Chapter 108: Chapter 108: Shen Paopao Wants to Slip Away

Celestial Leisure Mansion.

“The Cyan Yuan Sect’s new disciples were all prepared. Our latest operation barely had any impact. At best, it just made them a little anxious, but it wasn’t very effective.”

Shen Yuan was recounting their recent actions against the Cyan Yuan Sect. The results weren’t nonexistent, but they had fallen short of expectations.

“That’s to be expected. The people from the Cyan Yuan Sect aren’t idiots. We can’t succeed every time.”

“After this operation, aside from the few moles we left to pass intelligence, the rest have basically been exposed. Now is a good time to abandon them.”

Zhu Yiqun wasn’t particularly concerned about this outcome, as those people were meant to be sacrificed anyway.

The Soul Capturing Technique has its limits. If control isn’t continuously reinforced after a certain period, the victims regain their senses. At that point, not only are they useless, but they might even leak information.

Aside from those who still had value, everyone else was abandoned.

“But the Cyan Yuan Sect has been investigating surprisingly fast. They’ve already destroyed two of the Holy Sect’s strongholds. We’ve lost two Incense Masters, four Hall Masters, ten Stewards, and a host of disciples and followers. These losses are a bit steep!”

“That Lü Zhenghai and Gu An are really something else. They waited all this time to strike in unison, catching us completely off guard.”

Zhu Yiqun felt a pang of regret as he said this.

In the No-Life Evil Cult, every Incense Master was an External Refining Iron Bone Expert, every Hall Master was an expert in External Refining Steel, and every Steward was at the External Refining Copper Skin Level. Losing people like this would make even Inner Masters like them feel the sting.

This was especially true for the External Refining Iron Bone Realm. Even with the No-Life Evil Cult using Evil Techniques to accelerate their progress, cultivating an expert of this level still required a significant amount of effort.

If they had managed to conquer Tan City, they could have used the Blood Sacrifice Technique to cultivate a few more. But given the current situation in the city, that was no longer feasible, so the burden of these losses naturally fell on them.

After all, the number of subordinates the No-Life Evil Cult assigned to Inner Masters like them was finite; it wasn’t an infinite supply.

If their subordinates died, they would have to cultivate replacements themselves.

“The people from the Cyan Yuan Sect are a real handful. I’m afraid we can’t stay hidden for much longer. We should prepare to leave.”

Shen Yuan had already sent a message back to the No-Life Saint Master and, after learning the situation, wasn’t keen on staying in Tan City any longer.

’Clearly, the No-Life Holy Sect has abandoned Qing State. There’s no benefit for me in staying here.’

’Besides, the No-Life Saint Master didn’t order me to stop the Cyan Yuan Sect, so I have no desire to keep obstructing them with Zhu Yiqun and his lot. There’s absolutely nothing in it for me.’

’As for the Holy Sect’s Saintess, well, I’m not one of her people. I couldn’t care less about the No-Life Saintess’s orders.’

As an expert at the Inner Refining Grandmaster Level and an Elder within the No-Life Holy Sect, his status was a tier below the Saint Master and the Saintess, but he also had far fewer restrictions on his actions.

“The Saintess’s order was to buy more time for our operations in Yu State. If you leave and the Cyan Yuan Sect is able to send reinforcements to Yu State as a result, the Saint Master will undoubtedly have the Punishment Hall deal with you. You’d better think this through.”

Zhu Yiqun knew exactly what Shen Yuan was thinking. Shen Yuan felt Tan City was getting dangerous and didn’t want to stay, and he considered holding back the Cyan Yuan Sect to be a matter for the three Zhu brothers, not him.

However, he was prepared for this. He immediately brought up the Punishment Hall, a place that struck terror into the hearts of countless members of the No-Life Holy Sect. Those who emerged from the Punishment Hall were rarely in one piece; most came out insane. It was a dreaded place within the sect, one that people didn’t even dare to mention.

Sure enough, Shen Yuan’s body trembled slightly at the mention of the Punishment Hall.

“Judging by how Lü Zhenghai, Gu An, and the rest of the Cyan Yuan Sect operate, they’ve probably gathered a lot of useful information by now. I can hold out for half a month at most. Any longer, and I’m leaving.”

Shen Yuan thought for a moment and conceded. He knew that if things went south in Tan City, he wouldn’t be able to escape responsibility. And if the Punishment Hall took him away, it would be a disaster.

“Fine. Half a month should be enough.”

Zhu Yiqun nodded upon hearing this.

He had estimated the Holy Sect’s progress in Yu State. ’Half a month should be enough time to destroy Xuanqing Palace and take complete control of Yu State,’ he thought.

Once Xuanqing Palace was destroyed, Yu State would belong to the No-Life Holy Sect.

Zhu Yangbo and Zhu Siyuan didn’t speak, but they both nodded.

The three brothers generally followed Zhu Yiqun’s lead.

“In that case, let’s relocate our people in the Tan City branch. Otherwise, I doubt we’ll be able to last for half a month.”

Seeing this, Shen Yuan had no choice but to start planning the redistribution of his people in Tan City. He didn’t want all of his subordinates to be wiped out by the Cyan Yuan Sect in one fell swoop; he would be left a general without an army.

That would not be a good situation.

“Agreed. But there’s no need to move the believers. Leave them for the Cyan Yuan Sect. Let them cause a stir, serve a purpose, and distract them to buy us more time.”

Zhu Yiqun didn’t object. Like Shen Yuan, he and his brothers had also brought people over from Yu State. Naturally, they wanted to minimize casualties among their own subordinates; it was in their best interest.

Otherwise, a portion of the Cultivation Resources needed to train replacements would have to come out of their own pockets.

As Elders of the No-Life Holy Sect, they much preferred squeezing Cultivation Resources from their subordinates to spending their own.

“Alright, let’s do that. We’ll each handle our own people, and then do our best to delay the Cyan Yuan Sect!”

Shen Yuan nodded without objection. There was simply no way to take the believers from Tan City with them; they would just be a burden.

If they had been able to conquer Qing State, these people would have been useful. But in the current situation, they were nothing but a liability. Bringing them along would be pointless and might even expose their positions.

So naturally, these people had to be abandoned. But before they were cast aside, they had to be used to stall the Cyan Yuan Sect for as long as possible.

In Shen Yuan’s mind, half a month was a flexible deadline. ’If I sense any real danger, I’ll be the first to flee,’ he thought. ’This is the Zhu brothers’ mission, after all. As long as it looks like I helped, I’ll have a perfectly good excuse when I return to the Holy Sect in Yu State.’

He had only agreed to Zhu Yiqun’s request to avoid future complications and to not give them any leverage over him.

With that said, Shen Yuan left.

“Brother, that old fox probably doesn’t have our best interests at heart. If there’s trouble, I bet he’ll be the first to run. Back in the Holy Sect, everyone calls him Shen Paopao. He’s the first to flee at any sign of danger—extremely cunning.”

Zhu Yangbo scoffed, watching Shen Yuan’s departing figure with contempt.

The reason the situation in Tan City was so dire was all because of Shen Yuan. The first time he encountered Elder Wu Qihao of the Cyan Yuan Sect, he hadn’t even engaged in a fight—he had simply fled. That was why they still hadn’t managed to capture Tan City. Plenty of people in the Holy Sect were laughing at him over it, including the three Zhu brothers, who held him in utter contempt.

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