Ambush

Several miles away from where Song Wen was hiding.

Three figures were perched on the top of a large tree.

It was Feng Qi, Leng Tianlu, and the man wearing an iron mask.

All three of them stared solemnly at the place ten miles away where the Spiritual Qi was fluctuating violently.

Feng Qi said, "The battle there is really strange. It's been going on for a quarter of an hour, and there's still no clear winner."

The masked man said, "My scout rat sensed that at least two people have entered the battle zone, but I haven't seen anyone come out."

Leng Tianlu said, "Only in, not out? Is there some kind of conspiracy?"

Feng Qi said, "Whatever their schemes are, they have nothing to do with us. Let the scout rats keep watch on the surrounding area. We'll wait until dawn, and then leave."

The masked man's expression suddenly tightened.

"Oh no, one of my scout rats is dead."

"Do you know who killed him?" Feng Qi asked.

The masked man shook his head.

"Too far away to sense anything. They're probably cultivators attracted by the noise of the battle."

In a wide open space more than ten miles away from the three of them.

A beautiful female cultivator lay on the ground.

Clothes disheveled, spring light suddenly appearing.

A burly man stood several dozen meters away.

The burly man was dressed in Kasaya, his head was bald, and he had six ordination scars on it.

Every few dozen breaths, the burly man would activate his spiritual power and unleash Fireball Technique.

A fireball the size of a washbasin shot out and landed not far from the female cultivator, exploding into a cloud of dirt and producing a deafening roar.

Five cultivators were hidden in the dense forest surrounding the open space.

All five concealed their presence, hiding in the treetops.

"Aside from those three idiots at the beginning, we've been lying in ambush here for almost fifteen minutes. I'm afraid no one else will take the bait."

The woman lying on the ground spoke.

Upon hearing this, the burly man remained silent for a moment before speaking.

"We really should leave this place. If we stay too long, it will be easy for others to notice our weakness."

The woman rolled over and got up from the ground, shook off the dirt, and dashed into the dense forest.

The burly man took off his Kasaya and put on a set of tight-fitting clothes.

He wiped his hand on his head, and the several ordination scars on his head immediately fell off.

In the blink of an eye, he transformed from a monk into a robust body-refining cultivator.

Then, following behind the woman, they disappeared into the dense forest.

The five cultivators hidden in the treetops also vanished without a trace.

Nothing more was said that night.

The next day, early morning.

The sunlight gradually illuminated the entire secret realm.

At the same time, it dispelled the thick fog.

The field of vision became wider.

Song Wen, with several branches stuck in his hair, stood atop the tree canopy and did not leave immediately.

After waiting for about fifteen minutes...

About twenty feet ahead, seven cultivators flew out, riding their swords towards the high mountain.

Another half hour passed.

Several miles away, three more figures flew out, also heading towards the high mountains.

Song Wen watched the departing figures of Feng Qi and the other two for a long time.

Even after the three figures had completely disappeared from sight, Song Wen still did not leave. He waited for nearly half an hour, but still did not see any other figures appear.

Song Wen then released the Sacred Beetle Gu to scout ahead, before flashing into the dense forest and flying through it on his sword.

After flying through the dense forest for two days, Song Wen arrived near the high mountains.

This mountain was the tallest and largest peak that Song Wen had ever seen.

Even the Corpse Demon Mountain, with its 100,000 disciples, is not as tall as this mountain.

Towering majestically, piercing the clouds, it resembles a giant standing between heaven and earth.

The mountain is covered with countless forests and streams, all intricately connected.

Most of the mountain peaks were shrouded in clouds and mist, sometimes revealing a glimpse of their rugged beauty, and sometimes disappearing completely into the vast sea of white clouds.

When the wind rises and the clouds surge, the mountain peaks appear even more majestic, like a ferocious beast about to awaken, inspiring awe and fear.

Several lakes of varying sizes are scattered around the foot of the mountain.

In one of the lakes, which spans dozens of miles, two colossal beasts are locked in fierce combat.

One of them was White Tiger ten feet long, with two wings growing from its back.

One of them was a crocodile dragon several meters long.

The alligator dragon's entire body was covered in thick scales, radiating a cold, sharp luster.

Its tail and limbs are strong and powerful; with each swing, it can stir up towering waves.

The alligator dragon swung its thick tail, sweeping it repeatedly, attempting to drag the White Tiger into the water.

The White Tiger was agile and nimble, its wings gleaming with a blue light.

With a gentle flap of its wings, it traced a graceful arc in the air, deftly dodging the giant crocodile's attack.

It leaps high into the air and swoops down, its claws and teeth like knives, launching fierce attacks on the giant crocodile.

The two fought fiercely in the lake, and it was difficult to determine a winner for a time.

With its powerful defense and impact, the alligator dragon relentlessly closed in on the White Tiger. The White Tiger, on the other hand, skillfully dodged and launched counterattacks thanks to its speed and agility.

Ultimately, the alligator dragon, taking advantage of its home-field advantage in the water, successfully repelled the White Tiger.

The White Tiger let out a defiant roar, spilling copious amounts of blood, flapped its wings, and soared into the sky, disappearing into the clouds.

The alligator dragon stared intently in the direction where the White Tiger had disappeared, its body slowly vanishing into the lake.

The battle between the two third-tier Demon Beast attracted the attention of many visiting cultivators.

At least twenty or thirty people, including Song Wen, noticed the battle between the two sides.

These people all regarded the lakes and the mountain peaks shrouded in mist as forbidden zones.

The territory inhabited by third-tier Demon Beast was beyond the reach of Foundation Establishment cultivators like themselves.

After the two Demon Beast finished their battle, the cultivators who had been hiding in the shadows began to emerge.

At the foot of the mountain, there is a huge entrance on all four sides: east, west, south, and north.

These entrances, each ten feet high, all lead into the interior of the mountain.

The monks either flew through the air or crept through the dense forest, and almost all of them headed towards these four entrances.

Song Wen waited in the same spot for an hour, until no cultivators could be seen around him, before rushing toward the nearest entrance.

The entrance was built in a neat and imposing manner, but over the years it has long since fallen into disrepair.

The once smooth ground has been broken and shattered.

Stepping into the entrance, the surroundings suddenly turned pitch black.

In addition, due to his limited Divine Sense, Song Wen could only release the Sacred Beetle Gu to guard the area from both front and back.

The passageway meanders and slopes downwards.

After walking about a mile, Song Wen suddenly felt like he was being watched.

Looking up, two bats were hidden in the cracks in the stone at the top of the passage, without any trace of spiritual energy.

These two ordinary bats were actually kept by a cultivator for scouting.

Since they lacked Spiritual Qi, Song Wen subconsciously ignored them.

Using ordinary birds and beasts to spy is indeed quite difficult to guard against.

At that very moment.

In the pitch-black passage ahead, dozens of fine black needles, as thin as hair, shot silently and swiftly toward Song Wen.

If it weren't for the Sacred Beetle Gu, which extended Song Wen's Divine Sense perception range to four hundred meters, with the original hundred-meter perception range, Song Wen probably wouldn't even have had time to summon Spirit Artifact for defense by the time he discovered these needles.