In an instant, Li Guanqi made his decision!
"Run! Head back!!"
At the same time, Li Guanqi swiftly retrieved a jade slip and said in a heavy voice, "Ke Qin! Keep updating us on the two spirit beasts' positions!"
"Hurry!!"
Whoosh!
The group dashed out at full speed, pushing their velocity almost to its limit.
Meanwhile, Li Guanqi changed out of his soaked clothes.
Ke Qin's voice came continuously from the jade slip.
"Eighty zhang!"
At this moment, the group was still at least one hundred and fifty zhang from the cave entrance!
"Sixty zhang!"
"Thirty zhang!"
Everyone had pushed their speed to its absolute peak. Li Guanqi's divine sense began rapidly sweeping above their heads!
"Ten zhang!"
Li Guanqi could even hear the dull thuds resounding from the earth!
And at this moment, they were only one corner away from the entrance—a mere thirty zhang.
Li Guanqi stopped dead in his tracks and sent a voice transmission: "Up to the ceiling!"
Ye Feng instantly understood Li Guanqi's intention, and the group immediately scrambled up toward the cavern ceiling!
However, Zhong Lin's foot slipped, and he plummeted more than a zhang.
Li Guanqi immediately braced Zhong Lin's foot, then shoved forcefully to heave him upward.
"They're coming in!"
The scarlet-eyed demonic ape and the dark bat had already stepped into the cave!
Li Guanqi spotted a position, leaped into the air, and braced his limbs against a protruding stone pillar to keep himself from falling.
Everyone held their breath as the sounds near their ears drew closer.
The dull thuds grew increasingly distinct.
The group exchanged glances and could not help holding their breath even tighter.
That intense tension made their hearts pound uncontrollably, their five senses sharper than ever before.
Finally,
a massive beast slowly passed beneath their feet.
Li Guanqi could even see the matted, filthy fur of the scarlet-eyed demonic ape.
Suddenly!
The demonic ape raised an arm to scratch its head, its hand missing his foot by barely a single chi!
Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!
Li Guanqi felt as though his heart were about to leap out of his throat.
At last, the demonic ape continued toward the corner ahead.
Immediately afterward, an entirely pitch-black dark bat crawled inside.
Its wings, thin as cicada membranes, were folded up as it crawled forward on its wing-joints.
Although bats possessed poor eyesight, its sound could pinpoint the location of everything like divine sense.
Gradually, the dark bat also reached the corner.
Suddenly!
The dark bat stopped.
This sudden halt made the hairs on everyone's necks stand on end!
Immediately, the dark bat's nostrils twitched slightly. Li Guanqi instantly sensed danger, turned to look at Zhong Lin, and rapidly transmitted his voice:
"After harvesting the Bigu Grass, did you erase the scent from your body?"
At these words, Zhong Lin's face turned deathly pale!
Without hesitation, Li Guanqi sent a voice transmission: "Run!!"
Tap, tap, tap!
As everyone dropped to the ground, the dark bat whipped its head around to face them!
Opening its maw, it unleashed an ear-splitting sonic wave!
Almost the very instant their feet touched down, the sonic wave struck their ears.
Blood instantly seeped from their facial orifices, and their spiritual terraces destabilized!
"Plug your ears and run!!"
Li Guanqi roared, grabbing Lin Dong and Zhong Lin with both hands as he dashed outward.
The jade slip flashed with light, and Ke Qin's voice came through again.
"The people from the Ten Thousand Immortals Sword Sect and Zixiao Pavilion are back!"
Thoughts raced through Li Guanqi's mind. Evidently, the other group had also realized there were good treasures inside the cave and wanted to try their luck a second time. But right now, Li Guanqi had no time to worry about that.
The roars of the two spirit beasts behind them practically shook the heavens.
The cave's rock walls trembled faintly, and loose rubble fell continuously from above.
Pushing their speed to the absolute limit, they finally burst out of the cave.
The moment they exited the cave, they saw Ke Qin. Li Guanqi had no time for explanations and barked, "Go! Run in the opposite direction!"
Without pausing for even a second, the five circled around the towering mountain and sped away behind it.
The ten disciples from the Ten Thousand Immortals Sword Sect and Zixiao Pavilion had just reached the cave entrance when they spotted their retreating figures.
Zhao Xuanzhu furrowed his brows, thinking to himself, Why would members of the Great Xia Sword Sect come out of that cave?
Roar!!!
Right then, they caught sight of two almost crazed spirit beasts. The moment the beasts laid eyes on them, they resumed an even more rabid pursuit than before.
The five rushed northward without stopping. After an unknown amount of time, only after fleeing nearly three thousand zhang did they finally halt.
They collapsed to the ground, the origin qi in their bodies drained to the limit.
Panting heavily, Ye Feng looked at Li Guanqi's composed face and could not help muttering, "You're a damn monster, aren't you!"
Li Guanqi told everyone to seize the time to absorb spiritual energy, then said in a deep voice, "I retrieved two things from beneath that pool."
Lin Dong and the others had long guessed that Li Guanqi had found good things down there, but they hadn't had a chance to ask until now.
"What is it? What could be under that water?"
"Hurry and bring it out! What good stuff did you get?"
Thud!
A solid chunk of silver stone landed heavily on the ground.
Ye Feng and Zhong Lin stared with disbelief in their eyes!
Zhong Lin said in a low voice, "Taiyi Treasure Silver!! A piece this huge could probably fetch ten thousand spirit stones!"
Ye Feng also nodded slightly, then asked, "You said there were two things? What's the other one?"
Whoosh!
A stone gleaming with golden luster abruptly appeared in Li Guanqi's palm.
This time, even Zhong Lin could not recognize what it was.
Yet Ye Feng blurted out, "Profound Treasure Spirit Sand!! Good grief!! A chunk this big is worth at least thirty thousand spirit stones!!"
"We're rich!!"
Li Guanqi wasted no words. Stowing the items away, he said, "Once we leave, we'll sell these and split the proceeds equally."
Ke Qin, who had remained silent all along, jerked her head up and whispered, "Do... do I get a share too?"
Li Guanqi smiled faintly and said softly, "Of course you do. You did great just now. If not for you, we wouldn't have been able to react in time."
The others who had been in the cave also grinned.
Yet in their hearts, they all understood that without Li Guanqi, they would likely have become food in the beasts' bellies by now. At the same time, the decisiveness he displayed commanded their deep admiration.
Li Guanqi rose, looked into the distance, and said softly, "Let's talk as we go. Further ahead, there seem to be many buildings."
"This might be the mystic realm of a sect. The truly good things won't just be the scraps out here."
Having just divvied up the prospective spoils, everyone felt a surge of fervent excitement.
Meanwhile, Li Guanqi cast a casual glance behind him.
The Ten Thousand Immortals Sword Sect, Zixiao Pavilion...
We haven't seen anyone from Zhenyue Mountain or Qinglong Island yet, and the Qixian Sect should have two people left.
However, their positions can no longer be seen on the jade slip. They must have noticed something.
The group hurried toward the indistinct cluster of buildings. Along the way, they spotted two other realms.
They were likewise sealed off by barriers: an ice and snow domain and a volcanic domain.
Relying on the strength of his divine sense, Li Guanqi guided them around quite a few spirit beasts along the way.
At the same time, a question surfaced in his mind:
Why are there so many spirit beasts here? Could these four domains with different environments have been created just to raise these beasts?
Could this have been a beast-taming sect?
Chapter 46