After some time, Minos, his grandfather, and the Spiritual Saint from earlier arrived in the vicinity of the battlefield between the Grey Clouds Sect and the Saints Killing Sect.
Upon arriving in this border area of the Flaming Empire and the Evergreen Empire, Minos soon noticed many craters around the area and places of burnt wood, where only ash remained in the surroundings. At the same time, one could see small circular areas with completely white, unmarked tents every few tens of kilometers.
Some of these posts were from the Saints Killing Sect, but others were from the enemies, who used this strategy to prevent long-range attacks from their opponents.
Above a particular cultivation level, cultivators could have dangerous abilities that could be used close to the limit. That could be a risk if the cultivator had an affinity for long-range attacks.
Since some attacks could be so fast and so catastrophic that the side that strikes first would win, it was crucial in a war to camouflage oneself as best as possible!
For this, using generic camps, with white tents, no symbols or flags, and neutral uniforms, such as one could see on the people in those places, was the best!
There were even ways to distinguish allies and enemies in situations similar to this. But that would require the person to be pretty close to the location in question, which prevented the problem of a long-range attack that was totally unexpected.
Someone entering the limited area to identify a friend or enemy would necessarily alert the other party. That means the group in a given camp could somehow protect itself from lone wolf attacks.
This battlefield was that way, and Minos soon heard his grandfather's explanation. "To identify our posts, you need to pay attention to the..."
Oswald talked to Minos for some time until they stopped flying when they were almost on top of one of their sect's outposts.
When they reached that point, the old sect master said to Minos. "That is the point where we will separate."
"Uh? Aren't you going to move on?" Minos asked in doubt, not understanding why this man had to go another way at the moment.
Oswald then said. "The sect masters of these two organizations..." He realized his mistake and rephrased it. "The enemy sect master and I cannot face each other unless we have different reasons than just beating each other."
That was a requirement of the emperor to lessen the chances of his state losing one or two level 79 cultivators. So, to confront each other, Oswald and Mortimer Burgess would have to be 'forced' to act. As in the example of their headquarters being attacked, or a member of their force being in danger, etc.
Otherwise, with no extra motivation, one was forbidden to act, at the risk that they would be penalized with lightning punishments if they broke such rules.
Since Oswald did not want to come even close to breaking his agreement with the emperor, he did not want to spend too much time on the battlefield without having good enough motivation at the moment.
That old man with white hair and a beard said. "Then I can't stay in that place for long and will have to return to the sect headquarters."
"I see..." Minos nodded, feeling he had nothing more to talk to his grandfather.
Oswald nodded his head to Minos and smiled just before giving some advice to the level 75 Spiritual Saint who was there to accompany Emperor Stuart on his journey.
After exchanging words for almost a minute, that Spiritual Saint accepted the mission Oswald had given him. He then accompanied Minos to that sect outpost just after they said goodbye to such an old man.
Upon landing at that temporary camp, Minos and his 'traveling companion' were stopped by sect members but soon got permission to use the infrastructure there.
The level 75 individual then asked his new leader. "Sect master, what shall we do?"
Minos looked at this man from the Coleman family, someone who should be there to serve as a bodyguard or 'travel guide,' and said. "I have my plans, but I need help from some of the members of this place. Thus, let's call all of them so I can explain what we will do."
"All of them?" That man frowned his eyebrows. "All right." But as a loyal member of the Coleman family, he would not disobey Oswald's descendant, even more so considering that Minos really was the new sect master.
Emperor Stuart might not really have all the powers his position should give him. But he had enough to order minor things, like what he was doing.
In this way, Minos had no trouble at all, and soon the leaders of that camp were in a tent where this fellow was waiting for them.
There, more than 30 leaders looked at Minos and identified him, but without understanding what his visit meant.
However, as someone so famous, a prodigy, nobody there would disrespect him or try to challenge him.
Hell, this was a battlefield, so everyone there had what it took to at least not rush in and make a fool of themselves!
Then after most of them arrived to speak with him, they sat down and were silent, waiting to find out what the situation was that had taken them away from their responsibilities.
The level 75 Spiritual Saint then said. "The new sect master, Minos Stuart, has some words for you!"
Upon hearing this, some people stood up in surprise, while others expressed concern or strangeness on their faces.
"What?"
"New sect master?"
"It can't be... The sect master..."
Gulp!
While some thought Oswald had died, Minos stood up and began to speak. "The old man passed on his function to me, but he is not dead yet... Anyway, I am here as I want this battalion to help me on the battlefield."
The voices of doubt in the surroundings diminished as those people once again focused on Minos.
"I intend to leave for the conflict area in the vicinity of this outpost. I want your group to assist me in directing the enemies toward something I will soon show you."
"This will help us fight more easily on the battlefield and eliminate enemy forces... Maybe our group will even have the opportunity to return home sooner if we do our task well." He explained, trying to encourage these people to do their best later.
Many were in this place for their responsibilities, not because they loved the sect so much that they wanted to risk their lives for it.
They even loved some people who were in the sect and depended on it. But this did not bring a sense of urgency to everyone to the same extent, resulting in not every soldier giving their best on the battlefield.
Since many of them wanted to return to the sect headquarters and enjoy their spoils of war, hearing those sweet words from Minos was very pleasant.
It would not make them crazy to kill themselves for a greater purpose. Still, it was enough for them to focus on Minos' plan and help him more positively than they would have if he had not encouraged them.
...
