Infiltration

*Things like sexism and racism are purely for worldbuilding and to make it more realistic. Thank you for your understanding.*

Nearly twelve thousand cultivators stood quietly within a field.

They stood in line and to attention as the midnight wind blew with a sharp whistle, flailing the hair and robes of the cultivators lest they were weighted by armour.

There were cultivators in battle robes with merely a chest plate, cultivators with deadly gauntlets and boots and finally; extremely powerful figures in full-body armour with gold inlays. Naturally, they were soldiers, elite soldiers, generals and commanders.

Many pairs of serious eyes looked up to the night sky where the wind blew and the birds flew, almost as if they were waiting for something. It was nearly winter and the air had a crisp cold that would remind the cultivators of the snow that was soon to fall.

These cultivators were part of the specialised force that Qing Fang also belonged to. Their role was to depart ahead of the main army and concentrate the armies of the Huoyan Clan into their cities so they could be wiped out in one fell swoop.

By efficiently destroying thousands of rural villages and towns while carrying out assassinations on any strong figures watching over the areas, these specialised soldiers would complete their task. Every soldier here didn't necessarily need to have expertise in these fields, they just needed to have the trait of following any order; no matter how cruel it was.

The commanders had concluded that it would also be beneficial to make the Huoyan Clan aware that they were under "small" raids to prevent people from leaving the cities before the main army arrived. Although they predicted some small hunting forces of the Huoyan Clan to be dispatched to find them, it was something they'd have to deal with to achieve maximum efficiency in their mission.

Overall, the atmosphere in the field where the twelve thousand cultivators stood was very solemn. After all, they were about to go to war, and due to the special circumstances, many didn't even have a chance to bid farewell to their families.

It was a certainty that the mortality rate of this special force would be absurdly high, and it hung over the heads of many here.

The cold night breeze dried the eyes and reddened the nose as it became somewhat runny. It was strangely relaxing to stare into the midnight sky when it was especially cold. It made one reminiscent and emotional as their thoughts wandered to different places.

Wives, children, friends and disciples; tucked away in their warm beds while they were out here. There was a mutual burden on the minds of the next man, and the fear of the future silently bonded these men that had only met for the first time.

The long grass brimming with life swayed with the wind, making cultivators stare at it as their thoughts drifted. For some reason, they put themselves in the position of the grass and the trees, wondering how terrible it would be to stay out in the cold every night.

Fear made one appreciative of what they already had.

...

Qing Fang stood silent and still with his eyes closed among the ranks of generals as he waited for the transportation to arrive. His short and silky black hair wasn't tied up at all so it thrashed around on his forehead in the wind.

He felt particularly comfortable since the heavy armour shielded his whole body from the wind except for his face, his ears and nose becoming colder. But the face could get colder and colder, all that mattered was his torso was kept warm. Feeling the cold yet knowing he was shielded from it was a nice feeling.

It was like tasting a forbidden fruit without bearing the consequences.

All of a sudden, Qing Fang and the other generals and commanders opened their eyes to look up to the sky. There, they saw a figure in a hooded robe floating twenty meters from the ground, the violent winds making the robe flail immensely as a pair of shining blue eyes could be seen beneath the hood in the dark of the night.

It would be almost frightening if the cultivators didn't know that this hooded figure belonged to their Clan.

The hooded figure descended from the sky and landed at the front of the force, where the commanders were lined. Immediately, twelve thousand cultivators fell to one knee with their heads lowered in pure respect for the power of the figure.

They say: respect the Stage, not the person.

Qing Fang had his head lowered and stared at the grass. He could see it pulsing in a wave in tandem with the wind, occasionally revealing the wet soil underneath. He could see no insects at all; in winds like these, they would all be sheltering in their many burrows with locations unknown to him.

"Come, we must leave soon." A whisper that managed to echo across the wind muttered in the ears of every cultivator present. They couldn't even marvel at the mystical power of the hooded figure, because they always knew that it was beyond their comprehension.

Qing Fang stood up along with the many other cultivators in the solemn atmosphere as they looked toward the hooded figure that seemed to be less powerful now that he stood among them.

This small army that Qing Fang belonged to was the first of six to carry out the same mission but on different planets belonging to Huoyan Clan.

All of a sudden, a strange feeling overcame everyone present.

It felt as though a shroud of hot air was encasing their entire bodies in some sort of cushion. It made the cultivators feel safe and secure as they looked to the hooded figure who was standing in the centre of the small army.

They had been encased in a domain.

Then, the feet of the cultivators slowly lifted from the ground. Many cultivators here could fly. Some Stage 3s and all of the Stage 4s and above could, however, it still shocked them when they floated without their own accord. Cultivators like Qing Fang who couldn't even fly just let their bodies float into the air, encompassed within the hot air that was what they imagined clouds felt like.

"Prepare yourselves." The voice of the hooded figure came from all directions within the domain as the cultivators prepared their bodies for the sudden strain it was about to come under. Right now, they were just slowly rising like some sort of apotheosis.

As thousands of figures flew up into the air gradually, a terrifying scene started to emerge. After all, seeing this number of cultivators flying closely packed like bees would send a shiver down the spine of many.

Then with a sudden burst of speed, the thousands of figures floating hundreds of meters above the ground suddenly vanished and only left a terrifying drum of thunder in their wake. The deafening sound washed over Qingpu Planet and seemed to signal the start of the war.

As of now, the first army of the Qing Clan had gone to war.

...

Qing Fang's eyes suddenly widened as the small army accelerated to a speed beyond what he could fathom.

Just a second ago, he was looking out beyond the vast horizon and unto Qingpu Planet that was masked in darkness. The thousands of small lights that made up the cities were light small lanterns and were almost hypnotic.

After all, as a cultivator that couldn't fly, this was one of the few times that he had seen a planet from high above the clouds. It fascinated him how people don't usually wonder what shape the world is nor talk about it. Turns out, it's a sphere.

Shielded from the harsh winds that existed at all times at heights like this, cultivators were suspended all around Qing Fang. Some kept their eyes shut, obviously afraid of massive heights. The rest similarly looked on in awe at a dark planet lit by the clansmen that were but tiny dots right now.

And then, a thunderous roar exploded outside of earshot as the world suddenly blurred and became like an abstract painting, a mess of blended colours, indecipherable by unfeeling eyes like his.

He felt a massive pressure, but not on his body. He could only feel it in his mind as his body was confused. The brain knew it was moving at tremendous speeds but the body felt nothing, creating a nauseating feeling in the minds of even Stage 3s like him.

Then the world shook as it felt like he had left the universe and transcended into another plane. A cold and cruel plane that banished all life except for the strong. And Qing Fang knew he was nothing in this plane. If he left the protection of the hooded figure, he would be frozen and then ruthlessly crushed into dust.

'We must've just broken through the atmosphere. Truly an amazing thing to feel.' His mind wandered and he lost his perception of time. Everything was just a blur of black and the occasional bright light. He was powerless to even know what was around him.

And within no more than twelve hours that felt like twelve minutes to Qing Fang, he could feel the blur around him seem to materialise as he felt the speed at which they were travelling dwindle.

"Lucky for you, I can penetrate the atmosphere of the planet quietly and thus you won't be noticed. Once I drop you, I will immediately leave and you will be on your own. Remember, your task is to concentrate their forces into the cities. If you attract the attention of the Stage 6s on Ronghua Planet, no one can save you."

The voice of the hooded figure seemed to sober everyone out of their daze as their eyes concentrated once more. They must've arrived at Doushan Planet already.

The territories of the Huoyan Clan consisted of seven planets with the main planet being Ronghua. The planet on which the army was being taken to was Doushan, one of the six remaining planets. Since the Huoyan Clan was so small, all of their Stage 6s resided on Ronghua Planet for convenience's sake. However, this was also one of the factors that allowed the mission of the army to even be feasible in the first place.

Qing Fang looked around him and his eyes suddenly widened.

Before him was a behemoth: a planet. Doushan Planet to be specific. And it was absolutely huge in his vision. He had never considered the sheer size of planets but now that he had seen it, he felt unimaginably insignificant. Millions of lights dotted the giant sphere like hairs on ahead.

And this planet would cease to exist within the next month if the invasion was a success. Qing Fang almost felt that it was a pity, for such a grand haven of life to be subjected to the warring of mere mortals that it had given birth to. It felt sacrilegious, ungrateful and beautifully "human".

Qing Fang suddenly felt pressure on his body once again, replacing the weightlessness and breathlessness his weak Stage 3 body felt in space. He knew that they had just infiltrated the atmosphere silently. But since no Stage 6s resided on Doushan, they went unnoticed.

Then a sickening feeling assaulted his stomach and those around him as they descended at a high speed toward the ground. The millions of lights got bigger and bigger as the army got closer and closer to the soil of a foreign planet.

Qing Fang was excited. After all, this is the first planet he would have ever stepped on other than Qingpu Planet.

And then, the warm air surrounding the army, the hooded figure's domain, suddenly receded as he shot back up and left Doushan, travelling back to Qingpu at insane speeds that no one could see.

Falling to the ground from a few thousand meters, the Stage 5 commanders all shouted simultaneously.

"Formation!!"

Making up the small army was one hundred Stage 5s that all shouted at the top of their lungs. However, they didn't have to worry about being heard since they were so unimaginably high above the ground and any Huoyan Stage 5s that might grace its surface.

Hearing this, the elite soldiers of the small army extended their Law fragments and pulled the ten closest normal soldiers into their embrace, holding them securely and tightly. The normal soldiers, mostly Stage 2s, were completely helpless and could only rely on their senior brothers.

" " "Secure!!" " " Shouts of the elite soldiers filled the air once they had secured ten normal soldiers in their arms. After which, generals extended their law fragments and grabbed the closest three or two elite soldiers and brought them close.

Qing Fang reached out with gentle tendrils of water and wrapped them around the waists of two elite soldiers, and the ten normal soldiers they held, that were the closest to himself. He brought them close and held them tightly against him. Since his law fragments weren't things like fire or poison, he didn't have to hold onto them with his arms and could just hold them close like this.

And then, he shouted as loud as he could.

"General secure!!" His voice boomed out and a Stage 5 commander close by immediately locked his eyes on the body of Qing Fang.

And then, a wave of corporeal darkness reached out and wrapped itself around his waist as well as another three generals that had also confirmed being secure. Qing Fang's body was dragged through the air and then held tightly by the darkness less than a meter from the Stage 5 commander.

"Commander secure!" A deafening voice produced by the strong body of the Stage 5 reverberated just behind Qing Fang's ears as he made sure to keep his hold on the elite soldiers in his care.

The ground was fast approaching and they would make contact in less than five seconds, however, Qing Fang was calm.

And before his eyes, innumerable huge pillars of darkness shot out from the Stage 5 commander's body and penetrated deep into the earth before they had come within one hundred meters of it.

Following this, Qing Fang felt the speed at which he was falling gradually decrease until he nodded to the commander.

Then, he was let go and Qing Fang proceeded to manifest thick pillars of dense water that also slowed his descent until the elite soldiers nodded to him.

The same process was repeated with the elite soldiers nodding to him. He let them go and no longer paid any attention to them, as he was no longer responsible for their lives.

The thick pillars of water suddenly disappeared and Qing Fang went into free fall just forty meters above the ground.

Falling with an immense speed, Qing Fang hit the ground with a huge force that sent tons of dirt flying and created a mist of small debris. All around Qing Fang, the earth was smashed and destroyed as massive craters were formed by other cultivators smacking the floor with a huge force.

Out of the crater, Qing Fang emerged and waited for the elite soldiers he had grabbed to regroup with him. The moment he had grabbed them in the air, they now belonged to him in this war. And just like them, Qing Fang now answered to the Stage 5 Darkness path commander that had grabbed him.

Efficient and fast, such were the elite cultivators of the Qing Clan.

Qing Fang stood still, his heavy and dense blue armour shining in the light of an unfamiliar moon. The demonic blue gauntlets and boots craved to be plunged into flesh as soon as possible. The helmet of Qing Fang covered his entire head apart for two slits that his dark eyes looked through and the six small holes which he breathed through. Its style was a cross between a Barbuta and a Pigface Bascinet.

...

One hundred miles away.

"Do you feel that?" A Huoyan cultivator with light skin and thick, red hair asked.

The ground was shaking and it seemed as though a huge earthquake riddled the planet for miles. It had a devastating force as the cultivators' bodies shook and they knew they were extremely far from the epicentre.

"How could I not?" Another Huoyan cultivator with similar light skin and thin, burgundy hair replied.

"I didn't think we got earthquakes around here..?" The red-haired Huoyan cultivator questioned. His face was confused, his eyes narrowing as he wondered whether the planet was shifting.

"We don't." The burgundy-haired Huoyan cultivator replied. However, he took on a pondering stance as he put his hand on his chin while his eyes stared at the ground. "Hmmm, the planet is probably shifting."

"That's what I was thinking!" The red-haired Huoyan cultivator shouted as he laughed.

"Wow. This is a rare event and calls for celebration! Another shot?" The burgundy-haired Huoyan cultivator exclaimed and then looked to his friend with a mischievous glance and a smirk on his face. He pointed to two small empty glasses and a bottle of red wine that was almost three-quarters empty on the table they were seated at.

"I shouldn't..." The red-haired Huoyan looked conflicted, but seeing the wry smile on his friend's face, he relented. "Oh, go on then! Haha!"

"Fenghua, tonight we drink until the sun comes up!" The laughs of the two men filled the brothel of the small village that they were in, attracting the attention of a few whores eager to earn some tips.

...

Qing Fang followed the Stage 5 Darkness path commander as two elite soldiers followed him. The small elite army diverged in all directions from the huge crash site that was nothing but rubble for a few thousand meters. The Stage 6 hooded figure had tactfully dropped them over an extremely rural area that was barren for a few tens of miles.

The commander pointed in a direction with his hand and the four generals, Qing Fang included, led their men to follow him.

Exactly fourteen miles from them was a small hunting village.

*3,050/3,000 words*