Chapter 625: Sub-Immortal

"Bang, bang, bang..."

Although she no longer had a heart, Manying still felt her heart beating wildly.

Because she was too nervous, so nervous that she felt she was having difficulty breathing—even though she did not need to breathe.

The scene before her eyes truly exceeded her expectations, causing her to lose her composure for a moment; now, she could not decide whether to proceed according to the plan Tang Zhao had left behind.

Originally, everything had been going quite smoothly.

Following the strategy of "to take, one must first give," they had lured the Turtle Bandits into establishing a base on the ruins of the Danyue Manor, and then used You Water to destroy the traces of their own presence, waiting only for the Turtle Bandits to take the bait before launching a massive strike to completely shatter their confidence.

The Turtle Bandits had indeed fallen into the trap. Facing the mess left behind by the You Water, they hurriedly checked once, found no flaws, and began massive construction within the ruins. Because time was limited, they went all out to level the ground, build the base, and manufacture various weapons, never discovering the thunder Tang Zhao had buried.

Naturally, they also did not discover Manying, who was spying from the shadows.

Manying's mood had also been pleasant.

She marveled at the efficiency of the Turtle Bandits: in a mere three days, a ruin had been completely renewed, transforming back into a large military camp. At first, there were only barracks, but later there were mounts, Fierce Beasts, cages of Phantoms, racks of puppets, and war weapons that resembled both fortresses and artillery batteries.

The war machines were in operation, various supplies and munitions arrived in an endless stream, and a great battle was poised to break out. The air seemed to be permeated with the smell of gunpowder; if anyone else saw this scene, even if they were unrelated, their scalp would go numb.

At that time, Manying, who had watched this construction from the beginning, thought:

She felt a little like laughing.

There was a massive point of conflict in her heart, and she was in a state of agitation, so at such times, she needed to see others suffer misfortune to balance her own mood.

Watching the Turtle Bandits build with such fervor, Manying felt a secret thrill: Build, go ahead and build; the harder you work, the more desperate you will be when it is destroyed.

Just imagining that at the final moment, when she took action, she would reduce everything here to nothing, and those fellows who had survived the power of Wangliang would once again lose everything, she felt a sense of satisfaction.

Of course, this satisfaction was also a bit twisted, and she could only indulge in it when she was alone. Moreover, it could not be discovered by others; this was also a small psychological darkness of hers. Fortunately, her existence was quite special, so no matter how happy she was, she would not laugh out loud.

However, the situation took a sharp turn for the worse last night.

These days, the reinforcements for the Turtle Bandits had been endless. Day and night, new people arrived at every moment. They were primarily Spirit Officials, but there was no shortage of Sword Guests; the closer it got to the Sacrificial Day, the more reinforcements arrived. The day before, during the daytime, the number of Sword Guests had surged.

Manying counted them; there were likely nearly a hundred Sword Guests, and the Spirit Officials were several times that number, totaling perhaps nearly a thousand people. She could not help but feel a jolt of fear, but immediately after, she calmed down: Tang Zhao had said that his specially crafted Rune Formula had sufficient power; no matter what kind of Sword Guest they were, they would be nothing but ash under the Thunder Symbol.

There were also a few Sword Heroes in the main camp; these people were likely those who could not be killed by the Thunder Symbol, a force that could not be ignored, and they might even jump over the wall like a cornered dog after the camp collapsed, becoming ten times more ferocious. But Manying thought this had nothing to do with her. Tang Zhao clearly also had a major power backing him, not to mention her old home, Baiyujing. Even if it had suffered a great catastrophe, there should still be quite a bit of strength remaining, right? Just a few Sword Heroes, what was there to fear?

In short, the advantage was with her.

But that night, Manying saw that person.

That night, the last wave of strong reinforcements arrived; the number was not large, but their strength was terrifying. First was a powerful Sword Hero, whose hair was as withered and yellow as straw; he looked thin and withered, somewhat listless. But he was truly very strong, exceeding even An Wang Taifei and that woman who manipulated water. Manying even felt that Tang Zhao might not be his match.

This made her somewhat worried, but immediately after, she saw the last one to appear, the shadow hidden within a gorgeous cloak.

Powerful!

Terrifying!

Manying did not see the person's appearance at all, but the moment she saw that person, she felt a sense of heart palpitations. She immediately closed her eyes, not daring to look again, as if one more glance would lead to her being discovered by that person.

Clearly, she was hidden in a blind spot of Doubt, and clearly, she was extremely safe, yet she was so frightened that she did not even dare to cast her gaze over there. This was the pressure brought about by a gap in strength, causing one to feel instinctive fear.

Are... are you kidding me?

She was a genuine Sword Hero. Even if the Abyss Envoy had lost the support of Yinglang and could not recklessly use power, she could still exert the strength of a Sword Hero for a period of time, yet she was frightened to this extent by a blurred figure.

Who was he? What was his strength?

To be able to make Manying frightened to this extent, could it be that he was a Sword Immortal Highness...

No.

Thinking of the Immortal Sword, Manying instead calmed down a little. Because she had seen Sword Immortals, and more than one. The feeling the Sword Immortals gave her was not this sharp and exposed; rather, they did not seem special at first glance, and one even wanted to get close to them, but the more one wanted to get close, the more unfathomable they felt. Finally, one would realize that one could not get close at all, and eventually recognize that they were the kind of existence that belonged to the Immortals of another world.

The word "Immortal" separated the Immortal from the mortal by realm, not by strength.

This person should not yet be a Sword Immortal, but he was very, very strong, to the point that even without reaching that realm, he had already opened up a chasm-like distance from those in the same realm.

Perhaps he was only one step away from that realm? He had already walked to the extreme in the realm of the Sword Hero, and his power was already on the threshold of a qualitative change; it was precisely when it was most exposed. If he could really take one more step, perhaps he could return to simplicity.

Encountering such a strong person, she should ideally lie low and not even look at the other party to be safe. But she thought of her mission and the ethereal "sense of security" brought by her faction affiliation, so she could not help but take another look, wanting to obtain just a little more intelligence.

The more she dared not look, the more she peeked; this was a kind of death-seeking thrill.

Fortunately, she only had time to look once before that person was surrounded and welcomed into the main tent, and the door curtain was immediately lowered. She only had time to see that An Wang, his mother, and other leaders, along with the experts who had come before, bowing to the newcomer, before her line of sight was blocked.

This glance was too fast; she dared not say she had gained any intelligence, at most, based on her intuition, she guessed that this person was likely a woman.

And her status was extremely high.

Higher than anyone currently in the camp.

Strong strength and high status—this was only to be expected.

Report the news quickly!

Manying immediately used an Art Tool for communication to send everything she had seen and heard to the other end exactly as it was. After thinking for a moment, she added one more sentence at the end: "The enemy's strength exceeds expectations; the original plan may not succeed. Should we change the plan?"

In making such a request, she was, of course, partly considering her own safety, but she also truly felt that the hope of success for Tang Zhao's destruction plan was slim.

Such a strong person, let alone not being harmed by the Thunder Method, might be able to react at the very moment it was triggered, suppressing all the Thunder Methods and turning countless backup plans into useless moves.

In Manying's view, if a plan had no possibility of success, it was better not to do it, lest one merely startle the snake.

Or perhaps there was a better plan on the other side, utilizing the power Tang Zhao left behind and her, the nail buried in the enemy's heart, to play a greater role?

To tell the truth, she did not know what kind of strength the people behind Tang Zhao had, or how high the wisdom was of the person presiding over the big picture. She, of course, hoped that the other side had foolproof schemes and invincible strength, allowing her drifting, helpless heart to truly settle down.

However, the information she transmitted only received a perfunctory "Received" in response.

Until nightfall, she had not received any new instructions.

This made her gradually become anxious.

What exactly did the person in charge on the other side mean?

Was the plan unchanged, or was it simply canceled? Or...

Did they not value this side at all, thinking it irrelevant to the big picture, and therefore not responding?

If the person on the other side were Tang Zhao, or the brothers and sisters Mange was familiar with, she certainly would not be blindly suspicious like this. But now she did not know who the other party was; could they be a fellow as unreliable as most Abyss Envoys?

Honestly, mediocre people holding high positions and treating the lives of others as a game—this kind of thing was not rare at all in Wangliang Mountain. It would be strange if she could safely entrust her life to a fellow like Xin Ying.

She had decided that if there was no response before dawn, then she would...

Would...

Still carry out Tang Zhao's plan.

Even if it were useless, it was what she had promised, and she ought to fulfill it.

As for the others, let alone having no orders, even if she did, she would have to judge for herself; she would absolutely not obey chaotic commands.

Time passed bit by bit, and the Lamp in the large tent did not go out. The Turtle Bandits were also staying up late, making their final preparations.

Waiting until the sky was about to dawn, at the darkest moment, Manying had already decided to ignore it and end this four-day stakeout according to the original plan.

Suddenly, a voice rang in Manying's ears: "Miss Man."

Manying was slightly surprised; this voice sounded as if...

It was quite old.

It was the voice of an elderly woman.

Although it was indeed aged, her tone and timbre were very gentle, revealing an elegance imbued with a scholarly air, making one sketch in their mind the image of a noble lady with a refined bearing and courteous manners.

This is not someone from Baiyujing; is she from Tang Zhao's side? Has someone finally taken charge over there, away from Tang Zhao?

And... Miss Man?

This form of address felt a bit like how Tang Zhao called her "Sister Man," also acknowledging the dual identity of Manying and Mange.

Of course, it might just be that the old woman said it casually, but Manying intuitively felt that she had addressed her this way intentionally.

So, she is someone who knows what she is doing, then?

Manying recovered some goodwill and plucked a string, saying: "I..."

Just as the string moved, the old woman opposite already said: "Miss Man, I know it is inconvenient for you to speak while in the enemy camp. You might as well remain silent and listen to me first. Unless you object to what I say."

Manying stopped plucking the string and said nothing more. In her heart, two more points of goodwill inevitably rose.

Being so considerate of the Qianxian, she now believed the person on the other side should be reliable. Moreover, the other party should have a high status; although her tone was gentle, she was undoubtedly someone accustomed to giving orders.

Perhaps even higher in status than Tang Zhao?

Manying thought to herself, remaining silent and listening to the other party speak.

"First, I want to thank you," the old woman said sincerely. "You saved our lives. If it weren't for you, we wouldn't have known that *that person* had already arrived at Wangliang Mountain, and we would likely have been unable to escape the fate of total annihilation."

That person? So you know who she is?

She must be very strong, right?

As if guessing what was in Manying's mind, the old woman continued: "Because that person is the strongest among the Turtle Bandits known today, and perhaps also the most powerful Sword Hero in the Human World, known as the Sub-Immortal—the former Wei Dazai, Chao Qianfan!"