Chapter 1269: An Ambush on the Way Back

"What couldn't you see at all? That these girls are natural beauties?" The Great Sage crouched like a thug, his hands draped over his knees. His bright eyes sparkled with fire as he scratched his head. "No way! You studied my Fiery Eyes of Truth to around thirty percent proficiency. If you can't even tell that, you're really dragging my technique's name through the mud."

For some reason, Ye Zichen felt a surge of regret. Why did he lead the Great Sage around the Modern Realm? That was when he'd cultivated all these bad habits. What did they do back then? They crouched on the street and admired the passing girls.

"I'm not talking about them! I'm talking about the demons." Ye Zichen sighed. "I used my Fiery Eyes of Truth on them, but couldn't see any traces of demonic energy about them."

"It might be because you haven't practiced enough." The Great Sage fished a secret tome out of who-knows-where and placed it in Ye Zichen's hand. "We're brothers, so here: this contains the rest of the Fiery Eyes of Truth technique."

The Fiery Eyes of Truth were the Great Sage's specialty. For him to give it to Ye Zichen without hesitation proved just how deep their friendship was.

Ye Zichen pounded him on the shoulder, and the Great Sage grinned back. However, at that moment, Murong Xue and the others came back....

"Monkey." Murong Xue grinned gleefully. The Great Sage looked at her, stricken, as if he still felt lingering terror.

He instinctively scooched towards Ye Zichen. He didn't want any more contact with Murong Xue than absolutely necessary.

Even the Great Sage was scared! This was the first time Ye Zichen ever saw such a thing.

"What are you running away from? It's not like I'm going to eat you." Murong Xue scrunched up her lips and said irritably. "How pitiful. Fine, fine, don't be afraid. Later, when you want me to come looking for you, I won't."

Next, her gaze fell on Wei Jie and the others. Everyone from Upheaval was gathered together, and they felt there was something off about the situation. They looked up, only to see Murong Xue grinning as she walked right up to them.

"You must be Platoon Leader Ye's friends."

Platoon Leader Ye?

Wei Jie gaped in astonishment, but quickly understood that this "Platoon Leader Ye" she was talking about had to be Ye Zichen. After a moment's hesitation, he nodded.

Murong Xue chuckled, then drew in and said mysteriously, "I heard Platoon Leader Ye has a faction of his own down in the Lower Lands. Which one is it?"

So that's what this was about!

Even after all this long, Murong Xue's thirst for gossip hadn't extinguished!

When she asked about their faction, Wei Jie and the others' eyes lit up with pride. "We're from up...."

"Up what?" Ye Zichen covered Wei Jie's mouth and glared at him. "We're nothing but a minor power beneath the Upheaval Gang. What else is there to say?"

Next, he turned to Murong Xue and said, "To tell the truth, we're just subordinates of Upheaval. Don't blame me; Upheaval is just too powerful down in the Lower Lands. We had no choice but to join up to save our own necks. I didn't tell you otherwise because you seem to have a grudge against Upheaval. I was afraid you might bear a grudge against my humble faction too, so I didn't say anything."

"See? I told you guys!" Murong Xue immediately turned to the Dai Sisters and Xue Mo and laughed. Next, she held out her hands.

Before long, each of the Golden Flowers, as well as Xue Mo, took two bags of gold coins from their pockets, then bitterly tossed them into Murong Xue's expectant hands.

No wonder!

No wonder Murong Xue and the others kept badgering him! So they had a bet!

Murong Xue laughed victoriously. Ye Zichen seized this opportunity to glare at Wei Jie and the others.

If he hadn't reacted fast enough, they would've been exposed.

Wei Jie and others understood. They realized that they'd almost made a huge mistake.

Suddenly, the speedy flying vessel slowed to a crawl.

Everyone glanced at Jiang Yong, and saw that Pan Sheng was beside him, drawing up the beginnings of a spiritual formation.

Murong Glanced at them, then asked, "What is it?"

"It looks like there's something up ahead." Jiang Yong's gaze was fixed up ahead. Ye Zichen walked up to take a look, but didn't see anything out of the ordinary.

"Great Sage." He called out. The Great Sage appeared beside him in a streak of golden light.

A few breaths later, the Great Sage's pupils violently constricted and he roared, "Retreat!"

Jiang Yong didn't doubt him. He immediately steered the ship backwards. Before long, countless figures appeared in the ship's former location. Behind them was a patch of chaotic space a full thousand feet across. Inside it sat what looked like a person.

"Are they demons?" Ye Zichen's Fiery Eyes of Truth weren't enough to see through the attackers' identities, but for them to launch an ambush now of all times meant there was at least an eighty percent chance they were demons.

As expected, as soon as Ye Zichen asked, the Great Sage nodded gravely.

The atmosphere onboard chilled. For the demons to fly meant they had a definite master over heaven and earth; they had to be at least seventh stage sky supremes.

Furthermore, it looked like there were at least forty of them. Meanwhile, the flying ship only had eight experts at that level.

"They're close. If they fly at top speeds, they'll get here in less than ten minutes." Jiang Yong furrowed his brows. At that moment, their rapidly-retreated vessel bumped into something. Everyone looked around, but didn't see anything behind them.

"Pan Sheng." Jiang Yong looked at Pan Sheng, who reached out and touched whatever it was, then shook his head.

"You can't break it?" asked Jiang Yong.

"I can break it, but I'd need a long time to analyze the formation's structure first, as well as find where the eyes of the formation are located. By the time I figure all that out, the demons will have reached us." Pan Sheng responded gravely.

The others' expressions were unsightly. Xue Mo asked, "Then should we just charge our way in?"

"I'm afraid that won't be possible." Pan Sheng was a formations master. He wanted to give everyone hope, but as a professional, he had to give them the truth, even if it wasn't what they wanted to hear. "There's no way this formation will just block one direction. We're most likely trapped on all sides with no way out."

"Our only hope is to find whoever placed this formation and kill them, or at least, find out where they placed the eyes of the formation, then broke those. That's our only way out of this!"