Chapter 482 - 482 488 Scheming

Chapter 482: Chapter 488: Scheming Chapter 482: Chapter 488: Scheming Li Zhirui furrowed his brows and, bringing Da Qing and the others back to the Spirit Boat, cast a spell to enshroud the vessel, isolating it from the outside world.

“Can we talk now? What exactly happened?” Li Zhirui asked anxiously, “Did you not find Zhixuan, or is there another reason? Why didn’t she come out with you?”

“Jiu, here’s what happened,” Da Qing organized his thoughts before continuing, “We went to look for Li Zhixuan, but on the way, she destroyed her positioning device.”

“Then we discussed it and felt she probably didn’t want us to find her. Considering the eeriness of the Secret Realm, we thought it best to just leave.”

Li Zhirui’s confusion grew rather than decreased upon hearing this, but seeing that Da Qing had more to say, he didn’t interrupt, deciding to wait until he finished before asking more.

“When we were about to leave, we really encountered a large group of fierce Devil Beasts.” After a pause, Da Qing said, “If we’re not mistaken, those Devil Beasts came from the direction where Li Zhixuan was!”

In other words, had they not turned around and left, but instead chosen to move forward, they would have likely run into the group of Devil Beasts.

Fortunately, up to this point, Li Zhixuan’s Life Token remained intact, meaning she hadn’t been injured.

“First, tell me about the situation in the Secret Realm,” Li Zhirui, burdened with too many doubts, had to ask them one by one, waiting for their answers.

“The Taixu Devil Race had already set up their schemes within the Secret Realm. Once we entered, we found neither precious Spiritual Objects nor any trace of Devil Beasts…”

As Da Qing recounted, Li Zhirui gradually understood the oddities they described, but it prompted another question.

“According to what you’re saying, why would the Devil Race wait until the portal had reopened to attack you? You know, if they had acted earlier, you would have had nowhere to escape.”

“This…”

Indeed! Why was that? Da Qing and the others were momentarily stunned, their expressions blank, unsure of what to say.

“It seems the Devil Race has other plans.” But until now, no clues had surfaced, leaving them at a loss.

Li Zhirui also felt helpless at the moment, finding that he could only take things one step at a time.

If he had known the Secret Realm contained so many traps, he shouldn’t have been greedy and accepted the invitation from Shen Leishan, bringing his clan members all this way to participate.

It’s just that in this world, there is no such thing as hindsight.

“Be cautious these days, better not leave the Spirit Boat, and keep a close watch on the Devil Race’s movements,” Li Zhirui instructed.

The former suggestion was for the convenience of immediate escape, while the latter might allow observation of the Devil Race’s movements, potentially providing some inspiration and clues for their clueless situation.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

“Jiu, should we inform Shen Leishan and Profound Ice Sect about this?” Da Qing suddenly asked.

If they were informed, it could serve as a warning, helping them better counter the Devil Race’s schemes.

However, Li Zhirui thought of a less favorable aspect, which was that when danger struck, those two forces might use them as human shields!

After all, Li Zhirui and his group were the weakest and most easily controlled.

“Let’s not mention it for now, let’s see how things unfold before deciding,” Li Zhirui pondered thoroughly and did not trust them too much.

But this is also normal, after all, “an ally’s death spares oneself” – sacrificing others to save oneself, who would refuse it?

Perhaps some would, but definitely not Shen Leishan and the Profound Ice Sect.

“No wonder when we joined forces with Shen Leishan before, pressing the Devil Race, we didn’t see those two rank four Great Devils of the Taixu Devil Race make an appearance. Even later when the Great Snow Mountain sent several rank four Great Devils, they did not show up.”

Jiang Fengwu suddenly recalled this peculiar incident and had a moment of realization, he said, “So it turns out they had been plotting all along and were not worried about our entry into the Secret Realm damaging their schemes.

Li Zhirui was stunned, he had noticed this previously but thought they were tied up with other affairs.

Or perhaps they felt that in a two against two situation, a short-term victory couldn’t be decided. After the realm opened, they would still have to give way. Rather than lose face, it was better not to appear at all and save their dignity.

But now it seems, the Devil Race had their calculations right from the start.

—-

Outside the Spirit Boat, Yun Lei and several Nascent Soul True Lords from the Profound Ice Sect were watching every move of the Li family.

“Missing that Female Sword Cultivator? Could it be she perished in the Secret Realm? Is that why they left the realm the moment it was possible?” Yun Lei thought to himself, but felt it was unlikely.

Because during the brief interaction with Li Zhirui and Da Qing outside, he did not show a trace of sadness or shock.

But then they cast aside thoughts of the Li family! For the Life Tokens in their hands began cracking en masse!

And at the same time, within the Secret Realm, a massive slaughter by the Devil Race was in full swing!

Tens of thousands of Devil Beasts charged towards one or several Golden Core cultivators. Without Formation defenses, the cultivators were bound to be the losing side.

Of course, they could choose to flee, but let’s not forget that among the beast tide, there were quite a few rank three Devil Beasts. Their presence greatly increased the danger for the cultivators.

Some cultivators were unlucky and got surrounded by the beast tide. In a mere moment, they were devoured, reduced to a pile of bones.

Yet, some cultivators were lucky, having noticed the beast tide early and carefully hiding away.

“What’s going on? Why have the Devil Beasts suddenly gone mad?” All the surviving cultivators were filled with panic and fear.

“We can’t stay any longer, it’s too dangerous! We must leave as soon as possible!”

But by the time they reached the exit of the Secret Realm, and saw the throng of Devil Beasts, they fell into deep despair!

By now they were filled with regret, wondering why they didn’t leave the Secret Realm earlier when it first opened. They were greedy for more Spiritual Objects, and now, let alone Spiritual Objects, they couldn’t even save their own lives!

“Everyone! You all know the current situation, so I won’t waste time with unnecessary talk!” The speaker was a Golden Core Late Stage Cultivator from the Profound Ice Sect named Jin Dacheng.

In order to resolve the current predicament, the cultivators began to put aside their differences, planning to join forces in the hope of breaking through the Devil Beasts at the exit and escaping to safety.

There were a total of five cultivators present, two from Shen Leishan, and the remaining three were Golden Cores from the Profound Ice Sect.

On the side of the Devil Beasts, there were roughly hundreds of lower rank Devil Beasts surrounding the exit, with seven rank three Devil Beasts in the middle, who posed the main threat.