Immortal Road.

"Master Lin, have you finally come to your senses and decided to make a move against You Meiji?"

The Venerable Burning Fire, Chi Hong, was extremely excited.

He had wanted to get rid of that bitch You Meiji for a long time, but Lin Shan had always disagreed, so he had no choice but to give in.

Now that the opportunity has finally arrived, I'm eager to try!
"Stop thinking about fighting and killing all the time."

Lin Shan glanced back casually and saw that everyone had come out one after another, except for the old ghost of the scattered demon and the water demon of the Qinghe River.

"The three of them, Protector Feng, are plotting all day long, excluding us. Do you think they might be hiding something from us?"

"There must be!"

"So, besides those three, who else is most likely to know the inside story?"

"Hmm, Youmeiji?"

Chi Hong reacted quickly and soon guessed the answer, then understood Lin Shan's intention.

"You mean, Youmeiji might also be involved in this from the shadows!"

"Don't forget, all entrances and exits to and from Blackwater Cliff are now blocked, even the spatial passages are sealed off. What if we are defeated?"

This was actually what they had been worried about all along. The reason why Yuming Divine Lord, Hanhai Demon Lord, and Jian Guhan had been following him was because they felt that Lin Shan must have a solution.

"Leader Lin, you tell us what to do, and we'll do it!"

Behind their small group of five, there were seven or eight Nascent Soul stage cultivators staring at each other, confused and bewildered, but they just followed him no matter what.

Most of these people had died in battle once before, and later sent a second Yuan Nian incarnation. They were unwilling to lose their sunk costs and gritted their teeth to come back again. Who would have thought they would end up in such a state?
Now everyone is afraid of being betrayed, feeling that they can't trust anyone, and they don't want to follow that madman, the Old Demon, into battle to their deaths. Instead, they prefer to stay in the rear and fish in the water with that troublemaker, the Seeking Ancient Cult Leader.

Judging from his nonchalant attitude all day, he might have a way to get out unscathed.

Their reasoning was not without merit. After all, the leader of the Ancient Search Sect carried a Heaven-Reaching Spiritual Treasure with him. Losing it would be even more painful than losing a Yuan Nian Incarnation. Therefore, the other party must have a backup plan!

Lin Shan didn't care if they followed him; he figured they could just pretend to be there and use them as cannon fodder.

After everyone had left, Youmeiji appeared from the corner.

She coldly stared at the group of Nascent Soul stage cultivators, her eyes deep and serene, before turning and disappearing through a stone gate.

Two days have passed in the blink of an eye, and the battle continues.

The Annihilation Avatar followed the Immortal Envoy's camp, advancing triumphantly and causing the Black Lotus Sect to suffer repeated defeats!

No matter how brave and fierce the old demon and his men were, they were still overwhelmed by their numerical advantage and could only harass them by constantly using the terrain.

The major holy sites were not in a hurry to advance, but instead proceeded steadily and cautiously, with the army leading the way and the formation masters stabilizing the situation from behind, gradually infiltrating into the various passages.

The Black Lotus Cult disciples were wiped out in groups. The Immortal Envoy camp refused to surrender and kept in mind the instructions left by the Pure Lotus Hermit, determined to eradicate the cult's evil tumor!

During this period, one tough battle after another unfolded. The seventh-order ice domain was indeed powerful. Cultivators of the same level in the Immortal Envoy camp basically had to stick together, otherwise they would perish if they were caught off guard by a sneak attack!
Because of his increased prestige in recent days and the appreciation of the Holy Lord of Vastness, the Annihilation Avatar was also assigned a large army, and was accompanied by five Nascent Soul stage cultivators.

With more men under his command, he became more confident and even repelled an attack by the old demon!
While the major battlefronts were raging, a clandestine drama was unfolding in the rear.

"Senior Chihong, this is the place."

Following Lin Shan's instructions, Jian Guhan and Chi Hong secretly followed You Meiji. They wandered through narrow, winding paths, almost getting led astray, but eventually managed to find their way back.

In front of them was a small hole that could only fit a child's height; it could hardly be called a dog hole.

"Are you sure that Youmeiji was just here?"

“That’s right. She’s been here a few times recently, and it seems she’s secretly making some arrangements.”

Despite his low cultivation level, Jian Guhan is bold, meticulous, and low-key, which makes him relatively unnoticed.

Flames flickered in Chi Hong's eyes as he probed the surroundings with his unique technique, and tiny enchantments began to appear.

"They have quite a few methods, but none of them are very effective."

In the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, these restrictions were temporarily rendered ineffective.

The two sneaked in and discovered that it was a hidden world inside. They walked in the dark for several dozen steps and came to a courtyard with a skylight.

Beneath my feet is a complex inscribed magic array, surrounded by shimmering, multicolored stones, and some stone bowls filled with fresh liquid.

Looking up, I saw a straight passage that seemed to pierce through the void from inside the mountain!

Outside, lightning flashed and thunder roared, torrents surged, and powerful spatial storms raged, causing even a Nascent Soul stage cultivator like Chi Hong to hesitate.

"This is."

Jian Guhan and Chi Hong both thought of the same word.

"An escape route!"

The Black Lotus Sect did indeed have a back door; they couldn't just foolishly wait to die at Blackwater Cliff. Now, with a large army pressing in from the outside and them surrounded on all sides, territory was being lost every day, and defeat was inevitable. The spatial passages were all blocked, so this was the only way out!
But the words came back again.

Does Youmei have the ability to forcibly open a void passage even when the Celestial Envoy camp has completely sealed off space?

"It was probably not her doing; it was a retreat plan that the Black Lotus Cult had prepared long before the war even started."

Chi Hong joined the Black Lotus Cult halfway through his life and didn't know much about the inside story. Now he realizes that he has indeed been excluded all along!

"There is a spatial storm here. It is probably the wind gap where the spatial node of this world meets the outer void. Without specific navigation coordinates and external support, even a Nascent Soul stage cultivator would not survive if he went in."

"Then let's hurry back and tell Leader Lin!"

Jian Guhan and he hit it off immediately. The two did not dare to linger, as they would be discovered if they were away from the battlefield for too long, so they hurriedly left the place.

Little did they know that they had already encountered Protector Feng's questioning in front of Lin Shan at the front line.

"Master Lin, where are Chi Hong and that brat Jian Guhan?"

"how could I know?"

Lin Shan looked completely bewildered and casually brushed it off.

Protector Feng wore a suspicious expression:

"Those two are always hanging around you, practically inseparable. How could you not know where they go?"

"Then you've come to the wrong person! Besides, isn't Chi Hong your Black Lotus Sect's protector? Why are you looking for me?"

Lin Shan was unyielding, and even Protector Feng was helpless against such a stubborn person. He turned away, deep in thought.

A short while later, Chi Hong and Jian Guhan quietly returned.

"Master Lin, we've found out."

After they explained the situation, Lin Shan frowned slightly.

From the Black Lotus Sect's perspective, leaving themselves an escape route is understandable; after all, nobody wants to die. However, from the Green Lotus Fairy's perspective, it doesn't make much sense!
The Azure Lotus Fairy wants to win this war, not care about the lives of these subordinates. Given the extremely dire situation, if she could exchange these few people for the lives of all the enemy, she would probably do it without hesitation!

Um? wrong.

Lin Shan's thoughts suddenly wandered. He set aside his own identity and stood in the position of the Azure Lotus Fairy, pondering how to reverse the tide of the battle.

The essence of this faction war was nothing more than annihilating the Immortal Envoy faction, after which the Black Lotus Sect faction would win a great victory, and everyone would move to the outer heavens to assist in the encirclement and killing of the patrolling Immortal Envoys!

Achieving this goal is difficult given our current disadvantages, but it's not entirely impossible.

If we say...
Blackwater Cliff was transformed into an unparalleled sinkhole, burying the entire army of the Immortal Envoys there. Then, a secret door was left for the Black Lotus Clan cultivators to escape. Finally, they moved to the outer edge of the sky to wipe out the Pure Lotus Hermit. In this way, they could turn the tables and perfectly achieve their original goal.

hiss~
Thinking of this, Lin Shan suddenly felt a chill run down his spine!
When Fairy Qinglian secretly told the old demon and the Qinghe River demon about their trump cards, even if it differed from their guesses, it was probably still pretty close!
This tactic is extremely vicious. In order to prevent leaks, some ignorant fools must be sacrificed as cannon fodder.

Without a doubt, the one who was abandoned was himself!

"Well done, that's a clever plan."

At this moment, the battle on the front line was fierce. With the support of the Ice and Snow Domain, the old demon was unstoppable. He once again charged in and out seven times, breaking through the entire Immortal Envoy camp. Then he turned around and led his men away in a dashing manner.

The Holy Lord Haoran was so angry he wanted to grind his teeth, and then ordered the entire army to advance.

"Chase."

"Master Lin! Master Lin!"

Chi Hong and his underlings hurriedly reminded him to retreat quickly. Everyone abandoned their positions and rushed to the rear. On the way back, Lin Shan told them his guess.

All four of them were utterly shocked!

Because if we follow this logic, it does indeed match everything we see, and it is also the only chance for Fairy Qinglian to win this battle.

"Do you think it's possible that Fairy Qinglian foresaw this day as early as six months ago, and made arrangements long ago in her Blackwater Cliff lair, just waiting for the celestial envoys to lure them into a trap?"

This caused a moment of silence among everyone.

If that's the case, they've all underestimated the ruthlessness of the true immortals from the upper realm!
But guessing is one thing, figuring out how to break the deadlock is another!

It's now quite obvious that Fairy Qinglian treats the Old Demon Scattered and the Water Demon of Qinghe as her trusted confidants and reliance, while treating Lin Shan, this troublemaker, as cannon fodder and discarded pawn.

Along with all of them, no one can escape!
Jian Guhan was a nobody with little influence, but he still dared to put forward his ideas.

"What exactly is Fairy Qinglian's backup plan? How can she be so confident in killing so many powerful cultivators at the Divine Realm level in the Immortal Envoy camp? We must find out the answer to this question first!"

Chi Hong's face hardened. This guy was the most active among the underlings, and he immediately declared that it was best to strike first.

"How about I go and kidnap You Meiji right now, then confront Protector Feng and find out what really happened!"

Yuming Divine Lord and Hanhai Demon Lord also sensed the danger and said that they could not delay any longer.

"Yes, that old man Protector Feng is a spineless coward. As long as we use the pretext of spreading rumors, we can definitely force him to talk!"

"We also need to make him promise that he will take us with him when he leaves!"

They knew that although this was just speculation, if it were leaked and the opposing immortal envoys were prepared, it could very well ruin Fairy Qinglian's grand plan.

Therefore, Protector Feng will most likely compromise and dare not turn against them.

But all of this comes with a condition: Lin Shan has to take the lead. If he doesn't go to negotiate, no one else will dare to go against the Black Lotus Sect.

You might make a threat and be killed to silence you the next moment.

"You're oversimplifying things."

Unexpectedly, Lin Shan was unusually calm at this moment.

"If we had discovered this a few days earlier, we might have been able to use it as leverage, but now it's probably too late. Almost the entire Immortal Envoy camp has fallen into this trap. Protector Feng and his men can easily escape at any time; they're just waiting for the best opportunity and the greatest victory!"

"If we alert the enemy, they can easily close the net ahead of time. Although we won't achieve complete success, we can still deliver on our promise. So, we should just sacrifice a pawn!"

"You should know that when Fairy Qinglian sent a telepathic message to the old demon and the Qinghe River demon, the tone was already set: abandoned pawns could never be salvaged. If we want to survive, we must save ourselves."

Lin Shan had something on his mind that he didn't say.

The Azure Lotus Fairy had had enough of being blackmailed and decided to kick him out of the Black Lotus camp completely. She would settle accounts with his true form after she defeated the Pure Lotus Hermit!

So it's too late for them to come out now; they're too slow to realize what's happening!
Now that things have come to this, the die is cast. Even if Protector Feng agrees today, he will definitely go back on his word tomorrow.

"What should we do then? Threats don't work, so why not just rebel against them!"

Chi Hong made a startling statement, actually planning a rebellion.

"If the Black Lotus Sect can't tolerate us, then let's join the Immortal Envoy's camp, secretly tell them this news, and see how they react."

"No!"

At this point, Jian Guhan, Yuming Shenjun, and the Hanhai Demon Clan all voiced their opposition.

"As you know from the past six months of fighting, the Immortal Envoy camp has a reward mechanism for Earth Spirit Pills and will not accept surrender. In their eyes, any of us who come here can be exchanged for cultivation resources, not to mention the recently established Ancient Annihilation Alliance."

As they said this, they lowered their voices slightly and unconsciously glanced at Lin Shan.

The Ancient Annihilation Alliance has already been established, and they have long hated the Ancient Seeking Cult Leader to death. They have vowed to lead their troops to flatten Tianfu Mountain when they return. How could they possibly accept your surrender now?

"This won't work, that won't work, are we just going to wait here to die?!"

When Chi Hong's temper flared up, he felt his whole body burning and unbearably hot.

Lin Shan pondered for a moment, then turned and instructed them:

"Don't make any rash moves yet. Keep a close eye on You Meiji. If she tries to escape, we'll follow the trail and catch up with her."

"Now that they think we're being kept in the dark, that's exactly our opportunity!"

"Based on my estimation, we should be able to take action by tomorrow at the latest. We don't have much time left!"

After thinking it over, the group realized they had no better solution and had no choice but to reluctantly accept the proposed plan.

After they left, in less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the army of the immortal envoys swept in like a tidal wave and occupied the area.

At the same time, the Annihilation clone on the opposite side also received this news.

He was just about to tell the Holy Lord Haoran about this when he suddenly remembered something and stopped!
"Brother Silent Extinction, what's wrong?"

The Nascent Soul stage cultivators nearby gathered around and noticed his unusual behavior.

"nothing."

The Silent Avatar remained silent, revealing nothing even to Venerable Yushe and Lord Shouzhuo, and simply gave orders in a low voice.

"Our team will set up camp a bit further forward today to ensure we can break in as soon as possible tomorrow!" (End of Chapter)