Many cultivators glared at Yan Jun begrudgingly – if not for his actions, those two hundred or so of their sect mates might not have died!
Feeling guilty, Yan Jun coughed softly. “I didn’t mean it either, I just wanted to let everyone get more rest.”
Some cultivators could not help but laugh coldly. “Ha, easy for you to say! More than two hundred fellow disciples died here because of that remark of yours!”
“That’s because they aren’t strong enough. Don’t follow us into the valley if you’re afraid of death!”
“Senior Brother Yan, we’re all from the same sect! How can you say something like that!”
“That’s enough!”
Sensing that the tension was strong and that they were only going to argue more intensely, Uncle Liang hollered and stopped the commotion.
Feeling frustrated, Tang Yu raised her brows slightly and waved her hand. “Everyone, quieten down. I made the wrong decision earlier on.”
She took a deep breath of air and came to Su Zimo’s side, asking softly, “Fellow Daoist, what should we do next?”
“We can only continue our journey and try to locate the Elixir Pool Sect ruins as soon as possible. That’s the only way for us to avoid the threat of the demon beasts in the valley.”
“Alright.”
Tang Yu commanded for everyone to continue.
They didn’t advance far when the fog in front of them surged. Several thousands feet away, an Azure Feathered Eagle was flapping its wings, speeding towards them at an extremely fast speed with deep killing intent in its eyes!
An ancient remnant beast!
After running for nearly two hours in the valley, an ancient remnant beast had finally appeared!
Using the guise of the fog, the other cultivators did not notice any signs of the Azure Feathered Eagle at all. However, Su Zimo’s eyes were extremely sharp and he sensed it long ago.
“Condense!”
He split out six flying swords that shot through the air, leaving streams of sword qi, forming a hexagonal sword formation that shone brilliantly!
It was extremely difficult to kill an ancient remnant beast considering the fact that they were on sword kinesis.
In order to save spirit energy, Su Zimo did not use the Candlelight Sword Formation right away. Instead, he condensed the Hexagonal Sword Formation and pointed forward, sending it through the air.
Many cultivators could not understand why Su Zimo suddenly attacked.
However, it did not take long before a bird’s tragic cry could be heard from the fog ahead.
A moment later, the Hexagonal Sword Formation returned and Su Zimo’s expression was unchanged, as if nothing happened.
As the group ventured deeper into the valley, there were no longer large swarms of ancient lifeforms. Instead, ancient remnant beasts started appearing.
Most of the time, Su Zimo attacked preemptively and killed the ancient remnant beasts before the latter could reach them.
Although they merely had close encounters as they ventured deeper, everyone’s expressions turned grimmer.
The skies had gradually darkened!
Everyone’s vision was reduced once more.
In the dark and empty valley, smelling the thick scent of blood in the air, everyone’s heart felt incomparably depressed and uneasy.
They had yet to find the Elixir Pool Sect ruins.
This meant that the group would have to continue in the night!
Before long, night finally fell and their surroundings were pitch-black.
Initially, everyone could still see a distance hundred feet in front of them. But now, that range had shrunk to thirty feet!
Before they knew it, their surroundings had gone silent.
There were no longer birds crying or beasts roaring. In fact, there weren’t even screams of cultivators anymore.
It was as if all the demon beasts hid themselves in an instant and vanished without a trace!
It was like the calm before a storm.
The silence was so eerie, sinister and frightening!
Under Su Zimo’s lead, everyone proceeded forward and could even hear their own hearts pounding.
The rustling of the withered leaves they stepped on sounded particularly piercing.
“W-What’s going on?”
“Why aren’t there any demon beasts left?”
Finally, someone could not bear the pressure and asked with a quivering voice, panting slightly.
Tang Yu was a little afraid as well.
She could even sense the aura of death in that darkness!
Right now, the only thing that could calm her down was that back view in front of her that was sturdy even if it was not broad.
It was as if their hope would not be extinguished as long as that figure did not fall.
The darkness before them was filled with unknown dangers.
However, Su Zimo’s footsteps did not stop at all as he continued advancing.
Suddenly, he came to a stop and his deep voice sounded. Although it sounded calm, its content was shocking!
“Everyone, prepare for a fierce battle. A beast stampede is approaching!”
Beast stampede!
The sound of those two words caused everyone’s hearts to skip a beat.
Narrowing his gaze, Su Zimo looked over and a cold glint flashed through his eyes as he said slowly, “Furthermore… it’s a beast stampede made up of ancient remnant beasts!”
“Ah!”
“What!”
The crowd was in an uproar.
A single ancient remnant beast was more than enough to give them all headaches.
In the ancient battlefield, who could survive if an ancient remnant beast stampede swarmed over them?
Which sect could live to see the next day?
“I-If we w-were to retreat now, c-can we escape?”
Finally, a cultivator could not endure the pressure and whimpered with a shaky tone.
Faint tremors were coming from the ground, as if a massive army was charging over. Although they could not see it, everyone could sense the violent aura that was coming from in front of them!
It was too late.
That person already knew the answer without Su Zimo replying.
The most worrying situation had arrived.
Furthermore, it was much scarier than they had imagined it to be!
The tremors on the ground were intensifying.
Even though the cultivators clearly know that there were countless remnant beasts that were charging towards them, the most frightening thing was that they couldn’t see anything against the cover of the fog!
Unable to withstand it, some cultivators sat wasted on the floor as their knees buckled against the tremors of the ground. They were mentally crushed as they cried helplessly.
In the face of death, cultivators were no different from mortals — they were equally insignificant and helpless without a single shred of dignity.
“What should we do?”
Tang Yu looked at Su Zimo and asked instinctively.
Su Zimo replied indifferently, “Of course we welcome them.”
‘Of course we welcome them!’
Those simple few words contained a fearless courage that overlooked everything!
Everyone, Tang Yu included, was thinking about how they should escape and survive. However, Su Zimo’s thoughts were opposite of theirs!
Tang Yu was invigorated as she turned to look at Su Zimo’s side profile.
Although it was in the night and Su Zimo’s face was a little blurry, his eyes were still bright as always, resembling two shimmering stars that illuminated the darkness.
Sensing something, Su Zimo turned slightly and smiled calmly, asking, “Or, do we have any other way out?”
Tang Yu was stunned.
That’s right… what other way out did they have?
By the time the ancient remnant beast stampede was charging over, they no longer had a way out.
Even if they were to turn and escape right now, they wouldn’t be able to shake off the pursuit of the ancient remnant beasts!
“Everyone, I know that you’re desperate right now. However, this is a test of life and death! Those that are fearful, weak and cowardly, will only be faced with a single outcome… death.”
Su Zimo’s voice sounded, resolute with conviction, “Since we have no other way out, we can only continue forward with the long swords in our hands…”
“To kill a way out!”