Chapter 183: Trap

k, a small bear, about a foot tall, appeared to be innocent and clueless as it crawled out from the top of the monster's head. It timidly looked around at everything. 。"Decisive in his actions, he's q...Previously, a Zhou family cultivator was bitten and went on a rampage. If it hadn't been for Yu Hua stepping in and knocking him unconscious, they would have likely killed their own comrade. With this lesson learned, they realized the terrifying nature of these fire bats. Once they gather in a swarm, either you avoid being bitten by them altogether, or if several people are bitten, the entire squad is doomed here.

"Spirit Net, use the Spirit Net quickly!"

Yu Hua cried out in alarm, "Poof!" A spirit net flew forward, ensnaring all the fire bats on the opposite side. However, the spirit net had been used several times and was already riddled with small holes bitten by the sharp teeth of the fire bats. At this moment, under the desperate counter-attack of dozens of fire bats, a larger hole was immediately torn open. At this time, numerous cultivators' spirit swords and spirit knives swarmed forward, killing several fire bats, but more surged out from the gaping hole.

And from the caves in the distance, dozens more rushed out. At this point, they had no more spirit nets left in their hands.

“These animals are so numerous! Quick, retreat!” After slashing one down with his blade, Yu Hua’s face paled and he shouted as he hastily retreated.

The group fought their way back, twenty or so fire bats of varying strength charging forward. It wasn't fun at all; if two or three people were bitten and fell behind, the whole squad would be dragged down.

After running for a while, the expressions of everyone, including Lu Xiaitian, changed. The reason why Yu Hua, Zhao Yuanjun and others changed color was naturally the relentless fire bat. Although the fire bat was powerful, it was not something that Lu Xiaitian took seriously. What really shocked Lu Xiaitian was that he had lost his direction. When entering the cave, out of caution, he made some small marks on the stone walls along the way, but the caves under the Earth Flame Mountain were like a maze, intertwined with each other. And since he entered the cave, his divine sense, which could be projected outwards, was greatly limited. This cave was truly very strange.

"Liu, Brother Liu and Junior Brother Dou are missing, what should we do" A short male cultivator panicked and asked Yu Hua. They had just escaped the fire bats, but because they ran so fast and there were many branching paths inside the grotto, it was very possible for someone to get lost.

"What can we do Of course, we have to go back and find them!" Yu Hua said angrily. He glanced at Lu Xiaitian and the others, his eyes finally settling on the fat monk and Ding Shou. "You two, scout ahead."

The stout monk and Ding Shou both let out wry smiles, not daring to disobey. They walked cautiously ahead.

Although they were walking back, they didn't retrace their steps. The grottoes constantly echoed with the sounds of fighting and screams. It was clear that more than just their small group of cultivators had sought refuge here. When Yu Hua led Lu Xiaoteng and the others to the Liu senior brother and Dou junior brother they had been told about, the two were completely deranged. Their faces and necks bore dozens of bite marks from fire bats.

Amidst the chaos, Dou's younger brother was beheaded by Liu's elder brother with a single blow. At this time, dozens of flame wolves from afar rushed over. The fat monk let out a shriek, and Ding Shou and the others were frightened and retreated again and again. With their strength, they could barely hold off one flame wolf, but facing dozens of them, plus a frenzied Liu cultivator, approaching any closer would be courting death.

Facing dozens of charging fire wolves and the crazed Liu cultivator, Yu Hua's face turned ashen as he ordered, "Kill them all!"

Although Liu was a friend, Yu Hua quickly made his choice when it came to his own life.

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Despite his mad fury and fearless charge, the Liu family cultivator was no match for the combined assault of three cultivators. In a flash, he was cleaved in half by Ding Shou's blade. His upper half screamed in agony, still wildly struggling, clutching his spirit blade as if to continue his advance. However, a leaping fire wolf from behind bit clean through his neck before he could take another step.

The space within the grottoes was varied, some large and others small. The height before them was just about a person's reach. Lu Xia Tian's puppet due to its size, couldn't even be fully deployed. At this time, every individual was crucial, especially Lu Xia Tian, the third-rank organ puppet master. Therefore, everyone retreated one after another to a relatively open area several zhang high. Lu Xia Tian didn't hesitate, summoning his giant elephant puppet and sitting atop it. With one war elephant trampling, the small stones on the grotto ceiling rained down, and several weak flame wolves lost their mobility.

“Lu Daoist, this isn’t the time to hide your strength. Since you have two Tier 3 puppets, why only bring out one” Yu Hua saw an opportunity and rushed forward to kill one. He then gave a disapproving glance at Lu Xiaodao who was standing high above.

“Controlling two third-tier puppets at the same time is too taxing on my divine sense. If you think I won't need to intervene again within a few hours after this battle, I can release them both simultaneously.” Lu Xia Tian replied nonchalantly.

"Well then, let's just give up." Yu Hua was speechless for a moment. Compared to them needing to recover their magical powers, the Tier 3 peak organ puppet had a clear advantage. As long as it had spirit stones to support it, it wouldn't feel tired. Moreover, this giant elephant puppet was made of century-old cold iron wood, making it heavy and solid, not easily damaged. It could just stand in front as a sturdy meat shield, creating opportunities for them to attack.

Zhao Li's eyes flashed, she closely followed her grandfather, compared to Yu Hua, they were naturally closer to Lu Xiaottian. Until now, Lu Xiaottian had never mentioned that she had a puppet, it was clearly on the same line as them. As for this Zhou family, things were still unclear later on. The giant elephant puppet's thick and sturdy trunk wrapped around a fire wolf. Zhao Li seized the opportunity to charge forward and chopped off the fire wolf's head. The two cooperated seamlessly.

After a fierce battle, Ding Shou and the fat monk were both injured. In contrast, Xu Daoist, who was the weakest, was cunning and slick. He several times hid behind, and whenever he saw an opportunity, he dashed out with incredible speed, leaving him unscathed. After an hour, they finally managed to defeat dozens of flaming wolves.

"No way, there are too many demonic beasts in this cave, and they appear randomly. We can't keep going like this or we'll be exhausted to death. We must find a safe place to rest." Xu Daoshi panted heavily.

"There's no truly safe place in this grotto," Zhao Li rolled her eyes, she had long since disliked the sly Daoist Xu.

“Enough arguing, there are many monsters but also many cultivators who have entered the cave. We just need to keep killing them wave after wave, eventually we will wipe them all out!” Yu Hua stopped this pointless quarrel and continued searching with everyone else.

A group of people fought and fled, over half a month. Besides harvesting materials from monster beasts, they also found several fire-attribute spirit herbs and some ore, which was some comfort to the nearly exhausted group.

“Fire Spirit Stones, so many Fire Spirit Stones!” After several more days, Ding Shou, who was walking in the front, suddenly felt a wave of intense fire spirit energy wash over him. He saw countless glistening Fire Spirit Stones of all sizes before him, almost blinding anyone who looked.

"Fire Spirit Stone Vein!" Right after Yu Hua, Zhao Yuanjun, Lu Xiaoteng and others rushed to the front, seeing the spirit stones exposed on the ground and the cave walls, they all showed a look of fascination. They were only Qi Refinement cultivators, just the spirit stones in front of them were already an unimaginable wealth for them.

"Just being exposed on the ground there are so many spirit stones, if we dig underground, maybe we should each fill our storage bags first and then talk about it." The fat monk said with shining eyes.

“Absolutely not, the spirit stone veins discovered at Di Yan Mountain must be managed by the Zhou family.” Yu Hua flatly refused. “No one can tamper with these spirit stones. I’ll immediately use a sound transmission talisman to notify the senior cultivators above Foundation Establishment. This place can confine us, but it can't confine sound transmission talismans.”

Zhao Yuanjun and Lu Xiaotien exchanged a glance, seeing Lu Xiaotien nod slightly. A flash of killing intent crossed Zhao Yuanjun's eyes, and he and Zhao Li suddenly slashed towards Yu Hua's back with their swords. With a hiss, the spirit sword pierced through Yu Hua's back, going straight into his body.

Lu Xiaitian's giant elephant puppet directly used its long trunk to wrap around another Zhou family cultivator. In the late stage of Qi Refining, caught off guard, his bones were directly shattered inch by inch.

"They've been acting so arrogant, taking advantage of the Zhou family's power. They're really getting on my nerves." The fat monk and Ding Shou quickly killed the last remaining disciple of the Zhou family.

"You, you have such guts!" Yu Hua was a cultivator who had achieved the peak of Qi refinement. He reacted quickly, spitting out a mouthful of blood and looking at Lu Xiaottian and the others with fear, "Don't you fear Zhou family's revenge Without me, could you even leave the Di Yan Mountain"

“Do you really think we’re fools We still have some use even without finding the Spirit Stone vein. Once the Spirit Stone vein is found, do you think the Zhou family will let us live” The fat monk said in a sinister tone.

Lu Xiaoteng nodded inwardly. Although these scattered cultivators might not be strong in terms of cultivation, their ability to survive alone for so long meant they had a clear understanding of powerful connections. The Zhou family's grand encampment here and their forceful conscription of these scattered cultivators clearly aimed to block news from spreading, ultimately seeking to monopolize the spiritual objects and ores of this place. However, with many mouths, it was obvious that only death could keep this secret buried. Apparently, Zhao Yuanguan and the other scattered cultivators had realized this.

“Hehehe, Bull Nose, weren't you quite proud of yourself before Don't fool yourself. Take a look in the mirror and see what kind of person you are. You just cling to Zhou family cultivators, do you think you can be trusted” Ding Shou laughed cruelly, drew his sword and slashed at Yu Hua after him, blocking Xu Daoist’s path.

“Are you all going to die today,” a cold and emotionless voice echoed, sending chills down everyone’s spine. The chilling killing intent was palpable, emanating from deep within the cave.

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“It was the woman in black.” Fat Monk, Ding Shou and the others’ souls nearly flew out. Though they hadn't seen her, just hearing her voice was enough to confirm it was the same Foundation Establishment stage woman in black from before.

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"Let's go!" Zhao Yuanjun broke out in a cold sweat. Without a word, he grabbed Zhao Li and plunged into another side path.

Ding Shou and the fat monk looked at each other, then walked onto different paths. Although walking different ways, they would be in great danger if they encountered other monsters alone, but it was better than dying together now. They could stall for a while.

Lu Xia Tian seemed to move a little slower, but after a slight quirk of his mouth, he also darted into the cave. The woman in black was only at the second level of Foundation Establishment. However, if she spread the news here, it would be quite troublesome. It's likely that the Golden Core ancestor of the Zhou family would immediately decide to kill all the wandering cultivators who entered Flame Mountain. Therefore, his movements were a little slower, deliberately letting the woman in black notice.

After walking more than ten zhang into the mine, he came to a relatively open space. Lu Xia Tian didn't hesitate at all. He took out a piece of tattered cloth and then a cleaving blade. He placed the cleaving blade on the ground and covered it with the torn cloth. The aura of the cleaving blade was completely concealed. This piece of tattered cloth was still snatched from Weng Zhihan's hands. It could completely conceal the aura of spiritual objects. At that time, Weng Zhihan used it to wrap a foundation-building pill hidden inside a blue stone platform. Now he took it to set a trap, which was quite good.

“Elder, those people are treacherous. After discovering the spirit stone veins here, they killed my fellow disciples. I wanted to go out and report them, but they blocked me just now.” Xu Daoist saw the black-robed woman appear and said to her nervously, “Elder….”

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Before Xu Daoist could speak further, a slender flying knife pierced through his chest. Xu Daoist fell to the ground with a look of pain and disbelief on his face.

“Hmph!” The woman in black coldly said a word, then dashed towards the grotto where Lu Xiaoteng had just entered.

With a whoosh! A black flying sword shot towards her face. The woman in black was startled and swung her sword to block the flying sword, only then did she realize that Lu Xiaottian, who had been standing in front of her without saying a word, was a cultivator at the Qi Refining stage who was no weaker than her. This surprise from the woman in black was not trivial, as it allowed the black flying sword to be blocked and curved into an arc in mid-air before charging back. The attack was fast and fierce, leaving her no time to react. The woman in black threw a flying knife with all her might, but before she could make any further moves, a powerful aura, several times stronger than the black flying sword in front of her, slammed into her body. The sharp and unrivaled edge had been noticed by her long ago. Facing this imposing blow, she had to give it her all, let alone having time to react. With a brush, the woman in black, whose face was as pale as paper, wanted to dodge.

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But how could Li Xia Tian, who had meticulously prepared, give her this chance With a "poof," a crack appeared in the air and a sword pierced through the black-clothed woman's chest.

A fiery red primordial spirit orb flew out of the corpse of the woman in black.

Lu Xia Tian let out a cry of alarm. After taking the storage pouch from the woman in black, he didn't hesitate and chased after her at top speed. If this woman's soul found other people, it would be a disaster for him. As for the large amount of fire spirit stones in the cave, he couldn't care less at the moment. He wasn't short on spirit stones anyway. Everything came down to leaving this Diyan Mountain first and then figuring things out. But before that, he naturally had to do his best to kill the woman in black's soul. Even with his speed, it would be very difficult to catch up with a cultivator of the same rank in an open field, but within a cave like this, with flowing fire and hidden dangers like Diyan everywhere, ordinary cultivators could rely on various means to resist, but the fragile souls couldn't withstand it, so catching up wasn't impossible.

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Let me know if you have any other content you'd like me to translate!, their injuries weren't serious.However, for Jia Xiaolin, tidying up these two fellows would simply take a little more time. He still needed these tens of thousands of pages of the Shi clan records f...