Volume 1 Volume 7 Chapter 82

Volume 7 Chapter 82: The Eerie Treasure Hunt (13)

As the light flickered, the space trembled, and the world gradually became blurry, then slowly became clear again. When everything stabilized, the scene of heaven and earth had changed greatly.

It was not until this moment that everyone reacted, looking at Bai Qingfu in shock. They saw Bai Qingfu’s face was pale, blood was flowing from his seven orifices. Although Xuan’s attack was hurried and he was seriously injured himself, he was still one of the world’s top masters. With one strike, he had severely hurt Bai Qingfu.

However, Bai Qingfu did not pay attention to his own injuries. Instead, he stared blankly at his hands. Just a moment ago, he had the greatest goal of this journey, the "Shura Holy Pearl," tightly in his grasp, but now it had been taken away by Xuan.

"After planning for so long, for these two moves, we prepared for ten whole years. Junior Brother Xu took forty years to come up with this idea. We, the elite cultivators of Rainbow Spirit Seven Islands, have suffered great losses, yet we did not expect to fail at the last moment… When Junior Brother Xu returns, how will I explain this to him?"

At this moment, everyone was already far, far away from the Shura Clan’s main camp. The terrifying scene that shook the sky and earth was no longer clear. Still, Bai Qingfu felt as if the sky had collapsed. After being stunned for a while, he forced a bitter smile and said.

Chou sneered and soared into the air, intending to return along the same path to find Xuan, who had taken the "Shura Holy Pearl." The last three top experts of Tianzuo Camp and Bai Yu were slightly taken aback by Chou’s actions, then quickly followed behind him.

"Come back! Returning now will only add to the risk of being discovered and retaliated against by the Shura Clan. It will not be of any use. Fourth Brother is seriously injured, and our most important task now is to return to Rainbow Spirit Seven Islands to save him. Other matters can be discussed later."

Bai Qingfu seemed to be greatly shocked. For a moment, everyone respected Zhang Ningmei. Seeing the change in the crowd, usually calm Zhang Ningmei gave a soft shout that surprisingly held a commanding presence.

Under Zhang Ningmei’s reprimand, Bai Yu immediately lost his confidence and obediently returned to her side. The three top experts from Tianyou Camp were filled with hatred, and after Zhang Ningmei’s light shout, the one named Chou slowly turned around, staring coldly at Zhang Ningmei with undisguised disdain.

However, Zhang Ningmei showed no anger or fear; instead, her authority grew stronger, "What? Do you want to disobey? Master asked me and Uncle Bai to handle everything here. Seventh Brother, if you do not see me as your elder sister, do you also not see Master?"

"Hmph!"

Chou’s fighting aura flashed with two red glimmers, and it was unclear what he was thinking. Yet in the next moment, he descended to the ground, obediently following Zhang Ningmei’s command.

Among the Rainbow Spirit Seven Islands, everyone feared Chou. His power was, in some ways, even greater than Xu Qingfan’s. At that moment, seeing Zhang Ningmei bravely give him a casual reprimand, admiration appeared in everyone’s eyes.

However, Zhang Ningmei showed no sign of pride; she simply approached Tian Zhenxian, who was preoccupied with holding Tian Zhenling and continuously pouring "Flourish Qi" into him. She patted Tian Zhenxian’s shoulder and comforted him, saying, "Fifth Brother, don’t worry. We will return soon. The seniors from the North Sea are very skilled. They will definitely be able to heal Fourth Brother. Even if they can’t completely cure him, at least they can hold out until Master comes back. By then, Fourth Brother will be fine. Now, let’s hurry back, shall we?"

Tian Zhenxian didn’t seem to fully understand, but he nodded silently, and the despair on his face eased a little.

Under Zhang Ningmei’s direction, everyone walked towards a hidden place where another teleportation array was located.

In the last ten years, except for the teleportation circle that everyone used before, which was set up hastily in the past ten days because it was too close to the Shura Clan’s main base, Xu Qingfan has arranged more than twenty teleportation circles from the Shura Clan’s main base to the edge of the East Sea over the last five years. These teleportation circles are of slightly better quality than the previous ones and can be used two to three times, allowing the people of Rainbow Spirit Seven Islands to quickly travel between the edge of the East Sea and the Shura Clan’s main base to support this plan.

And the hidden place the group was heading to had the teleportation circle that Xu Qingfan set up.

As the group walked towards the teleportation circle, Zhang Ningmei inadvertently fell behind, walking alongside Bai Qingfu, who seemed to still be affected by a setback.

"What’s wrong? Do you have a problem?"

Bai Qingfu noticed Zhang Ningmei walking beside him and looked up with a smile, his face showing no sign of being downcast.

"Didn’t you just say you didn’t care whether we could really get the ‘Shura Holy Pearl’? The main purpose of this mission was to greatly weaken the Shura Clan and the Zhong family and to shift the battlefield from the Zhong family to the Shura Clan’s main base, while also dragging Zhang Xusheng into it. Although it seems we lost the ‘Shura Holy Pearl’, we have already completed our task successfully. Why did you look so upset in front of everyone just now?"

Zhang Ningmei asked.

"Three points!" Bai Qingfu raised three fingers and said softly. "First, this mission is not really about the ‘Shura Holy Pearl’ like we said; only I know this, and you guessed it later, but no one else can know because, to some extent, we are using the Tian Left and Tian Right camps, the Tian family brothers, and Chou to create conflict between the Shura Clan, Zhang Xusheng, and the Zhong family without considering their lives. If others find out about this, it will be bad for the unity of my Rainbow Spirit Seven Islands. Second, the more serious the failure of this mission, the more beneficial it will be for my Rainbow Spirit Seven Islands. ‘Xuan’ secretly followed Chou to find us; now the ‘Shura Holy Pearl’ has been stolen, and Chou bears much of the responsibility. His reputation has become too high over the years, and cooling his influence a bit wouldn’t be bad. Most importantly, the ‘Shura Holy Pearl’ is just too important…"

"What do you mean? Didn’t you just say you wouldn’t care about the loss of the ‘Shura Holy Pearl’? Also, I think whoever possesses the ‘Shura Holy Pearl’ will provoke the rage of the Shura Clan next; it’s a total hot potato…"

Zhang Ningmei asked in surprise.

"You are thinking too simply," Bai Qingfu sighed. "Not caring about the gains or losses of the ‘Shura Holy Pearl’ is just talk. That’s because Junior Brother Xu doesn’t want to put too much pressure on us. Otherwise, Junior Brother Xu wouldn’t send such elite forces from Tianzuo Camp and the Tian family brothers to steal this item. Can’t you see? The direction Junior Brother Xu has been training the Tian family brothers and Tianzuo Camp for the past ten years is all for today’s action. If it were just to provoke the Shura Clan’s anger and Zhang Xusheng’s suspicion, why would he put his disciples and elite forces in such danger?"

After a pause, Bai Qingfu continued, "In fact, from my perspective, the first step designed by Junior Brother Xu is not to destroy the Zhong family but to attract most of the Shura Clan’s forces. The second step is not to shift the Shura Clan’s anger onto Zhang Xusheng but to create chaos in the Shura Clan’s base, taking the chance to steal the ‘Shura Holy Pearl.’ Only by obtaining the ‘Shura Holy Pearl’ can Junior Brother Xu’s game be truly completed. As for destroying the Zhong family, weakening the Shura Clan, and involving Zhang Xusheng, those are just the minimum goals. The ‘Shura Holy Pearl’ is really too important."

"How so? I think the ‘Shura Holy Pearl’ only weakens the Shura Clan and has no other use."

Zhang Ningmei asked curiously.

Bai Qingfu explained, "Oh, haven’t you thought about it? Once we have the ‘Shura Holy Pearl’ and collect a lot of Shura Clan’s blood and flesh, we can create a new Shura Clan. As they grow, how we teach and educate them about who is a friend and who is an enemy will be up to us. Most importantly, it seems Junior Brother Xu believes that the secret of the sudden disappearance of the ‘Spirit Eater’ is hidden within the Shura Holy Pearl."

Zhang Ningmei asked, "So what do we do now?"

"No matter what, we have at least achieved the minimum goal. The Shura Clan has suffered heavy losses. Once their experts return from the ‘Azure Crystal Treasure House,’ it will be the day of the Zhong family’s downfall, and they will blame this incident on Zhang Xusheng. The three major threats to humanity will be the fall of the Zhong family, the weakening of the Shura Clan, and Zhang Xusheng will also be drawn into dealing with the Shura Clan’s anger. Most importantly, the Shura Clan will increase their attacks on the Human Alliance because of Zhang Xusheng, and at that point, it will be time for us to take our third step."

"What is the third step?"

"Spread rumors that attribute all the favorable changes during this time to us, the Rainbow Spirit Seven Islands, such as defeating the Zhong family and severely injuring the Shura Clan, establishing our reputation within the Human Alliance, strengthening our power, and, under our guidance, blaming Zhang Xusheng for provoking the Shura Clan’s anger. At that time, the Shura Clan will point directly at Zhang Xusheng, leaving him no room to deny it. With heavy losses in the Human Alliance, the anger of many human cultivators will surely shift towards Zhang Xusheng, and all the power and reputation he has built over the years in the Human Alliance will be destroyed. When the Human Alliance can no longer withstand the Shura Clan’s attacks, it will be time for us, the Rainbow Spirit Seven Islands, to appear as saviors."

Zhang Ningmei listened, her eyes shining with admiration. This plan was very clever and interconnected.

Bai Qingfu continued to ponder, "Now, what I am thinking about is the pros and cons after the ‘Shura Holy Pearl’ is obtained by ‘Xuan.’ Although we have tried our best to sow discord between him and Zhang Xusheng, I fear that the ‘Shura Holy Pearl’ will still end up in Zhang Xusheng’s hands, and under Zhang Xusheng’s influence, ‘Xuan’ would completely stand against us. Sigh, I cannot clearly tell if this action will bring gains or losses."

As they spoke, the two had already arrived at the teleportation array and joined the others to travel to the next location.

A day later, everyone arrived at the shores of the East Sea, and half a month later, they returned to the Rainbow Spirit Seven Islands, after which they healed and rested.

Meanwhile, as Xu Qingfan planned, the great battle between the Shura Clan and the Zhong family had moved close to the Shura Clan’s stronghold. At this point, the Zhong family had no way out. In the midst of a great calamity, a fierce battle broke out again between the Zhong family and the Shura Clan. However, Xu Qingfan did not expect that the Tian family’s brothers could provoke Heavenly Tribulation. Amidst disasters like earthquake cracks, volcanic eruptions, and heavy rains of fire, the outcome became increasingly indifferent to the Zhong family. Those zombies without flying powers perished as the ground shook and magma flowed, resulting in the destruction of a million low-level zombies from the Zhong family.

When the situation in the Shenzhou Continent changed dramatically, the "Azure Crystal Treasure House" also sparked the largest chaotic battle in the history of the cultivation world.