224 Staying in the Void (2)
“What?” Li Xu caught the faint light. It was a communication talisman.
After reading the message, Li Xu’s expression changed, “Someone has already reached the mountain range and entered an underground cave. Lord Li Qianya has already led his men in. We can’t let the people in front take all the treasure. And this secret area doesn’t seem to be a low-level secret area. It is more important than anyone could have imagined! It’s suspected to be a martial saint’s cave for seclusion!”
Toward the end, Li Xu’s tone changed, and his face was filled with shock.
“A martial saint?” Jiang Ming’s breathing also quickened.
“A few genius disciples from a couple of grotto-heavens and blessed lands have also arrived!” Li Xu’s face was solemn as he looked at Jiang Ming. “Mr. Yan, I invited you to explore this place earlier. However, I didn’t know it was so dangerous. Geniuses from all over the world have gathered here, and there might be a bloody battle. If you don’t want to participate in such bloodshed, please leave as soon as possible.”
“What about you?” Jiang Ming laughed and looked at the fifth-level Qi Refinement Realm cultivator. It would be more dangerous for him to participate in such a battle.
“I’m Lord Li’s follower! If he lives, I live. If he dies, I will die with him!” Li Xu’s expression was calm as he spoke.
Jiang Ming raised his eyebrows and was somewhat impressed by this person.
He then laughed and said he would come along anyway.
Li Xu nodded. At this time, his mood was a bit heavy. He no longer said anything and flew forward.
The two of them increased their speed. Soon, they saw a barren mountain with strange rocks in front of them.
The barren mountain was pitch-black, and the nearby spiritual energy fluctuations were also extremely chaotic, making people feel somewhat uncomfortable.
In the middle of the barren mountain was already a huge hole that had been blown into a mess. Many passages could vaguely be seen in the middle of the mountain. There were sounds of shouting and clashing metal. It seemed that people had already arrived and were fighting.
At the same time, Jiang Ming also saw a stream of light rushing into the cave from the outside. Obviously, more people had joined the fight.
“There’s still a formation seal underground, quickly break it!”
“Give me this beast skin scroll. Otherwise, I’ll kill you!”
“It seems like there are still some things left.” Li Xu’s eyes were filled with excitement, and he was already impatient.
Jiang Ming shook his head slightly. He turned his wrist, and the Scarlet Separation Sword turned into a stream of light, circling around his body like a red snake, ready to attack at any time.
“Let’s go!” Li Xu was the first to rush into the cave, and he took out a magical tool to protect himself.
Boom!
There was a violent fluctuation of spiritual energy in front of them. A group of cultivators had rushed into the cave before them and were hit with the force. More than half of them exploded immediately!
“You’re only at the early stage of the Qi Refinement Realm. How dare you make trouble? Get lost!” a brawny man holding a long saber sneered. Every time he swung his saber, someone would die.
Li Xu’s expression changed slightly. He recognized this person. He was a ninth-level Qi Refinement Realm expert.
However, before Li Xu could say anything, the brawny man holding the saber looked at him coldly. Without saying a word, he shot an attack toward Jiang Ming.
To him, Li Xu was no different from an ant. The aftermath of his attack could kill him. Only Jiang Ming, who emitted the fluctuations of a ninth-level Qi Refinement Realm cultivator, interested him.
“Be careful!” Li Xu’s expression changed drastically. This was a ninth-level Qi Refinement Realm genius from one of the three grotto-heavens, and he could crush almost everyone at the same cultivation level as him, not to mention an individual cultivator like Yan Chixia.
However, in the next moment, a scene that left Li Xu dumbfounded unfolded.
The Scarlet Separation Sword burst out with a bright red spiritual light, and its spiritual energy soared into the sky.
The terrifying spiritual energy fluctuations made all the cultivators who were fighting nearby stop and look over.
When the red spiritual light faded, the battle was completely over. The ninth-level Qi Refinement Realm genius from one of the grotto-heavens had been cut in half at the waist. His eyes were wide open as he died, as if he could not believe what had happened.
Everyone around looked at this scene in horror. The people who wanted to attack Jiang Ming and the other man just now were even more frightened and turned to run.
“Mr. Yan…!” Li Xu was also stammering. He could not believe that the person he had casually roped in to explore the area with him had such ridiculous strength.
Wasn’t he an individual cultivator? How could there be such a terrifying individual cultivator out there?
Moreover, he had casually killed a genius from one of the grotto-heavens!
Jiang Ming was expressionless as he quickly recovered his damaged spiritual core. He could not be bothered about the background of the man he just killed. If someone wanted to find trouble with him, he would take care of them too.
In order to kill him with one strike, Jiang Ming used a wisp of mystic fire to activate the Mystic Flame Spirit Sacrifice Spell, making him explode with power.
Jiang Ming stretched out his hand and took away the strong man’s saber and storage ring without any hesitation.
Many people around were envious, but no one dared step forward to snatch the things from him.
Suddenly, the cave shook as if it was overwhelmed by the fighting of many immortal cultivators. The mountain rocks fell down, and many mountain walls and passages collapsed, burying many cultivators.
“Ah!” Li Xu suddenly screamed and fell into a collapsed tunnel. In the blink of an eye, he was buried under a pile of collapsed mountain rocks.
Jiang Ming was also caught off guard. He could only pray for Li Xu’s survival. It was just some mountain rocks; it should not be able to crush a mid-stage Qi Refinement Realm cultivator to death.
“I wonder if Lu Xiaoyu is in the depths of the cave?” Looking at the dense and chaotic passage, Jiang Ming had a headache.
Just as Jiang Ming was about to randomly pick a passage and rush in, there was a sudden buzz in his mind, as if he had heard something.
At the same time, the blood Qi in some parts of Jiang Ming’s body seemed to be stimulated and trembled slightly.
He stopped in his tracks and looked at a specific passage.
The faint sound seemed to come from the passage. If it was not for his heightened perception, he would not have noticed it.
What made Jiang Ming even more surprised was that the place where his blood Qi trembled seemed to be somewhat familiar.
A moment later, the faint sound came again, and the blood in Jiang Ming’s body trembled again.
“Is this… the blood Qi circulation route of the Martial Tribulation Scripture?”
Jiang Ming was shocked. Was the Martial Tribulation Scripture passed down by the Lu family actually related to this place?
“Could the Lu family be descendants of a martial saint?”
Jiang Ming could not help but let his imagination run wild.
He only hesitated for a moment before he rushed toward the passage where the sound came from.
He quickly moved forward in the passage and felt that he was getting closer and closer to the underground. The faint sound seemed to be gradually becoming clearer, but Jiang Ming could only hear four disjointed words.
Jiang Ming’s heart trembled slightly. Those four words referred to the four tribulations. Why did they appear here?
Suddenly, Jiang Ming’s eyes opened up and he rushed into an underground cave. There were many people in front of him. Obviously, they had come before him.
It was not peaceful in the cave either. More than a dozen figures were divided into three sides. Spiritual energy surged, and the atmosphere seemed to be a little tense.
However, Jiang Ming’s attention was not on the people at all, but on the scene at the center of the cave.
He stared at the center of the cave, where there was a pool filled with purple liquid. In the middle of the pool, there was an ancient stone platform on which there was a figure sitting cross-legged.
It was a long-haired man. His hair was as dark as ink. His face was gentle and calm, and his eyes were slightly closed as if he was deeply asleep.