Chapter 199: Chapter 147: Breakthrough to Foundation Establishment Level 7: An Expert’s Operation (Part 2)

’Wait a minute, have they gathered intelligence on me too?’

Xiao Chen suddenly realized that as a steward of the Demon Extermination Hall, he was most likely already on the Divine Fire Sect’s kill list.

Any day now, a Demon Cultivator could show up with various targeted Magical Artifacts and Talismans to ambush him.

He turned his head and looked at the traces left by the Sword Array at the cave entrance.

’This won’t do. Starting today, I need to take more precautions and do my best not to reveal my trump cards.’

Xiao Chen immediately took out his Flying Sword and began to meticulously and thoroughly clean up the traces of Magic he had left behind.

Completely erasing them was impossible, of course, but he could use the Magic he had already openly revealed to cover up the Sword Qi from the Sword Array.

’I should be fine, for the most part. Not many people who have seen me in action are still alive.’

As he cleaned, Xiao Chen began to take stock of the intelligence about his abilities that had already been leaked.

Many people knew about his Divine Fire Summoning Banner, Fire-Storage Treasure Gourd, and the Brocade Scarf.

His Wind and Thunder Dual Swords and Ice Sword were also obtained through public channels, so there was no hiding them.

However, the Small Three Talents Sword Formation Map was still a secret. The Golden Melon Thunder Hammer, Flowing Color Golden Light Pearl, and Lotus Jade Ruyi could also all be considered trump cards.

’But these are all Attack Type Magical Artifacts. I still need a Defense Type trump card.’

Xiao Chen rummaged through his Storage Bag. ’Hey, this Muddy Water Round Shield seems pretty good.’

’As long as word doesn’t get out that I’m the one who killed the Eastern Wanderer, no one will know I took the Muddy Water Round Shield.’

Next, he recalled his Magic.

The Seven-Star Sword Technique, which he had used many times, was definitely exposed. He had also practiced Sky-Filling Flame Radiance in Cuiwei Valley, so he probably couldn’t hide that from anyone determined to find out.

Fortunately, no one should know about Vertical Earth Golden Light or Luotian Profound Fire Crow.

’Speaking of which, does exchanging for the Fire Storage Treasure Talisman at the Merit Hall count as being exposed?’

.

Normally, only Foundation Establishment cultivators in the sect could view the exchange records at the Merit Hall.

As long as there were no traitors, it should be fine.

’I probably can’t count on that.’

Xiao Chen thought about it. With something like this, it was better to be safe than sorry.

Of course, this didn’t stop him from cultivating the Fire Storage Treasure Talisman. It just meant that from now on, he could only treat it as a Supporting Magic for resisting Fire Qi, not as a trump card.

He spent two hours scouring the entire cave, inside and out, with his Seven-Star Sword Technique.

He made sure that nothing could be discerned aside from the Sword Technique itself.

Only then did Xiao Chen leave the Ten Thousand Demons Mountain Range, satisfied.

It was a good thing that Cao Honghai had come to him; it saved him the trouble of having to hunt him down elsewhere later.

Now that he had taken care of the Eastern Wanderer and his two minions, he should be able to enjoy a period of peace.

"Junior Brother Xiao, it’s so good to see you’re alright!"

Before he even got close to the Li Huo Sect, he ran into Mei Yong, who was out searching for him.

He then learned that during the day he was missing, numerous cultivators from the Li Huo Sect, led by the Chen and Liu Families, had mobilized to search for him.

To free up manpower, many outposts had suspended their operations, and the disciples working there were even given a three-day leave.

"By the way, where have you been the last two days? Did you find any clues about the Demon Cultivator?"

After confirming Xiao Chen was safe, Mei Yong immediately turned his thoughts to the whereabouts of the Eastern Wanderer. "Since we’ve already mobilized so many people, it would be best to take down this Demon in one fell swoop."

"We need to avenge the cultivators he killed."

If this had been before, Xiao Chen might have told the truth to save everyone from wasting their efforts.

But now, he naturally chose to hide the information. "Oh, I saw the message he wrote on the city wall and made a trip to the Ten Thousand Demons Mountain Range."

"But I didn’t find any trace of the Demon Cultivator there. It seems it was just a ploy to lure the tiger from the mountain."

Hearing this, Mei Yong nodded. "That’s normal. Demon Cultivators are a bunch of cunning villains."

"In that case, Junior Brother, you should head back to the sect and rest. I’ll patrol this area one more time."

「Back in Cuiwei Valley.」

Xiao Chen took out the Array Deployment Map for the Yellow Wind Flowing Sand Formation again and studied the Array carefully.

Array Formation is actually a very complex affair, but fortunately, the Eastern Wanderer wasn’t proficient in the Array Dao either.

Therefore, he had used a type of custom-made Array Flag that was low-demand, simple, and easy to use.

The vast majority of the difficulties had already been solved by the Array Master and the Artifact Refiner who forged the Array Flags.

In actual combat, one only needed to set up the Vice Flags in advance, then activate the Main Array Banner with a verbal command to easily deploy the Grand Array.

Once proficient, this process would take a quarter hour at most.

This method was actually quite rare, because the cost was truly substantial.

Not only was the Nine-sided Array Banner itself expensive to produce, but each use also required one thousand Spirit Stones to activate.

Moreover, the true Yellow Wind Flowing Sand Formation was a Tier Two containment-type Array, capable of trapping five or six late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators without issue.

The power unleashed by the custom Array Flags, however, was only half of that. Not only could it only restrain two or three people, but it would also be destroyed after a maximum of five uses.

In short, it was a very poor bargain.

But since Xiao Chen had gotten these Array Flags for free, the value proposition was suddenly very high.

Whether he was resting in the wild or ambushing enemies in a certain area, as long as he set up the Array Flags in advance, he would have another trump card to face unexpected situations.

’With the Yellow Wind Flowing Sand Formation, I’ll be able to easily control the terrain in the future.’

The more Xiao Chen looked at it, the more he felt that this Array Map was a great find.

He therefore spent two full days diligently studying how to set up the Vice Flags and how to activate the Main Flag.

During those two days, the Li Huo Sect had practically turned their entire territory upside down.

However, they only managed to catch a few unlucky Tribulation Cultivators and found no clues regarding the Eastern Wanderer.