371: The Old Man of Heavenly Secrets' backup plan

But Tian Fa did not know the truth; he was still in a state of panic.

After that voice rang in his ears, Tian Fa felt as if he were being locked on, as if he would be discovered no matter where he fled.

He did not dare continue probing with the Divine Soul energy he had just released; he could only stand dazed on the mountainside, not daring to make another move.

Before long, a loud explosion came from the mountain Peak, shaking the entire Soul Suppressing Mountain. Tian Fa felt as if his entire Cultivation Base was being suppressed from all directions, unable to be utilized.

The loud noise was brief, returning to silence after just a moment, and the voice of Blood Soul Venerable arrived as promised.

Like a ghost, Blood Soul Venerable quietly appeared behind Tian Fa. His black-and-red robes rustled in the wind. His figure was somewhat thin, looking like a malnourished old man, but the aura radiating from him was not to be underestimated.

His formidable Cultivation Base was completely undisguised, and he was surrounded by dense Divine Soul energy as he approached Tian Fa's location step by step.

Cold sweat instantly covered Tian Fa's face. He wanted to turn around and look, but he was suppressed by the energy radiating from Blood Soul Venerable. His neck turned stiffly, and finally, as Blood Soul Venerable walked to his side, Tian Fa saw his appearance.

It was a very old-looking face, with wrinkles like mountain ravines and valleys crisscrossing it. Only the Sky-Swallowing Python totem faintly appearing on his forehead proved Blood Soul Venerable's identity.

He was undoubtedly the Grand Elder of the Hong Clan!

Seeing that Blood Soul Venerable's identity was correct, the fear in Tian Fa's heart lessened slightly, but he was still afraid. His voice trembled as he said, "Grand... Grand Elder, I am an Elder of the Blood Red Evil Turtle lineage... My name is Tian Fa."

As he spoke, Tian Fa also channeled all the energy he could currently control to manifest his totem on his forehead.

Upon seeing the totem, Blood Soul Venerable indeed reacted. He first withdrew his radiating aura and then canceled the suppression on Tian Fa.

After doing all this, Blood Soul Venerable slowly spoke, "Tell me, what is the situation now? Has the Commander arrived?"

Hearing this, Tian Fa knew his life was saved and hurriedly began to report the situation.

"Reporting to the Grand Elder, the Fortune Five-Clawed Golden Dragon has just been born. Our spatial passage is not yet stable, so only a 200-man Vanguard Troops has been sent to Leshan Prefecture first!"

"Our mission is to scout the details of Leshan Prefecture and awaken our slumbering clansmen."

"According to our recent investigations, the highest combat power in Leshan Prefecture is currently a Early Mahayana Stage who is comparable to a Mahayana Middle Stage."

"However, there is another person worth noting. His name is Li Mu. Although his Cultivation Base is only at the Tribulation Transcendence Early Stage, he can exert strength comparable to the Peak Tribulation Crossing Stage!"

"If I'm not mistaken, this person should be the owner of the Fortune Five-Clawed Golden Dragon."

Tian Fa reported all the information he had to Blood Soul Venerable. Now that Blood Soul Venerable had awakened, he should hand over his authority.

After listening, Blood Soul Venerable asked again, "Has the spatial passage to Jianshan Prefecture been opened?"

"Not yet, but we have found the spatial passage leading to Jianshan Prefecture; we just don't know how to activate it yet!"

Ever since Thousand Faces had accidentally come from Jianshan Prefecture, Tian Fa had privately visited the location where Thousand Faces had emerged. He also discovered the location of the spatial passage but still couldn't activate it, so he had to give up.

Blood Soul Venerable's face remained devoid of emotion, as if he were listening to something trivial. Tian Fa didn't dare ask more and could only wait quietly for the next command.

"In that case, you go back first. Once I have absorbed the Divine Soul energy here to a certain extent, we can use Soul Suppressing Mountain as our base in Leshan Prefecture!"

"As for Jianshan Prefecture, since the spatial passage hasn't opened yet, it means the timing isn't right. When the time is right, the spatial passage will open naturally!"

"Most of our clansmen are slumbering in Jianshan Prefecture, and even the Second Elder is slumbering there!"

"You may go now!"

With a wave of Blood Soul Venerable's hand, Tian Fa's body flew uncontrollably toward the outside of Soul Suppressing Mountain.

Before long, he landed at the spot where he had entered earlier. Still shaken, Tian Fa bowed toward Blood Soul Venerable's location and then left immediately.

"Could the 'Old Second' the Grand Elder mentioned be the Second Elder?"

"But according to the ancient records, didn't the Second Elder die in battle? Could he have used some means to save his life?"

Only after Soul Suppressing Mountain had completely left his sight did Tian Fa dare to recall what the Grand Elder had just said.

Although full of doubts, Tian Fa also knew that such matters were not for him to decide. What he could do now was return and quickly gather the Hong Clan members who were assigned outside to awaken the clansmen.

He would wait for Blood Soul Venerable's orders and then move their base to Soul Suppressing Mountain.

After Tian Fa left, the previously calm Blood Soul Venerable suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood. His aura began to wither rapidly, and the formidable aura from before had now vanished.

"Well played, Old Man Tianji. I didn't expect you to leave such a backup plan!"

It turned out that the loud noise from the mountain Peak earlier was not caused by Blood Soul Venerable breaking through the magic formation, but was a backup plan set by Old Man Tianji when he suppressed Blood Soul Venerable.

As long as the stone tablet shattered, all the energy it could gather would quickly condense within and attack the inside of the magic formation.

Blood Soul Venerable didn't know at first that the stone tablet that had suppressed him for so many years actually contained a Killing Array. Although the Killing Array was small, its lethality was immense. At that time, Blood Soul Venerable was so focused on getting out that he didn't pay it any mind.

It wasn't until the Killing Array's attack within the stone tablet took shape that he realized he was in danger. In desperation, he could only let the magic formation block the Killing Array's attack for him.

This resulted in Blood Soul Venerable, who should have directly recovered his strength, only having strength comparable to the Early Mahayana Stage at this time.

Because he initially had the energy provided by the magic formation, Blood Soul Venerable had a temporary taste of his Peak strength. It wasn't until Tian Fa left that Blood Soul Venerable could no longer maintain his aura and began to wither.

The reason he sent Tian Fa back first was that Blood Soul Venerable truly needed to absorb the Divine Soul energy within Soul Suppressing Mountain to recover. If he had the help of the magic formation like before, it would only take a few hours for him to return to his Peak.

But now that the magic formation was destroyed, he could only rely on himself to absorb it, which was why he told Tian Fa to wait for a while before coming back...