Chapter 2419

The earth mother's avatar scowled: "All of you, attack! No more talking. That's just a guardian spirit, not some dragon god!"

It's just a dummy! Catch this thing, and half of what it needs to do in the Secret Realm is done.

The other half is finding a living person to oppose it.

"Raise the earth cage pillars, force them out!"

"Yes!" The earth mother's avatar flared up, the demons startled, immediately encircling this street from all directions, beginning to contract inward. Dozens of hulking demons, still clutching golden pestles, rushed to the designated spot and slammed the pestles hard into the ground.

Their positions were deliberate; once over a dozen golden pestles hit the ground, they became fulcrums, and between them they unleashed a sheet of Jin Guang connecting them.

A barrier!

This circular barrier covered the entire district—not just the ground and low air, but even penetrating underground.

Especially underground!

The earth mother is an expert at excavating Secret Realms, so of course she knows that as a local tyrant, the guardian spirit has the right to come and go freely within the Secret Realm. Earth evasion, water evasion, the five-phase evasion techniques—none are a problem.

The invention of the earth cage pillars was precisely to break this situation. Like the fishing earth cages used by fishermen to trawl the shore, they can isolate a small area, whether above ground or below, as long as the prey is marked within the barrier, it cannot escape.

After that, the earth mother's avatar and her subordinates could hunt prey within the barrier, like catching turtles in a jar—sooner or later they'd catch it.

Sure enough, as soon as they entered the barrier, a certain great demon's golden pestle in its hand jerked violently, nearly smashing it to the ground.

There's a big fish underground, trying to break through the earth cage formation!

If the pillar falls, the earth cage has a gap.

The great demon gritted its teeth, finally managing to straighten the pillar with difficulty.

"Hold the earth cage steady!" The earth mother's avatar pointed in that direction and roared, "All of you, come over here, catch it!"

The demon troops immediately charged over.

……

In Yujing City, the rear mountain of Changfeng Valley's garrison is Duzhi Mountain.

Changfeng Valley's territory was once that vast, but the earth mother only left these two landmarks as collectibles/spoils.

He Lingchuan had already returned to the team, and Immortal Mingke asked: "Any more gains?"

"Mm, I asked Liu Yisheng for some things, hoping they'll be useful later."

The four looked up at the sky, still able to see flying rainbows darting about—it's the demons of Ling Mountain and Yujing City fighting. But the entire Changfeng Valley garrison is very quiet; in wartime, no demon would deliberately come here.

For safety, the four still chose dense tree cover, moving covertly.

Zhu Xiuer worried: "Liu Yisheng won't inform on us to the earth mother, will he? This person himself is also despicable and shameless, untrustworthy."

"Did he ask about our identities?"

"No."

"That shows he doesn't care at all and doesn't truly believe we can succeed. If he wanted to inform, wouldn't he test a bit of information on Shangguan Biao first?" He Lingchuan analyzed, "Over so many infiltrators who died, by reason we wouldn't be an exception—whether Liu Yisheng informs or not makes no difference. He provides us with clues: first, because being in prison is boring, occasionally seeing new faces besides Shangguan Biao isn't bad; second, he actually still harbors a sliver of hope, just a sliver."

In fact, there's one more thing he didn't say.

A person's existence must have value.

Liu Yisheng should be very clear about how posterity evaluates Changfeng Valley and him.

He already has nothing left, and still wants to be despised by the world—this feeling is unpleasant.

If infiltrators could use his clues to defeat Shangguan Biao, then it would show his existence still has that little bit of value.

A little bit is enough.

"Besides, Liu Yisheng used to be able to climb to that position in Changfeng Valley, which shows he's not a pushover either." Also a ruthless, cunning, dark-hearted old thing, "He's been tortured by Shangguan Biao for thousands of years, his hatred for Shangguan Biao is no less than Shangguan Biao's hatred for him—I can see it in his eyes. But if there's even a glimmer of hope to topple Shangguan Biao, he won't let it pass."

Immortal Mingke sighed: "What he knows is too ancient, of no help to the current situation."

If Liu Yisheng's information were useful, why is Shangguan Biao still healthy, and why does no one outside know the earth mother's truth?

Even if one knows the earth mother is controlled by Shangguan Biao, past infiltrators still couldn't stir up any waves.

He Lingchuan remained rational: "To understand a person, you must start from familiarity with their background."

Zhu Xiuer also said: "This Shangguan Biao is also a complete lunatic, able to pull out enemies' souls and torment them for thousands of years, still enjoying it."

"You see Shangguan Biao's daily conduct, and you know he's extreme. As the saying goes, no madness, no demonhood—he is the culmination and grave-digger cultivated by Changfeng Valley, extreme among extremes." He Lingchuan pointed ahead, "That's the entrance to Duzhi Mountain."

Duzhi Mountain is right opposite, looking from afar just like a small hill, not yet as high as Changfeng Valley's garrison elevation. Zhu Xiuer looked and looked, it's about the same size as the Flying Peak that recently blocked the Luo River.

But now, it's firmly locked by dark red clouds and mist, within the flowing clouds and mist occasionally revealing a hint of verdant green.

Between Changfeng Valley's garrison and Duzhi Mountain flows a gurgling stream, the stream water happily flowing, becoming the boundary line between them.

A stone boundary marker stands by the stream, inscribed with the three large red characters "Duzhi Mountain".

He Lingchuan shared intelligence: "The prisoners we captured said this Duzhi Mountain is a forbidden place, the earth mother doesn't allow Yujing City's demons to set foot here."

"So, does this mountain have the earth mother's barrier?" Immortal Mingke pondered, then took out a pouch from her bosom and lightly emptied it onto the ground.

A rat rolled out of the pouch, landed, and immediately looked around.

A standard gray-skinned big rat, pointed nose, bald tail.

The other three examined it carefully, confirming it's just a rat, not refined into a spirit or demon. Yet this rat isn't afraid of life, honestly squatting in place, extending its nose to sniff, not running off. "What is this?"

"I buried a bit of divine ability in its body, so I can control its movements." Immortal Mingke said, "When exploring ruins of ancient cities, I often use this method."

Ruins often have trap mazes and formations; using this little thing to sweep for mines is most suitable, and the cost is low.

Immortal Mingke pointed at Duzhi Mountain, and the big rat dashed straight over, first crossing the stream, then plunging headfirst into the grass thickets of Duzhi Mountain.

This is a mountain, with rats, butterflies, insects, birds passing through—nothing more normal? Even in Yujing City, it's impossible to block such small things from settling in.

The rat went very smoothly, and no barrier stopped it.

It seized the opportunity, slipping and sliding up the mountain, striving to run the entire mountain within the limited time to scout the way for its master.

But after running just over two hundred zhang ahead, a shadow suddenly appeared in front——

A stone figure half a zhang tall.

It just drilled out of the ground without warning, then stepped on the big rat with one foot.

"Squeak—"

Over here, Immortal Mingke shook his head, as if his ears were ringing:

"A stone man emerged from underground — most likely an avatar of the Earth Mother; the rat was crushed to death."