Star Trace Gate

Chapter 967 Targeted Brother Yu, Murderous Intent in the Underground Chamber

South of the city, the No. 3 Treasure Spring Well teleportation array.

Beside the Baoquan River, the teleportation array, covering an area of ​​several thousand square meters, was now radiating divine light, with the aura of its core slowly rising.

Yu Tiange, Ruyue, Cheng Yuan, Sanlang, Lu Zhennan, and Lu Zhenbei, these six team members had successfully met up half an hour ago, but they did not rush to leave and continued to wait.

On the ground beside the great formation, there were scattered fragments of magical artifacts and bloodstains, indicating that a brief battle had just taken place here.

According to the pre-arranged plan, after Wang Anquan retrieved the prisoners from the Nanshan Illusion, he would lead his men to repair the grand formation as quickly as possible and infuse it with spiritual energy to slowly revive it. Yu Tiange, after receiving the message from Sanlang via carrier pigeon that the garrison had been successfully evacuated, would wait two and a half hours until the grand formation was fully repaired before heading to the No. 3 Treasure Spring Well teleportation array. There, he would use relatively cruel methods to directly expel the prisoners rescued from the Nanshan Illusion.

The prisoners in this Nanshan illusion were all soldiers and officers belonging to the Divine Court, and could be considered Yu Tiange's own people. Furthermore, the fact that these people were willing to be conscripted by Wang Anquan and risk their lives to repair the great formation was enough to show that they were relatively loyal to the Divine Court. It's just that they surrendered too quickly, so they became prisoners before they even had a chance to resist.

If that's the case, then why did Yu Tiange still use relatively cruel methods to disperse these prisoners who were helping him?

The reason is simple: in its initial recovery phase, the teleportation array can't transport that many people; their team's eight members are probably the limit. Therefore, he needs to prevent these captured soldiers from taking up teleportation slots. Only by forcibly driving these prisoners away right after they finish repairing the array can he ensure that his team members can immediately leave Northwind Town the moment they meet.

To put it bluntly, Yu Tiange genuinely believed that to achieve great things, sacrifices were necessary. Saving everyone in a crisis was unrealistic. And these soldiers who, out of old friendship and willing to fight alongside Wang Anquan again, were, in his eyes, the ones who could be sacrificed.

Therefore, the fighting marks beside the great array were caused when Yu Tiange first arrived at the No. 3 teleportation array. As soon as he appeared, he used the pressure of a half-step Heavenly Venerable treasure, forcibly driving away those Divine Court prisoners who thought they could escape by threatening to kill anyone who disobeyed.

Everything went smoothly at first, but after Jiu Zhi was lost, the situation took a sharp turn for the worse. First, Ru Yue and Cheng Yuan arrived late, and then the Lu brothers, Lu Zhennan and Lu Zhenbei, lost Wang Wenping, both of whom were seriously injured and had just returned.

Most importantly, Tianhan and Beishan, who were responsible for plundering Jiuzhi, have still not arrived at the No. 3 teleportation array, nor have they sent any news.

Yu Tiange is selfish and cold-hearted towards strangers, but he is very affectionate and loyal towards his brothers.

Hero Street was a bit far from here. Although Yu Tiange had sensed the fighting there, he wasn't sure about Tian Han and Bei Shan's situation, nor did he know that they had already been killed by Wang Tudou. After all, he had already revealed his true intentions and completely fallen out with the Wang family, so naturally no one would specifically inform him about what was happening outside.

Yu Tiange was worried about the two brothers, Tianhan and Beishan, which was why he didn't leave with his team immediately. Most importantly, if he fled now, it would mean the mission to Beifeng Town would most likely end in failure.

His Heavenly Mission task explicitly required him to successfully rescue Jiuzhi. If he failed this task, even if he completed all his other tasks, Heaven would still deem him a failure. There was no way around it; his task and appointment were of the same rank, Heavenly Grace level, with ridiculously high difficulty.

Operating on three fronts simultaneously, and then all three fronts collapsing, this situation dealt a heavy blow to Yu Tiange, who was always proud and confident.

He stared blankly at the official road outside the formation, feeling somewhat lost.

Beside them, the more level-headed female admirer Ruyue couldn't help but advise, "Brother Yu... Tianhan and Beishan have most likely run into trouble. We can't wait any longer. If the monks of the Martial Monk's Mansion have already noticed something amiss, they will surround this place immediately. At that time, the six of us will probably not be able to leave either."

Upon hearing this, Yu Tiange subconsciously glanced at the teleportation array, her expression as conflicted as if she were constipated.

“Yes, Tiange, as the saying goes, as long as the green hills remain, there will always be firewood. Let’s leave first and then make further plans… Anyway, Beifeng Town is right here, and we can come back anytime after we return to Tiandu,” Cheng Yuan also advised.

"Damn it, Wang Anquan is quite cunning. I was right to be wary of him earlier." Yu Tiange gritted his teeth and said, "I didn't tell either of the Zhennan and Zhenbei brothers their location. How could the person who ambushed them know that they were hiding in the Red Mansion?! It must be that Wang Anquan used the excuse of wanting to see his son's keepsake to secretly keep an eye on the person who delivered the severed finger, and that's how he found the Red Mansion."

"Sigh, I still went too far! I should have dug out his son's star core and sent it to him, so that he would be terrified and dare not act rashly."

Instead of reflecting on her own actions, Yu Tiange launched into a furious critique of Wang Anquan: "I suspect that after Tianhan and Beishan snatched Jiuzhi, it was Wang Anquan who secretly informed the direct descendants of Tianzhao Temple to intercept them. Alas, I really went too far. I should have ordered Tianhan and Beishan to kill a few members of the Wang family first, to warn them with cruel methods...!"

Seeing Yu Tiange's obvious self-blame, Ruyue comforted him with heartache, "Brother Yu, I think you did a perfect job with tonight's plan. But alas... this damned Heavenly Dao isn't cooperating with us! It's deliberately suppressing you! It's been secretly building up so many hidden forces, all to create problems for you!"

"Don't blame yourself, it's not your fault, and... you've never been fighting against weak opponents, but against the very Heavenly Dao of this secret realm!"

Her voice was gentle and melodious, almost melting one's heart.

“Yes.” Cheng Yuan immediately chimed in to comfort Ru Yue, “There are so many forces in Beifeng Town, all of them from the Chaotic Faction, but Heaven only gave one of them to us, a mere spy from the Fulong Pavilion. And that spy is still hiding, not daring to show his face. What use is such a piece of trash to us? So many things have happened tonight, and he hasn’t heard a thing… Let’s not even talk about anything else. Even if he’s just keeping an eye on Jiu Zhi in the dark, he could still help Tian Han and Bei Shan at a crucial moment.”

"Damn the way of Heaven, it's so unfair!" Cheng Yuan sighed through gritted teeth.

There's a saying that goes something like this: When you're in a high position, you'll find that you're surrounded by good people, and there isn't a single bad one.

Yu Tiange is undoubtedly extremely high. In terms of his character and divine abilities, he is a descendant of the ancient Yu clan and the most promising person in this generation to inherit the title of Thunder God. In terms of his background, he is the eldest son of an ancient clan with an astonishing foundation, no less than the young marquis, and even surpasses countless brilliant geniuses.

He had so many accolades surrounding him that Ruyue's love for him was so all-encompassing, like that of a mother; and the rest of the team also held him in high esteem and never questioned him.

In this situation, any other team would probably have fallen into infighting long ago, and even the most loyal followers wouldn't know how to shift the blame for their captain. But Yu Tiange's friends, with their incredibly strange thought process, shifted the blame to Tiandao.

You failed not because you were incapable, but because the natural order did not cooperate.

Yu Tiange's arrogance actually stems from having too many good people around him.

“Brother Yu, I know you’re worried about Tianhan and Beishan, but if we can escape, the people here will likely survive in order to find the source; but if we are all captured alive, we will surely die.” Ruyue advised again, “Let’s go first, otherwise it will really be too late.”

“Yes.” Saburo nodded emphatically.

The more Yu Tiange listened to their persuasion, the more embarrassed he felt. He gritted his teeth and whispered, "We absolutely cannot betray our own brothers. We must save Tianhan and Beishan. Let's go back...!"

It's common knowledge that simps have very high emotional intelligence, so when Cheng Yuan saw his insistence, he immediately reached out and tugged at his arm: "Tian Ge, let's go!!! Can't it be for our sake? We've prepared for so long, isn't it all for the sake of becoming famous in the migration area? We can't worry about temporary success or failure... Let's go!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he forcibly dragged Yu Tiange and strode toward the teleportation array.

"Let me go! I have to go back to save Tianhan and Beishan, or I'll turn on you...!" Yu Tiange shouted.

The remaining five team members had already huddled together, and they had to pull him up the steps and into the center of the formation.

"Infuse it with spiritual energy, quickly!" Ruyue ordered.

"Whoosh!"

Just then, a long spear pierced the sky, its entire body shimmering with crystalline light, and hurtled towards the center of the formation like a falling star.

"Boom!"

The teleportation array, which had just begun to rise, was struck at its core by a single shot, causing it to shake violently.

Not far away, more than a thousand monk soldiers broke through the air and their leader shouted: "The Imperial Guard Commander, Situ Wang Yun, is here! Why don't you surrender immediately?! Kill them!"

"Hurrah!"

With a thunderous shout, over a thousand monk soldiers marched into the divine rainbow of the teleportation array.

"A bunch of ants, how dare you yell at me?!" Yu Tiange's face darkened, feeling deeply humiliated. He then raised his hand and summoned the Immortal-Rank Great Thunder Seal, charging head-on at the hundred-plus monk soldiers: "You stabilize the revival of the great formation, I alone can hold off this bunch of ants!"

Before long, the divine light of the great array shot into the sky, alarming the entire North Wind Town.

Above the sky, countless bolts of heavenly lightning flashed, as if destroying the world, enveloping the entire southern part of the city.

That was merely a phenomenon caused by Yu Tiange using divine techniques alone, demonstrating that his arrogance and conceit were not feigned. Among his peers at the fifth rank, the so-called prodigies were, in his eyes, extremely few who could withstand even a single attack from him…

The lightning snakes danced wildly, and the universe roared, shaking all the cultivators in Northwind Town.

"brush……!"

Just as the monks of the Imperial Guard were engaged in a bloody battle with Yu Tiange and the others, a pair of azure eyes were secretly watching everything from the wilderness outside the teleportation array.

Those deep blue eyes looked incredibly strange and lively, unlike those of a human, but rather like those of a spirit beast that had been dormant for a very long time.

"Slurp...!"

It watched everything happening within the formation, stuck out its scarlet tongue, and licked the whiskers around its mouth.

……

The area in front of the garrison headquarters was filled with a tense atmosphere, as if swords were about to be drawn.

The monk Fulai and Feng Yiyang, the commander of the Gray Robe Camp, kept Moro's instructions firmly in mind and were determined to launch a strong attack on the garrison. However, the dozen or so captured generals under the commander strongly opposed the attack for the sake of their master's safety.

These two groups, one from the inner court and the other from the numerous martial monks' clans scattered across the mountains, had no subordinate relationship and thus neither was willing to submit to the other. Even with Feng Yiyang in charge, those arrogant and fierce soldiers were not prepared to give him face.

On Zhen'an Street, two groups of people faced each other, brandishing their weapons, and a standoff was about to break out.

"Boom!"

Just then, the No. 3 Treasure Spring Teleportation Array suddenly surged with energy, and then thousands of lightning bolts flashed across the sky.