Like a Ray in My Night (Part 4)

710 A New Plan

Ximen Chang pondered for a moment and nodded. "It could be, although they might also think it is a trap. But then, I don't think we should just give up. At the end of the day, we will have to fight them. If we can pull one over them and decide this fight in our favor easily, it would be for the best. If we can't though, it doesn't mean that we won't have to fight at all. Since this is the case, why not do it right now?"

Elder Xing nodded. "I agree. Anyway, these are the elite disciples of the demonic faction. Taking them out first seems like it might be for the best. We only have so many people at our disposal but, right now, we have the numbers advantage. Plus, with the four of us, we should be able to do this more easily, shouldn't we?"

Anyway, the four of them had all reached the nascent soul level and were in the later stage at that. If they took on the strongest disciples, they would certainly be able to win the fight. Even if they couldn't completely dominate like a cultivator in the next level could, just a minor realm made a big difference and he didn't think that any of those disciples should have reached the late stage.

Even someone like Elder Baili's first disciple who was constantly practicing and going out on missions was barely scraping at the lower limit of that stage. He didn't think that there was another maniac like him around. The chances of that happening were simply too low. Even the most diligent disciples had things they cared about other than cultivation and they would all spend more or less time on that. That Zhi Guan was really ... well, he didn't even have the words for it.

The other three Elders also thought of the difference in levels between them and those disciples and then turned to look at their own disciples behind them. Many of them weren't of a high level since people like Zhi Guan, Liu Bao Ru, Shen Lei, and Mei Chao Bing were all elsewhere right now.

Still, they had at least some of them and according to the news Xi Ju Hai had brought back before, there should only be about forty people in the underground palace overall. There was a decent chance that they'd be able to deal with them. If it had just been one of their sects, maybe they would have been worried but with both combined, they should be able to handle this. If they were lucky and not everyone was in the same place, they could even finish some off before the rest arrived. That would make things even easier.

Elder Baili and Elder Xing exchanged a glance and nodded before turning back to the two Elders from the Zhen Yan Sect. "From our side, we believe we should go ahead. If we can do it without a fight, that's preferable but we shouldn't be at a disadvantage either if we don't."

Elder Fa and Elder Ximen had also communicated silently and nodded at once.

"We agree." Fa Ai Jun narrowed her eyes and dug through her spatial bag, pulling out another small bag. "As for not getting into a fight ... since we didn't specifically prepare, we can only use what we have with us in general. There isn't much in my bag that could be useful but I have some ingredients that will react when exposed to the air.

"Usually, you wrap these in spiritual energy before submerging them in the cauldron. We can potentially use the same process here: Take them out shortly before we meet those disciples, then take away the energy and let the natural reaction happen. The only issue is that there isn't much and they might be able to suppress the reaction with their own energy which would make the whole thing moot."

Baili Chao furrowed his brows. "Does it make sense to do this? It kind of seems like a waste ..." He naturally also hoped that they could escape a fight and preserve their strength but ... all these extra steps didn't even guarantee a positive outcome. In that case, it might be better to leave it be and fight the traditional way.

Fa Ai Jun could only smile wryly. "I know doing it this way is ... not the best. I'd just like to get around fighting if we can. Even though we are likely to win, so many unexpected things could happen. What if someone escapes and contacts the headquarters of the demonic faction? This underground palace might be teeming with their people soon after and none of us would get out alive. We wouldn't have that problem if we could put them all to sleep."

Baili Chao could only sigh when he heard that. Indeed, the fight itself wasn't that scary. The scary part was what else could happen. They didn't know the exact number of people inside right now or where exactly they'd be and missing just one of them could lead to disaster. A quiet execution of their amended plan would make things much easier. Well, not that causing things to burn or explode was very quiet but then, it seemed like their hands were bound.

After thinking for a moment, he finally nodded. "Let's do it then. We'll just deal with whatever happens when it does." He turned back to the underground palace, his brows furrowing. Maybe when they went in there, they would find a few clues as to what exactly had happened or ... were at least able to recover his body if the worst had happened. Just for the sake of that, any attempt they made was worth it.

The other Elders nodded in agreement and then turned to their respective group of disciples, explaining the plan to them. Finally, the groups split into two, with Elder Xing and Elder Ximen leading one to enter the main entrance and Elder Baili and Elder Fa going to the other side with their disciples. This way, they would make it slightly more difficult for any of the demonic practitioners to escape.