by <unknown>
Air was popping out of the crevice now and then. Neltharion had detected that the temperature of the air was slightly higher than that of the environment.
The narrow and long crevice was only the width of a palm. There was no way that a normal person could cram in. If somebody were to detonate it, their attempt was bound to be discovered.
However, Neltharion was exactly the width of a palm, and therefore could crawl into the crevice easily.
After zigzagging inside the crevice for a long time, traces of man-made objects were finally exposed. A ventilation tube had been buried deep inside the crevice.
Neltharion moved downward in the ventilation tube for three minutes in stealth mode until it met dozens of branches ahead.
It appeared that the scale of the secret chamber was larger than Li Yao had thought.
He chose a branch randomly. It was not until Neltharion reached fifty meters below the ground that it entered a narrow pathway.
The pathway was absolutely straight with no places to hide in at all. There were a few guards in the clothes of the Oasis Tribe warriors on both sides. Those people looked equally shrewd and tough, and in no way did they resemble the ignorant barbarians.
Li Yao held his breath and controlled Neltharion to move forward along the foot of the wall. At the end of the pathway was a heavy iron door behind which cries and shouts could vaguely be heard.
In the lower part of the iron door was a hole not very large that was probably meant to deliver food and water to the prisoners inside. Neltharion crept into the room through the hole.
Li Yao was greatly surprised by what he saw.
This was an extremely spacious cage where almost twenty prisoners were confined. They were all young people in their twenties at most.
Most of the young people had fair skin and elegant manners, entirely different from the style of the Iron Plateau natives.
Some girls were sobbing. Some young men were arguing with each other. Some were listening to the noises nearby by sticking their ears to the wall, while some were comforting their weeping companions even though there was nothing but gloom on their own faces.
Li Yao observed the young people one by one with Neltharion, only to come to a suddenly halt.
He found an old acquaintance among the young people— Xie Anan!
Xie Anan was a freshmen year student in the Refining Department of Flying Star University and also one of the volunteers in the Skyhill Sword Seminar. When Li Yao applied for the Skyhill Sword Seminar, he had registered at her desk.
When he arrived in the Skyhill Domain, the two of them had met by accident in the Museum of Swords and Sabers. Later, he had gotten to know a few other fellow Cultivators in the circle of refiners through Xie Anan and had taken part in the 'Sword Tasting Get Together' with them.
After that, when she saw that Li Yao trained with the Purple Ring Sword Ants, she had tried it herself, only to foam and pass out due to the excruciating pain. She had left a deep impression on Li Yao.
How on earth was she captured and brought to Iron Plateau?
Li Yao tried his best to hold back his curiosity and observed carefully.
Xie Anan was much thinner than a few months ago. Her round, apple-like face had become long and thin. She looked much more mature, too, with resolution on her face.
She was comforting one of her female companions who kept sobbing. "Rest assured. The sound of combat is breaking out in the outside. Somebody must've come to rescue us!"
After pondering for a moment and scanning the environment in the cage, Li Yao found no alternatives except to gamble.
He drove Neltharion to pass through the crowd cautiously and arrived behind Xie Anan. He then touched her back with the head of the warship model softly three times.
Xie Anan's eyes were wide open. She turned around and check, only to find nothing.
Li Yao pinned Neltharion's head to Xie Anan's body and wrote on her back. "Don't be alarmed."
Xie Anan blinked her eyes. She managed to not scream although it was quite hard.
Controlling Neltharion, Li Yao wrote again. "Go to the bathroom."
The cage was mixed with males and females. There was a booth in a corner that was some sort of bathroom. It had no door, but there was a curtain that could block the vision from outside.
Xie Anan swallowed troublesomely. She said a few more comforting words to her companion before she walked into the bathroom and pulled the curtain shut.
Li Yao wrote on her back. "Who are you? Why are you here? Speak in your lowest voice."
After he finished writing, he immediately drove Neltharion to Xie Anan's mouth.
Xie Anan rubbed her face hard to calm herself down. She held her face with her hands. A barely audible voice leaked out from between her fingers. "My name is Xie Anan. I am a student of Flying Star University. Who are you? Are you here to rescue us?"
Neltharion flew to her back again and started writing. "Keep talking. Don't stop. Tell me everything you know, including everyone's identity."
Xie Anan swallowed and moaned, "I… I barely know anything! As a freshman year student of the Refining Department of Flying Star University, I was listed as a volunteer of the Skyhill Sword Seminar according to tradition, but then a great explosion took place during the event!
"The Skyhill Domain was in a havoc back then. Affected by the blast, my head was dizzy. I only vaguely remember that, in the flames, a man in a doctor's uniform asked me whether or not I was a student of Flying Star University. I nodded, and he brought me to an ambulance. I don't know what happened next.
"When I woke up again, I found myself in what seemed to be a carrier and confined in a fully enclosed cabin. My hands and legs were sore, and my spiritual root was locked by certain barriers. I couldn't make use of spiritual energy at all and became completely useless.
"Somebody brought me food and water every day. Occasionally, several people wearing masks would come and interrogate me. They wanted to know who I was and the social network of my family and friends. Now and then, they would bring a few photos over and asked whether or not I knew people on the photos.
"Many of the people were my classmates. Some were the big shots in Heavenly Saints Institute.
"I… I didn't want to tell them, but their eyes seemed to be shining and glittering. Without me knowing it, I'd confessed everything."
Li Yao nodded. The interrogators would have been Meditation Healers who were adept at mental attacks. It would have been more than easy for them to deal with a low-level Cultivator who was no better than an ordinary person now that her spiritual root had been locked.
Xie Anan continued. "I found myself in many different carriers on my way, but I didn't know when the changes took place. I often slept very soundly, and when I woke up, I would be in a different cabin. Just like that, I was all by myself. I didn't even know how many days it had been since I was captured.
"Until… about five days, or ten days—I really can't tell—ago, I lost consciousness again. When I woke up, I already in this cage.
"There were already eleven people in the cage when I arrived. Eight more came one by one later. Together with me, there are twenty hostages in total now.
"I know almost everyone here. Some of them were exactly the people I saw in the photos. Anyways, they are either students of Flying Star University or students of Heavenly Saints Institute."
Li Yao narrowed his eyes. Flying Star University and Heavenly Saints Institute were the two supreme academic establishments in the Flying Star Sector. Students of the two colleges were literally superstars of tomorrow. They enjoyed a high status both in the world of Cultivators and among ordinary people.
Neltharion went on to write on Xie Anan's back. "What else do they have in common except that they are all college students?"
Xie Anan thought carefully for a moment and said, "Yes. Although everyone here cannot wield our spiritual energy because they've locked our spiritual roots, they do not forbid us from talking. After comm
unicating with each other, we found that many of us have impressive familial backgrounds.
"Of the twenty prisoners, twelve are students of the Heavenly Saints Institute. Heavenly Saints Institute is a private school that only admits the descendants of the privileged in Heavenly Saints City.
"For the twelve of them, many of their parents and grandparents are all in the important posts of the six major sects. There's even Wan Hongying, who is the blood granddaughter of the leader of the Burning Sun Alliance!"
Blood granddaughter of the leader of the Burning Sun Alliance, one of the six major sects in Heavenly Saints City!
Li Yao felt that his blood was freezing.
Xie Anan continued. "As for the eight students from Flying Star University, although our backgrounds are less intimidating, our families are deeply connected to many forces in the Flying Star Sector. We are either heirs of noble families or have family members who are in the important positions of certain sects. Take me for example. I am from the family of Xie, a noble family of refining, but I'm the most insignificant one here."
Twenty heirs of major sects and families as well as brilliant students of the best colleges in the Flying Star Sector had been kidnapped and confined in Iron Plateau.
Chapter 606: Tank of the Burning Sun Tribe |
Li Yao somehow understood why the Great Horn Exo Society was attacking the Oasis Tribe without a care.
But there were many details that he hadn't thought through yet. He continued writing with Neltharion. "Somebody has come to your rescue. Do you know how they learned where you are?"
Xie Anan hesitated for a while. Finally, she made up her mind and said, "Wan Hongying, granddaughter of the leader of the Burning Sun Alliance, has a 'Planet Coordinate Pill' inside her body!
"This is a very unique treasure made of the cores of seven different kinds of demon beasts. When it is swallowed, it will become liquid and meld with the flesh and blood. No methods will ever be able to find it.
"However, with the special secret technique, the owner can trigger it when it is within the range of a planet, so that the liquid will be condensed into a pill again. Other people will be able to locate the coordinates of the pill immediately.
"Such a special treasure has been refined for the security of important people. We didn't know before until Wan Hongying said confidently that somebody had come to rescue us. That's when we learned she had such a treasure with her."
Li Yao thought for a moment, he asked with Neltharion, "Does your enemy know of the existence of the Planet Coordinate Pill?"
Somewhat confused, Xie Anan replied, "That I don't know. Logically, since Wan Hongying's spiritual root was locked, too, her capability should be as good as that of an ordinary people. It wouldn't have been possible for her to keep it a secret."
Li Yao couldn't help but sneer. The Temple of Immortals knew exactly that a Planet Coordinate Pill was inside Wan Hongying's body, yet they still locked her together with so many other hostages. It was clear that they wanted the rescuers to know where the captives were.
Taking the events that took place inside the six tribes of Iron Plateau into consideration, the purpose of the Temple of Immortals couldn't have been more obvious.
While Li Yao was pondering, Xie Anan suddenly put on an extremely weird expression. She yawned and suddenly fell asleep, her body leaning against the wall of the bathroom until she gradually fell to the ground.
Snores came over from the outside, too. The other nineteen college students had fallen asleep at the same time. Streams of bright green gas were floating above their heads weirdly.
Huala!
The door of the prison was opened. Six muscular men wearing black masks walked in. They covered the heads of the hostages with black cloths first so that nobody could see the hostages' faces before they stuffed every hostage into a very big bag. They'd also tied up their hands and legs with the veins of demon beasts so that the hostages wouldn't be able to move at all.
Then, one hand pulling two bags, the six muscular men dragged the twenty college students out of the underground chamber.
Li Yao followed and observed. He found a heavy True Qi tank coming over slowly from the shadow of the valley.
The tank was in a very impressive style. It looked like a leopard that had horns all over its body, a perfect combination of speed and savageness.
It had been deeply modified, with exhaust tubes all over the body of the tank. When it rushed by, a tornado seemed to be raised. Blood-like flame patterns were painted on the two sides of the tank. There was also the battle emblem of the Burning Sun Tribe on the head.
The tank of the Burning Sun Tribe stopped by the foot of the hill. A qi-trainer of the Burning Sun Tribe crawled below the tank with a box and reappeared three minutes later.
Was he examining the vehicle, or was he installing something?
Li Yao's heart was beating fast, as he smelled an intense scent of danger.
Very soon, a rock was pushed open heavily. The six muscular men walked out and threw the twenty hostages on the enclosed carriage in the back of the tank.
Wu! Wu!
The iron beast shrieked earsplittingly. It was activated again and rushed toward the other side of the valley.
The Burning Sun Tribe was the fastest and the best at racing among the six tribes. This heavy tank modified by the Burning Sun Tribe was no slower than the single tanks when it was fully activated despite its enormous size!
In less than ten minutes, the tank of the Burning Sun Tribe had driven out of the valley. It took a turn and rushed southwards like a lightning!
Li Yao raised Neltharion's altitude as high as he could and found that the tank had covered dozens of kilometers in the blink of an eye.
On this side of the valley, the battle was still ongoing. However, the Great Horn Exo Society seemed to realize that the hostages had been transferred. There were signs that they were trying to retreat, but they'd been surrounded by the fearless barbaric warriors and could get away in a hurry.
In the horizon of the south, vague smoke could be seen.
It belonged to a large team of tanks, one made of the best, fully-armed qi-trainers of the six tribes of Iron Plateau.
Taking a deep breath, Li Yao changed his direction immediately and marched southwards!
The two schemes were about to be connected. He finally knew what the Temple of Immortals was up to!
The heavy tank carrying twenty important hostages was going all the way to the south. It would certainly run into the elite warriors of the six tribes, who were all ready for battle.
Since someone among the hostages had a 'Planet Coordinate Pill', which could tell the rescuers their location, the Great Horn Exo Society must've already discovered that the hostages were going south.
With the Great Horn Exo Society's capability, it wouldn't be hard for them to get rid of the Oasis Tribe. They would soon trace the Planet Coordinate Pill and march toward the south, too.
Within the following day, the Great Horn Exo Society, who went south to rescue the hostages, and the elite warriors of the six tribes, who went north to resist the 'intruders from the space', would encounter one another.
No. The Great Horn Exo Society must have helpers.
The twenty hostages are either heirs of noble families or descendants of the leadership of the important sects. They are also students of Flying Star University and Heavenly Saints Institute, treasures of the Flying Star Sector!
When news that they were kidnapped spread out, Cultivators in space would definitely have found the pressure unbearable and summoned the best soldiers to rescue them. It was just that the Great Horn Exo Society showed up in the Iron Plateau Space Zone in advance for some reason. That's why they became the first echelon!
Chances are that many starships and experts in the world of Cultivators have been gathered in space right now!
Yes. That must be the case, otherwise the Temple of Immortals wouldn't have chosen such a moment to initiate their scheme!
>
When the experts arrive in Iron Plateau and find the Oasis Tribe's temple, they will definitely think that this is a secret base of the Temple of Immortals!
At that time, if they find that the Great Horn Exo Society has been engaged with the Iron Plateau natives or has even been wiped out…
Right. The man just now has installed god knows what to the bottom of the tank. If it is a bomb…
If the tank of the Burning Sun Tribe fell into the hands of the six tribes of Iron Plateau and suddenly exploded, killing all twenty hostages, the Iron Plateau natives wouldn't be able to explain themselves even if they each grew another ten tongues.
Besides, would the proud and outraged Iron Plateau natives bother to explain themselves at all?
They would more likely talk with their blades and cannons!
The more Li Yao thought the whole scheme in detail, the colder his heart became.
Black Wing accelerated to its maximum speed. However, since the tank of the Burning Sun Tribe left the valley, it had been floating in midair by spurting intense air currents from the bottom. The impetus of the tank was quite impressive, too. Although it hadn't reached the speed of sound yet, it was quite fast!
Black Wing was merely a flying sword after all. Although it could surpass the sonic speed in short-distance sprinting, it couldn't be kept at the supersonic state all the time even if Li Yao was trying his best because too much spiritual energy had been consumed during the long journey to the north.
Speeding up and slowing down, when Black Wing almost spurted the last breath of blackness more than half a day later, Li Yao finally caught up with the tank of the Burning Sun Tribe.
However, the dust on the horizon was already very clear. It was rushing by like the wind of wolves that couldn't tame their fighting will anymore.
The elite warriors of the six tribes were driving toward them precisely!
Observing the north through Neltharion, which was flying in the sky, Li Yao found that the Great Horn Exo Society had gotten rid of the Oasis Tribe. A hundred fully-armed Exos were marching south at full speed.
Damn!
Li Yao gritted his teeth. Black Wing accelerated to its top speed one last time, and all the spurts on the Sky Scorpion Armor were jetting spiritual gas. Finally, Li Yao turned into a streak of brightness and landed on the tank of the Burning Sun Tribe!