Escape and War

Night and day rotated time and time again, but in the underground dungeon, it was impossible to distinguish between the two. The only source of light in these dark damp cells was that of a flaming lantern pinned into the wall, outside the cells and at the end of the corridor. In Yaan's cell, this small amount of light was hardly enough to see more than a few inches, for mortals at least.

The captives in these cells were not mortals, they were all body tempering warriors with Silver Class or Gold Class cultivation! They were all quite badly injured though, whilst the cells were made from an unknown sturdy material, making escape completely impossible.

Yaan had been thrown into these cells because anyone could deduce by now that he was not an ordinary mortal child. After many days without food or water, he was still alive, in fact, he looked much the same as when they found him.

Aztecs had entered this cell to examine Yaan multiple times. It was quite irritating, not because he needed to protect himself, but because he needed to protect his spatial ring…after using his understanding of illusions to conceal the ring from the curious Aztecs, Yaan ended up just swallowing it when nobody was looking. With this, he could properly focus on his recovery again.

He could just leave this place, but any usage of his cultivation would further aggravate his injuries. His core was beginning to recover, the cracks were shrinking in size and becoming less alarming to look at, but his progress would be reversed if he acted rashly.

It was not an issue to use his dao manipulation ability, but doing so distracted him from his recovery. Whilst he could quite easily escape from this cell by relying on his dao of illusions…where would he go exactly?

With no safe destination in mind, Yaan opted to simply remain where he was.

This plan was working quite well, until it came to the seventh night after he was thrown into this cell.

Boom…

Bang…

Rumble…

Distant sounds could be heard faintly, but the noises were quiet and did not garner much attention at first. However, before long, the sounds drew closer.

By the time the nearby Aztecs reacted, realising that something huge was happening across the entire camp, the destructive sounds were now so close that the ground was shaking.

RUMBLE!

The prison cell shook violently. Water and stone dust fell down from the ceiling, coating the scared captives below the ground. Everyone warily looked upwards, afraid that the roof would collapse on them at any moment.

Hurried footsteps could be heard rushing back and forth throughout the underground corridors.

Then, for a while, there was silence.

BANG!

"Ahh!"

A scream followed the explosive sound, but the scream soon became silent, replaced by muffled coughing as a cloud of dust enveloped the underground prison. The captives all huddled together fearfully, uncertain about what was going on…

Would this be good for them, or did this change spell their end?

Bang…bang…bang…

One by one, the cell doors exploded inwards. Before long, the door to Yaan's cell was also torn away from the wall, exploding into the cell with a deafening bang.

Bang!

A figure walked in immediately after, scanning her stern gaze around the room rapidly, before finding her target amidst the dust cloud.

Whoosh!

With a casual wave of her hand, the cloud of dust dissipated, revealing her appearance to everyone within.

"Sister" The young tribeswoman cried out in joy. She immediately jumped to her feet, then ran across to the large stern woman and hugged her deeply. The stern looking woman's gaze softened for a moment, before she pushed her sister away gently, then quickly looked behind her.

"We need to go now, little sister. The distraction won't last for long, if the Aztecs find out that I am here, they will rush towards us with their full force…"

After saying this, the woman again looked around the room, nodding when she saw that the others were all members of her own tribe. She had come to rescue her sister this time, but since she was already here, she would of course save the other captured members of her tribe.

Her gaze landed on Yaan briefly, and immediately, her eyes shone with killing intent.

The younger woman hesitated, but ended up speaking out uncertainly.

"Sister, this child is basically dead, he has been unconscious ever since he was thrown in here. There's no need to-"

"Don't say anymore." The stern woman shook her head, readying her blade as she walked towards Yaan. "All possible witnesses must be killed."

After she said this, the other tribesmen only now realised that bloody screams were echoing throughout the underground dungeon…

Clearly, their tribesmen were massacring all the captives who did not belong to their own tribe.

The younger woman became silent, she would not argue with her older sister. After all, her older sister was the leader of their Bloody Totem Tribe!

Just as the tribe leader raised her blade, preparing to slash down at Yaan's neck, she froze. Her entire body became soaked in cold sweat, her breathing became heavy as her pupils rapidly dilated and shrunk multiple times in a single second.

The other five in the room seemed to freeze in this moment. Under the tribe leader's shocked gaze, Yaan turned to face her, looking dead into her eyes with an indifferent expression.

"You will take me back to your tribe as your captive."

After saying this, he shut his eyes and continued to lie there on the ground. The other five tribesmen began moving again, or at least, this seemed to be the case from the tribe leader's perspective.

"Sister? What's wrong?" The younger woman noticed that her sister had paused, not finishing the job. This was strange, it was unlike her to hesitate.

The stern tribe leader slowly returned the blade to her side. She forcefully calmed her chaotic emotions, quelling the shock she felt in her palpitating heart. She took a deep look at Yaan, before quickly turning away, not explaining her actions, but calling out to her tribesmen:

"Take the child as my captive. And…do not injure him, be careful."

Even though the tribesmen were confused, they did not dare to refute the leader of their tribe. Besides that, they were feeling very nervous in this situation, they knew that their lives still hung in the balance here, they did not have the heart to overthink these minor details.

The stern woman led the way, whilst two men carried Yaan through the partially destroyed passageway. They moved past countless bloody corpses along their path, but they ignored the cries of fear and pain, stepping over the twitching bodies as they joined together with their other tribesmen, making their way towards the exit.

Yaan silently watched the group escape, keeping an eye on the group leader for a moment, until he was certain that she understood her position.

He had only acted casually to intimidate this Peak 4-Star tribe leader, but displaying a minor illusion was enough to scare her senseless. Even so, Yaan commended her mental fortitude…even though she clearly didn't understand the power he had used, she was able to recover her bearings and showed nothing of her unease on her face.

Before long, the now much larger group made their way outside, returning above the ground. The tribesmen were stunned when they got out and looked around…

Smoke could be seen in every direction, pouring upwards, rising above the illuminated horizon. The sky looked like it was glowing red, reflecting the flames of war from below.

Aztecs could be seen running about, some battling against the members of the Bloody Totem Tribe, others doing their best to put out the raging flames.

"Sister, this is…" The tribe leader's younger sister stared at the scenery in shock. Just two weeks earlier, this place was a picture of order and prosperity, but now, it had been thrust into absolute chaos!

"This was not only to save you." The tribe leader replied, awakening everyone from their daze as she stared up into the sky, waiting for three individuals to fly down to their position. "The Rising Sun Tribe has been arrogant for far too long, many in our tribe have long wanted to take them down. Recently, it wasn't just you few they captured; they captured hundreds of our tribesmen in a single day! The are truly pushing the limits of the war laws by kidnapping our people outside of battle, our tribe will not sit back and allow the Aztecs to run rampant any longer."

Soon after she said this, three masked individuals landed quietly before her. They immediately dropped to their knees, clasping their hands and greeting her respectfully.

"Tribe leader, please give us your instructions."

"Take the tribesmen and have them evacuate back to the tribe. After that, return to the battlefield and help to retrieve our other fellow tribesmen."

"Yes, tribe leader."

Just as the masked men revealed their flying treasures, intending to sweep up the stunned tribesmen to take them away, the tribe leader quickly called out:

"And take the child with you. Be careful, he is my captive, do not injure him."

Nobody understood why she was looking out for an unknown injured and unconscious child, but they followed the tribe leader's instructions nonetheless. Before long, the three 4-Star masked tribesmen activated their flying treasures, whilst also bringing with them the shocked weaker tribesmen.

Yaan casually observed the situation. He saw that the entire tribe below him had been set ablaze by the flames of war, there were 4-Star body temperers on both sides attacking crazily, not caring for the damage inflicted on their surroundings.

He was most interested in the treasures they used…these were clearly vital treasures! Vital treasures were extremely rare on the Qi Plane, but here, they were more commonly seen. Still though, compared to Qi refiners who would all possess many spiritual treasures, it was clear that the body temperers on the Blood Plane did not focus so much on their treasures as on their physical bodies.

As Yaan and the others were brought outside the tribe walls, they were handed over to a group of tribesmen, hidden in the dead of the night, accompanied by some strange spirit beasts. Before long, they were all loaded into carriages drawn by the beasts, looking back at the tribe behind them with melancholic expressions.

In a battle like this, weaker cultivators were simply too pitiful, not to mention mortals. Thousands of people were losing their lives with each passing minute, they could not escape from the all-out assault of the Blood Totem Tribe's strongest warriors.

The Aztecs fought back bravely, not giving an inch and steadily regaining control over the situation.

Unfortunately for the Aztecs, by the time they managed to push back their assailants, the damage was already done. Their tribe was in ruins, millions of their people had been massacred in a single night. The previously prosperous tribe was now soaked with blood. A grim, gloomy aura pervaded the entire region. The Aztecs who remained alive were filled with an indescribable rage.

Bloody Totem Tribe!

The survivors carved this tribe's name into their hearts…they would not forget this!

This sort of hatred born from violence was only normal on the Blood Plane. In the end, only the strong would remain standing tall, all the rest would fall beneath their feet, paving the way for their journey of cultivation.