Things were slowly moving in the right direction although the true difference between their previous situation and the one right now could barely be discerned. At a certain point, when the disadvantage was too big, then no matter how you optimized, it didn’t matter.

Long Shu Fen reached the Jian Chu Sect and found it empty so she used the opportunity to take a cursory look through the sect grounds so she wouldn’t get any nasty surprises later on. Shang Qiang continued to accompany Yan Jian Hong to the Teng Yong Sect which was empty save for Tong Chen and the young disciples gathered around him. The Elders and disciples left in the underground palace continued to rest as much as they could before the big fight. Meanwhile, in the southern chasm, Mei Chao Bing was still busy helping Lei Chen raise his level.

No matter who it was, everyone had their own tasks they were busy with, preparing for the last battle. Needless to say, this also went for the people of the demonic faction. At this time, all the Elders currently in the headquarters had gathered to discuss.

“It doesn’t seem like Elder Shuai’s group had any luck.” The Elder speaking was reclining in his chair, gazing at the people around with narrowed eyes. He wasn’t from the Wu Yun Sect, unlike Elder Shuai who had been killed in the underground palace so this wasn’t any kind of personal loss to him or his sect.

The woman next to him nodded. “I’d say it can be called bad luck to take out this kind of group and still get annihilated.” News had come back that everyone’s soul lamps had been extinguished, meaning that not a single person had survived. That had to mean that even sneaking out hadn’t been an option.

Yue Nuan tapped the table with her fingertips, her brows furrowed. She was the Elder of the Wu Yun Sect currently in charge of their operations. Of course, she wasn’t happy with how things were developing. “There should have been some kind of trap laid out for them and they walked right into it.”

She could even guess what it was: Elder Shuai was the Master of Song Yu Zheng. Seeing his disciple’s soul lamp flickering, he approached her himself and asked to go there in the hope of retrieving a remnant of his disciple’s soul. After all, he was very familiar with the Yin Hun Sect and he had learned some skills from one of its members. Bringing back his disciple wouldn’t be easy but this was his favorite disciple they were talking about here. Most likely, he had prepared for such a case early on. Now, he had only wanted to rush over there to be in time to actually make use of it.

As a result, chances were he hadn’t been as careful as he should have been and he had pulled all of those elite disciples down with him. If she could, she would have liked to bring him back from the dead just to kill him again by herself. He’d certainly deserve it! How dare he put their sect in this position?!

Yue Nuan narrowed her eyes and looked at each of the Elders gathered here. “We can’t let that happen again. Our next move has to be planned carefully.”

Chang Heng, the Elder who had spoken up first, raised a brow. “What’s there to plan more? Do you believe they have more people in the border region than we do? Can we really still lose if we attack in full force?”

The man sitting on his left side nodded fervently. “Yes, what’s with all this waiting? Let’s charge in and deal with this! Just because your Elder Shuai didn’t manage, that doesn’t mean we won’t.” He was part of the Pi Shi Sect which focused a lot on strength-based sword arts so he disdained all the waiting, assessing, and scheming. If it was up to him, he’d do the same as Elder Shuai and charge right in, dealing with those righteous hypocrites. “Your Elder Shuai might have been unable to do it, but that’s just because he wasn’t good enough. If you give me a group of disciples like that and let me lead them there, the outcome would be different for sure.”

Yue Nuan glanced at him but was too lazy to deal with him. Instead, she focused on Chang Heng. Among the Elders currently gathered here, he definitely had more sway and she herself valued his opinion a lot more. “Why so eager for quick success? If there really is a trap waiting for us — one that managed to completely annihilate an entire group of elite disciples —, then wouldn’t we only be throwing cannon fodder at them? I doubt that’s worth it. Not if we don’t even get any news back.”

Chang Heng inclined his head but still looked unperturbed. “However, waiting means giving them even more time to perfect whatever trap they came up with. Instead of that … why not make use of the time we have and attack swiftly? No matter the trap, they also can’t deal with everyone at once. They have neither the number of people nor the resources to do so. At least that’s what your people said. Unless … there was something wrong with that information?” He rubbed his fingertips against each other and stared at her as if trying to catch her in a lie.

Yue Nuan just huffed. “Of course, there was no oversight. But with the people originally chosen for the ritual dead, our whole plan is now unraveling. This isn’t the time to take risks.”

Chang Heng hummed and turned his head to glance at the man on his left. “I guess the Wu Yun Sect doesn’t dare. Maybe we … inferior sects should volunteer to take the lead then. Elder Gong, what is your opinion? You seemed eager to go.”

Elder Gong nodded at once. “Yes, I don’t mind leading a group there even if it’s just our disciples. We can also do it. You can rest assured.”

Chang Heng turned back to Yue Nuan. “Then how about it? If the risk isn’t borne by your Wu Yun Sect … would you agree? After all, you are the one in charge. How dare we decide this on our own?”