In the Ninth Master's view, if the intruder at this moment truly was Han Lin, whom this waste, Fang Chun, failed to deceive, it would indicate that Han Lin had already seen through everything about Fang Chun, and there was no doubt that this woman must be a disciple of the Yunxian Sect.

If that were the case, it wouldn't be surprising that the Yunxian Sect had already noticed the disappearance of several outer disciples and sent someone to investigate Jiagu Guan City.

If that were true, then keeping this waste, Fang Chun, around as a precaution would be completely meaningless.

The Ninth Master could hardly suppress his urge to slap Fang Chun to death. If it weren't for these people concealing their identities as disciples of a major sect and sneaking into the Black Marsh Liuyun Mine, the Bai family wouldn't have attracted such hazards.

No wonder that female cultivator named Han Lin had to disguise herself as a male cultivator to enter the Black Marsh Liuyun Mine. It was no surprise that so many people nearly died, yet that female cultivator could miraculously survive. Now it seemed easy to explain.

The Yunxian Sect must have suspected the absence of several outer disciples was related to the Bai family, and the female cultivator sent to investigate was clearly not a simple character.

"Ninth Master, Ninth Master, please don't be angry. I believe the intruder is definitely not that female cultivator."

Fang Chun didn't want to die at all; even living a bit longer would be good. He subconsciously sought to justify himself: "That, that female cultivator only has the cultivation of early Foundation Establishment. She doesn't have the ability to sneak in here without detection and kill. Yes, that's right, it definitely wasn't her. The Ninth Master confirmed with me repeatedly before that no one followed us in, and there were no abnormalities detected."

It must be said that when his life was at stake, Fang Chun's mind was actually turning faster, quickly laying out all the unreasonable aspects.

The Ninth Master found Fang Chun's reasoning somewhat reasonable, but who could blame this waste for being useless and so unlucky? Just after a mishap, they encountered an unprecedented external invasion?

He felt that rage within him was difficult not to direct at this useless fellow!

"Lock him up first. Whether he should be sent down below depends on his luck!"

The Ninth Master kicked Fang Chun away in frustration and directly ordered people to imprison him, treating him the same as the previous offerings.

Upon hearing this, Fang Chun was so frightened that he fainted, which saved him quite a bit of trouble.

Immediately afterward, team after team of searchers continuously came to report to the Ninth Master, but the results were uniformly the same: no signs of any intruder had been found.

The Ninth Master was so furious that his face turned pale. He had thought the net was fully prepared, and once the enemy jumped in, they would be caught, yet he had nearly mobilized all available personnel, and in the end, they hadn't even touched a single hair of the enemy.

"Ha, truly skilled. Otherwise, how could they have the ability to intrude in here!"

He glared angrily at an unknown direction, his voice producing a strange, unpleasant mutter: "Don't let me find you; otherwise, I'll make you wish you were dead!"

"Ninth Master, the thief must still be hiding in some corner of the cave. They won't escape."

Bai Han, who had heard the news, quickly suggested: "Why not let me personally lead people to search?"

"Why aren't you properly guarding your own post? What are you doing here?"

The Ninth Master glared at Bai Han, and his expression was no better than when he looked at Fang Chun.

He was just a distant relative of the family who had just advanced to the Golden Core stage and thought he had enough backing to act so freely, daring to leave his post to come here?

"Ninth Master, please don't be angry. Because an external enemy suddenly intruded, Bai Heng said to postpone the sacrificial timing to prevent any unexpected interruptions during the offering until the intruder is caught."

Bai Han directly shifted all the blame onto Bai Heng. Compared to him, a neglected distant relative, Bai Heng's direct bloodline was clearly much more valued in the Bai family.

Indeed, as soon as he heard it was Bai Heng's arrangement, the Ninth Master's expression eased a little.

"Bai Heng's consideration is correct, but you don't need to come here to help. Go back and assist Bai Heng in properly guarding the altar."

He knew very well what Bai Han was thinking, trying to seize the opportunity for merit without considering the current situation.

In the entire cave, aside from the formation point personally supervised by the ancestor, the most crucial part was the altar. Did he really think that with magical protections there, the intruder wouldn't be able to disrupt it?

If anything went wrong with the altar, the first one to suffer would be Bai Han, who neglected his duties by running out.

This fool thought he could push the responsibility onto Bai Heng and everything would be fine, not realizing he was being overly clever.

The Ninth Master couldn't be bothered to remind him; he was just a fool destined to be a stepping stone for other core family members.

"Ninth Master, I believe that the longer we delay finding the intruder, the more it shows that they must have some extremely powerful invisibility treasure. The longer we wait, the greater the threat they pose for creating chaos."

Bai Han completely failed to see the Ninth Master's thoughts. Seeing his attitude obviously softening, he seized the opportunity to offer advice: "Thus, it is evident that the other party is well-prepared, with a clear purpose, and is definitely not here by accident but specifically targeting our Bai family! Therefore, Ninth Master, why not ask the ancestor for the Tracking Mirror, so that the thief has nowhere to hide, and can be captured immediately."

"The Tracking Mirror? Hmph! You seem to know quite a bit, even knowing the treasures in the ancestor's hands."

The Ninth Master cast a cold glance at Bai Han, his indifferent tone betraying no real intentions.

"Please don't misunderstand, Ninth Master. I only heard Bai Heng mention it occasionally before and was fortunate enough to know. I truly have the family's interests at heart and have no ulterior motives. I hope the Ninth Master can see this clearly."

Bai Han still had a bit of cleverness; he knew that casually mentioning the Tracking Mirror would certainly raise the Ninth Master's suspicions, so he once again pushed Bai Heng out as an excuse.

After all, what he said wasn't entirely false, and though few knew about such information, it wasn't an untouchable secret.

If he wanted to rise to prominence and step on Bai Heng to gain the family's recognition and importance, he had to take some risks; otherwise, he would never have a chance to stand out.

Although the Ninth Master strongly disliked Bai Han's self-satisfied behavior, he had to admit that this proposal had no issues.

In fact, after so many people failed to locate the intruder, he had also thought of the Tracking Mirror right away. However, he feared that bothering the ancestor would earn him a reprimand.

The Ninth Master felt a bit of a headache; it was troublesome that such a minor issue hadn't been handled well, and he had to go ask the ancestor for help, which would lessen his standing in the ancestor's eyes.

It was all Head Master Bai's fault. How could a good family head fail to handle surface-level troubles? A large mine had become such a mess, repeatedly attracting trouble!

Seeing that the Ninth Master seemed hesitant, Bai Han, with a little thought, guessed that the Ninth Master was likely worried about being reprimanded by the ancestor for asking for the Tracking Mirror.

After all, this territory was entirely under the Ninth Master's management. Now, not only had someone silently broken through the defensive formation, but people had also been killed without a trace left behind. How could he not be scolded if the ancestor learned of such incompetence?

"Ninth Master, you must oversee the situation here to prevent that thief from causing even more trouble. It's really inconvenient for you to leave casually. If you think my earlier suggestion has any value, why not let me run to the ancestor on your behalf?"

Bai Han, ambitious and bold, seized the moment after discerning the Ninth Master's thoughts and offered to help relieve him of his burdens.

Although ordinary people had no right to approach where the ancestor was, this was a special time, so it could be handled specially.

Moreover, he was merely reporting and requesting on behalf of the Ninth Master, using the Ninth Master's name, so the Ninth Master certainly had that qualification.

What he wanted wasn't much; just being able to leave an impression in front of the ancestor would be great.

After all, he was now in the early stage of Golden Core, which was quite good within the entire family. If luck was on his side and he caught the ancestor's eye, his future would undoubtedly be bright.

At that time, what would a mere Bai Heng amount to?

After listening to Bai Han's words, the Ninth Master couldn't help but chuckle coldly in his heart.

Since this Bai Han was eager to help him, he might as well oblige, so that people like Bai Han wouldn't always think that the direct line was maliciously suppressing them.

"You want to go see the ancestor for me?"

He stared at Bai Han for a moment, then suddenly revealed a meaningful smile: "So, when you meet the ancestor, do you know how to report?"

Seeing this, Bai Han was instantly delighted and said very attentively, "Ninth Master, don't worry. I will certainly report truthfully to the ancestor about how the family head's negligence brought us significant trouble. Regardless of how angry and punishing the ancestor may be, he will definitely send the Tracking Mirror, making the thief regret stepping into this place for all eternity!"

With that, the Ninth Master had no further objections. He was quite satisfied as he took out a special token and handed it to Bai Han, signaling him to go immediately.

Of course, for safety's sake, the Ninth Master also ordered another person to accompany Bai Han, but this wouldn't affect Bai Han from meeting the ancestor alone in the end.

Zhang Yiyi and Maoqiu, who were hiding in the shadows, witnessed the entire scene. Indeed, the Bai family, which had already rotted from the inside, had family members fighting fiercely among themselves.

However, she had to thank this Bai Han from the Bai family; his antics had directly led them to the quickest and most accurate route.

"Ninth Master, are you really at ease letting Bai Han see the ancestor?"

After Bai Han left, a close follower beside the Ninth Master whispered, "That kid is no good. Not only does he want to step on Young Master Heng, but he's also audacious enough to leverage the ancestor's power. His ambition is too great; what if..."

"There's no 'what if.' The Bai family believes in the survival of the fittest. If he really has the ability to step on the direct line, that's his fortune."

The Ninth Master, however, wasn't worried at all: "As for the ancestor, does he really think anyone can catch the ancestor's eye? Besides, whether he has the chance to meet the ancestor is another matter. Let's wait and see."

The follower instantly understood the unspoken meaning of the Ninth Master's unfinished words and, recalling the other follower who would accompany him, decisively shut his mouth and stopped worrying.

Meanwhile, Zhang Yiyi and Maoqiu secretly followed Bai Han through a series of twists and turns until they arrived at another short-range teleportation array.

This was the passage to the lowest level of the cave, where the Bai family's ancestor personally guarded the array's core, and the Yellow Springs Fire beckoned them.

Maoqiu controlled its inner excitement and quickly followed Zhang Yiyi into the teleportation array.

At this moment, it was immensely pleased with its innate ability to manipulate spatial laws, making it the perfect helper for tracking, ambushing, and robbing.

However, before Maoqiu could take pride in itself, the other person, who had been quietly standing in the teleportation array, unexpectedly threw a silken net toward their position without any warning.

"What are you doing?"

Bai Han was both shocked and angry, as the net had ensnared him, and he never expected the Ninth Master's people would suddenly attack him.

"Fool!"

That person ignored Bai Han entirely and instead directed his gaze at the figure gradually emerging behind Bai Han, launching a palm strike directly.

The Ninth Master had indeed not miscalculated; since the thief could come and go without a trace while avoiding their search efforts, he must possess a hidden treasure that instilled him with immense confidence.

This person deliberately created so many disturbances to lure them into chaos, merely intending to find the best opportunity to strike.

The Ninth Master had long anticipated that this person would most likely hide nearby and eavesdrop on their conversation before secretly following them to the place he most wanted to go.

Because of this, the Ninth Master simply decided to use Bai Han, this fool, to lead the way and catch the fish in one net, sparing him the trouble of bothering the ancestor over such a minor issue. That would be a sign of extreme incompetence.

Zhang Yiyi understood the moment the opponent cast the net that their movements had already been anticipated, and in such a closed situation as the teleportation array, it was indeed the best opportunity to force them to reveal their positions.

Fortunately, from beginning to end, she never relaxed her vigilance due to remaining concealed. The moment the other person made a move, she immediately reacted.

Without thinking, Zhang Yiyi grabbed Bai Han and pulled him in front of her as a human shield, perfectly blocking the opponent's confident attack.

Seeing Zhang Yiyi react so quickly surprised the attacker, but his movements did not pause. In the small space, he struck again with full force, completely disregarding Bai Han's life.

Zhang Yiyi took a slight step back, not avoiding or retreating, and decided to give the opponent a hand by launching a punch aimed at Bai Han's fatal point.

"Puff!"

Bai Han suffered another heavy blow to his front and back, and in less than two breaths, he was caught off guard, wide-eyed, witnessing his own death without closing his eyes.

Meanwhile, before the net caster had another chance to act, Maoqiu, hidden in the shadowy void, dashed out like a flash of lightning, biting down on the opponent's neck!

From the moment the attacker moved until his demise, it took merely two breaths. The Grim Reaper arrived too quickly, and it was unfortunate that what it sought was not Zhang Yiyi's life, but rather his own.

With the crisis averted, Zhang Yiyi let out a deep breath of relief.

Maoqiu, finally achieving its desire by severing the man's neck, revealed a thoroughly satisfied and mischievous grin.

"Pah!"

Maoqiu forcefully spat out the dirty blood from its mouth, thinking that human cultivators were indeed the most cunning beings in the world.

Fortunately, it had Zhang Yiyi, who was even more cunning by its side; otherwise, this situation could have truly turned into a case of failing to catch the chicken and losing the rice.