Volume 1 Volume 6 Chapter 85

Volume 6 Chapter 85: The Peak Battle (3)

Upon hearing Mingluo’s shout, Diluo was slightly surprised but quickly realized his mistake. No matter how the intruder got into Zhang Xusheng’s base, they definitely could not be taken lightly. By splitting the teams up to search in various areas of the mountainside, it not only alerted the intruder but also gave them a chance to slip away.

Realizing his mistake, Diluo became even more anxious than Mingluo, continuously contacting each team to count their numbers. The "An" organization was very efficient, and soon there was a result.

Diluo walked over to Mingluo, looking serious and ashamed, and said softly, "We have results. Three people are missing from the seventh patrol team."

Mingluo seemed to have expected this, as his face showed no signs of emotion after hearing Diluo’s words. He was observing the situation outside the valley through the "Azura Mirror" – Zhang Xusheng was facing off against fourteen different cultivators with a smile, remaining calm, while the fourteen cultivators looked serious and kept questioning him.

"Indeed, they are the fourteen masters of the Righteous Alliance. The leader doesn’t know how to respond. ‘Disaster Cloud’ and ‘Three Talent Formation’ are indeed powerful, but to resist so many masters…"

Mingluo frowned, lost in thought. After hearing Diluo’s words, he turned and asked, "Did the leader say who infiltrated our main base?"

Diluo shook his head and said, "He didn’t say, and I didn’t dare to ask."

Mingluo slightly nodded, but there was no sense of blame. Sometimes, even he did not dare to ask Zhang Xusheng the details of his decisions.

"Do you know where those three went missing? When did they go missing?" Mingluo asked again.

"I don’t know the exact time. They were in charge of inspecting the nineteenth floor, so they should have gone missing there," Diluo replied.

"Have any bodies been found?"

"No, there are no clues at all. We didn’t even find signs of a struggle. Those three had Fake Golden Core Stage levels of cultivation, so to kill them silently, the intruder’s strength must be quite similar to ours."

Nodding and pondering for a moment, Mingluo slowly said, "Three decisions to make. First, execute the leader responsible for the patrol in front of the other low-ranking leaders immediately. It was already a problem that they took so long to report after being attacked by that monster, and now they don’t even notice an unknown intruder. They have been too comfortable for too long. Second, expand the original search team of three people to teams of ten. It’s okay to search slowly, but we must be thorough and careful, not giving the intruder any chances. Third, have the leaders of each team count their numbers and check their subordinates’ identities to see if anyone is extra. If I’m not mistaken, that person should have infiltrated among the lower ranks."

Diluo nodded slightly, then turned and left. This was his mistake, but he cared more than anyone else.

"Tianluo." After Diluo left, Mingluo asked another high-ranking member of the "An" organization, "Has the other work the boss assigned been handled?"

Tianluo was a tall and steady man. After hearing Mingluo’s question, he nodded and said, "Everything is arranged. ‘Disaster Cloud’ has just received the last batch of materials, so it isn’t finished yet, but the previous batch is enough for now. The organization’s supplies have also been sent to ‘Disaster Cloud’ and can be used at any time. As for the ‘Three Talent Formation,’ it requires a lot of energy since we have to activate three formations at once. Although we have started, it will still take some time to officially begin."

Mingluo nodded, glanced at the "Azura Mirror," and said, "The master must be stalling for time. The ‘Three Talent Formation’ is powerful; once started, it can delay us for a long time. So we must hurry; you go and urge them."

"Yes."

After watching Tianluo leave, Mingluo turned to look at the few test subjects who were nervously watching the "Azura Mirror." They were clearly worried about Zhang Xusheng’s situation, showing great loyalty to him, as they were created by Zhang Xusheng.

However, worrying only about Zhang Xusheng’s safety at this moment seems quite irresponsible. There are many tasks at the headquarters, and Mingluo was giving orders constantly, managing everything, while they showed no intention of helping at all…

These guys are truly only good for charging into battle…

Although Mingluo was reluctant to use them, to be honest, he was also very worried about their abilities besides fighting. However, the old members of the "An" organization had already been assigned tasks, and the abilities of the lower-ranking members made Mingluo even more uneasy. In the end, he had no choice but to assign tasks to Jiluo and others.

"Jiluo," Mingluo called.

"What’s wrong?" Jiluo turned to Mingluo, frowning. For them, nothing was more important than Zhang Xusheng’s safety. He was quite displeased by Mingluo’s interruption.

Mingluo also frowned and said, "Boss is very skilled; you don’t need to worry. Even if you do, it won’t help. Even if we work together, we can only assist the boss against one or two of the weakest masters. Right now, you have more important things to do."

"What is it?"

Jiluo’s frown deepened, clearly disagreeing with Mingluo’s view. However, while Zhang Xusheng was absent, Mingluo was in charge at their base, so Jiluo felt he could not argue.

"You and your team will split into two groups. One group will go to the center of the ‘Three Talent Formation’ at the top, and the other group will go to the ‘Disaster Cloud’ at the bottom. You must carefully check the members there to see if there are any infiltrators. If I am correct, the righteous masters of the Righteous Alliance found this place because of an infiltrator’s report. If that infiltrator is still here, they will not sit idle and may very well sneak into these two key areas to disrupt our plans. The ‘Three Talent Formation’ is crucial to our victory against the Righteous Alliance, and the ‘Disaster Cloud’ is vital for your master’s future plans. We cannot afford to fail."

Mingluo said seriously, with every word emphasized. His tone left no room for doubt.

Hearing Mingluo say this, Jiluo understood the stakes were high, but he didn’t feel the need to argue like before. He turned to glance worriedly at the situation inside the "Azura Mirror" and then spoke to the other seven members of the "An" organization, who were at his level, "Three of you follow me to the ‘Disaster Cloud’ at the bottom, while the other four go to the center of the ‘Three Talent Formation’ at the top. We must find that infiltrator."

The other seven members nodded silently, and under Jiluo’s lead, they split into two teams and quickly headed toward the top and bottom.

"Wait a moment." Just as Jiluo and the others were about to leave, Mingluo suddenly remembered something and said, "Tell the guard at the dungeon about the current situation so he will be ready to support the boss."

Jiluo nodded and then, without hesitation, turned and quickly left.

After assigning tasks to all the high-ranking members of the "An" organization, Mingluo finally let out a sigh of relief; everything was ready, now they just needed to see when Zhang Xusheng and the Righteous Alliance would start fighting.

Watching the scene outside the mountain’s belly shown in the "Azura Mirror," Zhang Xusheng was still negotiating with the masters of the Righteous Alliance. Mingluo’s brow furrowed even deeper as he murmured, "Boss, in this life-and-death moment, how will you lead us out of this predicament? There are fourteen masters and an endless number of powerful foes from the Righteous Alliance. The power difference is huge. Last time you ruthlessly abandoned us. This time…"

…

Just as Jiluo led three high-ranking members of the "An" organization toward the bottom of their main base, Xu Qingfan was looking in disbelief at the white jade bottle in his hand.

With the commander’s order, the black-clad cultivators inside the mountain began to use secret techniques to open the white jade bottle. Suddenly, clouds of white mist poured out from it, quickly filling every corner of the mountain’s belly. Wherever the mist went, all the precious spirit stones vanished as if they had been swallowed by the clouds.

However, what surprised Xu Qingfan was not just that; these clouds were clearly not ordinary. When the mist enveloped Xu Qingfan’s body, he found himself in a strange white space. He guessed that the precious spirit stones had also entered this unusual realm. When he stepped forward, he discovered that the ethereal white mist seemed to become solid, allowing him to step on it and move freely. Most importantly, once he entered the strange mist, he could clearly sense the immense energy contained within it, as if countless defensive and offensive formations were laid out within. After leaving the mist, he could sense nothing from it, as if it were just ordinary clouds.

At that moment, Xu Qingfan felt truly shaken. The countless defensive and offensive formations within the mist, the vast space, and their imperceptible nature were strikingly similar to a floating fortress that could attack at any time without being sensed.

In other words, these white clouds, when they come together and appear in the cultivation world, become a movable, invisible, and powerful fortress of war that can attack people without them knowing! Even more frightening is that, based on how the clouds can split and combine, they can focus their strength in one place or spread out across the sky.

The sky over the Shenzhou Continent is filled with white clouds. When that time comes, who can check these clouds one by one to see if they are Zhang Xusheng’s fortress? I’m afraid we can only defend passively. But to counterattack is much harder; even if we want revenge, the sky over the Shenzhou Continent is so vast and the clouds are countless. Where can we find Zhang Xusheng?

A genius’s idea!

I fear that the inner part of "Black Glory Valley" is not truly Zhang Xusheng’s main base. Once those magical white clouds enter the cultivation world, they will officially become Zhang Xusheng’s true base, hidden with countless experts and powerful attack formations, able to move, become invisible, split, and combine everywhere!