Eternal Cultivation Of Alchemy

The world shrank with no sign of stopping. From the look of it, as long as Alex and the War God didn’t enter another big fight, it would continue to shrink.

Alex took a moment to think through the map and decide how the world was likely changing. He didn’t have any information on matters further than what he could see, but he could imagine it was shrinking at the same rate everywhere.

He quickly theorized where the War God could be. He found two possible locations where the War God could stay and remain out of danger from him.

‘He should be doing the same thing as well,’ Alex thought. ‘He will know where I am, and he will know that I know where he most likely is. So he won’t stay there on the chance that I do attack.’

Alex began predicting where the man could go based on the previous battles and thought of some of the paths. There was still a lot he didn’t know about the War God, so he had to be careful.

He sent out a message.

The groups were to reconvene together. The two groups quickly returned to each other, and Alex began placing them around in an intricate pattern. He made four rings of warriors, each encircling the larger ones.

The first ring was the largest and held the least people. It was a ring made of scouts and assassins to search for the War God’s people and attack them if they were alone.

The second ring, inside the first one, was a ring of fighters that were mostly filled with people who were good at defending. There were about 600 people here. This ring was only small enough that those who sensed the scouts wouldn’t immediately sense them.

The third ring was right behind the second one and was made up of about 800 people who could deal out attacks from a distance.

The last ring had the remaining, complete with people who were the strongest fighters, as well as Alex.

With this battle formation, they could never be surprised from any side, as they had eyes everywhere and could move in that direction immediately. And for this exact reason, Alex decided not to search for the War God and instead let him come to him.

Some of his people needed rest, so this was the best opportunity for it.

Alex got a few minutes of free time while his people rested. Those who had been involved in battle before got to cultivate some of their Qi back, but they were still missing a bit.

He had hoped to depart when the converging wall of the world was close to reaching them, but something else happened that forced him to move.

Multicolored lights sprang from a location a decent distance away, beckoning them to move. The War God had received the meteor the last time, so giving this up would be a devastating loss.

“Move!”

The army of over 3,000 people moved in the four-ring formation, making their way toward the treasure. The scout at the front was the first to notice what it was and sent back a message.

There were 20 swords, 20 bows, 20 spears, 20 shields, and 20 armors in front of them atop a hill. It wasn’t something that either of them would want to miss. The scout sent back more messages, saying that the location was empty. There was no enemy there.

“Keep sending me messages every five seconds, no matter what.”

The scout complied, and Alex continued receiving more reports of the situation, each time telling him that there were no enemies anywhere around the treasures.

‘I don’t trust this,’ Alex thought. This was the same thing that had happened last time. There was no one there, and suddenly his team was attacked.

He wouldn’t dare let something like that happen this time.

Alex got another report, but this time from someone other than the first scout. It was a defender far back in the line. The scout was dead.

According to the defender, the attacker had appeared out of nowhere and killed the scout.

Alex’s mind failed to comprehend for a moment how that could be possible. How could his scout not sense his attacker if he was close enough to be killed within the last five seconds?

There were people with skills that made them invisible, yes, but even people who were invisible couldn’t hide from one’s spiritual sense. They would need concealment techniques, but Alex knew such a technique didn’t exist within the game at the moment. At least none of his people had it.

It could be that the War God’s army did have a few people with this skill, but there were two issues with this assumption.

If the War God’s people did have concealment, it was by design. And since it could not be a skill they started with, then it could only mean one thing.

First, that would make the game unfair. If the purpose of the war was to test the resourcefulness of the Battle Master, then each one would have the same amount of resources.

Secondly, and more importantly, this exact thing had happened the last time as well, so the chances that the same thing happened twice in a row could not be a coincidence.

If the War God’s people did have concealment, it was by design. And since it could not be a skill they started with, then it could only mean one thing.

‘A Battle Array!’ Alex thought in surprise. ‘A Battle Array that hides your physical body and aura completely from your enemy’s spiritual sense.’

It was shocking that such a thing was possible, but then, he was too new to this to question anything. He simply made sure to have his people use their own array, and then gave the command.

“CHARGE!!”

The entire army of four rings ran toward the top, each one with eyes open to search for their enemies. This time, they were on guard for anyone to sneak attack them as they didn’t rely on just their eyes.

As they reached the hill, Alex got the information he had wanted.

Beyond the hill was the entire army of the War God in a semi-circle formation as they cupped around the treasures. From what he was reported, the ends of the semi-circle were on either side of his own four rings already, and the center was closing on the treasures.

Alex foresaw a situation where his army would be wrapped from each side and attacked.

“Scouts, fall back!” he ordered. “Second and third rings, separate at the back, move to help your comrades.”

The rings broke at the back as those people ran to aid those who had met the enemy. The defenders and ranged warriors could not handle everyone by themselves, but they didn’t need to.

The final ring, which had Alex and his best soldiers, moved, heading directly toward the treasures. The second and third rings opened a pathway at the front, and through there, the main force of Alex’s army charged toward their enemy.

Nearly 1,500 men charged onto the hilltop, where the War God’s army was beginning to converge. They were closing in on the treasures, but they could not get there first.

If the War God wanted it, he was going to have to fight him for it. And Alex would sooner die than give up this time around.