The Prince Can Do Divination

Chapter 235 - 176: Jiao of the Canyon and Great Marsh, Fourth Avatar, Taiping Taoist

"Lu Guangjing has the methods and Divine Techniques I bestowed upon him, so self-preservation won’t be an issue. The Demon Race wants to sweep away the Human Race’s experts before the Three Ancestors of the Three Religions arrive; they will surely resort to encirclement. The various Dynasties are still weak and isolated, so the strategy must be one of delay. According to the Confucian Family’s divination with the Yi Jing, the breakthrough point will be in the borderlands. However, the Demon Race has eyes and ears in all ten directions, north and south. The Taoist Sect can definitely predict that..."

Lu Yunhuang gazed at the Thousand-Mile Rivers and Mountains Map before him. Countless points of light appeared on it, extinguishing one by one, until finally locking onto a single origin point.

"So the best point of survival is..."

"What a coincidence. We’re right at the intersection of two points of survival."

With the divination complete, Lu Yunhuang studied the results, conflicted. "Sir, which one is it?"

Xun Yu’s voice was contemplative. "No rush. Both are possible. Let’s wait and see how things develop. Knowing Lu Guangjing, he will most likely choose the Pearl White Gauze Islands in the end. In that case, we’ll just head to the other location."

"Can’t we just sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight?"

Lu Yunhuang asked, puzzled.

Xun Yu scoffed. "If all you know is how to ’sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight,’ you’ll just let the chance for survival slip away. The greatest prize on this journey is escape. There’s a time and place for scheming. Sometimes, doing nothing is a victory in itself. Forcing a confrontation is worse than taking no action."

Lu Yunhuang thought for a moment before asking, "Sir, what is your stance on Prince Jin? Will you help him?"

Xun Yu replied flatly, "I will, but his ambition has always been great. He wants to escape my shadow and is eager to build his own faction. His wings are growing stronger. A Confucian Temple Imperial Censor paid a visit and he didn’t report it to me. The fact that he could still emerge unscathed means he must have made some deal with the Confucian Temple. From here on, his fate is his own to make."

...

「At this very moment.」

The great battle in Yingsha Ancient City was still raging.

In the void, the bull skull in the Hundred-Eyed Demon Monarch’s palm emitted a faint, ghostly light from its empty eye sockets.

A Great Demon beside him asked, "What did the Revered One say?"

The Hundred-Eyed Demon Monarch’s brow furrowed slightly. "The Revered One just sent word. The Human Race has begun setting up a Teleportation Array. The destination is the Pearl White Sand Islands."

The Great Demon breathed a sigh of relief. "Just as the Revered One predicted, the Human Race is bound to retreat. We can message the Purple Lightning Bat Lord and have him intercept them. We should also dispatch troops to block their path immediately. The Human Race Cultivators resisting us right now might just be a diversion."

"Hold on!"

The Hundred-Eyed Demon Monarch stopped him, his voice grave. "The armies deployed by the various clans are to hold their positions. There’s no need to send special reinforcements."

Confusion flickered across the face of the Tiger Clan Great Demon, whose eyes glowed with a bloody light. "What if they escape? You know how it is—the Magical Treasures in the hands of those human experts are astonishingly powerful. An ordinary Demon King can’t stop them."

"But what if this is a human diversion?" the Hundred-Eyed Demon Monarch said in a low voice. "Don’t they know their every move in this Little World is under our observation? Perhaps they intend to go somewhere else and are using the ’lure the tiger away from the mountain’ stratagem."

"Hundred-Eyed Demon Monarch, do you dare to gamble?" the Tiger Clan Great Demon snorted.

"The Human Race has always been cunning. What if they’re betting that we wouldn’t dare to gather our armies and strike a single point? Is that a responsibility you can bear?"

"At worst, we split our forces and go, but we absolutely cannot afford not to go."

If the Human Race Cultivators deliberately leaked the news about heading to the Pearl White Gauze Islands, betting that the Demon Race wouldn’t go and would hold their forces back, wouldn’t that be giving them exactly what they want?

"Fine, fine. Take the army and go."

The Hundred-Eyed Demon Monarch thought for a moment, then stopped arguing. With a wave of his hand, he let the other have his way.

「An Hour passed.」

News quickly returned.

"The Purple Lightning Bat Lord says Human Race Cultivators have appeared at the Pearl White Sand Islands! Why aren’t we quickly surrounding the human army!"

"If we wait any longer, the Striped Tiger Monarch will snatch all the credit!"

"So they really were pulling an empty fort gambit! We almost fell for their trick!"

Hearing this, the Hundred-Eyed Demon Monarch frowned and thought to himself, ’They really did go to the Pearl White Gauze Islands? Were they so sure we wouldn’t intercept them?’

If so, it meant the Human Race Cultivators had seen right through him.

...

「Meanwhile.」

「Great Wilderness Tomb Canyon.」

Swamps covered the land, and the air was humid. Jagged, monstrous stone mountains stood on both sides of the canyon. A marshy river flowed through it, carving out numerous caves.

Lu Mingyuan and his group waited in place, watching as a Daoist from the Thunder Pool Daoist Academy held a string of ancient-looking copper bells high. The Daoist repeatedly crossed the river downstream, striding back and forth to prevent any Demon Charms from hiding in the shadows and launching a sneak attack.

He watched this interesting scene unfold, a spark of fascination in his eyes.

Elder Sui, along with the other Nascent Soul Masters and Great Cultivators of the Taoist Sect, had finalized the plan.

First, they would teleport a group of Daoist Academy Cultivators to the Pearl White Gauze Islands. The Demon Race, knowing it was a trick, would certainly not go there right away.

Using this window of time, they could set up another Teleportation Array.

Once they had caused a big enough commotion, the Demon Race would realize they had been deceived.

They would definitely not let it go and would be sure to send a large army after them.

At that point, the Human Race Cultivators could proceed to the Great Wilderness Tomb Canyon. The plan would be foolproof, leaving the enemy exhausted from running around.

The other powerful Cultivators would follow shortly after, while the rest remained in Yingsha Ancient City to delay the Great Demons.

’What Lu Mingyuan was truly curious about was, couldn’t the Demon Race also use Teleportation Arrays and Divine Techniques that tear open space?’

Sui Yuqing’s explanation was that the Demon Race was not skilled at setting up Arrays; this was a specialty of the Taoist Sect.

Furthermore, Qingwei Daojun from the Thunder Pool Daoist Academy had brought an Innate Treasure, the Feather Transformation Array Map. It could block all spatial perception in the surrounding area. Any Great Demon who tore open space to find this location would, under the Feather Transformation Array Map’s shielding, only be teleported somewhere else.

Thus, Lu Mingyuan’s plan had been perfectly executed, buying them enough time.