"Brother Li, do me a favor and let your men know — if this operation succeeds, every person who contributes will receive two hundred spirit stones. If anyone dies in the process, those in the Celestial Fate realm will receive a compensation of one hundred spirit stones, those in the Celestial Star realm will get two hundred, and those in the Celestial Rotation realm will get five hundred!" Nie Li said. "I'll cover all of these spirit stones myself!"
Li Xingyun glanced at Nie Li in surprise. After a moment's thought, he figured that Nie Li was practically a walking treasure vault these days, so he saw no reason to be polite. "Then I'll thank you on behalf of my brothers!"
"You're welcome," Nie Li said with a faint smile.
Li Xingyun had brought this many people deep into the Great World to seek their fortune. Although these experts were all willing to follow his lead, without some form of compensation, they might keep their mouths shut but would certainly harbor resentment in their hearts. Nie Li had solved this problem for him completely!
Li Xingyun felt that interacting with Nie Li was actually quite pleasant.
When the others learned of Nie Li's words, the entire group grew excited. If the operation succeeded, the rewards would be incredibly generous.
The group gradually ventured deeper into the Great World.
Just as Nie Li and his party were speeding forward, another group was tailing them from a considerable distance.
Leading them was
A Celestial Rotation realm powerhouse that Gu Heng had sent to gather intelligence came flying back.
"Did you figure out their intentions?" Gu Heng looked at the expert and asked.
"Reporting to Boss Gu Heng — I used the Sound Gathering combat skill to eavesdrop on their conversation. It seems they've discovered a medium-grade Divine Pool somewhere deep in the Great World and are planning to capture it," the Celestial Rotation realm expert reported promptly.
A medium-grade Divine Pool?
Upon hearing this, Gu Heng's eyes lit up, and a thin smile crept across his lips. "I didn't expect them to have found a medium-grade Divine Pool! A medium-grade Divine Pool must be guarded by plenty of Dragon Blood Demon Beasts! It's perfect — Li Xingyun and his crew will be the praying mantis stalking the cicada, and we'll be the oriole lurking behind. Once they've fought halfway through or managed to take the Divine Pool, we'll swoop in and snatch it right out from under them, leaving them with nothing but an empty basket!"
Gu Heng's subordinates all lit up with excitement at the news.
That was a medium-grade Divine Pool. Its value was extraordinary!
"Boss Gu Heng, Li Xingyun commands considerable forces — roughly on par with ours. If we steal his Divine Pool, wouldn't that invite retaliation?" one of them asked, worry flickering across his face.
"What kind of talk is that! With a medium-grade Divine Pool in our hands, why would we fear them? When a Divine Pool is freshly conquered, it will have accumulated a massive amount of spirit stones — tens of thousands at the low end, hundreds of thousands, or even millions at the high end. Plus plenty of spirit stone essence. We take those spirit stones, recruit some powerful allies, and hold the Divine Pool together. What will Li Xingyun be able to do to us then?" Gu Heng raised an eyebrow. Li Xingyun indeed commanded impressive forces, but Gu Heng had held the position of first-in-line heir to the Gu family for many years, and his influence was no less formidable. Why would he be afraid of Li Xingyun?
Who told you to protect Nie Li?
Nie Li and
Gu Heng led his forces forward, trailing at a leisurely pace.
Nie Li's group continued to fly forward at high speed. Before long, one of Li Xingyun's subordinates accelerated and caught up.
"Boss Xingyun, we're being followed!" the subordinate whispered.
"Followed? Who is it?" Li Xingyun furrowed his brow.
"Not sure yet. There appear to be around six or seven hundred of them. Once I detected them, I came straight to report to you — I didn't want to alert them!"
"Good work." Li Xingyun nodded and exchanged a glance with Nie Li.
Though they didn't know who was behind them, they could basically confirm that the newcomers harbored ill intent. It was very likely that word of the medium-grade Divine Pool had leaked, drawing people who wanted to swoop in and reap the rewards!
"So what do we do now? We've already come this far — there's no way to keep the Divine Pool a secret anymore," Li Xingyun said. It was already too late to turn back.
The location of the medium-grade Divine Pool would inevitably be discovered!
Nie Li thought for a moment and said, "Don't worry. We're not trying to conquer the Divine Pool — we're only after the Divine Root. Our pursuers don't know our true intentions. They probably think we'll fight the Dragon Blood Demon Beasts guarding the pool to the death, and then they'll swoop in to pick up the pieces. Since we're on our guard now, they won't get their way!"