The Golden Core elder, of course, could not let him escape and was the first to fly down after him.
Although the evil cultivator had prepared a hidden escape route, he never expected to be cornered in his cave by a Golden Core cultivator. He knew that he could not escape from the hands of a Golden Core cultivator today. The moment he jumped, he wanted to self-detonate, but in front of a Golden Core cultivator, he didn't even have the chance to choose self-destruction.
The Golden Core elder from Nine Palaces Mountain quickly caught up and struck him from a distance with a palm, severely injuring him. If the Golden Core elder hadn't wanted to capture him alive, that single blow would have ended the evil cultivator's life.
Just as the Golden Core elder was closing in, a cloud of black smoke suddenly billowed up from the bottom of the cliff, snatching the evil cultivator away first.
The Golden Core elder from Nine Palaces Mountain was furious, not expecting the evil cultivator to have a accomplice. But the black smoke came and went quickly. By the time he rushed down, he could no longer find any trace of them, leaving the Golden Core elder fuming with rage.
Ying Kai had participated in this event and remembered the evil cultivator's wildly laughing face at the moment the door was broken down. He never expected to run into the man here today.
Thus, Ying Kai proposed to Ding Yushan that the four from Nine Palaces Mountain be allowed to leave the team to capture this person. After some consideration, Ding Yushan agreed, as it was a minor matter.
However, the other six did not go far, merely trailing behind the four from Nine Palaces Mountain from a distance.
Soon, Ying Kai's group of four approached the evil cultivator from behind. Just as they were about to strike, the scene that unfolded surprised everyone who was following.
The evil cultivator seemed to furtively make his way to a pile of rubble halfway up a mountain peak. Then, with a flash of light, he vanished.
"A formation!" Ying Kai transmitted to his three sect mates. Since they had already planned to make a move, they had crept very close, but they had not extended their divine sense too far to avoid alerting the target.
Ying Kai knew of this person's cunning and ferocity. Back then, even when facing a Golden Core cultivator, he had struck first, killing the female cultivator under him before considering escape.
Therefore, they did not let their guard down just because the other party was only at the initial stage of Foundation Establishment and they had superior numbers.
After another moment, confirming that there was nothing unusual in the surroundings, Ying Kai's group of four was about to quietly approach the pile of rubble when the six people behind them, led by Ding Yushan, caught up.
Ding Yushan then sent a voice transmission to Ying Kai, ordering them to cease all action.
The reason was simple. Before, it was just one cultivator, and his cultivation was only at the initial stage of Foundation Establishment, so Ding Yushan didn't think it was a major issue. But now, it seemed the situation was not so simple.
The six behind them all agreed that the person Ying Kai's group wanted to capture must have a cave or even accomplices here. In that case, the situation was completely different.
"Fellow Daoist Ding, this person is a high-priority fugitive of our sect. You can leave first; my martial brothers and I will handle it here. Although we are in the same team and you are the captain, you have no right to restrict our freedom when the mission is already complete."
Ying Kai turned, his face showing displeasure as he transmitted his voice.
Ding Yushan frowned upon hearing this and continued to transmit, "Fellow Daoist Ying, our mission is not yet complete. We have not yet reported to the mission office at Lingtian Gate and are still on mission time."
"Before, there was only one cultivator, so it wouldn't have affected the follow-up. But now, the situation here has clearly changed. What you are doing is improper."
As soon as Ding Yushan said this, apart from the two cultivators from his own Wind and Snow Sect who expressed agreement, the three cultivators from the Hualing Sect remained silent, neither agreeing nor disagreeing, taking no sides.
The four from Nine Palaces Mountain were unhappy after hearing this, but the Golden Core elder of Lingtian Gate had strictly forbidden insubordination during missions.
So, Ying Kai considered for a moment and said, "How about this, I will go over alone to check the situation. It's concealed by a formation. With my attainments in formations, I believe I won't alert the other party."
"If it's not feasible, we will retreat immediately. Fellow Daoist Ding and Fellow Daoist Zhou can lead my three junior brothers back. You can withdraw three hundred li from here; your divine sense should still be able to observe this area. If anything unexpected happens, you can leave immediately without any trouble."
The "Fellow Daoist Zhou" Ying Kai mentioned was the leading senior brother of the Hualing Sect. His cultivation had also reached the late stage of Foundation Establishment, but he had lost the captaincy competition after losing three out of five matches.
In truth, he was only polite to Ding Yushan on the surface. Hearing Ying Kai's words, the cultivator surnamed Zhou just smiled without speaking, merely casting his gaze towards Ding Yushan. He wouldn't offer an opinion on such matters; in any case, they would definitely retreat several hundred li.
After hearing Ying Kai's proposal, Ding Yushan thought for a moment. He felt that this green-robed cultivator must be very important to Nine Palaces Mountain, which was why Ying Kai was willing to take the risk. Moreover, Ying Kai's words made some sense.
Nine Palaces Mountain's greatest strength was the way of formations, and among everyone here, Ying Kai's skill in formations was particularly outstanding.
During their last capture mission, it was mainly Ying Kai who set up the formation. In the end, the targeted cultivator, in a moment of desperation, detonated a protective jade pendant refined by a Golden Core senior.
This threat had greatly alarmed Ding Yushan and the others, but it only managed to create a crack in Ying Kai's formation without forcefully breaking it.
Thus, Ying Kai activated the formation's restrictions again and captured the person alive.
Only afterwards did Ding Yushan and the others learn that Ying Kai possessed a damaged Formation Plate, a gift from his master.
Although the treasure was damaged, it could deploy a formation that even a Golden Core cultivator, if unaware of the formation eye's location, could not break through with brute force in a short time.
Besides, if he refused Ying Kai, not only would the man act stubbornly, but he would also offend these four people.
Ding Yushan did not want them to have a falling out. His own backing was just a second-rate sect; why should he needlessly offend this person? Moreover, the other party had also requested his group to move far away.
Thus, without another word, he flew back nearly four hundred li before stopping. However, the other three cultivators from Nine Palaces Mountain remained in place, advancing and retreating together with Ying Kai. This outcome did not surprise Ding Yushan.
After Ding Yushan and the others were at a distance, the four from Nine Palaces Mountain carefully approached the pile of rubble. Half an hour later, Ying Kai's voice sounded in Ding Yushan's divine sense.
"Fellow Daoist Ding, I think you might need to come over. This is a Parent-Child Formation. The parent formation is for protection, meant to conceal a teleportation formation within."
"And the method used to set up this teleportation formation is extremely similar to what Chang Qi from the sixth squad described a few days ago."
Ding Yushan, who had been waiting several hundred li away, was startled by Ying Kai's words.
A few days ago, when Chang Qi of the sixth squad led his team to besiege a suspected demonic stronghold, they had inadvertently revealed their position and were discovered.
The sixth squad then launched a direct assault. But when they charged in, the entire stronghold was empty; everyone had fled. They eventually found a small teleportation formation in a hidden corner. It was clear the enemy had already used the formation to escape, leaving them with nothing.
They didn't dare rashly enter the teleportation formation, fearing an ambush on the other side. But one of their team members was a cultivator from the Beast-Refining Den. He took out a small beast and placed it in the formation.
He had a bloodline connection with this small beast. Unless the other end of the teleportation formation was too far away or the beast died, he would not lose his connection to it.
However, what they had found was a small-scale teleportation formation, which typically had a maximum range of no more than two hundred li. But the final result was disappointing. After placing the beast on it and inserting Spirit Stones, the teleportation formation could no longer be activated. It was clear that the other end had been casually destroyed by the enemy.
Although the mission ended in failure, the formation expert in the sixth squad later inspected the small teleportation formation and found its construction to be very strange. Besides being powered by Spirit Stones, there was also a black groove next to one of the Spirit Stone slots, its purpose unknown.
When they reported this to the elder of Lingtian Gate, the Golden Core elder sighed.
"It was indeed a demonic gathering place. That teleportation formation was personally set up by the Demon Clan. Their artifact refining and formation techniques are one or two levels higher than ours."
"Our teleportation formations can only be driven by Spirit Stones, whereas the formations set up by the Demon Clan can not only use Spirit Stones but can also be activated by unique Demonic Markings that they carve themselves when Spirit Stones are unavailable."
"These Demonic Markings can also gather the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to activate the formation. The higher the rank of the demon, the farther the distance their carved markings can teleport."
The sixth squad had mentioned this during a private conversation with Ding Yushan's team later.
Today, hearing that it was a teleportation formation similar to the one the sixth squad had seen, Ding Yushan and the others were shocked. With such an important situation, they could not just sit back and ignore it.
Next, the six of them gathered at the original rubble pile. After confirmation, they all agreed that it was basically identical to the one described by the sixth squad.
So, after some discussion, they decided to set up an ambush at a distance, wanting to see who else would teleport over or use it to leave.
Lingtian Gate had an order: all matters related to the Demon Clan must be reported. Even if they went back to report now, this mission would most likely fall back on them.
Golden Core cultivators were not cabbages by the roadside. If Golden Core cultivators had to personally go on every investigation mission like this, even the Four Great Sects would be strained.
Thus, after reporting the matter back to the sect via a voice transmission talisman—using a medium-range one, of course, as the Ten-Thousand-Li Voice Transmission Talisman couldn't be used lightly—they lay in ambush.
The reply they received was an order to monitor the location closely. Due to all the Golden Core elders of Lingtian Gate being occupied with important matters, it would take two days for them to arrive.
At the same time, the order required Ding Yushan's team to find out the location of the other end of the teleportation formation if possible.
Since the enemy was clearly unaware that this teleportation formation had been exposed, they would certainly not destroy the formation at the other end.
After receiving the order, Ding Yushan's team waited for a day and a half without any discoveries. After some discussion, they decided to take the risk.
Mainly, most of them wanted to perform meritorious service and get a handsome reward.
Besides, even if a Golden Core cultivator came, they would still arrange for a low-level cultivator to go first. The outcome would likely be the same.
There was no perfect method for everything. Coincidentally, no one here had a contracted spirit beast. Thus, no one was willing to go. In the end, they had to resort to the old method—drawing lots.
At the same time, the others promised that whoever completed this dangerous task would receive half of whatever rewards were obtained.
In the end, Ding Yushan's Third Junior Sister drew the short straw. Seeing her pale face, Ding Yushan could only sigh inwardly before personally stepping onto the teleportation formation.