Liu Wei opened his eyes and breathed in the cool, damp air. The earthy smell of the pine forest welcomed him back in the real world after his excursion into the depths of the Dao of Fire. It had gotten warmer these past days and what had been falling snow was now more often than not torrential rainfall. Spring hadn't quite come, but it seemed like it would arrive quite early this year.

He stood up and strolled to the edge of the stone platform he, Long Zhao and Sun Liang were resting on. It was a large rocky formation, just towering up in the midst of the forest; easy to find but hard to stumble upon.

Liu Wei let his gaze wander over the treetops and the forest below them. He knew that Yue Zhong was somewhere down there – his senses briefly catching her had been what had drawn him out of cultivation in the first place – but he had no chance of spotting the shadow cultivator out in the forest like this.

His steady improvement at detecting her presence throughout their time out here had perhaps been the only good thing to happen these past few weeks. As was to be expected, she had soon caught on to what he was doing, but hadn't brought it up to object. Instead, she had steadily increased how much she hid her presence when approaching them, making it more and more challenging for him to catch her. Their silent game had been going on for weeks now and Liu Wei had the feeling that she was learning just as much as he was.

As his eyes continued to fruitlessly search the forest, Liu Wei concentrated on his soul sense. He waited patiently until, about twenty meters away, he felt the hint of her presence again. Honing in on the spot, he could soon perceive her perfectly well, gliding through the shadows as she was, and he turned to face her.

Yue Zhong let her stealth fall away and jumped into the air, landing on the plateau with the grace of a gentle breeze. Long Zhao and Sun Liang ended their cultivation sessions as well and stood up to greet her.

"Elder Zhong. It's good to have you back with us. Say, was your excursion to Silver-Resin City successful?"

She bowed to the patriarch before answering.

"I know where the army of Elder Song Fan is headed."

"That's a relief!", Sun Liang exclaimed, and Liu Wei couldn't help but agree with him. After their initial success at the School of Blooming Dawn, they had spent weeks tracking down and then shadowing another, smaller army, hoping for a similarly good opportunity to attack.

In the end, such an opportunity hadn't come, and they had decided to attack on their own. While they had come out unscathed, they naturally hadn't been able to take any prisoners, so they found themselves lacking up-to-date intelligence. They'd found remains of an encampment in the ruins of the Raging Bear Sect, but a thunderstorm had wiped away all traces of where that army had gone. Five days of fruitless search, they had headed for the nearby Siver-Resin City and sent Yue Zhong to gather information. Had she come back empty-handed, they'd have to continue scouring the lands without a good plan.

"I can't wait to hear your report, but let us sit down first."

They did as Patriarch Zhao said, and Liu Wei laid out a map of the peninsula in their middle.

"So, what did you find?"

"I'm afraid nothing uplifting. The army headed by Song Fan has discovered Elder Rong's and Elder Xia's relief force. They are marching to intercept them."

Long Zhao drew in a sharp breath of air.

"I assume you are certain about this information's accuracy?"

Yue Zhong nodded.

"I found a deserter from Song Fan's army. Came here to get some wounds treated and to prepare her further escape. The information comes directly from her mouth and I'm very confident in my ability to discern she was telling the truth."

"I would never doubt that, Elder Zhong. Well, this is bad news then."

"The deserter… what happened to her?", Sung Liang asked

"I killed her. No need for loose ends."

Sung Liang nodded.

"Good. Saves us time."

Liu Wei remained silent. This wasn't the time for disagreements, and he wasn't exactly surprised; the Zong family was notorious for many things, but mercy was certainly not among them. And though he of course disagreed with handling things this way, he had to admit that there was no good way to act in a situation like this, that wouldn't either leave them potentially exposed or cost them time to deal with.

"The army. What about it?", Patriarch Zhao asked.

"As I said, they are marching after Elder Rong's Party. Seems like we missed them by only a day or so at the Raging Bear Sect. Deserter estimated they'd reach it in between seven to nine days."

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"So right about now. Then Elder Rong's group can't be far from the Serene Plains Sect anymore.", Liu Wei said, pointing at an area on the map. "Assuming they know they've been spotted and aren't keeping to the forests anymore, they should be somewhere around here."

The others nodded and Yue Zhong continued.

"Song Fan is not with the army anymore; he went off somewhere after they found out about our force. Deserter didn't know where though."

Liu Wei stroked his beard as he thought the situation over for a moment.

"I'd say he went straight to Patriarch Zhou. He's smart enough to conclude that our Sect has joined the war. If he didn't figure out our strategy immediately, a few scouting Elders will confirm it within two or three days if they start looking for their lost armies. Messengers from their territory should have arrived by now as well, so I think we can be reasonably sure that Patriarch Xing and the remaining armies are marching back to the Roaring Thunder Sect by now."

"Then the army heading for our relief force is on a suicide mission. They're supposed to stop them from reaching the Serene Plains Sect and then serve as a distraction to keep Patriarch Ye from interfering at the Roaring Thunder Sect. What is that army's strength without Song Fan?"

"Six Dao Contemplation Cultivators, the strongest at the fourth stage, and eight hundred Dao Attunement ones."

"Shit.", Sun Liang cursed. "That's too much for them to handle."

"The elders would be manageable, but the rest of the army can't withstand such an assault. They have few warriors in their rows.", Long Zhao agreed. "We'll have to assist them, or they may be wiped out!"

Sun Liang looked ready to jump to his feet.

"Even if our Elder Xia and Elder Rong escape, our sect can't afford losing that many crucial members!"

Liu Wei remained demonstratively calm.

"I don't think anyone was considering leaving our sect members to die, Elder Liang. No matter whether they are 'useful' or not."

"What about the other armies though?", Long Zhao asked. "They're still marching towards our own forces as we speak."

Liu Wei stroked his beard again, considering for a while before answering.

"Honestly, I'd say we can take our time with them. Fully manned, the Tidebreaker is unbreakable. Its defenses are better than any minor sects' and they can retreat into the open ocean anytime they want. Without several exceedingly powerful Water Dao practitioners besieging it is impossible, even Xing Zhao can't change that."

"Absolutely not," Sun Liang agreed, "they'll crack their teeth against it. Sitting ducks, that's what they are. All we must take care off is Song Fan's army, then we can march to the Roaring Thunder Sect alongside Patriarch Ye and properly squash them."

Liu Wei nodded. For once, he and Sun Liang could agree on something.

Long Zhao didn't seem entirely convinced.

"Hmm… What if our forces are caught unaware?"

Liu Wei frowned.

"Patriarch, Elder Bai isn't a first-year disciple. He'll have established a beachhead and be slowly advancing on the nearby sects and towns by now, sending out scouts and making sure he's able to retreat at a moment's notice. It's the only sensible strategy and the whole point of bringing a swimming fortress like the Tidebreaker in the first place. He knows that."

Long Zhao nodded along in thought, but Yue Zhong raised an objection.

"With all due respect Elder Wei… that's not how Elder Bai operates."

Liu Wei's frowned again, but he didn't speak up. Yue Zhong rarely shared her opinion openly, so he'd much rather hear her out than rush to retort her.

"As I'm sure you're aware, Elder Bai is extremely prideful and, as such, prone to underestimating an enemy. He's also not that difficult to predict; His decision-making process is rather simple and hasn't changed in a long time: He identifies the most convenient scenario for himself and his family and then tries to take the shortest path available to him to get there."

Liu Wei's frown deepened as he tried to match Elder Bai's past actions onto this description. It fit most of his actions disturbingly well, the exception being when he had acted directly out of his hurt pride.

"In this case, I believe I can tell you exactly what Elder Bai will want to achieve.", Yue Zhong continued. "He will want to be the one to lead an army into the Roaring Thunder Sect, conquering it himself. For that, he needs to break their defenses before we arrive to aid him, and Patriarch Zhao takes over command. I'm not certain if he'll be reckless enough but if he is, he'll…"

"… march straight at the sect itself.", Liu Wei completed her sentence with a breathless voice. He felt his heart tighten and didn't care to hide it. Qingge was in that army. Everyone was in that army.

It was hard to believe that anyone would be that reckless, no matter the gains. Then again, they were talking about the man who, just half a year ago, had openly attacked the Training Hall just because Liu Wei had been temporarily absent from the sect. Could they really count on him acting logically?

Liu Wei bit his lip – no, they couldn't.

"We need to head to the Roaring Thunder Sect."

"Elder Wei?"

"If our forces are caught unaware, they'll lose to Xing Zhou's forces – badly. Elder Bai is the strongest Elder currently with our forces, and he's four stages beneath Xing Zhou. And Song Fan is a stage above him as well. And they are fighting on home turf, right next to their sect – if need be, every last of their disciples will join the fight.

"Elder Zhong is right – it may be unlikely, but it's not impossible that Elder Bai will order a direct assault on the Roaring Thunder Sect. We can't afford to take a chance on this!"

"But what about Elder Rong's force?", Sun Liang asked, visibly tense.

Liu Wei took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. Before he could answer, Long Zhao did in his stead.

"We'll split. You and Elder Zhong move to assist them, Elder Wei and I head to the Roaring Thunder Sect."

"That's good.", Liu Wei agreed. "If I may add a suggestion, let's remember that Elder Rong's force is probably rather close to the Serene Plains Sect by now. One of you should head there instead and get assistance from them, while the other stalls the attacking army."

"I'll do that", Yue Zhong stated. "Elder Liang is stronger than me and I'll be able to move unobstructed, if any enemy remained behind."

"Then we have a plan.", Long Zhao stated. "No time to lose!"

"Good luck."

"To you as well. We'll follow you as soon as we can, with as much assistance as possible."

With that, the four cultivators shot up into the air, splitting up in three directions. Soon, Sun Liang and Yue Zhong were out of sight and Liu Wei remained alone with his Patriarch. The two dashed towards the horizon with a speed only a couple people on the peninsula could match, uncertainty and fear for their people only serving to urge them forward even faster.

The race for the Roaring Thunder Sect was on.

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