Not long after, Zhao Jinghong also returned with the surprise attack force.

There were no scars on his body. After all, for a monk, most fatal injuries can be recovered as long as they do not cause death on the spot.

But from the tears and burn marks on his robe, as well as the fatigue on his face, it can be seen that he was badly tortured by the Yin Guidao.

Looking at the number of people again, it was indeed much less than before the expedition.

Qiu Changtian originally wanted to say something sarcastic, such as pretending to know nothing and asking Master Yun Hong whether the surprise attack was successful... But when he thought that although the dead were Kunlun cultivators from the Zhao family camp, they were still Kunlun cultivators after all, he felt a little sad for a moment.

Xu Yinglian stood behind Qiu Changtian, looking at the returning team which was in a slump, and frowned with some discomfort.

"With so many casualties, someone has to be held responsible." She said in a cold tone, "Let's see if the Zhao family from Guyuan still has the nerve to continue fighting us."

How could I be too embarrassed to continue? Qiu Changtian thought to himself.

If the surprise attack is successful, the Zhao family of Guyuan might even consider reconciling with the Xu family of Tiannan. After all, continuing the fight would be detrimental to the entire Kunlun, so they could take advantage and stop it in time.

But now the surprise attack has suffered a major setback, and the Zhao family camp itself has lost a lot of strength. If they do not continue to confront the Tiannan Xu family, the accountability and reflection from within the family will be a problem that the family's top leaders will not be able to handle at all.

If the Zhao family of Guyuan was a patriarchal dictator, they could still make a 180-degree turn and forcibly suppress the impetuous people's hearts.

However, according to what Qiu Changtian knew, the Zhao family should have made the decision through consultation (bargaining) between the patriarch and several powerful elders.

In this case, as long as he admits defeat in the confrontation, then as Sister Xu said, someone will have to take responsibility for it... Who will take responsibility? After taking responsibility, will he apologize? Will anyone in the clan listen to him in the future?

It’s better to just deny it!

As long as they continue to fight against the Xu family of Tiannan, with the existence of such a powerful external enemy, the Zhao family will naturally be swept along and move forward, and the threat to the high-level rule of the clan will be reduced to a minimum.

Anyway, with Qiu Changtian's dark thinking, he believed that the Guyuan Zhao family would definitely continue to resist, which was in line with the collective interests of the clan's top leaders.

Arriving in the main hall, Qiu Changtian, as the commander-in-chief, cleared his throat and said:

"As the war coordinator, I bear the unshirkable responsibility for the failure of this surprise attack..."

This was of course just a cliché. Everyone knew that the Zhao family of Guyuan ignored Qiu Changtian's dissuasion and opposition and insisted on carrying out Zhao Jinghong's surprise attack plan.

Although Qiu Changtian's words now gave Zhao Jinghong a way out, they actually caused more serious damage to his prestige.

Zhao Jinghong didn't say anything, but just nodded indifferently.

Nod? What does that mean?

Before Qiu Changtian could react, Elder Yuanshou of the Zhao family suddenly spoke up:

"The reason why this surprise attack plan failed was not because of Master Chang Geng's negligence, but because someone in the sect leaked the information."

After saying that, two Jindan Zhenren came out and pressed a certain cultivator in front of the crowd.

"This person is a spy planted by the Yin Gui Dao." Elder Yuanshou said coldly, "After interrogation, this person confessed to his crimes. We confirmed that the reason why the surprise attack plan failed was because he leaked the secret to the Yin Gui Dao."

Qiu Changtian: ???

Scapegoat tactics? Are you treating me like a fool in front of so many elders?

Who leaked the secret? How could I not know? ! !

"May I ask Elder Yuanshou?" Qiu Changtian asked, "When the decision was made in the palace that day, this person was not in the main hall, right?"

"That's right." Elder Yuanshou replied, "But this person is one of the surprise attack members heading to Beimang Mountain."

"This is my fault." Zhao Jinghong also said indifferently, "On the eve of the surprise attack, I told everyone the details in order to make proper preparations."

"After this person returned, he used a flying sword to send an urgent message to the Yin Gui Dao to warn them, which led to the failure of the plan. I was not able to detect that a traitor had infiltrated the surprise attack team, and I should bear the responsibility..."

"Master Yun Hong, don't blame yourself." An elder immediately came out to advise, "The matter of traitors is inevitable after all."

"Even in previous years, when there were traitors that caused the sect to suffer heavy losses, the person in charge was never held responsible."

The elders of the Zhao family camp talked to each other and soon put all the blame on the traitor, as if Zhao Jinghong's surprise attack plan would have succeeded without this traitor.

Qiu Changtian pondered for a moment and looked at Master Ziwei behind him.

Master Ziwei shook his head imperceptibly.

Yes, everyone knows that the traitor is just a scapegoat, but there is no point in forcing the matter to the Zhao family of Guyuan.

After all, Zhao Jinghong was competing for the position of the next headmaster, and the Guyuan Zhao family would not let him lose his prestige. If they were to forcefully attack this matter, both sides would inevitably be in a desperate situation, but Kunlun still had a big battle to fight, and they could not delay the overall situation.

It's better to quit while you're ahead. Even though they're using spies to fool people on the surface, which of the senior executives present doesn't have rich experience?

No matter what plan Zhao Jinghong proposes later, no matter how feasible it is, everyone has to consider it carefully.

"Chang Geng." Master Ziwei said, "The matter of the traitor can be handled by the Discipline Hall."

"You can tell me about the situation in Guanzhong."

"Yes." Qiu Changtian began to report to the elders on the plan to recover the resource points he was responsible for.

As of yesterday, half of the mines had been recovered, and the remaining one-third of the resource points were still being fought with the Demon Cult for corresponding control.

This progress is indeed not slow. Even the elders of the Zhao family camp cannot lie with open eyes and find fault with something.

"That's great." Elder Jiuce said, "But there is still a problem."

"Now many of our sect's cultivators are fighting the Demon Cult on the front line in Guanzhong. If the enemy sends troops from Tiecheng Mountain to cut off the connection between Kunlun and the front line, and then uses their elite forces to destroy our deployment in Guanzhong, our sect will suffer heavy losses."

"Chang Geng, do you have any solution?"

What solution can there be for this... Qiu Changtian complained in his heart, but said calmly:

"The only correct thing to do is to attack Tiecheng Mountain first and stop the enemy from sending out troops."

"In this case, we will be fighting on two fronts." Elder Jiu Ce pondered.

"Will the cost of fighting on two fronts be too high?" Elder Yuanshou asked, with a half-smile, "If the casualties are too heavy, even if we win, it will not be worth it."

It was still the same reason: the per capita training cost of Kunlun monks was too high, several times that of demon monks. Before reaching a high level, it was extremely uneconomical to fight against demon monks.

In addition, Master Yun Hong's surprise attack plan failed, and the elders who originally advocated war fell silent. However, Qiu Changtian said that he wanted to expand the scale of the war, which was really hard to accept.

"We must do this." Qiu Changtian replied, "Taking the initiative to attack, no matter what the situation is, at least we can confine the enemy within Tiecheng Mountain."

"If we leave it alone, once Tiecheng Mountain sends troops to capture Longshan, isolating the east and the west, it will be difficult to drive them back."

"What if we set an ambush in Longshan?" Zhao Jinghong suddenly said, "Since we already know that the Demon Cult will send troops from Tiecheng Mountain to cut off Guanzhong's connection, how about we wait for them to come over in Longshan?"

Qiu Changtian looked at him speechlessly.

After being ambushed, he immediately thought of ambush back. This Master Yun Hong really holds a grudge. But this strategy...

"This is a great plan!" Elder Yuanshou laughed and clapped his hands. He took the lead in boosting their momentum and responded loudly, "If we take the initiative to attack Tiecheng Mountain, Shura Dao will have to fight to the death with all its strength. Casualties will inevitably be unavoidable."

"But if we set up an ambush in Longshan and wait for the enemy to tire themselves out, not only will the risk be smaller, but if we can inflict heavy damage on the Demon Sect, we can immediately turn the situation around!"