293: Chapter 293 The Plan

A Star Soul's possession is actually similar to operating a large mecha; before becoming familiar with the possessed target, the controller's movements will appear extremely clumsy and stiff, making it impossible to bring out the possessed host's true strength.

Normally, under Li Shishi's rhythmic and continuous killing, the successfully possessing Star Soul would have absolutely no time to familiarize itself with Zhao Yan's body. Yet, to their surprise, this counter-intuitive thing happened anyway...

"Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Two sounds of breaking wind rang out. The almost completely naked "Zhao Yan" sidestepped to dodge a saber strike once more. He then ducked his head abruptly, and the second strand of Saber Qi only grazed his hair as it flew past.

He slowly raised his head, a creepy smile appearing on his originally stiff face.

But the cool moment lasted less than three seconds. Two blood-red lines suddenly appeared on his chest, and his entire body fell apart once more like collapsing building blocks, scattering all over the ground...

It turned out that a strand of Saber Qi that had just flown past had actually looped back from behind, mincing him into pieces of flesh once again.

Seeing this, Li Shishi took a deep breath and gently closed her eyes.

This was her Superpower, "Instant Kill". All of her attacks had a chance to trigger a one-hit Instant Kill effect. The more spiritual energy she outputted, the higher the probability of an Instant Kill. This time, with their captain poisoned, the group was able to escape unscathed from the seventh-tier snake demon because she had exhausted her spiritual energy to trigger this effect at a mere one-percent probability, severely wounding the opponent...

And one of the saber strikes aimed at "Zhao Yan" just now had triggered this effect. Thus, even though he could dodge, he ultimately could not escape the fate of being slain.

However... if she had to use this Superpower, the consumption rate of the spiritual energy in her body would accelerate drastically. Moreover, her attacks under the influence of her Superpower carried a special power, which would also place an immense burden on Zhao Yan's recovery...

If that was the case, the duration they originally planned to hold out for would be drastically shortened.

"Cough, cough..."

Shangguan Mingyue suddenly clutched his mouth and coughed violently again, but he quickly suppressed the sound. He merely cast a faint glance at the palm of the hand he had just used to cover his mouth, then swiftly clenched his fist and withdrew it to his side, his eyes remaining fixed on the Star Souls over there.

But the observant Li Shishi still noticed the specks of crimson on his palm.

Having to use spiritual energy while poisoned just to maintain the operation of the aura-shielding device meant that his body's deterioration rate might be even faster than he had previously stated.

However, this involuntary coughing was not the spiritual energy Voice Transmission they had used to communicate earlier, and some Star Souls had already been drawn over by the noise. Although they couldn't sense their auras, this cave had so little space that it was only a matter of time before they were discovered.

The "Zhao Yan" over there resurrected once again, and the Star Souls that had already neared their hiding spot turned back around.

However, both of them knew that the creatures had already begun to suspect their presence. Before "Zhao Yan" resurrected next time, they would definitely wander over here again...

Compared to the increasingly desperate duo, outside the cave at this moment, Xing Yaoyan was standing on the young man's shoulders, quietly watching the scene inside through a crack in the cave.

Actually, she didn't want this absurd posture either, but inside was a bunch of Six-Mark Star Souls after all; if they got even slightly closer, they would definitely be noticed.

She herself was only at the Four Marks stage right now. Moreover, although her spiritual sea possessed the ability to accommodate Star Souls, she had no intention of rushing in like a reckless fool to play the "savior" without absolute certainty.

Besides, even if she did succeed, she might end up exposing her identity as a Star Beast. What if those two inside still had strength left? Wouldn't she be walking right into a trap?

Therefore, the best course of action right now was to just watch them remain at a stalemate for a while, wait until they fainted from exhaustion, and then use "Swap" to bring them out. When the time came, before Martial General Hu Dachui arrived, she could take the opportunity to loot them. Who knows, she might even strike gold...

Yes, that's right, just like that! Just as planned...

Sensing the girl's body on his shoulders trembling slightly with joy, Qian Mo smiled somewhat helplessly.

Xing Yaoyan had just explained this plan to him. It was indeed a method that wouldn't risk exposing their identities while still allowing them to save the people. However, wasn't it a bit unethical for them to just watch the fire from across the river like this...

"Xiao Yan, it seems Martial General Hu Dachui over there has been discovered... I can sense the spiritual energy fluctuations of his battle," Qian Mo sent via Voice Transmission.

"Mm."

Xing Yaoyan replied casually, her eyes still fixed with great interest on the "grand drama" unfolding inside the stone cave.

It would actually be strange if Martial General Hu Dachui wasn't discovered...

Before she left using the Stealth Talisman Qian Mo had given her, she had intentionally used the Star Swallowing Art to disrupt a small portion of Martial General Hu Dachui's Spiritual Energy Shield. Although she couldn't break it, she managed to disturb his Superpower for a split second.

And that very instant allowed the spiritual energy fluctuations generated by her and Qian Mo using the Stealth Talisman to leak out. How sharp were the senses of those two sixth-tier God-Slaying Beasts above? They would definitely notice this abrupt signal and consequently discover Martial General Hu Dachui's hiding place.

Of course, Xing Yaoyan didn't think Martial General Hu Dachui would be killed by those two beasts given his bizarre Superpower, but what she wanted was for them to stall him for as long as possible. Only then would she have the chance to "loot" his teammates...

At this thought, the White-haired girl's lips curled up slightly: *This Young Miss is simply too clever!*

At this moment, Qian Mo raised his head slightly.

His Xiao Yan had already been like this twice in a row, suddenly becoming happy for no apparent reason.

He looked back toward the direction of the distant battle. Although he had only spent a short time with Martial General Hu Dachui, he could feel that the man had a decent character, and he quite wanted to make a friend out of him...

In his past life, his Master always said, "One more friend, one more path," a phrase he hadn't understood at all back then. But after living another life, he gradually came to understand the things he couldn't comprehend before.

It could be said that he was now basically a completely different person from his past self. Although his personality still carried shadows of his past life, in all other aspects, he possessed many more things than before—or rather, a lot more "humanity"...

"Mo, the time has come! Keep an eye on this place for me."

The girl's voice suddenly rang in his ear.

In the next instant, Qian Mo felt his shoulders lighten; the girl's figure had already vanished.

Without raising his head, he simply reached up and grabbed a slightly warm spiritual crystal in his hand.

He had already had the System expand its perception to the maximum, while most of his attention remained focused on the beautiful figure that had already teleported into the stone cave.

If an emergency did occur, he could use the "Balance of Equivalence" at any moment to pull her into his white space.

He had long considered himself her ultimate safeguard...