Actually setting the trap wasn’t as difficult as deciding on a plan and finding the appropriate items for it. Knowing all the advice that Yan Hong Min had given to Shen Lei and Luo Lin certainly made things easier at this stage. What they wanted to do was to bring down the whole roof and possibly the earth above it before the demonic practitioners could react. For that, the faster the collapse happened, the better.

Afterward, with the sheer weight of everything, it would be difficult for them to get out in time. This amount of rubble couldn’t simply be blasted away in one try, after all. Not even by a nascent soul stage cultivator. No, they’d have to attack continuously and even if a few of them made it out, the people who had lower levels certainly wouldn’t make it.

Imagining this kind of ending was gruesome but at this point, they had no other way. Not to mention that what would await them if they didn’t take the initiative might be worse. At the very least, this should be a quick death.

The Elders punctured the columns holding up the ceiling in several spots. Right now, they were still able to bear the weight of the whole construction but when Luo Lin and Shen Lei caused the explosion, they’d be fractured much more easily. This would ensure that the building could be brought down despite its size. After all, while they knew that Yan Hong Min’s invention was potent, it was tough to say how potent exactly.

To aid their plan further, they distributed the explosive stones from the Zhen Yan Sect on the ground close to the walls on either side. While lying still, these looked like ordinary pebbles so wouldn’t draw any attention. The blast of the explosion would slam them into the wall though where they would explode themselves upon impact, helping to bring the structure further down.

Looking at their work so far, Ximen Chang turned to look at Shen Lei and Luo Lin. “Do you believe this will be enough? Or should we add a few more weak spots?”

Shen Lei immediately shook his head. “I can’t say if it’ll be enough but I don’t think we should do more. Even though the other side will be chasing us, there are likely to be at least some more experienced cultivators among them. Whether that’ll be older disciples or Elders of their sects, they’ll at least be somewhat wary. The weak spots we’ve introduced so far are mostly out of sight for them and those who aren’t, look natural enough to be overlooked. But if we add more to the walls, they might catch onto things and rush back at the last minute. Then everything would have been for naught.”

Elder Ximen nodded. He was worried about the same but … “I guess we can only hope that this’ll be it then. If the hall doesn’t actually collapse or only does so halfway, we’ll only have annoyed them. Plus, it’d give them time to come up with a nasty surprise to greet us next time. We can’t waste the current favorable circumstances.”

Shen Lei nodded, his expression grave. “I know. But right now, we can’t do all that much about it. In the worst case, I’ll throw out an attack or two to make things go faster. Ah Lin and I will have to be here for a moment longer anyway.”

Fa Ai Jun couldn’t help but look at the two disciples with some worry. “If you stay longer just for that, you really might not make it out alive.”

Shen Lei shook his head. “Then that’d be two lives in exchange for many others, whether you look at the people from the demonic faction we can take down with us or the disciples on our side we can save. I’d say that’s a worthy exchange to make. Plus, we might be able to make it despite that.”

Luo Lin nodded. “Right. I trust in Ah Lei’s abilities. You should too, Elder Fa. He has a lot of experience from previous missions so he knows what he can and can’t do. Rather than worrying about us, we should make sure that everything else is ready. What about the array? Which one should we take to get out of here? It should be something that leads as far away as possible, shouldn’t it?”

Baili Chao hurriedly took over before the other Elders could argue further. Even though he felt gratified that everyone was worried about his disciple and his fiance, he knew that it wasn’t necessary. “That’s definitely one possibility. It’d give us more time to plan out our next step at whatever place we’ll be at. Of course, we could also stay close by to deal with any possible remnants of this group they send out and then set up camp in this area. The advantage would be that we are already somewhat familiar with this place.”

Ximen Chang nodded at once. “I’d suggest we do the latter. Letting anyone escape from this isn’t in our best interest. They’d warn the rest of the demonic faction about whatever possible ambush we could lay and could give them whatever information they were able to glean while we have nothing. It’s like creating favorable circumstances for the other side. So we definitively have to make sure that everyone has been dealt with before we can relocate anywhere else.”

Fa Ai Jun hummed. “Then let’s just stay close by. I also think this would reduce the risks we might face. I remember an array that led to a spot not too far away. Let’s check that again to see if everyone agrees on the place. A few people should stay here in case the demonic practitioners already show up though.”

The others nodded and Fa Ai Jun led everyone over there, imbuing some spiritual energy to travel to the other spot and check it out to finalize the last step of their plan.