What's going on? The Mingshan Sect group was dumbfounded, especially Shi Chun, who found that the situation differed from what he had imagined. Had Shudao Mountain not intercepted the Extreme Fire Sect or engaged in conflict with them?

Moreover, Zhener had previously told him that the disturbance caused by the Wind Scales would alarm the Fire Bats in the underground tunnel, leading to their attack.

The situation did seem to have startled the Fire Bats and prompted an attack, but his understanding appeared flawed. Moving faster with the Wind Scales should have allowed them to keep ahead of the "tide."

Had he known this earlier, there was no need for Shudao Mountain to cover their retreat—he could have flown over by himself, and the Fire Bats would have naturally taken care of the rear.

He hadn't clearly seen who had drawn the Fire Bats, but the noisy disturbance had already woken the sleeping Fire Bats around them, and a fast-reacting Shi Chun let out a bizarre cry, "Wind Scales, let's go, Jinliang!"

He was the first to pull out the Wind Scales and launch into mid-air, deploying the Wind Scales immediately around Zhener by his side, fleeing rapidly. There truly was no time to call out each name for a headcount; even Wu Jinliang didn't have time to bring along.

"Damn it." Chu Jingtang also let out a strange yell and took out his Wind Scales to run.

The others naturally followed suit. Thankfully, everyone had Wind Scales on hand. It was time to hurry up and run.

However, even with the Wind Scales, ramping up to speed took some time. By the time they got going, an old acquaintance group had joined them.

Shi Chun and his party glanced over, speechlessly, and realized that it was Gu Lianni's group from Shudao Mountain.

They had intended to have the other group cover their retreat, only to have run a useless extra trip because of them.

Shi Chun wasn't in the mood to observe Shudao Mountain's personnel situation closely. The high-speed flight of the Wind Scales, combined with the underground path's twists and turns, required utmost concentration to navigate.

Joining them from Shudao Mountain was the continually swelling wave of Fire Bats, agitated by their disturbance.

They were truly racing and accelerating forward frantically. Being a little slow meant the risk of being engulfed by the chasing tide or blocked by the waking, flapping Fire Bat swarm ahead.

Those running at the back heard occasional shrill screams, a motivation for the group attempting a desperate escape.

Gu Lianni's face bore a look of sorrow and anger. The screams obviously came from the Shudao Mountain disciples behind her, but she couldn't turn back to save them.

In contrast, Zhener appeared calm, looking around, then at the people behind, then at Shi Chun's reaction, and finally, she softly uttered two soothing words, "Don't be afraid."

Her other hand, unengaged, stroked Shi Chun's forearm.

The comfort amidst the tension indeed brought some brightness to Shi Chun's heart; yes, if they were to fall into the group of Fire Bats, this woman might have a way to rescue them.

This underground tunnel was indeed long, but relative to the speed of this group of monks, it was not prohibitively so.

Before long, the group burst out from beneath a cliff, and upon seeing the dazzling night sky again, everyone's mood lifted with a sense of being reborn. Behind them was a flying dragon composed of blue cracks and countless red spots, still in relentless pursuit, unwilling to give up.

Their Wind Scales remained undamaged, so they were unafraid. Emerging from the serpentine tunnel, with the sky open and unobstructed, the Wind Scales' speed was fully unleashed, comparable to the flying speed of an Earth Immortal Realm expert, quickly widening the gap from the Fire Bats behind.

The group finally had a chance to look back.

As they traveled farther and farther, the Fire Bats could no longer catch up and ultimately had to give up the chase and return.

At the same time, the swarm of Fire Bats whirling around the mouth of the cliff suddenly became chaotic and tumultuous. A billow of black mist surged out like a Divine Dragon's tail sweep.

It was Demonic Qi, which seemed to cause no harm to Fire Bats but was peculiar enough to make them uncomfortable, dodging and scattering everywhere.

Within the Demonic Qi, Wu Shanshan and others appeared indistinctly. Along with Jin Hao and Lin Yuefang, only seven members of the Forget Love Valley group remained, most of them wounded.

The few visible within the Demonic Qi watched the direction of the Fire Bats' pursuit. Jin Hao pointed and said, "They should have gone that way."

No sooner had she spoken than a rumbling tremor shook the earth, coming from afar, wave after wave, causing the ground beneath the women's feet to shake, exchanging shocked and questioning looks.

After a moment's thought, Lin Yuefang said, "It seems someone is breaking through the ground."

"Regardless, keep an eye on Shi Chun. We can't let them escape," Wu Shanshan waved her hand and led the group quickly in the direction of Shi Chun's retreat.

They had barely left when more Demonic Qi immediately rose from the mouth of the cave, and two more people followed, bursting forth. It was Xu Anzhang and Youu Mu.

Aside from these two, no other members of the Four Cauldron Sect had managed to make it out.

It was impossible to use Demonic Qi broadly in front of everyone to protect their Sect fellows, and without retreating, the consequences of stubbornly pushing forward naturally came at a cost.

After exchanging glances, the two likewise followed closely behind Wu Shanshan's group.

In the distance, the earth ruptured violently as streaks of Elemental Magic shot up through the ground, reaching for the sky. Amidst the flying debris, a group emerged from the shattered earth, the Extreme Fire Sect party, with Yin Tianlu leading, wielding a broad sword with a bright, silvery glow enveloped by Elemental Magic.

The rocks that flew into the sky like a waterfall fell back down, burying the newly opened hole once again.

Only people had emerged from underground, without a single Fire Bat in sight.

Fire Bats couldn't follow them up; the underground tunnel was too deep beneath the surface. Yin Tianlu forcefully broke through the ground using a Magical Treasure, and the ensuing collapse easily cut off the Fire Bats' pursuit.

They chose not to retreat the way they came to minimize contact with the Fire Bats and reduce casualties among their Sect members, hence the method of breaking through the ground forcefully.

Several people pulled out their spare Wind Scales and unfolded them, catching their sect members who had leaped into the air.

Looking around, only about forty people remained, and most of them were injured.

Yin Tianlu's mood was heavy, as was his expression; he hadn't expected to suffer such losses against the relatively weak Fire Bats.

Black Tiger, who was also injured, said with a heavy voice, "It's my fault."

Wu Xiao sighed.

The gleam of Yin Tianlu's sword abruptly retracted, and he slipped it into his Qiankun Bag. Casting his gaze around with resolution, he said decisively, "The underground tunnel can't be endless. With Fire Bats chasing them, they have to come out eventually. Everyone spread out and search. Wherever the Fire Bats emerge, that will be where they come out."

The determination was clear, the matter was critical; not to mention their goal was to eliminate the competition for the championship, the significant casualties incurred demanded accountability.

At his command, everyone quickly collected their unsettled nerves and scattered as instructed...

In the sky, the group from Forget Love Valley, unable to find traces of Shi Chun and the others, had no choice but to hover and look around.

"They've just left; there should still be some lingering aura. They can't escape," Wu Shanshan said, trying to reassure everyone. After closing her eyes and casting a spell, her eyes emitted a scary dark red glow when she reopened them.

Lin Yuefang and the others exchanged glances, obviously surprised.

Jin Hao clucked his tongue and said, "So Sister has already mastered the 'Demon Eye.'"

"The direction is correct. Keep moving," Wu Shanshan pointed ahead and beckoned everyone to continue on.

Atop a mountain peak, Shi Chun's group touched down to rest. The first thing Shi Chun did was to ask his subordinates, "Is everyone alright?"

"We're good."

"Not bad."

"It was terrifying, way too thrilling."

It turned out that everyone from Mingshan Sect was unharmed. Although frightened, not even a single hair had been lost.

In contrast, Shudao Mountain had lost over a dozen more people, with only about thirty remaining. The missing ones were probably never coming back.

Mingshan Sect could only stand by and watch the excitement. It wouldn't be an overstatement to say they relished the misfortune.

They had seen and heard how the Master had called for the Shudao Mountain group, but they had ignored the advice, nearly dragging Mingshan Sect down with them. It was a terrifying scare, and they had every reason to be upset.

Of course, seeing Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang's ostensibly sympathetic demeanor, Mingshan Sect was also influenced and displayed a somber, mournful expression.

Gu Lianni, having communicated with her sect members, had red eyes when she turned back to look at Shi Chun. She felt regret and resentment in her heart, blaming Shi Chun for not being clear beforehand.

However, she didn't voice any of that and instead approached him to ask, "Where are we now?"

Shi Chun looked up at the sky and couldn't help scratching his head. They had turned this way and that underground for so long that they had lost all sense of direction. He hadn't paid enough attention to the constellations before, and in the Divine Fire Domain, there were no fixed stars; the constellations changed every day.

But he wasn't worried; glancing at Zhener beside him, he said, "Don't worry, she knows."

In an inn on Li Huo Island, Mulan Qingqing, seated cross-legged in meditation, suddenly tilted her head slightly. Her bones cracked faintly, and a trace of blood and miasma sprayed from her body, her white garments slightly darkened.

After a moment of silence, she slowly stopped her cultivation and catching her breath, opened her eyes slowly. Looking at her raised hands, she murmured, "I've broken through?"

At this moment, her cultivation had officially broken through from the High Martial Upper Realm to the Great Achievement Realm.

She had been stuck at the brink of breaking through the Upper Realm for a long while, and the Sect had estimated, based on her comprehension abilities, that she would need at least two more years.

This was also why she had made a three-year pact with Shi Chun to seek a rematch after her breakthrough, hoping to personally avenge her defeat.

Unexpectedly, she had broken through ahead of schedule.

Not long after, inside another inn, Feng Chi, who was responsible for protecting Xiang Laner, repeatedly congratulated her with a look of astonishment: "Congratulations, Miss, you've finally broken through to the Great Achievement Realm."

Xiang Laner, pacing back and forth after getting out of bed, still wore a face of disbelief. "I had been stuck at this threshold for so long. Just now, I had a sudden impulse and a faint feeling of breaking through. I didn't expect it to actually happen."

Feng Chi laughed and said, "I also thought you would need more time to comprehend. Now that you've broken through early, it more than proves your extraordinary talent for cultivation." Then he whispered, "The Holy Master, upon knowing this, will surely regard Miss with new esteem."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a commotion arose outside.

"It's falling, it's falling!"

"Look, so many are falling!"

The two in the room swiftly approached the window to peer outside after briefly listening in. They saw the floating Lotus Lanterns, usually arrayed in formation, seemingly in complete disarray, with lanterns continually falling from the sky.

Not caring for decorum, they swiftly made their way through the window and flew quickly towards the chaotic array of lanterns overhead to look up.

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