A Plan Beyond the Plan!

Chapter 34

As Yun Shan's voice fell, vast clouds of black mist suddenly surged out of the Misty Cloud Sect's main hall below.

The black mist rapidly gathered in the sky, eventually forming a deep-hued cloud more than ten feet wide that directly blocked a figure rushing toward Yun Shan.

Yao Lao, who was controlling Xiao Yan's body, instantly turned cold-eyed.

"Just as I thought..."

An eerie, sinister laugh drifted from within the black mist, echoing across the sky like the cawing of crows.

"What a familiar aura. Such a delicious soul body. Let me think... your name is Yao Chen, isn't it?"

A chuckle came from within the black mist.

"Hehehe, Yao Chen, I never expected you to deliver yourself right to our doorstep. Back then, when you luckily escaped, it cost my Soul Hall no small amount of effort... If I capture you today, the Hall Master will surely be delighted."

"You rat-like monsters. Back then, you helped that beast Han Feng attack me. We'll settle that debt properly today!"

Yao Lao stared coldly at the black mist, his voice filled with fury and Killing Intent.

"If you had your own body, this Protector might fear you somewhat. But against a mere soul body, hehehe, my Soul Hall has plenty of methods to deal with you..."

The black mist contracted and rippled, slowly condensing into a figure shrouded entirely in deep black smoke. A pair of faintly crimson eyes emerged from the profound darkness.

The black figure flipped his palm, and a pitch-black chain extended from his hand with a clattering sound.

With a slight shake, it coiled and twisted around him like a venomous serpent.

The Black Chain trembled slightly. A moment later, Protector Wu let out a strange laugh and flicked his arm. The chain instantly tore through the sky, turning into a black streak as it viciously shot toward Yun Shan.

Amid the endless gale, it dragged Yun Shan out.

Only then did the black figure turn his gaze toward Yao Lao—or rather, Yao Lao controlling Xiao Yan's body.

"Screech!"

Like a venomous serpent, the Black Chain suddenly pierced through space before transforming into a blurred black line and shooting violently toward "Xiao Yan" not far ahead.

The tip of the chain was exceptionally sharp and covered in mysterious runes, with rings of spiral patterns winding around its point.

Driven by Protector Wu's energy, it faintly emitted a sinister aura. Clearly, this dark chain was no ordinary iron chain.

Yao Lao did not dare to be careless before the chain that had pierced through space to strike at him. The Soul Hall was extremely mysterious, and their attacks seemed capable of inflicting tremendous damage upon soul bodies.

Fortunately, Yao Lao was no ordinary soul body. Xiao Yan's physical body protected him from without, while the Bone Spirit Cold Flame guarded him from within.

He could barely contend with this mysterious expert from the Soul Hall.

Bone-white flames churned in his palm before suddenly transforming into a fiery arrow that shot forth, fiercely colliding with the black chain.

"Bang!"

A dull sound rang out as the two collided, but there was no particularly violent explosion of energy.

Only a ring of force ripples, black mixed with bone-white, silently spread outward. Wherever they passed, even space trembled slightly.

The collision between the Black Chain and the fiery arrow was far from the effortless destruction Protector Wu had expected.

A strange temperature—both icy cold and scorching hot—rapidly transmitted through the chain, causing the Dou Qi within his body to fluctuate.

"No wonder you escaped the Soul Hall's pursuit back then. So you relied on the power of this Heavenly Flame!"

The chain retreated after a single strike, coiling beside Protector Wu. His crimson eyes stared grimly at "Xiao Yan" opposite him as he spoke with slight surprise.

Yun Shan finally let out a long breath. Having survived that most dangerous moment was enough.

"That strike just now used up all your strength, didn't it? I'd like to see what other tricks a mere Dou Emperor has left!"

Yun Shan exhaled deeply as Dou Qi surged through his body. After becoming a Dou Zong, leaving aside the quality of his Dou Qi, its sheer quantity alone far surpassed that of a Dou Emperor.

Both the Wind Sword Domain and Yun Shan's Dou Technique, Wind Brake Annihilation Gang, consumed tremendous amounts of Dou Qi, but Yun Shan possessed a greater total reserve.

Not to mention that Yun Shan cultivated a far stronger technique. After all, Xiao Lin was still cultivating that lousy technique of the Xiao Family.

With all those factors combined, since the best opportunity just now had failed to kill Yun Shan, the situation would inevitably reverse from this point onward.

Powerful Dou Qi formed into longswords, and terrifying force directly tore apart the Wind Blades that had been troubling Yun Shan.

Turning back with a cold smile, Yun Shan was already considering how to deal with Xiao Lin when he saw a trace of pleasure appear on the latter's face.

"You're right. It really is too difficult for a Dou Emperor to turn the tables against a Dou Zong."

Xiao Lin's previously exhausted Dou Qi slowly began to increase, like sweet rain after a long drought. Warm, nourishing Dou Qi flowed through every limb and bone in his body...

"Then I'll advance to Dou Zong and suppress you instead!"

Xiao Lin called out to the system in his heart.

...

Name: Xiao Lin

Cultivation: Ninth Star Dou Huang

Techniques: Raging Lion's Fury, Earth Water Fire Wind (System Reward)

Identity: Xiao Family Old Ancestor, Former Patriarch

Xiao Family Members: 213

Selected Clan Member: Xiao Yan

Cultivation Feedback: When clan members cultivate, the host will receive bonuses.

Cultivation Breakthrough: Ninth Star Dou Huang (99%)

...

Long before coming to the Misty Cloud Sect, Xiao Lin had made arrangements to improve the Xiao Family's overall strength at any cost.

In other words, during these two months, everyone in the Xiao Family had cultivated every day under the Old Ancestor's forced orders. Other than Xiao Yan, everyone could do nothing but cultivate.

The cultivation of such a massive number of clan members provided Xiao Lin with enormous feedback every day.

Just imagine it: after painstakingly grinding an opponent's strength dry, that opponent suddenly gained a massive amount of powerful Dou Qi. Anyone's mentality would probably collapse on the spot.

Since Xiao Lin had the effect of clan feedback, he naturally had to maximize the system's usefulness.

Thus, he had been stalling for time from the very beginning, waiting until now.

The moon shone bright while the stars were sparse. It was midnight!

The moment when the system granted him feedback each day!

But this was only part of the plan, not something beyond Xiao Lin's expectations. He had intended to do this from the start.

Likewise, this energy would most likely only restore his cultivation. There was a ninety-nine percent chance that, like every previous night, it would merely replenish his Dou Qi and nothing more.

Yet Xiao Lin had not lied to Yun Shan, because advancing to Dou Zong was a possibility beyond his expectations.

The true source of that unexpected possibility was Xiao Yan's victory over Nalan Yanran. The change in Xiao Yan's state of mind had raised his realm by one star.

That star, reflected on the system panel, became a system reward.

The reward was: a Sect Breaking Pill!

Xiao Lin closed his eyes and glanced at the Soul Hall figure fighting Yao Lao.

According to his original plan, Yao Lao would not have appeared this early. Instead, after the system replenished his Dou Qi at midnight, Xiao Lin would use this trump card to severely wound or even kill Yun Shan, forcing out that Soul Hall expert.

Then, with Yao Lao as a hidden card, he would strike again and cooperate with Xiao Lin to ambush that Soul Hall Dou Zong.

That way, he could reliably kill Yun Shan and had a high chance of severely wounding the Soul Hall Dou Zong, though it would be difficult to keep both of them here.

But after he told Yao Lao to act according to his instructions, the system panel received the reward for Xiao Yan's breakthrough.

That was why Xiao Lin had lured the Soul Hall member out ahead of time.

"Only once I reach Dou Zong can I truly use the second level of the Wind Sword Domain. This opportunity cannot be missed. Neither of these two will be leaving."

Xiao Lin lightly licked his lips as a medicinal pill appeared in his palm.