Translator: CinderTL
TL/N: Before this chapter I have used the term "Divine Sense" a few times. It's actually "Spirit Sense". And it turns into "Divine Sense" after "Divine Transformation Realm". That's how it will be from now on.
Gou Jun said, "Fellow Daoists, you've overlooked something. These small characters might have been carved tens of thousands of years ago, but that doesn't necessarily mean they were left during the Ten Thousand Beasts Hall's heyday."
Yang Yu asked, "Fellow Daoist Gou Jun, are you suggesting these characters were carved after the Ten Thousand Beasts Hall's destruction?"
"That's very possible," Gou Jun replied slowly.
"But why would someone do that? Were they deliberately trying to let people enter the Ten Thousand Beasts Hall?" Yang Yu asked.
Gou Jun looked at the towering mountain gate archway and shook his head.
"That's impossible to know. According to scattered records in ancient texts, the Divine Blood Gate vanished in an instant, as if all its disciples and members had disappeared overnight. Perhaps the person who carved these characters didn't want the Ten Thousand Beasts Hall to remain sealed here forever."
In the desert night, the only sound was the ghostly wail of the wind, a chilling silence that hung over the landscape.
Beneath the cover of darkness, a mound of yellow sand suddenly stirred. Song Wen's head broke through the surface, emerging from the depths.
He gazed toward the gate of the Ten Thousand Beasts Hall, where Lan Chen and the others had vanished without a trace.
Song Wen flew out of the sand and hovered above the gate.
With a flick of his wrist, nine small black flags materialized in his hand.
He channeled his Spiritual Power, and the flags shot into the air, scattering across the desert sands to encircle the area within a hundred miles of the gate.
These nine black flags were the Formation Flags of the Black Fiend Dark Prison Formation.
The Black Fiend Dark Prison Formation was a killing formation, not particularly advanced among Fourth-Tier Formations.
While it was unlikely to kill Mi Hai directly, it would undoubtedly cause him considerable trouble.
After setting up the Black Fiend Dark Prison Formation, Song Wen found the nearest sand dune and buried himself again.
Lan Chen and the others spent far less time inside the Ten Thousand Beasts Hall than Song Wen had anticipated.
They emerged from the gate less than a day after entering.
The first to emerge from the mountain gate's Restriction was Gou Jun.
The moment he stepped out, he transformed into a streak of light and vanished into the distance.
His expression was so frantic, his speed so swift, that Song Wen, who had been meditating in the dunes, was still wondering why Gou Jun had finished his journey through the Ten Thousand Beasts Hall so quickly when he had already escaped the Black Fiend Dark Prison Formation's range.
Song Wen hastily retrieved the formation's Array Disk, ready to act. If Mi Hai managed to escape the formation's confines, all his efforts would have been in vain.
At the same time, Song Wen was filled with confusion. Why was Gou Jun so panicked? Was there some danger behind him?
Next, Lan Chen appeared. Like Gou Jun, she immediately activated her escape technique upon exiting the mountain gate, soaring through the air in the opposite direction.
Then, Mo Yexue and Yang Yu emerged in quick succession, each fleeing in different directions.
Notably, Mo Yexue's path led directly towards Song Wen's hiding place.
After a moment's thought, Song Wen burst from the dunes, retrieved the nine Formation Flags with a spell, and then activated his own escape technique, pursuing Mo Yexue.
Mo Yexue had been behind Song Wen, but her speed was clearly faster. She quickly caught up.
"Yin Shuo, why are you here?"
Instead of answering, Song Wen countered, "Fellow Daoist Mo, why are you fleeing?"
Mo Yexue said, "Xu Geng's soul is hidden within the Ten Thousand Beasts Hall. He has possessed Mi Hai."
"Xu Geng?" Song Wen's face was filled with shock.
"Xu Geng deliberately spread rumors about Fallen Immortal Blood in the Ten Thousand Beasts Hall to lure us here, so he could possess us. His soul is already at the Divine Transformation Realm," Mo Yexue explained.
"Divine Transformation Realm? How can there be a Divine Transformation Realm soul in this world?" Song Wen's eyes widened in horror.
"Don't ask so many questions! Flee quickly! Xu Geng has spiritual sense attack techniques. He wants to keep all of us here."
As Mo Yexue spoke, she had already overtaken Song Wen and was fleeing into the distance.
Just then, a harsh laugh echoed from behind them.
"Hahaha... This exalted one has waited tens of thousands of years. Finally, I see the light of day again."
Mi Hai's figure appeared outside the mountain gate archway.
However, the voice that emerged from his mouth was completely different from Mi Hai's previous voice.
Xu Geng watched the crowd scatter in panic, a cold smile playing on his lips.
"Heh heh heh... Young ones, why not stay and serve this old one?"
Song Wen, who was desperately channeling his escape technique, suddenly felt an overwhelming Divine Sense descend upon him, heavy as a mountain.
No!
That's not Spirit Sense!
That's Divine Sense.
The Divine Sense only Divine Transformation Realm cultivators can cultivate.
A massive cloud of blood mist erupted from Song Wen's body.
In the next instant, his form vanished into the blood mist. When he reappeared, he was already a hundred miles ahead of Mo Yexue.
Xu Geng caught sight of the blood mist rising in the distance, his eyes gleaming slightly.
"Eh! Blood Escape Technique! Now that's interesting."
Xu Geng accelerated, pursuing Song Wen relentlessly.
Simultaneously, a cold light flashed between his brows, and a transparent, razor-sharp blade gradually materialized.
The blade pierced through the air, shooting forward like a bolt of lightning.
Feeling the transparent blade closing in from behind, Mo Yexue's expression turned ashen. No matter how she channeled her escape technique, her speed could never match the Divine Sense attack of a Divine Transformation Realm cultivator.
Mo Yexue could only watch helplessly as the transparent blade drew ever closer.
Just as she was about to despair, Mo Yexue saw the transparent blade suddenly veer past her, hurtling straight toward Yin Shuo ahead.
Under Mo Yexue's gaze, the blade plunged into the back of Yin Shuo's head.
Yin Shuo's body instantly lost control, crashing toward the ground.
Boom!
A deafening thud echoed through the air.
Yin Shuo slammed into a sand dune.
The dune was instantly flattened by the massive impact, sending a hundred-foot-high plume of yellow sand billowing into the sky.
The sand rained down, gradually obscuring Yin Shuo's form.
Mo Yexue glanced at the hazy figure of Song Wen, barely visible through the dust, with a hint of regret in her eyes. Without pausing, she flashed past overhead.
Moments later, Xu Geng arrived, soaring through the air.
"I told you to stay and serve me. Yet you foolishly tried to escape. Now you've lost your life. What a waste," he said, raising his hand and flicking his fingertip downward. A surge of Spiritual Power shot forth.
Having just possessed Mi Hai, Xu Geng couldn't yet fully control the Spiritual Power within his body.
As a result, the Spiritual Power he unleashed wasn't particularly potent.
This strand of Spiritual Power was only meant to disperse the yellow sand and locate Song Wen.
The Spiritual Power stirred up a violent gale. The wind whipped through the air, carrying the falling yellow sand far away.
Swept away by the gale along with the sand were several fragments of silver Talismans.
Xu Geng's expression shifted slightly.
There was no trace of Song Wen below.
"Escaped? A mere early-stage Nascent Soul cultivator managed to withstand my Divine Sense attack?"
Xu Geng scanned the surroundings, but he couldn't find any sign of Song Wen.
Not only had Song Wen vanished, but everyone else had also fled. Even Mo Yexue, who had been closest to him, had already retreated hundreds of miles away.
Xu Geng chose not to pursue.
In his current state, he couldn't catch up to any of the four peak-stage Nascent Soul cultivators.
Xu Geng paused for a moment, determined the general direction, and then vanished into the vast desert.
(End of the Chapter)
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