Chapter 1770: Each Sticks to Their Own Opinion

Elder Liu turned his head and pointed at the Haoyuan Golden Mirror. "The Companion Hill Lighthouse is growing too fast, far exceeding expectations! At this rate, in less than an hour, its barrier will connect with the barrier of the Second Lighthouse! The Heavenly Palace forces will then be able to pass unimpeded under the cover of the lighthouse barriers, heading straight for Stone Dragon Peak!"

The Companion Hill Lighthouse was already twelve zhang tall, surpassing the Lakeside Lighthouse. Bai Ziqi seemed determined to make it grow even larger.

If they didn't find a way to stop it soon, the Heavenly Palace forces would quickly enter Stone Dragon Mountain.

Elder Xu said anxiously, "We can only help each other if we all go together! Don't listen to that He fellow's nonsense. What ability does Miao Zhantian have to wipe us all out at once?"

Xiao Wencheng exhaled a dry breath and recounted what had happened at Immortal Light Cave.

The elders' expressions changed drastically. Elder Xu said bitterly, "Killed with a single palm? That's too good for that traitor!"

Elder Liu, meanwhile, said, "It seems the Dark Crystals stolen from Immortal Light Cave were used for the Companion Hill Lighthouse. This is bad. With over sixty thousand catties of high-grade Dark Crystals, the Heavenly Palace has no worries about resources. After the Companion Hill Lighthouse, they'll most likely build new lighthouses at the foot of Stone Dragon Mountain! By then..."

By then, the Heavenly Palace army would be able to directly attack Stone Dragon Mountain and invade the Illusion Sect's base!

"The Heavenly Palace is pouring energy into the Companion Hill Lighthouse. This thing is getting harder and harder to deal with," Elder Xu insisted. "The Lakeside battlefield will be abandoned sooner or later anyway. Why don't we let go of it now and focus on destroying the Companion Hill Lighthouse first!"

All the junior elders were clamoring for a fight. Xiao Wencheng pondered, "Listen to me, everyone. If we destroy the Companion Hill Lighthouse, Miao Zhantian might intervene personally."

From the very beginning of this battle, the two sides' strengths were unequal. The Illusion Sect's greatest disadvantage was Qianhuan being out of contact!

If they suddenly fast-forwarded the battle to its conclusion and the opponent played their trump card, what would the Illusion Sect do?

They were missing their strongest and most powerful card!

"By then, how many of us fellow elders would be left?"

"So we just wait for death?" Elder Xu said with a grim smile, "I'm not afraid of death anyway. When the time comes, I'll self-detonate my primordial spirit and take a few of them down with me before I die!" He added, "So, according to you, our only options are to charge in headfirst or sit here waiting to die? There are no other ways?"

"I..."

"What about the Illusion Sect then? What about the Immortal Venerable?" Xiao Wencheng spoke almost nose to nose with Elder Xu. "Our Master is still in seclusion. If all of us fellow elders are dead, who will protect Master? How will Miao Zhantian deal with him?"

Elder Xu choked, but his cheeks still puffed in and out. "Then what do *you* suggest we do now!"

"Stall!" Xiao Wencheng squeezed out a single word through gritted teeth.

As the one strategizing for the entire situation, who could truly understand his difficulties?

This battle couldn't be lost, but they also couldn't push the Heavenly Palace into a corner, or they would fight with everything they had!

Just to maintain the current situation, Xiao Wencheng was already racking his brains. "We'll keep wearing down the Heavenly Palace, keep stalling them. Either we find a way to awaken Master, or we trick them into Kidney Lake! Bai Ziqi has already discovered the connection between the Silver Pearl Fruits and Kidney Lake, so perhaps they'll go in by themselves without us having to do anything!"

"Kidney Lake?" Elder Xu and Elder Su were both startled. "But, but...!" Leading enemies into Kidney Lake was an act of great sacrilege!

"We have done our best to weaken the enemy. One demon immortal and four Heavenly Demons have died on their side, so the Heavenly Palace's power is no longer at its peak." Xiao Wencheng took a deep breath. "Conversely, if we are all wiped out and Master remains in seclusion, he might not escape in the end either..."

He whispered, "Miao Zhantian must be here for the vessel of divine descent, and Master is so unique. If he falls into Miao Zhantian's hands, the consequences would be unimaginable."

Elder Xu said bitterly, "That would be a monstrous humiliation, Master would never endure it!"

Xiao Wencheng reached out and patted the Haoyuan Golden Mirror. "For the past thirty years, no matter what methods we tried, we couldn't awaken Master. But just half an hour ago, I felt a pulsation from this mirror. Master should be waking up soon."

The two elders were startled, hardly believing their ears. "Really?" Elder Xu suspiciously said, "Senior Brother Xiao, you aren't...?"

...you aren't trying to trick us, making up stories to lure the enemy into Kidney Lake, are you? "Do I need to lie about this? You'd agree anyway in the end!" Xiao Wencheng didn't bother arguing with them. "It's precisely at moonrise tonight, the moment Kidney Lake opens, that the Haoyuan Golden Mirror will show a difference!"

As he said this, he suddenly remembered something:

At the moment of moonrise, He Xiao was also precisely teleported to the edge of Kidney Lake by the Haoyuan Golden Mirror.

And just before that, the Haoyuan Golden Mirror had made an unprecedented teleportation error!

Could there be a connection between these two events?

But in a flash, he secretly scoffed at his own overthinking. Master had prolonged his seclusion for over thirty years, and they, his disciples, had tried every method imaginable without success in waking him. How could He Xiao, a mere outsider cultivator, possess such an ability?

It was just a coincidence.

Master had already merged with this world, so that one teleportation error by the Haoyuan Golden Mirror might well be a premonition of Master's imminent awakening.

"Master is likely in a state of being on the verge of waking," Xiao Wencheng added. "What we need to do is drag this battle out. This will depend on all of you junior elders."

"Even an outsider like He Xiao understands my painstaking efforts, and knows that the essence of these battles lies in continuous entanglement!" Xiao Wencheng looked at Elder Xu. "Xu Laosi, you've cultivated your temperament for thousands of years, yet you're still not as good as a kid in his early twenties!"

At the mention of He Xiao's name, Elder Xu grew furious. "That outsider is here pointing fingers and giving orders, who knows what his true intentions are. How can we fully trust his ideas? He originally gave two suggestions to Senior Brother Sect Master, but after a small conflict with me, he told us not to go to Companion Hill. Hmph, you tell me, who's acting out of emotion here!"

Elder Su whispered, "What He Xiao said isn't entirely without reason..."

"Just now, five immortals went at it together and couldn't destroy the Companion Hill Lighthouse. Now there are only three left, and that lighthouse is growing taller and taller. Can we destroy it without putting in more effort?" Elder Xu glared. "Maintain stability? If we listen to him and try to maintain stability, the Heavenly Palace forces will almost be at the foot of Stone Dragon Peak!"

This time, Elder Liu also supported him. "Senior Brother Sect Master, if we destroy the Companion Hill Lighthouse and stop the Heavenly Palace's advance northward, isn't that also a delaying tactic? Besides, we've already destroyed four or five lighthouses before, and we haven't seen Miao Zhantian get terribly enraged. What could be different this time?"

Seeing that his junior elders were so resolute, Xiao Wencheng couldn't say much more. "Junior Brother Su will return to the Lakeside battlefield, Junior Brother Xutuo will go to the Second Lighthouse, and the rest, along with that Spider Immortal, will all go to Companion Hill and destroy the lighthouse immediately!"

When the storm wall had just opened, the Illusion Sect had nine Grand Immortals (excluding Qianhuan). Two had perished in battle, leaving seven.