While slaying the "Dark Spirit Demon Bats," Li Yan's divine soul was also battered by their overwhelming, crisscrossing sound wave attacks, making his mind spin with dizziness.
From a distance, Xing Ming and the other two had occasionally scanned the area with their Divine Sense. Witnessing this scene, a single thought arose in all their minds.
'He really is a Body Cultivator. His attack methods are simple and crude.'
Of course, Xing Ming had other thoughts as well, but soon, none of them could afford to keep their attention on Li Yan.
The three four-winged "Dark Spirit Demon Bats" were Ancient Ferocious Beasts, and they were aided by countless two-winged bats.
Even Xuan Caijun, at the Pseudo-Nascent Soul Realm, was forced to clash head-on amidst such a dense assault, her room for maneuver constantly being compressed by the enemy.
The Spirit Power Shields around them were already stained with blood. It was impossible to tell if it was from the "Dark Spirit Demon Bats" or if it was their own blood, splashed out when their shields were breached.
Like Song Rongdao, it wasn't that they hadn't thought of forming a defensive squad again.
However, the "Dark Spirit Demon Bats" were fast, their bodies not overly large, and they swarmed in to seal every available space around them.
Soon, the first forked tunnel appeared before Xing Ming's group, followed by another, and then another.
Gradually, they began to feel that these "Dark Spirit Demon Bats" seemed to be forcing them deeper into the tunnels.
'It feels like they're deliberately making us move forward. Could there be some kind of ambush inside?
'Otherwise, you'd have to stand your ground and face wave after wave of attacks, as endless as the ocean's tide.
'In this situation, mobile combat is the best option. Resisting head-on will only drastically increase the consumption of one's spirit power, forcing you to move even if you don't want to!'
As Li Yan engaged in mobile combat, he constantly scanned his surroundings. When the first forked tunnel appeared, he probed it with his Divine Sense. It was calm and unremarkable, with nothing out of the ordinary, yet a sense of unease lingered in his heart.
'This won't do. I need to get rid of these things or shake them off as soon as possible!'
With this thought, Li Yan began to fight his way towards a forked tunnel, retreating as he fought.
At this point, the other three had no time to worry about anyone else. They had to first focus all their efforts on dealing with the four-winged "Dark Spirit Demon Bat" in front of them.
Li Yan saw with his Divine Sense that they were locked in a fierce, inseparable battle. He, on the other hand, quickly retreated into a tunnel.
There were many techniques Li Yan was unwilling to reveal in front of others, such as his poison attacks, his Natal Magical Treasure, and so on.
Once inside the tunnel, seizing a moment when the Divine Sense of Xing Ming's group wasn't probing in his direction, Li Yan's aura changed.
In an instant, his entire body suddenly faded and became illusory, then vanished without a trace, leaving behind only a swarm of two-winged "Dark Spirit Demon Bats" that had been desperately attacking him just moments before.
They swarmed towards the center of the attack from all directions, only to become sluggish. Their prey had disappeared.
After reaching the Golden Core stage, Li Yan's "Stealthy Night Art" had reached an extremely high level of mastery.
Although he still couldn't transform into objects, among those of the same cultivation level, it would be impossible to see through his movements unless they cultivated a special technique.
Faced with a swarm of two-winged "Dark Spirit Demon Bats" that were weaker than him, Li Yan had no interest in getting entangled with them any longer.
Since he sensed something strange about the tunnels here, he had to investigate first, lest he be caught in a scheme without even knowing it.
His Divine Sense swept over the three raging battle groups outside. He found that Xing Ming and the others were all full of vigor and showed no signs of faltering.
Without further hesitation, Li Yan's form rippled faintly in the void and silently darted deeper into his current tunnel.
After flying for only a short while, Li Yan's expression grew increasingly grave. The forked tunnels here were becoming more and more numerous.
However, he had noticed a pattern: all these new forks extended continuously inward. Not a single route looped back.
"All of this happened when they were breaking the cave residence's restriction. They clearly failed to break it, which then triggered the full eruption of the restrictions here.
"Putting aside the initial appearance of the Ancient Ferocious Beasts, the direction of these tunnels is surprisingly consistent..."
Li Yan mused, concealed in the void.
Xing Ming and his group hadn't seen the situation clearly when the female formation master was breaking the formation, but based on the subsequent events, they could deduce a few things.
Suddenly, his heart stirred, and he looked up ahead.
There, a figure made a turn and drifted towards a tunnel that jutted out diagonally across from him.
The female cultivator surnamed Yang was fleeing forward in a panic. Ever since they had been separated by the overwhelming swarm of "Dark Spirit Demon Bats," she had no choice but to use her life-saving techniques.
She had finally carved a bloody path out and fled deep into the tunnels.
Along the way, she couldn't remember how many forks she had turned into, nor did she know where the end lay.
But she knew that since she had entered this place by triggering the Gate of Death's restriction, there must be a corresponding Gate of Life to exit.
Therefore, as long as she could find the Gate of Life, she had hope of getting out of here.
But as she fled, she continuously probed the walls and ceiling of the tunnel with her Divine Sense, yet she couldn't find the restriction she was looking for.
All she found were defensive restriction formations; of this, she was certain.
And behind her, the "Dark Spirit Demon Bats" were still in hot pursuit. Although the female cultivator surnamed Yang was a Golden Core cultivator, she was more adept at formations than direct combat.
To her alarm, even though the "Dark Spirit Demon Bats" behind her were of a lower cultivation level, their flight speed was incredibly fast.
If it weren't for her higher cultivation, she would have likely been caught by now. The sound of them tearing through the air in the darkness was getting closer and closer.
Just like that, after fleeing for another twenty breaths, a sharp voice suddenly rang out in front of her.
"Outworld cultivator, where do you think you're going?"
The female cultivator's body came to a sudden halt. She stared in astonishment at the pitch-black tunnel ahead, where another dense swarm of "Dark Spirit Demon Bats" had appeared.
One of the two-winged bats spoke in a human voice, staring at her coldly.
Once a demonic beast reaches the second rank, it can take human form, it just depends on whether it wants to. Clearly, these "Dark Spirit Demon Bats" preferred to appear in their original forms.
In that instant, the female cultivator surnamed Yang understood. The tunnels here seemed to extend and fork, but they were, in fact, interconnected.
The enemy was naturally extremely familiar with this place, so they had circled around to block her path.
The "Dark Spirit Demon Bats" opposite her were also annoyed. This female cultivator was the weakest of the group, yet she had managed to break through their encirclement.
Although the direction she was fleeing was still towards the final destination, if she reached it on her own, she might just be directly absorbed, and they wouldn't get any benefits at all.
They had been here for too, too long. The spiritual energy here was scarce, and there was that strange black qi that made it difficult for their cultivation to advance beyond a certain point.
According to the original rules of this place, this female cultivator's essence blood and Golden Core would eventually be absorbed anyway.
But at least if she was captured by them, her physical body was a rare and valuable prize.
It had been nourished by magic power for hundreds, even thousands of years. Even without essence blood, a cultivator's flesh and blood was a great tonic for them.
Although a few cultivators were not enough to be evenly distributed among their entire clan, the higher-ranked and more powerful "Dark Spirit Demon Bats" would still be able to get some.
They had been hungry for too, too long. So they had to capture her personally, hand over her essence blood and Golden Core, and then keep the body to enjoy.
A sharp glint flashed in the female cultivator's beautiful eyes. She was, after all, a person who had long been seasoned by life-and-death situations. Although she was not skilled in direct combat, she was still a Golden Core cultivator.
To be threatened like this by a group of low-rank demonic beasts, her pretty face frosted over. With a wave of her fair hand, a dark light flashed in the air.
With a thump, an object three or four times the size of the female cultivator, both in height and width, appeared in front of her. It was a "Wetland Thunder Bear."
The moment it appeared, it slammed its massive, thick palms together in front of its chest.
Bang! Amidst the loud sound, fine arcs of pale blue lightning flashed across the "Wetland Thunder Bear's" body, making it appear exceptionally mighty and domineering.
"It's that puppet again!"
Among the "Dark Spirit Demon Bats" opposite them, several sharp voices rang out.
They remembered it well. Just now, it was the appearance of this very puppet that had instantly killed more than twenty of their companions, creating an opening that allowed this female cultivator to escape.
This "Wetland Thunder Bear" was equivalent in combat strength to the peak of the initial-stage Golden Core.
What frustrated the "Dark Spirit Demon Bats" the most was that it seemed to be immune to sound wave attacks, and the materials used to refine its body were exceptionally tough, allowing it to easily sweep away a large number of them.
At this, many of the "Dark Spirit Demon Bats" opposite her showed fear on their faces.
Just then, the sound of tearing air echoed behind the female cultivator again. A sweep of her Divine Sense made her expression change drastically; the pursuers from behind had arrived.
The moment the swarm of "Dark Spirit Demon Bats" from behind drew near, they let out strange "zhi zhi zhi" cries, as if urging something on.
As these cries rang out, the pupils of the "Dark Spirit Demon Bats" in front, some of which had been shrinking back, immediately turned an even deeper shade of green.
The "Dark Spirit Demon Bats" surrounding her from both front and back instantly formed strange assault formations and charged towards her.
Seeing this formation, the female cultivator knew that a great battle was unavoidable. Previously, it was this very formation whose every attack was incredibly powerful.
She herself raised her hands, and an azure cloak appeared in her grasp.
Meanwhile, the "Wetland Thunder Bear" in front of her had already thrown a punch. A blue ball of gas, the size of a head and formed from spiritual energy, shot straight ahead.
The "Dark Spirit Demon Bats" from behind had also reached her. Amidst a continuous "peng peng peng" sound, the azure cloak instantly expanded, forming a large azure hood over her.
The charging "Dark Spirit Demon Bats" crashed into it and exploded into showers of blood that splattered everywhere.
And more "Dark Spirit Demon Bats," following a strange formation, attacked from all directions.
The "Wetland Thunder Bear" punched out, and where the blue ball of gas passed, a straight tunnel was instantly formed in front of it.
Wherever the thick blue beam of light passed, at least thirty "Dark Spirit Demon Bats" were killed in an instant.
The "Wetland Thunder Bear" then strode forward. The female cultivator also used the azure cloak to protect her body, blocking attacks from the other three directions as she followed closely behind.
Just like that, the "Wetland Thunder Bear" continuously punched out, moving forward step by step.
The female cultivator hid behind it, constantly observing the formations on the surrounding cave walls.
She hoped to quickly discover a restriction that was different from the defensive ones.
Faced with the "Wetland Thunder Bear," which was like an impenetrable fortress, the "Dark Spirit Demon Bats" were fearful, yet they fought with the resolve of those facing certain death.
The scent emanating from the cultivator's body also drove them into a frenzy.
In their eagerness to take a bite of her flesh, their once-glowing green eyes had turned a deep, eerie green.
As if starved for millennia, seeing their companions continuously killed by the enemy, the "Dark Spirit Demon Bats" became even more frantic. Their piercing shrieks were ear-splitting, as if trying to tear apart the female cultivator's divine soul.
Even though the female cultivator used the azure cloak to block these sound wave attacks, her face grew paler and paler.
(End of chapter)