Chapter 210 - 209: True Skill

One who fails to grasp the whole picture cannot hope to manage even a small part of it. The greatest advantage of the Conscious Fish was that it allowed Chen Qingyang to get a complete overview of the situation.

As long as he was careful and thought things through, he could always find a weakness.

While improving his Cultivation, he simultaneously sent the Conscious Fish back inside the barrier. Aside from monitoring the Demon Sect's movements, he also had to keep an eye on his fellow disciples' will to resist.

At that moment, everyone was silent, their focus solely on resisting the Array. Having seen Senior Brother Liang of the Demon Sect retreat, Junior Sister Huang was frozen with fear. The others who had been ready to surrender to him were also deeply anxious.

"Senior Brother Li... I... I wasn't in my right mind. I was just scared of dying... I'm not human..."

Suddenly, Junior Sister Huang began to berate herself. Perhaps it wasn't that she realized she was wrong, but that she was afraid she was going to die.

The others saw this and said nothing, only watching Senior Brother Li carefully.

This was where Senior Brother Li's masterful approach came into play. He ignored Junior Sister Huang's words, his first question being, "Do any of you know the name of this Array that has us trapped?"

No one dared to speak, so of course, no one answered, afraid of saying the wrong thing and setting him off.

"Forget it. I'll tell you. This is the Six Paths Blood Refining Array. As you've all seen, the Array's Qi Mechanism was faint while it was concealed, which is how it lured us in. Then, the Array erupted, forming an inner and outer layer. The first layer traps, the second refines. Its purpose is to refine everyone inside into nothing but blood."

"The Array uses the Demon Sect's ultimate Magical Treasure, the Inscriptionless Stele, as its Array Base. It also has three hundred and sixty Six Paths Banners laid out. These white Soul Banners we're seeing are part of them..."

"I am quite familiar with this Array, which is why I had you all use Sacrificial Refinement with your Magical Treasures and join me in resisting with our Daoist Sect's own Array. Although we are struggling to hold on inside this Array, the Demon Sect isn't having an easy time either. They won't be able to do anything to us for at least a month!" 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ

'Can we really last a month?' Chen Qingyang had his doubts.

Senior Brother Li had started speaking in an earnest tone, but now his expression darkened. "But you short-sighted fools actually believed someone from the Demon Sect and dragged us into this internal conflict! You all deserve to die!"

Senior Brother Li's Flying Sword was truly formidable. Blood was still trickling from the corpse of the man he'd killed, whose eyes remained wide open in death. Seeing this, Junior Sister Huang trembled even more violently.

"I... I... Spare me, Senior Brother!"

At this moment, all eyes were on Senior Brother Li. Whether their confidence would be restored or they would break completely depended on what he did next. It was a critical moment.

"But then again... you have little experience with the Demon Sect, so falling for their tricks once is understandable. But you absolutely must not be so naive again. The Demon Sect is full of those who use other disciples' Cultivation for their own practice. Don't be foolish enough to think that becoming their fellow disciple would actually save your lives... In the future, I don't want to see anything like this happen again."

He had made a great show of force, only to let them off lightly. He had forgiven them just like that. Junior Sister Huang was stunned for a moment, then burst into tears of joy. "Senior Brother Li, I'll never do it again."

Senior Brother Li's gaze swept over the others. "And you?"

The remaining six all pledged their loyalty, vowing never again to associate with those Demons.

But if this were all he did, it wouldn't have been enough to demonstrate Senior Brother Li's leadership. His next words were what truly put everyone at ease. "The reason I told you about the Six Paths Blood Refining Array is that the key to breaking it can be summed up in two words: 'gradual progress.'"

"The Blood Refinement Qi within this Array is interconnected and extremely precise. Therefore, to break it, we must follow the way its Qi Mechanism flows, carefully searching for a weakness. Otherwise, those of us inside will be the ones to suffer."

"You saw it just now. Our fellow Daoist Sect disciples outside are constantly harassing the Demon Sect. Why don't they launch a full-scale assault to get in? It's because they're worried about harming us. This proves that the people Xuanwei Master sent to rescue us are very familiar with this Array. They're using a strategy of attrition to wear down a portion of the Array first. As for what happens after that..."

Senior Brother Li scanned the group again. By now, he had re-established himself as the core of their Daoist Sect group. "What comes next is simple. Once the Array's Qi Mechanism weakens, we can charge right out. But before that, we must focus all our energy on resisting the Array. Otherwise, whether we live or die... it'll be out of our hands."

After he finished, Junior Sister Huang was the first to respond. "I understand, Senior Brother Li! I'll listen to you! I'll do whatever you tell me to do!"

The other six quickly chimed in with their agreement.

His objective achieved, Senior Brother Li said no more. He took an Elixir from his robes and swallowed it, and a good deal of his Qi Mechanism recovered instantly.

Chen Qingyang's greatest fear had been that his fellow disciples would lose their will to fight, which would have made his own situation extremely difficult.

Seeing that matters inside were settled, he moved the Conscious Fish back outside. Thirteen people were manipulating the five Inscriptionless Steles. Senior Brother Liang controlled one by himself. Situ, meanwhile, had adjusted his strategy, pairing himself with an Essence Condensation Third Realm Disciple. The remaining three Inscriptionless Steles were also managed by pairs of cultivators—one with higher cultivation, one with lower—to guard against sneak attacks.

However, the final stele was controlled by two Essence Condensation Third Realm Disciples. This was the weakest point in their formation.

However, it was flanked by Situ on one side and Senior Brother Liang on the other, forming a defensive pincer. If Chen Qingyang were to attack with the Conscious Fish again, he couldn't guarantee a one-hit kill against an Essence Condensation Third Realm Disciple. Worse, he could easily be ensnared by Senior Brother Liang's schemes, just like the first time.

Having already seen the man's cunning and methods firsthand, he knew it would be incredibly difficult to escape a second time.

'What should I do?'

At least on the surface, it seemed he had no options left.