At this moment, the female ghost in a bright red wedding dress, her skirt and veil flying, returned to Yuanshi Tianzun's side. Zhao Chenghuang, surrounded by black mist and resembling a ferocious ghost, led Sun Miaomiao, Yuan Ting, Death Pawn and several other experts into the stone temple.
Fierce fighting sounds came from the temple entrance, mixed with gunfire.
It was the Mountain Ghost camp and the Lawful Faction members clashing outside the temple.
The Mountain Ghost camp, originally intending to fight to the death for the staff, hesitated when they heard Bai Wujinji's retreat order. Unwilling, they gritted their teeth, confronting Zhao Chenghuang and others who had rushed into the temple while retreating towards the temple gate.
Although they were closer to the staff than Zhao Chenghuang's group, the distance was negligible and didn't provide a significant advantage.
Moreover, after being tormented by the boots and robe, they were wary of the black jade doll in Yuanshi Tianzun's hand.
This was the reason for Bai Wujinji's retreat. The Mountain Ghost camp's morale wavered, and they lost their initial courage and resolve.
Zhao Chenghuang glanced at Yuanshi Tianzun not far away and the Mountain God statue behind him. Seeing the staff in the statue's hand, he visibly relaxed. Without Zhang Yuanqing's prompting, Zhao Chenghuang tacitly allowed the Mountain Ghost camp to retreat.
Sun Miaomiao, Yuan Ting, and the others were also relieved, their expressions visibly relaxing as if a heavy burden had been lifted.
On the way here, their only prayer was for Yuanshi Tianzun to hold out a little longer. They didn't expect him to actually succeed, single-handedly holding off twenty-two experts. As for Guan Ya, the Taiyi Sect members automatically ignored her.
After all, this woman was unknown and had performed poorly in the arena.
Sun Miaomiao and others suppressed their complex emotions, focusing on confronting the Mountain Ghost camp.
Finally, Bai Wujinji and his group successfully left the stone temple. Immediately afterward, the fighting outside ceased.
The Mountain Ghost camp retreated into the maze forest.
Outside the temple, Zhao Chenghuang's team swarmed into the stone temple. Including the eight Night Watchers inside, there were a total of eighteen people: three rogue cultivators, eight Night Watchers, and five official members of the Five Elements Alliance.
Seeing the enemy retreat and the staff intact, their faces lit up with excitement.
"That was close. I almost thought we were done for."
"If the Mountain Ghost camp had taken the staff, the consequences would have been unimaginable."
"Thanks to Yuanshi Tianzun. How did he do it? It's incredible."
After waiting a few more minutes, Tianxiaguihuo arrived in a hurry, leading Mudan Xianzi, Asano Ryo, and others.
The official members of the Five Elements Alliance had been constantly monitoring the map. After Yuanshi Tianzun teleported away with Guan Ya, they rushed back frantically, retracing their steps.
Along the way, every two or three seconds, they would check the map, fearing that the positioning cursors representing Guan Ya and Yuanshi Tianzun would disappear, fearing that the Mountain Ghost camp would obtain the staff, leading the Mountain God camp to an irreversible disadvantage.
But as time passed, Mudan Xianzi and the others experienced a huge shift in mood, from initial despair and prayer to surprise and bewilderment, and finally: He actually held them off.
When they returned to the mountaintop, in addition to the joy of surviving a disaster, they felt a strong sense of security.
This sense of security was usually only provided by the deacon-level leaders.
But now, Yuanshi Tianzun, who was on the same level, had done it.
Then, the teams led by Guan Zhongkuibao and Death Knight finally arrived at the mountaintop.
This team, composed entirely of rogue cultivators, suffered heavy losses. The original team of twelve had been reduced to seven.
But their faces showed no signs of despair or dejection. Instead, they looked excited and full of fighting spirit.
Guan Zhongkuibao looked around the crowd and shouted:
"Yuanshi Tianzun, you're amazing! How did you hold off those Mountain Ghost bastards? Hmm, which one is Yuanshi Tianzun? I haven't met him yet." After saying that, his gaze fell on the young man being protected by the Five Elements Alliance members, and he immediately understood.
Facing Guan Zhongkuibao's inquiry, under the gaze of everyone, Zhang Yuanqing earnestly explained:
"I first used the reward item from the arena, Earthly Boots..."
He babbled on about his plan, the items, and all the details he had considered, telling everyone everything.
Those who didn't know Yuanshi Tianzun listened with rapt attention, sensing the gap between them in certain aspects, thinking that Yuanshi Tianzun was indeed a famous genius, and that their calm and resourceful mind and schemes were beyond their reach.
But those who knew him had strange expressions.
Given Yuanshi Tianzun's personality, he would either be pretending or bragging at this time. Why would he be so honest?
After he finished speaking, Zhao Chenghuang said in a deep voice:
"Except for me, Sun Miaomiao, Guan Ya, Yuanshi Tianzun, Yuan Ting, the Maoshan Taoist, and Tianxiaguihuo, everyone else leaves the Mountain God Temple and guards the open space. Wood Demons, patrol the nearby forest to prevent the Mountain Ghost camp from returning."
"Let's work together to protect the staff. Once the temple gate closes in 60 minutes, we will have completed the mission."
He made deployments in an orderly manner, deliberately placing Guan Zhongkuibao and Death Knight at the entrance so that he could keep an eye on them.
These two were the best of the rogue cultivators, especially Death Knight, who was a wild Night Watcher.
And as a secret organization led by Night Watchers, the possibility of wild Night Watchers being related to that organization was extremely high.
So he needed to be wary.
After everyone took their positions according to his instructions, Zhao Chenghuang looked at the people inside the hall, whom he considered to be the core of the camp,
and said:
"The Mountain Ghost camp left so decisively. I have a feeling they have other tricks up their sleeves."
Tianxiaguihuo immediately said:
"The next level should be entering the Lost City. The missions in the forest are mainly related to the Mountain God, so the missions in the Lost City will be related to evil cultivators. The Mountain Ghost camp is the main character, so I think they want to use the Lost
City to reverse the situation."
"So they retreated decisively, not wanting to fight to the death with us." Sun Miaomiao nodded slightly.
Tianxiaguihuo pointed to the murals in the temple and said:
"These murals are very interesting. They are related to the Lost City and should be hints the instance is giving us."
The four Night Watchers from the Taiyi Sect walked to the murals and carefully observed them.
Zhao Chenghuang frowned and said:
"Evil cultivators are using the essence and blood of a large number of ordinary people to sacrifice to something, or trying to summon something?"
Yuan Ting thought for a moment and said:
"Sacrifice... I only know that our sect leader seems to be able to accept sacrifices from the disciples in the sect. Can other professions do that?"
The Taiyi Sect's leader can accept sacrifices from disciples? Tianxiaguihuo, Guan Ya, and Zhang Yuanqing were stunned upon hearing this.
This was information they had never heard before.
Sun Miaomiao coughed softly:
"That's not important. What's important is that the entities that can accept sacrifices are supreme. This instance of ours shouldn't involve a boss of that level.
"Maybe it's just background information. Well, we can only explore the truth after we enter the Lost City."
Then, Sun Miaomiao pursed her lips and looked at Zhang Yuanqing with anticipation:
"Yuanshi Tianzun, can you let me hold that child for a while?"
"Oh, of course!" Zhang Yuanqing spat out a mouthful of Taiyin energy. The wisps of Yin energy landed on the ground and
turned into a chubby, cute baby with sparse lanugo.
Sun Miaomiao was overjoyed, her eyes sparkling as she strode forward, picked up the little rascal, and gave him a series of "muahs".
At the same time, she was a little surprised. Today's Yuanshi Tianzun was particularly easy to talk to. After leaving the Mountain God Temple, the members of the Mountain Ghost camp re-entered the maze forest, but they didn't go deep. They chose a fork in the
road and rested on the spot.
Bai Wujinji looked at his silent companions and said loudly:
"We should discuss our next course of action. But before that, do you need a few minutes to lick your wounded pride?"
Upon hearing this, everyone glared at each other.
Bai Wujinji sneered:
"Learn from A Yi. He never gets discouraged, never gets scared. Even in the most difficult battles, he will complete them without changing his expression. That's why he's number one.
"Look at you guys. When you encounter some setbacks, you act like stray dogs."
Jiu Louyu, who had the demeanor of an ancient swordsman, said calmly:
"Stop talking nonsense and get straight to the point."
Bai Wujinji nodded slightly:
"The staff is not something we must have. It's not worth risking a wipeout for it. Even if we stayed just now, think about it. This instance has two major factions. The primeval forest belongs to the Mountain God camp, and the Lost City belongs to us.
"Since we entered the instance, it hasn't even been 24 hours, and the main quest is to survive for three days. Just based on time
alone, the instance is only a third of the way through. The real turning point is not in the Mountain God Temple.
"The Lost City is the key for us to reverse the situation. Also, we have two secret weapons, one from an item and one from the instance. Heh, I'll keep you in suspense for now. You'll find out when the time comes."
Upon hearing this, the dejection on everyone's faces disappeared, and they eagerly asked what the secret weapon from the instance was.
But Bai Wujinji just smiled and didn't say anything.
This guy is really amazing. He managed to get these guys to regain their confidence with just a few words. A secret weapon from the instance? I need to find a way to notify Yuanshi Tianzun... Kou Beiyue thought.
Inside the stone temple, Guan Ya said in a low voice:
"What was that just now? Why did you say so much?"
She was referring to the act of telling everyone how to delay the Mountain Ghost camp. Zhang Yuanqing's expression stiffened, and he said helplessly:
"The price of the Earthly Boots is that it makes people honest. Honest people don't lie."
As soon as he finished speaking, he saw Guan Ya's eyes light up.
Yuanshi Tianzun becoming an honest person? Sun Miaomiao, Zhao Chenghuang, and the others suddenly had strange expressions.
The experienced driver's eyes rolled, and she rarely showed a cunning look. Just as she was about to speak, she heard footsteps approaching. Yuan Ting walked over with burning eyes and said:
"Yuanshi Tianzun, it's time for you to pay me."
"What payment?" Zhang Yuanqing asked blankly.
"You really forgot." Yuan Ting's ordinary face showed indignation:
"I betrayed the organization to help you and was thrown into a training camp to be tortured ever since. But you forgot your promise to me."
As soon as he said that, Zhang Yuanqing remembered: "You're talking about those gossips... I'm sorry, I was lying to you back then. I can't tell you those secrets."
He honestly said what he was thinking.
"" Yuan Ting's eyes widened, and he said angrily: "Damn it, are you trying to force me to join the Mountain Ghost camp? I'm telling you, I'm capable of anything."
His expression was like that of a fiancé whose fiancée had run off with the old Wang next door, the kind of anger, the kind of despair, that was moving.
Sun Miaomiao's eyes rolled, and she said seriously:
"Yuanshi Tianzun, that's not right of you. You shouldn't go back on your word after promising someone."
Tianxiaguihuo, Zhao Chenghuang, and a few others couldn't help but glance at Sun Miaomiao.
The next second, Tianxiaguihuo echoed:
"Sun Miaomiao is right. A person cannot stand without integrity. As the leader of the team, you need to show the corresponding prestige, and the first step to establishing prestige is honesty."
Zhao Chenghuang's expression was stern, but he nodded earnestly: "Indeed!"
These guys are more or less mixed with personal grudges... Guan Ya criticized their unscrupulous behavior in her heart and said:
"I also think people should be honest."
Zhang Yuanqing looked embarrassed and, after some hesitation, said:
"Then, then alright, I can tell you some secrets. But you have to promise not to leak them."
Everyone in the hall nodded together.