Hu Xiaowang and Yan Feijun, in particular, were dumbfounded. They had always thought that Li Yan was a useless appendage in this operation. Although he had shown some impressive performances, they had attributed it to his boldness and good luck.
But now it seemed he was truly "bold."
As if he had no plan at all, Li Yan had simply barged in after finding a clue to the target. Then, after a bit of conversation, it seemed they were now about to see the target appear. It was so simple that Hu Xiaowang and Yan Feijun found it unreal.
On the other hand, Sun Guoshu wasn't thinking that much. Seeing that the two sides didn't end up fighting directly, he finally let out a huge sigh of relief.
Sun Guoshu thought to himself, "I am blessed with great fortune. I will absolutely not die here like this. I've survived for over a hundred years; I can't just give my life away for others here."
As for Bai Rou, besides admiring her junior brother Li Yan, she felt that Martial Uncle Wei and her Master had truly exceptional judgment. A matter that seemed to have no starting point was resolved by her junior brother.
Whether it was luring the enemy to disperse their forces a few days ago, entering Zhouyang Town this evening, or approaching the mission target, everything seemed particularly simple in Li Yan's hands.
Following Jiao Hua's shout, two room doors in the courtyard opened, and six disciples dressed in the attire of the Clear Spirit Sect walked out. Their eyes were all extremely dull, and the bloodstains on their bodies remained.
On the exposed skin of a few of them, wounds were still visible, but they were all like puppets, without much sign of life.
Li Yan and his group spotted one of them at a glance. It was one of the cultivators from Luoshu Lake mentioned in the jade slip. At this moment, although this person's eyes also appeared somewhat dull, when he raised his head to look at the crowd in the courtyard, Li Yan, who had been watching him closely, noticed a trace of sorrow and hatred flash quickly through the depths of his eyes.
It was a complex, intertwined emotion. Although it was just a fleeting flash, it was captured by Li Yan's powerful divine sense.
The others behind Li Yan were also overjoyed, but they all hid it well, not showing it on their faces.
"Hehehe, Fellow Daoist Li, although their cultivation is not as good as your people's, they all come from the same sect. So their cooperation is much more tacit than those randomly assembled teams. They can usually unleash thirty to forty percent more power than their own realm."
Jiao Hua, fearing that Li Yan would back out after seeing the cultivation level of his squad's cultivators, quickly explained.
His squad was all selected from the Clear Spirit Sect, which was different from ordinary squads. When cultivators from the same sect fought together, because the martial brothers understood each other's cultivation methods and characteristics, they could indeed unleash greater power.
It just wasn't as high as the thirty or forty percent he claimed. At most, it would only be an increase of less than twenty percent.
After the six people arrived in the courtyard, when Jiao Hua looked at them, his attitude had already become lofty and superior.
"We don't have time to go back and replenish our numbers this time. So from now on, we will form one team with Captain Li. You should communicate more with his subordinates to understand each other's strengths and cultivation methods, so as to complement each other in battle."
After speaking, Jiao Hua turned his head, a smile back on his face. "Fellow Daoist Li, do you have anything you need to instruct them?"
Li Yan nodded, but inwardly he sneered. "This Jiao Hua looks crude, but he's full of tricks. He didn't tell his own men that I am the captain and that they should obey my orders. His words made it sound like an equal partnership between two parties. This is clearly leaving himself a way out. If, during the integration of the two squads, he discovers anything amiss, he will probably take his men and leave immediately."
But none of this mattered to Li Yan. He was going to leave this place soon anyway. Whether it succeeded or not had nothing to do with him.
When the six Clear Spirit Sect cultivators heard that they were to be reorganized with these strangers, their faces didn't show much emotion. In these past days, their martial brothers had died tragic deaths one by one, and their hearts were already like dead ashes.
What was most unacceptable to them was that their own sect members had died at the hands of cultivators from the Desolate Moon Continent. Although they felt hatred, compared to their hatred for the demon clan, they would rather rip these demonic cultivators to shreds right now.
But they had long been placed under a restriction and were powerless to resist. Otherwise, the consequences would be extremely miserable; a fate worse than death would be a light punishment.
The demonic cultivators threatened to enslave their souls to kill their own parents, wives, children, disciples, and so on. They would deliberately let them retain a sliver of consciousness, to make them personally commit the slaughter while struggling in agony.
After they had killed all their relatives, the demonic cultivators would then refine their souls into soul oil lamps, to be burned bit by bit day and night. That kind of pain went deep into the soul, yet they couldn't even die, wailing and begging day and night. The mere thought of it made them tremble from the bottom of their hearts.
Therefore, if they could die now, it would be the most liberating thing. But they couldn't commit suicide, nor did they dare to. Even when fighting enemies, they couldn't seek their own death.
At that time, their consciousness would be lost. Everything would be under the effect of the restriction in their bodies, leaving only the instinct to attack and kill.
Every battle was the demon clan squeezing their essence blood and potential. Afterwards, when the restriction in their bodies was temporarily suppressed again and they regained their clarity of mind, their bodies would already be excessively damaged.
So this so-called reorganization with another squad meant nothing to them. They were going to die sooner or later anyway; who cared who came or went.
Li Yan scanned the six people with his eyes. "Their bodies are already in a state of utter ruin. It seems Fellow Daoist Jiao has been in quite a few battles recently. My men, on the other hand, are in excellent condition."
After scanning the six Clear Spirit Sect disciples with his divine sense, Li Yan was also shocked. Three of the six had already lost half of their essence blood, and even their Foundation Establishment cultivation was shaky.
It was possible that after one more battle, these three would die directly from the collapse of their Foundation Establishment Dao Platform. At best, they would drop directly to the Qi Condensation stage, but given the state of their bodies, the probability of death was much higher.
And among the three was the Luoshu Lake cultivator. This person's cultivation was only at the Initial-stage Foundation Establishment, but the intelligence reported one at Mid-stage and one at Late-stage. This person must have had his cultivation level drop, but it was unknown whether it had dropped twice in a row or just by one minor realm.
Hearing this, Jiao Hua quickly laughed it off. "Hehehe, these restrictions are just that potent. They can't always be controlled as one wishes. This is unavoidable, but their combat power is still impressive. Please rest assured on this point, Fellow Daoist Li."
This was also precisely why he was so eager to reorganize his team. These six Clear Spirit Sect cultivators would likely have another three die after just one more small battle. He urgently needed to find people to bolster his squad.
In the upcoming battle with the Desolate Moon Continent cultivators, although they were the main force, the role the South Sea cultivators could play had to be fully utilized. This was the order from above, so they, the demonic cultivators holding the life-and-death restriction tokens for the South Sea cultivators, were required to squeeze out the last drop of essence blood from them.
Jiao Hua and the others naturally cared a lot about this. They felt that no matter how strong they were, their numbers were ultimately limited. Faced with the endless cultivators of the Desolate Moon Continent, preserving their own strength was the top priority.
Li Yan, however, showed a dissatisfied expression. "Fellow Daoist Jiao, in that case, I'm getting the short end of the stick."
He actually wanted to agree right away, but the opponent's squad was in such a poor state that if he agreed too readily, anyone would become suspicious. Besides, there were two other demonic cultivators watching the show from the side. The logic that a bystander sees clearly was not just talk. As Li Yan spoke, a hint of refusal even appeared on his face.
Sure enough, seeing that Li Yan seemed about to leave, Jiao Hua became a little anxious. The opportunity to find someone like Li Yan, with a small but powerful team who was also looking to regroup, was rare.
Especially now that it was late at night, and they were to set out early the next morning. The other demonic cultivators arriving from the rear were basically all fully formed squads. There would be no benefit for him to join them.
He said hurriedly, "Fellow Daoist Li, Fellow Daoist Li, didn't I say this squad would be under your command? Besides, at a time like this, the town is in chaos, and it won't be easy for you to find people.
"How about this? As long as our combined team is still standing, you can take the first pick of ten percent of the spoils from this battle. The rest will then be divided equally between us. What do you think?"
The cultivation resources of the Desolate Moon Continent were truly abundant. Every time he killed an enemy, Jiao Hua would get many good things that didn't exist in the Demon Realm. He had made a great resolution to make such an offer.
Li Yan had been secretly observing the other party. He was trying to gauge the meaning behind the demonic cultivators' desire to reorganize squads. Now, he felt that the other party was just looking for more cannon fodder.
"Let me take the first pick of ten percent? Fellow Daoist Jiao, are you joking? I think I should take forty percent of the benefits first," Li Yan sneered.
"What, forty percent?" Jiao Hua almost flew into a rage upon hearing Li Yan's words. He thought, "You're too greedy!"
He was now starting to regret wanting to team up with him. This Li Yan was making an outrageous demand. But when he saw the vigorous appearance of Bai Rou and the other three, he hesitated again. They were the best candidates for cannon fodder.
He was just a Demonic Soldier. If a major battle broke out tomorrow, in a battle of that level, he would need to be at the very front.
With the restriction token in his hand, plus the one in Li Yan's, he could control ten people to stand in front. They could hold out for at least half an hour without a problem, and they only needed to follow behind and pick up the storage pouches dropped by the dead enemy cultivators.
"Fellow Daoist Li, you must be joking too. Let's be frank. How about this: twenty percent. Twenty percent at most. The rest will be divided equally. Besides, although your men are strong, we are cooperating. The two of us are just running our mouths. Otherwise, it would be difficult for me too..." Jiao Hua shook his head repeatedly as he spoke.
Although Hu Xiaowang and the others didn't fully understand Li Yan's plan, it was clearly the second step: to make contact with the mission target. Seeing Li Yan still unhurriedly bargaining with the other party, the three behind him grew anxious.
Sun Guoshu, having frequented the markets for years, was extremely familiar with this kind of tactic of playing hard to get. But at this moment, he was also secretly praying, "Young Master, it's time to agree. Don't overdo it. We still need to hurry." He was genuinely worried that Li Yan's grasp of this tactic was insufficient and that he would ruin the hard-won situation.
But the large man Li Yan had transformed into just rubbed his chin, his eyes flickering, and continued to mutter.
"Twenty percent? These six will be pretty much finished after one more offensive battle. My side can hold out for a much longer time. Twenty percent, this..." Li Yan was making his final probe. He roughly understood their use to Bai Rou and the others.
Most importantly, Li Yan wanted to confirm whether the gathering of demonic cultivators here was truly as they had speculated.