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After listening to Song Zhui’s speech, the other Ninth Order Realm Masters immediately understood his meaning.
Ning Zizai nodded in agreement. “Brother Song is right. Too many of our fellow cultivators have gathered here, so it doesn’t make much of a difference to us whether Si Nan obtains forty percent or twenty percent of the reward. In that case, we might as well do as he says. What do you think?”
The others no longer had any objections at this point. They had failed to consider this factor previously. Now that Song Zhui had pointed out the issue, they suddenly realized that their concerns were meaningless.
Killing Lu Ye was originally a feat that would have brought great fame and benefit. However, it was different in the current situation. Even if they succeeded in dealing the last blow to Lu Ye, all the Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators would remember was Si Nan’s extraordinary talent in dismantling the Wards whenever they recalled this incident in the future.
All the benefits had been monopolized by Si Nan alone. Hence, the Ninth Order Realm Masters couldn’t help cursing in their hearts. [That bastard, Lu Yi Ye… He knows he won’t be able to survive anyway, so why did he have to construct so many Wards along the mining tunnel!?]
“If there are no objections, then I will send a messenger to inform Si Nan about our decision.” While speaking, Song Zhui gestured toward a Junior Brother nearby.
The Junior Brother immediately understood Song Zhui’s intentions and quickly headed in the direction of the mining tunnel. When he entered the mine, he saw Si Nan waiting quietly without proceeding with the destruction of the Wards. Thus, he hastily informed Si Nan about the decision of the Ninth Order Realm Masters.
Si Nan smiled. “Understood. Please inform them that I will finish dismantling the Wards within a day so that Lu Yi Ye will have nowhere to hide.”
After obtaining the agreement of the Ninth Order Realm Masters, he diligently began to dismantle the Wards with great vigor.
It only took an hour for Si Nan to venture several tens of meters deep into the mining tunnel on his own. He destroyed more than ten Wards within that time. His current position was already deeper than what the other Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators had managed to achieve previously.
While Si Nan was continuously dismantling the Wards inside the mining tunnel, countless Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators watched his progress with great anticipation outside the mine. Some of them, who were more impatient, couldn’t help following closely behind Si Nan. Nevertheless, they did not dare to stay too near and simply watched intently from a distance of several tens of meters away.
They might not be able to understand the situation, but they constantly transmitted information on the situation to the outside. Therefore, the Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators waiting outside were also aware of the dismantling progress. The dismantling speed caused bursts of cheers and exclamations of amazement to ring out from time to time.
Song Zhui and the other Ninth Order Realm Masters remained gathered together in one spot. The sporadic cheers and exclamations of amazement left a bitter aftertaste in their mouth. Those cheers should have belonged to them, but they were ultimately upstaged by Si Nan instead. That was why their resentment toward Lu Ye grew increasingly intense.
“At this speed, he will succeed at dismantling all the Wards within a day. That’s impressive indeed.” Song Zhui couldn’t help sighing in admiration.
The other Ninth Order Realm Masters declined to make any comment on Si Nan’s achievements.
Song Zhui laughed. “Alright, everybody. It’s rare for the Thousand Demon Ridge to produce a talent who can compete with Lu Yi Ye on equal terms, so we should be happy. After tomorrow, we will no longer be troubled by Lu Yi Ye. Not only can we advance into the Real Lake Realm with peace of mind, but the Cloud River Battlefield will also return to its original state. The peace will not be thrown into turmoil by a certain individual again.”
Ning Zizai chuckled. “I can always count on you to be thorough, Brother Song.”
Song Zhui replied, “There are some things I am powerless to alter, so I can only accept the reality. Isn’t that so?”
While Si Nan was dismantling the Wards inside the mining tunnel, Lu Ye was constructing more Wards.
Additionally, Lu Ye would occasionally check on the messages Yi Yi sent so that he could keep track of the dismantling progress by the Ward Cultivator who arrived without warning. He had to admit that the Ward Cultivator had relatively extraordinary attainments in the Way of Wards. He was almost at his level in terms of attainments in the Way of Wards. ℟Åỗ𝖇È𝙨
A large portion of Lu Ye’s attainments in the Way of Wards came from the blessings of the Hundred Wards Tower. Furthermore, he had a natural advantage in the Way of Wards thanks to the fact that he was a Glyphweaver. On the other hand, the other party’s attainments in the Way of Wards came from diligent and painstaking effort. His achievements could not be compared.
Time passed. With the steady removal of the Wards in the mining tunnel, Si Nan’s gradually moved further and further into the mine. The Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators waiting outside the mine also began rolling their sleeves up in preparation for battle.
Nobody had caught a glimpse of Lu Ye so far even though they were able to conclude that he was hiding inside the mine. As for whether or not he was actually inside the mine, they could only confirm the fact after Si Nan dismantled all the Wards in the mine.
All of a sudden, a muffled explosion came from deep within the mine. The violent blast was accompanied by strong vibrations, causing the expressions of all the Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators waiting outside the mine to change drastically.
“What’s going on?”
Song Zhui and the other Ninth Order Realm Masters instantly turned to look in the direction of the mining tunnel with solemn expressions on their faces. The commotion undoubtedly indicated the activation of an Explosive Ward!
If the Wards had been properly dismantled, then they would not be activated again. Seeing that one of the Wards had activated, then Si Nan must have made a mistake.
There was no need to worry about Si Nan dying from the explosion. He was an Eight Order Realm Master after all. Even if he was just a Spell Cultivator, the blast from an Explosive Ward would not be lethal to him. Nevertheless, he would inevitably sustain some injuries which would definitely cause delays to the Ward Destruction progress.
Just as the thought occurred to the Ninth Order Realms Masters, they suddenly received news from inside the mining tunnel.
It turned out that Si Nan had not made a mistake. On the contrary, the Explosive Ward had been manually activated. This incident was evidently the handiwork of the person who constructed these Explosive Wards. As for Si Nan, he was fortunately unharmed. That was because the Ward had exploded when he was approaching.
The sudden turn of events left everybody scratching their heads in confusion. They could not understand the situation. Judging by the situation, the person who constructed the Wards seemed to have been targeting Si Nan but failed to grasp the timing accurately and activated the Ward too early…
*Boom…* Another explosion came from within the mining tunnel.
*Boom…* The third explosion rang out.
*Boom…* The fourth explosion reverberated through the air. Then, the fifth explosion rapidly followed… In the beginning, there were short intervals between the earlier explosions. However, the subsequent explosions rang out in quick succession with no signs of stopping.
Even though the Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators had just received news that Si Nan was unharmed, they couldn’t help feeling anxious again. The commotion was clearly due to the consecutive activation of the Explosive Wards, and the continuous explosions also caused the rock walls outside the mine to shudder with great might.
It did not take long before news came from within the mine. Si Nan remained unscathed, and the Wards had been manually activated by the person who prepared the Wards in the first place. Moreover, Si Nan was currently striding forward confidently. Meanwhile, the Wards ahead erupted one after another following the onward movement of his figure. That was the source of the commotion.
At this moment, Si Nan was strolling leisurely inside the mining tunnel with a disdainful sneer on his face. [I heard the rumors claiming that Lu Yi Ye has extraordinarily advanced attainments in the Way of Wards, but that doesn’t seem to be the case!]
He had dismantled a large number of Wards along the way. As long as he had enough time, he could have removed all the Wards cleanly.
The other party had evidently realized that fact and decided to activate the remaining Wards in advance. That was the reason behind the current scenario in the mining tunnel where Si Nan strode forward without pause while countless Explosive Wards erupted continuously in front of him. As a result, clusters of flames were produced along the mining tunnel and loose rocks clattered to the ground from the surrounding rock walls.
“Has he gotten desperate?” Si Nan murmured under his breath. He secretly guessed that the other party was not actually trying to kill him via these actions because the other party knew that such an achievement was not possible.
Combined with the rumor that Lu Ye was heavily wounded, he became increasingly confident that his hypothesis was correct.
How could he allow Lu Ye to obtain such an opportunity? Song Zhui and the others had promised to give him forty percent of the bounty from slaughtering Lu Ye. Even if it was nothing more than a verbal promise by the Ninth Order Realm Masters, nobody had the qualifications to raise any objections against their decision. Besides, such an enormous reward held immense importance for his Sect.
He persistently forged forward. On the other hand, the Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators who followed behind him to watch the excitement couldn’t help feeling a great sense of admiration and respect for him. From their perspective, he seemed to be single-handedly wielding infinite power to crush all the obstacles before him.
The news inside the mining tunnel was relayed to the outside. Song Zhui and the others were taken aback for a moment, then they hastily rushed in the direction of the mining tunnel.
They originally thought that Si Nan would need at least a day to finish dismantling the Ward Destructions. Judging by the current situation, it would not take long before they could match into the mine. Lu Ye was hiding inside the mine. Although nobody was holding high hopes for the bounty on his head, they were craving an end to their mission. After spending so much energy and time pursuing him, it was only natural that nobody was willing to miss out on the last event now that they had finally reached the grand ending.
When the Ninth Order Realm Masters rushed into the mining tunnel with their companions in tow, the rest of the Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators finally came back to their senses and scrambled over themselves to enter the mine. Hence, the mining tunnel instantly became crowded with people.
The mining tunnel was not very wide and could only accommodate three to five people walking side by side at most. For that reason, it was inevitable for various disputes and disagreements to break out in such a chaotic situation. The scene quickly became rather lively. In addition, the startled screams of female cultivators could be heard from time to time. Unscrupulous individuals had evidently taken advantage of the chaos to sexually harass these female cultivators.
Outside the mine, Senior Brother Qin, Senior Sister Hu, and their companions hurriedly scrambled to their feet. However, Gui Yingzi abruptly reached out his hand and grabbed Senior Brother Qin by the arm before they could take a step forward. He simultaneously clutched at his chest with his other hand, his complexion swiftly turning extremely pale.
“Junior Brother?” Senior Brother Qin glanced back at Gui Yingzi, wondering why his Junior Brother was acting so strangely all of a sudden.
Gui Yingzi raised his head. His eyes were bloodshot, and his expression was filled with indescribable terror. He looked like he had seen something absolutely horrifying. Gritting his teeth, he forced out the words. “Senior Brother, you can’t go!”
While they were waiting in front of the mine earlier, he had repeatedly tried to persuade them to change their minds. He claimed that it was best if they did not participate in the campaign because he had an ominous feeling.
In addition, this campaign was related to Lu Ye… The few encounters he had with Lu Ye could not be considered true interactions, but they had been accompanied by great risks nevertheless. Therefore, he was even more certain that something was amiss.
Be that as it may, how could Senior Brother Qin and Senior Sister Hu willingly withdraw from such a grand event? Not to mention, their team was the first to discover Lu Ye’s whereabouts. It stood to reason that they should receive a share of the reward for killing him. Unfortunately, they would receive nothing if they withdrew at this point. All their efforts until now would be in vain.
For that reason, Senior Brother Qin and the others had not taken the warnings seriously no matter how Gui Yingzi attempted to persuade them otherwise. In their opinion, Lu Ye was doomed since more than two thousand Thousand Demon Ridge cultivators had gathered here. They might not contribute much to the campaign, but that did not stop them from participating.
At least, those were their thoughts until this moment!
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