"Speculating blindly won't help us. Given that person's cultivation level, caught off guard, we should have roughly a seventy or eighty percent chance of success. But we can't ignore the worst-case scenario either. It's entirely possible that they've already failed and been killed or captured, and this is nothing more than a trap." The green-robed woman's lips curled slightly as she spoke with cold indifference.
"Then what does Master Le suggest..." Ku Yao began, somewhat puzzled.
"Whether it's a trap or not, we're here to break the formation regardless. We simply proceed according to the original plan. If we lose a few people to test the waters and expose what's really going on, it will have been worth it. The one thing we absolutely cannot afford right now is time. According to the latest intelligence, the allied forces from the other powers in the Tiannan region need only two to three months to gather and reinforce the Nine Nations Alliance. We must clear all the cultivator formations between our main force and Sky Capital City within one month. Only then can we seize the initiative. If the reinforcements join forces with the Nine Nations Alliance cultivators, even if we can still defeat them, we'll suffer devastating losses." The woman spoke at an unhurried pace.
"Then we'll follow Master Le's instructions entirely." The tall, thin spell-caster hesitated for a moment before agreeing.
As for Ku Yao, he cared even less about the lives of low-rank spell-casters, so he raised no objections either.
Seeing this, the woman nodded slightly. Her red lips moved several times as she transmitted a voice message to someone unseen.
Immediately, nearly a hundred spell-casters in identical attire rushed out from within the cultivator army. Led by a Core Formation spell-caster, they advanced slowly toward the summit of Yellow Dragon Peak.
The hundred-odd spell-casters shrank to black dots as they gradually entered the area where the fog sea had previously been. Nothing unusual occurred.
With their ritual tools held aloft, the spell-casters began boldly flying toward the mountaintop.
The path was unobstructed. As the hundred cultivators reached the peak without incident, the tall, thin spell-caster let out a great sigh of relief and said to the green-robed woman with a look of delight: "It seems this place really has been abandoned. Should we send the others in to search as well? They left in such a hurry — there must be plenty of things they didn't have time to take."
"Don't be hasty. Let's wait and see." The woman didn't even lift her eyelids, her tone frigid.
The tall, thin spell-caster froze at her words and said nothing further.
By now, the hundred-odd spell-casters had already begun rummaging through the half-burned pavilions and terraces, occasionally uncovering spirit stones, materials, and other valuable items. Each spell-caster beamed with joy, shamelessly pocketing the finds and stuffing them into their storage pouches.
The spell-caster army was composed of Mulan tribes large and small. Anything obtained during battle, aside from communal assets from warehouses and mine shafts, naturally belonged to the individual who found it.
Seeing this scene, the spell-caster army outside grew restless once more.
Opportunities to plunder war spoils without risking life and limb in a real battle were exceedingly rare, and the sight naturally set everyone else itching with envy.
Who knew how many treasures might still be hidden within such an enormous complex of buildings and pavilions?
"Master Le, what do you think..."
After waiting a while longer, both the tall, thin spell-caster and Ku Yao grew impatient. Ku Yao also spoke up hesitantly.
Since the two of them were leading this contingent, the majority of the spell-casters naturally hailed from their respective tribes. The Mulan grasslands had always been starved of cultivation resources, and neither was willing to let their own tribesmen pass up this opportunity.
As for the initial hundred spell-casters, they came from a relatively weak minor tribe. Whatever they had managed to seize should have been enough.
The green-robed woman's expression remained unchanged, as though she hadn't heard a word they said. But her beautiful eyes narrowed ever so slightly, growing somewhat hazy and distant.
Ku Yao and the tall, thin spell-caster exchanged a glance, hesitated, and ultimately said nothing more.
A full quarter-hour passed before the hundred-odd spell-casters had cleared roughly one-third of the mountaintop. Only then did the woman finally speak: "You two will each send a hundred more to join them, and while you're at it, destroy any lingering restrictions in the area. I will not allow anyone else to enter this mountain until my spiritual sense has scanned the entire peak."
"Yes, we'll follow Master Le's instructions." The two men were overjoyed and immediately transmitted voice messages to their trusted disciples.
Another two hundred spell-casters surged into the mountaintop, and once again the frenzied looting began.
"So it seems these are all of them. My magical power can't hold out any longer. Activate the restrictions." From somewhere within Yellow Dragon Peak, the voice of the elderly man surnamed Ma sounded softly.
"What a pity! Not a single one of the Mulan Grand Masters fell into the trap." The deep voice of the scar-browed big man also rang out, tinged with regret.
But barely had those words faded when a thunderous roar, building from a low rumble to a deafening crescendo, echoed across the entire peak. The mountaintop trembled in wave after wave of violent shaking.
In an instant, all three hundred spell-casters searching the peak turned pale. Without anyone needing to give the order, they scattered in every direction, fleeing for their lives.
Among them, the three Core Formation spell-casters naturally had the fastest escape lights, shooting dozens of zhang away in the blink of an eye.
But however fast their escape lights, they couldn't possibly flee beyond the range of the grand formation in a single instant.
Above the peak, spiritual lights of every color flickered into view. The mist that had vanished from all sides came surging back, and in the span of a single breath, billowing green fog blotted out the sun, once again transforming the vast area centered on Yellow Dragon Peak into a churning sea of mist.