Chapter 186: Night Disturbance

Master Qian wore a relaxed expression and smiled lightly: "It's always the same things—clearly, he doesn't know many arrays. This array master's skill is nothing special."

Qian Hong sighed in relief upon hearing this.

Master Qian asked again: "How powerful are they?"

"This time there seem to be no Rank-One arrays; the array power is only about seven array lines."

Master Qian nodded. "In such a short time, that array master couldn't have drawn so many Rank-One arrays—he could only cobble together seven lines."

"With seven array lines, the power is weak. A Qi Condensation Ninth Layer earth-element cultivator in iron armor can walk through unharmed."

Master Qian shook his head. "Too reckless. Unnecessary. You can't charge through every time—it alerts the enemy and wastes iron armor."

Qian Hong said: "Then, Master, do you have a solution?"

"The solution is simple," Master Qian smiled. "I'll assign some ordinary array masters from our clan to accompany you—they can spot where the ground-fire arrays are."

Qian Hong frowned in confusion. "Only array masters can see them?"

"Exactly!" Master Qian's expression brightened. "All things under heaven and earth flow and transform; every movement leaves traces. Some things remain invisible to you unless your spiritual sense is strong enough or you've studied deeply enough..."

"Arrays are the same. Their array lines carry faint spiritual energy flows. Ordinary cultivators can't detect them, but we who've spent years working with array lines—having drawn each one hundreds or thousands of times—can naturally tell them apart."

Qian Hong's eyes lit up. "Then I'm in your debt, Master Qian!"

But he paused, still uneasy, and added: "Sending our clan's array masters there—if they encounter danger, it'll be a loss too great to bear..."

After all, array masters spend their lives studying arrays; their own cultivation and combat strength are weak. If Qian Clan lost all its array masters, the damage would be catastrophic.

"No problem," Master Qian said. "The array masters won't risk themselves—they'll only observe from afar and locate the ground-fire arrays."

Qian Hong said: "I'll assign more personnel to protect them."

Master Qian nodded. "That's best."

At the hour of Chou, night fell dark, the crescent moon hazy.

Several Qian Clan array masters followed Qian Shunzhi to the outskirts of Chengnan's Armory. They hid in the grass nearby, extending their spiritual sense far out, carefully sensing anomalies in the surrounding spiritual energy, detecting the fire-element array lines, and pinpointing the ground-fire arrays' locations.

The Qian Clan array masters cross-referenced the map of Chengnan, marking the ground-fire arrays' positions, then handed the map to Qian Shunzhi.

Qian Shunzhi's injuries hadn't healed, but this mission was ordered personally by the clan lord—of vital importance. Success would earn him great merit and the lord's notice.

This was a once-in-a-millennium opportunity.

Qian Shunzhi carefully stored the map, summoned Qian Clan disciples and a group of rogue cultivators, and pointed out each ground-fire array's location to them.

"Remember clearly?"

The cultivators nodded.

Qian Shunzhi divided the cultivators into squads, assigning each a route, then waved his hand. "Move!"

A group of cultivators, cloaked by the night, slipped again toward the Armory.

Qian Shunzhi whispered: "Follow the plan."

His subordinates split into several groups, advancing along different routes, avoiding the ground-fire arrays on the ground, sneaking toward the Armory.

The Qian Clan cultivators avoided most ground-fire arrays; only a few were triggered, sporadically igniting bursts of flame in the darkness.

Some were accidental triggers by Qian Clan cultivators; others were missed by the Qian Clan array masters due to oversight.

All of this was within Qian Shunzhi's calculations.

No matter how careful, perfection was impossible.

So he split the cultivators into squads, attacking simultaneously—so even if ground-fire arrays were triggered and alerted the Hunter Masters, they'd be forced to respond to multiple fronts, overwhelmed and unable to cover all areas.

The hazy night made visibility poor; confusion, with heads turning this way and that, was only natural.

The Hunter Masters couldn't possibly know where the attack was coming from.

As long as they destroyed buildings and damaged arrays in the chaos, they'd succeed.

Qian Shunzhi watched from afar.

His leg had been injured by a ground-fire array—he couldn't run fast, so he didn't lead the assault himself. He also feared being caught again by Elder Yu.

Elder Yu was a Foundation Establishment cultivator, but his shamelessness was real, his methods ruthless. Qian Shunzhi couldn't imagine what he'd do if he fell into Elder Yu's hands again.

Before, with no excuse, he'd had to go himself—but now, injured, he could perfectly hide behind and observe.

Things were unfolding exactly as he planned.

Ground-fire arrays exploded—but only sporadically, posing little threat, yet drawing the Hunter Masters' attention, perfectly enabling the feint.

Several Qian Clan cultivators had already infiltrated; spiritual energy fluctuations indicated either combat or demolition.

In the pitch-black night, multicolored spiritual energy flared everywhere across the Armory.

But the chaos lasted only a moment—the situation quickly stabilized, noise faded, and spiritual energy fluctuations gradually subsided.

The infiltrating Qian Clan cultivators never reemerged.

The entire Armory, like a sleeping beast in the night, opened its jaws and swallowed them whole.

Qian Shunzhi's thoughts grew chaotic.

What happened?

The night was hazy, the situation chaotic—they'd executed the feint perfectly.

Why had it gone silent so fast?

At that moment, Qian Shunzhi spotted a group emerging, sprinting straight toward them.

The darkness obscured their identities, but Qian Shunzhi had a sinking feeling—they weren't his men!

Qian Shunzhi shouted: "Quick, retreat!"

Immediately, several Qian Clan cultivators surrounded the array masters and hurriedly withdrew.

But it was too late—a squad of Hunter Masters swiftly caught up.

The lead Hunter Master had sharp brows, star-like eyes, a towering frame, and fluid, precise movements—it was Mo Shan.

Mo Shan's figure flickered, appearing before Qian Shunzhi, and punched—flames erupted, surging straight for Qian Shunzhi's face.

Qian Shunzhi crossed his arms to block the punch, but his forearms burned instantly, and a cracking sound arose—as if another bone had broken.

Mo Shan followed with another kick; this time, Qian Shunzhi had no strength to block and was kicked flying, landing hard, his whole body aching, clearly too drained to run again.

Mo Shan abandoned Qian Shunzhi and charged straight toward the Qian family's array masters.

The Qian family's guards moved to intercept them; each was at Qi Condensation Ninth Layer, their cultivation deep and solid. For a time, they held Mo Shan at a stalemate.

Mo Shan did not linger with them, using swift, precise movements to weave through, waiting for an opening, slipping past the guards to stand before one of the Qian family's array masters.

The array master had no idea what had happened—he only saw a shadow suddenly appear before him, felt a sharp pain at his neck, then darkness swallowed his vision as Mo Shan struck him with a palm blade and knocked him unconscious.

Mo Shan knocked the array master unconscious, seized his collar, and tossed him carelessly toward several beast hunters far away.

The beast hunters caught the array master, pulled out ropes, and bound him tightly like a pig.