"Now that there are only three of us left, shouldn't we go over our battle plan?"

Hong Tao asked this question to An Xiaoyu. Although he acknowledged Jiang Yuan's ability, it did not mean that he acknowledged Jiang Yuan's strength. In such a war, a True Spirit Realm cultivator was not even considered cannon fodder.

An Xiaoyu shrugged, looked at Jiang Yuan, and said, "I didn't know about the plan; he was in charge of everything!"

"Brother Hong, let me first tell you about our plan for this trip. Of course, the situation can change in an instant, so the current plan is not necessarily the one that will be followed. We will still need to make corresponding minor adjustments based on the changing circumstances!"

Jiang Yuan showed no discomfort whatsoever because of his inferior cultivation level, and naturally began to chat with Hong Tao.

...

"Are you hungry? Would you like some bread?"

In the tranquil mountain stream, three men covered in camouflage had been observing the area for most of the day.

Seeing the bread An Xiaoyu handed him, Jiang Yuan shook his head and said, "It's okay, I'm not hungry. You can give it to Brother Hong!"

Hong Tao was a full twelve years older than the two men, so they always called him Brother Hong, and there was nothing awkward about it.

"Brother Hong, you've been on guard for twelve hours. You should rest for a while. We can just use our divine sense to observe!" An Xiaoyu handed him the bread.

Since the Dark River has now been taken over by the Zhao family, the three of them must continuously scan it with their divine senses to keep track of its every move in order to monitor its information in real time.

"I never expected Brother Jiang's divine sense to be so terrifying. He maintained the same distance from me and was even more at ease than I was!" Hong Tao exclaimed as he withdrew his divine sense.

"Something's not right. The miners from the Zhao family changed shifts early today!" Jiang Yuan said, puzzled as he observed the enemy situation.

The Zhao family owns a spirit crystal mine near the super divine vein, and they also have many miners. However, according to their investigation, the miners' shift change time is usually fixed at midnight, but today it was more than an hour earlier.

"Could it be because they're bringing the Holy Spirit Clan into the city later that they're handing over the shift early?" An Xiaoyu guessed.

Jiang Yuan shook his head and said, "It shouldn't be like this! At this moment, the Zhao family is in a precarious situation, and there's no reason for them to make any unusual moves that would arouse suspicion."

"Could it be that they aren't miners?" An Xiaoyu's expression turned serious.

Jiang Yuan also had this prediction. He extended his sense of stone to its strongest level, but only for a few seconds before he withdrew it.

"Oh no! The Zhao family's experts have infiltrated the miners' ranks to avoid attracting attention!"

Hearing Jiang Yuan's words, An Xiaoyu asked in confusion, "Didn't you say it would be at midnight sharp? Why is the Zhao family's main force here so early!"

"Could it be that they came to scout out the underground river beforehand, just like us?" Hong Tao offered his interpretation.

However, Jiang Yuan shook his head and explained, "The Yin energy in the Dark River is very strong. Even a god would not want to stay there for long. Since they chose to bring the Holy Spirit Clan into the city at this point, they will definitely maintain their best condition to deal with the upcoming battle. Therefore, the chances of them entering the Dark River in advance are very low."

“Yes, I only touched the underground river water for about ten minutes yesterday and my skin broke out in a rash. It’s obviously impossible to soak in the underground river an hour in advance!” An Xiaoyu added. She had Jiang Yuan carry her the whole time yesterday, but she still had some adverse reactions when she entered the deep pool, let alone scouting the underground river an hour in advance.

"Their rendezvous point might have been moved up!" Jiang Yuan said, expressing his biggest worry.

Because the energy field inside the underground river was too powerful, he was unable to remotely control the activation of the formation. Therefore, he chose a timed formation. However, the timed formation was set for three minutes after midnight. If the opponent activated it earlier, all his arrangements would be wasted.

"Let's go, let's go straight there!"

The three of them didn't wait any longer and headed straight for the entrance to the underground river. When they arrived, they confirmed their guess.

Although the death of the second young master of the Zhao family may seem like just a case of fratricide, given Zhao Runnian's vigilance, he will definitely change the timing of the meeting with the Holy Spirit Clan.

While it's impossible to pinpoint exactly when, it certainly won't be midnight.

Because at this moment, the entire mine was completely deserted after the shift was taken over, which was clearly a clearing-out process. Moreover, almost all of the Zhao family members who remained had entered the underground river, which could be seen from the messy footprints on the ground.

"What should we do? Should we proceed according to the original plan?" Hong Tao had not expected such an unexpected turn of events.

The original plan was to wait until midnight when all the Holy Spirit Clan members entered the Dark River, then detonate all the formations at once. After that, all they had to do was block their only escape route, and the Holy Spirit Clan would be sent away one by one, like the Calabash Brothers saving their grandfather.

"You continue according to the original plan. Hong Tao will act as the shield warrior, and An Xiaoyu will provide damage from behind!"

Jiang Yuan was about to head towards the underground river when An Xiaoyu quickly stopped him, asking, "Where are you going?"

"I'll go in and take a look at the formation!" Jiang Yuan said truthfully, but he omitted a sentence at the end: after looking at the formation, he would choose the appropriate way to activate it.

Now that they don't know when the other side will enter the underground river, they have lost the initiative. If they want to regain the initiative, they must enter the underground river themselves.

"I'll go with you!" An Xiaoyu decisively rushed over and hugged Jiang Yuan.

How could she not know what Jiang Yuan wanted to do? She just didn't expose him. All she ever wanted was to be with Jiang Yuan, nothing more.

“No, the exit has no source connected to the divine vein. Even if we blow up the cavern, we can’t stop these people. We need your cooperation and Hong Tao’s cooperation!” Jiang Yuan directly rejected An Xiaoyu. Blocking the road requires at least two people, and Hong Tao, the shield warrior, and An Xiaoyu, the soul energy type, are the minimum required.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!