Heavenly Dao Engine
Chapter 411 - 411 0296 Truly There is Nowhere to Escape _2

Chapter 411: Chapter 0296: Truly, There is Nowhere to Escape _2 Chapter 411: Chapter 0296: Truly, There is Nowhere to Escape _2 “Do you really think there are treasures here?”

“Didn’t the National Master himself say so? Could he possibly be wrong?”

“Exactly, the National Master is so powerful that even His Majesty must address him as ‘National Master’. How could such a strong person be wrong?”

Qi Tian hid behind the large rock that had cut off the tunnel he had been digging, listening to the conversation of people on the other side of the rock. The appearance of a National Master didn’t seem strange to Qi Tian. After all, he himself was an Acting County Master, and just as Great Zhao had a National Master, so could Chi Di.

What Qi Tian hadn’t expected was to bump into a comrade in such a place. Qi Tian wondered if the National Master of Chi Di was as strong as the National Master of Great Zhao—an expert at the Gold Core Stage. If so, he would need to be careful.

“Be careful with your words, you few. Do you think you’re in a position to discuss the National Master? Get back to work quickly. Be careful not to offend the auspicious beast sent by the National Master, or it might swallow you whole.”

The cultivators immediately stopped their idle chatter and got back to work. They did not have an Innate Spiritual Treasure Level mining shovel like Qi Tian, so they could only use spells or other means to excavate stones and pave roads. Their efficiency was significantly low.

Qi Tian hid behind the rock, holding his breath and focusing, to avoid disturbing them. At the same time, he hoped they would reveal more. However, the warning from the man earlier seemed effective, as it remained quiet on the other side of the rock, except for the sound of work.

Left with no other choice, Qi Tian kept the Heavenly Dao Engine running to monitor everything around him, ready to respond at any moment.

Soon, the Heavenly Dao Engine sent Qi Tian a message—a Zombie Demonic Beast was closing in on their location at an alarming speed.

Shock ran through Qi Tian. Could the Zombie Demonic Beast have located them and was planning to massacre everyone? But then a possibility dawned upon Qi Tian. Could the auspicious beast they were talking about be the Zombie Demonic Beast?

Qi Tian’s speculation was soon confirmed. As the Zombie Demonic Beast got closer, the cultivators at work bowed in greeting, welcoming its arrival.

The Zombie Demonic Beast made a round of inspection in front of them, checked the surroundings, and then left.

The cultivators let out a sigh of relief; the Zombie Demonic Beast had overwhelmed them with its imposing presence. They even instinctively felt that the Zombie Demonic Beast was eyeing them like delicious prey.

“Hurry up and get back to work. We need to be grateful that the auspicious beast, Sir, was generous and didn’t hold any grudges against us. We need to be determined to speed up the progress.”

“Boss, we’re already doing our best. Used to be, we were part of the royal court, revered wherever we went. But now we’ve become the lowest laborers, doing all the dirty and tiring work.”

“Yeah, Boss, ever since the National Master arrived, we courtiers have lost our prestige. We can’t even see His Majesty or the Crown Prince now. Their attention always revolves around the National Master and the auspicious beast, and we’ve become the afterthought.”

“Everyone shut up. You only see the downside, why don’t you look at the bright side? We won’t talk about other things; are these excavations forced on you by the National Master? Didn’t you all come here willingly for the abundant rewards offered by the National Master?”

Everyone was startled.

The leading cultivator sneered, saying, “The National Master and Rui Beast are not ordinary people, they do not squabble with us, we should be content. Besides, didn’t the National Master say? If we dig out treasures according to his guidance, each of us will be heavily rewarded.”

Someone also asked, “Boss, why does the National Master let us spend so much effort digging this tunnel?”

The leading cultivator laughed scornfully: “Why? If I knew why, I would already be the National Master. I wouldn’t have to lead you bunch of fools to work here.”

Qi Tian, behind the boulder, was taken aback. He did not expect so many complications in this matter. He was now almost certain that these people outside came from Chi Di. Their so-called National Master was probably the barefoot man Qi Tian dreaded.

Even the barefoot man coveted the treasures he had sent people to search for here, which must be extraordinary. If Qi Tian hadn’t encountered it, it would be fine. But since he had, he could not easily let the barefoot man take advantage of the situation.

Qi Tian took out a mining shovel and began to dig at the boulder in front of him. He was careful, like peeling an eggshell, fearing damaging the egg white inside.

In the end, he left only a thin layer of stone. With just a push, he could break through this layer of stone skin, leave the tunnel he dug, and head outside.

Qi Tian observed the situation of the cultivators outside using the Heavenly Dao Engine. None of them were at the Gold Core Stage, not even a Half-Step Golden Core. They were all at the Foundation Establishment Stage. The only stronger one was the Zombie Demonic Beast.

Qi Tian had quite an impression of these Zombie Demonic Beasts. After several battles with them, Qi Tian was sure that they were domesticated. Not only were they strong, but their numbers were not large either. He had killed several of them already, the remaining numbers are reducing. According to Zen principles, they shouldn’t come out unless it’s a critical occasion. Yet, the barefoot man had sent one over, which showed how important this place was to him.

Since it’s important, Qi Tian must understand the secrets here and then destroy them. He couldn’t let them become a tool for the barefoot man to enhance his power. If the barefoot man’s power increases suddenly, Qi Tian feared it would become even more difficult to deal with him.

Now, outside the boulder, there should be a relatively spacious tunnel. Besides the Zombie Demonic Beast that didn’t come in, there were also seven cultivators at the Foundation Establishment Stage. The leader seemed to be at the eighth level of Foundation Establishment, and the others were all at the middle stage of Foundation Establishment.

This was the normal situation. The three Great National Masters had the highest power in Great Zhao, rumored to include a mysterious character in the royal family, all of them were at the Gold Core Stage, and were the only four Gold Cores in Great Zhao. The situation was similar in Chi Di. The Gold Core Stage was the ceiling. No matter how talented you were, if you cultivation reached the Gold Core Stage on this land, that would be your peak.

Dealing with these Foundation Establishment cultivators would be easy for Qi Tian. However, dealing with the Half-Step Golden Core Zombie Demonic Beast wouldn’t be as simple. The defense of these Zombie Demonic Beasts is astonishing, and Qi Tian did not specialize any countermeasures against them. He used to have some Explosive Thunder Talismans, but those were used up when dealing with the first Zombie Demonic Beast. There hadn’t been time to replenish. He wanted to replenish them, but there was no place to do it. Those Explosive Thunder Talismans that could threaten the Half-Step Golden Core Zombie Demonic Beasts couldn’t be obtained from just anywhere; only places like Wanjie City would have them for sale. Neither Great Zhao nor Chi Di would likely encounter such Thunder Talismans on the market.

Even if he had a method to assassinate the Half-Step Golden Core Zombie Demonic Beast, Qi Tian had to be cautious. He couldn’t let any of these Foundation Establishment cultivators escape. Once they leave here to the outside of the tunnel and send out signals to attract more cultivators, Qi Tian would not be able to escape.

Qi Tian had to come up with a comprehensive plan to ensure that he could kill the Zombie Demonic Beast while making sure that he completely blocks other people’s escape routes. For him, it was a significant challenge.

The only consolation was that this place was in a tunnel, quite a distance from the surface. These Foundation Establishment cultivators could only run towards the surface, not in any other direction, which provided Qi Tian with an opportunity.