Escape by teleportation

Some of the submerged corpses in these waters had been treated with a little more dignity, their coffins chained down and buried upright in the riverbed. Most, however, had no coffins at all. A single iron chain bound each corpse's legs and sank it to the bottom, with numerous Talismans plastered over its body.

The Talismans twisted like earthworms, crawling thickly over shriveled flesh. On closer inspection, the Runes glimmered faintly red, shifting slowly with the current. The mere sight made his skin crawl.

Though Mo Chen had read many volumes of the Cultivation Miscellany, he could not identify what kind of spell these Runes belonged to.

Mo Chen swept the area with his Divine Sense again and discovered an unimaginable concentration of coffins and corpses in these waters—at least four hundred.

Perhaps because of the Runes inscribed on them, the bodies had not bloated in the water. Instead, their Essence Blood had dried up, their faces like withered wax, their deaths gruesome.

The heavy Yin Energy permeating this riverbed was anything but natural.

Could those Demonic Cultivators outside have murdered over four hundred people here?

Or... had this place always been an underwater mass grave?

Mo Chen's heart sank slightly.

It seemed that beneath the seemingly peaceful world of cultivation lay plenty of things that could never see the light of day.

It seemed that beneath the seemingly peaceful world of cultivation lay plenty of things that could never see the light of day.

Mo Chen gathered his thoughts and stopped dwelling on it, activating Water Escape to swim deeper.

Before long, Mo Chen suddenly sensed an enormous cave entrance hidden at the bottom of the river.

No, something was strange here.

What unsettled Mo Chen was the faint trace of spatial Spiritual Power rippling from deep within the entrance—the distinctive fluctuations of a Teleportation Array!

The Classics said that constructing Teleportation Arrays involved vast numbers of spatial Runes. Their Spiritual Power fluctuations were so distinctive that any cultivator who encountered them once would recognize them again.

When Mo Chen had traveled to Maozhou through a Teleportation Array during the Monster Uprising in Flowing Cloud Immortal City, he had felt the spatial power it emitted. Just as the books described, it was extraordinarily distinctive and left a deep impression.

Mo Chen probed again with his Divine Sense and found fish and shrimp moving in and out.

It seemed reasonably safe. Worth investigating.

The entrance was quite narrow at first, but after he traveled some distance inside, the limestone cave began sloping upward, and the current gradually slowed.

Soon, Mo Chen surfaced inside the cave.

Looking around, Mo Chen discovered that he was actually inside a limestone cavern within East Terrace Mountain.

Who would have thought the riverbed concealed such a secret passage, connected all the way inside!

Mo Chen let out a long breath, dispelled his Water-Avoidance Technique, and leaped into the air, flying deeper into the cavern.

The air inside was damp but lacked any musty smell. Instead, a strange Spiritual Power circulated through it. Unidentified ores embedded in the walls gave off a faint glow, making the cavern dimly visible.

Farther in, Mo Chen found several layers of skin shed by that half-python, half-flood-dragon demon beast in the tunnel, along with quite a few teeth and claws.

Mo Chen formed hand seals, summoning eight blazing Firebirds to stand guard around him.

Something was wrong. The ground was far too level to have formed naturally. It clearly bore traces of excavation and polishing.

Grayish-white shed skins lay scattered along the banks of the cavern's underground river, piled layer upon layer. Most were still fairly intact, though some had already crumbled to pieces.

Mo Chen bent down and picked up a fragment. It felt rough, with faint traces of Demonic Aura lingering on it.

It was skin shed by the half-python, half-flood-dragon demon beast outside.

Farther ahead, he found plenty more fallen fangs and sharp claws.

The teeth were as long as finger joints, curved like hooks and sharp at the tips. The claws were as hard as iron hooks and as thick as an adult's arm.

Mo Chen's eyes lit up. Without the slightest hesitation, he stuffed all the snakeskins, teeth, and claws into his Storage Bag.

There was no grand reason.

He was just poor!

The meager savings he had accumulated during forty years as a menial worker in Flowing Cloud Immortal City had long since been exhausted buying cultivation methods and Magic Artifacts.

Though he had later taken Jiang Jiuyao's and the old prince's Storage Bags, neither had been wealthy. Their Spirit Stones totaled barely over a hundred, and their Talismans and Magic Artifacts were battered junk.

And those seventy years he had spent farming in the mountains afterward?

Sigh...

Don't even mention it. Seventy years of growing medicinal herbs had earned him only six hundred Spirit Stones. If he hadn't already attained ageless longevity, he would probably have starved to death long ago.

Although these Demon Beast materials were not particularly high-grade, there were plenty of them. Selling them at a market would fetch at least several hundred Spirit Stones.

If he could find a reliable Artifact Refining master to turn them into a few Magic Artifacts, he would profit even more.

Mo Chen made his calculations as he gathered the materials, the corners of his mouth curling upward despite himself.

By the time Mo Chen had scavenged every material in sight, he had reached the end of the cavern. There, a formation stood, emitting a faint spiritual glow.

Mo Chen approached cautiously, his eight Firebirds spreading out to guard him. Incredibly intricate Runes flowed across the Array Formation, rising from the ground and extending into the surrounding rock walls. Curtains of light intertwined with the Runes to form a profound, mysterious Array Formation!

Mo Chen had seen the arrangement and structure of these formation lines in books more than once!

A Teleportation Array!

And an ancient Teleportation Array, hidden deep underground!

Wild joy surged through Mo Chen's heart, only to sink again a moment later.

He was delighted to have finally found an escape route, but worried because he had no idea where this Teleportation Array led.

Mo Chen rapidly assessed his situation. Outside, four Foundation Establishment Demonic Cultivators were battling the half-python, half-Flood Dragon Demon Beast until heaven and earth seemed plunged into darkness. The sky was sealed off, while over twenty Qi Refining Demonic Cultivators had formed a ring through the surrounding mountains, enclosing the entire area so tightly that not even water could seep through.

He could not leave by air, and trying to break through in any direction would be suicide.

His only chance of survival lay in the Teleportation Array within this underwater cave.

But...

If there were other high-level Demon Beasts on the other side, he would be finished.

Should he gamble or not?

While he hesitated, the entire cave suddenly began to shake.

Loose stones rained down from above, and the ground beneath his feet trembled.

The sound of surging river water abruptly grew louder at the far end of the tunnel, crashing against the cave entrance with muffled roars.

It seemed the battle had reached this far. The cavern probably would not hold out much longer.

No time to worry about everything. Take the gamble!

Mo Chen flew into the Teleportation Array and landed at its Formation Eye, pressing both hands against the formation lines to pour in Spiritual Power.

The formation lines flashed once, then went dark.

Nothing? That couldn't be right!

Mo Chen suddenly remembered that when he had fled Flowing Cloud Immortal City, the cultivators operating the Teleportation Array had not activated it with their own Spiritual Power alone. They had also fed vast quantities of Spirit Stones into it!

Right, Spirit Stones!

Wincing at the expense, Mo Chen took fifty Low-Grade Spirit Stones from his Storage Bag and fitted them into the grooves around the Formation Eye, copying the movements of those cultivators from memory.

Spiritual light flickered faintly, but nothing happened.

"Fifty isn't enough?" Mo Chen gritted his teeth and added another fifty, bringing the total to a hundred.

Ripples finally spread through the Teleportation Array's radiance, but the formation lines remained motionless. There was still no sign of teleportation.

Just then, the shaking suddenly stopped.

Not long afterward, while Mo Chen was still studying the Array Formation, splashing sounds suddenly came from the far end of the tunnel.

Mo Chen's heart tightened. Had that Demon Beast returned?

Not daring to wait any longer, Mo Chen grabbed another handful of Spirit Stones from his Storage Bag, bringing the total to two hundred.

The light within the formation brightened slightly. The Runes rotated once, then stopped.

Seriously? Was this thing screwing with him?

Meanwhile, the roars in the tunnel drew closer and closer. Clearly, the Demon Beast had noticed the disturbance here and was following the Array Formation's Spiritual Power fluctuations!

Hardening his resolve, Mo Chen poured out most of the Spirit Stones in his Storage Bag, bringing the total to five hundred.

Once the five hundred Spirit Stones were deposited, the Runes finally began to turn slowly, only to freeze again after half a revolution.

The roars were even closer now, mingled with the impacts of the Demon Beast slamming against the rock walls as it charged toward him.

"Fuck you!"

Mo Chen dumped over a thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones straight out of his Storage Bag, staking everything he owned!

The instant there were enough Spirit Stones, the Teleportation Array blazed with light, like a scorching sun rising beneath the earth!

The Runes spun madly, too fast for the naked eye to follow.

Formation lines rose from the ground and condensed in midair into images of constellations.

Mo Chen felt the ground vanish beneath his feet as an irresistible force abruptly dragged his body into the void.

"Holy shit!"

After Mo Chen cursed, one final roar from the Demon Beast reached his ears. Then everything fell silent.

The formation lines slowly dimmed. The spiritual energy within the Spirit Stones had been drained completely, and the entire cavern returned to darkness.

Only the lingering echoes of the Demon Beast's roar remained, refusing to fade from the cavern.