231: Chapter 231 Flowing Lotus

The method is very simple.

We just need to use the mirage veil to transform into the appearance of a Double-winged Demon and sneak in quietly.

"Are you sure there's no problem?" Chen Meier asked.

Shen Xingchen made an OK gesture. "Got it covered."

He didn't start acting immediately, instead waiting until it was dark.

When a Double-winged Demon intended to go to the restroom, Shen Xingchen delivered a clean and decisive punch.

Boom—

A somewhat muffled impact sound rang out.

That Double-winged Demon collapsed to the ground on cue.

The members of the Fengwu Squad were all startled.

As a Tier 6 martial artist, wasn't Shen Xingchen's combat power a bit too unreasonable?

The previous injured Tier 7 Blood Demon Ape took one punch, and now this uninjured Tier 7 Double-winged Demon still took just one punch.

Anyone who didn't know better would think he was a Tier 8 martial artist.

Shen Xingchen then transformed into the appearance of this Double-winged Demon, nodded at everyone, and then walked towards Dark Moon Valley.

...

"Why has Number Six been in the restroom for so long?"

"Maybe his kidneys are bad."

"Kidneys? Isn't that something from the humans? Do we have those things?"

"...We probably do."

At the entrance of Dark Moon Valley, a few Double-winged Demons were whispering and discussing.

While using the Breath-Concealing Technique to adjust his aura and maintaining the Double-winged Demon's appearance with the mirage veil, Shen Xingchen walked into the group of Double-winged Demons.

"Gagaga, Number Six, how did you manage to get so much uglier just from going to the restroom?"

A Double-winged Demon leaned closer and bantered familiarly.

Shen Xingchen feigned great anger. "You're the ugly one, your entire family is ugly!"

As a human, he still couldn't control the facial details of a Double-winged Demon, which was probably the reason the other party thought he was ugly.

That Double-winged Demon smiled casually. "Gagaga, hilarious, I don't even have a family to begin with."

Shen Xingchen: "..."

Demon culture is really hard to get used to.

The Double-winged Demon asked doubtfully, "Why are you so gloomy today? You're nothing like yourself. Cheer up quickly, we have to go on duty later."

Shen Xingchen thought for a moment and said, "It's my turn again? I don't want to go to that damn place, it's really grueling and exhausting."

The Double-winged Demon: "Ga— You don't want to go? Go tell the commander then! Besides, the rewards for being on duty at the pass are very lucrative. Weren't you quite enthusiastic before?"

Shen Xingchen glanced at the side of the Dark Moon Valley pass. There was a watchtower where two Double-winged Demons were stationed.

The location of the watchtower was already very close to the barrier, making it an ideal spot.

Shen Xingchen said, "I was just complaining casually."

The Double-winged Demon looked suspicious. "Why didn't you say 'gagaga' today?"

Shen Xingchen instantly had dark lines all over his head. "Ga— None of your damn business!"

This bird language made him feel a wave of shame. Fortunately, no one else around heard it.

It seemed these two Double-winged Demons were friends.

Shen Xingchen chatted with it for a while longer.

The intelligence of the Double-winged Demons was truly limited, so Shen Xingchen didn't spend much effort to extract the information.

The shift time was from 3:00 AM to 9:00 AM, and the personnel on duty would come to hand over half an hour early.

Viewed this way, the optimal time to act was around 4:00 AM. At that time, it was still dark, and the demon guards' vigilance was at its loosest.

"Let's go, time for duty," the Double-winged Demon shouted.

Shen Xingchen followed.

He had just learned that this Double-winged Demon was called Number Four, and it was slightly older than the one he was disguised as.

He actually found it rather baffling.

If Double-winged Demons named themselves according to numbers, how chaotic would the ordering get...

The watchtower was extremely crude; after all, the demon race hadn't invested many points into technology.

Shen Xingchen and Number Four guarded opposite sides of the watchtower.

Shen Xingchen could already see the Instant Annihilation Barrier, which was a killing array formed by alternately arranged gray threads.

Every single thread seemed to possess an independent life, following some bizarre rhythm as it extremely slowly bobbed up and down and intertwined horizontally and vertically.

...

Time passed bit by bit.

Behind the distant pile of mountains.

An Ran asked with deep concern, "Is Little Shen really going to be fine?"

Chen Meier stared intently over there. "This is the most reasonable method. We can only trust him. If there's truly anything amiss, we will strike immediately."

Dong Cheng scratched his head. "Clearly this is our mission, yet it seems Brother Shen is doing all the heavy lifting."

This made veteran soldiers like them at Tier 8 and Tier 9 look rather clueless.

Xie Yunshan said softly, "The definition of a genius is being able to accomplish what ordinary people cannot."

Everyone fell silent.

Actually, being able to reach Tier 8 or even Tier 9 strength around the age of thirty made them proud children of heaven already, but compared to Shen Xingchen, they appeared dim and lackluster.

Shen Xingchen perfectly interpreted that phrase—I have met many geniuses, but they all call *me* a genius!

...

When the time reached 4:00 AM.

Shen Xingchen's body instantly tensed up. Without changing his expression, he said to Number Four, "Fourth Brother, my stomach went bad from what I ate yesterday. I'm going to the restroom again."

Number Four the Double-winged Demon said with disgust, "A lazy donkey always takes too many trips to the latrine. Go on, go on."

Shen Xingchen smiled happily. "Thank you, Fourth Brother."

He walked down the watchtower via the ladder. When passing by a huge rock at the pass, his gaze suddenly sharpened.

This rock was formed naturally and happened to be as tall as a person. Most importantly... this was a blind spot in terms of field of view.

In a split second.

Beneath Shen Xingchen's feet appeared a cyan-blue bronze bell, its hands rotating mechanically as the gears meshed.

At this very moment, time was pressed on pause.

The Double-winged Demon stopped its movements, the breath of the Tuitian Demon Snake hitched, and even the sound of the wind in the valley ceased instantly.

The entire world fell into absolute silence.

Even though he had tried it many times, Shen Xingchen still felt that such a scene was simply a miracle.

With a bang.

Shen Xingchen's body darted forward abruptly amidst the silence.

Crossing past the guards, crossing past the Tuitian Demon Snake, crossing past the pass... all of this was completed in a split second.

In front of Shen Xingchen was that gray domain known as the Instant Annihilation Barrier.

The gray threads had stopped moving, yet they still concealed a scalp-tingling murderous intent.

Shen Xingchen's body, as agile as an actor on a theater stage, shuttled swiftly through the gray threads.

Swish!

Swish!

Swish!

Within the span of a few dodges, Shen Xingchen passed through that Instant Annihilation Barrier.

1.7 seconds!

Relying on his physical fitness as a Tier 6 martial artist, Shen Xingchen crossed the barrier in 1.7 seconds and reached the interior of Dark Moon Valley.

Inside Dark Moon Valley, in a black pool of water, only a few flowing light lotuses bloomed with a faint shimmering light.

Without any hesitation, Shen Xingchen picked all three mature flowing light lotuses.

Then, he activated time-stoppage once again.

The illusory cyan-blue clock emerged once more.

Shen Xingchen sprinted quickly through the pass, cast a regretful glance at that royal-species creature, and landed back at the huge rock's position.

After finishing all of this, he let out a long sigh of relief.

Now that the flowing light lotuses were obtained, as long as he used the excuse of going to the restroom to walk far away, everything would be foolproof.

It was precisely at this moment.

"You over there, why have you been behind the rock for so long?"

A sharp, reprimanding voice rang out from behind him, causing the surrounding air to drop by several degrees.