Watching the position where the nail-like ray was rapidly descending, the female cultivator surnamed Yang was quite pleased with her judgment this time. She had finally figured out the movement pattern of the three illusory points of light.
She watched as the divine nail-like ray, in a flash, arrived before the grotto gate.
At that very moment, an extremely faint point of light was about to appear in that area on the gate.
In the female cultivator's Divine Sense, the nail-like ray was already about to touch that point of light. A charming smile graced the corners of her lips.
But the smile had yet to fully form on her lips when suddenly, the unexpected happened.
The grotto gate, at that very moment, trembled slightly without any warning. The nail-like ray struck the gate directly.
The position it struck was off by a hair's breadth from the appearing point of light. It had missed.
All of this happened too quickly, the change too sudden to guard against.
From the moment the female cultivator launched the final nail-like ray to the appearance and disappearance of the illusory point of light, not even the blink of an eye had passed.
The female cultivator felt her heart clench violently, as if someone had grabbed it. A fierce palpitation surged through her, her chest tightening, suffocating her.
But before she could cry out in alarm, the world here had already undergone a massive transformation.
The originally calm and bright plaza was suddenly thrown into turmoil. With a series of "kaka-kaka" sounds, cracks appeared on the cavern ceiling above.
The Moonlight Stones on the ceiling vanished in an instant. A bone-chilling wind gushed out from the cracks, plunging the underwater cave into pitch darkness.
Although the presence or absence of light was of little consequence to cultivators, in that instant, the place turned into a dark and gloomy space, making one feel an boundless, oppressive gloom.
If it were only this, it would have been one thing. But amidst the "kaka-kaka" sounds, as if an ancient mechanism had been triggered, the gates of the three cave residences before them vanished in a flash, leaving only a sheer, black mountain wall.
At the same time, the passage that had been directly facing the plaza began to writhe. A few figures then stumbled out in a hurry.
"Who are you?"
In the darkness, Song Rongdao was the first to snap out of his shock from the sudden change. He had experienced more life-and-death situations than anyone else here, and his reactions were extremely swift.
"Audacious thieves, to dare trespass in our cave residence! You all deserve to die!"
From the other side, someone had already shouted sternly.
These few figures were none other than Xing Ming and his group of four. The sudden writhing of the passage had instantly destroyed the concealment formation they had set up.
Moreover, to their horror, they discovered that as the passage writhed, it began to break apart and disappear, section by section.
This in itself wouldn't be a major issue for cultivators; they could have used an Earth Evasion Art even if they were buried inside.
But from the fractured openings, they all felt a hair-raising sense of mortal danger. Faced with this crisis, none of them could afford to remain hidden any longer and unhesitatingly flew out.
Startled by Song Rongdao's shout, Xing Ming's reaction was incredibly fast. Now that they were face-to-face, all their previous plans were useless.
But he didn't want the other party to know they were here to hunt them down, which would lead to a direct confrontation. Instead, he unceremoniously berated them.
Hearing the other party's question, Song Rongdao and his group were stunned.
"This cave residence has an owner?"
For a moment, they couldn't tell if the other party was lying.
Because this place was so remote, Song Rongdao had only stumbled upon it by chance. The other three knew nothing about it at all.
For a moment, Song Rongdao was bewildered. Although there were Ancient Ferocious Beasts like the "Dark Spirit Demon Bat" here, no one could say for certain that it was impossible for someone in this day and age to have found them to guard their cave residence.
Just then, as Xing Ming and his group were about to find a reason to approach the others, the surrounding mountain walls blurred, and the broken passage vanished.
In their place, eleven dark tunnels appeared simultaneously.
What terrified everyone present even more was that the moment the tunnels formed, things began to fall from the cracks in the ceiling.
As soon as these things fell, they flapped their wings and flew, rushing towards them.
"It's the 'Dark Spirit Demon Bats'!"
Song Rongdao recognized what these things were at a glance and immediately cried out in alarm.
What sent a chill down everyone's spine was that among the falling Dark Spirit Demon Bats, there were five exceptionally large ones.
Each of them had four wings, and their bodies were as large as half an adult man. They stared viciously at the group of cultivators.
Song Rongdao's group of four was even more terrified than Xing Ming's group, because they knew something about the situation.
Last time, Song Rongdao had only encountered one four-winged "Dark Spirit Demon Bat," but now five had appeared at once.
Behind the five four-winged beasts was a swarm of black bats with two wings, a dense black mass like a dark tide.
The smallest among them was a foot in size. Each one bared a mouth full of fine, sharp teeth, letting out strange "zhi-zhi-zhi..." cries that rose and fell...
A single glance revealed the darkness filled with pairs of glowing green eyes, which in an instant, filled the entire sky above the plaza.
Following Song Rongdao's cry of alarm, these "Dark Spirit Demon Bats" were already flapping their wings in the air, stirring up waves of cold, foul-smelling wind.
Especially the five four-winged "Dark Spirit Demon Bats," they looked exceptionally ferocious, coldly staring at the cultivators below.
In an instant, the eight people on both sides no longer cared about the people opposite them. They simultaneously sent voice transmissions to their own companions.
"Quick, into the tunnels!"
The plaza seemed large, but considering the dense swarm of "Dark Spirit Demon Bats" overhead, no one dared to remain.
The number of four-winged "Dark Spirit Demon Bats" alone exceeded the number of cultivators on either side, not to mention the countless two-winged ones assisting them. Their only option was to enter the tunnels.
But everyone knew in their hearts that with the restrictions here being triggered, the seemingly safe tunnels might hold even greater dangers.
But for now, at least, they didn't sense any danger from within, so they still chose to enter without hesitation.
They needed to try to escape and see if there was a way out, rather than stay here and fight to the death.
Looking at the cracks above, from which "Dark Spirit Demon Bats" were still continuously falling between the gaps of the swarm, who knew how many more there were? Who would be willing to withstand their assault here?
Fortunately, there were eleven tunnels on the surrounding walls, evenly distributed. The nearest one to Song Rongdao's group was only three zhang away, so they didn't have to fight their way through.
"It was you... you've doomed us all!"
As the cultivator surnamed Yan flew rapidly towards the tunnel, he said viciously to the female cultivator surnamed Yang. Not only had she failed to break the restriction, she had triggered an even more powerful one.
"Fellow Daoist Yan, failure is always a possibility when breaking formations and restrictions. We still need to work together to escape this desperate situation!"
Song Rongdao frowned. Although he was also extremely dissatisfied with the outcome, he didn't want the group to turn on each other at this moment, especially since they had all seen the grotto gate suddenly shake for no reason.
The female cultivator surely couldn't have reacted to such a sudden change.
The female cultivator surnamed Yang kept her head down and did not retort. Her heart was still filled with confusion.
She had clearly identified the Gate of Life's light point and had anticipated possible situations. Why, at the very moment she made her move, did the grotto gate shake?
She couldn't figure out this situation for the moment, couldn't understand it. Of course, she didn't know what had happened to cause that tremor.
"We can't separate after entering the tunnel. Otherwise, it will be even harder to escape!"
By now, the four of them had instantly entered a tunnel. As the youth surnamed Bai surveyed the surroundings, he immediately sent a voice transmission to the other three.
No one objected to his proposal. Although they hadn't sensed any danger in the tunnel yet, they all knew it was equally fraught with peril.
Under such circumstances, it was safer for them to stick together. At the right opportunity, they might still need the female cultivator surnamed Yang to break them out of a restriction.
On the other side, Xing Ming's group also chose a tunnel and fled into it. Their thoughts were identical to Song Rongdao's group: stick together and break out.
In the sky above the plaza, the five four-winged "Dark Spirit Demon Bats" came to a sudden halt, coldly staring down below, not immediately giving chase.
Behind them, the two-winged "Dark Spirit Demon Bats" flapped their wings restlessly, ready to dive down at any moment.
The one in the middle of the five four-winged "Dark Spirit Demon Bats" suddenly blurred, and then a short, slender, green-faced man appeared in the air.
He looked at the two tunnels, then pointed a long-nailed, black finger at the tunnel Xing Ming's group had entered.
"Second Brother, you take Third Brother, Fourth Sister, and the children and chase the cultivators in that tunnel.
"Remember to follow the rules of this place. This is a rare opportunity. Even if you kill them ahead of time, you must first extract their essence blood and Golden Cores before you can devour their flesh. Otherwise, don't blame me for being merciless!"
Then he looked at the tunnel Song Rongdao's group had entered.
"One of the cultivators here came a few years ago and even injured Fifth Brother! I will personally take Fifth Brother and the others to kill him. I'll pull his intestines out, bit by bit, and let Fifth Brother fly them like a kite!"
The short, slender, green-faced man stuck out his scarlet tongue and licked the corner of his mouth, his eyes growing even colder and more sinister.
Then, he lightly ran the tip of his long tongue over his sharp teeth and whispered slowly.
"We've been trapped here for too long. Cultivators... I truly miss their flesh and blood. Such a delicious taste!
"Last time, Fifth Brother failed to keep that person here. That's not bad either; he brought back more delicacies!"
Their clan had been ordered to stand guard here for far, far too long. Moreover, they could only operate within a certain range, specifically, within the restricted land of the Gate of Death.
If an outsider had correctly opened the restriction here, only a few from their clan could have appeared in the outside world.
But they hadn't done that before, instead choosing to observe and wait in the shadows.
"No, I will deal with that person myself. He injured me last time. This time, I'll let him know what despair and terror feel like!"
The "Dark Spirit Demon Bat" called Fifth Brother also spoke in human language.
The short, slender, green-faced man heard this and said no more, nodding before looking at the other four-winged "Dark Spirit Demon Bats."
"How could we forget the laws of this place? It's a rare treat for these people to come and extend our lives!
"By the way, First Brother, since that cultivator was able to bring these people back again, should we let one go later?
"That way, the one who escapes will surely not give up and will bring others back. Then we'll have more time."
The "Dark Spirit Demon Bat" addressed as "Second Brother" by the green-faced man remained in its original form and also nodded in agreement.
The short, slender, green-faced man heard this and immediately shook his head.
"No. You should know the strength of the formation here. This time, we were lucky.
"If they bring even stronger cultivators next time, or a top-tier formation master, we will most likely perish directly."
"But, our time is also running out. How much longer can we last?
"Two hundred years? A hundred years? Or maybe just a few decades?
"It's been so long, and the Master hasn't returned to fulfill his promise. And the ancestors even perished unexpectedly. I truly cannot accept this!"