Chapter 396: Difficulty, the Art of Seizing the Map

Translator: Minotauruz

Yu Wanrou had over twenty people in her faction, some of whom were in the Nascent Soul or even Immortal Ascension stage of cultivation. On the other hand, Jun Xiaomo only had five people in her faction. Seizing the map from right under Yu Wanrou’s nose was most certainly something out of the question. Even if they managed to succeed, the losses on their end would be incredible.

Thus, keeping in mind that a forceful approach would never yield the results that they desired, they were forced to turn to a battle of the wits.

That said, engaging in a “battle of the wits” was much easier said than done. In fact, this was particularly difficult for someone like Jun Xiaomo who had never thought of seizing something from the hands of someone else in two full lifetimes. In other words, the art of seizing was a concept almost completely foreign to her.

With that, Jun Xiaomo’s team of five continued to snoop around behind Yu Wanrou’s entourage, following them for more than ten days, yet they still couldn’t come up with any feasible plans to seize the map of the Arcane Realm from them. Not only that, Jun Xiaomo had personally witnessed Yu Wanrou’s personal flings and affairs on several occasions, and she felt completely embarrassed and speechless by Yu Wanrou’s brazen attitude.

The only silver lining was that Yu Wanrou and her men were most certainly making their way closer and closer to the heart of the Arcane Realm. Jun Xiaomo knew that even if they did not possess the map of the Arcane Realm, they would still be able to locate the heart of the Arcane Realm if they continued this way.

“Are we going to continue like this? Without the map of the Arcane Realm, we might not even be able to locate the heart of the formation array even if we can locate the heart of the Arcane Realm.” Jun Xiaomo muttered aloud in vexation.

Typically, the heart of the Arcane Realm would be surrounded by innumerable traps and complex formation arrays, and even someone adept at formation arrays like Jun Xiaomo might not find it so easy to breach its profound and complex defenses.

Most importantly, the Arcane Realm would only be open for a limited amount of time. If nobody seized control of the Arcane Realm after three full months, it would close up and vanish from the surface of the world.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea to carry on like this either. I wonder if Brother Rong has any ideas to deal with our current predicament?”

After pondering for a moment, Rong Ruihan quipped, “Why don’t we call Master back here to assist us?”

Rong Ruihan’s master was naturally Old Man Chi. Old Man Chi had left in another direction together with the team of elite Chi Clan members so that they could increase their search efficacy to begin with. Now that they had located the map of the Arcane Realm, recalling Old Man Chi to their present location was hardly any loss on their part either.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Jun Xiaomo furrowed her brows, “Even if we recall Old Man Chi and the rest of the Chi Clan members, we might not be able to obtain the map of the Arcane Realm. Yu Wanrou’s holding on to the map very tightly. Apart from retrieving and examining it for short periods of time at night, she would always stash it safely within her Interspatial Ring. If we attempted to seize it in a full-on confrontation, she might even choose to perish together with the map when all else fails. That would be highly undesirable. Besides, we’re only going to face more and more obstacles as we draw closer to the heart of the Arcane Realm. It wouldn’t be too late to recall Old Man Chi for his help later on.”

The sprightly old man rubbed his chin meaningfully on the side. After listening to the conversation between the juniors around him, an idea surfaced in his heart.

“I’ve thought of a method, but I fear that ye brats might not want to resort to it because it’s devious.” The sprightly old man blinked his eyes at the juniors around him as he remarked enigmatically.

Jun Xiaomo chuckled helplessly, “Master, speak your mind. Let’s see what the plan entails.”

The sprightly old man smacked his lips as he explained, “I imagine that there are quite a lot of people coveting the map to the Arcane Realm, right? What if we spread the news that Yu Wanrou has obtained the map to the Arcane Realm and muddy the waters even more?”

In other words, the sprightly old man was suggesting to fish in troubled waters.

Jun Xiaomo was taken aback for a moment. Then, somewhat helplessly, she rubbed her temples as she muttered, “That truly is a devious ploy.”

That said, it would most certainly be incredibly effective...

Jun Xiaomo did not immediately agree to the sprightly old man’s suggestion. After all, if Jun Linxuan ever learnt that she resorted to such devious ploys, he would most certainly give her a good rap on the head.

In fact, Jun Xiaomo simply couldn’t find it within herself to accept the old man’s devious plan. Notwithstanding the fact that she was the so-called “Lady Demoness” that was widely persecuted by the spiritual cultivation world, the truth of the matter was that she had never done anything which betrayed her conscience before, much less resort to such devious ploys to seize from someone else.

Just like that, they continued to follow closely and passively behind Yu Wanrou.

One fine day, as they were packing up and preparing to follow after Yu Wanrou and her entourage once more, they suddenly discovered a commotion ahead, almost as though someone had started a fight.

More accurately speaking, Yu Wanrou’s faction was unilaterally abusing another force that had happened to cross paths with them.

The head of the other force was a lady. As she fought, she also berated one of the men beside Yu Wanrou wearing brocaded garments, “Feng Wenyao, are you truly going to be so heartless?! How could you even steal the sagely treasure from our clan just because of this promiscuous woman?!”

Feng Wenyao flicked open his fan and glanced dispassionately at the lady as he retorted, “Us two are already a thing of the past. Right now, my heart belongs to Wanrou, so what does the sagely treasure of your clan have to do with me? Since the person I love is Wanrou, I’d naturally do all I can to obtain it for her.”

“Feng Wenyao! I knew you were a fickle-minded person, but I’d never thought you would stoop so low and be so heartless. Aren’t you afraid of retribution?!”

“Retribution? Hah. This world has always been the oyster of the strong. The stronger one is, the more access he naturally has to resources and treasures. You were unable to protect your clan’s sagely treasure because your clan was weak. Who else can you blame? To my mind, what I’ve done accords full well to the heavenly laws of the cultivation world.” Feng Wenyao explained matter-of-factly. One wouldn’t be able to tell at a glance he was once affectionately entangled with the lady berating him.

“You!!!” The lady was practically on the brink of tears when her clansmen stepped forward and consoled her, “Young mistress, don’t be sad. Even if we have to stake our lives on the line, we will do everything we can to seize back our clan’s sagely treasure today! So what if it costs us our lives?”

As the clansmen finished speaking, they immediately retrieved their weapons and charged straight towards Yu Wanrou’s faction.

Yu Wanrou smirked wryly as she took a few steps back and left the heat of the battlefield. At the same time, the other men around her immediately charged right in to join the fray.

From the look of things, this was the start of a bloody battle.

“What do ye think? Should we help them?” The old man asked with a glimmer in his eyes as he continued to gnaw on some seeds.

It was evident that he was finally itching for a fight after holding himself back for so many days on end.

Whilst they might be unable to defeat Yu Wanrou’s entire faction, it still wasn’t a bad thing to keep his muscles warm from time to time. After all, they could always escape if things took a turn for the worse against them. Jun Xiaomo had plenty of Invisibility Talismans in her Interspatial Ring anyway.

Jun Xiaomo watched the battle unfold with a complicated gaze in her eyes. It was almost as though she had seen a scene from the past.

“Let’s fight.” Moments later, Jun Xiaomo made her resolve, “The enemy of an enemy is also our friend. Furthermore, it looks like that lady and her clansmen aren’t evil people by any means. It should be worth our efforts.”

“Alright-o!” The old man tossed the seeds away, tore off the Invisibility Talisman on his body and shot straight into the fray.

Ye Xiuwen, Rong Ruihan and Chi Jingtian followed closely behind him and dove into the heat of battle in an instant as well.

Invisibility Talismans would lose their effects as soon as they engaged in combat. Thus, in the blink of an eye, several unknown men appeared before Yu Wanrou’s faction, lending a helping hand to their opponents.

“Who are you?! Why are you meddling in the business of others?!” Feng Wenyao barked furiously.

“Ye’ve already said it. Since we’re meddling, do we still need a reason to help them?” The old man retorted lazily.

Feng Wenyao was so irked by the old man’s response that he nearly puked blood.

Yu Wanrou had never expected the appearance of several interlopers just like that. Furthermore, these interlopers all appeared to be incredibly powerful.

She bit down furiously on her lower lips as she cast a profound gaze on Ye Xiuwen, Rong Ruihan and Chi Jingtian.

Just as the battle approached its climax, and both sides began to show signs of injuries and wounds, Yu Wanrou suddenly felt something cold pressing against her neck. In fact, it felt as though something cold and sharp were pressing against her neck.

Yu Wanrou’s heart constricted nervously. She understood in an instant that someone was trying to assassinate her.

Her heart was filled with regret for not retaining a few men behind to protect her – she had been far too complacent.

“Fellow cultivator, could you let me know why you’re restraining me?” Having contemplated her options, Yu Wanrou ended up resorting to the methods she knew best just to buy herself more time – pleading for sympathy.

The reddened rims of her eyes looked puffy and watery, almost as though she were ready to burst into tears at any moment. It was truly a pitiable sight.

However, the person standing behind Yu Wanrou simply chuckled contemptuously, “Yu Wanrou, you’ve not changed a single bit after all these years. Aren’t you sick of doing the same thing all the time?”

Yu Wanrou’s eyes widened in an instant.

Jun Xiaomo?! How could it be her?!!!