Chapter 1092 – Entering the Sandstorm
The disciples of Carefree Island didn’t have the confidence or spirit to face the Occult Bone Clan and Splintersoul Mountain together. Although Carefree Island was strong, their enemy was still the joint forces of the two other sects. In these past years, Carefree Island had mostly suffered disastrous defeats in the battles within the Red Desolate Mystic Realm. Moreover, there was only a very tiny number of disciples that came to this purple mountain to mine, and even fewer amongst them were direct disciples. Their cultivation levels were also much lower on average. Thus, when facing an enemy attack, it was natural to first think of retreating and finding support.
For many of the disciples, they would rather Lin Ming be wrong and be laughed at by everyone while desperately looking for the main team than face the villainous Occult Bone Clan and Splintersoul Mountain.
The previously speaking disciple wasn’t feeling too good about Lin Ming’s sneer. The other disciples were also confused as to what he was hinting at. Even Ye Rosewater was frowning, as if she were deep in thought.
Lin Ming took out the Phoenix Blood Spear from his spatial ring, his aura also spreading out with it. In the dark mine, everyone could clearly see the faint purple arcs of electricity that glittered in Lin Ming’s eyes, making everyone feel stifled.
“Our position is a secret and there is also a red sandstorm blowing outside. If you were the captain of Splintersoul Mountain and the Occult Bone Clan, would you choose to come out in this sort of weather and search for an enemy trail in a situation where you couldn’t even see more than five miles ahead of you?”
Lin Ming’s words shocked all of the disciples. Indeed, mining in this weather was already difficult, let alone looking for enemies to fight. And, what was even more incredible was that their position had been suddenly found. There was no way that this was a coincidence.
“You… what are you saying?”
“What am I saying? That’s simple…” Lin Ming shrugged his shoulders and casually waved his spear. “I believe that we have been betrayed.”
“What!?” Upon hearing this, everyone was alarmed.
“Who would betray us!?”
“Are you saying that the traitor is Senior-apprentice Brother White? That… that is impossible!” The previously speaking disciple’s eyes widened like full moons. He wasn’t an idiot. Lin Ming had stopped him from sending a message to the main team, and in addition to what he had said before, it was clear that he was referring to White Mirrorjade!
“Why would Senior-apprentice Brother White betray us!? Don’t speak such nonsense!”
“That’s right. What advantage is there in betraying us? That would only reduce Carefree Island’s war strength!”
As someone pointed out that Lin Ming suspected that White Mirrorjade was the traitor, everyone else began to panic!
None of them were willing to believe that White Mirrorjade had betrayed them. It wasn’t that they believed in White Mirrorjade’s moral character, but that he was their last ray of hope in this situation. If White Mirrorjade had truly abandoned them, then all of them were isolated from help and stuck in a fatal dead end!
In terms of strength, besides Ye Rosewater, only Lin Ming was passable. The other disciples all had limited combat strength. In this situation, not only had they been betrayed by White Mirrorjade but they also had to face the threat of the allied forces from Splintersoul Mountain and the Occult Bone Clan. This meant that their chances of surviving were beyond slim!
No one was willing to cut off their own hope. Thus, subconsciously, no one was willing to believe that Lin Ming’s speculations were true.
At this time, Lin Ming wasn’t in the mood to take care of these disciples’ fragile glass hearts. He only coldly said, “The enemy is less than 80 miles from here. In the sandstorm, their speed is a bit slower, but they should still reach us in less than half an incense stick of time. If they manage to ambush us here then we’ll just be turtles in a jar. If you want to stay here then go ahead, but I’m not joining you.”
As Lin Ming spoke, a rising hysteria began to swell up in the minds of the early Divine Sea disciples.
“What do we do? Do we send a request for support or not?”
“I don’t know. I also don’t believe that Senior-apprentice Brother White has betrayed us. Although what Lin Ming says makes sense, Senior-apprentice Brother White has been in Carefree Island for so many years and he is also a direct descendant disciple. As for Lin Ming, he just arrived and he’s not even a disciple of our Carefree Island. If it were you, would you rather believe Lin Ming or Senior-apprentice Brother White?”
“What do you mean? Are you saying that Lin Ming was the one to betray us?”
“I’m not saying that…”
“What are you worrying about? Maybe the enemy isn’t coming at all. Didn’t you listen to what Lin Ming said just now? He said the enemy was 80 miles away! What sort of concept is 80 miles in this red sandstorm? Even if Lin Ming had some secret detection methods, it might not be accurate at such a range. He could be wrong.”
The dozen plus disciples were all stirred up in a panicked frenzy like ants in hot water. They were all discussing the situation with true essence sound transmissions. Although they spoke a lot, it only took several breaths of time to speak with true essence sound transmissions.
A disciple had already taken out a Carefree Command and was prepared to send out a call for help.
But at this time, a blue light suddenly flashed and the Carefree Command was snatched away from that disciple by a jade white hand.
“Se-senior-apprentice Sister Ye…” The disciple glanced at Ye Rosewater and gulped, confusion written all over his face.
“Don’t send it!” Ye Rosewater grimly said as she put away the Carefree Command. She recalled White Mirrorjade’s words during the Council of Elders – he had clearly wanted to send Lin Ming into a deathtrap. But, she never imagined that White Mirrorjade would be so crazy as to betray his own sect and collude with Splintersoul Mountain and the Occult Bone Clan, even sending her and several other direct disciples to die here!
As she thought back to how he divided everyone, Ye Rosewater became increasingly sure of her own guess. “No wonder he kept me at the main team, it was because he thought I still had some use left. But my subordinates are actually people he has to get rid of. He sent those people here at the same time to avoid having any suspicions cast on him, otherwise, there would be no way to explain sending Lin Ming here by himself. White Mirrorjade, you are far too ruthless!”
As these thoughts flashed through Ye Rosewater’s mind, she actually didn’t voice them out loud. She only calmly faced the other disciples and said, “We’re going with Lin Ming.”
“Senior-apprentice Sister Ye, do you also suspect that Senior-apprentice Brother White has betrayed us?” A disciple asked, stunned. Whether it was from an emotional aspect, or because they didn’t want their last ray of hope to be cut off here, no one wanted to believe that the man they all called their Elder Senior-apprentice Brother and who they also respected had been the one to deliver them to ruin.
“Cut the crap. If you don’t want to die then hurry up!” Ye Rosewater’s voice became increasingly desolate. Her beautiful eyes flashed with an ice cold killing intent!
After being betrayed by White Mirrorjade, Ye Rosewater didn’t lose her cool, nor did she complain about how White Mirrorjade could betray her or the sect. Instead, all that came from her was a thick killing intent.
Lin Ming glanced at Ye Rosewater, a bit surprised. Without saying anything, he rushed towards the exit of the mining pit.
“Everyone listen! All Revolving Core disciples, enter my saint artifact spatial ring!”
Ye Rosewater issued an order to all of the Revolving Core disciples. In a fierce battle, these Revolving Core disciples could be called defenseless babies. Receiving all of them into her spatial ring was the best method of protecting them, but the premise of this was that she wouldn’t die. Otherwise, if she died and her saint artifact spatial ring was destroyed, all of them would be cast out. With their Revolving Core cultivation, they should still be able to barely withstand the disintegrating space storm and escape, but then they would be severely wounded while facing the joint forces of the Occult Bone Clan and Splintersoul Mountain. At that time, their fates could be imagined. After the three sects had fought to this degree, there was no more mercy to be found. No one was willing to allow their enemy’s disciples to return to their sect and freely grow.
The Revolving Core disciples nervously entered Ye Rosewater’s spatial ring, all of them filled with a great unease. They did not have the power to change fate; they could only accept the judgment of those stronger than them. Although they didn’t have to fight after entering the saint artifact spatial ring, the truth was that this was a great torment and tremendous test on their mentality. They would have no idea what was happening outside and could only anxiously wait.
“Junior-apprentice Brother Lin… what do you plan on doing…?”
The one who asked this question was the curvy and full-figured Xiao Raingem. At this time, her normally suggestive face was actually pale white, making her seem a bit ill. To these disciples, not only had they been abandoned, but they were also surrounded by the Occult Bone Clan and Splintersoul Mountain. The pressure on them was just too great.
“We’ll get out of here first. It shouldn’t be hard to avoid their senses in this red sandstorm.” In fact, with Mo Eversnow’s divine sense, they could definitely borrow the red sandstorm as a shield to avoid the encirclement and smoothly escape.
However, the battle had to be fought sooner or later. The reason that Lin Ming had come to the Red Desolate Mystic Realm was to slaughter others, tempering his own Laws in the heat of battle and precipitating his cultivation. If he only played hide-and-seek with his enemy then there wasn’t any meaning in coming here.
After all of the Revolving Core disciples entered the spatial ring, there were only a dozen or so people left over.
As they arrived at the entrance of the mining pit, the wild and fierce red sandstorm blew towards them, endless and overwhelming, blocking out the skies. This scene appeared as if it were the end of the world.
The red sand blowing through the air had already surpassed the speed of sound. Everyone could clearly hear the grating sonic blasts as it cut through the air.
The sounds of a billion trillion grains of sand blasting through the air were like countless knives cutting ice, grating and harsh.
“Everyone, take back your senses! You only need to send out a little wisp of your sense to lock onto my body.”
Lin Ming issued an order with a true essence sound transmission. If these people carelessly investigated their surroundings then they would be easily detected by the enemy. Although the enemy didn’t have Mo Eversnow’s ability, it was still possible for them to investigate an enemy’s divine sense without being sensed themselves.
“This…” These disciples all looked at each other, hesitation on their faces. In the sandstorm, their divine sense could still extend a few miles. But, if they relied on only their eyes then they wouldn’t be able to see more than 10 feet in front of them. That would really be walking blind. Wherever Lin Ming brought them was where they would go. Even if he brought them to a danger zone, they wouldn’t be able to detect it.
“Do it!” Ye Rosewater coldly shouted out. The disciples all obeyed.
“Follow me!” Lin Ming didn’t care too much. After all, he was an outsider so it was normal that they didn’t trust him. But, he was actually surprised that Ye Rosewater placed so much faith in him.
Lin Ming plunged into the limitless red sand. The countless grains of sand struck his protective true essence before shattering, causing a sound like crackling rice.
For the direct disciples present, it wasn’t difficult to pass through this red sandstorm, so they were able to easily follow Lin Ming.
Like this, the dozen plus people followed Lin Ming through the sandstorm, changing direction again and again.
Such a route left them all puzzled and also filled with doubt. But after coming to this step, their only choice was to rely on Lin Ming.