Chapter 112: I Struck Back, Just a Bit Harder

Boom.

The heavy stone door behind them slammed shut. The group had fully entered the Alchemist King’s Cave.

In front of them was a deep, sloping stairway. The walls on either side were engraved with intricate, mysterious patterns. Staring at them too long made one feel dizzy. Looking down, the end was nowhere in sight, as if it led into the stomach of some unknown giant beast.

Shen Mo tried jumping, only to find that his leap was no higher than that of an ordinary person. Clearly, the cave contained a formation that suppressed spiritual power. The others also noticed this and frowned.

“We’ll go ahead,” Pang Longxiang said, glancing at the cultivators from the other three sects. He then led the Flying Frost Sect members down the stairs. Their figures gradually disappeared into the darkness.

Shen Mo’s eyes flashed as he committed the life panels of the ten Flying Frost Sect members to memory. Pang Longxiang had opportunities ahead, but the others had few. Some were destined to fall into poison formations and die shortly after. This served as a reminder for Shen Mo, helping him mentally map the locations of those poison formations.

The Qingxuan Sect and the other two sects followed shortly after. However, after walking for a while, something felt off.

“Where are the footprints? This staircase was covered in dust, and we saw the Flying Frost Sect’s footprints earlier. How have they disappeared?” Murong Yue whispered.

At that moment, Song Chaofeng’s shocked voice came from beside her. “Sect Master, the people from the Spirit Beast Sect and the Stormy Rain Sect have also vanished.”

Shen Mo looked around. Aside from the deep, oppressive darkness, there was nothing. The members of the other three sects had indeed disappeared.

After a moment of thought, Shen Mo pulled out the jade token used to break formations and injected spiritual power into it. A golden light spread out, covering a three-meter radius around them. The light quickly turned red, causing everyone’s hearts to jump.

Over the past two weeks, they had tested the jade token. If there were no formations within three meters, the light would remain golden. If there was a formation that the token could break, the light would turn white, indicating they could break it by channeling more spiritual power. But if the formation was unbreakable, the light would turn red.

Shen Mo frowned slightly and walked a few steps closer to the wall. The light remained red.

“Let’s move forward a bit and try again.”

The ten members of the Qingxuan Sect advanced about ten more meters. Shen Mo used the jade token again, and the light was still red.

“What does this mean?” Song Chaofeng asked, confused.

“It means this entire passage is filled with formations,” Shen Mo said, his voice heavy.

The others were stunned.

“This passage is likely lined with countless illusion formations. What seems like a single path downward actually hides many other paths. The other three sects must have taken one of those paths, which is why they disappeared,” Shen Mo explained.

Song Chaofeng frowned deeply. “What should we do?”

Before Shen Mo could answer, the seemingly solid ground beneath them began to shake.

Before anyone could react, the ground suddenly dropped!

Boom! Crash! Thud!

It was a long while before Shen Mo opened his eyes again. Everything was still dark. He couldn’t hear the sound of anyone breathing nearby.

Shen Mo didn’t get up immediately. Instead, he held his breath, continuing to adjust to the darkness. Simultaneously, he checked his life panel.

[Recent Opportunity: The ground shakes and falls. The other Qingxuan Sect members are lost in the formations and disappear one after another. You fall into the sixteenth stone chamber in the human section, where you find a bottle of Great Foundation Pill and a bottle of Yuan-Boosting Pill.]

[Recent Turning Point: After leaving the sixteenth stone chamber, you encounter two Spirit Beast Sect cultivators. They attack you, and though you escape, you are slashed across the chest.]

Shen Mo raised an eyebrow. It seemed his luck wasn’t great this time.

Slowly, he got up and surveyed his surroundings in the dim light. He found himself in a spacious stone chamber. As expected, there were some jade bottles scattered in the corners. Most were empty, and some contained pills that had lost their potency, crumbling into dust at a touch.

Finally, just as his life panel described, Shen Mo found a bottle of Great Foundation Pill and a bottle of Yuan-Boosting Pill.

After securing these items, Shen Mo didn’t immediately leave the stone chamber. Instead, he hid in a corner, quietly listening for any sounds outside.

As expected, within just a few breaths, footsteps echoed from outside, accompanied by the voices of two men in conversation.

“Damn it, how did we end up just the two of us?”

“Yeah, this Alchemist King’s Cave is really eerie! I heard the first two caves weren’t like this at all.”

“Should we start looking for treasures first, or what?”

“Let’s search for treasures first, and while we’re at it, let’s look for that Shen Mo from the Qingxuan Sect. If we can capture him alive, the bounty from the Hevanly Water Sect is huge, hehe!”

The footsteps grew louder, then gradually faded away until they disappeared completely.

Only then did Shen Mo step out of the stone chamber.

Outside was another deep, dark passage, with a spacious stone chamber every few meters. The chambers were interconnected, forming a complex maze.

Using the information from the life panel, Shen Mo navigated cautiously, avoiding numerous deadly formations and enemies. However, aside from the two bottles of pills he found initially, he hadn’t come across any other treasures.

Before long, he stood before a sloping staircase leading downward. He had encountered similar staircases three times already.

“This should lead to a deeper level.”

“The level I’m on is labeled as the ‘Human Layer.’ The next one should be the ‘Earth Layer,’ right?”

After confirming there was no danger, Shen Mo descended the staircase to a deeper level.

As expected, he soon discovered a stone chamber with an inscription above it: *Earth Layer, Room Seven

*.

At that moment, the sound of a formation activating echoed from not far away, followed by the sharp whistling of sword light.

Shen Mo frowned and was about to move away when he suddenly heard a woman’s muffled groan.

He smirked and immediately headed in that direction.

Sure enough, he soon found a graceful figure struggling within a sword formation. The sword light roared as the woman dodged left and right. But her movements had slowed, and each time she moved, another wound appeared on her body. The blood on the ground was pooling quickly.

Shen Mo recognized her instantly—Pang Ziyu!

This was exactly the situation Shen Mo had already seen on Pang Ziyu’s life panel. Not long after entering the Alchemist King’s Cave, she became trapped in a formation and was severely injured.

She was supposed to be rescued by the passing Spirit Beast Sect leader. But right now, the leader hadn’t arrived yet. Shen Mo was the only one nearby.

Without hesitation, Shen Mo drew out the *Forest Sword Art*. A streak of ink-like sword light appeared, a single stroke of calligraphy. It danced with the fierce energy of a dragon or snake, far sharper than the sword light within the formation.

In the next instant, the ink sword light pierced Pang Ziyu’s back.

With a splatter, Pang Ziyu had no idea someone would attack her so shamelessly. She was cut in half by the Forest Sword Art in an instant!

Her body, split in two, collapsed in the sword formation. The relentless sword light continued to slice through her, gradually reducing the corpse to an unrecognizable state.

Shen Mo’s expression remained calm as he turned and walked away.

This woman had always seen him as a mortal enemy of the Flying Frost Sect, plotting relentlessly to kill him. Now, he had struck back. It was just that the force of his retaliation was a bit stronger.

Eliminating Pang Ziyu, Shen Mo felt a surge of satisfaction. He immediately began searching this level for treasures.

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Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Madara Web Novel