I Fabricated the Techniques, but my disciple really mastered them?

...

"The mission has failed!"

Yin Yi had already returned to his base of operations, his breath weak, clearly having used a secret technique at a great cost.

"Why did it fail?"

A figure of Five-Leaf Heavenly Slaughter emerged.

"Xu Yan's strength is even greater than estimated, and a powerful member of the Wan Family intervened. I managed to escape only by using a secret technique..."

Yin Yi said with a heavy voice.

"You should heal your injuries here, and once you have recovered, we will arrange a new mission."

Five-Leaf Heavenly Slaughter instructed.

"Yes, my lord!"

The mission had failed, but in the past, Five-Leaf Heavenly Slaughter wouldn't have taken it to heart, as no one could guarantee a one hundred percent success rate for missions.

However, ever since a traitor had appeared, they had to be more cautious.

Leaving Yin Yi to recover at the base, Five-Leaf Heavenly Slaughter and the rest of the people from the base silently departed, lying in wait elsewhere.

If their base was compromised, they would surely be attacked.

After waiting three days and no attack came, Five-Leaf Heavenly Slaughter breathed a sigh of relief; Yin Yi had no issues, nor had anyone followed him there.

Just as he relaxed, a two-inch-long black Spirit Bee suddenly flew over and landed on his shoulder.

Hum!

The Spirit Bee's antennae moved, transmitting a faint Divine Soul fluctuation.

Five-Leaf Heavenly Slaughter's expression changed dramatically—the location of one of Heavenly Slaughter Earth Shadow's secret bases had been eradicated by Xu Yan and the Wan Family!

Only one person had managed to escape with a heavy toll!

"Is there a traitor, or did the Wan Family track us down?"

Five-Leaf Heavenly Slaughter's gaze became thoughtful.

"Return to the branch!"

No longer able to sit idly by, Five-Leaf Heavenly Slaughter led his people back to the Heavenly Slaughter Earth Shadow branch at Dahai Mountain.

He had an intuition that the Wan Family might have uncovered Heavenly Slaughter Earth Shadow's existence, and it wouldn't be long before they began a manhunt.

Before they reached the branch, another Spirit Bee arrived.

The second base had also been annihilated, and the assailants were the same—Xu Yan and the Wan Family working together. From this base, which was stronger, two people had escaped.

"Two bases compromised at the same time, both connected!"

Five-Leaf Heavenly Slaughter pondered.

These Spirit Bees, unique to Heavenly Slaughter Earth Shadow, were fast and ensured their messages were delivered secretly without interception. Given the speed of the Spirit Bees, the time between the first and the second base's destruction was short.

From this, it could be inferred that Xu Yan and Wan Tianlin had systematically targeted the second base immediately after destroying the first.

This meant they had already thoroughly understood the situation of these two bases.

The only thing that baffled Five-Leaf Heavenly Slaughter was why the Wan Family's participation involved only two clan elders. Shouldn't they have annihilated the base in one fell swoop without letting anyone escape?

Suddenly, his expression shifted subtly. Could the Wan Family have deliberately let some escape, then followed them to track down the Heavenly Slaughter Earth Shadow branch at Dahai Mountain?

"Earth Shadow members excel at hiding; it's impossible for even a True King Heavenly Venerable to track them without a trace. Could it be that an Immortal Heavenly Venerable from the Wan Family personally took action?"

At the thought, Five-Leaf Heavenly Slaughter's heart sank.

Certainly, if an Immortal Heavenly Venerable acted, their demise was inevitable.

"Although the Heavenly Grotto at Dahai Mountain is currently stable without major upheaval, it's also impossible for an Immortal Heavenly Venerable of the Wan Family to easily leave their position..."

After pondering, Five-Leaf Heavenly Slaughter issued an order, "Notify those who have escaped to come here to regroup."

To be cautious, instead of ordering the escapees to meet at the branch, Five-Leaf Heavenly Slaughter directed them to a secret location.

This place was the location of Heavenly Slaughter Earth Shadow's backup branch.

"Order Second-Leaf Heavenly Slaughter to come here and await further commands!"

After thinking it over, Five-Leaf Heavenly Slaughter issued another order.

If they intended to deceive people, then this backup branch must have other members of Heavenly Slaughter Earth Shadow present.

If necessary, the sacrifice of some members was also essential.

Hum!

Two Spirit Bees immediately flew off, tasked with delivering the messages.

Meanwhile, Five-Leaf Heavenly Slaughter continued to lead his trusted followers back to the location of the branch at Dahai Mountain.

Just as they reached the vicinity of the branch, another Spirit Bee flew in.

Another stronghold had been wiped out.

The custodian of this stronghold was not weak, and in his desperate counterattack, two people managed to escape from the stronghold and even injured an elder of the Wan Family.

"Something's not right!"

Five-Leaf Heavenly Slaughter began to ponder.

Then, a flash of insight struck him, and he seemed to understand something.

"Wan Family, is this using Wan Tianlin as bait to lure the strong warriors of Heavenly Slaughter Earth Shadow into action?"

At this moment, Five-Leaf Heavenly Slaughter suspected that the reason the Wan Family had not completely destroyed the Heavenly Slaughter Earth Shadow strongholds, allowing people to escape each time, was to deliberately send a message to Heavenly Slaughter Earth Shadow.

The protection around Wan Tianlin was weak, marking it the prime opportunity to strike at Wan Tianlin and Xu Yan!

"Heh, so it is, trying to lure us to show ourselves!"

Having understood this, Five-Leaf Heavenly Slaughter couldn't help but let out a cold laugh. How could he fall for such a trap?

The true purpose of killing Wan Tianlin was to provoke a conflict. Now that the plan to instigate strife had been exposed, taking the risk to kill Wan Tianlin would be a loss-making venture.

"Xu Yan!"

Five-Leaf Heavenly Slaughter muttered to himself.

"Wan brother, looking forward to cooperating again!"

Xu Yan said with a cupped fist and a smile.

"Sure!"

Wan Tianlin's face was all smiles.

This cooperation led to the eradication of three Heavenly Slaughter Earth Shadow strongholds, and Xu Yan had provided the information for all three, with each stronghold intentionally allowing people to escape.

Of course, those who escaped had performed a secret technique and their strength had declined.

Xu Yan would then follow the escapees before returning shortly after, seemingly having learned the location of new strongholds from those who had fled.

Although Wan Tianlin didn't know how Xu Yan had managed this, clearly these fleeing members of Heavenly Slaughter Earth Shadow would be of great use!

From this joint operation, Wan Tianlin also obtained part of the list of Earth Shadow Members lurking within the Wan Family.

These were provided by Xu Yan, obtained from interrogating the escapees.

Even making the tight-lipped confess, such a tactic was truly incredible and deepened Wan Tianlin's admiration for Xu Yan.

"Six of them now, Heavenly Slaughter Earth Shadow, wait for me, Xu Yan, to wipe you out in one fell swoop!"

Xu Yan's expression was steely.

He already controlled six individuals, from Yin Yi to Yin Liu, just waiting for the right moment. Once he took over the sub-branch of Heavenly Slaughter Earth Shadow, he could then eradicate them.

"Waiting for Junior Brother to come!"

The search message for Meng Chong had already been sent out by the Wan Family.

As long as Meng Chong was in Dahai Mountain, he would surely receive this message and then come seeking.

This time, in eradicating the Heavenly Slaughter Earth Shadow strongholds, Xu Yan had gained more information about the locations of Heavenly Slaughter Earth Shadow holdouts, but he hadn't taken action, only destroying three strongholds.

Besides the Dahai Mountain stronghold, there was even information about strongholds in other regions like Thousand Layered Mountain.

In a certain city on Dahai Mountain, a muscular man with thick hair was leaving the city.

"Senior Brother is looking for me."

This muscular man was none other than Meng Chong.

To avoid pursuit, he wore thick false hair intentionally, and had also altered his appearance somewhat.

However, since he was tall and sturdy, those pursuing him paid special attention to any robust individual and would investigate carefully.

Nevertheless, Meng Chong's technique for suppressing his presence and altering his form was ingenious, allowing him easily to hide his identity. In times of need, he could even compress his physique, making his robust figure seem smaller.

"The treasures needed for building my foundation are almost sufficient, it's a good time to break through."

Meng Chong left the city, avoiding potential pursuers.

"Once I break through to the Great Sun Stellar Indestructible Body, I'll kill them one by one!"

Meng Chong's gaze was fierce.

Barely advancing to the Nine Mountain Realm, he had encountered pursuit and even faced dire straits—it was not something he was going to let go of lightly.

Once he made the breakthrough, he would fear no one below the Immortal Heavenly Venerable, and even the True King Heavenly Venerable would not be able to threaten him. Then, it would be time to demonstrate his divine power and show those assailants the ferocity of Physical Body Martial Arts.

Xu Yan, who was waiting for Meng Chong's arrival, received Meng Chong's message through the Communication Talisman. The distance between them was now within the range of the talisman.

"Junior Brother!"

Upon seeing Meng Chong wearing the false hair, Xu Yan's eyes grew even colder.

The pursuit by Heavenly Slaughter Earth Shadow had forced Meng Chong to wear false hair, which showed how many dangers Meng Chong had faced in these days.

"Senior Brother!"

Meng Chong was overjoyed and quickly took off the false hair and put it away neatly.