Chapter 112: Looking Ahead
A day later, the BlueStar Treasure pavilion and the border guards were finally ready to move.
Jiang Yue’s five, ten from the treasure pavilion, and one hundred border guards gathered at the exit of the trade valley.
All had solemn faces, and no one was talking except for the occasional murmurs.
"I hope it’s not too late." Jiang Yue whispered.
Yu Nianzhen frowned when he heard that.
They had wasted a whole day at the valley, but a lot could happen within that time.
He couldn’t help but worry that the wasted day had allowed the enemy to regroup and set up an ambush.
"We can only be careful." He whispered back.
If worse came to worst, they still had the disguises and teleportation talismans.
They could wear the disguises and blend in with others from the Death Flower Ascension Front to escape death.
However, they both knew that blending in wouldn’t be easy this time.
After what happened previously, the young leader of the front should have realised that enemies would take advantage of their robes and masks to mix in with them.
In that case, they would be better prepared this time around.
"Don’t be reckless." Yu Nianzhen warned.
Jiang Yue rolled his eyes and looked aggrieved, "I am not an impulsive person."
"Is that so?"
Yu Nianzhen forced himself not to smile or insist on the matter.
In the end, he rubbed the other’s hair, and a tender look flashed in his eyes.
’Nothing will go wrong.’ He reassured himself.
"Let’s move out." A loud voice reverberated in the valley.
Jiang Yue recognised this voice as Wei Ge.
Although it was unnaturally high-pitched, it held an authority that could not be ignored.
As soon as it was heard, the gathered cultivators moved as one.
Meng Zihua, Wei Ge, and their core people led at the front while Yu Nianzhen and his group brought up the rear.
They quickly flew north and across a wide river that traversed the entire secret realm.
When they came across lone cultivators or small groups, they would stop to explain the situation and incorporate them into the group to travel together.
"This is a problem." Jiang Yue said after they picked up the third lone cultivator.
"It is." Yu Nianzhen frowned.
He understood the rationale to gather as many people as possible to resist the Death Flower Ascension Front.
However, they had no way to distinguish between those belonging to the Death Flower Ascension Front and others.
If they continued incorporating everyone they found along the way, they would gather a lot of enemies in their group and essentially create a trojan horse.
Depending on the defences at the base of the allied forces, their group could seriously endanger everyone.
"If we can figure it out, the others should have also figured it out."
"Maybe. It could be they have a way of identifying members of the Death Flower Ascension Front." Jiang Yue said.
Although he said this, he wasn’t confident.
While they were not wearing robes and masks, the members of the Death Flower Ascension Front were like everyone else.
Other than the abnormality in their dantian, Jiang Yue couldn’t think of any other difference.
Even then, the abnormality in the dantian couldn’t be used as a standard.
For one, it was difficult to detect, and no one would allow a stranger to randomly check their dantian to investigate.
Not only was this dangerous for the person being probed but also for the person probing because they could be backlashed by the other person’s qi.
"There should be a way to differentiate." Yu Nianzhen said and sighed at their passive position.
In their past life, both the Jiang and Yue families had hundreds of shadow soldiers.
These people were responsible for gathering information, guarding, and assassinating where necessary.
However, the two didn’t have that sort of power in the Cangxing world.
If they wanted anything done, including getting information, they had to rely on other people.
At the best of times, the information was true but incomplete.
’Should we think about a force?’ He wondered.
When they first transmigrated, he was against the idea.
He didn’t want to be a leader and be dragged down by a whole group of people.
After a while, he did consider forming a power because he knew Jiang Yue and himself couldn’t do everything.
Even if they became the most powerful people in the world, they would still need subordinates.
Otherwise, trying to do everything could only serve to exhaust them.
More importantly, Yu Nianzhen wanted to enjoy himself.
Do everything he wanted to do and accompany Jiang Yue every day.
For that to happen, they needed a force to deal with everything they couldn’t be bothered with.
"Let’s think about creating a power when we leave the secret realm." He whispered to Jiang Yue.
Jiang Yue smiled and then chuckled a little.
For a long time, he knew Yu Nianzhen would gravitate in this direction.
Although the man didn’t want to be burdened, he was too unwilling to be passive.
The only way to eliminate such unease was by having a power of their own.
Jiang Yue wasn’t against this idea.
While Yu Nianzhen was in seclusion, Jiang Yue was exposed to the world.
He knew the world, and especially the sects were crueller than the two had ever imagined.
Although it was necessary to join the Sea Cloud sect, he also knew they couldn’t stay in the long run.
However, joining a sect was easier than leaving it.
When one joined a sect, one would practice the cultivation techniques and martial arts of the sect.
While some of the techniques and martial arts weren’t unique, some were.
Some belonged to the sect’s hidden inheritances and could not be spread to the outside world.
If one wanted to leave a sect, there were only two outcomes.
The first outcome was allowing the sect to break their foundation, which meant the cultivator would turn into a cripple.
However, this method was only available to low-level cultivators who practised general sect techniques and martial arts.
The second outcome was death.
If any of the inner sect or core members of the sect wanted to leave the sect, they could only do so through death.
Once in a while, the weaker sect members could escape this fate, but this was an exception rather than the rule.
"Let’s think about it." Jiang Yue answered.
Even if they left the Sea Cloud sect, it could only be done many years in the future.
Most importantly, they needed to have a hidden place before they could take such a move.
If they didn’t, they would only face death unless the hidden force they created was incredibly powerful.
"Everyone should be on the lookout." A voice sounded from the front.
Yu Nianzhen and Jiang Yue escaped from their thoughts to look ahead.
"Everything should be fine if we go past this place." Jiang Yue said.
This was the same place that made them wary when they first planned a route to the north.
It was a wide canyon surrounded by high rock walls.
The bottom was dotted with boulders and rock hills that formed a natural formation.
If the Death Flower Ascension Front wanted to ambush, this place was the ideal location to do so.
"Do you sense anything?" Jiang Yue asked.
Yu Nianzhen focused his consciousness and calmed his heart.
However, he felt nothing in the end.
He didn’t know if this was because there was nothing to worry about in the canyon, or because the enemy was too good at hiding.
"Still, let’s be more careful." Jiang Yue said after he heard Yu Nianzhen’s observation.
He turned to the other three and reminded them to be more careful as the group entered the canyon.
As soon as they stepped into the canyon, Jiang Yue felt a sense of disorientation.
For a moment, he couldn’t tell right or left; or north from south.
He abruptly stopped and forced his mind to calm down.
"It’s a disorientation natural formation." He said to Yu Nianzhen.
The other nodded and looked around.
Although it didn’t have any attack power, one could be lost for a long time if one unknowingly stumbled into a disorientation formation.
Luckily, everyone knew there was a natural formation in the canyon.
For as long as they stayed calm and focused their heart, they would have no trouble making their way out of the formation.
However, things could become hairy if they encountered the enemy.
Unless one was very talented and powerful, it was difficult to stay calm during a fight.
Without a calm mind, the disorientation formation would have a chance to take root.
At that time, it would be difficult to get rid of the effect.
In a worst-case scenario, the effect would be so exaggerated that the affected could not leave the natural formation without help from others.
"Let’s stick together." Bai Ruyue said and moved a little closer to Yu Nianzhen
