Chapter Sixty-Five: Total War

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The atmospheric stratosphere, also known as the isothermal layer, lies above the troposphere and below the mesosphere. In mid-latitude regions, the lower boundary of the stratosphere is ten kilometers above the Earth's surface, while its upper boundary is about fifty kilometers high. The stratosphere is warmer above and colder below; as altitude increases, the temperature remains nearly constant at first, then rises rapidly. Air currents within the stratosphere flow mainly horizontally, with weak vertical motion, resulting in stable airflow and the absence of convection.

If the approach of the moon is to be halted, the only way is for forty-nine immortal masters to arrange a joint “Heavenly Canopy and Earth Support Formation” in the stratosphere, combining both the Celestial Canopy and Terrestrial Support arrays, casting their spell from a distance of a hundred and eight thousand li, holding the moon at bay.

However, this formation is exceedingly fragile, barely capable of withstanding any external magical assault. Therefore, it must be flanked by protective arrays on either side: to the left, the “Six Ding and Six Jia Formation” formed by the BRAVE group; to the right, the “Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams Formation” assembled by the HOPE group. Since there are no clouds above the mid-stratosphere, these three formations have nowhere to be anchored, and the only option is to use the Academy of the Dao as the base.

Yet, if both sides fight near or even within the academy itself, not only would the institution suffer devastating physical damage, the three Qimen Dunjia arrays would also be destroyed. Should the primary array—the Heaven and Earth Combined Formation—be broken, there would be no further defense against the moon’s collision, and all would be lost!

Thus, it is necessary to establish footholds for the immortals, humans, and spirits within the cloudless stratosphere—a corridor stretching over two thousand li in length and more than ten li in height. The academy’s magical devices and cranes can only support about a thousand people flying in the stratosphere; the remaining disciples, without a place to stand, would force the main battlefield down to the troposphere, the atmospheric layer closest to the ground. The troposphere, though offering clouds as footing, brings several new problems.

First, the troposphere is the lowest atmospheric layer, containing nearly eighty percent of the atmosphere’s mass and over ninety percent of its water vapor. Its lower boundary meets the ground, and its upper boundary varies with latitude and season. In southern regions, the troposphere is about ten to eighteen kilometers above the ground. At present, it is autumn; the troposphere is higher than in winter, but slightly lower than in summer. Even if counted as twenty kilometers, this battle is highly likely to impact surface cities, inflicting severe damage and causing massive civilian casualties.

Second, and most crucially, if the Academy descends to the troposphere, the “Heaven and Earth Combined Formation” would fall outside its effective range, allowing the moon to draw even closer. The resulting gravitational pull would cause sea levels to rise drastically, submerging over ninety percent of the landmass. Global sea levels would soar to an astonishing three thousand meters or more, tsunamis could reach heights of thirty-five hundred meters, and the Earth would suffer an unprecedented deluge.

Of the world’s ten great plateaus, only three with an average elevation above three thousand meters might offer refuge: in Asia, the Tibetan Plateau (average elevation over four thousand meters) and the Pamir Plateau (average five thousand eight hundred fifty meters); in South America, parts of the Bolivian Plateau (average three thousand eight hundred meters) and the Ecuadorian Plateau (average three thousand meters). These four plateaus comprise a total area of just 3.1 million square kilometers; discounting areas below three thousand meters, the actual habitable space for human survival would be less than a million square kilometers.

The remaining six plateaus, all below three thousand meters, include the Antarctic Ice Plateau (average two thousand five hundred meters), the Ethiopian Highlands (two thousand two hundred meters), the Mexican Plateau (two thousand meters), the Greenland Ice Plateau (one thousand nine hundred meters), the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau in Asia (two thousand meters), and the Armenian Plateau (two thousand meters). Though classified as plateaus, these regions would be submerged more than a thousand meters below sea level, making human survival nearly impossible.

Therefore, the Academy must remain suspended within the stratosphere. Since the total strength of the enemy cannot yet be fully assessed—though it is known that the number of monstrous beasts may reach several million—it would be suicidal to withdraw the main fighting force to the troposphere and place the three great Qimen Dunjia arrays at the front lines. Crowding all combatants into the academy, a mere speck in the vast stratosphere, would be equally perilous.

The current monstrous horde is estimated at some five million. In the academy’s internal war council, the Star Lord Daoling decreed that disciples under fourteen need not fight, while those above may volunteer. In the end, nearly all eligible, compassionate students enrolled for battle.

The academy’s fighters—immortals, humans, and spirits—number about thirty thousand. Against the anticipated beast horde, each must face a hundred foes.

What remains is to construct, in the empty stratosphere, an “aerial battle corridor” two thousand li long, covering roughly one hundred fifty thousand square kilometers—its length spanning four provinces and its area equivalent to the entire province of Guangdong.

Suspending the academy itself in the stratosphere already requires boundless immortal magic. To float a landmass the size of Guangdong within the stratosphere is simply impossible.

On the evening of the following day, as preparations continued, the Academy convened a second war council, its greatest challenge: how to build this aerial corridor. Due to Huasheng’s mischief at the last meeting, he was excluded this time. Fortunately, the Young Lord Supreme was still in attendance.

Before the meeting, Huasheng accompanied the Young Lord Supreme to the lakeshore of Drunken Heart Lake. Both were at a loss regarding the corridor, pinning their hopes on Star Lord Daoling, Master Jueguang, and Master Yuran for a solution.

The Young Lord Supreme sighed, “This corridor is crucial, but I worry whether Jin Fanyin, Sun Xiaoming, and the others can adapt in time. Sending these youngsters to the front within days is too cruel.”

Huasheng replied, “Isn’t it the same for everyone here at the Academy?”

In every age, disasters are inevitably borne by the young; the mistakes of history are likewise paid for by youth.

The Young Lord Supreme drew a deep breath, rallying himself. “The meeting is about to begin. I hope all goes well. Don’t just wait here, Huasheng—go check on Jin Fanyin and Sun Xiaoming. Those hundred or so need someone like you to help them adjust.”

Huasheng did not answer.

The Young Lord Supreme turned to see Huasheng staring blankly at a red lantern on a distant building. He was about to speak when Huasheng suddenly shouted, “Ah!”

“What’s gotten into you?” The Young Lord Supreme was startled.

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“I’ve got it! I’ve got it! I’ve figured it out!”

“Figured out what?”

Huasheng began to dance about like a mad child, gripping the Young Lord Supreme’s arm, both hands and voice trembling. “The aerial battle corridor in the stratosphere! That corridor!”

“What? You’re shaking me dizzy!” The Young Lord Supreme was as shocked as before.

Huasheng then shared his proposal for building the “aerial battle corridor.” The Young Lord Supreme’s jaw nearly dropped to the floor.

“Are you sure? Can ordinary people really do this in so short a time?” the Young Lord Supreme asked in amazement.

“If there’s anywhere in the world it can be done, it’s here!”

Moments later, at the war council in the Star Pavilion by Drunken Heart Lake, the Young Lord Supreme presented the idea as soon as the meeting began.

“Our goal is to provide a footing for our disciples in the ‘Stratospheric Engagement.’ The solution is: launch hundreds of millions of Sky-Prayer Lanterns from the ground to construct an aerial corridor in the stratosphere!”

This was Huasheng’s “Sky-Prayer Lantern Battle Corridor.”

Sky-Prayer Lanterns, commonly known as Kongming or Wish Lanterns, usually reach about a kilometer in altitude. Under ideal conditions, high-quality lanterns can reach nearly ten kilometers. If disciples stationed near the top of the troposphere use immortal magic to shield the lanterns from extinguishing, they can ascend to stratospheric heights.

With floating lanterns as stepping stones, the academy’s teachers and students can traverse between them, employing cloud-riding arts to repel the invading beasts.

Ultimately, the “Sky-Prayer Lantern Corridor” proposed by Huasheng and put forward by the Young Lord Supreme became a key component of the “Stratospheric Engagement.” As long as the moon’s approach could be halted, the spirit serpent sealed, and Mingyou defeated, disaster might yet be averted.

With this plan, the second war council progressed rapidly.

The Academy’s three great arrays: the primary “Heaven and Earth Combined Formation” would be led by Star Lord Daoling, with Master Qingmiao assisting, and a total of forty-nine immortal masters arranging the array, spreading it across the sacred Black Tortoise Mountain of the academy.

To the left, the “Six Ding and Six Jia Formation” would be anchored to the four grand pavilions—Sithian, Huixian, Qixian, and Yuxian—and formed by sixty-four male members of the BRAVE group, with their captain Jin Fanyin at the core. This formation would serve as the main artillery, primarily assaulting the Black Tortoise Spirit Serpent.

To the right, the “Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams Formation” would be rooted in Drunken Heart Lake, formed by sixty-four female members of the HOPE group, standing upon the water, using the soft to restrain the hard. Their captain Sun Xiaoming would serve as the array’s heart, responsible for the Academy’s defensive works.

These two formations, one centered on lofty pavilions and the other on water, would together shield the central “Heaven and Earth Combined Formation.” The three arrays comprised one hundred seventy-seven participants. If even one is absent, the array’s power halves; if three or more are missing, the formation collapses. If attacked at such a time, especially since the flanking formations are comprised of mortals, defeat would be immediate and catastrophic.

To safeguard the Academy’s central arrays, the outer perimeter would be staffed by the Academy’s disciples. Master Jueguang would command eight thousand disciples in the “Golden Light Wedge Formation” at the uppermost stratosphere, to hold back the powerful Mingyou and the Black Tortoise Serpent.

Outside the left formation, Master Huolei would lead six thousand disciples in the “Fiery Arrowhead Formation,” providing additional defense for the offensive “Six Ding and Six Jia Formation.”

Outside the right, Master Yuran would command six thousand in the “Icy Fishscale Formation,” supplementing the defensive “Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams Formation” with offensive capabilities.

Chief Secretary Tianji of the Academy’s Student Council would lead five thousand in the “Whirlwind Gale Formation,” not only enchanting the Sky-Prayer Lanterns, but also stationing fighters in the troposphere below, to intercept any beasts that broke through from above and to protect the cities beneath from harm.

The remaining five thousand disciples would serve as a mobile unit, forming the “Crane Wing Heavenly Severance Formation,” including all the Academy’s celestial cranes, under the Young Lord Supreme’s command, providing rapid support where needed.

Finally, Star Lord Daoling named this campaign to defend the world—the "Battle for Heaven and Earth."

At the close of the meeting, Master Yuran immediately set out with several immortals to the mortal realm. For this campaign, Star Lord Daoling tasked him with ensuring the “Sky-Prayer Lantern Corridor” would appear in the heavens in time for the Moon Festival.

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Master Yuran wasted no time, departing the Star Pavilion and heading straight for Hunyuan Dao.

Riding the clouds, Master Yuran grew concerned. To mobilize hundreds of millions to craft Sky-Prayer Lanterns across the nation was no simple feat. If he were to resort to bewitchment, it might solve the immediate crisis, but if those countless workers were not truly sincere and merely went through the motions, it would be impossible to gather the required number.

“This won’t do. Nor will that…” Master Yuran murmured.

He calculated for a long while, then murmured, “Perhaps… this could bring a turning point.”

By the time Master Yuran reached the mortal world, it was already midnight. He arrived at a state-owned five-star hotel with a fifty-year history. The drive from the entrance to the lobby stretched nearly two kilometers.

The hotel occupied more than a thousand acres, its grounds filled with ancient trees, exotic flowers, pavilions, and waterside terraces, with nearly a hundred thousand square meters of lake. The complex was composed of several buildings, their walls painted ivory white, roofs covered in deep red tiles, every building ablaze with light.

Outside, armed guards stood watch, while hundreds of plainclothes security patrolled the vast gardens.

Of course, these were no obstacle to Master Yuran. Not wishing to alarm the guards, he slipped in unnoticed and entered a suite. The suite was about eighty square meters, recently renovated but still simple in style. Master Yuran did not turn on the lights, instead sitting cross-legged on a wooden chair in the darkness.

Time slipped by in the shadows; Master Yuran remained motionless, as if transformed into a statue. After a while, footsteps approached from the corridor—about ten people, by the sound.

The steps stopped at the door. The room lit up as the door opened. Two or three plainclothes men entered, but Master Yuran, with a slight spell, rendered himself invisible to them.

The plainclothes men drew the curtains. They had already checked this room several times and knew every corner. Finding nothing amiss, one turned at the door and said, “Chief, please come in.”

An elderly man, seemingly in his seventies, entered slowly. His face showed the fatigue of travel, and he had perhaps drunk a few cups at dinner, for his cheeks were flushed.

He entered the living room and suddenly spotted Master Yuran sitting cross-legged on the wooden chair. Startled, he sobered immediately and asked his staff, “Who is this?”

A middle-aged staffer carrying a briefcase stared at the chair for a long moment before cautiously replying, “Chief, which person do you mean?”

“The one sitting on the chair!”

The staffer looked nervous and puzzled. “But, sir, there’s no one on that chair.”

“Hm?” The old man frowned, glancing at the others.

The plainclothes men were even more tense, staring at the chair for a long time, but naturally saw nothing. They shook their heads at the old man.

“Chief, there’s truly no one on the chair. If it makes you uncomfortable, shall we move the chair out? Or… would you prefer another room?”

The man called Chief narrowed his eyes, staring unblinking at Master Yuran.

He did not react. The others, however, were growing flustered.

At that moment, Master Yuran opened his eyes, looked at the man, and said slowly, “Sir, do you wish to ask them to leave, or shall I?”