Exalted Night Heavenly Sect: Civil War Part 1

'Child…

There will be no mediation… only war…

I'll name you or whoever you chose Sect Leader accordingly… just let me handle the Inner Court Elders…' Liao Zhen sent these words to Esmond after he saw how far the Sect had fallen.

The old cultivator noticed all of the students who were selected for the battle were practising the techniques he'd banished a long time.

Just a quick inspection of the Spiritual Cores within their bodies told Liao Zhen the influence of the banished students from the past had overhauled the Sects teachings.

He hoped there would still be Sect disciples who practised the old teachings and not the new age filth brought around because of the exiled students, yet Liao Zhen struggled to believe his own words after seeing the number of children ready for war.

None of them practised the old teachings of the Sect and clearly were influenced by the new teachings.

Liao Zhens main concern about the new teachings was the similarity they had with Demonic Sects, or those considered Barbaric Sects who would kill and brutalise people to further their own strength.

Seeing a wave of Spiritual Cores which followed the paths of the exiled students changed how Liao Zhen felt the battle should be fought.

At first, he felt like there might be some capable people worthy of being saved but Liao Zhen realised the number of innocents killed by their hands wouldn't be a small sum nor could they all have been justifiable.

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Esmond couldn't reply to the Grand Elder, as his mental strength hadn't developed to a point where he could conduct Spiritual Communication.

Considered a form of telepathy in a way, Esmond knew how to produce a similar affect through Lifeforce Control, by manipulating the Spiritual Energy in the atmosphere to carry his thoughts.

Esmond remembered the unique signature wave of Liao Zhens energy that he used it as a point of reference for his message to find the correct receiver.

After receiving Esmonds thoughts, Liao Zhen returned quickly to his side before being handed a half-face mask similar to Esmonds own.

"… I'll do as you've asked… Old man…

Wear this if you wish to hide yourself." Esmond wasn't emotional or overly involved with the Sect besides Rahzil but seeing the heavy emotion in Liao Zhens damp eyes told him that the Grand Elder clearly wasn't prepared to see thousands of students die by his hands or instructions at the very least.

Esmond thought the mask would help reduce the weight on Liao Zhens shoulders, as the deeds still may be committed by his own hands, his image as the Grand Elder wouldn't be damaged.

"I'll be fine, Child…

I don't wish to hide behind a false identity…

What kind of respect does my name entail anyway if all of those fools' performed atrocities while discarding the Sect true values…" Liao Zhen straightened his posture with his hands instinctively folding behind his back as he looked on into the distance.

Currently Esmond, Rahzil, Wang Jie, and Liao Zhen were floating in the sky, just above the great walls of the Red Tortoise Outer Wing.

Below them, the Androids were equipped with hand-to-hand weapons as well as long range guns.

Carter was connected through to the each of the Virtual Profiles, informing them about the incoming cultivators, including their coordination's through the satellites.

There were drones also in Carter's control to record everything so it could be shown in the central district of the Outer Wing.

The cultivators in wait to join the battle were also shown the battle live, though for them it was more of an indication of when they would be deployed.

Kizelars Clones Students were also back in the Space and cultivating in their strength before being brought over.

Carter made sure they knew how the fight progressed and when it would be their moment to shine but there was a chance they wouldn't be asked to fight as well.

It all depended on the first wave of the gun fire, which Esmond was ready to confirm however it was held off till the opponents took the first step.

He didn't wait long before Carter gave him the confirmation and the first wave of attack launched.

"Let them feel pain…" Esmond spoke before his eyes and those around him looked down to the side of the mountain and saw dozens of missiles being launched repeatedly.

Though the technology used to make the missiles was far ahead of the abilities present on Earth, Esmond could only wait and watch as they neared their confused targets who wondered what was flying in their direction.

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'Somethings wrong!' Thought one of the Captains leading a squad of around 100 cultivators who were his juniors.

Unable to convey his thoughts about the incoming objects before they blew up, the Captain could only try his best to protect himself against the bright burning light, overcoming all of his senses.

Knocked out of the sky and spiralling towards the ground with some painful injuries breaking his focus, the Captain happened to be lucky enough to not directly die from the shock of missiles explosion.

The might of the explosion knocked out more than a handful of people as Esmond expected, whereas dozens were initially killed from the impact of the missile.

What followed was either fatal or serious injuries that'd easily taken out hundreds from the sky, as they crashed into the deep valleys of the mountain.

Only the lucky few survived in the depths of the mountain valleys as monstrous creatures roamed the lands.

Many were even shaped by the darkness and solitude to transformed into vicious monsters close to unkillable for most unfortunate souls who'd come across them.

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Knowing the weapons worked, with Carter providing Esmond with real-time reports, he let the turrets and missiles fire off continuously, while a gate opened high up in the sky to let loose the first fleet of autonomous fighter jet drones.

'Will the Virtual Profiles controlling the jets avoid the damage from crossfire…?' Esmond asked Carter, as he noticed the jets were a sleeker and smaller version of the F-99 from the USNC database.

Some of the weapon systems included in the jets were energy-based turrets which offered greater damage and accuracy compared to conventual bullets.

'Don't worry, the materials used to create the jets will keep them protected from most damage since cross-fire is evitable.

They'll do their best to survive most of it though…' Carter mentioned the durability of the jets to dissuade any worrying thoughts forming in Esmonds mind.

His own words quickly came to be with some of the jets flying through the moment of missile impact, only to continue flying away with minimal scruffs and marks across the body of the machines.

A few of the cultivators tried to use their spiritual energy to survive the blast of the energy bullets yet the first wave of cultivator students happened to be anything but target practise for the Virtual Profiles.

Those on the ground died from more missile fire, while the few who'd somehow pushed themselves to reach a cliff on the opposite mountain were gunned down before they could heal.

It was a bloodbath that happened to let Carter test out his own capabilities with the drones and autonomous systems in place for the weapons.

The drones collecting the dead bodies and taking them back to the Space were zipping through the sky, cliffs, and valley, surviving instant death, while the jets, walled cannons and missiles brought more victims to the long queue.

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Another fleet of jet drones were sent out from a gate of the Spatial Ark Star World, flying deeper out into the battlefield and attacking the second wave of incoming cultivators which also included some Outer Wing Elders who also had adapted to the new teachings of the Sect.

Watching the battle in the far distance through the holographic screen from the wristband Rahzil gifted him long ago, Wang Jie saw Elders who he considered friends long ago but now after his Master went into seclusion, their true colours were shown.

Aware he was far from capable of battling them with his own hands due to his lack of strength, Wang Jie couldn't help but fear the machines in Esmonds control.

So far, he'd only seen the good it could offer the people but now that he'd seen the brutal side of technology, Wang Jie wondered about the frailty of cultivators before the unknown.

Liao Zhen also thought about the machines as they shredded apart the enemies, leaving them heavily damaged and broken against the constant firepower.

The Elders from the Outer Wing who eagerly went forth to fight were left wounded and struggling to keep themselves in the air.

They survived the attacks for the most part against missiles, but plasma energy cannons quickly brought them crashing out of the sky broken or near death.

Liao Zhens range of perception expanded out in the thousands of kilometres, allowing him to see how the Sect disciples and Elders rained dead out of the sky, making him think about the Inner Court Elders.

None had made a move, only keeping watch over the battle, while the Sect Leader sat back at the Grand Hall of the Sect and relaxed.

He'd left the battlefield in the sky before it started and returned to the Grand Hall as he believed the battled was won and the Outer Wing Elders who refused to participate would be next.

There were more than a dozen Outer Wing Elders that all chose to not to fight in the battle, mostly due to Liao Zhens interference.

He'd sent the message to one of his students, Meng Yazhu, to gather the few Elders he felt loyal to the Sect and its teachings rather than the new nonsense being pushed out by Sect Leader and his old friends.

To Meng Yazhus surprise there were plenty of Elders who wished to stay away from the battle, especially when it went against the Grand Elders wishes.

The Sect Leader knew nothing about Liao Zhens return however even if he did know, it wouldn't be possible to stop the battle this late into the plans taking affect.

Relaxing back on his throne seat, the Sect Leader waited for the good news from the battle, which would follow with his orders to annihilate the other traitorous Outer Wings.

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Over the course of 15 to 30 minutes, most of the forces brought from the Outer Wings were either dead, injured and struggling at the bottom of the valley or a cliff, with the remaining few trying their best to escape.

Esmond and Carter found themselves with some losses as well.

The fighter jet drones came across a stronger group of cultivators who happened to be from the Inner Courts.

They weren't spared from taking damage however it wasn't enough to stop them dead or crash them out of the sky.

Their quick agility and reflexes gave them a fighting chance, which led to a large number of drones being caught and shattered under brute strength.

Some of the drones crashed out of the sky while others were stored in the Spatial Ring artifacts of the cultivators who were curious to learn about the machines.

It was chaos and a sea of death in the sky, as Esmond increased the number of weapons taking to the field as stronger opponents finally made a move.