Chapter 2448: The Plan to Take It All in One Pot

"Can't Shangguan Biao, the owner of the Secret Realm, just shut it down himself?"

"No." Mingke Xianren replied, "The existence of the Secret Realm follows its own laws; even the owner finds it hard to forcibly intervene. If he were here, summoning wind and rain at will, when we first entered, he could have crushed us with a casual gesture—how could he let us jump about freely?"

He Lingchuan also said: "This Secret Realm exists because of Shangguan Biao's lingering obsession; since it is an 'obsession,' it is hardest for him to easily change it himself. So he either lets it run its course, secretly prompting it, or lets us end the Secret Realm."

"End it?"

"If we had killed Shangguan Biao earlier or seized the Wind Dew Golden Lotus, we would likely have prematurely terminated the Secret Realm. For, according to the Secret Realm's subsequent development, lacking either of these two elements, it cannot continue."

"Sinister!" Zhu Xiuer cursed, then asked, "So if we seize the Earth Mother's Essence, would that also terminate the Secret Realm?"

"Quite likely." He Lingchuan had pondered this repeatedly, "One of Shangguan Biao's key purposes in establishing the Duzhi Mountain Secret Realm was to seal it; the Earth Mother's Essence may also be an indispensable element of this Secret Realm."

Mingke Xianren wore a worried expression: "The earth fissure is already sealed, and we have alarmed Changfeng Valley—our goal may now be hard to achieve."

Without the Earth Mother's Essence, it would be difficult to fundamentally dismantle Yujing City and Shangguan Biao's power.

Then, both inside and outside the city, there will be tough battles to fight.

"If we can't do it, we might as well leave—lingering in this Secret Realm only brings long nights and many dreams." He Lingchuan sighed, "Outside, there are also battles to fight."

The Blood Demon chuckled near his ear: "You really think that? Did you already tamper with things just now?"

Its communication with He Lingchuan cannot be heard by others.

He Lingchuan's mouth twitched slightly, and he shook his hand—

The left hand that had just been bitten by the stone cricket.

He wore the Jinglong Battle Armor; the stone cricket bit into the bracer and gauntlet. Though it looked dusty and grim, its bite force was astonishing—it could snap steel directly—but on the Jinglong Battle Armor, it left only a row of fine tooth marks, which were rapidly healing during the three's conversation.

What He Lingchuan shook off was the slime clinging to his hand.

Zhu Xiuer quietly asked him: "Is your hand alright?"

He Lingchuan shook his head. Fifteen years ago, his wrist bone could not have withstood such pressure; this bite from the stone cricket might have broken his bone, and he would not have dared take the risk.

Rather, the blow from Li Yun's stone fist to his back still ached faintly.

He took out Li Yun's severed left hand, pried open the palm, and carefully examined the wave drum.

Undoubtedly, this is also a magical artifact; He Lingchuan held it in his hand and quickly grasped its use.

"It turns out to be something of the Earth Mother."

Glancing behind, Mingke Xianren's flying vessel was indeed fast—this person truly knows how to flee. The distance between the pursuers and the three of them keeps growing; will Li Yun give up the chase?

But what happened next educated him: wishful thinking.

￥￥￥￥￥

Seeing the original Yujing City's buildings rise one after another in the Panlong Ruins, the one-eyed giant king came forward with a muffled voice:

"Mother Venerable Lord, this Panlong Ancient City is too large—should we abandon part of it?"

In real history, Panlong City never reached the scale of the Panlong World, but it remains a considerable city in area and population; its size, among the remnants swallowed by Yujing City, ranks in the top five. To haul this entire city away would cost the Earth Mother too much energy—it would not be worthwhile.

The usual practice is to cut out the essence and landmarks from the ruins for preservation, discarding the irrelevant parts. For example, Longfeng Valley only retained its mountain gate garrison and Duzhi Mountain; underwater ruins only kept a small patch of coral sea.

"No!" The Earth Mother flatly rejected the suggestion, "Even if we expend more strength, the Panlong ruins must be entirely preserved—even those city walls!"

One-Eyed Giant King: "Ah? Then we must use the Mystic Crystals bestowed by the Heavenly Demons."

Not long ago, two Heavenly Demons approached the Earth Mother to form an alliance, bringing many gifts.

"Any problems?"

"No, let's get to it." One-Eyed Giant King scratched his head, "You mentioned just now that secret realm growing secretly—what should we do about it?"

This fellow is more cunning than the Violent Bear King; the Earth Mother glanced sideways at him: "I ask you—if that Secret Realm were to fully grow, where would it be?"

"In the Panlong Ruins."

"Then where are the Panlong Ruins?"

"In……" One-Eyed Giant King stammered, then suddenly understood: "Ah ah, inside our Yujing City! Yes, this newly born Secret Realm will also be inside our city!"

"Then what are you still worried about?"

One-Eyed Giant King gave a hehe laugh and fell silent.

The existence of the old Panlong Secret Realm will resist the Earth Mother and Yujing City's invasion;

but once the new Secret Realm forms, Panlong Ruins will already have been taken by Yujing City, and it will have no choice but to follow the Earth Mother.

Therefore, aside from the collapsed northeastern section of the city wall, the Earth Mother also needs to temporarily maintain the overall integrity of Panlong Ancient City—only then can the new Secret Realm properly attach.

As for trimming and cutting, that can wait until later.

The Earth Mother still has one thing unsaid:

The generation and existence of this Panlong New Secret Realm will help it secure the Great Square Vase.

Needless to say, the hidden architect who built this new Secret Realm did so to replace the old Secret Realm in connecting to the Great Square Vase. But now, it seems they are making the Earth Mother a wedding dress.

They had also done their homework beforehand, knowing this vase is extremely eccentric—it dislikes this and that, and may not even sign a contract with the infamous immortal. Thus, placing the Panlong New Secret Realm in between as a buffer is ideal.

Of course, this now involves a most crucial step:

The Earth Mother must claim this Panlong New Secret Realm as her own—that is, she must kill the new master of this Secret Realm!

Isn't that just within her comfort zone?

The Earth Mother suddenly said: "Actually, the master of this new Secret Realm has already infiltrated Yujing City. What it intends to do, and what I intend to do, are exactly the same."

It and the target opposite it are truly of one mind:

Eliminate the opponent, seize control of the Secret Realm!

Upon hearing this, the One-Eyed Giant King exclaimed in alarm: "Mother Venerable Lord, but the group that caused a ruckus in the White House? I'll bring people back right away to capture them."

"You?" The Earth Mother scoffed, "Yujing City has been invaded this long, and you lot are useless—you don't even know how many enemy forces there are."

Now, Yujing City has taken a crucial step: securing the Panlong Ruins.

With the ruins in hand, the advantage lies entirely with it; the master of this new Secret Realm has also been forced into passivity—being rooted out and defeated by it is only a matter of time.

"Besides the White House group, who else?" One-Eyed Giant King said matter-of-factly, "They exist—where? I'll bring people to wipe them out!"

The Earth Mother glanced at it and said in a sinister tone, "Wait. They'll be coming out soon."