Chapter 1248

Jiang Shu’s fingertip pointed to the southwestern corner of the map. The Chaotic Reef Beach resembled a giant beast’s skeleton eroded by the wind, menacingly reaching into the dim sea.

"There must be reinforcements here."

His voice was steady, without any ripples of emotion.

Yet in his hand, a Jade Talisman quietly appeared, sending out messages one after another.

This time, he temporarily stood guard at Panhai City, naturally accompanied by a Daoist Monarch from the True Martial Sect in the city.

Forgotten Dust Daoist Monarch, although only recently ascended to the Vientiane Realm in this great war, had profound comprehension of the Five Elements Dao and was adept at the Path of Concealment.

It was quite appropriate for him to undertake this mission.

Jiang Shu’s gaze swept across the map and fell upon the core area of Panhai City, on the virtual shadow of the Teleportation Tower that stood like a towering giant.

The base of the tower penetrated the Earth Vein, with a structure as complex as a labyrinth, serving as the core node of the city’s spatial veins.

That place was the endpoint of the second secret passage and also the entrance to the most dangerous trap.

Without further words, Jiang Shu took a step forward, his entire figure, the space in front of him fluctuated, and in the next moment, he disappeared from the City Lord Mansion.

...

The entrance to the core area of the Teleportation Tower was sealed by a heavy Mystic Iron Talisman Gate, its surface engraved with flowing warning runes.

The heavy Talisman Formation isolated the inside from the outside, and within the tower, a small space was formed, with pure Spiritual Power containing the faint spatial disturbance unique to teleportation.

In the deep shadow outside the Talisman Gate, near the gap between the tower’s base and the rock layer, lay a figure almost blending into the darkness, curled up in an extremely narrow, nearly non-existent crevice.

His name was Xuan Chi.

Xuan Chi’s breathing was suppressed to the point of near cessation.

Three days, exactly three days.

He was like a drop of tainted blood seeping into the stone crevice, not daring to use a fraction of his demonic power, relying entirely on the resilience of his body to forcefully suppress his heartbeat, using the thin layer of Mystic Ice Feather Scales beneath his skin to isolate the last trace of life breath, resembling a truly dead reef.

The cold and damp air seeping from the deep Earth Vein soaked into the feather scales, bringing a bone-chilling numbness.

Even now, he couldn’t believe that the Xuan Ming Demon Venerable of his clan would be defeated by Jiang Shu, a newly ascended Daoist Venerable.

To Xuan Chi, this was simply a fantasy.

Xuan Ming Demon Venerable was the strongest of the previous generation of the Kunpeng Clan.

The future strongest of the Kunpeng Lineage, highly likely to become the clan’s patriarch.

Although only possessing Dao Practice at the Demon Venerable Middle Stage, his cultivation was already not weaker than that of an average Demon Venerable Late Stage.

Yet such an existence was indeed wounded by Jiang Shu.

This was an unprecedented humiliation for the Kunpeng Clan.

And he, as a bloodline of the Kunpeng Clan, was now trapped to death in this fortified city by Jiang Shu, like a rat in a gutter!

Damn Jiang Shu!

Xuan Chi’s sharp teeth silently ground against each other in his mouth, the venomous resentment almost bursting through his throat.

Three days ago, he narrowly escaped the thunderous purge, but the dark posts painstakingly planted by Demon Dawn, and the intelligence network woven over many years, were uprooted by the opponent, destroyed utterly, leaving no chance for survival.

All those connected were executed, a curfew imposed with lethal consequences!

This was not governance, but extermination, a cage!

Not even a breath of wind could get through.

What chilled him to the bone was Jiang Shu’s perception of space.

Xuan Chi possessed the top talent of Kunpeng for Concealment, confident that he could navigate minor stealth if not for a Daoist Venerable’s careful search.

Yet facing Jiang Shu, he didn’t even dare attempt the slightest spatial movement.

That omnipresent cold will, as if capable of seeing through all illusions, was like a blade suspended overhead, ready to fall at any moment.

Never before had he felt the approach of death so clearly, a sensation more harrowing than the reprimands of the clan’s Demon Venerables.

He couldn’t wait any longer.

Once his presence was exposed, the immediate consequence would be a shattered end.

He had to take a gamble!

With a flick of his mind, he cautiously projected a faint wave of Divine Thought, able to be barely executed even at the Demon Monarch Realm, from the inheritance in his bloodline towards a pre-established emergency contact node deep within the Earth Vein.

It was a tiny bubble space attached to the underground water veins, an extension of his hiding spot.

Soon, his Divine Thought connected with three faint and fearful presences.

They were the remnants of Demon Dawn, in half-human, half-demon form, with their realms only at the Transformation level, the only remaining subordinates in the outer perimeter of the city, their fear and despair clearly transmitted.

A group of useless beings, but they still have some utility.

Xuan Chi’s Divine Thought mercilessly suppressed the panic of his three subordinates, commanding with an undeniable order that penetrated the darkness like icy threads.

"Listen!"

"Your lifeline lies at the Southwest Chaotic Reef Beach. The response there has been activated; it’s your only chance for survival."

"Depart immediately, conceal all aura, and navigate through the underground currents, escape at all costs!"

"As long as one of you escapes, activate the Communication Demon Talisman with blood and report the dire situation here to the Emperor Palace. A great reward awaits!"

He branded a fabricated spatial coordinate, mimicking Xuan Ming’s aura, into the mind of one of the demons, pointing to the most dangerous whirlpool area in the Chaotic Reef Beach.

And that place was never a rendezvous point, but a dead end, a trap designed to cause a significant commotion to cover his departure.

The three underlings’ Divine Thoughts were instantly ignited by a blind survival instinct and the lure of a non-existent reward, turning fervent and decisive.

Xuan Chi emotionlessly severed the connection, a faint smirk flashing in his eyes.

The subordinates were like a gecko.

The gecko’s tail could be severed, precisely to buy time for their master to escape.

He needed disturbance, needed someone to draw Jiang Shu’s attention and the city’s defense forces, temporarily diverting that sharp "eye."