Traveling through time to cultivate immortality: a life and death test

Liu Xing had already thought of a plan of action. As long as he got close to the water fort, his perception would be all within his grasp. His current range of perception was approximately 500 meters. To avoid detection along the way, he had to maintain a disguise. The Wushui Gang, a group of desperate criminals, was based in a village about 200 kilometers from the Tongtian River. They specialized in robbing passing merchant ships and collecting protection fees. They had been entrenched there for over a decade, and the villagers had been assimilated into their accomplices.

After walking along the river for a while, he saw a merchant ship approaching in the distance. Liu Xing dove into the water and hid there. It took about half an hour for the merchant ship to slowly approach. Liu Xing seized the opportunity and sneaked into the cabin without anyone noticing, hiding there. He would spend the next few days there, which was stress-free for him. He meditated and practiced for a moment, and then passed through in a moment of deep concentration. Along the way, patrol boats from the Wushui Gang came to inspect. After collecting protection fees, they were allowed to pass. Every time they came to inspect, Liu Xing would jump into the water and hide at the bottom of the river. After the inspection, he would quietly sneak into the cabin. This was a complete cheat. Who could possibly detect him? The merchant ship was slow. After five days of sailing, they finally approached Wushui Village, about five miles away. At this time, Liu Xing jumped off the boat and sneaked under the river. The further they went, the more patrol boats there were, all armed with guns and spears, ready for battle. Could there be a military operation in the village today?

Liu Xing spotted a patrol boat approaching its homebound base and clung to its bottom, holding his breath. Even if Dongfang Hao were on board without flipping the boat over, he wouldn't be able to detect him. He kept his senses sharp and remained prepared. The village gate opened, and the patrol boat slowly entered, approaching the dock.

"Today's mission is completed. We will go to Widow Zhang's place for a drink later. Do you want to join us, brother?" said a guard.

"I'm not going. I'm going to rest early. I don't know what happened, but Gang Leader Wu has tripled the defense force and doubled the frequency of patrols. Things might be uneasy recently, so take it easy, buddy." Another guard replied.

Liu Xing lay motionless in the water, listening to the guards' conversation, feeling very puzzled. "Could it be that Yanyu Pavilion's plan has been leaked? That could mean there's a traitor." Liu Xing was secretly terrified. If they acted rashly, Yanyu Pavilion would surely suffer a great loss.

It wasn't until the second watch, when everyone was fast asleep and even the patrolling guards were somewhat distracted, that he quietly crept out and crept towards an inconspicuous mound in the center of the village. Once there, he found a bush and slipped inside, covering himself with branches and leaves, and lay there in hiding. Liu Xing discovered that his perception was extremely draining; after half an hour of continuous perception, he needed a half-day's rest to recover. He needed to find a safe place to close his eyes and meditate, then practice his profound skills to amplify his perception. He lay there, waiting for a good opportunity. Daylight gradually dawned, and the village became bustling with activity. People went about their duties: training, preparing meals, and patrolling. The noise was incessant. Liu Xing lay there motionless, barely breathing, to avoid being noticed by those with keen senses. The mound was barren and silent, with many birds flying around, searching for food. No one would pay any attention to it.

Liu Xing cautiously approached a tall building at the rear of the village. Inside, he could see numerous masters with deep breathing and profound skills. This seemed to be the seat of power for the Wushui Gang. He didn't deliberately look for anyone, just a quick glance to avoid detection. His focus was on finding a building to hide in. As the saying goes, the darkest place is the darkest; the more dangerous the place, the safer it is. He explored room by room until he finally discovered a mourning hall in the building's basement. Inside, numerous tablets were placed—all for deceased gang members, used for memorials. It was a very quiet place, usually closed to the elements. Despite the candles, it was still dim and eerie. As an atheist, Liu Xing had no fear of ghosts or gods. He felt this was a perfect hiding place, close to the core, where he could gather valuable intelligence. So he began to carefully observe the frequency of guard rotations, trying to discern a pattern. He lay patiently on the small mound for a whole day and night without moving. This kind of concentration was unmatched by anyone in Yanyu Pavilion. Finally, he found the right opportunity to sneak into the mourning hall without anyone noticing.

After entering the mourning hall, he found a box behind the memorial tablet, used to store paper money and incense. It was empty at the moment, and Liu Xing, being small, found it perfectly sized. He quickly slipped inside and closed the door. This way, he was completely safe; even if someone unexpectedly entered the mourning hall, they wouldn't notice him. He immediately meditated and practiced his Qi. Once his Qi had completed a full cycle and he felt he had reached peak strength, he began to open his senses. The Wushui Gang was still very powerful. The leader and two deputy leaders were all peak-level masters. While their individual strength didn't seem as impressive as Dongfang Hao's, they were still not to be underestimated. Approximately thirty of these masters formed the core management team, while the remaining gang members numbered approximately five hundred. The village was riddled with traps and traps, the most dangerous of which was a large quantity of explosives buried beneath the main hall square. A sudden detonation could kill even a peak-level master. He also discovered numerous secret passages leading outside the village. As expected, a cunning rabbit has three burrows; this was their escape route. The weapons were varied, but the most noteworthy was a crossbow unit of approximately one hundred men, each armed with a hand crossbow and a hundred arrows per person. They were ambushed on the route to the main hall, and ordinary guards who had not yet reached the Acquired Realm would have been unable to escape from the barrage of arrows. He also discovered that the enemy's anti-reconnaissance capabilities were very strong, and they had set up many false impressions that ordinary spies could only see. To achieve the purpose of making the fake look real, most of the gang members were kept in the dark, and only the core members knew the true deployment.

After completing his investigation, Liu Xing sighed deeply. The enemy was truly exceptionally cunning. No wonder they'd been at large for over a decade without anyone being able to defeat them. Fortunately, they'd encountered this pervert, otherwise the Misty Rain Pavilion would have suffered a crushing defeat. Even if they won, it would have been a pyrrhic victory, severely damaging their vitality. He quickly mapped the enemy's strength, troop deployment, trap locations, and hidden routes, creating two sets of intelligence: one true and one false. The false intelligence was what the enemy wanted him to see. The Wushui Gang had made such thorough preparations, meaning they must have known about the situation in advance. There must be a traitor within the Misty Rain Pavilion. Therefore, safely delivering the intelligence to the Pavilion Master was crucial. Catching the traitor would be even better. His first thought was to deliver the intelligence himself, which would be foolproof. However, this would waste too much time, and what if the enemy changed their plans? Therefore, he needed to keep watch.