At night, a circle of braziers hung on the wooden walls of the Baitu military stronghold. The firelight flickered in the night wind, making the wooden walls seem to sway.
Xu Yan squatted on a pine tree more than a mile away, staring wide-eyed at the situation of the military camp.
Despite the great distance, he couldn't actually see much. However, with his Law Power cultivation, he could see the powerful Qi and Blood energy gathered in the barracks, rising into the sky like a crimson pillar in the night, steaming and billowing.
As Fourth Rank Devil Cultivator of the Yin Yang Dao, Xu Yan was most sensitive to this kind of Qi and Blood and qi power.
Even from such a distance, the surging Qi and Blood of the military camp was like a furnace, its aura making his mouth dry.
Xu Yan loathed this feeling. The army's Qi and Blood and qi were too much of a hindrance to Law Technique. Daoist cultivators were a little better off, but he, Devil Cultivator, who practiced evil Secret Method, was even more afraid of the army's concentrated Qi and Blood and qi.
But since his master had given the order, he dared not disobey.
I come to check on things every night. The White Earth Slope military camp is heavily guarded and in perfect formation. There is nothing of any use to be seen outside.
However, the changes in battle formation can be discerned through the concentrated Qi and Blood energy within the military camp.
Following his master's instructions, Xu Yan activated the Mystic Yin Mirror to reflect the power of the military camp's Qi and Blood, and memorized the changes in strength in each direction.
After such a long period of observation, we will eventually be able to find the flaws in the military camp's battle formation.
Military formations are based on human beings, but they also need to be combined with the right time and place. In essence, they are the same as the formations of cultivators.
For any magic formation or battle formation, as long as there is a fixed method for its setup, there is a way to break it.
This method of breaking the formation doesn't mean rendering it ineffective, but rather finding its weak points and penetrating them with minimal force.
After all, the Fire Phoenix Army was only a Fourth Rank. As long as the battle formation was broken, there would be a chance to quickly kill him and thus rapidly defeat the Fire Phoenix Army.
Xu Yan was quite skilled in formations. Although he didn't know military tactics, he could always find some tricks by analogy.
If he can't do it, there's still his master, Xu Tianming.
This is the High Priest, a true Third Rank expert.
If Xie Lingyun dares to leave the military camp without permission, he can immediately notify his master to come and easily kill Xie Lingyun!
Compared to breaking through battle formations, this method is actually the most effective and easiest to implement.
Xie Lingyun might stay indoors for a day or two, but there are always times when she can't stand the loneliness.
Xu Yan could only console himself with this thought. He knew that Xie Lingyun, as a military commander, was unlikely to be running around in the middle of the night.
Leading a large army is no child's play. If the army commander is not in that position, who will handle the situation if something goes wrong?
Xu Yan was squatting on the tree, lost in thought, when a branch beside him twitched. Sensing this, he turned around and saw a large-tailed squirrel hurriedly scrambling past, climbing up the trunk of the tree, and quickly disappearing from sight.
He breathed a sigh of relief; squirrels sometimes roam around at night, which is normal.
Just then, Xu Yan suddenly sensed something was wrong. Before he could react, a faint, black hair behind him flicked like a snake's tongue and disappeared into the back of Xu Yan's neck in a flash.
The black hair was only one-tenth the size of a human hair. Such subtle changes in the black hair were incredibly mysterious. Although Xu Yan sensed something was wrong, he couldn't pinpoint what it was and was directly injured by the black hair.
Xu Yan was, after all, Fourth Rank Devil Cultivator. He sensed something was wrong and immediately focused his muscles and circulated his True Qi to seal his entire body.
Such fine black hair could hardly bear much Law Power True Qi, let alone cause Xu Yan any great harm.
However, Zhou Wuji, who was urging his hair to turn black, unleashed the Northern Dipper Heavenly Pivot Yin Thunder several feet away.
Like lightning flowing down his hair, Xu Yan. All the Law Power transformations of his Five Viscera Temple, brows, and other Divine Aperture were directly destroyed by the Northern Dipper Heavenly Pivot Yin Thunder.
Xu Yan's vision went black as he fell straight down from the top of the pine tree.
Zhou Wuji didn't catch it, letting Xu Yan fall to the ground with a dull thud.
There was a large patch of withered grass on the ground, and the soil was relatively loose. However, the Xu Yan caused Xu Yan, who was unconscious, to twitch his limbs and look pained, as if he was about to wake up from his coma.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Zhou Wuji activated the Seven Stars Demon-Sealing Spirit Seal, and seven points of starlight fell, sealing Xu Yan's Divine Sense and consciousness.
True Qi, physical body.
Once Zhou Wuji was certain that the Devil Cultivator posed no further threat, he turned Xu Yan over and activated the Heavenly Puppet Heavenly Puppet Technique to implant runes into Xu Yan's body.
The Heavenly Puppet will also split off a portion, penetrating Xu Yan's internal organs and head to exert more profound control over him.
When Zhou Wuji reached the pinnacle of the Heavenly Puppet Technique, he could extend the Heavenly Puppet Silk Threads more than ten feet away using the Heavenly Puppet Heavenly Puppet Thread-Pulling Method.
He sensed Xu Yan's presence while practicing his martial arts and quietly entered the mountain forest.
With the help of the Big Dipper Star Eye and the Mind Mirror, Zhou Wuji located the Devil Cultivator. He could tell that the Devil Cultivator's cultivation was quite advanced, so he grabbed a squirrel to distract the cultivator and took the opportunity to activate the Heavenly Puppet Silk.
It was also because his Sword Intent was divine that he could imbue the extremely fine Heavenly Puppet Silk with Law Power. Only such fine green silk could evade the keen perception of Devil Cultivator.
After subduing the Devil Cultivator with the Heavenly Puppet Spirit-Pulling Method, Zhou Wuji then used the Rejuvenation Spirit Technique to give the half-dead guy a breath of fresh air.
Xu Yan exhaled a breath of stale air, and suddenly became fully awake.
He opened his eyes and saw a person standing in front of him. He was injured and dared not circulate his True Qi at will. He could only tell that the person was a young Daoist priest. His Daoist robe hung down to his ankles and he wore a sword. Judging from his facial features, he seemed to be very handsome.
He knew he had been tricked, but the other party's methods were mysterious, seemingly those of Devil Cultivator.
But he vaguely remembered that his internal and external True Qi had been destroyed by the Thunder Method, and he had been knocked unconscious by the Thunder Method.
The thunder was silent yet extremely domineering; it must be the unique Yin Thunder of the Northern Pole Sect.
So, this person is actually a cultivator from the Northern Pole Sect?!
Xu Yan's heart stirred at this thought. He remembered a young cultivator from the Northern Pole Sect named Zhou Wuji, who was said to be cunning and ruthless in his methods of dealing with enemies, and many Devil Cultivator had suffered great losses at Zhou Wuji's hands.
Could this person be Zhou Wuji?!
Although Xu Yan had some guesses, he dared not ask rashly. He struggled to sit up, coughed up blood twice, and then asked in a hoarse voice, "Who are you, sir? What advice do you have for me? Please speak freely."
Zhou Wuji smiled; this Devil Cultivator was actually quite clever.
He said, "Tell me your identity and your plans in detail."
Xu Yan didn't make any demands and immediately told the truth about his identity and background, saying that his master, the chief priest Xu Tianming, had sent him here.
"High Priest Xu Tianming?"
Zhou Wuji was quite familiar with the Yin Yang Dao, and he knew from the name of the chief priest that he was Third Rank expert.
The person he killed, Zuo Yurong, was a Dharma Protector Elder, also Third Rank, but slightly lower in rank than the Chief Priest.
The chief priest is equivalent to the temple master, and is considered a leader of a region. Although the guardian elders have high cultivation levels, their status is not as high as that of the chief priest, and they often have to obey the chief priest's orders.
The Yin Yang Dao Devil Cultivator Cui Yuanfeng, whom he captured at Golden Sands Fort, had once infiltrated the barbarian tribes.
Cui Yuanfeng had said that their high priest had colluded with the barbarians. However, Cui Yuanfeng's rank was too low to have any contact with the high priest, and he didn't even know the other party's name.
Could this Xu Tianming be the chief priest Cui Yuanfeng mentioned?
It's been a long time since then, and the Yin Yang Dao may have long since become deeply involved with the barbarians. In fact, it doesn't really matter who acted as the go-between.
Zhou Wuji inquired about Xu Tianming's situation in detail, but Xu Yan was vague, only giving a vague description of Xu Tianming's appearance and personality.
When Zhou Wuji asked again, Xu Yan claimed he didn't know.
Faced with Xu Yan's attempt to renege on his promise, Zhou Wuji laughed instead. This Devil Cultivator was quite interesting; his life was in his hands, yet he still...
Xu Tianming was very loyal.
Loyalty is an extremely rare quality among Devil Cultivator. Of course, it's also possible that Xu Tianming used some means to prevent Xu Yan Xu Yan from revealing the secret.
With a thought, Zhou Wuji activated the Heavenly Puppet Technique, Xu Yan's eyes immediately went blank, entering a dazed state.
This time, Xu Yan obediently answered whatever Zhou Wuji asked.
As Fourth Rank Devil Cultivator, and a personal disciple of Xu Tianming, even having his surname given to him by Xu Tianming, Xu Yan held his master in exceptional respect and loyalty.
For this reason, Xu Tianming trusted Xu Yan very much and did not hide many things from Xu Yan.
Xu Tianming did indeed collude with the barbarian leaders, but the matter has now been taken over by the Yin Yang Dao Sect Master.
Xu Yan's cultivation level didn't know what the sect leader looked like; he only knew that the sect leader's name was Yu Shenyou and that he was the strongest expert in the world.
Some time ago, Xu Tianming colluded with Wang Zhenyuan, and he changed his strategy, providing Wang Zhenyuan with a lot of information about the barbarians.
Therefore, Wang Zhenyuan won many battles during this period, just as Xie Lingyun had guessed.
Xu Yan didn't know what Xu Tianming was really thinking.
Zhou Wuji asked for some more details before activating the Heavenly Puppet Technique to make Xu Yan faint.
After thinking for a while, he decided to keep Xu Yan for now, since this person could lure Xu Tianming over.
Xu Tianming has allied with the barbarians on the outside, befriended Wang Zhenyuan on the inside, and has also set his sights on Xie Lingyun. This man is a big problem.
However, his Third Rank Army-Breaking Sword was only barely at the minor level of mastery. He might be able to kill Xu Tianming with the Northern Emperor's Book of Heavenly Punishment, but it would be too dangerous. If he failed in one strike, it would be difficult for Xu Tianming to escape.
After weighing the options, Zhou Wuji continued to use the Rejuvenation Spirit Technique to heal Xu Yan's injuries.
Xu Yan was already highly skilled, and the fall only caused shock to his internal organs. His real injury was actually to the back of his neck, where the Yin Thunder had carbonized a piece of his flesh.
Zhou Wuji helped tidy up, then activated the Heavenly Puppet to control Xu Yan and climb the tree, and erased some of Xu Yan's memories.
Standing on the tree, Xu Yan felt a moment of disorientation, and then suddenly woke up.
He looked around and found nothing amiss, so he gradually relaxed.
Zhou Wuji remained watching from the sidelines, silently manipulating the Heavenly Puppet to guide Xu Yan's spirit and prevent him from overthinking.
Xu Yan was, after all, Fourth Rank Devil Cultivator with keen senses. Once he came to his senses, he should be able to detect the abnormality within himself.
Left with no other option, Zhou Wuji could only follow Xu Yan, continuously manipulating the Heavenly Puppet Technique to guide Xu Yan's spirituality.
Xu Yan didn't leave until dawn was almost breaking.
Zhou Wuji did not follow. He implanted Heavenly Puppet into Xu Yan's body, which allowed him to sense Heavenly Puppet Xu Yan's location even from a thousand miles away.
As arranged by Xu Tianming, Xu Yan would come to observe the battle formation of the military camp and spy on Xie Lingyun's whereabouts during this period.
Xu Yan won't go far for a while.
The only worry is that Xu Tianming will notice something is wrong.
Fortunately, Xu Tianming's whereabouts are uncertain, and he doesn't stay with Xu Yan. For the time being, he shouldn't be exposed.
Zhou Wuji went back and told Xie Lingyun not to leave the military camp.
That very evening, Zhou Wuji rode the Vanishing Shadow Yin Dragon Steed to Jingyang.
To kill Xu Tianming, it's more reliable to call in a helper.
With True Person Zhihua's abilities, he should be able to deal with a Third Rank Devil Cultivator, right?!
If True Person Zhihua wasn't confident, he would call on Zhiyun again; they had to kill this Third Rank Devil Cultivator no matter what.
This is not only for Xie Lingyun, but also for himself.