243: Crazy gamble

At Su Lei's feet, the writhing mass of flesh had completely lost all human form; the thick scent of blood suffocated the warm air in the cave, silencing all sounds.

"My people, how long until they recover?"

Yelena's voice broke the dead silence; she was referring to the five tribespeople who had been rescued.

"Three days."

Su Lei's answer was without hesitation: "Only their life force was drawn out; their Souls are still intact. In three days, I can have them standing again."

"In three days, I want a war."

War?

These two words were like sparks falling into a pan of oil; the fragile trust that had just been established in the cave instantly shattered.

"Are you insane?"

Yelena cried out, losing her voice: "The Gravekeepers and the Forgotten Ones Sect have laid out an inescapable net, just waiting for us to walk into our deaths! What we should be doing now is holding this place and waiting for an opportunity!"

"There is no opportunity."

Su Lei's icy gaze, like a surgeon's knife, cut through her naive fantasies: "Your understanding of the enemy is ridiculously foolish."

"Their true target is the crown of wisdom, and you are merely ants to be crushed incidentally while clearing roadblocks."

"Once the crown of wisdom is in their hands, do you think there will still be a place for you in this city? All of you, along with this city, will become sacrifices to that Queen, a giant tomb!"

"Then we should hold our ground even more!"

Yelena argued, her face flushed with agitation: "Active offense is suicide!"

"No."

Su Lei shook his head, his gaze sweeping over everyone and finally fixing on Yelena's face, speaking each word clearly and sharply: "It's not suicide; it's sending you to meet the Queen."

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The entire atmosphere instantly dropped to freezing point, then was torn apart by the sharp sound of weapons being drawn!

Dozens of Awakening Faction warriors glared, their Killing Intent more real and violent than ever before.

"Make him leave!"

"Outsider, you want to harm our leader!"

"Madman! We don't ally with madmen!"

"Everyone, stop!"

Yelena's furious shout silenced everything.

She stared intently at Su Lei, trying to find even a hint of madness on his overly calm face, but she failed.

Those eyes were bottomless, as if everything in the world was merely a chess piece on his board.

"Give me a reason.

A reason that can convince me, convince all my tribespeople, to willingly go to their deaths."

"Reason? Two."

Su Lei held up two fingers.

"First, in their eyes, you are already homeless dogs, only capable of hiding in caves."

"All their defenses are pointed outwards."

"They will never imagine that you would use their favorite method, as sacrifices, to deliver yourselves to them."

"This will make them drop all their guard."

"The other, and most crucial, is that we know nothing about where the Queen is or how the curse operates."

"Forcing our way in will only trigger the worst consequences."

"I need a medium, a medium that can carry my eyes and ears, and silently infiltrate the core."

Su Lei's gaze fell on Yelena again, his eyes as if appreciating a perfect work of art.

"And you, Yelena, as the most perfect sacrifice in their eyes, are the best medium."

In the cave, a pin drop could be heard.

This was a desperate gamble, living on the edge of a knife, facing death!

"Let us pretend to be defeated?"

Yelena instantly grasped the core, her voice trembling: "Then, let you capture me and send me to the White Tower's altar?"

"Precisely."

"But the altar is real! The sacrifice is real! I will die!"

"That is not a problem."

Before he finished speaking, a majestic mental torrent, like a thunderstorm in the spiritual world, surged into the minds of all the warriors present!

That was everything Su Lei had plundered from the captives' minds regarding the altar's operation: complex energy circuits, malicious Soul arrays, evil transformation runes!

While everyone was dizzy from the impact of this terrifying information, Su Lei dropped the final bomb.

"I can modify this altar."

He stated calmly: "The Forgotten Ones Sect's sacrifice is centered on stripping and transformation."

"I will add a third step: deception."

"I will use my power to set up a temporal-spatial Dao marker at the altar's core."

"Your life force will be extracted, but not sacrificed; instead, it will be intercepted by me and stored in a temporal-spatial rift."

"At the same time, I will simulate the illusion of life withering, enough to deceive everyone, including that half-asleep Queen."

"And you, carrying my Divine Soul imprint, will, as a sacrifice, reach the Queen unimpeded."

In the cave, no one spoke again.

Everyone was struck speechless by this insane concept, almost a miracle, their scalps tingling.

After a long while, Yelena found her voice, each word heavy as a thousand pounds: "What if it fails?"

"You will die."

Su Lei's answer was direct and cruel: "The altar will instantly revert to its original state; you will be sucked dry into a mummy, your Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering, never to reincarnate."

"This is a huge gamble."

"The stake is your life."

Yelena fell silent.

She looked at the complex emotions of anger and anticipation in the eyes of her tribespeople, and she knew Su Lei was right.

Holding their ground was waiting for death; a direct assault was seeking death.

This crazy plan was their only path to survival.

"Good."

One word, clear and decisive.

"I'll take the gamble."

She turned to face all her tribespeople, her voice ringing like iron: "In three days, a decisive battle. In this battle, we must lose! And I will be the sole trophy of this defeat!"

"This is an order."

After a brief silence, all the warriors simultaneously knelt on one knee, their right fists heavily pounding their chests.

This was the highest salute of Valkyrie warriors facing certain death, a tragic will that spoke louder than a thousand words.

Inside the ice house, Oriental Shuo, who had witnessed all this through the mental link, was already ashen-faced.

The belief he had held his entire life had turned out to be a ten-thousand-year deception.

Now, Su Lei's mad and ruthless plan left him numb.

Perhaps, only a more complete madness could end this tragedy.

Li Xue凝 walked to Su Lei's side and placed a crystal core, shimmering with ice-blue light, into his palm.

"The core of a Netherwind Peng, containing Qin Wuyan's memories and the aura of that Venerable."

"Understood."

Su Lei put away the crystal core and returned to the stronghold with the two of them.

For the next three days, the entire stronghold operated with unprecedented efficiency.

Su Lei became a god here, using his Divine Soul as a furnace and Law as a carving knife, to inconceivably reshape the ancient Materials treasured by the Valkyrie tribe.

He stripped a trace of the power of a temporal-spatial hound and fused it into the Tears of the Void Realm crystal, creating the core temporal-spatial Dao marker for the plan; he then combined the Netherwind Peng's spatial talent with dark runes to create the Seal of Annihilation, which could perfectly simulate the withering of life.

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