Chapter 2151: Emergency
When Long Xiang led everyone to the resting place that Zhao Hai’s team found, they were stunned. The resting place was a cave. It might look small on the outside, but it was quite s.p.a.cious once you entered. The cave once belonged to a den of snake beasts. But the beasts have already been killed by Zhao Hai’s team. The cave was very dry which was suitable for resting.
Long Xiang looked around the cave and nodded, “This is very good. Everyone, take a rest. Liu Zhen, take ten people to stand guard outside.”
A female cultivator complied and led a group of people outside. Liu Zhen was one of the few female cultivators who joined the expedition. She was a team leader from a Great Sect called the Yin Cloud Sect.
The Yin Cloud Sect was a sect famous for stealth. They were famous for nurturing a.s.sa.s.sins. The sect’s technique to turn invisible was one of the top techniques in the True Spirit Realm. They were the most suitable group to stand guard outside.
After Liu Zhen left the cave, Long Xiang turned his head to everyone and said, “You should eat something and take a good rest. Maintain your peak condition. We will be staying in the mountain range for a few more days. We may encounter danger at any time, so we must be careful.”
Zhao Hai returned to the Tyrant Blade Sect’s team. But after Long Xiang issued his command, he went to the Tyrant Blade Sect’s side and called Zhao Hai out. They went to the side and then Long Xiang said, “Little Hai, you did great today. We still have a long road ahead of us. I’ll have to depend on you. But you have to be careful. Ghost cultivators hunt along this region. Make sure to stay hidden from them.”
Zhao Hai nodded and said, “Yes, Elder can rest a.s.sured.”
Long Xiang nodded, then he looked at Zhao Hai and said, “Everyone in our Long Clan is divided according to their contribution. The higher the contribution, the more resources you’ll get. At the same time, if you contribute more, you will learn more advanced techniques. As long as you continue doing a good job scouting, your status will definitely increase once we head back. If you become a special training seed, your future will be limitless.”
Zhao Hai smiled faintly and said, “Thank you Elder for the reminder. I have already gained enough materials from the Tyrant Blade Sect. What I have right now is enough. All I have to do now is to cultivate.”
Long Xiang smiled faintly and said, “Good kid. It seems like you’re not attracted to material things. But rest a.s.sured, the Long Clan will have a lot of good things for you. As long as you obtain merits, the Long Clan will take care of you.”
Zhao Hai smiled and said, “Thank you, Elder Long.”
Long Xiang smiled bitterly. He could see that Zhao Hai doesn’t really care about material benefits. His calm manner was very rare, even Long Xiang admits that he fell short.
Long Xiang exchanged a few more words with Zhao Hai before convening the team leaders from various sects. There was a small meeting where they discussed what to do once they reached their target.
At this time, a cloud of smoke rose up inside the cave. Then Liu Zhen appeared from the smoke. As soon as she appeared, she immediately reported, “Elder Long, we found a team of Ghost Cultivators. It seems like they’re here for a trial.”
Long Xiang’s eyes narrowed as he asked, “How many are there? Can we evade them?”
Liu Zhen shook her head and said, “There are around 50 Ghost Cultivators. I’m afraid we can’t avoid them. They seem to be targeting this cave.”
Upon hearing Liu Zhen, Long Xiang was stunned, as was Zhao Hai. He didn’t expect the cave he chose would be the target of Ghost Cultivators. Zhao Hai’s complexion changed as he said, “Elder, we should leave immediately.”
Long Xiang and the others stared for a moment, then Long Xiang looked at Zhao Hai and said, “Leave? There are only 50 enemies. We can clean them up easily.”
Zhao Hai replied, “Elder, the mountain pa.s.s isn’t very far from here. The team should be organized and has a purpose. Before they came, they should have told others where they’re going. If 50 people disappeared for no reason, people would suspect something. It’s very likely that they’ll notice traces of our battle. When the time comes, we will face the pursuit of Ghost Cultivators. We might even fail our mission.”
Long Xiang frowned, he hesitated for a moment before he agreed, “Alright. Everyone, prepare to leave!”
Zhao Hai replied, “Elder, you leave first. I’ll make sure that our traces in the cave are gone.”
Long Xiang looked at Zhao Hai and then nodded, “Alright, I’ll leave it to you. We’ll wait for you ten li away from here. Escape as soon as possible.” Zhao Hai complied. Long Xiang led everyone to leave. Before Deng Wen left, he turned towards Zhao Hai and said, “If necessary, don’t hesitate to use the Blade Token. Even if you get discovered, at least you’ll survive.”
Zhao Hai nodded, “Elder can rest a.s.sured. I know what I’m doing.” Deng Wen patted his shoulder and then left. The only people left were the members of Zhao Hai’s scouting team.
Zhao Hai looked at his team and said, “Wait here for a while. We’ll leave soon.” After he said that, Zhao Hai waved his hand. Then all of the dust in the cave gathered in his hand. He formed an earthen sphere and then threw it upward.
The earthen sphere stopped at the top of the cave. Then Zhao Hai looked at his team and said, “Let’s go.” After saying that, he led his team out of the cave. Then the earthen sphere exploded. Dust began to fall around the cave as if being held by a hand. It fell evenly throughout the cave.
Zhao Hai looked at the cave being covered by a layer of dust. Judging by the amount of dust, there was around three days’ worth of dust on the floor. If others saw the cave, they would think that the demon beasts in the cave had left three days ago.
The reason Zhao Hai didn’t make the dust thicker was because he knew that the other party was going straight to the cave. They should be aware that the cave was inhabited by beasts. They might have found the beasts not too long ago. If the dust in the cave was too thick, the Ghost Cultivators might suspect that something else was going on. Therefore, Zhao Hai thinned the dust a bit.
After looking around the cave, Zhao Hai released several spells to eliminate everyone’s trace.
Once all of this was done, Zhao Hai turned his head to his team and said, “Let’s go.” The five people from the Long Clan have been watching Zhao Hai’s process. They suddenly realized that Zhao Hai might have killed a lot before given by how he was so good at hiding traces.
After stepping on the road, Zhao Hai suddenly stopped. Then he used the Infinity Technique to erase the fluctuations made by his spells. Only then did the team advance towards Long Xiang.
A ten li distance was nothing to the group. Before long, they saw Long Xiang and the others. Long Xiang had been waiting for Zhao Hai. Seeing him return he asked, “How is it?”
Zhao Hai nodded, “It’s done. I guarantee that there’s no problem. We can leave immediately. However, we have to erase our tracks for some time.”
Long Xiang nodded, “Rest a.s.sured, I have already explained it to the others. You can go explore the front. Little Hai, we need to speed up.”
Zhao Hai nodded, “Don’t worry.” Then Zhao Hai moved and went ahead of the group. The five Long Clan juniors followed closely behind Zhao Hai.
Long Xiang looked at Zhao Hai’s back, his eyes showing his commendation. Then he said, “Everyone, we can’t fall behind. Depart!” Then he followed behind Zhao Hai.
The group’s speed during the daytime was very fast. Everyone was using movement techniques. Long Xiang also arranged for people to clean up any traces behind them. The people a.s.signed to this task were old partic.i.p.ants of the expeditions. Only then could Long Xiang be relieved.
The group traveled for the entire day. They didn’t stop at noon for a break. In the evening, Zhao Hai found another place to rest. After everyone rested for two hours, they hurried along once more. Although their speed at night was slower, they didn’t encounter any danger.
The group marched on for three days. Zhao Hai no longer knew how far they had traveled. However, Zhao Hai estimated that they had traveled more than 10 thousand li (5000 km). What surprised Zhao Hai was that they still haven’t left the mountain range. The mountain range seems to be too long.
Due to the three days of nonstop travel, even if everyone had powerful cultivation, they couldn’t help but feel tired. Zhao Hai found a forest at night where everyone rested.
While everyone was resting, Long Xiang looked for all of the team leaders once more. At the same time, he also called Zhao Hai over. Although Zhao Hai’s strength was the lowest among everyone, n.o.body objected to Long Xiang’s action. Zhao Hai has been scouting the path ahead for three days. Everyone knows the danger that comes with this job. Zhao Hai was able to lead everyone to avoid demon beasts for three days. Everyone has long been convinced by Zhao Hai.
Once everyone was gathered, Long Xiang said, “We have come a long way in the past three days. It’s about time we exited the mountain range. According to the map we have, if we go out, we would be in the territory of the Ghost Spirit Sect. This is a medium-sized sect. They’re quite strong. We only have around a thousand people right now. Although all of us are experts, we would still have problems dealing with the Ghost Spirit Sect. And if other Ghost Cultivator Sects know of our existence, they would certainly send reinforcements.”
“I don’t plan on attacking the Ghost Spirit Sect. Because of its proximity to the mountain range, the Ghost Cultivators would know that we came out from the mountain range. The sect we’re going to attack is the Ghost Shadow Sect. This sect seems to have some problems with the Ghost Spirit Sect. But we will not attack their main hall. We’ll select a few of their branches to attack.”
As he was talking, Long Xiang took out a three-dimensional map. The map showed the layout of the underground world. Long Xiang zoomed into the Ghost Spirit Sect and the Ghost Shadow Sect’s territory.
Zhao Hai and the others looked at the map while listening to Long Xian. They nodded at every word Long Xiang said. But it was only Zhao Hai who frowned as he looked at the map.
It didn’t take long before Long Xiang discovered Zhao Hai’s expression. He couldn’t help but ask, “Little Hai, what are you thinking about?”
Hearing Long Xiang, Zhao Hai didn’t hide anything and pointed towards the map, “Elder, which branch do you plan to attack?”
Long Xiang looked at the map and pointed, “This branch. The people in this branch aren’t strong. We can clean them up in a short time. According to our numbers, it wouldn’t take an hour for us to clean this branch up.”
Zhao Hai looked at the branch and saw that it was quite far from the Ghost Spirit Sect. Judging from the map, the branch was indeed quite small. There were no problems cleaning it up. But if Zhao Hai were to choose, he wouldn’t attack this branch. The branch was too small. As soon as this branch was attacked the Ghost Cultivators would immediately get the news. This would hinder their future movements.
Long Xiang observed Zhao Hai’s expression and saw that Zhao Hai has something to say. He couldn’t help but ask, “Little Hai, do you have anything to say? Spit it out. Don’t worry, I wouldn’t blame you for talking.”
Zhao Hai nodded, then he gestured towards the branch hall that they were going to attack before saying, “Elder, although this branch hall is weak, it’s in the center of the Ghost Shadow Sect. Although we can clean it up with no problems, the Ghost Cultivators would be alerted once we make our move. This wouldn’t be good for our future actions. I believe we shouldn’t attack this branch hall. It would only reveal our existence earlier than we want. Also, this branch hall has no value. Even if we eliminate it, the Ghost Shadow Sect wouldn’t feel anything.”
Hearing Zhao Hai, Long Xiang stared, then he looked at the map carefully. He frowned and said, “This is the only target that we can eliminate easily. If we attack other branches, it would take too long. We might not even eliminate the branch completely. And once the Ghost Shadow Sect sends its reinforcements, we would be pushed into a pa.s.sive stance.”