Chapter 1838

Everyone's attention had just been drawn to the battle in Lone Dragon City, so much so that even He Lingchuan didn't notice a blue flash of light on a corner of the mirror's image.

Now, reviewing the playback, they saw:

To their shock, Xiao Wencheng had placed the Iron Lotus Lamp back and reactivated the Divine Fire Barrier!

"No, that's not the Divine Fire Barrier," Auntie Zhu said, her eight legs scuttling rapidly. "Qianhuan must have improved it to block the Haoyuan Golden Mirror!"

Dong Rui's suggested solution was more direct: "Isn't that simple? The Haoyuan Golden Mirror will return to normal once we leave the barrier's range."

The Divine Fire Barrier's range was limited; at their current pace, they could cross its boundary quickly.

"Two more li, hurry!"

Dong Rui was closest to the roadside woods. No sooner had he spoken than a mass of red mist suddenly burst from the woods, instantly swirling towards his face.

It was the Blood Demon!

Among this group, not only Auntie Zhu, the demon immortal, but also He Lingchuan made it wary. However, with its insidious perception, the Blood Demon had long discovered that Dong Rui's cultivation was mediocre, yet he held a prominent position beside He Lingchuan and could command demon puppets!

If it could control him immediately, He Xiao and the others would have their hands tied.

Little did it know, He Lingchuan was already fully alert. As soon as the Blood Demon emerged from the woods, the Ephemeral Blade in his hand was thrown out like lightning, as if it had deliberately presented itself to be cut.

In reality, the Blood Demon could hide from anyone but the Great Emperor of Nine Hells. As soon as it started following them, He Lingchuan could sense its presence without even turning his head.

The "sure-hit" characteristic of the Ephemeral Blade had received two major enhancements. One was that when thrown, it could directly enter the void and only reappear close to the enemy.

In simple terms, its attack trajectory was now difficult to predict and intercept.

Between He Lingchuan and Dong Rui, there were actually two Black Armored Soldiers, but the Ephemeral Blade bypassed them.

The distance between them was too short; the blade vanished as soon as it left He Lingchuan's hand and instantly reappeared directly in front of the red mist.

The Blood Demon struggled to recoil but was still cut by the Ephemeral Blade, which severed a piece of it.

Logically, it was just a phantom, yet the strike seemed to slice off a piece of it like a cake.

The Blood Demon let out a terrifying low growl, like a hundred ghosts wailing at night, then whisked back into the woods.

He Lingchuan inwardly cursed, then quickly gave an order:

"Prepare for battle!"

The Blood Demon was here; could the other Illusion Sect Elders be far behind?

That's right, the Mirage Immortal's magic tool could deceive the Illusion Sect immortals, but it was difficult to escape the Blood Demon's perception.

This creature could judge the vitality of living beings; it didn't rely on the five senses to perceive people at all!

Bai Ziqin had already led his team to retreat south of Kidney Lake.

He only had over sixty people left with him, every one of them wounded. Among the military leaders from the three nations, only Luo Dian's general remained.

Just now, when the Divine Fire Barrier was breached and Qianhuan's three avatars broke free, the Heavenly Palace team knew their cause was lost and their morale collapsed, leading them to be chased far away by the Illusion Sect.

It was an utter defeat, a dead end. If not for the Inverted Sea being so enclosed that no one could escape, even the most steadfast warriors would have fled in despair.

Bai Ziqin fought as he retreated, a heavy weight pressing on his mind.

Even though his faith was rock-solid, at this moment, he recognized a fact:

They most likely wouldn't make it back.

However, just then, the Illusion Sect suddenly stopped their pursuit, and several elders flew away on rainbows without looking back.

Only then did the Heavenly Palace team get a chance to breathe.

As soon as everyone sat down, their bodies felt like they were filled with lead, almost unable to move.

Bai Ziqin himself had blood flowing profusely from his shoulder.

Shimei God and the demon immortal were both silent, diligently recovering from their injuries.

Just then, a bird demon acting as a scout reported that five more Divine Fire meteorites around Kidney Lake had begun to rotate, but this time they emitted not a blazing red warm light, but a faint blue light.

Blue light?

The grey parrot on his shoulder spoke. This was Miaozhantian taking time out of his busy schedule to converse with him:

"Qianhuan had Xiao Wencheng take my Iron Lotus Lamp and modified the Divine Fire Array for his own use."

Bai Ziqin whispered, "He dug out your treasure from the lake's center?"

"No, after tampering with the Iron Lotus Lamp, he put it back in its original place," Miaozhantian said with a rare sigh. "Unfortunately, Qianhuan has already recaptured the Kidney Lake shore, so I can't sense new developments."

Upon hearing this, Bai Ziqin was filled with doubts.

"It's one thing for True Person Qianhuan to recapture the Kidney Lake shore, but why would he also modify the Divine Fire Great Array?"

Modifying and reactivating the Divine Fire Great Array was a very energy-consuming process.

"His situation in Lone Dragon City is not good; he's being chased by the Shadow Dragon like a dog, yet he still has the leisure to modify the array outside," Miaozhantian scoffed. "The array's range is very small; it doesn't seem to be aimed at you."

To put it bluntly, the Illusion Sect no longer needed to set up array barriers to deal with the Heavenly Palace team.

Qianhuan doing this must mean he considers this matter very important.

Bai Ziqin immediately said, "If it's not aimed at us, then it's aimed at He Xiao and the others!"

The Heavenly Palace had lost the battle to defend the Divine Fire Barrier, and their morale was low. If the Illusion Sect continued their pursuit with their victory, the fate of the Heavenly Palace team would be dire.

At such a time, the Illusion Sect elders actually abandoned their sworn enemies and rushed off somewhere else.

"Clearly, Qianhuan believes that dealing with He Xiao is more urgent and a higher priority," the grey parrot immediately said. "As long as He Xiao is killed, the fulcrum of the Grand Square Gourd blocking the Lone Dragon City passage will be gone, and he can then leave the isolated city!"

"That would be disadvantageous to you!" Bai Ziqin's mind raced. "If he leaves Lone Dragon City and you are left behind, you will surely become the target of the Shadow Dragon's pursuit! This is likely also True Person Qianhuan's cunning plan."

To save Miaozhantian's face, he left something unsaid: Even if Miaozhantian could seize the opportunity to rush out of Lone Dragon City, their side would not have the advantage, whether in the Sea of Consciousness or the Inverted Sea. If things continued this way, the ultimate victor would still likely be Qianhuan.

Miaozhantian, of course, was also very clear about this:

"In your opinion?"

Bai Ziqin gave a wry smile, "No matter how detestable He Xiao is, we must lend him a hand."

At this delicate moment, their helping He Xiao would be an obstacle for Qianhuan.

The most favorable situation for Miaozhantian was for Qianhuan and the Shadow Dragon to both be severely wounded, allowing him to then easily claim the spoils.

The prerequisite for reaching this point was that Qianhuan could not leave Lone Dragon City.

In other words, He Xiao absolutely could not die now.

Without further delay, Miaozhantian hummed in acknowledgement and dispatched Shimei God and the demon immortal to act immediately.

According to Bai Ziqin's suggestion, these two transformed into rainbow light and instantly plunged into the bottom of Kidney Lake!

Bai Shi, who was beside Bai Ziqin, could not contain his anger: "Isn't He Xiao getting what he deserves? The Illusion Sect should just kill him. If he had obediently cooperated with the Divine Venerable and Lord Metropolitan beforehand, this war would have ended long ago. Where would all this trouble be now?"

The Heavenly Palace had suffered so many losses; how many were due to He Xiao's secret mischief?

The most detestable thing was that He Xiao had clearly harmed the Divine Venerable and Lord Bai considerably, yet their side now had to rush to save his life!

What kind of situation was this? It was utterly infuriating!

Was He Xiao pedantic? Did he not know how to adapt to circumstances? Bai Ziqin's face was expressionless. "What he seeks is immense. He disdains the chips we offered."