A chill wind wailed through the underground drainage channel as Yue Ting slowly waded through the standing water.
Ghostly blue phosphorescent flames rose beneath the feet of three hundred demon guards, casting a ghastly green light over the moss on the stone walls. A second-tier Concealment Formation enveloped their auras and sounds.
Suddenly, his nostrils twitched. Threads of an unusual odor mingled with the damp air-the distinctive smell left by burning yang-strengthening flowers and spirit-desire grass.
Ordinarily, only skilled Alchemists could distinguish this smell.
"That old bastard Gongsun certainly knows how to pick a spot. A lowly rat to his very bones."
Yue Ting flicked a finger against the stone wall. As the moss flaked away, remnants of a Water-Repelling Talisman's markings appeared beneath it.
The talisman's cinnabar had long faded to dark brown, yet he could still smell the fishy merfolk oil mixed into it when it was drawn all those years ago.
Inside the secret chamber, Gongsun Yang was closing a gilt box when the Blood-Escape Pills within suddenly began trembling incessantly.
Without warning, the Glazed Glass Lamp overhead shattered. Twelve crimson chains wrapped in subterranean fire burst through the walls, tearing a hole seven or eight zhang across in the chamber's ceiling!
Sparks flew as the chain links collided, weaving a fiery net in midair. These were Yue Ting's mid-grade spirit artifact, the Li Fire Chains!
"What refined leisure, Island Lord Gongsun. Do you know your death is at hand?"
Yue Ting slowly stepped through the surging subterranean fire. The enormous skull, four zhang tall, formed by the three hundred demon guards was breathing black vapor in and out.
Bloody saliva dripped from the demon skull's seven orifices onto the green bricks, corroding honeycomb-like holes even in the century-old cold iron bricks.
"Who are you? How did