161: Chapter 161 Uncovering Their Specific Plan

A Deacon Elder in charge of intelligence gathering immediately stepped forward to report.

"Reporting to the Sect Master! The opposition is massing a large army. According to scouts, they have assembled five hundred top Sects, and more forces are still arriving!"

"Only five hundred Sects and they dare to challenge our Tiansha Valley?"

An Elder immediately scoffed, "Haha, they must realize that when dealing with our Tiansha Valley, relying on numbers is useless!"

"Indeed!" The Elders nodded in agreement.

However, at this moment, Ye Xiaotian was entirely focused on his precious daughter. He knew that with his daughter in the enemy's hands, her situation was likely dire.

He channeled this overwhelming rage into hatred and immediately said in a deep voice.

"Investigate further! Determine their specific deployment!"

Just then, another urgent report arrived from afar. The Disciple's voice cracked: "Report—! Sect Master! The Mystic Ice Palace Master is personally leading ten Saint Sects... and is charging over!"

"What?!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the Elders, who had just been full of confidence and arrogance, turned pale as paper, their souls trembling in fear!

One must know, compared to the Saint Sects, their Thousand Sects Alliance and Tiansha Valley were simply not on the same level!

The reason a Saint Sect could be called "Sacred" was that it had transcended the category of top Sects, reaching a transcendent Realm, and was known to the world as a Super Sect.

Every Saint Sect possessed unfathomable foundations and a self-contained Legacy system. They had countless experts, and it was even rumored that they were guarded by Soul Transformation old monsters who had lived for thousands of years.

They could operate entirely on their own without relying on any external resources.

"Preposterous!"

Ye Xiaotian was utterly enraged.

Only now did he realize that the Thousand Sects Alliance was getting serious with them!

They had actually managed to invite a Saint Sect!

What was even more terrifying was the Mystic Ice Palace. As a Sect Master, he naturally knew that the Mystic Ice Palace had intricate ties to the Emperor Pavilion!

In an instant, the entire scene fell into a deathly silence.

Rage burned in Ye Xiaotian's eyes. Suddenly, his gaze fixed, as if he had thought of something, and he roared.

"You think only you have outside help, right?!"

"Come here! Immediately send messages to the Medicinal Pill Alliance, the Artifact Refining Alliance, and the Talisman Master Association! Also, activate the highest Alliance covenant and tell the Ten Thousand Demon Cave and the Nether Temple to rush to our aid immediately! Fast! Fast! Fast!"

...

Meanwhile, on Chun Xiaobai's side, he waited and waited, waited until the flowers were about to wither, but still received no response at all.

Even Fang Yuan and Xiao Zhang, whom he had sent out, had yet to return.

"Damn, these two guys wouldn't have asked for too high a price and gotten beaten to death on the spot, would they?"

"Ah!" Bai Jiner, who was beside him, turned pale instantly upon hearing this, and immediately panicked.

"Th... they were beaten to death? Mountain King, should we... should we run away now?"

"Uh..."

Chun Xiaobai was also made anxious by her sudden outburst.

But after all, he was a seasoned veteran with ten years of experience as a Mountain King; staying calm in the face of danger was his specialty.

"What are you panicking for! Don't rush."

He waved his hand calmly, "They should be fine. If something really happened, we would have been surrounded by now."

The panicked Bai Jiner thought about it and realized that actually made sense.

If those two guys had really been captured, given their lack of backbone, they probably would have sold out the Mountain King long ago.

However, this kidnapping business was no joke.

Once caught, it would be a situation with no chance of survival.

Fortunately, just as she was letting her imagination run wild, the sounds of Fang Yuan and Xiao Zhang finally came from outside the cave.

The two of them came scrambling over, looking excited.

"Mountain King! Mountain King, we're rich!"

"Ah? Did you get the ransom back?" Bai Jiner was the first to rush up and ask nervously.

"No, no, it's not that fast!" Fang Yuan quickly shook his head, but immediately after, he gave Chun Xiaobai a thumbs-up with an expression full of admiration.

"Mountain King! You don't know, this trick of yours... it really worked!"

"Uh?"

Chun Xiaobai was stunned by this. "The ransom hasn't been brought back, how is it working?"

Xiao Zhang, trying to show his worth, quickly chimed in: "Mountain King, let me tell you!"

"I just went to scout Tiansha Valley, and our Sect Master has personally taken action!"

"I also carefully inquired; all those Grand Elders who were in secluded cultivation have been invited out, and every one of them is carrying a Heaven Rank Magic Treasure!"

"Heaven Rank Magic Treasure?" Chun Xiaobai's eyes lit up instantly.

Fang Yuan also nodded repeatedly: "Same here!"

"I inquired with the Alliance Disciples, and their Alliance Leader has also personally taken action, bringing who knows how many Sects with him. From what I heard, the Sects that came are all carrying Heaven Rank Magic Treasures!"

"Hiss!" Chun Xiaobai gasped.

"So, does this mean they are gathering Magic Treasures for me?"

"I think so!" Fang Yuan analyzed: "After all, that's fifty Heaven Rank Magic Treasures!"

"Which single Sect could gather that many? They must have had to gather all the Sects together to collect them, so that's why all these Sects came!"

"Hiss..."

Chun Xiaobai was shocked, thinking to himself.

This really was guessed correctly by that woman Gu Shuangshuang!

Is Qin Ruoxue's status really that high?

However, at this moment, Bai Jiner tugged on his sleeve nervously and whispered.

"M... M... Mountain King, why do I feel like their posture... is like they are about to start some kind of great war?"

"Ah?" Chun Xiaobai was taken aback.

He realized that this little girl had been constantly contradicting him these past two days, saying this wouldn't work, that wouldn't work, acting just like his housekeeper.

However... what she said did seem to make some sense.

He also felt that something was off.

If they were gathering money, they should have sent someone to appease and stabilize him, the bandit leader, in the first place!

Why was there not even a reply by now?

Bai Jiner also realized that her words might not be enough to convince the Mountain King, but she had previously helped Chun Xiaobai analyze that the true meaning of this kidnapping was to incite mutual suspicion between the two sides and make them fight each other like dogs.

It was possible that Chun Xiaobai had gone too far, so the two sides had stopped negotiating and were preparing to fight!

She quickly voiced her speculation.

When Chun Xiaobai heard this, his face immediately darkened.

Damn it, this might really be that they didn't have the money to give him and were preparing to use real weapons to snatch the hostage from the other side.

He instantly realized that he had been set up by that woman Gu Shuangshuang!

If he had followed his original idea—lowering the price, taking one Heaven Rank Magic Treasure, a few million Spirit Stones, and leaving with the money—the matter would have been settled.

But instead, he listened to her, made an exorbitant demand, and gave them a price they couldn't possibly afford!

When they saw that negotiations were impossible, they simply flipped the table, stopped playing, and decided to let their fists do the talking!