Sword Shatters Stars

Chapter 44 The Mastermind
Lin Xiufeng and his group hid in the cave to avoid disaster, pondering the strange changes in the misty forest.

Every now and then, you can hear shouts of people falling from the cliff.

Ren Xing guarded the cave entrance and saw some figures falling in the mist, but none of them cried out.

She couldn't help but think to herself, if it weren't for Lin Xiufei, they probably would have fallen to their deaths while running.
Inside the cave, Liu Qingqing once again felt heartbroken over the loss of her Heavenly Martial Power.

Ren Xing said in an annoyed tone:
"Be content! First, you didn't fall to your death; second, you weren't beaten to death by those terrified people up there; and third, you didn't run around up there and have your Heavenly Martial Power drained by the thick fog. What else is there to complain about?"

"I was just saying, but it really hurts to lose so much of our martial prowess. It took Ma Jin and me ages to fight a single Mist Spirit!"

Liu Qingqing felt both distressed by the loss and aggrieved by being scolded.

After a long while, the screams ceased to be heard from outside the cliff.

"I'll go up and take a look." Ren Xing grabbed the rope and was about to climb up.

"Not in a hurry."

The small bead of light that Lin Xiufeng was holding in his pocket was still being drawn by some force, and he guessed that the situation on it had not changed.

But Ren Xing did not heed the advice, otherwise he would not have been so willful.

She grabbed the rope and went up, then quickly came down.

"It's still the same."

"I saw someone nearby making a hole in the cliff face. How ingenious!"

A cold glint flashed in Fang Yuan's eyes as he asked, "How many people?"

"The seven-man group, are you going to kill them?"

Ren Xing was clearly familiar with Fang Yuan's style.

Fang Yuan looked at Lin Xiufei and suggested:
"It seems unnecessary. The two sides are evenly matched, so it's safest to remain peaceful."

"We see the same thing."

Lin Xiufeng figured that the other side wouldn't want to provoke them.

The group waited patiently inside the cave.

Lin Xiufeng's initial fears did not come true; the people who dug open the cave last year did not come.

But this made Lin Xiufeng even more worried.

In an emergency, the excavation of a cave should not take too much time and be too large.

This cave can hold twenty or thirty people. Did all of them break through to the Heavenly Warrior level in the Misty Forest last year?

Or did they all die elsewhere?

Otherwise, why didn't they come this year?
You must know, those who hid here were the ones who survived the great calamity of the dense fog absorbing the power of the heavens!

'Is there an even bigger crisis ahead? That prevented them from surviving, or that made them afraid to return to the Misty Forest?'

'No! If there's a crisis later, even if they get involved at the front, avoiding the crisis later would still be quite worthwhile.'

Lin Xiufeng pondered the matter, becoming increasingly cautious.

The group hid in the cave for a full hour and a half, and Lin Xiufei noticed that the little light beads in his pocket had all quieted down.

"I'll go up and have a look."

"I'd better go!"

Ren Xing grabbed the rope and leaped up quickly, reaching the edge of the cliff in no time. He discovered that the Heavenly Martial Power within his body was no longer dissipating.

So he shook the rope to give a signal to those below.

Lin Xiufeng grabbed the rope and climbed up the cliff face.

Next were Fang Yuan, Zhao Youyue, Liu Qingqing, and Ma Jin.

Zhao Youyue and Lin Xiufei put away the ropes and pulled out the ground spikes.

Lin Xiufeng observed that the thick fog in the forest showed no signs of thinning, so he was extra careful as he led the way.

I picked up quite a few backpacks along the way.

It is evident that the dense fog previously absorbed the power of the Heavenly Martial Spirits, causing many Heavenly Martial Spirits to fight each other or die tragically here after having their Heavenly Martial Spirits drained.

As Liu Qingqing picked up her bag, she felt a wave of fear wash over her, and said dejectedly:

"Why didn't the people from Shanwang Village warn us?"

"Yeah, why?"

Lin Xiufeng had already considered these issues.

"It must be that the benefits we offered weren't enough," Liu Qingqing deduced.

Lin Xiufeng did not answer; he did not want to unnecessarily add pressure to his team members.

Zhao Youyue and Fang Yuan remained silent.

"There are too many bags. We need to clean them out and streamline them quickly."

Zhao Youyue saw that everyone had taken a large amount of stuff, which would leave them with no room to maneuver if they encountered an enemy attack.

The group stopped and quickly rummaged through their bags, emptying their belongings. They discarded anything that took up space and was of low value.

There's nothing left...

These days, Wupo is either lacking in resources or so poor that all they have are potatoes and sweet potatoes. They don't know where all the valuable things have gone.

There are very few pieces of gold jewelry.

Lin Xiufeng quickly finished counting the dozen or so bags and then walked around the area searching the ground.

There wasn't a single luminous orb; it seems they all flew off somewhere. Perhaps they've gathered together?

Lin Xiufeng had already confirmed that the many small beads of light in his pocket had come together to form a single bead of light about ten centimeters in diameter.

After the group finished counting the pile of backpacks, they continued walking and soon encountered more bags.

The initial excitement had long since faded; I opened it up and emptied everything out, finding nothing of value, and left.

Suddenly, Lin Xiufeng squatted down.

They all squatted down behind him and followed him, moving around in a half-squatting position for a while. Soon they could hear voices.

After following the sound for a while, we arrived at a slope that was rising uphill.

Six people squatted in a row, listening clearly to the conversation above.

"Alliance Leader Wang Guan's plan is progressing smoothly. Now, all we need to do is work together to clear out the remaining Heavenly Martial Souls in the Mist Forest, and we can share the Mist Spirit King!"

"Instead of us searching for them everywhere, let them come to us."

Wang Guan's tone didn't reveal any particular smugness; he was still the same person Lin Xiufeng remembered.

"Does the Alliance Leader mean to use the Mist Spirit King as bait?"

"That's right. No matter how much they absorbed, they eventually collapsed and were still absorbed back by the Mist Spirit King."

"What if they work together and kill the Mist Spirit King?"

"How can a mob possibly work together? As long as we attack in a dispersed manner, they will inevitably become suspicious of each other and fight each other."

Wang Guan was full of confidence and used extremely vicious schemes, racking his brains to wipe everyone out.

"The Alliance Leader's opinion is excellent. We, the five regiments, will follow the Alliance Leader's arrangements!"

Of the original thirteen regiments in the alliance, only five regiments were saved from disaster by the Crown.

"Thank you all for running around the cliff edge to deliver the message to the Mist Spirit King!"

At Wang Guan's command, all six groups, including the King's Group, left together.

Lin Xiufeng led the way, following Wang Guan's voice as he moved, but he didn't need to get too close.

He remembered the direction the light orb in his pocket had moved, which was most likely where the Mist Spirit King was.

Among the backpacks on the road, someone asked why Wang Guan didn't pick them up.

"The fog forest is full of them. We can collect them after we defeat the Fog Spirit King and the fog dissipates."

"The Alliance Leader is so experienced, yet he couldn't break through to the Heavenly Martial Heart realm in the Misty Forest last year? Wasn't what the Mist Spirit King gave him enough?"

"When the Misty Forest was first discovered last year, there weren't many participants. Only a few dozen people broke through to the Heavenly Warrior level, and the Misty Spirit King didn't get any."

"Does the Mist Spirit King have no good stuff? Why didn't those Heavenly Warriors come this year?"

"The Mist Spirit King has no physical form; he has no bones, flesh, skin, or fur."

Lin Xiufeng and his group could hear these conversations clearly.

But since he knew Wang Guan was dishonest, he didn't believe any of his words.

It's hard to believe that the Heavenly Warriors don't care about the Heavenly Warriors' strength in the Misty Forest after experiencing it firsthand.

It would be very unscientific for the Heavenly Warriors, especially the Heavenly Martial Group, not to take advantage of this opportunity to cultivate new talents!

This is further compounded by the existence of Shanwang Village and the concealment of dangerous information.

All of this raises too many questions.

At this moment, one could already hear people running and shouting near the cliff edge:

"The Mist King has been spotted! Come help us defeat the Mist King!"

"A gigantic Mist Spirit King! Everyone, come and fight it!"

Lin Xiufeng thought to himself how formidable this was. Given the shared nature of mutated beasts, unless they knew there was a conspiracy behind it, there was no reason why they wouldn't come!

When Lin Xiufeng followed Wang Guan to a stop, the thick fog obscured the view of the Mist Spirit King.

Before long, someone arrived, and true to their usual spirit of sharing among mutated beasts, they called out and sent messages:

"The Mist Spirit King is here! Ten meters in diameter! Super huge! Everyone come quick!"

The sound carried far and wide.

Then, those who colluded with Wang Guan took turns shouting and spreading the word.

Within the Wulin Mountain range, those who had escaped the disaster outside the cliff edge rushed over even more and faster!
(End of this chapter)