Baili Chao took a deep breath and looked over at the underground palace. One of the people inside was his oldest disciple. Even though he usually felt that he could rest more assured when matters concerned him compared to his junior martial brothers, that didn’t mean that nothing could ever happen to Zhi Guan. Being alone or, well, almost alone among a bunch of demonic practitioners who could even be counted as the elite of their generation … the possibilities of encountering trouble were endless. Even he might not be able to make it through that, no matter how dependable he usually was.

“Are there … any hints as to how they might be doing?” He turned to Liu Bao Ru, his brows furrowing. He didn’t want to imagine the worst but he had already known that things would be complicated when Zhi Guan left. As a cultivator, he was also well aware of how dangerous the world truly was and how likely it was to have to watch how someone vanished from your life forever at least once or twice. He just never would have thought that he’d have to face the possibility of that happening with his oldest and his youngest disciple in such short succession.

Liu Bao Ru shook her head. “I can’t even guarantee that they were the ones fighting but it seems likely given the circumstances. If we want to know more, someone will have to go in but if they were indeed exposed, we would only put ourselves in danger that way.”

Elder Baili nodded with a heavy heart. Of course, he understood that she was right. He had just … hoped it would be different. Knowing what was going on was preferable, even if the news weren’t good ones. So if they could have found some more information, he would have been happy but yes, he couldn’t ask any of the disciples to go and since he was responsible for them, he couldn’t go by himself either.

He closed his eyes, took another deep breath, and then exhaled. Turning back to the other three Elders, he focused on the obvious question that had to be answered. “With things like this, our original plan is a thing of the past now but the items we prepared might still be useful. Should we try and adapt this somehow?”

Elder Fa immediately inclined her head. “If possible, yes. I am just afraid it won’t be so easy. Ordinarily, the pills could be ground down into dust and used that way but wasn’t it mentioned before that everyone was wearing veils? In that case, that wouldn’t work either. And using the potions requires adding them to something they’d use. But if they truly found out about your disciple and the others, they should be hyper-vigilant now so that is likely to be impossible.” She thought for a moment but then shook her head. “No, frankly, I don’t see any way we could still make our plan work, even if we adjust it. The circumstances are stacked against us too much.”

Baili Chao sighed. Yes, he had feared as much. He also wished the outcome would be different but it seemed that all the work everyone had put in could only be for naught. Not to mention that with this, their overall chances which hadn’t looked great from the beginning were even worse.

Meanwhile, Ximen Chang had his brows furrowed, looking at the building ahead. He had heard what everyone was saying but he wasn’t the type to give up easily. If the circumstances weren’t favorable, then they should create better ones. This was what he genuinely believed in. Of course, it wouldn’t be easy but what else could they do? Simply giving up was impossible when the one standing on the other side was the demonic faction.

As for what exactly to do … He thought of what Fa Ai Jun had just said: Potions could be used when added to something and pills would be an option if ground to dust and inhaled. They didn’t know much about what was going on in there or what had happened over the last few days so it was hard to tell what opportunities would present themselves if someone were indeed to go in there.

Taking into account that these were all elites of their sects, they were likely fasting and wouldn’t even bother to drink tea or wine at this stage. For one, they might indeed be suspicious if they had figured out that there were spies among them. And two, even if they hadn’t, their thoughts were likely on the upcoming grand finale of their plan already. Who’d have time to relax at such a time?

Considering these two points, the potions seemed unlikely to be usable. If anything, they should try their luck with the pills instead. Dust was easy to travel and all that stood between them and knocking out those demonic practitioners were thin veils made of regular fabric. That couldn’t be as much of a hindrance as them not eating and drinking. After all, they couldn’t force the latter but they might be able to do a thing or two to influence the former.

Thinking until here, Ximen Chang narrowed his eyes and looked at Fa Ai Jun. “The only issue with using the pills is that they are wearing the veils. If we could somehow get rid of those, we could make an alternate plan. Surely, there has to be some way to do so.”

Fa Ai Jun raised her brows as she listened. It didn’t seem like it would be easy but … “I suppose it might be possible?”

“I mean, I guess we could try to cut them off even in the worst of cases but I was hoping there was an easier way. For example, it would benefit us if they took them off themselves so the danger is lower to us.”

Fa Ai Jun gave a hum. “Take them off … Maybe they would if the temperature was high enough?” And this was indeed something they might be able to do. At the very least, it seemed worth a try.