Surviving In My Novel 122 Elder's Trial 3

"Hmmm…" Simon browsed his eyes and rubbed his chin gently as he got a better view of his new charges. Out of all of them, none could be said to be strong. They were all more or less standard infantry soldiers with a little bit of cultivation. Against a core formation expert or a peak Foundation Building Warrior, none of them would be able to fight back. This of course left Simon worried.

"For the glory of the Divine Tempest Sect!" They raised their swords and chanted.

The troops were more or less fearless at this point, so morale was not something that Simon really needed to work on. His only concern was that they would all be mowed down by a single Core Formation expert with a gun because of their low skill standards and power. If that were to happen, Simon would obviously fail the test.

"How many of you know how to dig holes?" Simon asked plainly to the soldiers.

"All of us."

"Good, each of you will practice how to dig holes and set pit traps." Simon said as he ripped a bamboo stick from a plant.

"You will sharpen the tip and coat it with your Qi to strengthen it. All you need to do afterwards is dig a hole put the sticks in the ground. I would personally prefer it if you make layers of trenches around our current position. As for how we will attract the attention of the demonic sect, we can just make a few announcements."

"Sir! What do we do if the demonic sects do not come? Shall we attack their sect?" A soldier asked.

"No, we will plant more traps around their sect at night time. Then we will send people in to plant traps at the front door of their buildings. We will also place traps around their public gathering places and place more traps around their gates. You are not yet strong enough to do full frontal conflicts, so this will have to do."

"How will we bring glory to our sect if we do not even have a chance to battle?" The soldier looked somewhat confused, as if he was expecting a fight and 'fight' was the only thing he knew.

Theoretically, a standard Core Formation expert cannot fly because of their lack of control over their own power. As such, Foundation Building warriors and below are also the same. Thus, travelling on foot is the norm for most cultivators. Simon knew this much because he made the novel's world and he had to scale appropriately. Thus, from Nascent Soul, a cultivator could slowly build their flying capabilities.

Knowing this, Simon just wanted to complete the task in the most efficient way possible. Traps just so happened to be the best way to slowly eat away at the demonic sect that had been harming disciples. Since none could fly and pit traps were never used in the novel, Simon knew that most would not check where they place their feet if it looked somewhat normal.

"Bring glory through results! Methods, as long as they comply with the conventions of war, do not matter. Results speak for themselves." Simon pa.s.sionately spoke as he internally yawned.

'Don't question it, I am doing all of you a huge favour by not sending you off into a suicide battle against high cultivation experts with guns. At long range, a rifle always beats a gun.'

"You shall all start work on the trap formation starting now! Make sure to cover the traps with leaves and lightly sprinkle sand over them to hide them. I expect each and everyone of you to finish building 100 traps otherwise you will be severely reprimanded and stripped of your occupation!"

"Remember to stay out of sight when you are doing this, I do not want the enemy sect members to find out our plan before it even comes into action!"

The soldiers began digging and digging for the rest of the day. Each moment was another hole or two being created. Another would be filled with sharp bamboo sticks and covered with leaves and sand. The soldiers worked quite well in this manner, afraid they would stuff up and lose their jobs at the sect.

While Simon had envisioned for each hole to be at least two metres deep, most of them ended up at merely one and a half metres below the ground, barely enough to completely house a person's body. While this craftsmans.h.i.+p was not perfect, it would probably do the job well enough. He only needed demonic sect members to wander and fall into a trap and they would no doubt die after a few minutes from blood loss if not treated straight away.

In a war against an enemy with stronger warriors, Simon needed to adapt in a way where he could use the weakest soldiers to topple the tallest of goliaths. If they could defeat his soldiers in a standard battle, he would resort to hit and run tactics and hunt strong targets while they are alone and vulnerable. The demonic sects of this world used that tactic a lot, hunting as a group and hara.s.sing disciples of other sects. Thus, that will be what happens to them.

Of course, after 12 hours of building, the formation was finished and Simon could be seen to have a vicious smile on his face.

"You there." Simon pointed at the soldier that asked him how traps would bring glory to the sect.

"What's your name?"

"Gu Mo."

"There is no Gu Mo in my army." Simon instantly responded, dropping a roster sheet in front of the soldier.

"I...This...It must be a mistake!" The man panicked, clenching his teeth and shaking all over, dripping with cold sweat.

"No it's not. You questioned my plan and tried to manipulate me to fight a frontal conflict, don't think you can fool me." Simon smiled coldly.

BANG

The soldiers were shocked. They just witnessed a man being executed after their general found out he was a spy. How insightful was their general? Not too insightful, he just knew that when a lowly soldier tries to say something that can compromise their general's legitimacy, they are not really on the same side; especially when the soldier is using glory to appeal to his fellow troops. One could say that is a pa.s.sive coup d'état.

Simon did not need any of that right now. He would much prefer for his troops to not doubt him and just follow his orders like a bunch of good little Foundation Building soldiers. Even his juvenile disciples were stronger than these soldiers. Just one of Simon's disciples could destroy an entire army of these men. It was really not that hard. However, facing off against Core Formation experts might still be a worthy challenge for them.

"As all of you may know, we are here to destroy the demonic sect that has been plaguing our Divine Tempest Sect. We have already entered phase 1 of this plan. I just need you all to take positions in the trees and watch a radius of traps. Should an enemy fall into a trap that is within your radius, kill them, get rid of the body and reset the trap. 

Simon had already spread false news that a rare spirit beast had been seen roaming the area, so he knew that the demonic sect would send many talented people to capture or kill the entirely invented beast. At that time, they would fall into the traps and die.

"Sir! We will go find positions now! For the glory of the Divine Tempest Sect!" The soldiers saluted and headed out into various corners of the forest.

It was now midday, Simon watched the scene from above the trees. His soldiers were all waiting for action among the various branches and did not dare make any sounds. Each of them had their swords readied to finish any unsuspecting enemy that walked into their traps. There would be no survivors today.

His army was efficient, not well made up, but efficient. With a decent general, all they had to do was listen and repeat his instructions word by word. Soon enough, they would be annihilating an entire demonic sect through traps.

It may not be the most glory inducing tactic in the world, but at least it was technically original.

"AAAARGH!!" A person fell into one of the pit traps and began screaming in pain.

PUCHI

A sword pierced the victim's heart and no scream was left to be heard. This happened again and again.

The members of the demonic sect came to check what was going on when a scream occured. Each time, another person would fall into a hidden pit trap and would be subsequently killed. There was no time for playing games in the battlefield.

The poor demonic sect never stood a chance.