Then let's get straight to the fight.

"We shouldn't waste any more time here. Every second we delay, another person drinks the poisoned wine."

Yue Wangshu said to Xu Mu.

Xu Mu nodded. As he walked towards the edge of the ruins' formation, he activated the illusion array on his person.

He didn't dare use too much of the array's power, as his opponent was a master of formations.

He only used a tiny bit, slightly altering his face to add some extra flesh around his cheeks.

Such a small-scale array alteration shouldn't be detectable unless someone was standing right next to him.

Yue Wangshu and Shi Fumeng both looked at Xu Mu, their eyes filled with surprise.

Following the mountain path, the group of them arrived at the mountaintop.

This was the edge of the ruins' formation. Through his perception, Xu Mu had already seen the people gathered here in advance.

An old man with his beard tied into a braid, and the rest were all bald-headed men. Guoguo was not among them.

Xu Mu hesitated for a moment, then dispelled the array.

"What's wrong? Not hiding your identity anymore?"

Yue Wangshu asked curiously.

"This time, I'm cooperating with you, sister. I want to do this perfectly."

Xu Mu explained. "The opponent is a high-level array master. He might detect the array on me. I'm betting on one thing now: that Zhou Guyang doesn't recognize me."

"Heh..."

Yue Wangshu covered her mouth and laughed, suddenly finding this young man somewhat cute. "You've really gone to trouble for me."

"No, it's for grandmother."

Xu Mu said with a serious expression.

"How did I suddenly get promoted a generation? You should still call me sister."

Yue Wangshu said flatly.

"Ancestor, he was talking about your..."

Shi Fumeng originally wanted to explain but suddenly noticed Xu Mu's look.

She immediately shut her mouth, as their survival currently depended on Xu Mu.

"Why did you stop? I'm waiting to hear."

Yue Wangshu said with a faint smile.

"Uh, I misunderstood. Xu Mu meant you, ancestor, as the grandmother."

Shi Fumeng quickly said.

As they spoke, they had already arrived at the area where Zhou Guyang was.

Zhou Guyang noticed someone approaching and turned to look. "Isn't this Miss Yue Wangshu? What? Have all the elders drunk the wine?"

"It's mostly done. Mainly, some were unwilling to drink, causing conflicts and slowing the process."

Yue Wangshu proactively walked over to draw attention. "Where's Guoguo? Why isn't she here? I quite like that girl and wanted to chat with her."

Xu Mu also walked towards that area and finally noticed the formation beneath his feet.

Shi Fumeng closely followed behind Yue Wangshu.

"Guoguo has already returned. Her task was to temporarily stall the miscellaneous crowd. Now that the task is over, naturally she left."

Zhou Guyang said, stroking his beard.

"What? You mean the formation is already complete?"

Yue Wangshu asked in surprise.

"Correct. However, I removed one crucial pattern. We are people of our word. After the wine is drunk, I will restore the formation."

Zhou Guyang explained with a smile.

Xu Mu closed his eyes, carefully sensing the formation patterns around him.

Soon, he understood which pattern was missing.

He immediately said, "Ancestor, since the person you're looking for isn't here, let's go back first."

Hearing this, Yue Wangshu's face immediately darkened.

They had only exchanged a couple of sentences, and Xu Mu already wanted to leave. It seemed he had failed; he couldn't solve this formation.

"Alright, let's go down then."

Yue Wangshu nodded and led Xu Mu and Shi Fumeng away together.

"Strange, that young man just now... he looks somewhat familiar."

Zhou Guyang muttered, then shook his head. "Perhaps I've seen him somewhere before."

...

Xu Mu and the others descended the mountain again.

Yue Wangshu tightly gripped her oil-paper umbrella. "Xu Mu, is it no good? It seems there's no way."

"Don't underestimate me. Of course, I had already dealt with the formation before telling you to leave."

Xu Mu said with a smile.

"What?"

Yue Wangshu's phoenix eyes widened in shock.

[Favorability +6]

Shi Fumeng beside them also looked utterly incredulous. Didn't this Xu Mu say he only knew a little about formations?

Why is he so strong?

Although she didn't understand formations, she was quite clear about their classifications.

The ruins' formation was a top-tier formation, extremely difficult to master.

[Favorability +10]

Shi Fumeng stole a glance at Xu Mu. Perhaps this man before her was truly worthy of entrusting her life to.

"What? Don't believe me?"

Xu Mu retorted.

"Of course I believe you. I believe you too much. In that case, let's fight directly!"

Yue Wangshu pulled Xu Mu and charged downwards. Xu Mu took the opportunity to change his form, turning his hair white and his eyes red.

His purpose in doing this was simple: to give these people the impression that he was from the Nine Li tribe.

Boom!

With a loud crash, Yue Wangshu and Xu Mu landed amidst the crowd.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh...

Water droplets materialized in front of Yue Wangshu, transforming into ice spikes that shot into the distance.

They killed all the bald-headed men pouring wine.

Seeing this, Lang Huo and Old Xiang in the distance immediately rushed over.

Lang Huo growled, "Yue Wangshu, what are you trying to do?"

Yue Wangshu didn't answer. Instead, she looked at the many elders around her. "Where are my people? Are you willing to fight your way out with me? Or are you willing to be puppets of the Eternal Life Research Institute?"

She wasn't a fool. She didn't tell these people that her side had already mastered the exit formation.

If she told the truth, it went without saying that everyone here would agree.

What she wanted was to weed them out.

"Hahaha! Yue Wangshu, you really are a young lady born with a silver spoon. Your father protected you too well."

Lang Huo couldn't help but laugh.

"If my father were still here, how could the Valley of Ten Thousand Tribes be controlled by you two cowards who fear death?"

Yue Wangshu snorted coldly.

"Who isn't afraid of death? Aren't you? Our goal is to keep these people alive, yet you want them to fight and die with you? Who would be willing to follow you?"

Old Xiang shook his head. "There are three high-level Cleaners outside. Based on these elders' strength, could they withstand even a single move?"

"Our Valley of Ten Thousand Tribes has survived until now relying on this very courage. Otherwise, we would have been wiped out hundreds of times over!"

As soon as Yue Wangshu finished speaking, more than a dozen elders quickly stood behind her.

These people, who had managed to become elders in the Valley of Ten Thousand Tribes, were all clever.

The goals of Lang Huo and Old Xiang were only for themselves; they didn't care about anyone else's life or death.

Once someone took the lead, another dozen or so elders responded one after another.

Over thirty elders now stood with her, already a quarter of all the elders.

Among them were even a few who had already drunk the poisoned wine, yet they still chose to stand on Yue Wangshu's side.

"Yue Wangshu, your grandmother still holds some appeal for them. In that case..."

Lang Huo growled, "Old Xiang, let's join forces and kill her!"