The area that had originally started to bustle with excitement had quieted down in an instant, the tension in the air was so thick that it was suffocating. Four separate groups all faced each other, all of them aiming for the same reward, all of them willing to do whatever it took to be the one to acquire it. And while they may not know it, Yao Jun was aware of the fact that this was only the start.
Little Gray had spent several days spreading the news, and each new person that was taken over by the Human God Gate would spread the information out to more people. It would inevitably spread out like a branching web that ran out of control, Yao Jun couldn't even guess at the number of people who knew about it by now.
More and more people would gather here as time passed, each and every one of them drawn in by the chance to ascend to greater heights. And as more people gathered, things would only get tenser. All it would take to create a great explosion was a single spark, a single person who got impatient.
But Yao Jun wasn't so foolish as to believe his plan to be infallible, he knew that it actually had a glaring fault, at least when it came to their actual goal. He had a card up his sleeve if things went in the worst direction, but if he could avoid having to use it then that would be for the best. But sadly for Yao Jun, it seemed like his general bad luck since entering this major universe was hellbent on continuing, or perhaps there just wasn't enough firewood on the pyre to make it burst yet.
"Heh, figures that my luck would be so bad that others would actually be eyeing us all along. Well, you've all come for the treasure, but tell me, how do you intend to open the array? Who among you has the knowledge to pry it open?"
The sneering voice came from Mao Tangye, she was the one who had been here originally so it was understandable that she was rather annoyed when others came to snatch away the treasure she had worked so hard for. But of course, she still had this main ace up her sleeve, she simply refused to believe that the others had her level of knowledge about this lake. Of course, the knowledge she had was superficial at best, but that still elevated it above the others.
And sure enough, the expressions of the three other group leaders faltered for a short second as Mao Tangye sneered at them. Each of the three other leaders turned towards one of the members in their group, the person who happened to be the weakest. These were the people that Little Gray had taken over using his God Gate, they had been brought along as guides.
As the ones who spread the information, it was only natural that they were being turned towards for information now. But since Little Gray didn't actually know anything about the array, it was only natural that the people he had taken over didn't know anything either. Faced with the somewhat awkward expressions of the mind-controlled people, the three leaders were clearly more than just a bit angered.
Two of the newcomers simply left it at fierce glares when they realized that their guide didn't know anything about the array, they knew that they couldn't be too angry since they had rushed here so quickly without asking. But the black-haired man covered in feather-like tattoos clearly didn't share their mindset, his arm reaching out and clasping onto the mind-controlled woman's head, squashing it like an overripe melon before he snorted coldly.
"Hmph, can't even gather and share information properly, how useless."
Fog-like darkness extended from the man's outstretched arm and surrounded the woman's body, her flesh and bones sizzling and evaporating to become part of the fog before it receded back into the black-haired man. He acted swiftly and brutally, seemingly not giving it a lot of thought and simply acting on emotion. In that regard, he was quite well suited to the Divine Beast aura he was emitting.
"So what if This King doesn't know the exact way of breaking the array, huh? This King can just copy what you did and send all those captives onto the altar, if one isn't enough then maybe it'll work if This King sends them all. And if even that fails, then This King can just crush you and force you to spill the beans, plenty of ways to go about this."
The man, Chengong Ao, once again didn't bother to show the slightest bit of cordially as he grinned fearlessly at Mao Tangye, his crimson eyes flashing with a ferocious glint. But Mao Tangye didn't even flinch in front of his glare, her amber eyes flashing with a light so sinister it could match his ferocity.
"Hah, if you think I'll spit out a single word then you're completely wrong. I'd rather choke out every single one of my members than allow anyone of us to tell you a damn thing. So how about you use that tiny brain of yours and think about the situation a bit, or do you really want to fight right now?"
The two others were more than happy to just stand by and watch as Mao Tangye and Chengong Ao spat vicious words at each other. If they really did end up fighting then it would just remove two competitors straight away, it would save them a fair bit of trouble in the long run. But sadly for them, you didn't reach the Sovereign God realm by being an idiot. Chengong Ao glanced down at the lake, sweeping the entire area with a quick look before his gaze settled on Mao Tangye again.
"Don't take This King for a fool, I know full well that you haven't broken the array yet because you yourself aren't completely certain about how to do it. Now that we've arrived, This King assumes that your idea is to have us all work together to open the array. But please don't try to spout any drivel about properly sharing the loot, it will all belong to This King, whether you agree to it or not."
Chengong Ao had only just revealed himself, Yao Jun at least hadn't seen him arrive so he could only assume he had been here for a short while already. But whatever the case was, it was clear that he wasn't ignorant about what Mao Tangye had been doing here, he at least knew about her using the captives in an attempt to pry open the array. Mao Tangye nodded slightly at Chengong Ao's words, at least he wasn't a complete fool. She then turned her gaze onto the last two intruders, her voice practically dripping with venomous annoyance.
"Well, what about you two? Would you like to help me crack open the array or do you want to gracefully show off your lack of brain cells by having a nice big fight straight away. But don't worry, I won't say any more about sharing, we can argue amongst each other who gets the treasure after we've managed to actually open the array."
The brown-eyed and green-haired Kuanyin Shen shared a look with the rainbow-haired and crimson-eyed Ya Rong. The two sized each other up before moving their gazes and sizing up the two other groups, calculating the power that each of them wielded. Whatever answer they came up with, both of them eventually revealed thin smiles.
"Of course we'll help, not like anyone here can get the treasure before we break open the array."
"Indeed, we might even be able to open the seal faster by working together. How about we pour in a bit of our own power while making the next attempt, it might produce a neat response. What do you think, Mao Tangye, you were the first one to discover it so surely you want this honour, no?"
The one who brought forward the suggestion was Ya Rong, her rainbow-coloured hair fluttering softly in the breeze. But Mao Tangye simply smiled quietly in return, she would have to be an idiot if she willingly stepped forward as the first one to mess with an array as ancient as this one. The four groups managed to secure their temporary alliance without much trouble, Zhuan Yi's expression sinking quite drastically since she knew what his meant for her kin.
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"...What do you think, will the same tactic work again?"
She couldn't help but glance sideways at the lake, slight worry surfacing in her pupils. They had managed to buy four days with the trick they pulled earlier, if they could keep doing that a few times then the opponents would definitely become impatient. And if not, then they might actually be able to rescue all the kinsmen by just repeating that tactic. But her hesitant voice betrayed how low her expectations were, and Yao Jun only affirmed her assumption.
"I don't know, and I won't find out. Sending him out with just one of them present was risky enough, there is no way that I'll do it now that three more have arrived, especially when one of them seems to use the law of darkness."
The first time Ba-Shei had gone out, Yao Jun had only sent him because the risk was within acceptable terms and he had decided to trust his companions more. But this went beyond anything trust could support, sending out Ba-Shei to snatch another body as it was stabbed would be the same as sending Ba-Shei to his death. Zhuan Yi was fully aware of this, and that was why her expression sank heavily, now it was likely up to her to come up with something. But while she was wracking her brain, Yao Jun turned to look at Little Gray.
"If I help you refill your lost energy, how quickly do you think you can get back to the Thousand Arms Master's tomb? Same for the return trip, how long do you think you will need?"
The Thousand Arms Master said that there was no need to return if things went badly, but Yao Jun felt that he probably wouldn't say anything against it since things technically hadn't gone completely bad yet. Little Gray scrunched up his brows as he thought it over, not even bothering to ask what Yao Jun was planning.
"If we just restore my energy then I can make it in about two days, two days for each way that is. But if we can also restore my mental exhaustion then I can do it in one day each way, maybe less if I push it."
For Little Gray, teleporting through space was something done quite simply, he just needed the energy to carve open a spatial tunnel towards the general area. But if he connected his mind with the surrounding space, he could not only teleport with more pinpoint accuracy but also extend his senses further to increase his range by relying on the innate power contained in the space.
Of course, teleporting like this was quite taxing on the mind, it required you to not only stretch out your senses but remain perfectly focused on your target as you performed the actual teleportation. And Little Gray had already been teleporting and fighting for quite a while, it was only to be expected that he would be exhausted now. But his answer clearly within Yao Jun's expectations, or at least an acceptable range.
"Good. Drink up and prepare to head out."
Yao Jun didn't give anyone time to react as he spoke. He had already drawn his wrist across the blade of the glaive that was strapped to his back by the time he finished his words. Blood gushed out from his slit wrist, but his eyebrows didn't even twitch as he held his arm towards Little Gray. Sirius and the others immediately jumped, but Yao Jun simply waved his other arm to make them calm down, his expression not wavering in the slightest.
"Quiet down. Restoring your energy is easy enough with the pills we've acquired so far, but restoring mental fatigue is much harder. I'm a body cultivator so every inch of my body is filled with abundant life force, I can also infuse my Anima Essence into the blood, it's the fastest way to refresh your mind. Drink up."
Mental fatigue wasn't extremely common in cultivators, it was after all only the grandest of laws that required the most pinpoint accuracy to prevent undesired accidents. As such, pills to restore this type of fatigue was most commonly found on soul cultivators, who weren't exactly widespread to begin with. The later stages of soul cultivation were very powerful, but they were weak in the early stages so it was hard to reach the later stages due to how violent and competitive the cultivation world was.
Little Gray looked at Yao Jun's bleeding wrist with clear hesitation, but Yao Jun's unwavering gaze made it clear that he had no intention of pulling back his arm if Little Gray didn't listen. So he twisted his mouth in slight discomfort and took out three of the Qi restoring pills he carried, stuffing them into his mouth. He then placed his lips against Yao Jun's wrist and used the gushing blood to wash down the pills.
Yao Jun hadn't been joking, his blood really was filled with life force. In fact, since his body cultivation technique relied on the blood of others, his blood was filled with far more life force than normal body cultivators. Mixed with the Anima Essence he pushed out with the blood, Little Gray felt like he was drinking ice-cold spring water that instantly woke up his mind.
His bestial instincts inevitably reared their head, they wanted to keep drinking this blood since it would be beneficial to him. But all it took for him to push down those instincts was a single look into Yao Jun's eyes, which were filled nothing but trust and care. He grit his teeth, accidentally biting down on Yao Jun's already bleeding wrist. A bit more blood gushed out as a result, Little Gray hurriedly pulling his head back.
"I'm done, that's enough. Now please, heal that wound."
Yao Jun raised his hands as if to signal his defeat, his life force gathering in his wrist and drastically speeding up the natural regeneration of the wound. He lowered his arms again as his bleeding stopped, tossing Little Gray one of the many communication treasures they had snatched from the various interspatial rings they had picked up.
"Go, get the Thousand Arms Master to hand over the way to open the array, just say that we can most likely avoid the unnatural extinction if we do so. You can use this to contact me if the way to open the array isn't an item but a special technique, or if something else comes up."
Little Gray caught the apple-sized blue orb and nodded his head gravely, the blood that was gathering in his stomach and radiating waves of refreshing life force felt incredibly heavy on his mind. He put away the orb and immediately got to work, space around him twisting violently as he aimed to teleport further than he ever had before.
He vanished into the folding space, Yao Jun simply turning away and focusing on the four groups that were eyeing each other. None of them wanted to be the first that got close to the array and tried to help pry it open, no treasure was worth losing your life. He was focused on observing the situation, but Zhuan Yi glanced sideways at him, her expression shifting unstably due to the conflicting emotions she was feeling.
"You're planning on opening the array so that they'll start arguing over who gets it, right? That way they won't have a reason to sacrifice more of my kin and will probably lose interest in them, no?"
Her guess was quite spot on, the only thing keeping the four groups in front of them from tearing at each other was the fact that none of them was confident that they could open the array. For the moment they could go with the idea that the first person there had, and if that didn't work in the end then they could start trying other things. It wasn't an entirely terrible idea to open the seal, but there was one rather glaring problem with it.
"What if one of them manages to snatch the treasure?"
Yes, Zhuan Yi's question stabbed right at the biggest problem with the plan. There was no guarantee that one of the parties wouldn't just be successful in snatching the treasure and escaping. If that happened then everything would have been for nought. At least for Yao Jun, who was here to get the treasure, Zhuan Yi wouldn't really lose a single thing. Yao Jun had definitely thought about this possibility, but he didn't even look sideways at Zhuan Yi as he gave his casual answer.
"Then that'll be my problem, not yours."
It wasn't really an answer at all, at best it could be considered deflecting the question. It was an answer that left Zhuan Yi completely dumbfounded, her head tilting as she looked at him. But Yao Jun didn't pay attention to her gaze at all, even as the minutes passed and she continuously failed to gather herself.
But then, just as the first hours passed and Zhuan Yi had returned to taking care of the man they had rescued earlier, a change happened by the lake. None of the four groups had made a move yet, they weren't exactly rushed since they were among the top competitors in this competition. They were fine with waiting and observing for a bit, it wouldn't be too late to make a move after they made some quiet plans.
But as the four groups were silently making their own plans, space on the wide end of the lake vibrated softly. A ripple passed through a small section of space there, the grass touched by the ripple withering while the earth dried out. And as the ripple extended a few metres outward, two people appeared in its centre, Yao Jun's pupils contracting violently.
The group of two consisted of a man and a woman, the woman being someone that Yao Jun had never seen before. She had short green hair and deep red eyes, her mouth curved up as if she was hearing a joke, she gave off a very carefree air. But the man that walked at her side was someone that Yao Jun was very familiar with. A delicate frame, long silver hair that flowed down his back, yellow eyes that contained undeniable dignity, and an aura that seemed to merge with his surroundings. The news about the treasure had spread far, and now Zang Jue Qin and Lang Tian Kong had come to get a piece of the spoils.