Discovered!

"Using living people as keys or sacrifices to open a temporary passage?" Lu Chen's eyes turned cold. These demonic heretics truly had no humanity whatsoever.

He carefully observed the route those two took and the method they used to activate the array, committing it all silently to memory.

Perhaps he could disguise himself as one of them, or... wait until they came out next time, seize one when the opportunity arose, take their token, and infiltrate the place.

He retreated to the rendezvous point and informed the others of what he had discovered.

"Using living people to open a passage? Utterly insane!" Yun Qingyue said angrily.

"My lord, should we wait for them to come out next time and capture them?" Zhao Tieying asked.

Lu Chen shook his head. "That carries too much risk. It would be easy to alert the enemy. Besides, we don't know when they'll come out."

After some thought, he said, "I have a method. Perhaps I can attempt to enter through that energy void. But I need you to create a small disturbance on the outskirts—something that won't alert those inside the array—and draw the attention of the three hidden sentries, even if only for an instant."

"Creating a disturbance? That's easy." Gu Mingxuan said, "I can imitate a brief burst of aura from a Demon Beast in the forest, or create a small tremor in the ground. As long as I control the range and intensity, it shouldn't alert the high-level cultivators inside."

"Good. Five breaths before the next void appears, create a disturbance to the left. Remember, it must seem natural, like Demon Beasts fighting or a minor tremor. While the sentries are distracted and the array fluctuations are thrown into disorder, I'll attempt to slip inside," Lu Chen instructed.

Everyone accepted their