The reason Elder Baili wanted to go ahead with Elder Xing was not just to keep the group of disciples safe from the demonic practitioners’ possible trap. No, this was also to spare them from accidentally being injured by Zhi Guan and the other two.

It might seem doubtful but if those three were being besieged by the other side over there, then everyone who appeared would be regarded as a threat. When their lives were already at stake, they couldn’t hesitate so chances were they’d attack before they got a clear look. All of their levels were high so they couldn’t let the disciples with lower levels be accidentally hit by them.

Of course, if Zhi Guan saw someone he was extremely familiar with like his own Master, he might recognize them faster than he attacked, keeping all of them safe and reassuring the group of three at the same time. This was what he mostly hoped for. Anyway, if Zhi Guan accidentally attacked them, it meant that he was alive. He’d be gratified even if he had to take a hit. He just … didn’t want to lose his disciple.

Baili Chao stepped into the array and gave Fa Ai Jun another look, wanting her to make sure that the disciples wouldn’t rush after them too fast.

She nodded and motioned for the disciples to line up in order of strength, grouping some of the people from the Teng Yong Sect with their disciples of the Zhen Yan Sect so the latter could support the former, raising their chances.

Elder Baili and Elder Xing imbued their spiritual energy into the array and disappeared from the spot. When they reappeared, the two of them couldn’t help but raise their brows.

This was … the cave system their disciples had found? Well, it sure looked like it but this place had seen better days. Several of the arrays around them were damaged and so were the walls of the caves. One of the passages between the caves had even collapsed.

Elder Xing took a glance around and finally chuckled. “Seems like your disciple and those other two put up quite a fight against those bastards from the demonic faction.”

Baili Chao nodded. Yes, with more than twenty people, it should have been easy to deal with them but instead, there had clearly been a fight that even covered quite the big area. Adding this to the traces of fighting they had already seen in the underground palace, their own disciples had obviously put up a hell of a fight. Of course, this also meant that their situation had likely been desperate and since they hadn’t seen a single body around, chances were they had at most managed to injure those people.

He furrowed his brows more tightly, fearing the worst. Between twenty people, there should be healing potions or pills to go around so even deeper injuries would mean nothing to them. On the other hand, Zhi Guan had never made it a habit to carry much around with him, always relying on his fighting skills. Plus, they had recently gathered all resources together for Mei Chao Bing to try out his inherited skills and hopefully help them advance further before the upcoming fight. This meant that the resources their side had had were now fewer than before and couldn’t compare to the demonic faction. That really didn’t bode well for Zhi Guan and the others.

“We’ll find them.” Elder Xing patted his shoulder and spread out his spiritual sense, sweeping the area. He could detect one group of people further away but judging by the feedback his spiritual sense provided him, it definitely shouldn’t be more than twenty people. In fact, it wasn’t even half that but just a small group. And this group … “They are coming here.”

Elder Baili nodded and both of them took up advantageous positions. They didn’t forget to throw down two energy shields around the array though, making sure that the disciples who would undoubtedly follow in a moment would be safe.

Just as expected, a moment later, the first group of disciples appeared. They looked around in surprise, clearly recognizing the area as well.

Elder Xing waved at them to come toward him and hide so they wouldn’t be targeted by those disciples from the other faction.

The group hurriedly rushed over but before they could find a hiding spot, the demonic practitioners were already at the entrance to the passage. They had clearly waited for someone as they immediately threw out an attack.

Elder Xing hurriedly erected another shield while the disciples in front did the same, thankfully managing to dispel most of the impact.

Baili Chao threw an attack of his own, hitting the disciple in front and throwing him back against the two following behind. Taking advantage of the short delay, he followed up with another two attacks and dashed over. He dealt with two of the disciples and then grabbed the third. “Where are they?”

They could search for Zhi Guan and the other two following the clues but knowing that they were up against so many people and might have been for a long time, he simply didn’t dare to delay. He needed to find out more. The direction at least or whether they were dead or alive if possible.

Unfortunately, the disciple didn’t want him to do the favor. He sneered and threw an attack of his own. “Go to hell!”

Baili Chao managed to block the attack with a shield. Seeing that the other wasn’t willing to say a single word, he slashed out and dropped the body.

All of this went against what they had originally wanted to do but, well, the circumstances were very different as well. They didn’t have the time to try other things and the disciples of the demonic faction weren’t together anyway, making their original and even their revised plan moot. No, now, they could only react to everything they were confronted with and hope that they found the relevant clues along the way. There was no plan that could keep up with this kind of frequent changes.