Splitting the Heavens-Chapter 2075: Reorganizing the Battle Formation
"True Immortal Chu!" The Cai siblings yelled almost in unison, their faces lighting up with delight.
They turned toward the voice, and the stunning beauty who greeted their sight was none other than Chu Jia.
At the same time, the surging aura around her made it clear that her cultivation had successfully crossed the chasm, allowing her to step into the level of Dao Harmony, becoming a high-level True Immortal.
"How did you advance without us sensing any disturbance beforehand?" Unable to suppress her curiosity, Cai Yingxue could not help but ask.
Each step forward for a True Immortal usually triggered a massive heavenly phenomenon, let alone that Chu Jia crossed the largest bottleneck in the Martial Void Realm, separating an ordinary True Immortal and a high-level True Immortal.
Yet from the moment Chu Jia went into seclusion to her appearance, they had not sensed any phenomenon or fluctuation.
Chu Jia smiled and explained, "I used a bunch of formations to contain the fluctuations caused by my breakthrough.”
Cai Yingxue’s eyes widened in sudden realization, "Right! Ah, I was so shocked at your appearance, I forgot to congratulate you on your breakthrough!"
Cai Zhuifeng, though he had not spoken, also cupped his hands to offer congratulations along with Cai Yingxue.
Given the situation the fleet faced, their pleasantries were brief. Chu Jia took the initiative to ask about their current predicament. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎
Cai Zhuifeng swiftly described the state of the surrounding void and concluded, "Wolves are circling on every side. My sister and I were already stretched thin, and our fleet suffered a lot. Fortunately, you broke through! It would be best for you to take charge and command our fleet.”
As Cai Zhuifeng spoke, Chu Jia’s divine soul had already spread outward to verify what he described one by one. Hearing him voluntarily hand over command of the fleet, Chu Jia did not refuse at all and only said, "Since the situation was urgent, I will not stand on ceremony. Next, I will make partial adjustments to the fleet as a whole, but the two large Star Ships you control will remain as our trump cards. If we work in concert in this battle, we might well turn defeat into victory!"
The Cai siblings couldn’t help but gasp. They had thought that even if Chu Jia, a Formation Grandmaster, could handle the fleet well and form an even stronger battle formation.
They felt that, against so many Star Pirate groups, holding out until the Invincible Pirates arrived would be extremely commendable.
They had not expected Chu Jia’s appetite to be so large. Not only did she show no intent to break out and link up with reinforcements, but she even meant to defeat the Star Pirate Groups that surrounded them.
They truly did not know whether she was being arrogant or whether she had absolute confidence.
At that point, however, the siblings had no room to voice their doubts. After Chu Jia took over command of the entire fleet, her first orders were directed straight at the siblings, or, more precisely, at the two large Star Ships, the Chasing Wind and the Welcoming Snow.
"To travel in a circular motion toward the middle of the fleet?"
Upon receiving Chu Jia’s transmission, Cai Zhuifeng immediately raised his objection. "Without the two large Star Ships guarding the front and back, the fleet’s ends could become targets and throw the whole battle formation into chaos."
Chu Jia’s reply was exceedingly calm. "Rest easy. They won’t dare to do that."
Cai Zhuifeng was about to speak further when a transmission from Cai Yingxue aboard the other large Star Ship stopped him.
With Cai Yingxue’s persuasion, both large Star Ships, originally at either end of the fleet and separated by several hundred miles, left their positions and began to move in different directions.
The movements of the two large Star Ships were detected almost at once by the various Star Pirate Groups lurking in the surrounding void.
Though none of the super Star Pirate Groups could tell what the Cai siblings were planning to do, at their chiefs’ urging, they quickly moved again. They didn’t even care about the mighty strike that had been unleashed earlier.
"Why are they acting so hastily?"
Lin Xiangjie, the second-in-command of the Rongyue Pirates, asked Cui Wu, the chief of another super Star Pirate Group.
Although the hunt against the Essence Luxuriant Heavenly Field’s fleet by the various Star Pirate Groups was conducted mostly as independent operations, there was still considerable tacit understanding. At the very least, the upper echelons of several groups could communicate in time to avoid conflict before they took down their target.
Some chiefs had arrived early, others late, and the Stargazers of the Essence Luxuriant Heavenly Field’s fleet were disturbing the surrounding void channels. As a result, the number of experts who had arrived from the different groups was different for the moment.
In particular, for the super Star Pirate Groups, most acted in accord with instructions from Sages from the Heavenly Field supporting them. Only their chiefs could communicate with their Sage in real time.
The Rongyue Pirates happened to be in just such an awkward position. Their second-in-command, Lin Xiangjie, had arrived first and was temporarily commanding their fleet.
Their original plan of steady encroachment suddenly changed because the chiefs of several other super Star Pirate Groups who had arrived in advance reacted in unison, yet Lin Xiangjie did not know the reason.
Helpless, he had to ask the chief of another super Star Pirate Group for guidance.
"The Invincible Pirates already broke through three layers of void blockade in succession and are rushing this way!" Fortunately, Cui Wu, chief of the Kuigang Pirates, did not hide it from him. "The Cai siblings’ large Star Ships, the Chasing Wind and Welcoming Snow, suddenly changed formation. Something is definitely up. Most likely, they already received word that the Invincible Pirates are about to arrive.”
"How was that possible?" Lin Xiangjie cried out, "To break three blockades in a row... Are those women really that strong?!”
Cui Wu shot him a glance and snorted, "Do not forget, it was those very women who forced their way into the 4th Starsea Market back then! What’s more..."
"What?" Lin Xiangjie asked reflexively.
A solemn light flickered in Cui Wu’s eyes. "What is more, there’s a Sage in that fleet. Even though he hasn’t acted personally so as not to break the rules, none of the traps and formations laid along their way could be concealed from them. The Invincible Pirates’ fleet had been sweeping forward like a crashing tide!"
"Another Sage?!" Lin Xiangjie almost yelped. "The Heaven Observation Star Region had been around for decades by now, and the Essence Luxuriant World is no longer unknown in the Chaotic Sea of Stars. Do they not already have the high-level Sage, Shang Xia, and the mid-level Sage, Kou Chongxue, who uses a peerless sword art? Where did they get a third Sage?! What kind of Heavenly Field are they to support three Sages?!”
"The Sage accompanying the Invincible Pirates should be Sage Shang’s clone. The problem is that he possesses the strength of a third star Sage!”
A sonorous grunt suddenly broke through the void. A moment later, a super Star Ship forced open a passage through the disturbed space and completed its journey amid a chorus of teeth-grinding creaks. The mottled hull showed that the overall damage might not be deep, but there were far too many damaged spots.
"Big Brother!" Hearing the voice, Lin Xiangjie’s face brightened with joy.
"True Immortal Nian has arrived!" From another direction, Cui Wu also greeted the burly figure on the newly arrived super Star Ship.
The chief of the Rongyue Pirates guided the super Star Ship, Rongyue, into formation among his fleet before grunting, "It looked like things were not going too smoothly here either?"
Lin Xiangjie hurried to say, "You might not know, but the Essence Luxuriant Heavenly Field’s fleet’s resistance was fierce. Fortunately, they also suffered great losses. It’s just that their fleet is far too large. Even after losing a dozen or two dozen ships, we failed to make a dent in them!"
"What about our losses?" Before Lin Xiangjie finished, the chief cut in with a question.
"Uh..." Lin Xiangjie mumbled once before he answered, "A medium Star Ship and a small Star Ship were lost, with several others slightly damaged, but..."
"Hmph. You even lost a medium Star Ship? Useless!" True Immortal Nian cursed bluntly.
Lin Xiangjie’s expression turned exceedingly ugly, but he did not dare defy him in the least and lowered his head. "Yes..."
True Immortal Nian did not seem inclined to let Lin Xiangjie off. He was about to say more when Cui Wu’s voice suddenly came from the other fleet. "Brother Nian, since your main ship is here, does this mean we can send the rest of our fleet over?”
True Immortal Nian paused, reined in the anger in his tone, and said blandly, "I’m afraid not. The reason my Rongyue could traverse the void was that our hull is sturdier and this super Star Ship has many formations suited for void transit. The other ships will still have to wait a bit for a smooth passage."
"A pity. Still, the strength gathered by our several groups should already be sufficient!" Cui Wu sounded a little regretful, but in truth, he already felt victory in hand.
Even the newly arrived True Immortal Nian agreed. "The initiative is indeed in our hands."
He had scolded Lin Xiangjie only because their losses were too large, not because the situation was unfavorable.
Lin Xiangjie lowered his gaze, hiding his thoughts.
Though some distance separated them, Cui Wu seemed to have a clear sense of what had just happened among the Rongyue Pirates and continued, "The Cai siblings are now in disarray. The pair had been decent enough, commanding a large Star Pirate Group, but now, they have to handle such a massive fleet. Sage Shang really had no choice but to keep using them... Huh?! What’s this?! How did they slip out from the middle?"
