Volume 1 Volume 6 Chapter 88

Volume 6 Chapter 88: The Peak Battle (6)

"Has the battle not begun yet?"

As Mingluo was busy handling the complicated matters in the headquarters while nervously watching the screen on the "Azura Mirror," a cold and distant voice suddenly came from behind him, causing Mingluo to shiver.

When he turned around, he saw Anluo had appeared behind him without him noticing, her long black hair covering her face, with two faint green glows shining as she quietly watched the scene in the "Azura Mirror."

Just like Kaluo and Jieluo before, Mingluo felt a hint of discomfort in his eyes when he saw Anluo beside him.

It was mentioned earlier that the "An" organization is actually made up of two factions: one consists of the old members of the "An" organization, and the other is the experimental subjects created by Zhang Xusheng, with subtle hostility between them.

The old members of the "An" organization have always looked down on the experimental subjects like Jiluo, believing that their abilities were entirely granted by Zhang Xusheng and that they could not compare to them in any way. To describe this in Mingluo’s favorite phrase—these people’s only role was to charge into battle.

The only slight exception to this is Anluo before him and Xuan Luo, who is currently hiding in the "Ming" organization; Anluo is one, and Xuan Luo is a half.

Xuan Luo was actually Bao Qingfang, who had been hiding among Jiuhua, the master of Li Yuhan and Sheng Yuhan. His long years spent in hiding had made his mind very deep and complicated, unlike Jiluo, who had always followed Zhang Xusheng and never experienced significant storms.

If Mingluo and the others felt that Xuan Luo was an experimental subject they could talk to on equal terms, then Anluo was an existence they could hardly reach. Under Zhang Xusheng’s orders, Anluo had long guarded the dungeon and, although she rarely acted, her few actions made Mingluo and the others realize that this person, in terms of both mind and strength, was not someone they could compare to.

Although it was discouraging, that was the truth.

"The most perfect work created by Zhang Xusheng after studying the secret arts for a thousand years" is enough to show Anluo’s strength.

Zhang Xusheng founded the "An" organization, and the title given to Anluo contains the word "An," which seems to represent the whole "An" organization as well, proving Zhang Xusheng’s fondness and trust in him.

In fact, when Mingluo and others referred to Anluo, they always called him the "Dungeon Guardian," not as a title, but out of resentment toward that name.

Mingluo thinks very highly of himself, but every time he sees Anluo, he feels a sense of helplessness, and before this, the only one who could make Mingluo feel this way was Zhang Xusheng.

…

Various thoughts appeared in his mind, but his uneasy expression flickered for just a moment before he returned to calmness. Mingluo did not want to show weakness in front of Anluo and said lightly, "Not yet. The ‘Three Talent Formation’ will soon be activated. With the power of the ‘Three Talent Formation,’ our leader will be able to momentarily challenge the fourteen masters. Right now, he is just buying time."

"Did the master tell me to go out and help?"

Anluo gazed at the scene in the "Azura Mirror" for a long time, and finally, the faint green light beneath his black hair faded away as he slowly asked.

"Not yet," Mingluo frowned and said. "But you must be ready to go out and help at any time. Even with the ‘Four Spirit Sky Map’ and the ‘Three Talent Formation,’ it is still too difficult for our leader to face fourteen masters alone."

"The boss’s skills are indeed extraordinary; he can delay for such a long time. Those masters from the Righteous Alliance are quite foolish. Half an hour has passed, and they are still negotiating with the boss, completely unaware that he is buying time. Have they focused so much on their training that they have forgotten to think?"

Just then, Kaluo and Jieluo, carrying the ‘Disaster Cloud Jar,’ arrived. They frowned at Anluo as they spoke. They had left the mountain’s lowest level earlier than Anluo, but Anluo arrived here before them. There was only one path, yet they had no idea when Anluo had passed them.

Upon hearing Kaluo’s words, Mingluo slightly frowned and said lightly, "Aren’t those old folks all thousands of years old? After living so long, even a pig can become smart. They know the boss is stalling for time; they just believe the boss has ways to keep them stalling."

Kaluo was slightly taken aback and asked, "What ways?"

"The headquarters of the ‘Reaper’ organization! Besides the ‘Heaven’ and ‘Earth’ elders of ‘Reaper,’ only the boss knows this secret," Mingluo whispered. "Unless their patience runs out, before the battle begins, they will want to learn this secret from the boss. As long as they understand their thoughts, it doesn’t matter how long the boss delays. Moreover, these masters believe that since they have the advantage in numbers, the boss will surely lose even if he has private methods to stall. Besides, the boss is waiting for the ‘Three Talent Formation’ to open; aren’t they also waiting for the main force of the Righteous Alliance to arrive? The righteous ‘Ten Thousand Immortals Formation’ is quite a powerful formation."

After hearing Mingluo’s explanation, Kaluo realized something. A moment later, he asked again, "Yes, the Righteous Alliance found this place suddenly and has the upper hand; I wonder how the boss will respond."

Although it sounded like a question, it was really just muttering to himself, as Kaluo knew that no one could truly understand Zhang Xusheng’s thoughts in the situation.

Indeed, after hearing Kaluo’s question, Mingluo sighed and said, "Who can understand the boss’s thoughts?"

While Kaluo and Mingluo were talking, Anluo suddenly turned and walked outside.

"Anluo, where are you going?"

Seeing Anluo’s actions, Mingluo was a little surprised and quickly asked.

"To help the master fight against enemies. The masters from the Righteous Alliance have lost their patience."

As Anluo’s figure slowly but surely disappeared from everyone’s sight, Anluo’s cold voice echoed in their ears.

…

Meanwhile, after Xu Qingfan escaped from the bottom of the mountain, he wandered aimlessly through the layers of the mountain. At this moment, with strong enemies approaching, every member of the "An" organization looked serious and hurried, so no one noticed him. As he moved around, the chance of being discovered actually decreased.

As for the situation in the lower level, whether the monsters in the dungeon could escape was no longer a concern for Xu Qingfan; instead, he was sure that he would not be the first to suffer.

What Xu Qingfan cared about most now was how to escape from the mountain. The chaos he needed to create was already made, and he had learned what he needed to know. Although he used all the spirit stones he had saved for years, the "Disaster Cloud" he received was enough to compensate for his loss, indeed, it was many times more than his loss.

In short, staying here at this moment was meaningless for Xu Qingfan, except to add more risk.

Thus, while Xu Qingfan thought about how to escape, he wandered aimlessly through the various levels inside the mountain, observing the different sights within, and unknowingly followed some skilled black-clad cultivators until he reached the top level.

Before entering the top level, Xu Qingfan hesitated for a moment. The cultivators gathered there were all experts from Zhang Xusheng’s group, along with six cultivators of similar strength. It was unclear what they were doing, and entering now would undoubtedly be very dangerous.

However, after not finding an opportunity to escape for a long time, and knowing that there might be an exit to the outside in the top level, his curiosity about why so many experts would gather here made him hesitate for a moment before he decided to enter. At the same time, the Spirit Qi within him flowed, ready for a quick getaway.

Upon entering the top level, Xu Qingfan saw over two hundred cultivators sitting in a strange formation around three large formation discs, seemingly trying their best to activate the formations within the discs. The three discs appeared to represent the forces of Heaven, Earth, and Humanity, as if they were the core of a powerful formation.

"Is this the ‘Three Talent Formation’? I didn’t expect Zhang Xusheng could set up such a formation. Although this formation is very powerful, the energy needed to activate it once is equivalent to the entire savings of some small sects. Once activated, even if all fourteen masters of the Righteous Alliance came, it would take a lot of effort to break it."

Xu Qingfan observed the sitting positions of the black-clad cultivators and the fluctuations of Spirit Qi from the three formation discs, and he finally caught on to something, thinking to himself.

Then, Xu Qingfan saw a scene similar to what he had just experienced.

Among the six experts, two were obviously in charge of activating the formation, while the other four were checking the black-clad cultivators in the top level, continuously searching for possible spies among them, just like what Jiluo had done before.

At this moment, black-clad cultivators kept coming from below and sitting around the three formation discs in a star formation, working together to speed up the activation of the ‘Three Talent Formation.’

After Xu Qingfan reached the top floor, he was already spotted by the six experts. However, they believed that Xu Qingfan was also a cultivator here to help activate the formation, so they did not suspect him much. They only instructed Xu Qingfan to sit in the outermost layer at the "Star" position and work with the other cultivators to start the "Three Talent Formation," while waiting to be checked for identification.

Xu Qingfan sat quietly in his spot. After his previous experience, he was not very anxious about the approaching check. He just stared intently at the three formations in the center, while a bold thought suddenly appeared in his mind, startling even him.