72: Chapter 72 Trapped Like a Turtle in a Jar! An Ye - Soul-Soothing Blade!
Inside the underground pipes,
Zhou Heng and Chen Ye were like two ghosts blending into the shadows. Holding their breath and focusing their minds, they locked their gazes onto the four members of the Cang Yao Clan and the trapped Chu Weiwei in the main control room below.
Zhou Heng's [Omniscient Eye] was running at full power, taking in every detail below. Meanwhile, his brain worked rapidly, analyzing the situation.
[Target Status: Cang Yao Clan member Cang Yu (Peak Second-Stage) — Alert, confident, currently presiding over the refining process.]
[Target Status: Cang Yao Clan Warriors — Slightly fatigued, energy depleted, responsible for guard duty and assisting in the refining.]
[Target Status: Chu Weiwei — Unconscious, stable vital signs, energy sealed, no external injuries.]
[Environmental Analysis: The main control room has a high-intensity Star Shielding Array, isolating the interior from the exterior. The energy furnace is running, refining the Star Yuan Energy Ore Core. The process requires focus but can be interrupted at any time.]
[Threat Assessment: High risk for a direct assault! The leader can interrupt the refining at any time to take Weiwei hostage or teleport away instantly. Our side's chance of victory is less than thirty percent.]
"We can't brute-force this..." Zhou Heng's eyes were cold as he quickly formulated a strategy. "We must wait! Wait for reinforcements, or... wait for them to show a weakness!"
Through his tactical watch, he silently transmitted the real-time monitored information and his own judgment to Song Yunle and the Supervision Department outside.
"Targets are unaware, currently refining the Ore Core, hostage is safe. Shielding array is high-strength; a direct assault would easily alert them. Requesting that once reinforcements arrive, we break the shielding simultaneously from the outside in for a lightning strike!"
Soon, Song Yunle replied: "Understood! The Supervision Department has secretly completed the outer perimeter containment. Triple isolation barriers are in place to ensure no one escapes! Demon Slaying Division reinforcements confirmed! Lord An Ye, a Platinum One-Star Demon Slayer, has received the order and is rushing here at full speed! Estimated arrival time... fifteen minutes!"
"Platinum One-Star! A Transcendent Realm powerhouse!" Zhou Heng's heart jolted, followed by a surge of pure joy! This was in the bag!
[An Ye: Platinum One-Star Demon Slayer]
[Realm: First-Star Transcendent]
[Divine Seal: B-rank Soul-Quelling Blade]
[Traits: Extreme speed, concealment, one-hit kill!]
With this big shot taking action, these Cang Yao Clan members wouldn't be able to escape even if they grew wings!
"Fifteen minutes..." Zhou Heng's gaze was sharp. "Keep a death grip on them! We absolutely cannot let them notice ahead of time!"
Time passed minute by minute.
In the main control room, the Cang Yao Clan's refining seemed to have reached a critical stage.
The energy furnace glowed brilliantly as a fist-sized crystal, radiating pure starlight and majestic yuan energy, slowly began to take shape.
[Star Yuan Energy Ore Core (Unfinished)]
[Quality: Extremely High]
[Status: Refining (85% completion)]
[Energy Fluctuations: Violent, interference increasing]
The Cang Yao leader was fully focused, his hands constantly forming star runes and merging them into the energy furnace.
The three warriors also surrounded the furnace, inputting energy to stabilize it.
Zhou Heng's heart was in his throat.
At this stage, the opponent's high concentration was both a good and a bad thing.
The good thing was they wouldn't easily notice the outside world; the bad thing was... if they were disturbed, a backlash was likely, and they might very well act out of desperation!
Suddenly!
The leader's movements paused slightly. He seemed to have sensed something as his brow furrowed, his gaze sweeping across the surrounding walls with a hint of doubt in his eyes.
"Hmm? The shielding array seemed to have an extremely faint fluctuation just now..." he muttered to himself in the Cang Yao language.
Zhou Heng's heart tightened! The [Omniscient Eye] had captured that subtle change in expression!
"We've been spotted? Impossible! Our presence is completely concealed..."
He immediately realized the problem. "It's the Ore Core's energy fluctuations; they're too strong and are interfering with the shielding array's stability, creating faint ripples! This guy's perception is too keen!"
Below, a warrior also spoke up: "Leader, what's wrong?"
The leader pondered for a moment before shaking his head. "It might just be energy interference from the Ore Core, a delusion perhaps. Speed up! Finish the refining as soon as possible! This place isn't safe to stay in for long; I have a bad feeling."
He called it a delusion, but his movements clearly quickened, and his alertness increased.
Zhou Heng thought to himself, this is bad!
This guy was suspicious! Though he wasn't certain, given the cunning of the Cang Yao Clan, he might finish the refining early and prepare to relocate!
He had to do something to stall for time!
His gaze swept rapidly as the [Omniscient Eye] frantically analyzed every corner of the main control room, looking for something he could use!
Suddenly, his gaze fixed on an inconspicuous, seemingly aged energy transmission pipe interface beneath the energy furnace!
[Weakness Analysis: Old energy pipe interface. Long-term erosion by astral power has made the structure fragile, lowering its load limit. If stimulated by pure lightning energy instantly, it can cause a small-scale energy leak, creating interference without causing an explosion that would alert the enemy.]
"Got it!" A sharp light flashed in Zhou Heng's eyes!
He carefully took out a lightning needle as thin as a cow's hair from his spatial ring. This was a little gadget he had refined himself, usually used for testing energy nodes.
Holding his breath, he silently poked the lightning needle through a gap in the pipes, aiming it at that old interface.
"Ye Zi, get ready. I'm going to interfere and cause a little accident to stall them," he silently gestured to Chen Ye.
Chen Ye nodded, frost energy quietly gathering.
Zhou Heng's fingertip gave an imperceptible flick!
Whoosh!
The lightning needle turned into an almost invisible bolt of electricity, accurately piercing the old interface!
Sizzle!
A faint spark of lightning flashed,
And a small puff of blue smoke instantly rose from the interface. A thread of chaotic energy leaked out, interfering exactly with the stability of the energy furnace!
Hum!
The energy furnace jolted violently, its light flickering as a tiny disruption appeared in the refining process!
"What's going on?!" The leader's expression changed, and he immediately moved to stabilize the furnace. "Unstable energy transmission? Is it aging? Damn it!"
He was forced to divert part of his attention to handle this minor malfunction, causing the refining speed to slow down.
The three warriors also grew tense, increasing their energy output to assist in stabilization.
"Damn, the facilities in this dump are too old!" one warrior complained.
The leader's brow was tightly knit, his unease growing, but seeing the Ore Core was nearly finished, he was unwilling to give up.
"Faster! Even faster!" he urged.
Zhou Heng sneered inwardly: "Stalled!"
Time continued to flow.
Ten minutes passed...
The Ore Core's completion reached 95%! Its light grew more and more dazzling!
The urgency and unease on the leader's face became increasingly apparent.
Zhou Heng's heart also tightened further! Lord An Ye still had five minutes! These last five minutes were the most dangerous!
Just then!
The tactical watch vibrated! It was an urgent message from Song Yunle!
"Zhou Heng! Lord An Ye has reached the outskirts of Yuan City! She is locking onto your position! She can launch the surprise attack in three minutes! Prepare to strike from both sides!"
"Great!" Zhou Heng was ecstatic!
Almost at the same time!
The Cang Yao leader below suddenly looked up, his face turning pale!
"Wrong! There's a powerful spatial fluctuation approaching rapidly! It's a Transcendent Realm! We've been discovered!!"
He let out a roar,
No longer caring about the refining, he slammed a palm toward the energy furnace, intending to forcibly seize the nearly finished Ore Core. At the same time, his other hand reached for the light cage imprisoning Chu Weiwei!
"Move! Interfere with him!" Zhou Heng barked, no longer able to hide!
"Thunderstorm Star!"
He burst directly out of the pipes!
Merging man and spear, he turned into a violent lightning tornado, slamming fiercely toward the leader to stop him from grabbing Chu Weiwei!
"Glacial Seal!"
Chen Ye charged out at the same time!
Endless frost energy erupted, instantly freezing the three warriors and the entire floor of the main control room to slow their movements!
"You're courting death!" The leader was both shocked and enraged; he hadn't expected the enemies to be hiding right under his nose!
He was forced to give up on grabbing Chu Weiwei, throwing a backhand punch at Zhou Heng! An astral fist-aura erupted!
Boom!!!
Lightning and stars collided violently! Zhou Heng was knocked backward, his blood and qi churning! But the leader was also stalled for an instant!
It was that very instant!
The shielding light screen at the top of the main control room vibrated violently!
A cold, deathly black blade-glow that seemed capable of severing the soul silently sliced through the sturdy Star Shielding like it was tearing paper!
A blurred figure appeared in the main control room like a phantom. Her aura was cold and terrifying as she locked onto the Cang Yao leader!
The Platinum One-Star Demon Slayer—An Ye, had arrived!
"Cang Yao scum, you dare come to Donghuang to run wild? You're looking for death!" a cold female voice rang out, devoid of any emotion.
The Cang Yao leader's face instantly turned as white as paper!