CHAPTER 654: CHAPTER 111: AN UNPRECEDENTED PREDICAMENT

With the addition of Chi Xi and Shalman, Yue Jinghua’s scattered soldiers could finally relax completely.

By early evening, the Southern Expedition Soldiers enjoyed a delicious meal.

At mealtime, Yue Jinghua encountered Long Rui, who was feeding her Lake King Dragon. When she saw the Yue siblings, her hand trembled slightly, causing the dragon’s food to drop on the ground.

Yue Minzhi saw this, opened his mouth but ultimately didn’t say anything and returned to the tent.

The encampments had already been set up; Yue Jinghua and her brother Yue Minzhi were assigned to the same tent.

After nightfall, the unique silence enveloped the entire Dawo Village.

After dinner, Yue Minzhi went to discuss matters regarding tonight’s Transmission Array with Long Jiuzun and others.

After engaging in a short meditation in the tent, Yue Jinghua quietly used Pu Yin, her figure concealed within the moonlight.

Yue Jinghua was not superstitious; she didn’t believe in legends about Mountain Demons.

After only a few steps, she saw Long Jiuzun and others, accompanied by Mu Hu, heading in the direction of the village Transmission Array.

Silently following behind them, Yue Jinghua, with her increasing Cultivation and Dark Heavenly strength, was able to maintain Pu Yin for six hours, which was just enough to last through the night.

Both Long Jiuzun and Yue Minzhi were strong in their Cultivation, but neither of them had undergone special training in spiritual power and did not notice Yue Jinghua’s presence.

However, the Five-Colored Jiao, Ji Xuechen, which followed behind Yue Minzhi, sensed something unusual. It shook its head about, and failing to find anything amiss, continued to follow Yue Minzhi.

After leaving the stone-house filled Dawo Village, they arrived at a disorganized, open-air stone quarry.

The village’s Transmission Array was situated right at the center of this long-abandoned stone quarry.

Tonight, the moonlight was unusually bright, pouring down vividly.

Yue Jinghua saw an ancient Transmission Array, its size about half that of a soccer field, engraved with Space Array Patterns and channels. The patterns were twisted like tadpoles, and the channels, like water channels, connected everywhere, running through the entire Transmission Array.

Although ancient, this Transmission Array was well-preserved, showing that the people of Dawo Village took meticulous care of it.

Looking at the center of the Transmission Array, there was a semi-circular Xuandan Slot.

Mu Hu carefully took out a Fifth-Order Xuan Pill and embedded it into the elixir groove.

With the insertion of the Xuan Pill, the quaint Transmission Array emitted a sound like flowing water; the immense Dark Power of the Fifth-Order Xuan Pill surged, instantly filling the whole Array.

The entire Transmission Array, like a stage lit by lights, was the focal point under the cover of the night.

Once the Transmission Array was activated, Yue Minzhi, Long Jiuzun and others including the Five-Colored Jiao Dragon all concealed themselves in the surroundings, leaving only Mu Hu on guard, looking around vigilantly.

The night deepened.

The summer wind that blew in through the narrow mountain pass was like a winter gale, howling loudly.

Listening to it for too long could make one feel drowsy and sleepy.

Several pairs of eyes, including Yue Jinghua, who was invisible nearby, were all closely watching the Xuan Pill at the center of the Transmission Array.

Perhaps because they had been staring for too long, everyone felt a sourness in their eyes, especially Yue Jinghua, who also sensed that the glow of the Xuan Pill seemed to be weakening.

By the time the rooster crowed three times and the sky began to lighten, the color of the Dark Pill had already darkened like a dried-up oil lamp.

The crowd could no longer contain themselves and surged forward, with Mu Hu grumbling, "It must be the Mountain Demon, it definitely is, everyone look."

Coarse hands dug out the Dark Pill, and upon closer inspection by the crowd, they found that the surface of the Dark Pill had no wounds, but inside, the Dark Power within the Fifth-Order Dark Pill had been nearly depleted. By the time it turns fully light, it would certainly become a waste pill.

Yet, throughout the entire night, nearly ten hours, everyone was watching over it, and did not hear any unusual activity, let alone anyone approaching the Transmission Array.

The Transmission Array seemed to devour the Dark Pill inexplicably, making it unsafe to use for transportation.

Could it truly only be possible to reach the next destination relying on the Flying Knights?

Considering the covert competition between the Southern Expedition Army and the Northern War Army, this would undoubtedly cause the Southern Expedition to fall behind Jin Nuo and the others in terms of timing.

And as Long Jiuzun was filled with vexation, Ji Yun rushed over with a look of panic, "It’s bad, Young General Long, Duke Yue, something has happened to the Supply Ship."

"!"

One issue had not yet been resolved when another arose.

Last night, the Supply Ship from the Qing Residence docked just a few thousand meters away from the camp.

On the supply ship, there were several Dark Arrays, including a Space Xuan Array and several Acceleration Arrays, as well as a few Ice and Snow Arrays to preserve fresh ingredients.

For this southward expedition, Qing Zizhu had prepared enough Dark Pills, but this morning, the workers discovered upon checking that the Dark Pills in the ship’s Dark Arrays had all been depleted.

"All of them, the Dark Pills were all completely depleted, turning into waste pills. There were patrolling workers on the Supply Ship, but last night, they did not notice any unusual activity," said Qing Zizhu, who was sleeping soundly but was woken up by the workers.

Now that it was after the start of summer and traveling further south meant increasingly hotter weather.

The malfunction of the Dark Arrays on the supply ship led to batches of ingredients needing refrigeration to rot overnight.

Upon opening the cabin door, a rancid smell was evident.

"It’s similar to the situation with the Transmission Array. The Dark Pill had no wounds, and there were no signs of anyone moving around, just waste pills left behind," the Dark Power in all the Dark Pills in the Dark Arrays was eerily depleted.

The damage to the Dark Arrays on the Supply Ship was far worse than the inoperability of the Transmission Array in Dawo Village.

All of the Southern Expedition’s grain, fresh water, and fresh food supplies relied on the Dark Arrays, not to mention without the Dark Arrays, the Supply Ship couldn’t even take off.

Even if Long Jiuzun gave up using the Transmission Array, without the supply ship, the Southern Expedition couldn’t even begin their journey.

Before even reaching Fandi Port, the Southern Expedition found themselves in an unprecedented crisis.

The worst part was, facing this predicament, everyone was completely at a loss.

"Tonight, we’ll station more people to guard the Dark Arrays on the Supply Ship, reinforce the guard at the Transmission Array, and I refuse to believe there really is a clan of Mountain Demons; even if there are, we must root them out. Unauthorized individuals are prohibited from approaching both sites," said Long Jiuzun sternly, immediately arranging personnel to guard both sites strictly.

Quietly returning to the camp, Yue Jinghua also learned about the malfunction of the Dark Arrays on the Supply Ship from Chi Xi.

Qian Luo, who had mingled into the crowd and observed for a while, also brought back her findings.

From the perspective of a professional Array Master, she also couldn’t find anything wrong with the Dark Arrays themselves.

"However, there is one thing I don’t understand. Earlier when I went to observe the Transmission Array in Dawo Village, I noticed several pinhole-sized small holes," Qian Luo hesitated for a moment, but still expressed her concerns, as she believed those small holes were not necessary for setting up the Array.