Chapter 163: The energy blast

The Pit-

"The first elder would be arriving soon. You need to complete the excavation as fast as possible. How big is the gain this time?"

"I managed to absorb 60% of the vein.". Long Tao was filled with elation. A 10% increase in the absorption was a huge gain on his behalf. "The artifact managed to go through some drastic changes which would be apparent to you in the future. If given time, I can completely absorb the remaining vein in 15 days."

"The formation would break soon. Hordes of practitioners will be attracted to this location. Can you hide your presence from an emperor level practitioner?"

"I can, but it won't be possible when I am absorbing energy."

"Halt the operation for now. If my plan is successful, we would get a short window to devour quite a bit of the remaining vein.". The Keeper was unaware of Long Tao's actual plan.

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6 days ago-

Multiple figures were seen roaming around the pit. These areas were guarded by the Jiao military forces, but their attention seemed to have been drawn towards another area as of now.

"Are you sure about there being a gap between their outposts?"

"I surveyed the area for a long time. It seems that the troops are being called back to the Tamar camp. Long Tao must have requested assistance for surveying the whole area and the process must have ended. I saw soldiers leaving their posts and returning to the central base.'

"To confirm my suspicions, I followed them into the main camp and overheard the release order by the second in command of the Black-buck squad. Although the original squad is trying to cover the large area, they have a numerical disadvantage, which leads to multiple vacations within their outposts.'

"I asked two of our men to observe the time difference between two successive searches on our path. It's large enough for us to enter."

"Did you find any other information regarding the base camp"

"Although I was not able to overhear their secret meetings due to Long Tao's presence, I did observe a complete change in the environment within that region. At first, I just thought that the temperature was pretty high at those locations, but I managed to get a view of fire energy being released from a location."

"The temperature at that region was so high that even Long Tao wasn't entering it. But he did set up a perimeter around it."

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"Are you sure about the fire energy release?"

'I am sure about it. The surrounding was getting transformed due to the immense release. I presume that the thing we are searching for is within that pit. How else do you describe such a huge and continuous release of fire energy."

The leader of the spy team decided to delegate 4 people with the task of returning to the sect.

"You are to rush as soon as possible. We can't let this opportunity slide."

"Should I ask them to dispatch a team of Qi kings?"

The leader smiled. "I think someone even more powerful than a team would rush here after hearing the news. The rest are to investigate the environment. No matter what the reason, don't pick a fight with the Jiao military. None of us here can compete with Long Tao. It's best to leave the offensive to the elders."

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The southern region of forest, 1 day until the outbreak-

The soldier lit a fire as ordered. As the fire was getting larger and larger, the effects could be seen in the panicked activity of the beasts residing within the forest. Long Tao sent one of his avatars to keep an eye on the plateau for any possible movements, but there seemed to be none present.

"The height of the plateau makes it impossible for the fire to draw the beats out. Whatever entity is residing in there, seems to be unaffected by this commotion."

"Why don't you forget about the beast. Once the energy eruption takes place, it will be attracted to that location by default."

"That is the crucial point of my plan. If it didn't come out by the time the first elder and the evil church's member arrive, no fight is going to take place. A huge portion of reliance on this plan is on the fact that these entities will arrive at the location during the same time. Only then would we be able to carry out our objectives."

"What are you planning to do then."

"It's time I came into play myself. Do you have a presence masking device that can instantly cover my tracks while in battle?"

"Are you going to attack the beast residing within the mountains? I hope you understand the strength is in the king's class at the very least. You are committing suicide if you go in there."

"It is the reason I require a masking device. Its time to use the remaining bombs in the plateau. I hope the commotion is large enough to disturb its sleep."

"Why don't you enter the artifact after the execution of the attack."

Long Tao wanted to have a visual confirmation regarding the beast residing in there. it's best to know your enemy to devise a counter plan. It seemed that he needed to follow the advice of the Keeper and give up on the view.

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A figure slowly rushed near to the plateau regions, carrying a large bag beside him. Once it managed to reach the foot of the plateau, the figure seemed to arch his back and threw the bag towards the location of the cave.

Once the bag seemed to have landed on the plateau, the figure rushed to a distance and made a mysterious sign with his hands. A moment later a loud bang was heard atop the plateau. The size of the blast was bigger than anything seen by Long Tao. It was as if the plateau spewed a huge amount of fire into the sky. Huge cracks were formed on the outer edges of the plateau.

There were no suspicious movements after the blast, which led to the fall of Long Tao spirits. Just as he was about to approach the plateau once more, a minute vibration could be felt by him. The cracks seemed to be growing wider and wider as time passed.

Long Tao knew that the damage done to the plateau's structure was immense and rushed away from it. As he neared his previous location, a ferocious roar could be heard. The atmosphere turned heavy and Long Tao found it hard to breathe. The beast was awake.

Long Tao gather all his power and activated the teleportation. The avatar was instantly sucked into the Crimson lord artifact. A moment later the plateau finally cracked open, as a huge shadow emerged from it. After the dust settled, the outline of the shadow was finally visible. It was a huge claw.

An enormous figure tore open the plateau���s surface and emerged out, its eyes surveying the surrounding. After a brief period of time, it finally realized that the culprit behind this situation seemed to have disappeared into thin air.

The shook its head and tail, spread its wings, and leaped into the air, moving north.

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The pit-

A group of people dressed in black soon reached the location as specified by the spies. "The reports seemed to be true. But someone seemed to have set up an absorption and hiding formation around it. Although the level is low, the technique is quite advanced. It seems that Long Tao is quite capable, as mentioned in the reports."

"Let's enter and find out the truth.". One of the figures began to move towards the pit.

'Wait, something is not right." As the sound ended, a crack formed in the formation surrounding the pit, and the energy blasted out. The person was nearest to the pit was instantly incinerated by the flames.

"It is the treasure for sure."

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3 figures were rushing to the location of the pit when a huge burst of energy shot out.

"I can feel it. It's a fire vein for sure, and a medium grade one at that." The first elder grabbed either of the figures beside him and rushed towards the pit.

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The beast which was roaming aimlessly on top of the forest felt the sudden emergence of a huge amount of fire energy. Its eyes glistened as it rushed towards the direction.