The Demon with Holy Radiance

"Workshop Master, something’s happened!"

Right in front of the sealed Huan, Yang An sank his consciousness into the Tree of Flesh and Blood.

Anyway, as long as he was within the bounds of Earth Demon Cliff, Huan could sense his actions, making it impossible to hide. Yang An saw no need to conceal anything; he would have to handle this special situation as it came.

Besides, Huan might not even be able to detect the existence of the Tree of Flesh and Blood.

"Hm? You killed another from the Insect Dao?"

After a long moment, a reply from the Workshop Master finally came through.

"..."

"No, that’s not it. Something’s happened to the Scripture Defector Association."

Yang An replied after a moment of surprise. ’It seems killing Jishan really left an impression on the Workshop Master.’

"We’ve been captured. We’re in the hands of the Golden Soul Sect now."

Before Yang An could explain what was going on, a new fruit appeared on the Tree of Flesh and Blood. This one was from Heart.

Yang An had already sensed the auras outside Earth Demon Cliff. There were five people captured by Xuan You: Pi Fa, Heart, Black Egg, Sheep Horn, and Zhi Ying.

White Bird was at the Golden Soul Sect headquarters, safe and sound.

Surprisingly, Broken Hand and Wen Yin had avoided capture by Xuan You. The others, however, had fallen victim, and Heart was among them.

’I can’t believe he’s still conscious enough to contact me through the Tree of Flesh and Blood. He probably can’t use the ring the Workshop Master gave him in front of Xuan You, so his only option is to send a message this way.’

"Xuan You?"

The Workshop Master’s reply came much faster this time. He must have also seen the message White Bird had sent earlier.

Heart explained the whole story—how they had fallen into Xuan You’s hands, and how Xuan You was now using them as bargaining chips to threaten Yang An.

"You’re at Earth Demon Cliff? You’re under the protection of the Death Lord?"

The Workshop Master turned his questions to Yang An, clearly surprised by his location.

It suddenly dawned on the Workshop Master. When Jishan died, Yang An had told him a Great Power had helped, that he hadn’t done it alone. ’That Great Power must be the Death Lord!’

"The Death Lord is completely opposed to the Golden Soul Sect. The enemy of my enemy is my friend."

Yang An didn’t elaborate. Regardless of whether the Workshop Master already knew the Death Lord’s true identity, it wasn’t his place to reveal it.

After all, he still didn’t know who was right and who was wrong in the conflict between the Workshop Master and Huan.

"Stay away from that guy. He’s bad news."

The tone of the Workshop Master’s message was cold. ’This is the first time I’ve ever heard him speak of someone like that,’ Yang An thought. ’Perhaps the two of them have some unpleasant history.’

But that wasn’t important right now. What mattered was how to rescue the members of the Scripture Defector Association from Xuan You’s grasp.

With the members of the Scripture Defector Association now forcibly scattered, their previously arranged plan to sabotage the Golden Soul Sect had to be abandoned.

Even the Golden Soul Sect, the weakest of the Four Domains, was not as simple as it appeared on the surface.

At this point, both Yang An and the captured members like Heart could only pin their hopes on the Workshop Master.

But the Workshop Master’s subsequent reply was disappointing.

"I’m currently in the Outer Continent and can’t get away or divide my attention. I can’t offer any help at all. You’re on your own for this one."

"..."

"..."

Yang An and Heart both fell into silence at once.

’The Outer Continent? Hasn’t that place already been devoured by the cataclysm?’

Yang An seized on that key phrase.

’Maybe that’s why the Workshop Master can’t even use his container teleportation ability.’

His first thought was of Miao Ye.

’Miao Ye’s Ancient Collection is in the Outer Continent, and the Workshop Master knew Miao Ye from before. So it’s highly likely that the Workshop Master being in the Outer Continent has something to do with Miao Ye.’

’But if the Workshop Master can’t get involved because he’s tied up, then this is a real problem.’

Yang An mulled it over. ’If I can’t rely on the Workshop Master to resolve this, perhaps my only option is to ask Huan for help.’

"Perhaps we could use the ’lure the tiger from the mountain’ stratagem, if container teleportation is an option."

A message came through from Heart, offering his thoughts on the matter.

But Yang An had already considered that.

Although the Workshop Master couldn’t intervene, he had previously given Yang An the authority to activate container teleportation, meaning Yang An could do it himself.

However, actually pulling it off wouldn’t be as simple as Heart made it sound.

Xuan You was of the Insect Dao, and a powerful one in the Late Stage at that. Moreover, he had several terrifying monsters under his command.

Trying to use the ’lure the tiger from the mountain’ stratagem on a Great Power like that would never work.

If Yang An was strong enough to face Xuan You head-on and force him to use his full might in the fight, then they could give the stratagem a try.

But as he was now, he couldn’t fight Xuan You at all. Without the strength to back it up, such a stratagem was nothing but an empty theory, a castle in the sky. The probability of failure was simply too high.

Without absolute certainty of success, Yang An was unwilling to take such a risky gamble against Xuan You.

"Is there any way to quickly increase my strength?"

Yang An asked. It was the only question he could ask. Perhaps the Workshop Master knew something; it was the only help he could possibly offer via message.

But just after Yang An asked this question, a new fruit formed on the Tree of Flesh and Blood. This one came from White Bird, who was inside the Golden Soul Sect.

"If you want to raise your Cultivation Level quickly, Earth Demon Cliff where you are is a good place. You can rapidly accumulate Mana by absorbing the Spirit Juice from the bodies of those Demon Fiends."

The existence of Spirit Juice was no secret. All the Sects that came to Earth Demon Cliff to train knew about it.