In a certain mine tunnel, a middle-aged man in black robes and a woman in red were fighting intensely against an old man with snow-white hair, their battle fierce.
The female cultivator unleashed a fire dragon and an ice dragon, intertwining them to create a gust of hot and cold wind that surged forward.
The middle-aged man in black robes summoned a large golden copper hammer, smashing it down in the air with a deafening roar, transforming it into a massive illusory hammer.
The silver-haired old man laughed wildly, unafraid. He didn't use any magical artifacts but instead clapped his palms together, his hands sprouting fur, turning into claws. He easily swatted away the copper hammer and charged directly toward the attacking dragon shadows without pause.
The flames and icy wind lashed at the old man, but he stood firm. With swift movements of his claws, he created a barrier of claw-like energy to protect himself. Amidst a series of crackling sounds, the old man rushed toward the middle-aged man in black robes and the female cultivator in red.
Seeing the enemy's strength, the two could only unleash various attacks while retreating. They had been entangled with this demon for some time, and even their combined efforts were barely enough to cope. Both felt frustrated.
Although they were both at the early stage of the Core Formation realm, the silver-haired old man was much stronger, a ninth-order demon cultivator.
Just then, a strong wind swept through the tunnel, stirring up the golden spiritual energy mist that permeated the area.
The howling wind, mixed with a powerful suction force, came from ahead. The three noticed this but continued fighting, not taking it seriously.
After all, they were all Core Formation cultivators, and even a strong wind wouldn't greatly affect them.
However, the wind suddenly intensified several times over. The entire tunnel shook violently. By the time the three realized something was wrong, the tunnel was already being sucked into a powerful golden wind.
The rock walls and the ground on both sides of the tunnel cracked open with large fissures. The area was shaking violently, as if the mountain was splitting apart.
If that was all, it wouldn't be dangerous with their strength.
But as soon as the cracks formed, they emitted a dazzling golden light. When the light shone on the three, an irresistible suction force grabbed them.
Only then did their expressions change. The old man, with the highest cultivation level, roared and emitted icy spiritual energy, trying to break free. But it was too late. The golden light instantly sucked them into the cracks.
Finally, the cracks slammed shut, seamlessly, as if nothing had happened. The tunnel continued to shake violently, with only gusts of strong wind pressure sweeping through.
In another mine tunnel, the transformed wolf demon that Zhang Ling had seen earlier was also holding a piece of irregular-edged gold and white iron, a look of joy on its face.
The next moment, a series of loud rumbles and tremors caught the demon's attention. It also noticed that the wind pressure in the area had increased, and the entire tunnel was shaking violently.
The wolf demon didn't understand what was happening and was still wondering when a two-zhang-long fissure suddenly appeared in the stone wall beside it, and a terrifying golden wind enveloped it. It was similarly sucked into it.
At the same time, the group of demons guarding the giant ice cave outside were also fleeing in all directions. This was because the main peak of the Ice Orchid Mountain Range was shaking violently, as if in an earthquake.
The thick layers of ice accumulated on the mountain split into countless cracks. A golden mist emanated from these cracks, spreading in all directions.
The mountain's shaking didn't last long. After a dozen breaths of time, everything returned to calm, with only the main peak of the Ice Orchid Mountain Range shrouded in a golden mist, becoming eerie.
…
Meanwhile, Zhang Ling was in a strange space, looking around with a gloomy expression. After being sucked in by the strong wind formed by the golden cloud, he had been drawn into this place.
It was misty here, filled with pale golden mist. Occasionally, golden wind clusters and light spots collided, making soft popping sounds, like fireworks.
These were also pure golden spiritual energy forming the mist, even more unstable than the golden spiritual energy in the stone cave earlier. This place was so strange, it was clearly not a good place.
Zhang Ling looked down at the golden sword he was holding, the source of the change.
When he injected spiritual energy into the small sword, it grew into the toy-like soft sword, and it was the beam of light it shot out that triggered the golden cloud, transporting him to this place.
It seemed that this object was not the magical treasure or artifact he thought it was, but more like an object to activate a formation. It might be a formation token.
But after activation, it forcibly sucked him into this place.
Spiritual light flickered in his hand, and he injected spiritual energy into the small sword again. After absorbing the spiritual energy, the golden sword grew again, turning into the somewhat limp golden sword.
He planned to try again, hoping that activating it again would teleport him out. But after growing, it no longer emitted golden light, as if it had lost its effect.
But suddenly, it trembled again, flashed, and turned into a golden light, flying forward at an extremely high speed.
Sensing something, Zhang Ling quickly cast a Heavy Yuan Profound Light, covering the strange golden sword. It was fixed in mid-air.
But at that moment, a blurry white shadow rushed out of the mist in front of him, like a snake shadow, wrapping the golden arrow in it.
Two cyan sword lights flashed left and right, directly cutting the white shadow into pieces.
Zhang Ling then flung out a vine, instantly pulling the golden sword back into his hand, and looked coldly at the mist in front of him. "Friend, you snatched something from my hands without a word. Aren't you being too rude?"
The pale golden mist in front of him churned, but no one came out. Zhang Ling's gaze remained fixed on one spot, his expression turning cold.
After a few breaths of silence, a cold voice sounded from ahead. "Hehe, I didn't expect to be discovered. It seems your spiritual sense is a bit stronger than that of ordinary Core Formation stage cultivators."
Amidst the churning golden mist, an old man in a yellow robe walked out.
He had a gaunt face, cold eyes, and didn't look like an easy person to get along with. The aura he emitted wasn't strong, only equivalent to the late stage of the Golden Core realm. But facing his gaze, he showed no fear.
A Golden Core cultivator was so calm in the face of a Core Formation cultivator.
Zhang Ling became wary, scanning him with his spiritual sense. He didn't see any traces of hidden cultivation, but something was definitely wrong.
He released the golden sword. If he hadn't been paying attention to his surroundings and noticed a different spiritual energy fluctuation, he would have almost had the golden sword snatched away.
"This thing is useless to you. Why don't you return it to me, and I'll let you leave?" The yellow-robed old man glanced at the golden sword in Zhang Ling's hand and said calmly.
"Oh, do you know what this place is?" Zhang Ling caught the information in the man's words and asked expressionlessly.
"Hehe, this is my cave. If you hand over this thing, I'll open the restriction and let you leave," the old man said, stroking his chin.
Zhang Ling frowned, looking at the golden sword in his hand. Although he didn't know where he was, or who this old man was, he wouldn't believe that this place was his cave.
The man cared so much about this strange golden sword, there must be a secret.
"Since this is your cave, I have no intention of intruding. As long as you open the restriction first and let me leave, I'll naturally hand this thing over to you outside."
Hearing this, the yellow-robed old man's gaze became colder, and he frowned thoughtfully. Then he nodded and smiled. "Okay, then I'll let you leave first."
With that, he raised his hand and took out a golden copper token. It seemed to be an artifact used for formations. He cast a spell on it.
The golden copper token trembled, and some golden spiritual patterns lit up. The surrounding spiritual energy quickly churned, as if he was really opening the restriction.
Zhang Ling stared at everything intently. He became even more vigilant. The man had agreed to let him leave so easily, he didn't know if it was true or false.
He enveloped the surroundings with his spiritual sense, constantly paying attention to changes around him, in case of any accidents.
There were many loopholes in the man's words, and they were likely unreliable. But he had been suddenly teleported here, so it was best to leave as soon as possible.
If the man really had a way, he would test it first. If he played any tricks, he would directly attack and capture him.
Just then, the old man suddenly stopped what he was doing, his expression becoming gloomy, and looked in another direction.
This strange behavior caught Zhang Ling's attention, and he quickly glanced in that direction as well. Then he discovered that a strong spiritual energy fluctuation was erupting there, someone was fighting. He vaguely heard some loud noises.
Zhang Ling's spiritual sense spread out in that direction, intending to see more clearly. At the same time, he became even more wary of the yellow-robed old man in front of him. The man had discovered the situation there before him, could it be that his spiritual sense was stronger than his?
How was that possible? His spiritual sense was now a bit stronger than that of a mid-stage Core Formation cultivator. But in this place with a volatile golden spiritual energy environment, it was also greatly affected.
But this sudden situation still distracted Zhang Ling a bit. The yellow-robed old man's figure flashed and disappeared.
Immediately afterward, a soft popping sound entered his ears. Without him knowing, four or five zhang-long golden spikes emerged from the ground under his feet, piercing toward his body.
With a loud bang, the spikes collided with each other in a cross, like several sharp teeth colliding. They directly pierced into Zhang Ling's body. It looked like he hadn't reacted and had already been seriously injured.
Immediately afterward, a faint white shadow appeared beside him, wrapping around the golden sword in Zhang Ling's hand.
However, the white shadow passed right through Zhang Ling's hand. It didn't get anything. Looking at Zhang Ling's pierced body, it instantly scattered into a cloud of colorful light spots.
At the same time, a cloud of gray mist floated around, covering an area of more than ten zhang. It was rapidly gathering, and the white shadow hadn't reacted yet and was trapped inside.
Zhang Ling reappeared, standing on the edge of the gray mist. He waved the Four Directions Flag in his hand. He knew that this person was not right and had always been vigilant. Although he was a bit distracted just now, he had already made preparations.
At the same time as he was attacked, he had used the Water Bubble Ancient Treasure in his hand to create an illusion, quietly dodging the attack.
At this time, the white shadow trapped in the gray mist transformed into the yellow-robed old man, looking at him with a gloomy face and a ferocious expression. Although the aura on his body was still at the late stage of the Golden Core realm, the golden spike attack from the ground just now couldn't have been made by a Golden Core cultivator.
Not only was the attack extremely secretive, but the force was also not small. If it had really hit, he would have been seriously injured even if he didn't die. This method was definitely stronger than that of an ordinary Core Formation cultivator. The old man in front of him had definitely hidden his strength.
The yellow-robed old man's face was grim, but he didn't panic. He snorted and stomped his foot heavily on the ground. A golden light burst out under his feet, and another golden light rose up. It directly dragged him up into the sky.
He instantly broke through the Four Directions Flag's gray mist imprisonment, transforming into a white shadow again and flashing away.
Zhang Ling's spiritual sense only observed a blurry white shadow, already more than ten zhang away. Before he could lock onto him with his spiritual sense, he had completely disappeared.
It seemed that he had not been planning to let him leave just now, but was preparing to ambush him. Not to mention other methods, just this one of concealing his figure was not something ordinary cultivators could compare to.
At this time, several spiritual sense powers swept over Zhang Ling, and the people fighting over there had also discovered him.
The fighting there became more intense and was moving in his direction.
There were three people fighting. A silver-haired old man, a middle-aged man, and a red-clothed female cultivator. Seeing their appearance, Zhang Ling recognized their identities.
Although he had never seen these three, he had seen traces of them in the memories of the snow rabbit he had searched earlier. The silver-haired old man had the strongest aura and was the ninth-order Ice Snow Lion.
The middle-aged man and the red-clothed female cultivator were both in the early stage of the Core Formation realm and were the two Core Formation cultivators who had clashed with the three demon cultivators.
They had also been teleported here. It seemed that the situation was even more complicated.
A white cold wind, mixed with a large number of ice cones, turned into a tornado connecting the sky and the earth, pressing down on the two Core Formation cultivators.
The middle-aged man in black robes controlled a golden hammer, striking out pieces of hammer shadows, resisting countless ice cones. But his face was already a little pale, obviously under a lot of pressure.
In his busy state, he turned his head to look at Zhang Ling and shouted. "Fellow Daoist, this fairy and I encountered this demon and are difficult to deal with. Since we are both human cultivators, please help us. We are elders of Nightglow City, and we will definitely reward you handsomely afterward."
