With a quick turn, Lin Xiao shot through the night sky, the moonlight glinting off his silhouette as he sped away. He didn't see the group of stunned young men behind him kneeling in reverence for a long time after his departure.
As the forest and mountains blurred past him, leaving behind layers of afterimages, Lin Xiao hurried towards the formation he had set up.
Someone was attempting to break through the formation!
Though the formation had been created with the help of his system, and after investigating the various sects' resources in the mortal realm, Lin Xiao didn't believe anyone could easily breach it. However, there was always a chance, no matter how slim, that someone could.
He decided it was better to investigate quickly. After all, what was sealed within was deadly.
At the same time, Lin Xiao was not so arrogant as to think he could handle the situation alone. He pulled out a Transmission Talisman and sent a message to the leader of the Pusi Kingdom's forces in the Alliance Army, informing them that he might have found remnants of the Destruction Stone incident and requesting reinforcements to capture them.
The Transmission Talisman had been a gift from Qin Jianghe to Li Zhouxuan when the royal family and the three great sects had purchased a large number of talismans from the Lingxian Sect. It was intended to facilitate quick communication between the royal forces and Lingxian Sect, especially in times of war. Now, it was finally coming in handy for Lin Xiao.
Though Hu Yang Village wasn't exactly close to the Destruction Stone Caves, it wasn't on the other side of the world either. With his current cultivation at the Golden Core Stage, Lin Xiao made good time traveling, reaching the location within an hour.
Arriving outside the formation, Lin Xiao quickly surveyed the area. Satisfied that nothing unusual had happened in the surroundings, he stepped into the formation. With a brief moment of focus, he sensed the intruder and sped toward them.
As the creator of the formation, Lin Xiao could easily detect any living beings trapped within it. He soon spotted a rough-looking middle-aged man with a full beard and a muscular frame. The man was struggling within the formation, surrounded by illusions that hindered his sense of direction, while hidden dangers lay in wait.
The man was doing his best to break out of the formation, and his cultivation was not low—he was at the late-stage Golden Core Realm. Though his cultivation wasn't as high as cultivators Lin Xiao had encountered like Wei Hai and Li Zhan Ying, Lin Xiao could tell from the man's attacks that he was a formidable force. If this man were at the same cultivation level as Wei Hai or Li Zhan Ying, he would undoubtedly overpower them.
It was no surprise, then, that this was the first time Lin Xiao had felt his formation was being challenged since setting it up. Many had tried to break in before, but none had caused him concern until now.
Still, Lin Xiao was surprised to see this man alone. Was he truly so bold as to challenge the formation by himself? Did he not know that many of his comrades had already been trapped here?
Just as Lin Xiao was pondering this, he heard the man below muttering in a low, angry voice as his bloodshot eyes darted around. The man's hands never stopped forming seals as he attacked the formation.
"Let me out... Give me back my son...!"
The formation's barriers reverberated with a thunderous roar under his relentless assaults, but they remained unshaken, as steady as a mountain. Despair seemed to seep into the man's heart, layer by layer.
Hearing this, Lin Xiao hesitated. This man… he didn't seem like a remnant of the Destruction Stone incident.
At that moment, another figure entered the formation.
The newcomer was a lean man in his thirties, dressed in martial attire that closely resembled Mo Que's usual style.
It was pure coincidence that they both ended up in the same area of the formation; normally, intruders would be scattered randomly within the formation. Yet, these two appeared in the same place.
When the lean man saw the bearded middle-aged man struggling within the formation, his eyes widened in shock.
"Brother Yuan San?!"
The bearded man, Yuan San, who had been focused on breaking the formation for half a day, was startled to hear a familiar voice. The formation, which was designed to seal off the Destruction Stone Caves, had become an obstacle in his search for his son.
Hearing the familiar voice, Yuan San paused, turning toward the newcomer with a look of confusion. "M-master? What are you doing here?"
The man whom Yuan San addressed as "Master" approached him, shaking his head. "I was in the capital when I sensed something of great importance. It was too urgent to involve others, so I came here alone."
Seeing Yuan San's sweat-drenched, red-eyed, and haggard appearance, the Master's eyes filled with concern. He asked, "Brother Yuan San, weren't you searching for your son? How did you end up here?"
Upon hearing this, Yuan San lowered his head in grief. "I failed... I've been chasing those bastards for days, but I couldn't save my son. I tracked them to this place, but their trail disappeared at the edge of this cursed formation. Desperate, I ventured in, hoping to find them. But I've seen no one and have wasted half a day trying to escape."
"The remnants of the Destruction Stone group are ruthless, using Extinguishing Spirit Stones with no regard for the consequences. My son has been in their hands for days. I don't know if he's still alive…"
As he spoke, Yuan San's voice cracked with emotion, and his fury boiled over. He threw his head back and roared at the sky in anguish.
The Master quickly stepped forward, gently patting Yuan San's shoulder in an attempt to calm him. "Brother Yuan San, don't lose hope. Your son is blessed with good fortune. If those remnants captured him alive, they must have a use for him. They wouldn't have killed him yet. Let's work together to break this formation and rescue him."
With the Master's reassurance, Yuan San managed to steady his emotions. The two were about to combine their efforts to break through the formation when, to their surprise, the barrier in front of them began to dissolve on its own.
As the formation's walls opened, they were greeted by a desolate, deathly landscape, with countless dark, ominous mine entrances scattered across the barren ground.
"What is this…?" Yuan San stared, bewildered.
The Master, standing beside him, recognized the scene immediately. His expression darkened as he stared at the foreboding mine entrances.
"This… is the Destruction Stone Mine," the Master said coldly, clutching his chest as if trying to suppress a wave of revulsion. His voice dripped with contempt. "Just being near this place makes my blood boil. My heart burns with hatred."
Suddenly, Yuan San pointed toward one of the mine entrances with wide eyes. "My son Yingzi is in there!"
Perhaps it was the unbreakable bond of blood, but Yuan San felt an intense connection to one particular mine. Without hesitation, he sprinted toward the entrance, filled with urgency for his son's safety.