Chapter 469: Chapter 452: Dragon Transformation
There were some things Wang Meng had to tell Yang Ying. During their intimate moments, he’d revealed his confidence in the matter, and Yang Ying, in turn, had briefly mentioned it to her mother.
Yang Yingtian was her father, after all. It was only after he explained the current perilous situation that Yang Qingzi revealed this piece of information.
Yang Yingtian was out of options. Celestial Demon was clearly using him as cannon fodder to weaken the Eight Great Castles. And after the last incident, he feared he had been marked for elimination right after the Holy Hall.
Given the circumstances, his only choice was to bet on Wang Meng surviving this ordeal. Even so, Yang Yingtian, who knew the true strength of the Ten Thousand Demons Sect, felt their chances were slim.
After hearing Yang Yingtian’s assessment, Zhou Luodan fell into deep thought. "Old Castle Master Yang, are you suggesting we recall all of our forces from the Great Yuan Realm?"
"That’s right. The Ten Thousand Demons Sect excluded me this time, but knowing Celestial Demon’s personality, I’m afraid he’s already made his arrangements and is just waiting for the right opportunity."
Yang Yingtian stated decisively, "Right now, our only option is to concentrate our forces and fight the Ten Thousand Demons Sect. If we can just get through this, we can leverage Wang Meng’s influence in the Star Alliance to deal them an even heavier blow. At the very least, it would buy us time to grow."
Zhou Luodan gave a bitter smile. "We’ve noticed some strange things recently ourselves. But the problem is, we can’t leave the Slaughter Space unguarded. Even if Yang Jian and Wang Meng are on the best of terms, the other Sects wouldn’t stand for it. He’s a City Lord, after all; he can’t break his own rules. Most importantly, the Ten Thousand Demons Sect can afford to wait, and we have no idea when they’ll attack."
Celestial Demon was very patient. He could afford to wait, like a venomous snake slowly biding its time for the perfect opportunity—for the moment his prey let its guard down.
’Right now, the Holy Hall must be on high alert. If Zhao Xinglun’s group were to actually return, it would be troublesome. While their strength still wouldn’t be enough to win, it would be enough to cover Wang Meng’s escape.’
’The key to this battle is to lay a death trap from which Wang Meng cannot escape.’
’Patience is therefore essential.’
Yang Yingtian was at a loss. It was a true dilemma. If the Ten Thousand Demons Sect didn’t make a move, Zhao Xinglun and his men couldn’t just wait around forever. Besides, a significant amount of time had already been wasted around the grand ceremony.
"Can’t we have Wang Meng leave and lay low for a while?" Yang Yingtian’s eyes suddenly lit up.
Zhou Luodan shook her head with a bitter smile. "They’ve reached a critical stage. Even I can’t disturb them lightly. It’s simply impossible for him to leave now."
Three point six million in resources had already been invested. If Wang Meng left now, it would all go down the drain. That was a blow the Holy Hall couldn’t afford to take.
For the Ten Thousand Demons Sect to make this move at such a critical juncture truly put them between a rock and a hard place.
’It’s not that I’m unaware,’ Master Wang thought. ’On the contrary, if I were the Ten Thousand Demons Sect, now would be the perfect time to strike.’
Unfortunately for them, sometimes mortal schemes could outwit even heavenly calculations.
Ma Tian’Er and Yang Ying stood on either side of Wang Meng. Neither was cultivating, but their expressions had clearly changed.
"Brother Meng, you should be nicer to Linglong next time you see her."
"That’s right. We all need to thank her in person. And the Dragon Emperor, too."
Wang Meng gave a bitter smile. "Could you two please not poke at my sore spot? I hate being in debt more than anything, especially when it’s a debt of gratitude. And now, I owe a massive one!"
"Why don’t you just make her one of yours? Then you’ll be family, and you won’t have to repay the debt," Ma Tian’Er suggested.
BONK...
A light rap landed on Ma Tian’Er’s fair forehead. "You silly girl, what nonsense are you spouting? Linglong is no pushover."
Ma Tian’Er stuck out her tongue.
"Little Jing is so incredible. To think she’d end up being the strongest one of us."
Wang Meng wasn’t particularly surprised. He had always believed that among their group, Hu Jing was the most talented, but that traditional cultivation methods simply didn’t suit her. The next most talented was Zhang Xiaojiang, but Zhang Xiaopang’s problem was his laziness; he never pushed himself to his limits.
"Do you think the Ten Thousand Demons Sect will take the bait?" Yang Ying asked worriedly.
"Heh, don’t worry. There’s no cat that turns its nose up at fish. No matter how patient he is, he won’t be able to hold back."
"Should we act a little weaker?"
"Celestial Demon is paranoid by nature. If we overdo it, we’ll just scare him off. I want to eliminate this threat for good. The Holy Hall is about to enter a period of rapid development, and we need to secure our home front. This may be dangerous, but it’s also a perfect opportunity. Fortune favors the bold," Wang Meng said.
The three point six million in resources still wasn’t enough. Hu Jing alone had consumed enough for five or six people. However, the other selected disciples weren’t sent away; they continued to cultivate inside the Holy Hall. If they missed their chance this time, there would always be another.
Moreover, personally witnessing one miracle after another was a profound experience for them.
The power of the Dragon Pearl completely enveloped the Holy Hall, perfectly concealing its aura from the outside world.
Now, only Hu Jing and Zhang Xiaojiang remained. In truth, Wang Meng wasn’t afraid of the Ten Thousand Demons Sect attacking right away, but it would be far better if he could wait until everything was complete.
The mountain was sealed to outsiders, and the Holy Hall was sealed from the inside. As a result, not even Zhou Luodan and the others knew what was happening. Wang Meng had done this on purpose, as it was the only way to stage a truly convincing performance.
Yang Yingtian and Yang Molong could only stand guard at the Holy Hall. Under the circumstances, it was impossible to command the other forces of the Eight Great Castles, and besides, they weren’t strong enough to make a difference in this fight.
Too many people would only increase the risk of a leak, which would do more harm than good.
All they could do was keep a close watch on the area around the Holy Hall and be ready to react at the first sign of trouble. In Snow Moon City, Zhao Xinglun and his people had also been notified and were standing by.
It had to be said, Celestial Demon’s patience was excellent. But even he was starting to find it a little strange. After all this time, Wang Meng was really holding out. With such a massive amount of resources, something should have happened by now. There were a few signs of a Celestial Tribulation over the Holy Mountain, but it was always a lot of thunder with no rain—all of them ended in failure.
Celestial Demon calculated his next move. He planned to strike when his opponents were at their breaking point. More importantly, he was grinding down the patience of Zhou Luodan’s group. With his enemy in the open and him in the shadows, the initiative was firmly in his hands. He could strike at any time.
Two whole months passed. The Holy Hall’s intelligence network gradually relaxed. News of the Ten Thousand Demons Sect’s movements and of Celestial Demon himself would occasionally filter in, making it seem like everything had returned to normal.
Thinking about it, it made sense. There was no real need for the Ten Thousand Demons Sect and the Holy Hall to fight to the death. They were currently splitting the world between them—wasn’t that a good thing?
But in the shadows, Celestial Demon and his most capable generals were brimming with energy. For a battle of this magnitude, they had of course tuned their Cultivation Techniques and physical states to their absolute peak.
It seemed the Holy Hall was lying in wait for an exhausted foe, but in reality, *they* were the ones who were well-rested and waiting.
Now, the hunt began.
The mountain was sealed. It remained sealed. Completely and utterly sealed.
None of the disciples who entered the Holy Hall ever came out. Wang Meng, the Sect Leader, had vanished as if into thin air. He should have been capitalizing on the momentum from the grand ceremony to bolster his influence, but instead, he had abruptly disappeared. It defied all logic.
Rumors began to spread like wildfire. There were various versions, some clearly malicious, others just idle gossip, but many of them seemed to have a grain of truth.
Some said Wang Meng was planning to join the Taiyin Sect, and that this was the real reason their Sect Leader had visited.
After all, Mingren had left for a greater opportunity. Even if Wang Meng wasn’t on Mingren’s level, he couldn’t be that far behind.
While being a Sect Leader was prestigious, it all depended on the Sect in question. The Holy Hall obviously couldn’t offer the same future as the Taiyin Sect, the third-strongest power in the Star Alliance.
The rumors were surprisingly detailed, claiming that the Taiyin Sect’s Leader planned to pass his title on to Wang Meng in the future.
Another version claimed the Holy Hall was to become a Sub-Hall of the Taiyin Sect...
Still others claimed that the three point six million in resources had been a complete waste, leading to one failed attempt at Minor Perfection after another. Not a single complete Celestial Tribulation had even manifested. As Sect Leader, Wang Meng had been too flashy, and his first grand project had ended in utter failure. The Holy Hall, they said, was now embroiled in internal conflict.
Sealing the mountain was the perfect cover-up.
Inside the Holy Hall, Wang Meng looked visibly exhausted. Over this period, the most tired person hadn’t been any of the cultivators, but him.
Not everyone required the Power of Life Wheel. The weaker the individual, the less it was needed; the stronger they were, the more essential it became. And it was he who bore the greatest drain.
But it had all been worth it.
The disciples in the Holy Hall no longer looked at Wang Meng as their Sect Leader. To be precise, they didn’t look at him as a human at all.
He was their god!
Their gazes were filled with reverence and awe!
Even Yang Ying and Ma Tian’Er found themselves unconsciously yielding to this new Wang Meng, freely showing their most gentle and feminine sides.
There’s an old saying: a woman’s gentleness is proportional to her man’s strength.
The powerful aura that Wang Meng now radiated was truly captivating.
Of course, this wasn’t always the case.
One person was completely immune to Master Wang.
That would be Master Zhang. They had bathed together, spied on women together, taken beatings together, and given beatings together. They were true brothers. So no matter what Wang Meng became, Zhang Xiaopang would always be Zhang Xiaopang.
Right now, Zhang Xiaopang was like an ant on a hot griddle. He hadn’t even been this nervous during his own breakthrough.
And of course, the only person who could make Zhang Xiaopang this worried was Hu Jing.
Wang Meng hadn’t expected that three point six million would only be enough for eight people. He had underestimated the aptitude of Hu Jing and the others.
Even Wang Meng was filled with anticipation. ’What kind of result will Hu Jing achieve?’
The Dragon Pearl above the Holy Hall pulsed with a flowing radiance. This was not an outwardly radiating light, but an internal brilliance that enveloped the entire hall, making everything seem perfectly ordinary from the outside.
Without the Dragon Pearl’s assistance, those three point six million Spirit Stones would have been enough for two or three people at most. This meant Master Wang now owed yet another debt to the Dragon Race. He was spending Linglong’s money and benefiting from Tu Mu’s help.
Ever since meeting Tu Mu, Wang Meng had been receiving continuous aid from the Dragon Race.
Wang Meng wasn’t one to enjoy owing favors. Brothers were an exception, of course, but he and the Dragon Race were, at best, just friends who got along well. Accepting such a magnificent gift meant he would have to repay it someday.
But regardless, even if he’d had a choice, he would have had to accept this gift. If Tu Mu ever made a request of him in the future, he absolutely could not refuse, as long as it was within his power to fulfill.
Only one Dragon Transformation Pool remained in use, and all the final resources were concentrated within it.
Inside the pool, Hu Jing was completely naked, her expression as tranquil as ever. Even if the heavens were to fall, she would not be found among a panicked crowd.
Within the Dragon Transformation Pool, Hu Jing’s Holy Shadow had appeared. Its very manifestation demanded an even greater consumption of resources. What Hu Jing herself had never imagined was that she truly possessed such incredible talent.
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