272: Plan ahead of schedule

Li Pingan nodded with a grave expression and a certain tone: "If you have a mirror-type Magical Artifact with you, Miss, you might as well take it out and see for yourself. There is still a trace remaining between your brows that hasn't completely dissipated."

Yu Qingyan lightly raised her jade-like hand, and a palm-sized Rhombus Flower Bronze Mirror appeared in her palm as if summoned, its surface shimmering with a warm glow. She lowered her eyes to look at her reflection in the mirror and indeed saw a faint, dark red mark flickering on her smooth forehead, looking very much like a trace of being tainted by something evil.

In an instant, a wave of lingering fear surged into her heart, causing a cold sweat to break out on her back.

Yu Qingyan took a slow, deep breath, suppressing the irritation in her heart. "Was it Fellow Daoist who saved me?"

As she spoke, her gaze finally fell upon Li Pingan in the pool. She saw that he had already closed his eyes, his brows slightly furrowed, and the blood pool around him was faintly fluctuating. He was clearly concentrating on resisting the violent Aura within the ten thousand demon blood quenching pool.

Yu Qingyan's anger had not yet subsided; she wished she could immediately take her sword and find Daoist Yunche to demand an explanation.

But on second thought, the other party was, after all, the Tower Master of the Demon Suppressing Tower, with a Realm far above her own. Now that her Sect's Elders and Revered Master were not here, she simply couldn't contend with him based on her own strength alone.

What if she rashly used her Sect's reputation to pressure him?

This was, after all, the territory of the Rain God Sect. If she truly pushed the other party to the point of desperation, who knew what kind of accident might occur? It would likely be more trouble than it was worth.

After some weighing of options, Yu Qingyan suppressed the agitation in her heart and sat cross-legged by the pool.

She planned to wait for the two people in the pool to wake up and ask for all the details of the matter, so she could properly repay the dark-skinned man for his life-saving grace.

Moreover, the fact that the other party chose to stay in the ten thousand demon blood quenching pool for tempering suggested it was temporarily safe. She looked at Ye Hao, who was covered in sweat with a tense face in the pool, and couldn't help but wonder: how much longer could these two last in this perilous blood pool?

...Outside the Demon Suppressing Tower!

The battlefield of Chu Haotian and Yan Shu had already moved high above the Demon Suppressing Tower. Golden and blue-green spiritual lights intertwined among the clouds, and every collision made the air hum and vibrate.

Daoist Yunche hung by the eaves of the eleventh floor of the Demon Suppressing Tower, his robes flapping loudly in the strong wind.

He looked up at the sky a thousand meters above, where two figures shuttled and battled like meteors among the clouds. When the golden lion shadow collided with the blue-green Sword Qi, even the thick clouds were torn apart, revealing the outlines of the continuous mountain ranges below. Heavenly anomalies occurred frequently, making for a soul-stirring sight.

He sighed inwardly: He hadn't expected that his final move would end in such an unexpected failure.

Once today's matters were concluded, he could only go to the Heavenly Tribulation Continent to lie low for a while before making further plans.

"Boom—"

A loud explosion shook the heavens as the golden giant lion phantom collided with Yan Shu's spiritual power once more. The lion's mane flared like fire in the gale, and as its giant maw opened and closed, a shockwave of lion roars transformed from golden spiritual power spread in all directions, tearing the clouds into shreds that drifted down like snowflakes.

Yan Shu's eyes narrowed, and he lightly tapped his toe against the Void Realm. The blue light around him instantly transformed into a streak of light, darting out like an arrow. While avoiding the shockwave, he had already closed in on Chu Haotian.

While brandishing his sword to parry the opponent's assault, he contacted Daoist Yunche via heart lake transmission: "This person's Realm is on par with mine, and this is the Demon Suppressing Tower's territory. It's inconvenient for me to display many of my Yao Race Divine Abilities. A prolonged battle might lead to unforeseen variables."

Daoist Yunche immediately asked, "Then what should we do now?"

Yan Shu's Sword Qi brushed against the golden lion claws, erupting in a series of sparks. He said calmly:

"Of the thirty-six stratagems, fleeing is the best."

"If we delay for too long, I'm worried other Cultivators will hear the news and come to interfere. You Human Race have a good saying: 'there will be plenty of time in the future'; there's no need to fight to the death right now."

Daoist Yunche immediately agreed in his heart.

The original plan was to wait a few days for the Yao Race army to advance before taking the opportunity to reveal their hand and escape. Now, it was just moving the time up slightly, which was no big deal. "I shall follow Senior's arrangements!"

"I shall follow Senior's arrangements!"

The golden giant lion phantom slammed its paws onto the clouds below. The massive lion claws, carrying irresistible Aura, lunged toward Yan Shu like Mount Tai pressing down.

Yan Shu's left hand quickly formed a seal, and blue-green spiritual power suddenly condensed high in the sky, transforming into a ferocious Evil Flood Dragon with shimmering scales. The Dragon looked up and let out a deafening roar, its massive body spiraling upward to collide head-on with the golden lion claws.

The shockwave from the collision formed a massive energy vortex high in the sky. The clouds were forcibly sucked into it, spinning into a funnel-shaped cloud pillar that hung straight down from a thousand meters above.

"The plan has moved up. I'll stall him; you go destroy the Formations within the tower."

"Let's give this Rain God Continent an appetizer first."

Daoist Yunche no longer hesitated. His figure was like a black shadow, instantly disappearing from the eaves and arriving at the tenth floor of the Demon Suppressing Tower in a few bounds.

Those imprisoned here were all Yao Race of the Deity Transformation Realm.

In the prison, a young Book Boy dressed in green raised his eyes and squinted: "Looking at the Tower Master's appearance, did the plan go wrong?"

Two other Demon Race Cultivators also turned their heads at the sound, their gazes falling on Daoist Yunche.

Daoist Yunche waved his hand, his spiritual power acting like an invisible hand, lightly brushing over the prison's Restriction. With several "creaks," the doors of the three prisons slowly opened.

He explained at a rapid pace: "The plan has moved up. We shall meet again if fate permits, everyone."

Having done this, Daoist Yunche did not linger. He turned and went to the ninth floor, opening the prison doors one by one using the same method.

Originally, the plan was to quietly release these Yao Race when the Rain God Continent and the Yao Race army were in fierce battle, using them as a hidden trump card to catch everyone off guard. But now that the situation was urgent, he could only throw the Demon Suppressing Tower into complete chaos and let things take their course.

The Book Boy and the other two exchanged glances and nodded to each other.

Even inside the Demon Suppressing Tower, they could feel the massive ripple fluctuations coming from outside.

The three of them flickered and went their separate ways.

"Tower Master, what are you doing?"

Three deep shouts suddenly rang out in the eighth-floor corridor.

Daoist Yunche, who was in the middle of undoing a prison Restriction, paused and slowly turned around. He saw three Demon Suppressing Tower Elders blocking the entrance to the corridor. Clearly, his previous actions of releasing the Yao Race had been seen.

Daoist Yunche's gaze swept over the three of them, his tone steady: "The three of you have followed me in guarding the Demon Suppressing Tower for several years. Now that great chaos is approaching and the world's landscape is about to change, are you willing to continue following me to seek a way to survive?"

"Great chaos is approaching?"

The Elder on the left with graying temples frowned deeply. "What does that mean?"

"Literally."

Daoist Yunche raised his hand, and with a light flick of spiritual power from his fingertip, another prison Restriction shattered. The Demon Race Cultivator inside immediately peeked out warily.

He turned to look at the three of them: "In three days, the million-strong army of the Demon Race Continent will cross the strait and launch a full-scale attack on the Rain God Continent. Today's Rain God Continent is no longer the magnificent sight of the past; its talents are exhausted, its Sects are withering, and even the Chusheng Sect, once one of the three great Sects, has become a street rat that everyone wants to hit."

"More than half of the Sect's Elders have defected, and they are already powerless to stop the Yao Race this time."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the tense faces of the three men, and said word for word: "The Rain God Continent falling into the hands of the Yao Race is already a foregone conclusion. If you remain stubborn, in the end, you will only perish along with this dilapidated place."

"So—" the burly Elder on the right took a sudden step forward, his eyes full of rage, "the Tower Master intends to follow the example of that Daoist Zhenyue who defected to the Yao Race, and join them as well?"