As the formation flags sank in, the surrounding scenery slightly distorted and then returned to normal.
At this point, if someone were to look from the outside, the area would still be pitch black and deathly silent.
When the youth surnamed Bai's formation flags flew out, he clearly felt the auras of the other three people suddenly contract. After sensing the pressure emitted by the formation flags, their auras relaxed again.
The youth surnamed Bai didn't mind this at all. If he were suddenly trapped in a formation by someone, he would also react immediately. He was just anxious to go in and take a look.
After everything was done, Song Rongdao still did not step into the cave. Instead, he looked at the female cultivator surnamed Yang with a smile. The other two also did not move.
The female cultivator surnamed Yang's heart skipped a beat.
'It's a good thing I didn't think of killing them just now. If I had opened the Gate of Death, things would be really difficult now.'
She had considered opening the Gate of Death before, letting them go in and then immediately sealing it, after which she would open the Gate of Life and enter herself.
But thinking about these people's cunning, she ultimately gave up this tempting idea and chose to open the Gate of Life.
The situation was indeed as she had expected. These people did not believe that the restriction was already broken, so they wanted her to lead the way.
The female cultivator surnamed Yang said faintly.
"The formation here is a bit strange. Everyone, please be careful. It's better for me to lead the way!"
With that, her slender body twisted, and she was the first to flash into the cave, immediately disappearing into the rosy light.
The three, Song Rongdao and the others, exchanged glances. After waiting a few breaths, the light from their spirit power shields suddenly brightened, and they also flashed into the rosy light.
As soon as they entered the cave, a curtain of light quickly swept past their eyes. Then, amidst their vigilance, they found themselves standing in a long passage.
On the ceiling of the passage, there was a moonlight stone every ten feet or so, emitting a soft light that illuminated the entire passage in a tranquil and peaceful manner.
The passage was arched, and the stone walls were exceptionally smooth, glowing with a faint cyan luster under the moonlight stones.
The ground was paved with large blocks of cyan stone, extending from their feet and disappearing around a bend a few hundred feet away, making it impossible to see the end.
At this moment, the female cultivator surnamed Yang was standing five feet in front of them, looking around.
Song Rongdao turned his head and saw that the rosy light behind them was, as the female cultivator surnamed Yang had said, gradually dimming. It looked like it would completely disappear in a few dozen breaths.
With a sweep of their Divine Senses, they were delighted to find that there was not a trace of demonic qi here. Although the spiritual energy was not very dense, it was extremely pure.
This meant their combat power was restored.
This kind of environment was relatively rare on the border, unless it was in the army of the White Demon Clan, or some sects and families used purification formations to achieve it.
Even in Song Rongdao's "Black Forest Manor," the formation would only be activated in a certain area for a certain period of time to remove the demonic qi for the disciples to cultivate.
But here, it was clear that a formation was always in operation, keeping the spiritual energy pure. Comparing Black Forest Manor to this place was like comparing a beggar to the royal family; they used the purification formation openly.
But even though the conditions on the border were harsh, many cultivators were usually unwilling to leave. It was faster to kill and plunder for resources here.
Without a formation to purify the demonic qi, it was also feasible to cultivate purely by using the spirit stones plundered after killing.
Besides the absence of demonic qi, the few of them also found that their Divine Sense was no longer affected here.
"The formation restriction is really broken. When I came last time, there was no sign of the demonic qi being eliminated after entering, and my Divine Sense was also blocked!"
A smile reappeared on Song Rongdao's solemn face. Deep down, he had already confirmed that the female cultivator surnamed Yang had really broken the restriction.
"This is already inside the formation. If there are any more traps, they would be attacks set up inside. So, fellow daoists, it's best to be careful!"
The female cultivator surnamed Yang turned her head at this moment and said, then walked forward on her own. She didn't want to explain too much.
A look of excitement began to appear in the eyes of Song Rongdao and the others. While remaining vigilant of their surroundings, they also walked deeper into the passage.
Just like that, the four of them walked forward along the winding passage.
But what surprised them next was that they had been walking in the passage for about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, and it was still a long passage ahead, and they had not encountered any attacks at all.
"Fellow Daoist Song, you said you encountered the 'Dark Spirit Demon Bat' last time. How long had you been walking before that happened?"
The youth surnamed Bai, whose mind had been tense all along, turned his head suspiciously and looked at Song Rongdao.
"Very quickly. I had only advanced about a dozen feet or so before it ambushed me!"
Song Rongdao's Divine Sense was also vigilantly scanning the surroundings. The danger he encountered last time was also very sudden, and the memory was still fresh in his mind.
"We've walked for a full seven or eight li. Not only have we not encountered anything, but this passage is also too long."
The cultivator surnamed Yan also looked bewildered. They had all imagined that there would be a big battle after they came in, but now everything was completely different from what Song Rongdao had said before.
Apart from their footsteps, the passage was so quiet it was as if only the four of them were left in the world, making everything around them seem extremely strange.
Only the female cultivator surnamed Yang had already guessed the reason, but she did not intend to say it out loud.
'Song Rongdao didn't really break the restriction last time. He just thought he had broken some of it. In fact, that was all just an illusion given by the 'Hidden Scale Concealing Splendor Formation.''
'In that situation, he must have triggered a hidden restriction, so the path he took should be a path to the Gate of Death.'
'The Gate of Death often contains various traps, spells, and even a large number of demonic beast attacks, hence the name.'
'The 'Dark Spirit Demon Bat' he encountered was a demonic beast guarding the Gate of Death.'
'And the path we are taking now is the Gate of Life that I chose. Naturally, we won't encounter too much danger, and it's even possible that there is no danger at all.'
'This is the first pass to enter the formation, and the end of this passage is the end of the Gate of Life.'
'At that time, it will be replaced by other restrictions, and other dangers will appear there.'
The female cultivator surnamed Yang was constantly thinking in her heart, but her face always maintained a vigilant expression, without revealing any other abnormality, so others had no idea what she was thinking.
Not long after Song Rongdao's group of four entered the cave, four more figures appeared at the spot where they had been standing.
"They really are here for treasure. I just don't know if this cave is a cave residence left by a cultivator, or some kind of separate spatial secret realm."
Xing Ming's voice echoed in the minds of the other three.
Although their Divine Sense was greatly affected at the bottom of the sea, Xuan Caijun's realm was higher than the others. With him constantly sensing ahead, they followed carefully and were not discovered by Song Rongdao's group.
Now, their communication had all been switched to voice transmission.
"Hahaha, we'll know when we go in. This time, thanks to Fellow Daoist Xing Ming, perhaps we can all have some unexpected gains."
Feng Moru had already put away his horsetail whisk at this moment. With the huge sword casket on his back, a divine light flashed in his eyes.
"However, after we go in later, we still have to find a way to ambush and kill one or two of them first!"
Xuan Caijun nodded. No matter what treasures were in the cave, if they wanted to snatch them, or to help Xing Ming, they had to find a way to greatly weaken the opponent's strength.
Xing Ming nodded and thought for a moment.
"It's best if we can separate them so that we can maximize our advantage in the attack. But this requires the right time and place. We can only act according to the circumstances."
At the same time, he sent a separate voice transmission to Li Yan.
"Junior Brother, see if there's a way to attack secretly later. Even if it just causes the opponent to be dizzy for a moment, that would achieve the goal."
"Senior Brother, when I can act, I will do my best. Please rest assured on this point!"
Li Yan also replied. He knew that Xing Ming wanted him to use his poison skills in secret. This was the most effective way to reduce the opponent's combat power.
For this kind of thing, Xing Ming immediately thought of his Elder Zhang, but he did not say it explicitly in front of the other two.
Half a cup of tea's time later, Song Rongdao's group of four stood at the edge of an open area.
They looked around in astonishment. The plaza was about three hundred feet in size. One side was the only passage they had come through, and the other three sides were steep mountain walls.
The mountain walls were covered in green moss, and there were even traces of water stains. The green moss extended up to about a hundred feet, which was the top of the cave.
And at the edge of the plaza opposite, there were three caves built next to each other. The gates of the three caves were all tightly closed. This was the cave residence they discovered after entering the cave.
"Flowing Wave Grotto, Jade Balance Grotto, Celestial Spirit Grotto? Why do these look like cultivators' cave residences? But how can cave residences be built so close to each other?"
The cultivator surnamed Yan glanced over and said in surprise.
They had not encountered any danger along the way, nor had they seen any treasures. They had just walked out of the long passage cautiously and arrived here.
But the sight of this open area, plus the three caves built against the mountain at the edge, made them a little unsure of where they were.
Where were they?
If this was a cave residence left by an ancient cultivator, they should already be inside the cave residence after breaking the outer restriction.
Logically speaking, the few caves in front of them should be cultivation chambers, beast-rearing chambers, and the like, but the words carved above indicated otherwise.
Or, it was also plausible that they were now between a cave residence and the outer grand formation, and then facing a real cave residence.
But to have three cave residences appear at once left everyone stunned for a moment.
They had never encountered cultivators building cave residences so close to each other, and for three cave residences to share a defensive grand formation. This was too difficult to understand.
The mountain range at the bottom of the sea was continuous and undulating, giving a sense of boundlessness.
In such a wide area, even if they were to build cave residences, even if they were sworn martial brothers, they would not live so close to each other.
Who didn't have their own privacy? Just the fact that three cave residences shared an outer defensive grand formation was unreasonable.
One's comings and goings, or when friends visited, would all be under the watchful eyes of the other two.
"Fellow Daoist Bai, can you see what's going on here?"
Even with Song Rongdao's experience, he couldn't figure out the purpose of this place for a moment. He had to withdraw his spreading Divine Sense and focus on what was in front of him.
That "Dark Spirit Demon Bat" had not appeared. Apart from the female cultivator surnamed Yang, who had some guesses, the other three had been on guard the whole time.
"This is the first time I've seen such a construction method. This completely doesn't meet the cultivation requirements of a sect cultivator."
"Could it be that this is just a bad habit of the cultivator here, or some kind of hobby."
"What I mean is, this is just an independent cave residence. The master of this place just carved the words on it, but they are actually cultivation chambers, pill refining chambers, and the like, deliberately misleading people."
The youth surnamed Bai said thoughtfully.
It wasn't that the four of them were deliberately fixated on the words carved on these three caves, but that they wanted to determine what kind of place they were in by confirming their surroundings.
That way, they might be able to draw on some experience and judge possible traps and dangers based on their rich experience.