Chapter 679 - 144: Re-establishing Contact

Dang Ketao paused for a moment before saying, "I sensed a fluctuation of Spiritual Power back then. I found a rather sophisticated monitoring Array near the plaza and casually destroyed it. It seems that was the one."

"That must be it, then," Zhang Deming said, looking at the Light Screen. "This blank one is probably the exit near Pann City."

"Does this look like the area outside our Sect?" Dang Ketao’s gaze fixed on one of the Light Screens as he spoke, his voice laced with uncertainty.

Zhang Deming followed his gaze to a ravine. It looked a bit like a spot not far from the Sect’s rear mountain; one of the mountains in particular seemed familiar.

"I’m not sure. I’ve never seen it before." Zhang Deming shook his head. He walked over to a nearby table, picked up a Command Token, and said, "But we’ll know for sure if we go take a look."

Everyone had noticed the items on the table when they first entered. Clearly, the men had been stationed here when Dang Ketao’s group burst in, which was why the three of them had immediately rushed to intercept them.

The Command Tokens they had been using were all left on the desk.

Zhang Deming held the Command Token and activated it slightly. His eyes immediately lit up. "It’s a special Command Token. No blood-binding recognition."

"These Arrays are Three-Star at most, and they’re detachable," Fang Qing said, not at all surprised. "There’s no way they would have used precious Magical Treasure Materials for the Refining. And if they relied purely on the Array itself to create a blood-binding feature, it would be too difficult for Low-Tier Cultivators to use. For a Sect, it wouldn’t be a problem. So the only real options were to either use precious Magical Treasure Materials or just skip the blood-binding altogether and make them like this."

"Looks like we can get out of here. We don’t need to wait for rescue after all!" Dang Ketao said, looking at the three Command Tokens on the table. "This is perfect. We can check if monitor three’s exit leads to the Sect."

Zhang Deming nodded. "Yes, that’s a good idea. And if it really is an exit near the Sect, we can have a Supreme Elder come investigate the Light Gate in the plaza’s center."

Dang Ketao glanced at Zhang Deming. "Great minds think alike! Let’s go. We can’t afford to waste any more time. We’ve been stuck here for nearly a full day, and that Light Gate in the plaza could become unstable at any moment."

At his words, Zhang Deming tossed the remaining two Command Tokens to Dang Ketao, kept one for himself, and turned to leave.

As the three of them spoke, the Disciples behind them stood silently, each studying the images on the Light Screens.

Just as Zhang Deming and the others were about to leave, a Duality Disciple from the Array Department named Wang Chengke spoke up hesitantly. "Senior, could we take a look at monitor fifteen first?"

His words made all three of them pause and turn to look at Light Screen fifteen.

It showed a wide-angle view. The monitoring Array must have been placed on a cliff, as the vantage point was excellent and expansive. At first glance, nothing on the Light Screen seemed out of the ordinary.

"The bottom-left corner, near the foot of the mountain," the Disciple prompted. "Senior, can you zoom in?"

Zhang Deming paused, then raised his hand to activate the Command Token and made a pulling gesture in the air toward the Light Screen.

Light Screen fifteen rapidly enlarged and floated toward them, stopping slowly in front of the group. Zhang Deming gestured at the corner of the massive screen, and the area the Disciple had pointed out instantly magnified.

As the image zoomed in, a massive, silver corner appeared on the screen. Everyone now saw what he had been pointing at.

Even from just that corner, they could tell at a glance it was definitely an object from the Outer Realm, and it looked enormous.

"Can you change the monitoring Array’s field of view?" Wang Chengke asked.

"Change the angle!" Dang Ketao ordered, staring at the partial image. He spoke at almost the same time as Wang Chengke.

Zhang Deming’s expression shifted as he looked at the exposed piece of metal. He was already trying to change the view as the other two spoke.

The image slowly panned, revealing the entirety of the metal object.

"Is that... a spaceship?" Zhang Deming asked in astonishment, staring at the massive metal object.

"Yes, it must be a Flying Artifact from the Outer Realm," Fang Qing chimed in. "And a high-grade one, by the looks of it."

The ship in the image had clearly crashed and was still emitting black smoke. But as Array Cultivators, they knew a great deal about the Outer Realm and could tell at a glance that this was no ordinary vessel.

But Wang Chengke’s voice was filled with shock. "Doesn’t that look like the Flying Artifact for the exchange event?"

His words brought everyone to a halt. Zhang Deming hesitated. "Er... if there hadn’t been any problems, the timing would be about right, wouldn’t it?"

Dang Ketao’s face paled. "We’re in trouble!"

The words had barely left his mouth before his figure shot out like a bolt of lightning, leaving the Disciples staring at each other in dismay.

Zhang Deming was speechless. ’What happened to his combat sense from just now? Where did his centuries of composure go?’

’Honestly... I have to hand it to him. To be that old and still so reckless is something else.’

"What should we do? Follow him?" Fang Qing asked nervously.

Zhang Deming replied, "You all go back and get reinforcements. The Sect is taking this Outer Realm exchange event very seriously. Don’t let it fall apart."

Fang Qing and the others stared at him, stunned. Zhang Deming looked at the dazed group and said, "Get a move on. Otherwise, if the higher-ups in your Array Artifact Department find out this whole thing went south because you dawdled..."

"...a forced labor sentence on Wanghui Peak... hmm... well, once Wanghui Peak is rebuilt, you won’t be able to escape a forced labor sentence there."

Fang Qing finally snapped out of it and said quickly to Wang Chengke, "You take the exit to Pann City. As soon as you’re past the blockade, notify the Sect immediately. I’ll try to get out through exit three."