Chapter 578: Plan

"What plan?" Jiang Shishi asked curiously. The rules seemed so transparent; was there even a need for a plan? And it hadn't been long; how had they already devised one?

"It's simple, actually," one of them replied. "Just now, through combat, we confirmed that the monsters on the first floor are ordinary Nascent Soul stage creatures, well within the capabilities of you demon clan prodigies. So, if you want to pass the first trial, anyone can accumulate enough demon spirits by simply hunting monsters diligently. But to get more demon spirits and a better evaluation, we'll need to use some extraordinary methods."

"A group of three to speed up hunting?"

Meng Jingzhou shook his head, dismissing Jiang Shishi's suggestion. "That's too inefficient. Did you notice the map shown at the beginning? The first floor is absurdly large; it takes a full day just to run from the entrance to the opposite Sky Ladder entrance. If the three of us hunt alone, we'll spend several hours just searching for monsters."

"Then what should we do?" Jiang Shishi lacked experience and hadn't observed as carefully as Meng Jingzhou.

Instead of answering, Meng Jingzhou counter-questioned, "You already know the fighting strength of my junior and me. How would you rate it?"

Jiang Shishi looked at the two of them blankly, then offered a fair assessment: "You're no weaker than Ao Yue or me." Ao Yue was the current generation's dragon clan prodigy. Jiang Shishi and Ao Yue were known as the two great prodigies of the demon realm, possessing the potential of immortals. This was the highest praise in the demon realm, and among all the demon clan members who entered the ancient realm, only these two had received such an evaluation.

"Exactly," Meng Jingzhou said. "With the three of us working together, the plan will be foolproof."

To ensure the plan's success, the three decided to spend eight days hunting thirty monsters first, accumulating enough demon spirits to pass. This way, even if their main plan failed, they would still secure passage. This hunting period would also allow the three of them to develop teamwork, increasing their chances of success when executing their main plan.

Eight days passed quickly. Lu Yang and the other two became increasingly proficient at hunting monsters; even late Nascent Soul stage creatures couldn't last more than two rounds against them.

Lu Yang looked up at the hourglass. "We killed a few extra monsters, going slightly over schedule, but it's not a big problem. Let's head to the Sky Ladder entrance first."

"Okay." Jiang Shishi was a little excited, already prepared to execute the plan. The three quickened their pace, rushing towards the Sky Ladder entrance.

But when they arrived at the Sky Ladder entrance, they involuntarily stopped, staring in disbelief at the scene before them. Lu Yang's plan was to block the entrance; with their combined strength, they could prevent anyone from reaching the Sky Ladder entrance. The prodigies would arrive on the last day, so they only needed to block the entrance a day in advance. However, the Sky Ladder entrance was already blocked. *They* were the ones who would have to obediently hand over their demon spirits!

"Haha, didn't expect this, did you? Your plan was overheard by me long ago!" Qin Feng, the young master of the Nine-Infant clan, laughed heartily as he saw their astonished expressions. "I overheard your entire plan right when you first entered the first floor and started devising it!"

Qin Feng's face lit up with glee as he looked at Lu Yang's grim expression. "Though I don't know who you are, thank you for devising this plan. Blocking the entrance? It truly is a good plan. But when it comes to power in the ancient realm, who can compare to our Demon Clan Alliance? Not even the Dragon and Phoenix clans are as strong as us."

The Demon Clan Alliance was a concept proposed by the ancient Emperor Jiang. Before the establishment of the demon nation, the demon clans united under Emperor Jiang were collectively known as the Demon Clan Alliance. The Emperor Jiang clan prodigies, personally trained by the ancient Emperor Jiang, had not entered the ancient realm. The Demon Clan Alliance was led by the Emperor Jiang clan. Without them present, the remaining clans all vied for command of this ancient realm expedition. Qin Feng had been worried about how to gain command, and this was like a pillow delivered to his doorstep. If he proposed the blocking plan, wouldn't the command of this Demon Clan Alliance operation naturally fall to him?

Things unfolded just as he predicted. While the Demon Clan Alliance prodigies were still debating whether to hunt monsters for spirits or seize them from others, Qin Feng presented his plan, gaining everyone's approval. They all praised Qin Feng for his excellent idea. Qin Feng naturally became the commander of this operation.

Qin Feng was smug, with dozens of people standing behind him, including the White Tiger clan prodigy, the Taotie clan prodigy, and others. Even if Lu Yang and his two companions were formidable fighters, they couldn't possibly defeat all the Demon Clan Alliance prodigies!

Lu Yang's face was ashen, and he was rapidly trying to think of a solution.

As the situation reached a stalemate, Jiang Shishi's followers rushed over, also surprised to find the Demon Clan Alliance blocking the entrance. Shortly after, Ao Yue and the Nine Sons' prodigies arrived, frowning in silence at the sight. Then came other unaligned prodigies, such as the Qiongqi clan prodigy. The Sky Ladder entrance was so narrow that even with a large group, it was impossible to force their way past the Demon Clan Alliance members blocking it.

Ao Yue gritted his teeth. "How will we know it won't work if we don't try?"

Ao Yue had great influence among the prodigies. He transformed into a flying green dragon, and the Nine Sons, including the Baxia clan, revealed their true forms, ready to fight alongside him. Seeing this, other prodigies also transformed into their true forms: a soft-furred Jade Rabbit, a hill-sized black Heavenly Dog, a tiger-bodied Qiongqi with wings...

"Fight!" Ao Yue let out a dragon's roar, shaking space. His dragon blood essence burned, and with a dragon claw clutching a dragon pearl, he transformed into a streak of green light, charging towards the Demon Clan Alliance. He alone was powerful enough to contend with a late Nascent Soul stage monster!

"Fight!" The prodigies unleashed unprecedented power, uniting as one, determined to break through the blockade. Unfortunately, the Demon Clan Alliance had anticipated this situation. Under Qin Feng's command, they moved with perfect coordination, making it impossible for Ao Yue and his allies to break through with sheer fervor alone. The two sides battled for a full half-day, but the Demon Clan Alliance remained like an iron wall, impossible to breach. Ultimately, Ao Yue's side exhausted their strength and were defeated.

Qin Feng smugly walked up to Ao Yue. "Fellow Daoist Ao Yue, I don't want to make our relationship so tense. When the demon nation is established in the future, we'll still need to exchange insights and progress together. How about this: you keep ten demon spirits, and give the rest to me. Then I'll let you pass, what do you say?"

Ao Yue suddenly looked up, staring intensely at Qin Feng, his dragon eyes bloodshot, startling Qin Feng. But he quickly realized that glaring at him was useless, merely a display of impotent rage. Ao Yue hesitated, then, under the pressure of the circumstances, handed over his demon spirits. There were twenty in total.

"As expected of Fellow Daoist Ao Yue, to have killed so many monsters." Qin Feng chuckled as he took the demon spirits.

Seeing Ao Yue yield, the other prodigies also handed over their demon spirits, keeping only ten each for themselves. If someone only had ten, Qin Feng simply wouldn't let them pass. Qin Feng's mouth stretched into a wide grin at the sight of the piled-up demon spirits. He then distributed them to all the Demon Clan Alliance prodigies according to a pre-planned ratio. Qin Feng received the largest share, fifty-three of them.

Behind the Demon Clan Alliance was a large box with the words "Demon Spirits" written on it. Qin Feng poured all fifty-three demon spirits into the box. The emotionless voice spoke again: "Qin Feng, fifty-three demon spirits. Please proceed to the second floor."

The Demon Clan Alliance prodigies, seeing that time was almost up, also handed over their demon spirits to the ancient realm, gaining qualification to pass. Next were Ao Yue and the others. "Ao Yue, ten demon spirits. Please proceed to the second floor." "Dong Shu, ten demon spirits. Please proceed to the second floor."

Seeing that there was still some time, Qin Feng slowly walked up to Lu Yang and his two companions. He completely ignored Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou, having no intention of letting those two bothersome individuals enter the second floor. Qin Feng walked up to Jiang Shishi, who had her head bowed, and chuckled, "Shishi, I told you long ago that these two followers you brought are useless. Look, now they can't even pass. If you agree to become my fiancée, I'll ensure you pass without needing to hand over any demon spirits. How does that sound?"

Jiang Shishi suddenly looked up, a smile appearing on her face. "Qin Feng, do you really think you've got everything figured out?"

"What do you mean?!" Seeing Jiang Shishi's smile, Qin Feng felt a sudden, inexplicable panic.

Beside them, Lu Yang smiled lazily. "Fellow Daoist Qin Feng, your eyesight isn't very good. You didn't even notice my clone." Meanwhile, Meng Jingzhou had transformed into Lu Yang's likeness. It was a Wood Clone!

Suddenly, a voice came from behind Qin Feng. "Thank you, Fellow Daoist Qin Feng, for collecting so many demon spirits for us."

Qin Feng whirled around, his eyes wide with rage and disbelief at the sight. Meng Jingzhou had actually emerged from the box, holding a large string of demon spirits in both hands!

"We knew all along you were listening nearby," Meng Jingzhou said. "You didn't really think just the three of us could block the exit, did you? The 'blocking the entrance' plan was specifically for you to hear." The rules didn't specify the method for handing in demon spirits. Anyone seeing a box labeled "Demon Spirits" at the Sky Ladder entrance would naturally assume that's where they were to be submitted. Moreover, with everyone's attention focused on the Demon Clan Alliance, no one would notice anything unusual about the box. In reality, the box had been temporarily set up by Meng Jingzhou.