"That's impossible! That's utterly impossible!" The one who blew up in anger was Immortal Rumbling Blade Hei Shanzhi, the most irritable member of the Four Greats, "Everblade City is one of the safest places in the entire subcontinent. No beast or demon has ever dared to scheme against us in over five hundred years!"
"That's right, there must be some kind of conspiracy! There's no way we could have foreseen this!" Immortal Unbreakable Will Tai Wuyi quickly added.
The other two members of the Four Greats, Immortal Green Destiny Yang Kaitian and Immortal Thousand Swords Jin Wu, also joined in. They chattered like a flock of hens as they tried to defend themselves. They even dared to place the blame on Qiu Chuyi for being useless in this time of crisis.
These four were frightened because they knew that being trapped by the domain of a powerful demon was one thing while having their one escape route cut off by powerful explosive mines was another thing entirely. It meant that the Four Greats had completely failed in their duty to provide safety and security for the guests of the Convocation of Swords. They could not escape responsibility as the hosts. If the ground beneath the arena had been entirely turned into a demon trap without their knowledge, then even death could not erase their offense.
Su Tan directly ignored these useless words. She didn't have much faith in these four to begin. She turned to Peng Yuefeng and Yang Maoda and urgently conversed with them, trying to figure out any possible way they could still escape. Without Qiu Chuyi, their chances decreased dramatically but since they had seven immortals who could still fight, they wouldn't just roll over and die.
Chen Wentian, who was still playing dead, cracked open his dirt and fake-blood-covered eyes and took a quick glance around. He was lying amidst the stricken immortals, their figures strewn haphazardly across the stone tiles of the arena. Qiu Chuyi, who was still moaning in pain like a dying pig, was close by. Next to him was another person he knew, Immortal Phoenix Legend Shi Shi of the Legendary Fighter League. Black blood continued to leak out of her nose and lips but she was already unconscious. The others were also in bad shape and getting worse. The ones that were still sitting upright in meditation looked as if they were about to fall over.
The seven that could still stand and fight had devolved into arguments a short distance away. It seemed like panic and dread were starting to overwhelm their fighting spirit. Su Tan had lost her cool and was shouting at one person or another. Peng Yuefeng had a grave expression on his face and his eyes were filled with fear. The only one that remained unnaturally at ease was the ugly goblin Yang Maoda who remained calm and confident.
Chen Wentian moved on from these people and quietly studied his surroundings. It wasn't time yet for him to make a move. Since the perpetrators hadn't appeared, he remained patient and analyzed the situation.
These demons obviously didn't want to kill but capture alive. To keep over twenty human immortals alive, they would have to have a secret lair to keep them imprisoned. If he could find out where this was, it would benefit him way more in the long run but he would have to take some risks and stay in the eye of the storm.
The shadow domain in the sky remained unmoving and ominous. Occasionally, he could feel the trace of an immortal being moving about. Normal immortals would not have been able to sense this. It was purely due to his affinity with shadow and darkness spiritual energies.
From his knowledge and from the various encounters of the past few days, he could guess with some certainty that this was the work of a shade, a type of demon that was born in the darkest places where sunlight never shined. There were many species but they were all tricky opponents. It was difficult to kill one without overwhelming suppression due to a difference in cultivation or an immortal Dao like the First Light of Zhulong that countered darkness to the extreme.
However, this Spirit King Realm shade wasn't of any concern to him at the moment. His spiritual sense left the sky and penetrated the ground. His original plan of escape was to use the Giant Mole Worm, a powerful underground spiritual beast with few equals. He didn't expect another layer of traps to appear in the form of Thunderfire mines.
Thunderfire mines, as the name suggested, combined thunder and fire spiritual energy to create a mighty explosion of chaotic forces. Qiu Chuyi hadn't been prepared so his spiritual sea had been directly damaged. But even if a Spirit Lord was prepared to take the hit, suffering three or four direct hits was enough to knock them out. Even the Giant Mole Worm couldn't survive.
Chen Wentian felt a surge of annoyance. It had to be doing of Qin Shiu'er, that slippery water demon. She could hide in rivers and lakes but she could also move through groundwater, albeit slowly. Who knew how much time she had spent creating such a trap beneath the arena?
But this kind of thing still could keep him here. He could still leave anything he wanted to. Except, there was another, far more troublesome matter. This incident was so earth-shaking that the Immortal Association was sure to launch an all-out counteroffensive when they found out about it. They would rouse all of their available forces in the subcontinent and investigate the matter to the very end.
If he, a small Spirit Lord who recently ascended, escaped by himself, he would instantly draw everyone's attention. Unless he pretended to be dead forever, he would have to answer difficult questions about how he managed to escape. He would have to answer why he didn't try and help the others fight the demons. Some ill-intentioned people might directly accuse him of colluding with the enemy.
Chen Wentian once again eyed the wounded immortals around him. It looked like he would have to take a few of them with him. If he saved their lives, they would owe him a debt of gratitude and perhaps help speak up for him.
The only thing was that he couldn't save too many. He wasn't that generous. He wasn't a saint. All of these people were going to die regardless if it was now or later. They were going to be food for demons so they might as well become fuel for his soul art.
He had absorbed a few Spirit Lord souls recently but he felt that he was far away from the Spirit King Realm. Jasmine would wake up in a few more months and she would be a Spirit King by then. He couldn't lose to her no matter what. He had very little time left. His greedy, black heart couldn't let this opportunity go.
Chen Wentian considered the issue for a short while and chose to save only two people, Immortal Tempest Badger Qiu Chuyi and Immortal Phoenix Legend Shi Shi. He would save Qiu Chuyi because he wanted to scheme against Beast God Sanctum. There was also a tiny connection between them due to his avatar, He Xingping, and that person's precious wife, Qiu Jingyi.
As for Shi Shi, she was a peculiar person. She was the first among his peers to seek him out without any ill intentions. Because of this, it could be considered that they also had a small relationship. He was sure that she would speak up for him if he saved her.
With this decided, his right hand twitched slightly as a dark shadow emerged and slid away to hide amongst the wounded immortals. He then became still once more as he waited for the conclusion of this battle.
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