"Although there are many forked roads before us, we have more people. How about each of us chooses a path? That way, someone will eventually take the true path leading deeper inside," Tan Yingping said as he looked at the forked roads in front of him.
"No, it's too dangerous. We don't know what kind of peril exists inside this cave. If we split up and encounter danger, rescue could be too late. It's safer to stick together and eliminate each forked road one by one," Liu Yong immediately expressed his opinion upon hearing Tan Yingping's suggestion. Ever since he felt that icy murderous intent, he had the constant feeling that someone in the shadows was targeting him. Naturally, he was unwilling to act alone.
"Hmph, coward without use." Tan Yingping disdainfully remarked upon hearing Liu Yong's words.
Hearing this, Liu Yong was instantly displeased, but he dared not show it, considering that Tan Yingping's strength surpassed his own. If he were to fight with Tan Yingping, even his brother Liu Yang couldn't protect him. Although his brother was one of the top ten disciples of the Outer Sect, there was still a disparity between him and Tan Yingping.
"What Liu Yong said makes some sense. We should proceed together. In case we encounter a strong crisis, we can at least support each other," Yun Kaige stepped forward and said at this moment.
His original intention in joining the group was to have them pave the way for him, so naturally, he would not agree to travel separately. If danger truly arose, he would not know what to do. Fınd the newest release on novęlfire.net
Since Yun Kaige had spoken, Tan Yingping naturally had no further objections. After all, Yun Kaige was a prince of the Cloud Dragon Kingdom, and Tan Yingping had to give him that respect. Simultaneously, Tan Yingping glanced at his two brothers, Tan Yu and Tan Fangping, and shook his head, indicating that it was not advisable to offend the Thirteenth Prince.
Although his two brothers were quite powerful, Yun Kaige's cultivation had recently advanced to a level akin to his two brothers. Moreover, he belonged to the Imperial Family. Despite differing opinions, they would follow Yun Kaige's advice.
In the end, after some discussion among the group, they selected the central path among the forked roads to explore first. If they found the path impassable, they would return and choose another.
Having chosen the route, Tan Yingping immediately led the way. Although he agreed with Yun Kaige's suggestion, it irritated him and his brothers that the others took so long to decide on a route, dithering like women.
Among those gathered, the Tan Family's power was the strongest, so he took the lead and entered the selected forked road to scout ahead.
Yun Kaige wasn't bothered by this; in fact, he was quite pleased. After all, he had joined the group with this very intention in mind.
As the group ventured further into the cave's forked road, they soon sensed a chilly, damp atmosphere, with a biting cold wind blowing through the cave.
Seeing this, everyone felt a chill run down their spines. Yet the pathway stretched on with no end in sight, leaving everyone uncertain whether they had chosen the wrong path. They had no choice but to continue onward.
As they delved deeper into the cave, the eerie dampness intensified, and the chilly wind grew stronger.
After advancing about four to five hundred miles into the cave, the group suddenly halted.
"Did you hear that?" Liu Yong suddenly asked the group.
"Hear what?" the group asked, puzzled.
"Listen carefully, a kind of piercing scream," Liu Yong said with a grim face. For some reason, he felt a persistent uneasiness.
The group listened intently and indeed heard a piercing scream emanating from the depths of the cave.
This was not a good omen. Whatever being lurked inside certainly didn't have friendly intentions.
Without overthinking it, they continued forward, the piercing screams growing louder.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—
Suddenly, as the group reached roughly six to seven hundred miles, countless dark shadows swooped down upon them, and the piercing screams turned out to be sound-based attacks targeting their Divine Souls.
"Slash!" Tan Yu, seeing the approaching dark shadows, immediately positioned himself in front of Tan Yingping, without a second thought, and swung his sword.\\p>
Tan Yu was the strongest among them. His sword strike killed all the charging dark shadows.
It was evident to everyone that those shadows carried the aura of beings at the Half-step to Creation Realm, with a strength surpassing some among them.
This indicated that Tan Yu possessed the formidable strength to slay the group as well.
As one of the top three families among the Eight Great Noble Families, the Tan Family indeed had exceptional prowess.
In Tan Yu's hands, those powerful shadows were as easy to defeat as cutting vegetables.
"Illusion Demon Bats! Those are Illusion Demon Bats." Liu Yong, after witnessing Tan Yu effortlessly dispatch numerous dark creatures, stepped forward to examine the corpses and discovered they were half-human-sized, entirely black with striped markings, magical bats.
Liu Yong immediately recognized these creatures as Illusion Demon Bats, a species of group-dwelling Magical Beasts with poisonous claws skilled in sound-wave attacks, preying on flesh, especially martial artists' corpses.
"They are indeed Illusion Demon Bats. It seems we may be in some trouble. With Illusion Demon Bats appearing here, there must be more in the depths of the cave. Let's hope there aren't too many; otherwise, we might not be able to handle them," Tan Yingping said indifferently, glancing deeper into the cave.
The Illusion Demon Bats' most adept attack was through sound waves that could induce an Illusionary Realm, assaulting foes with their poisonous claws when they trapped them in the illusion. Many succumbed to the poison before breaking the illusion, meeting their demise.
Seeing the Illusion Demon Bats' corpses on the ground, Yun Kaige's face also turned grim.
Having come this far, it was impossible for him to abandon his desire for the Water of Life.
The so-called risk for reward was something the group was unwilling to give up, so they prepared to continue onward.
After advancing a few more miles, the group came upon three more forked roads.