The place they arrived at was a clearing in the mountain range that buried half the underground palace. From here, you could only see the towering mountain peaks all around. There weren’t even any paths leading away from this place, making one wonder just what was special about it to necessitate an array for quick access. Well, cultivators hardly needed a path to move forward so this didn’t say much but surveying the plateau further still didn’t show anything important around.

Fa Ai Jun looked at the others and raised her brows. “What do you think? This spot should be big enough for everyone to escape to and in case anyone from the other side makes it through after all or reinforcements arrive early, I believe it should be big enough to accommodate a battle.”

The other Elders looked around and nodded one after the other. Yes, the place was indeed sizable enough for that. Not to mention …

“With the mountains around, we can keep the fight contained here. That way, it at least won’t spread to any of the mortal cities close to the border region.” This was something Diao Huan had worried about before. Of course, their Li Ren Sect knew arrays that could achieve the same effect but those would need spiritual energy to uphold and they already had fewer people than the other side. A natural boundary was much better for them.

Fa Ai Jun nodded. “Yes, that is a good point as well. I doubt the demonic practitioners would worry about it but it will give us and our disciples peace of mind. Also, they won’t be able to use any despicable tricks to force our hand.”

Ximen Chang listened quietly but kept his eyes trained on the mountains. “The only issue I see … What was the original purpose of this place? It seems easy to plan a trap here, precisely because of the geographical layout. What if we are doing exactly what they want?”

The others glanced around but finally, Elder Diao shook his head. “I don’t think so. They might know a lot but they couldn’t plan all of this. Us finding out about their plan ahead of time and preemptively attacking the underground palace, making a plan to deal with the second wave, and retreating here to receive the third wave … there are just too many variables to consider and too many possible changes to account for. I don’t believe they can do it.”

Baili Chao furrowed his brows, feeling uncomfortable. “The person we are dealing with is Feng Bai Xiao. I wouldn’t think a normal person could do it but he …” He shook his head and sighed. “That man can do things I’d never have thought possible.”

They had shared everything they knew — well, apart from Luo Lin’s ability and the secret visits of the guardians that were theoretically forbidden — so the others were also aware of how all of this related to the traitor from the Teng Yong Sect and how he was apparently unhinged enough to release that person trapped beneath the array. Saying everything was possible if it was him didn’t seem impossible.

Fa Ai Jun was the first to sigh and shake her head, pulling everyone’s thoughts back. “Even if that is the case, what can we do? We don’t know for sure and we can only counter so many possible plans. I say let’s use this place and deal with whatever else happens later.”

Ximen Chang nodded. “Yes, I’m in favor of that. Anyway, we don’t have an endless amount of time before the attack. Let’s deal with the second wave first and retreat here. Maybe we’ll have a bit more time then and can check our surroundings more carefully. If there is really something amiss, we’ll retreat. It won’t be as fast as using an array but it should be possible to escape. If it isn’t … then we’ll fight. We were prepared for that anyway.”

The others nodded and finally, everyone returned to the underground palace, reuniting with the disciples.

The older disciples heaved a sigh of relief when the Elders returned. Even though their levels weren’t low, having the whole responsibility when an attack was imminent also weighed on them heavily. With the Elders back, everything they’d have to do was fight. That part seemed easy in comparison.

The Elders quickly arranged the disciples anew, making sure that they could quickly escape when the time came.

Luo Lin and Shen Lei stood aside, watching quietly. Some of the disciples glanced at them with worry but they simply held hands, seemingly just enjoying their time together as if there wasn’t an important and dangerous task ahead of them.

Shen Lei watched for a while before turning to Luo Lin. “If something does go wrong … no matter whether it’s in the beginning or later on, try to save yourself.”

Luo Lin looked up and smiled but still shook his head. “You said we’d get married after we return. How can you be like this now?”

Shen Lei shook his head. “I’m just saying if. There is no need to sacrifice both of our lives if there is a way out for one person.”

Luo Lin only shook his head again and turned back to the front, clearly not wanting to discuss further. He couldn’t be sure, of course, but he believed that with Shen Lei’s experience and with his ability, things shouldn’t turn out too badly. He hadn’t fully mastered it but he had gotten better and Shen Lei would be able to guide him when he didn’t know how to go about something. In this fight, they could help a lot and they would but it wouldn’t come at such a high price. He refused to believe that it would.

Shen Lei watched his profile but finally sighed. He knew he couldn’t convince him. Maybe he could have in the past but after what had happened before, it was impossible now. It seemed that they’d have to either die or live together. There couldn’t be any other outcome.