After carefully reading his lot, Lei Jun finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He would make it safely through this ordeal today.

Then he sighed inwardly again.

*But this draw of luck was really just so-so.*

*The best he could hope for were two neutral lots.*

But as long as he could avoid the two moderately unlucky lots, things were already pretty good.

As for which one to pick exactly…

Staying put within this part of Cangbo Mountain posed no real danger.

Running west was also a perfectly neutral lot, but besides all the trouble, more waves and turbulence could come his way.

Comparing both, it was obviously more suitable to play it safe and stay put.

Lei Jun made up his mind right away.

But suddenly, something popped into his head, and he remembered something else.

After checking his surroundings, Lei Jun enchanted himself with his life-bound Wind-Thunder Talisman—"Night Wind"—his figure merging into the invisible.

Then he took out his Divine Eye Mirror Stone, and observed in the direction of those Mount Shu disciples.

Under the collapse of heaven and earth, Ji Chuan, Zhao Gang, and Lin Xinran also pulled out all the stops, dodging falling rocks and shunning the demonic aura spreading above.

Lei Jun checked the environment above again.

One person and two demons had already gone all out, True Fire blazing. Elder He, though powerful, had to fight off both Nine-Clawed Stone Lions at once, his full attention consumed, unable to worry about anything else.

The streaks of sword light constantly rained down randomly from the sky, with no way to predict their landing. Lei Jun, Ji Chuan, and the others had to dodge by themselves, lest they got hit by mistake from their elders.

Lei Jun gave a slight nod.

He made no big moves, his body moving as silently as night wind, first leaving Cangbo Mountain to close in on the Mount Shu disciples.

The Mount Shu group was also considering which way to break out.

"Which way do we go? South and north are both blocked, no route up to the sky and no passage down to earth, only east or west left!" Zhao Gang said urgently,

Lin Xinran remained cool, "Let's go west, Elder Martial Uncle Ji has no doubt sensed what's going on over here and might come to help us. We'd better meet up with him as soon as possible."

"Yeah, we'll go west."

Ji Chuan nodded, then glanced toward Cangbo Mountain, "Haven't seen that friend Lei anywhere."

Zhao Gang snorted, "Who the hell knows where he ran off to!"

"Let's bring him with us," Ji Chuan took a deep breath, "He's new to the Shu region and not familiar with the terrain. If he goes alone, it's risky."

Zhao Gang widened his eyes, "If we don't mess with him, that's good enough. Why do we need to save him?!"

Ji Chuan said, "Let's at least look for him, today's chaos isn't his fault—he's just caught in the crossfire."

Zhao Gang stood still, sulking, "If you guys want to go, go ahead. I'm not!"

Lin Xinran tried to smooth things over, "Leaving one person to wait here isn't a bad idea. If that guy Lei comes by himself, and Senior Brother Zhao's here, he'll at least know to head toward the West Mountain."

"Works for me." Ji Chuan nodded, "We're short on time, let's move!"

He and Lin Xinran immediately split up, heading out to search for Lei Jun.

Only, while Ji Chuan went looking toward Cangbo Mountain, Lin Xinran didn't really go far.

After circling around, he slipped back toward the West Mountain.

Lin Xinran carefully skirted the giant demon-aura-laden boulders smashing down and the cutting sword light overhead.

He needed to make sure, as long as he didn't make any big moves, Elder He above shouldn't pay attention to him for now.

Though honestly, Lin Xinran wasn't planning on making any big moves himself.

*And even if someone did, it wouldn't be him doing it.*

*But something had to be done, no matter what.*

*After all, an opportunity like this was just too rare.*

*Miss it now, and who knew when there'd be another chance again.*

Lei Jun.

The rising young prodigy from Longhu Mountain Celestial Master's Mansion in recent years.

If Tang Xiaotang represented the younger disciples of the Celestial Master's Mansion in the last decade,

then in this decade, the brightest rising star was definitely Lei Jun.

If he died here in the Shu region because of Mount Shu disciples, things between Mount Shu Sect and Longhu Mountain Celestial Master's Mansion were guaranteed to be anything but peaceful.

But this couldn't be Lin Xinran's doing directly.

It couldn't even look like one of those perfect unsolved mysteries.

This wasn't a matter of cultivation strength.

The reason was, he was from the Jiangzhou Lin Clan.

If something happened to Lei Jun, with no clue pointing clearly at the culprit, everyone would naturally suspect him.

There had to be a clear murderer.

Another Mount Shu disciple.

Zhao Gang or Ji Chuan, either would work.

As for their actual abilities, well—if either of those two died by Lei Jun's hand, he would be just as satisfied.

Ji Chuan was best, but Zhao Gang would do too.

In short, Mount Shu disciple killing a disciple of the Celestial Master's Mansion, or vice versa—a Heavenly Master Mansion disciple killing a Mount Shu disciple—both were good outcomes.

Even if Lei Jun simply died in the disaster, that worked too.

As long as he, Lin Xinran, carrying the Lin Clan mark, wasn't dragged into it, that was all that mattered.

*Pulling this off wouldn't be easy.*

Luckily, heaven had handed him a chance.

On one hand, Elder He couldn't spare any attention at the moment.

On the other, the shifting earth veins and widespread chaos made it easy to cover up tricks.

Lin Xinran first avoided Zhao Gang waiting outside the West Mountain, heading there first to check things out.

The great battle raging above forced those fleeing through the West Mountain to take the terrain into account.

And although the West Mountain was relatively stable, the shifting earth veins and collapsing rocks still made some areas safe, while others remained dangerous.

Having come to Shu as a child to study the Tao, Lin Xinran had lived here for decades and knew the mountains and earth veins of Bashu as well as anybody.

He quickly confirmed that in the West Mountain, there was actually just one pass and one valley that were safe enough to pass through.

Anywhere else, the earth veins and terrain were just as unstable—one misstep and it could all collapse, with underground energy erupting into a fierce gale that could tear even a Middle Three Heavens cultivator apart.

Lin Xinran waved his hand right away.

The jade flute—his life-bound Magic Artifact—flew out from his waist.

He played the flute, which made no distinct sound.

But invisible sound waves, almost tangible, spread forward.

He quietly collapsed one corner of the pass over there.

Though it wouldn't trigger right away, it was set so that later on, that area would collapse, splitting open the ground, and send turbulent energy and fierce wind roaring skyward.

For the valley nearby, Lin Xinran changed his tune.

Again, invisible sound waves gathered, filling the valley.

They created a faint illusion, a sense of instability, making the place look as if it would collapse at any moment.

Having finished all this, Lin Xinran slipped away in silence.

But as he vanished, just a little distance away, the earth and rocks suddenly split apart.

As the spirit-light-infused stones dispersed, Lei Jun's tall figure came into view.

He took one calm look in Lin Xinran's direction, having already guessed most of his thoughts.

*Yeah, a troublemaker. Well then...* Lei Jun nodded slightly.

He didn't say much, nor did he act for now, just left quietly.

Silently returning to Cangbo Mountain, Lei Jun ran into Ji Chuan, who was searching for him.

"Friend Lei?"

The young Taoist across from him hurriedly waved, "Follow me, we're escaping via the West Mountain!"

Lei Jun said, "Alright!"

The two rushed to the West Mountain and saw Zhao Gang still waiting by the pass, his patience wearing thin.

"Where's Brother Lin?" Ji Chuan asked.

Zhao Gang shook his head, "Haven't seen him come back!"

He gave Lei Jun a look and didn't say much else, just, "Brother Lin knows to go this way. Let's leave a mark for him—he'll know to take the West Mountain when he returns."

With the mountains shaking and time running out, Ji Chuan nodded, "Yeah, let's go first."

Lei Jun didn't say more, following them on the road.

In the distance, Lin Xinran reappeared, a quiet smile on his lips.

*Lei Jun dying to the fierce wind in the chasm would be perfect.*

*If he survived, but started suspecting Ji Chuan and Zhao Gang had set him up, and fights broke out—so much the better.*

*Even if Lei Jun and Ji Chuan kept their cool, Zhao Gang with his temper would probably lose it before long.*

*No matter who killed whom, it all worked out.*

*And if none of this came to pass, he, Lin Xinran, lost nothing anyway.*

......

After passing the West Mountain pass, Lei Jun and the others faced a range of mountains, quickly sorting out their route.

They ruled out the paths that looked more dangerous right away.

Though the valley didn't seem obviously dangerous, it still looked unstable.

Only the pass looked relatively safe—a clear path for cultivators to speed through.

"Hold on, better to be careful." Lei Jun spoke up then.

Not caring if Zhao Gang or Ji Chuan objected, he tossed a Spirit Talisman at the pass.

Not a talisman for attacking, just a Basic Spirit Talisman, a family treasure of the Celestial Master Mansion.

An Evil-Repelling Talisman.

Unexpectedly, as soon as the Evil-Repelling Talisman hit the pass, the ground started shaking violently.

Zhao Gang and Ji Chuan were dumbfounded.

Both of them were from Mount Shu, and had far more experience than average cultivators—they knew a minor Evil-Repelling Talisman couldn't possibly cause all that chaos. The pass must have been unstable to begin with.

The pass shattered, the ground split, fierce gales erupted.

Lei Jun and the others quickly defended or dodged as best they could.

"Boom!"

Lei Jun tossed out a high-grade Thunder of Thor Talisman, lightning and thunder roaring as it guided the gales away from him.

With the fierce wind tearing through, it didn't matter how safe that valley looked before—it was destroyed just the same.

Ji Chuan and Zhao Gang hadn't been sure the valley was passable anyway, so they didn't regret it now.

Meanwhile…

Lin Xinran: "..."

Up on the mountain, hidden in the shadows, he was totally thrown for a loop.

*Lei Jun and the others didn't fall for the pass trap—he was only a bit disappointed.*

*But now, with the "safe" path he'd prepared himself destroyed too, he was just feeling heartbroken.*

The Mount Shu ace from the Jiangzhou Lin Clan was nothing if not strong-willed—he shook it off quickly and regained his cool.

*It might have looked like dumb luck, but he couldn't be sure if Lei Jun had done it on purpose.*

*Either way, whoever it was, no one could use the West Mountain route anymore.*

The only option was to circle east now.

Even if it meant a longer detour, that still beat risking the southern and northern rift chasms, where fierce winds erupted from the earth veins.

Lin Xinran gave Lei Jun a last glance before turning and rushing away.

Ji Chuan and Zhao Gang, too, clearly came to the same conclusion, "Let's go, head back east!"

Lei Jun had been keeping a low profile, his main goal to avoid catching Elder He Dongxing's eye up above, in case the old man happened to glance down.

Hearing Ji Chuan and Zhao Gang's suggestion, he outwardly had no objections and traveled with them.

But once they circled back to Cangbo Mountain, Lei Jun suddenly pretended he'd been injured by the gale—his mana thrown out of balance, on the verge of falling into madness—and was forced to sit down and meditate on the spot.

Ji Chuan stopped to look at him.

Zhao Gang rushed on ahead without turning back.

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