"Alright, Meng Zhiyuan, quickly take us to the next tunnel. Hurry!"
Li Yan immediately said in a low voice to the one in front.
He had just learned the name of this four-winged Dark Spirit Demon Bat; he was the eldest of five siblings.
"Big Brother..."
"I said I'm fine. Do you really want me to perish?
"Alright, Fellow Daoist Zhang, let's head to the tunnel to the front-left. We really need to hurry. It's just that if something still happens, I hope you can still honor the promise you just made.
"After all, we were enemies before, and when we fought, we were reckless.
"Otherwise, if I die, I don't know if you'll be able to get out, but you'll definitely have to kill all of my clansmen here!"
The first half of Meng Zhiyuan's words was directed at his third brother, while the latter half was whispered to Li Yan. His life was now in the other's hands.
If this Fellow Daoist Zhang and he had been even half a step later just now, that old man would have already perished.
On the way over, Li Yan had already told him that there were only four people on his side; he didn't care about the life or death of the other four.
But among those four, there was one with a magical treasure in the form of a colored lantern that had to be taken away. As for the items on the others, they were free to dispose of them as they saw fit; he would not ask about any of it.
All of this was part of the details that were quickly drafted on the way after the two sides had reached a preliminary agreement.
"Rest assured, I will do as I say!"
At this moment, seeing that Xing Ming was fine, Li Yan let out the breath he had been holding. Among these people, Xing Ming, of course, could not come to harm. Otherwise, he would inflict a deadly poison on the other party before he left.
As for Xuan Caijun and Feng Moru, if something happened to them, he would see what his Senior Brother wanted to do then. For now, it was best to stabilize the other party first.
Of course, even if Xing Ming said to kill the other party, Li Yan would certainly do so only on the premise that the two of them could leave here safely.
As he spoke, he had already released the Spirit Power rope that bound Xing Ming and quickly soared into the air.
Only then did Xing Ming fully come to his senses. Hearing their hushed conversation, he already understood the situation here. Elder Zhang had taken the other party hostage.
'Wasn't Junior Brother not targeted by a four-winged Dark Spirit Demon Bat?
'And under such circumstances, even I couldn't shake off their pursuit. How did he manage to capture one?'
A series of questions quickly rose in his mind, but he knew this was not the time to ask.
Moreover, Li Yan had already sent him a voice transmission.
"Senior Brother, follow quickly. Let's see if we can rescue Fellow Daoist Xuan and Fellow Daoist Feng."
Xing Ming silently soared into the air and flew by Li Yan's side.
"Senior Brother, let's talk about these things as we go. Finding them is the priority."
Behind them, Meng Zhiyuan's third brother and a large group of two-winged Dark Spirit Demon Bats also followed.
In addition, the dozens of two-winged Dark Spirit Demon Bats led by Meng Zhiyuan from before also chased after them recklessly. In an instant, a large black mass gathered behind Li Yan.
Anyone who didn't know the situation, looking at Li Yan at the very front, might have thought he was the master of this cave residence.
Li Yan did not drive them away.
Under Meng Zhiyuan's guidance, after only eight or nine breaths, Li Yan up ahead could already feel a series of Spirit Power fluctuations coming from a certain direction.
Divine Sense couldn't probe too far here, so Li Yan and Xing Ming could only get a rough idea.
After exchanging a look, the two of them instantly increased their speed again. Soon, they arrived at the front end of a tunnel.
An intense battle was raging there. One of the combatants held a seven-colored lamp that illuminated the four directions.
Wherever its light passed, many two-winged Dark Spirit Demon Bats were burned to piles of flying ash.
A sharp glint flashed in Xing Ming's eyes, and Li Yan also breathed a sigh of relief in his heart. This was the entrance to the last and most dangerous tunnel, and that person was not on their side.
"Jiang Baibi!"
The aura on Xing Ming's body fluctuated slightly uncontrollably. At this moment, Li Yan suddenly spoke softly.
"Meng Zhiyuan, have your clansmen who followed us go over and kill that person. In the end, carefully retrieve the magical treasure that person is using.
"When we leave here and release you, you can then hand it over to us. We three will continue to search for our other two fellow daoists!"
He didn't use a voice transmission for these words, but his voice was very low.
"No problem!"
Meng Zhiyuan agreed without hesitation. Killing the cultivators who had entered this place was their duty in the first place, and they could also gain some benefits.
He had been somewhat skeptical when Li Yan had said he was only here to slay an enemy and retrieve a magical treasure.
Now, after seeing that Seven-Colored Glazed Lamp, he had already confirmed the power of that magical treasure.
His belief in Li Yan's words grew by a few more degrees, but a trace of greed also flashed through his mind. When a magical treasure was used, its power was obvious in a life-and-death situation.
The person holding that colored lantern had already forced his junior brother to use his full strength. Although he had the upper hand, he still couldn't take down the opponent.
If this continued, those two-winged Dark Spirit Demon Bats would have to pay a heavy price in deaths to force him into the final tunnel.
Li Yan's words were also to his liking. Meng Zhiyuan immediately gave an order to the four-winged Dark Spirit Demon Bat not far away.
"Old Third, take the clansmen and help Old Fifth. In the end, secure that seven-colored lamp. Do everything as Fellow Daoist Zhang requests."
Although that four-winged Dark Spirit Demon Bat wanted to follow Meng Zhiyuan's group, under Meng Zhiyuan's stern gaze, it shot a vicious look at Li Yan before letting out a sharp cry and leading a group of Dark Spirit Demon Bats to charge over.
Xing Ming had also thought of staying to join the fight and kill Jiang Baibi, but thinking about the words Li Yan had quickly transmitted to him, he also nodded.
In the past few breaths, Li Yan had already quickly and simply relayed some information to him.
He now knew that among the many tunnels here, three of them were extremely bizarre, and could even kill Nascent Soul cultivators.
This sent a chill down his spine.
These Dark Spirit Demon Bats would basically not kill them outside, but would force them into these three tunnels, where they would be instantly controlled by the power within and then easily killed.
As for why they didn't just kill them directly, Li Yan hadn't had the time to investigate the specific reason yet.
Thinking about the feeling of his own body being halfway into one of the final tunnels, Xing Ming felt a wave of lingering fear.
Before, he had sunk into a state of stupor in just an instant.
He was a late-stage Golden Core cultivator, yet he didn't even have the slightest ability to resist. So, he deeply believed Li Yan's words.
Xing Ming was also constantly trying to figure out the reason, and he had roughly formed some ideas.
Killing a Golden Core cultivator was not that easy. Just as he had mobilized four Golden Core cultivators to kill Jiang Baibi.
These Dark Spirit Demon Bats, facing eight Golden Core cultivators, could not concentrate the advantage of their four-winged members.
Although the combined attack power of those two-winged Dark Spirit Demon Bats was comparable to that of a Golden Core cultivator, their attack and flight speed could not keep up when dealing with cultivators at the mid-stage Golden Core and above. This was their biggest weakness.
That was why one four-winged Dark Spirit Demon Bat would constantly entangle them, and then have the two-winged ones deal with them together.
Especially in the final moments before death, the power a Golden Core cultivator could erupt with was absolutely terrifying.
Li Yan was planning to use the terrifying power in the tunnel. As long as they could force Jiang Baibi into that tunnel, they could definitely retrieve the magical treasure intact without damaging it.
It was just that not being able to kill his opponent with his own hands left Xing Ming feeling somewhat unwilling.
But he also knew he couldn't stay here. If the Dark Spirit Demon Bats were to turn on them, he might also fall into their trap and become a hostage.
At that time, the four-winged Dark Spirit Demon Bat in Li Yan's hands would not be so easy to negotiate with.
Watching the large group of Dark Spirit Demon Bats fly away, Li Yan and Xing Ming's figures flashed and disappeared once again.