeting was inevitably necessary, and both sides had prepared for it for a long time; the Chasing Wind Bandits ultimately gained the upper hand by leveraging the private vessels of King Wucheng to issue a challenge, which was an initiative typically taken by them as they always saw themselves as the top dogs.

So, if Hou Niao’s Cang Pirates emerge victorious in this competition, the choice of territories, status, and even those ship resources would be indisputable; but if they lost, they should not even think about it.

Such are the rules of the sea, the victor takes all.

The two sides slowly drew closer, like two massive flocks of birds vying for a nesting place.

Unlike the situation in the Cang Pirates where Hou Niao’s word was law and profoundly respected, the leader of the Chasing Wind Bandits had several heads, due to the abundance of major Daoist sects in the Southeast, with no one able to completely dominate, making a single-command difficult.

Major decisions were made collectively, which was a notable trait of the Chasing Wind Bandits.

Among them, Qi, Zhou, Chu, and Guo Sects held the most considerable influence, each possessing strengths not inferior to the Wu Sect.

The Chasing Wind Bandits were also controlled by disciples dispatched by these Sects, slightly disorganized, but they still managed to maintain their hold within the framework of the Southeast.

The Chasing Wind Bandits were also closely observing the situation on the opposing side.

In fact, their observation had begun long ago; now, they were merely making final confirmations.

Bao Wen, a cultivator from the Zhou Sect, was in the Natural Realm, and held a core legacy within his Sect, otherwise, he wouldn’t have been sent here to preside.

The unique conditions of the Lizhi Sea dictated that only truly capable cultivators could come here; it wasn’t a place where one could idly pass the days and casually make a fortune.

Glancing at the gradually approaching formation of the Cang Pirates, he couldn’t help inhaling sharply, “When did the Cang Pirate Group grow to such a scale?

How many years have passed?

The number of people they’ve mobilized is not even fewer than ours.

Have all sorts of ghosts and demons joined them too?”

The Chasing Wind Bandits this time had mobilized just over a hundred people, only a few more than the Cang Pirates — in the scale of hundreds, this difference was negligible;

This was almost all of the Chasing Wind Bandits; mobilizing more wasn’t impossible, but it would be difficult to remain unified in battle.

They could handle battles with favorable winds, but as soon as there was any disturbance, these people would be the first to disperse, which in turn could demoralize the rest,

Therefore, no one wished to use those with unstable convictions for a real battle.

Considering the Cang Pirates maintained such an array from afar, it was even less likely to rally those who were indecisive.

This was a battle of elite troops, regardless it was not fitting for fence-sitters to join.

Gao Tianqi, a cultivator from the Qi Sect, was in the Natural Realm, and remarked, “Tiger Fang Bandits are really useless.

The battle at Bolang Island not only failed to weaken the opponent but instead made them stronger.

How did this happen?

Even if the Wu Sect is caught in the Anhe quagmire, it shouldn’t have given up so completely in the Lizhi Sea, right?”

Guo Yanping, a cultivator from the Guo Sect, also in the Natural Realm, speculated, “Maybe it’s intentional?

They were dissatisfied with us stepping aside while they charged into battle.

Perhaps, this time they simply used Anhe’s predicament as an excuse to step back and push us to the forefront?

I’ve heard that although the outer ranks of the Tiger Fang Bandits suffered heavy losses, their core members were not significantly affected.

They just dispersed and intentionally kept a low profile; the implications are indeed worth deep thought.”

This wasn’t just creating divisions within the Sects; divisions already existed, so there wasn’t much to create.

The mysterious decline of the Tiger Fang Bandits over the years in the eyes of those with agendas was indeed filled with oddities.

Not to mention them, even Hou Niao was very worried.

But now that things had come to this point, since Tiger Fang had chosen to keep a low profile, he naturally had to choose to be aggressively progressive; laying low was a strategy of necessity.

He knew it, others didn’t.

Enduring too much could lead to losing momentum, and trying to reverse the situation later would require much more effort.

Guo Yanping, a cultivator from the Chu Sect, also in the Natural Realm; Chu Sect was somewhat of an outlier among the Daoist factions.

They were not so sensitive about the divide between Daoism and Demonism, instead believing that every Daoist school had its own value in existence.

“In such a situation, a full-scale chaotic battle isn’t advisable.

It’s hard to predict the outcome; I believe we can win, but it might be a costly victory.

Then what?

Would we let a third party profit from our loss?”

These words coming from a cultivator of the Chu Sect weren’t surprising.

Under most circumstances, he was also the target of ostracism and indifference from other Sects, but at this moment, everyone was very aware that he was making a lot of sense.

In a battlefield of over two hundred people, once the fighting starts it will inevitably be uncontrollable, a fight to the death.

Just seeing the arrogant demeanor and the uniform organization of these Cang Pirates, one knew it would be a tough battle.

No one wanted a tough battle; it was a last resort.