The monster that appeared at the cave entrance bit off the arm of the Heaven Yang Clan's powerful warrior and the Five-Headed Lion's Mane Herb.
Without any chewing, the other party swallowed the Five-Headed Lion's Mane Herb, which was covered in blood and flesh, in one gulp.
But this was not the end. After consuming the spiritual herb and feeling the exquisite flesh and blood, the one-eyed monster once again fixed its gaze on the Heaven Yang Clan cultivator.
"No... no..."
"Please save me... Brother Yuxiao, please save me..."
The fear of death led him to place all his last hopes on Lei Yuxiao.
Faced with the cries for help from the Heaven Yang Clan cultivators, Lei Yuxiao made a decisive decision immediately.
"This beast is Taotie, with one eye and a bloodthirsty mouth. Anything that enters its eye will be devoured, no matter what it is."
"Everyone, quickly cut the vines binding Yang Fei. If the Taotie targets us, it will surely catch us all along the vines."
Without the slightest hesitation, Lei Yuxiao directly crushed the nearby pebbles and began cutting the vines with the sharp edge of the stone.
Following suit, the others from Yan Xishan also began cutting vines.
A chill ran through Yang Fei below; he knew he had been abandoned, and despair gradually filled his eyes.
'roar!'
The Taotie roared again, but Yang Fei's empty eyes no longer held any fear.
As the dark shadows rapidly enveloped him, Lei Yuxiao and the others above completely severed the connection of the vines.
Without giving Yang Fei another glance, Lei Yuxiao and the others continued climbing.
The Taotie swallowed Yang Fei whole, and with a few wriggling movements of its bloody maw, a living man was directly swallowed into its belly.
But when Taotie looked up, it saw Lei Yuxiao and the others a dozen meters away, and its eyes showed a hint of hesitation.
After struggling for a while, the Taotie seemed to give up, its head slowly retracting back into the cave entrance.
Upon closer observation, one can see a distinct hint of fear in the Taotie's eyes before it retreated back into the cave, as if instinct prevented it from continuing the pursuit, as if there were something terrifying above.
With the Taotie giving up the pursuit, Lei Yuxiao and his group finally breathed a sigh of relief.
No one said a word. After catching their breath, the group continued climbing.
Below, Tian Wu and Rushou, sitting at a stone table and sipping wine, naturally witnessed the scene unfold.
"Those guys from the Eight Great Imperial Clans were lucky; they only disturbed the Taotie."
"If Kunwu, who is above Taotie, also awakens, then their entire army will be wiped out."
After Tian Wu looked up and gulped down the wine in the bowl, he let out a hearty shout of satisfaction, and then said with a smile.
Rushou's expression was indifferent. He took a sip of wine, shook his head, and said, " Kunwu sleeps for tens of millions of years each time. They just happened to wake up once a few years ago. I can only say they were given a second chance at life."
Seeing that Rushou wasn't interested, Tian Wu shifted the topic to Lin Heng: " Heavenly Mountain has restrictions set up by its master. Logically speaking, with their cultivation levels, they shouldn't be able to see through them at all. How do you think Lin Heng sensed the life energy behind the mountain?"
Rushou fell into a brief silence, and after a moment of thought, he gave an answer, "It should be related to his Primordial Chaos World."
This assessment aligned with Tian Wu's own thoughts. Nodding, Tian Wu sighed, "To see through the illusion of the Hundred Illusions Mountain Range and sense the life energy within the Heavenly Mountain, only those who have transcended the third level of the Primordial Chaos World can achieve this. It seems we truly underestimated Lin Heng. Brother Dijiang's insight is indeed far more discerning."
On Heavenly Mountain, after Yang Fei's accident, both sides became more cautious.
On the Ascenders side, while some initially thought Lin Heng was just causing trouble by taking up a spot, now the others consider him and Ling Wushuang as the core strength of the team.
The Ascenders naturally noticed the scene of Yang Fei being devoured by the Taotie.
Previously, there was a trace of reluctance in their hearts, but after Yang Fei paid the price of blood and death, everyone felt grateful to Lin Heng.
If it weren't for Lin Heng, it probably wouldn't have been Yang Fei who died, but one of them.
For the rest of the day, the group encountered no further incidents while climbing the Heavenly Mountain.
But the next day, as the foot of the Heavenly Mountain gradually disappeared from sight, the Ascenders, still one step ahead, discovered an astonishing scene when they reached a place halfway up the mountain.
A spider web, at least ten meters long, lay across the mountainside, and on it, a skeleton was stuck.
"That is?"
As everyone stopped and looked at the spider web above, Ling Wushuang's gaze fell on the area below the bones, where a long, golden sword was also stuck in the spider web, with a sun-like pattern engraved on the hilt.
"That's Yang Yuntao's sword from the Heaven Yang Clan. Back when I was still in the Primordial Realm, I saw him fight with a powerful expert from the pavilion, and he was using this very sword."
Ling Wushuang identified the corpse by examining the golden longsword.
The name Yang Yuntao also brought considerable shock to Ye Feng and his companions.
Before Yang Yuntao disappeared, he possessed the cultivation level of the Heavenly Firmament Saint Realm. It's unexpected that even someone with his level of cultivation would perish within the ruins.
Yang Yuntao's disappearance caused quite a stir in the Nine Heavens. The Heaven Yang Clan believed that Ascenders had secretly killed him, and they made a huge fuss about it.
Unfortunately, there was no evidence, and the matter was eventually dropped. Little did anyone expect that Yang Yuntao would die here.
The reason is not hard to guess.
Yang Yuntao guessed that he had discovered the ruins, but he did not report it to the clan.
After all, if the clan is informed and people are sent over, the benefits will definitely be reduced.
Yang Yuntao possesses the cultivation level of the Heavenly Firmament Saint Realm, and he likely relies on his powerful cultivation to create the ruins without needing external assistance.
He probably never imagined that this decision would cost him his life in the ruins.
"Avoid this spider web and get through as quickly as possible."
After observing for a moment, Ling Wushuang quickly made a decision.
Even the Heavenly Firmament Saint Realm had fallen here, so Ling Wushuang dared not touch the deadly threat posed by the spider web.
No one objected to this, since no one present believed they were stronger than Yang Yuntao of the Heavenly Firmament Saint Realm.
The person on the right also planned to move to avoid the spider web before continuing forward.
Unexpectedly, at that moment, the mountain began to tremble slightly.
Ling Wushuang and the others quickly stopped what they were doing and looked around with puzzled and wary expressions.
"Everyone be careful, something seems to be about to emerge from behind the spider web."
Just as the atmosphere was tense and everyone was unsure of where the danger lay, Lin Heng shouted a warning.
In an instant, everyone's attention turned to the location of the spider web.
Behind the spider web, on the mountainside, a stone door about three meters high opened automatically, accompanied by a tremor.