For a moment, he kept quiet, and even when he finally pulled himself out of his thoughts, Mei Chao Bing could only exhale helplessly. “To be honest, I am not sure. I think the solution might be somewhere in this knowledge but … I don’t know where exactly.”
White jade was at a loss. He knew a lot and they were kind of pressed for time. It really didn’t seem like he should just start to recount old tales until they noticed something.
Zhi Guan looked from one person to the other and cleared his throat. “How about this? I will go and save Yang Wu Huang from the dungeon of the demonic sects as we agreed. Even if I am fast, it will take some time to get there, find him, and come back here. After that, we still need to wait some time for it to make sense that Mei Chao Bing would leave. It should be enough to talk that story through, right?”
White jade nodded. “I guess so.”
“Then we’ll do that.” Zhi Guan didn’t even think about it twice. After getting white jade’s confirmation, he turned to his Master and inclined his head. “I will leave then.”
“Be careful.” Elder Baili also knew that this had to be done but he was very well aware of how dangerous it was. Even though this might all be a part of the plan the demonic practitioners were pursuing so they wouldn’t go after him as usual and might even deliberately leave a few holes in their defense, Zhi Guan was still rushing into the stronghold of the enemy. There was simply no saying how this would turn out.
Zhi Guan nodded, turned to look at Luo Lin and Shen Lei, and gave them a nod before walking over to Mei Chao Bing and Yun Bei Fen. He hesitated for a moment but then reached out and ruffled Yun Bei Fen’s hair. “Be careful and listen to the others.”
Yun Bei Fen nodded with wide eyes. “You be careful too, first senior martial brother!”
Zhi Guan looked at him and finally gave a hum. He raised his gaze to Mei Chao Bing’s face and his expression turned complicated. If he didn’t make it back, their plan would fall through. If he did though, Mei Chao Bing would be the one who would have to bear the burden of the rest of what they had come up with. It wouldn’t be easy, especially with his past. But then, it couldn’t be changed.
In the end, Zhi Guan only nodded at him as well but didn’t say a single word. After a short look at the four guardians, he finally left the courtyard and rushed further into the border region.
The ones who remained could only sigh. Soon, it would sure for certain whether they could actually pull off this plan and also win this war once again. Until then … neither of them knew whether it would be possible to see each other again.
White jade closed his eyes for a moment and then turned to Mei Chao Bing. “Alright, since time is limited, let’s get to it directly. Do you have a map? Of the continent, I mean?”
Mei Chao Bing shook his head but Baili Chao hastily pulled one out.
“Is this one alright?” He handed it over to white jade, not sure if it was what he was looking for. The map was mostly focused on the different cultivation sects. As for the secular towns and cities, only those in the vicinity of the Teng Yong Sect were noted.
White jade looked it over and nodded. “Yes, I don’t need much to explain this.” He looked around and then marched over to the bench standing at the side of the courtyard. He put the map on top, took out a brush and some ink from his spatial ring, and started to draw some lines.
The others exchanged glances and then crowded around him, trying to get a closer look at what he was doing.
What emerged on the map bit by bit was the most complicated array any of them had ever seen. Neither of them was a master in this trade, of course, but especially Baili Chao still had a good grasp on arrays in general that could even be called advanced in some places. Even he had never seen anything like this though.
White jade slowly finished up before packing up the brush and ink. He gently blew onto the paper and then got up, pointing at the map with his chin. “That is the array that was created. As you can see, the four great righteous sects are the cornerstones of the array.
“The person that you mentioned was imprisoned in the middle of the continent beneath the half-moon sea. From what we know, they should still be there but also should have lost a lot of their power. If the sects continue to exist as they are and the array is going to be continuously operated, then in another millennium or so, the threat they pose would be completely gone.”
Mei Chao Bing had stared at the map in contemplation but he looked up at white jade when he heard the last sentence. “That is to say they would become a threat again if the array fails or any of the sects falls?”
White jade gave a hum. “That seems to be the case. It might not be instantaneous but sooner or later, that person would be able to free themselves. At that time …” He shook his head. I mean, nobody who took part in the creation of the array at that time is still alive so it’s difficult to say for certain but I’d wager a guess and say we would all be screwed. The demonic sects are nothing against this person.”
Mei Chao Bing nodded, not feeling reassured in the slightest. This was simply adding pressure to an already volatile situation. “The array isn’t likely to stop working though, is it?”
White jade kept mum for a moment but then pointed at a line close to one of those he had drawn before. “It almost did back when the southern chasm was created. If that kind of power was to be released, it could seriously disrupt the array. In fact, I have long been worried that the continued existence of the chasm could have such consequences but it’s not like we can change anything about that.”
