Chapter 694: Invasion Begins

Chapter 688: The Invasion Begins!

He Lingchuan's heart tightened. "How could this be...?"

At such a critical moment, how could such a huge blunder occur? But before he finished speaking, he changed his mind. Fang Canran had an organization behind him, unlike himself, a lone wolf.

With more people, the chances of making mistakes increased. This was not subject to anyone's will.

It was meaningless to dwell on right or wrong now.

If it were Dong Rui, he would probably say, "What does your people's exposure have to do with me?" After all, Fang Canran wasn't heavily involved in their side's subsequent plans.

He Lingchuan frowned. "What does he intend to do?"

According to the original plan, the best time to act was two days later, when the Tianluo Star would be directly above Tianxuan Peak.

"He wants you to decide!" Ling Bo squawked in the parrot's peculiar voice. "If you stick to the original plan, we'll withdraw the exposed personnel immediately!"

He Lingchuan glanced at it. "You've deployed many people?"

Ling Bo tilted its head, offering no reply.

It seemed the answer was yes.

"Advance the mission!" He Lingchuan quickly calculated. "We'll do it tonight!"

If they followed the original plan, the Tianluo Star's position would be more optimal. However, this slight deviation could be corrected. Furthermore, Fang Canran had many people, and waiting longer might lead to more blunders. Could they be resolved discreetly?

It was better to strike now than wait for the perfect moment. Once decided, there was no turning back; they might as well act tonight!

Ling Bo nodded, flapped its wings, and flew off. It needed to rush back to deliver the message.

Afterward, He Lingchuan roused Dong Rui, then contacted Zu Ju via his fire spirit clone, stating that the Xu Mountain plan was being moved up to tonight.

"What, now?" Zu Ju's voice shot up. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm heading to Xu Mountain now!" He Lingchuan declared resolutely. "As soon as I arrive, we begin!"

"Good, good!" Zu Ju was also excited. "I told you you were too slow!"

Plans were always outpaced by change.

There was no such thing as perfection, no such thing as a flawless, meticulous plan.

Complaining now would only be a waste of time. He Lingchuan and Dong Rui entered the giant shell of the Snail Toad, and the monster submerged underground, moving towards Xu Mountain.

He Lingchuan, meanwhile, took out paper and pen, quickly making calculations.

The data he had prepared was for two days later; since the plan was advanced, he had to recalculate the location of the formation's core for tonight.

Any small error, any sudden unexpected event, could lead to failure.

Facing a colossal entity like the Heavenly Palace, his margin for error was simply too high; he had to proceed with extreme caution.

He had also drawn up contingency plans for failure. However, even if he managed to escape, he likely only had one chance to acquire the lid of the Great Square Pot.

Miss it, and it would be gone.

Dong Rui, by his side, dared not disturb him, but he had already taken two deep breaths, his anxiety difficult to dispel.

After days of planning, was it finally about to begin?

His task was simple: provide support. All the difficult parts lay with He Lingchuan. Yet, even so, he was so nervous his palms were sweating.

Dong Rui discreetly wiped his hands on his trousers, then couldn't help but ask He Lingchuan in a low voice:

"Hey, aren't you really nervous?"

What this man was about to do tonight was challenge the deities of Lingxu as a mortal!

For six hundred years, every madman who dared to do so had died.

Not a single one had succeeded!

Yet, how could he be so calm, as if he were merely visiting someone's house rather than embarking on a life-or-death struggle?

He Lingchuan glanced at him, continuing his work. "One must remain calm in the face of great undertakings. Isn't it a bit late to get nervous now?"

It's abnormal *not* to be nervous right now, isn't it? Dong Rui rolled his eyes.

"What concerns me is that Fang Canran also has his own agenda. According to our prior agreement, his people should have been on standby in the north of the city. Why are they exposed in the south right now?"

Dong Rui's heart tightened. "Are you saying he'll betray us?"

He Lingchuan waved a hand. "No, there's no need to worry about that. Fang Canran's will is firm; he hates Lingxu City even more than I do. I believe he has a separate plan of his own."

"If he doesn't get any benefit himself, why would he help us?" Dong Rui said casually. "He's not on our side, after all."

He Lingchuan clapped his hands. "Well said, that's exactly it!"

Fang Canran had been planning in Lingxu City for so long; how could he be content with merely assisting He Lingchuan's plan?

But with the arrow already nocked, He Lingchuan only needed to know that Fang Canran wouldn't interfere. He still had to focus on the immediate task at hand.

A quarter of an hour later, the calculations were complete. He double-checked them several times until he was certain they were correct.

The Soul-Capturing Mirror had been holding back for a long time, and finally let out a cough.

He Lingchuan ignored it.

The mirror coughed again.

He Lingchuan sighed, stood up, walked to the side, and whispered:

"Speak."

The mirror immediately rattled on, "I want to ask you, I ask you again... Once you step into Xu Mountain, there's no turning back. Are you, are you sure you want to do this? It's still not too late to turn back now."

This was the last chance to abandon the risk and secure safety!

Its master's plan was truly both mad and outlandish. Even though it had watched He Lingchuan lay out the plan and prepare, bit by bit, from a vague fantasy to a hopeful success...

...it found the thought terrifying upon closer inspection!

What if it failed?

The probability of "what if" was not small, after all, He Lingchuan was facing the Heavenly Palace.

The Heavenly Palace, which all beings had to look up to.

Whether he succeeded or failed, He Lingchuan would directly face the wrath of the entire Beijia.

The overwhelming pressure, the relentless search that would scour heaven and earth – it felt suffocated just thinking about it.

Was it still possible to cry and beg for a new master now?

He Lingchuan cracked his knuckles twice, his expression and tone as still as an ancient well:

"I can turn and leave, but I'll spend the rest of my life on the run."

As long as the Heavenly Palace possessed the divine artifact, the secret of He Lingchuan's bond with the Great Square Pot would eventually be exposed.

At some point, the Heavenly Palace would find him.

They wouldn't let him go, just as they hadn't spared Yuan State or Panlong City.

Leaving now would only grant him temporary peace; the rest of his life might be spent in constant anxiety—if he even had a rest of his life.

"If I can reclaim the divine artifact, then the world will be my oyster."

This was the hardest hurdle, but overcoming it would unlock infinite possibilities.

Essentially, it was a choice.

Would he choose to live in suppression, or to fight freely?

Dong Rui happened to lean closer, not quite catching his words. "Reclaim what?" he asked. "Are you referring to Lady Zhu Er's immortal transformation?"

He Lingchuan ignored him.

On this journey to Beijia, he had become a completely different person from just a few months ago.

His vision, insight, perspective, as well as his cultivation, martial skills, and state of mind, were all advancing by leaps and bounds.

Moreover, he vaguely sensed that the key to his next breakthrough still lay in the phrase "valiant and diligent progress."

He practiced the Wave Severing Heart Method, destined to face surging waves head-on and become a proud champion riding the tide.

This was the price of growth, the price of progress.

The Xu Mountain plan was a chasm for his future and for the progress of his cultivation.

Cross it, and he would be like a dragon entering the sea.

Fail to cross it, and his life would be over.

He could also give up directly, as the mirror suggested. But if he turned away and missed such a good opportunity, he didn't know if there would be another chance.

So, what choice was there?

There had always only been one path before him.

He still remembered what He Yue had asked him before the He family left Blackwater City and headed for Xiazhou:

"Brother, I'm ready. Are you?"

The Snail Toad surfaced just then. He Lingchuan looked up at the dark, oppressive sky and let out a long breath:

"I'm ready too."

Ready to punch a hole through this very sky!

The night was dark and windy.

He Lingchuan and Dong Rui, riding the Snail Toad, emerged in the forests on the outskirts of Xu Mountain.

With the Spirit-Gathering Grand Formation in place, escape techniques were forbidden in the Xu Mountain territory. No one, except Zu Ju, the mountain spirit, could use earth-burrowing to enter or exit.

This time, they were closer to Yang Peak. Because according to He Lingchuan's calculations, the core of the Spirit-Gathering Grand Formation should currently be slightly northeast of Kaiyang Peak, requiring a precise angle calculation.

If they had acted two days later as originally planned, the formation's core would have been directly above Tianxuan Peak, making it easy to pinpoint.

But since there was a risk of exposure with Fang Canran's group, they had no choice but to make it harder for themselves and push forward.

This location was far from Tianshu Peak, and the ground defenses were relatively weaker, making it more favorable for their operation.

He Lingchuan put on his mask, patted Dong Rui's shoulder, and whispered, "See you in front of Tianshu Peak!"

"A quarter of an hour!" Dong Rui handed him a bat demon puppet and gritted his teeth. "If you're not down in a quarter of an hour, I'm leaving."

As he was about to turn, he suddenly stopped and grabbed He Lingchuan's arm. "May success be swift!"

With that, Dong Rui burrowed back into the Snail Toad's shell and disappeared underground.

He Lingchuan ran forward a hundred zhang, entering the Xu Mountain territory.

The rock-fire monster Zu Ju was already waiting there for him. It compressed its body, transforming into a stone figure only four feet tall, with only its joints emitting a faint red glow; the rest of its body was made of pitch-black stone.

Upon meeting, it wasted no words:

"Follow me!"

To be honest, Xu Mountain's defenses were incredibly strict. There were corresponding guard posts on the mountaintops, hillsides, and valley floors. Each post had five people, and the posts were visible to each other, offering mutual support.

And these were just the overt ones; there were even more hidden sentries. Don't forget, this was a demon nation. With demons participating in the patrols, it made defending against them almost impossible.

Unfortunately, Zu Ju knew the distribution of the local defenses better than the defenders themselves.

With Zu Ju as an insider, He Lingchuan moved smoothly, easily avoiding all the guards and scouts.

Zu Ju stopped under a large tree, lowering its voice. "Don't move. Fifty zhang ahead, on the cliff, there's a night owl guard. It was temporarily assigned tonight."

An owl's eyes had dozens of times better night vision than humans. It wouldn't be easy for He Lingchuan to walk openly past it.

But he knew that Zu Ju, as a mountain spirit, would certainly have a way.

Sure enough, after more than twenty breaths, Zu Ju suddenly said, "Go, quickly!"

They swiftly passed through the low bushes under the cover of night. The rock-fire monster said, "I had a clone drive a nest of large rats directly under its nose. When it flew down, we could pass."

He Lingchuan asked it, "Did you find the 'airflow interception diameter' around the formation's core?"

"I tested it out, three zhang." Zu Ju's reply was exceptionally confident. "I've checked it repeatedly; there's no mistake."

(End of Chapter)