Deities: Starting From Goblins

Chapter 498: 313 Awake_1

At this point, he was in complete panic. He was the only one left when everyone found out about this tomorrow. Would they think he had hidden? The worst-case scenario is that he might be considered an accomplice to Bart Cloud’s escape. In that case, even jumping into the Golden River wouldn’t wash away his guilt.

His first thought was to flee, but the Sect Leader was at the half-step Saint Seat level. Even if he ran away, how far could he go in such a big world? He fell into despair, already envisioning his execution at dawn. He was on the brink of tears.

But he was clever. He quickly realized that the previous fire wasn’t accidental. The conflagration was a lure and he had fallen for the old trick of a feigned action to avoid confrontation. This realization filled him with regret, yet a silver lining emerged in his mind.

From the moment he had left to fight the fire to now was just a minute, but the other guard was already gone. Could hardly imagine how formidable his foes were. They must be at the Dominator Realm. Even with two on their side, they couldn’t have been their match. Ultimately, it would be two corpses instead of one.

Then, a thought came to him, an immaculate plan: What if he feigned an injury and shock? He would claim that he narrowly survived by chance. Maybe he could deceive the Sect Leader and others. Although they were clever, who would suspect his little theatre?

For the sake of survival, he hit himself hard. Even if this blow left him crippled for the rest of his life, it was worth it. Spouting a mouthful of fresh blood, he lost consciousness and collapsed on the ground.

Meanwhile, a Dominator arrived with an Array Master. The Array Master was an old man, rumored to have lived for a thousand years. He did not cultivate Realms but dived deep into arrays all his life because of his Talent. He had reached the Dominator Realm.

Though just a Dominator, he was astoundingly powerful. A slight carelessness could lead to one falling into his array. Even many of the Half-Step Saint Seats had to respect him, not wishing to provoke the Elder unless they had no other choice. Such was the fear that an Array Master instilled.

The six Sect heads, including Celica Shingo, greeted the Elder, “Old predecessor, we urge you to decipher the array as soon as possible. We don’t know who arranged this array, but even the seven of us at the half-step Saint Seat level can’t cope with it. People say you are the strongest Array Master. We believe you must have a solution.”

“Indeed, but it isn’t easy for me to lend a hand. Considering that you are all reputable Sect heads, I’ll only charge half the price this time, so can we agree to a hundred thousand Spirit Stones?”

Looking at them haughtily, the Elder continued, “You can ask about my reputation. Almost every Array Master bows to me. If I refuse to lend a hand, no other Array Master would dare to help. Besides, you are all part of major Sects, a few Spirit Stones should be nothing to you.”

A troubled expression crossed their faces. They knew Lowen Shingo had already been freed since the flare had fired in the sky. Now that the urgency was gone and the dust had settled, binding the price at fifty thousand Spirit Stones was a bit high. They would have agreed without hesitation if the situation had been urgent.

“So, do you not consent?” The Elder’s brows furrowed. The Strong Dominator had sung praises of him. He had initially planned to demand a hundred thousand Spirit Stones. Seeing their faces, he had halved the price. Never had he anticipated such a face slap, which infuriated him.

Celica Shingo smiled and said, “Predecessor, we acknowledge your unparalleled skills. But fifty thousand Spirit Stones is too much. How about ten thousand? In return, we can be friends. The reputation of our Sects in these parts is significant. We can be of help.”

“So, you top Sects are so miserly. I’d rather not meet you in the future.” The Elder laughed coldly and prepared to leave. Even a small sect could come up with fifty thousand Spirit Stones. Yet there they were, so parsimonious. Why would he bother staying with them?

Seeing that the Elder was about to leave, the Sect Leaders grew nervous. They had merely wished to bargain. The Elder’s departure spelled great loss to them. They quickly stopped him and agreed to pay fifty thousand Spirit Stones. The Elder thought that since he was already there, it wouldn’t be good to fall out with the Sect Leaders.

He walked back and examined the Barrier Array. A look of contempt flashed over his face as the Barrier Array was an elementary array with no attacking power. Its sole purpose was to trap people. He could break this kind of array effortlessly.

He originally wanted to use his Divine Skill, but he gave up upon second thoughts. Since even these Sect Leaders, who were all at the half-step Saint Seat level, had failed to destroy the array directly, he had to find a flaw in the array as he was but a Dominator Realm.

Typically, Spirit Stones form an array. One must find the arrangement’s pattern to locate its weakest point, or the array hammer within it. Both methods could break the array, but it was challenging to locate the array hammer.

However, after a brief observation, the Elder was taken aback, “This… This array is very odd. I have been studying and deciphering arrays for a hundred years. This is the first time I’ve seen such a pattern. I wonder who could have arranged this!”

“What’s wrong with the old predecessor?” Upon seeing the Elder’s reaction, Celica Shingo and his peers quickly asked. Could it be that even the old predecessor couldn’t decode this? Their recently relieved tension had come back.

“This array had a hundred thousand Spirit Stones spent on it.” The Elder explained to them, and everyone was startled. Although they didn’t understand arrays, they knew how generous it was to use a hundred thousand Spirit Stones to build an array. If they had a hundred thousand Spirit Stones, they would use them to buy cultivation resources.

The Elder was an Array Master himself. Unlike others, the number of Spirit Stones an Array Master could use was limited. An entry-level Array Master using a hundred Spirit Stones was already impressive. Even a mighty Array Master like him could only use around thirty thousand Spirit Stones.

Using more Spirit Stones would result in insufficient techniques and mental strength to support it. Ten thousand Spirit Stones were similar to ten thousand points, requiring enormous spiritual power support, even when he had reached the Dominator Realm and his spiritual power had reached a high stage.