Luo Lin and Shen Lei hadn’t left too long ago but with the former’s unique ability, they naturally made it back to the underground palace in no time. When they came back into the hall where the Elders were still discussing, it seemed as if they had only stepped out to have their own private discussion for a few moments.

Luo Lin smiled at the other Elders and then pulled his fiance to his own Master, tugging at his sleeve.

Baili Chao turned to his third disciple with a worried expression. He’d like to have reassured him but … well, right now, he really didn’t feel it. It seemed as if no matter what, they wouldn’t get out of this all that well. In the end, he could only sigh and then reach up to pat Luo Lin’s shoulder. “It’s alright, Ah Lin. Just try your best later on. I know fighting has never been your strong suit so just try to stay alive. If you make it out of here, then a lot of injuries can still be healed later.”

Luo Lin hastily shook his head. “No, Master, that’s not it. Ah Lei and I just discussed. Actually, we might have something that could help.”

Baili Chao raised his brows, wondering why he hadn’t said anything earlier. After a moment, it dawned on him that Luo Lin might have used his ability to take a short trip and didn’t want anyone else to know though. He paused for a moment and then tried to find a reason for his disciple that the other Elders could accept. “But you’re unsure if it’ll work?”

Luo Lin nodded. “Yes, that … or rather I’m not sure if it can be controlled well. Do you remember when second senior martial brother blew up the valley?”

Baili Chao’s eyelid twitched. How could he ever forget about that? He had been on a mission when it happened the last time and finally came back to his house and those of his — back then three — disciples being completely gone. He still had nightmares about it years later and made it a point to remind Yan Hong Min not to play with explosives again while he was away. “Did he … give you some of them?”

Luo Lin nodded again. “Well, yes. He gave me a few objects and Shen Lei the rest. He said not to put them together or it could end badly.” He blinked his eyes at his Master and glanced at the other Elders, trying to look innocent as if he truly had a good reason not to say anything earlier.

Baili Chao took a deep breath and then slowly exhaled. “Well … he sure knows how to create a big bang. It should indeed work.”

Shen Lei reached up and put his hand on Luo Lin’s shoulder, pulling him closer. “Xiao Lin and I just discussed this. Those items are definitely potent when put together. We don’t know exactly which version he gave us though and the underground palace is a lot bigger and sturdier than the buildings in the valley. There is no guarantee. I did talk to junior martial brother Yan about it once though and from what I remember, he said that the likelihood of a building collapsing is higher at certain places.”

Luo Lin next to him nodded seriously. “Yes, yes! Something about the walls. I remember that as well. So maybe we should try setting it up there? I believe it’ll go off really fast though so we’d have to evacuate everyone pretty much in an instant.”

Baili Chao furrowed his brows. It seemed that these two knew pretty well what could and what couldn’t be done but there would be a lot of precautions to take. “If that’s the case, we shouldn’t lose any time. Let’s find a suitable place and set everything up. It’s been quite some time since the fight ended. Considering that the other side might know of more arrays than we do and could have been ready already, we can’t lose any more time.”

The other Elders nodded. They had quite a few questions about this but now indeed wasn’t the time.

Fa Ai Jun motioned at the two disciples. “You know best which places are suitable so take the lead. Everyone else will follow.” She turned as soon as she finished speaking, motioning at the disciples of her sect. “Let’s go, everyone. We’ll set up an ambush for the other side to finish the next part of the fight quickly. Has everybody healed up and is able to move?”

The previous fights had gone considerably well but there were still a few disciples who had gotten injured. If anyone was in a state too bad to move, they’d be in trouble and needed to get ahead of that now. After all, later on, there wouldn’t be any time left for something like that.

The disciples hurriedly reorganized themselves, checking whether everyone was alright. Thankfully, the disciples of the Zhen Yan Sect had already started healing the others earlier so by now, nobody was too badly injured. As soon as this was settled, the group set out, Luo Lin and Shen Lei taking the lead.

The two of them held hands, walking closely together while checking all directions. In the meantime, Shen Lei repeated to the Elders everything Yan Hong Min had told them about the perfect location and what they had ‘discussed’ earlier based on that. Luo Lin sometimes added a sentence here or there but otherwise let his fiance do the talking.

By the time they arrived deeper in the underground palace again, the Elders also knew what they were looking for and the eight people split up to check the rooms as fast as possible while the disciples formed one big group and waited in the hall in the middle, the stronger disciples forming a ring around the weaker ones in case the other side showed up earlier than expected and ambushed them.