Chapter 2152: Leaving the Mountains and Into the River

At this time, Zhao Hai pointed at another place and said, “As you said just now, the Ghost Shadow Sect and the Ghost Spirit Sect have a grudge against each other. If we choose this branch, as long as our tracks are covered, then we can create a false image to provoke the two sects into conflict. This way, we won’t be exposed easily. Even if we don’t erase our traces, they would think that the other party was using tricks. They wouldn’t suspect us at first.”

Hearing this, Long Xiang thought for a moment. Then he gave a small nod. The branch hall that Zhao Hai pointed towards was quite strong. Moreover, that branch was very special. Despite being a branch hall, it was at an important location for the Ghost Shadow Sect. It was practically a nail that the sect planted in the territory of the Ghost Spirit Sect. Because of this branch hall, several conflicts happened between the two sects. If they attacked this place, then as long as they made enough preparations, the existence of cultivators in the underground world wouldn’t be exposed.

The others also heard Zhao Hai’s words. They understand what Zhao Hai meant. They couldn’t help but look at Zhao Hai in surprise. They didn’t expect Zhao Hai to have such deep schemes. If they followed Zhao Hai’s suggestion, they might cause a huge conflict between the Ghost Spirit Sect and the Ghost Shadow Sect.

Zhao Hai added, “Also, we can also use this location to strike the reinforcements. The position of this branch hall is very special. If the Ghost Shadow Sect wants to send reinforcements, they can only use one method. If we use formations, we can make their transmission formations useless. This would reduce their response time. They could fly towards this branch. Then if we send people to intercept the reinforcements, we can cause the Ghost Shadow Sect to suffer.”

Long Xiang’s expression changed. He looked at Zhao Hai and said, “You must know that we don’t have materials to arrange formations. Even if your plan succeeds, we cannot do anything if we don’t have materials.”

Zhao Hai smiled faintly and said, “Don’t worry, as long as we have jade marrow, I can create a simple formation. However, this formation can only be used once.”

Long Xiang’s eyes shone, “Good. Everyone, give your jade marrows to Zhao Hai. Go and make as many formations as you can. The sooner you finish, the better.”

Zhao Hai nodded, “Certainly. I’ll do my best.”

Long Xiang nodded, he turned to the team leaders and said, “Go and collect jade marrows. Then hand them over to Little Hai.” The others nodded, then they gave Zhao Hai a profound look. Only Deng Wen came over to pat Zhao Hai’s shoulder.

Zhao Hai turned to Long Xiang and said, “Elder, I need a quiet place.”

Long Xiang nodded, “Go and find a place. Take your team with you. Without my order, they won’t let other people disturb you.”

Zhao Hai cupped his fist and said, “Thank you Elder.” Then he turned around and left. Long Xiang called several Long Clan juniors over and had them follow Zhao Hai. Without Long Xiang’s order, nobody was permitted to get close to Zhao Hai.

Zhao Hai found a location not far from the main group. Then he took an engraving knife and a piece of jade marrow. Then he began to carve the jade marrow with the knife.

The formation that Zhao Hai was making wasn’t anything special. It was a simple spatial imprisonment formation. It wasn’t the kind of formation that prohibited all activity in the region, it only made sure that teleportation was not allowed. It wasn’t very difficult to make.

The Long Clan juniors that followed Zhao Hai in scouting were guarding Zhao Hai. They were there to ensure that Zhao Hai wasn’t disturbed.

Long Xiang personally came with a spatial bag in his hand. Inside the bag was a batch of jade marrow. Jade marrows were one of the True Spirit Realm’s currencies. Almost every cultivator brought them. Naturally, Long Xiang wouldn’t take all of the jade marrows that everyone had. If he did, Zhao Hai would die of exhaustion engraving them. Therefore, he only took a part of the jade marrows, around a thousand or so.

Long Xiang gave the jade marrows to one of the five members of the scouting team while saying, “Long Sheng, remember, without my orders, nobody can disturb Zhao Hai, this includes you. Only give the jade marrows to Zhao Hai if he asks for it. Understood?”

Long Sheng nodded and said, “Yes Elder, you can rest assured.” Long Xiang nodded, then he turned around and left.

After returning to the main group, the team leaders gathered. Looking at the team leaders, Long Xiang asked, “What? Do you have anything to say?”

The team leaders looked at each other. Then Deng Wen said, “Old Long, me and the others want to ask. Are you confident in Zhao Hai?”

Hearing Deng Wen, Long Xiang couldn’t help but stare. He looked at everyone and then at Deng Wen before saying, “What about you? Are you confident that Zhao Hai’s plan would work?”

Deng Wen looked at the others and said, “I’m fully confident. From what I know about Little Hai, he wouldn’t suggest something he’s not confident about.”

Long Xiang nodded, “I also think that there’s a high chance that we’ll succeed. Although the branch hall that Little Hai pointed out is quite difficult to attack, it’s not impossible for our group. As long as the formation is arranged, we can get away with the attack. The only question is how we are going to disguise the assault.”

As soon as the team leaders heard Long Xiang, they immediately understood his meaning. Long Xiang had decided to follow Zhao Hai’s plan. Wanting to change his mind at this time was impossible.

It wasn’t the first time that Long Xiang did this kind of thing. He was very familiar with the abilities of each sect. He knew that sects like the Tyrant Blade Sect, Sword Hegemon Sect, and Matchless Sword School have very formidable attacks. They were most suitable for head on collisions. But sects like the Cloud Yin Sect were most suitable in reconnaissance and assassinations. Making the Cloud Yin Sect’s people attack the enemy head on would be a waste. Therefore, Long Xiang needed to properly calculate everything in his head.

The night quickly passed. By dawn, Zhao Hai and his team went back to the main group. Long Xiang was waiting for Zhao Hai there. Upon seeing Zhao Hai, Long Xiang immediately asked, “How is it?”

Zhao Hai took out two spatial bags and handed them to Long Xiang while saying, “I’ve made the formation, but I didn’t use all of the jade marrows. The formation should cover an area a kilometer wide. It should be enough to cause portable transmission formations to malfunction.”

Long Xiang received the spatial bags and opened one to take a look. He discovered that the bag contained the unused jade marrows. He gave the spatial bag back to Zhao Hai and said, “This is yours.” Then he opened the other bag and took out the contents.

The jade marrow was engraved with a formation rune. The runes looked beautiful. It was something that Long Xiang hadn’t seen before. Although Long Xiang wasn’t a formation cultivator, he knew some of the most common formations. He discovered that the runes that Zhao Hai used were new to him.”

Long Xiang looked at Zhao Hai and said, “Can I try one?”

Zhao Hai smiled and said, “Elder is free to use it. However, this formation can only be used once. The method to use it is very simple. Just use your spiritual qi to activate it. If it’s not destroyed, the formation could last 12 hours.”

Long Xiang nodded, then he injected spiritual qi into the jade marrow. The marrow flashed before disappearing. It looked like nothing happened.

Long Xiang looked at Zhao Hai in confusion. But Zhao Hai just looked at him and smiled without saying anything. Seeing Zhao Hai’s appearance, Long Xiang took out a portable transmission formation and used it. However, the portable transmission formation didn’t do anything. Long Xiang wasn’t surprised when he saw this. He looked at Long Sheng and said, “Long Sheng, you try.” Long Sheng responded and took out his own portable transmission formation. Just like Long Xiang, the portable transmission formation didn’t do anything.

Long Xiang gave a satisfied nod and said, “Good.” He looked into the spatial bag and saw several hundred formations. Long Xiang stored the spatial bag and said, “Little Hai, thank you for the trouble.”

Zhao Hai smiled faintly and said, “Elder Long is too polite. Elder, do you need me to explore ahead today?”

Long Xiang shook his head and said, “There’s no need. We’re leaving the mountain range. Once we do, we have a map that can guide us. And Ghost Cultivators couldn’t just move their settlements on a whim.”

Zhao Hai nodded. Not to mention moving a settlement, it wasn’t easy for a person to transfer to another place. So, there’s no doubt that the map that Long Xiang had was still relevant. 

Long Xiang looked at Zhao Hai and said, “How are you feeling? You’ve been working the entire night. Are you exhausted? You can still rest before we depart.”

Zhao Hai shook his head and said, “There’s no need. We can move now.”

Long Xiang nodded, then he said, “If you’re tired, just tell me. Our routes from now on are very safe. There are also more areas we can rest in.”

Zhao Hai nodded, “Rest assured, I’m alright.” Long Xiang nodded, then he turned his head to the team leaders and said, “Let’s depart. Team leaders, control your people. Don’t let anyone get lost.”

After giving his command, Long Xiang took the lead and followed a path. Although they were still a distance away from leaving the mountain, Long Xiang happened to know a safe route where the demon beasts weren’t strong. 

Ten hours after the group started walking, they were finally out of the mountain range. Upon exiting the mountain range, Zhao Hai couldn’t help but stare. In front of them was an abandoned village. The village was made out of stone, and the houses were quite small.

Long Xiang looked at the village and said, “In the past, this village belonged to the underground world’s humanoid beings. Afterwards, the entire village was eliminated by the Ghost Cultivators. From then on, this village was abandoned. We can rest here.”

Everyone nodded. Although the houses were small, normal humans could still enter. It was already dark, Zhao Hai and the others entered a house to rest for the night.

The next morning, Long Xiang led everyone to depart. Two hours from the abandoned village, the group arrived in front of a river. Looking at the river, Long Xiang said, “The river flows in the opposite direction that we’re going. Nobody knows where the river ends. However, the other end of the river is the Ghost Spirit Sect’s backyard. Everyone, come with me.” After saying that, Long Xiang jumped into the river.

Seeing Long Xiang, everyone looked at each other before jumping into the river as well. Everyone’s strength was quite high. They could survive without breathing for a long time.

Although everyone’s vision was affected underwater, it wasn’t a huge hindrance. Additionally, everyone’s spiritual force was very formidable. They could always find the others and follow them. Because of this, there were no accidents while traversing the river.

The river was quite deep. Its deepest part was about fifty meters. After traversing for less than half an hour, the group saw a cave entrance underwater.

Long Xiang sneaked into the cave entrance with everyone following behind him. Once inside, everyone found that their spiritual force had been suppressed.

Everyone couldn’t help but stop. Then at this time, a bright light appeared in front of them. They couldn’t help but narrow their eyes. When they followed the light, they found Long Xiang holding a bright bead.

Long Xiang waved his hand, then a huge bubble appeared around him. Long Xiang turned his head and said, “You can use your spells here. There’s no need to worry.”

Everyone immediately used their spells to deflect the water around them. After that, Long Xiang ordered, “Alright, let’s continue. We still have a long way to go.” Everyone nodded and then followed Long Xiang.

Zhao Hai walked while looking at the underground cave. The cave was wide and quite deep. The water current inside was also chaotic. Because they were going against the current, everyone’s speed wasn’t very fast. What made Zhao Hai feel strange was the absence of beasts in this river.