270: aggressive

The phantom condensed by Daoist Yuan Che abruptly turned its head, its black robes fluttering as its gaze suddenly shot toward the rear.

Li Pingan, who was supposed to be fighting to the death with the demon soul phantoms in the blood pool, was actually soaking in the pool perfectly fine, staring straight at him with eyes as bright as torches.

His aura was stable; where was there even a hint of the wretchedness of being corroded by the ten thousand demon blood quenching pool?

It was as if the ten thousand demon essence blood, which could grind away a Divine Soul, had no effect on him at all.

"Just as Junior Brother guessed."

Li Pingan spoke slowly, "What you are plotting against are the Sects behind us."

Daoist Yuan Che's pupils suddenly constricted, and the phantom actually swayed slightly. He never expected such an unexpected turn of events.

"What do you mean by this, young friend?"

"Are you still going to keep pretending?"

Li Pingan said in a deep voice:

"You used the Demon-Slaying Trial Arena as bait to attract the prodigies from various provinces who were out for experience; then you threw out the 'Opportunity' of the ten thousand demon blood quenching pool, waiting for them to be deeply immersed and for their Divine Souls to be teetering on the edge of collapse from the erosion of Demon Malice, before taking the chance to plant Slave Seals and bring all these future pillars of their Sects under your control."

Li Pingan exhaled heavily after saying so much in one breath.

Word by word, he pierced through the scheme like a sharp blade.

Daoist Yuan Che's expression turned completely dark.

It was indeed exactly as Li Pingan had said.

This was the escape route he had prepared for himself.

In his view, the Yao Race occupying the Lin Rain God Continent was already an irresistible trend.

As long as he controlled these prodigies from the major Sects, no matter where he went in the Nine Provinces in the future, he could use their influence to establish himself—truly a case of 'it's easy to enjoy the shade when leaning against a big tree'.

But he never expected that this time, he would fall at the hands of two Disciples from the Dao Seeking Sect.

The movement of his fingertips condensing the Slave Seal did not stop, and the eerie blue spiritual power grew more intense as Daoist Yuan Che stared at Li Pingan with an appreciative tone:

"The younger generation is truly to be feared; you have indeed made me look at you in a new light."

"However, I would like to ask, are the two of you smart, or stupid?"

He sneered, "Since you already saw through the fact that this ten thousand demon blood quenching pool was a trap, why did you still walk right into it? Was it because you couldn't bear to let go of this 'Opportunity' delivered to your door, or were you too conceited, thinking you could escape from my hands unscathed?"

Hearing this, Li Pingan's expression remained unchanged as he slowly said:

"Revered Master said that to be a person, one must hold grudges."

"Hold grudges?"

Daoist Yuan Che was first taken aback, then he threw his head back and laughed loudly,

"What? Is it possible that you can invite your Revered Master from across the distance to save you from this crisis?"

Since this matter had been exposed, these two could not be allowed to live.

Li Pingan shook his head.

"Revered Master is far away in the Flame Continent region; he can't come."

Daoist Yuan Che restrained his laughter: "In that case, I will give the two of you a choice."

"Accept the Slave Seal, and you may leave alive!"

"No need."

Li Pingan's expression was indifferent, and not a hint of fear could be heard in his tone. "To deal with you, there's no need to trouble Revered Master to act personally."

"Courting death!"

Upon hearing this, Daoist Yuan Che's phantom instantly solidified a bit more, and a terrifying pressure loomed over Li Pingan.

However, at the very moment the pressure was about to touch Li Pingan.

"Boom!"

A deafening roar suddenly exploded!

That terrifying pressure, sufficient to crush a Nascent Soul, actually vanished instantly like a receding tide, and even the blood-colored mist churning above the blood pool calmed down significantly.

A tall and slender figure appeared in the center of the stone chamber without any warning.

"Young friend, those words seem a bit inappropriate."

His gaze swept over Daoist Yuan Che as he said indifferently, "Forget it. After all, it's a statement showing respect for your Revered Master, so I won't fuss over it too much."

The face of Daoist Yuan Che's phantom was filled with unbelievable shock:

"Tianque Sect, Chu Haotian?!"

Chu Haotian cupped his hands slightly toward him, his expression calm and composed: "I didn't expect the Tower Master to recognize me as well. What a pleasure, what a pleasure."

"Oh, wait!

To be precise, I should call you the Vice Tower Master. After all, Xuanxu Immortal Master is the one recognized by the world as the Tower Master of the Demon Suppressing Tower."

Only then did Daoist Yuan Che stop his movements, and the Slave Seal that had half-emerged was blocked.

He did not dare to be the least bit careless toward the person before him.

Even if he were there in person, he might not necessarily be a match for this Peak Master of the Tianque Sect.

Moreover, this was only a figure condensed through a secret technique.

"Fellow Daoist Chu,"

He suppressed the alarm in his heart, trying his best to maintain a surface-level calm in his tone,

"We have always minded our own business. Although my Demon Suppressing Tower isn't much of a Forbidden Ground, it's a bit against the rules for you to intrude like this without permission, isn't it?"

Chu Haotian smiled upon hearing this:

"Fellow Daoist, you are absolutely right."

"However, if the Xuanxu Tower Master himself issued an order to leave, saying that I shouldn't have come, then I would turn around and leave immediately without another word."

These words pointed directly at the weakness of his status as 'Vice Tower Master.' A cold light flashed in Daoist Yuan Che's eyes as he narrowed them slightly:

"Why are you so intent on protecting these two Dao Seeking Sect Disciples? Could it be that you have some long-standing history with that Dao Seeking Sect?"

"I wouldn't call it a history."

Chu Haotian gave a light laugh, his gaze sweeping over Li Pingan, his tone relaxed,

"It's just a deal. Besides, these two young friends also happened to meet my two Disciples before, so it can be considered a bit of fate."

"A deal?"

Daoist Yuan Che's brow furrowed as suspicion filled his heart.

He quickly calculated the pros and cons. The Yao Race army would sweep across the God Continent within a few days; there was no need to make an enemy of a powerful foe like Chu Haotian at this moment.

Today's matter was nothing more than a waste of effort; at most, he had missed the chance to connect with a top-tier Sect of the God Continent through these two.

It wasn't any kind of fatal loss!

Thinking of this, he bit his teeth and said in a deep voice:

"In that case, I'll admit defeat this time."

"I'm sorry."

The smile on Chu Haotian's face suddenly faded as he spoke word by word,

"The deal I mentioned is for your life."

"You!"

Daoist Yuan Che's phantom suddenly swelled, his face filled with towering rage,

"Chu Haotian, do you really want to be so aggressive and show no mercy?!"

Hearing this, Chu Haotian said no more. The clear radiance around him suddenly blazed like the sun. He raised his right hand, a ball of spiritual power as lustrous white as jade condensing in his palm. He clenched his fingers and struck out toward the swelling phantom!

"Boom—!"

With a loud boom that shook the entire Demon Suppressing Tower, the seemingly solid phantom actually shattered like broken jade, turning into a sky full of light specks and vanishing completely.

By the pool, Yu Qingyan slowly rolled over, changing her posture to continue sleeping.

Even Li Pingan couldn't help but wipe away a cold sweat for this carefree girl.

Having dealt with the phantom, Chu Haotian's figure blurred, and he sped toward the fifth floor of the Demon Suppressing Tower like a stream of light.

After returning from Yun Xuanxuan's place,

Ye Hao and his companion had made a trip to the Tianque Sect. First was to inquire about news of the Yao Race's invasion.

Second was to find this Peak Master and make a deal.

The content of the deal was very simple.

A scroll of a Heaven-rank Divine Ability!

Their own Dao Seeking Sect was least lacking in things like Divine Abilities.

Even Outer Sect Disciples possessed Heaven-rank Divine Abilities.