< Chapter 13: Decisive Action >
The cultivators of the Ning family began to feel emotional chaos.
"Shut up!" Ning Zhanji decisively shouted, "If it's truly Zheng Shuanggou who means to harm us, there's no way we can escape from here."
"But the likelihood of that is too small. If they really wanted to strike, why would they harm us? Are they trying to startle the snake by hitting the grass?"
"We wouldn't be the primary target of the attack!"
Ning Zhanji managed to stabilize his emotions momentarily, only to see a figure wielding dual hooks, charging through countless demon beasts, and heading towards a certain passage.
"It's Zheng Shuanggou!"
"I saw his signature weapon, the Sun-Moon Hooks."
"Phew, he's not here to deal with us!"
The cultivators of the Ning family had just let down their guard when, in the next moment, they were on edge again.
Due to the fierce impact of the demon beasts, the defensive formations were under severe pressure. Ning Zhanji had no choice but to order his subordinates to form small teams and fight their way out of the formation to relieve the pressure.
After all, the formation had been hastily set up and was not very stable.
The demon beasts were ferocious!
Despite the Ning family cultivators' desperate fight, the first ice wall was quickly breached.
The second dome didn't last much longer.
Fortunately, the Ning family cultivators took the opportunity to set up a fourth formation.
Everyone huddled in the light column, struggling to hold their ground.
Ning Yong's face was pale, his body trembling, "Could it be that today is the day we die here?"
Ning Chen was no longer calm, his face full of panic, completely at a loss.
Ning Zhuo also showed a similar demeanor, yet his eyes shimmered with faint gleams of ghostly light.
Suddenly, three loud bangs shook the earth and mountains.
The monsters fled in panic, and a black figure smashed through a wall, rushing into the underground square.
Following this, Zheng Shuanggou, a Golden Core cultivator from the Zheng Family, chased after him.
"You rat, daring to covet the Immortal Palace, leave your life behind!" Zheng Shuanggou bellowed.
Zheng Shuanggou swung with all his might, releasing a five-meter-long blade energy.
The black shadow, with an ancient and cackling voice, laughed, "The treasures of the cultivation world are for those who are destined. Do you major clans of Puppet Immortal City think you can monopolize the Lava Immortal Palace? Dream on!"
With that, the black shadow forcefully dispersed the blade energy and took the opportunity to fly backwards toward the Ning family cultivators.
Ning Zhanji's heart screamed a warning in an instant; he dove into the center of the formation, shouting, "I'll take charge of the grand formation!"
The defensive formation burst forth with unprecedented brilliance.
The black shadow arrived in front of the formation, waved his hand lightly, and instantly shattered the formation.
With another wave, a large group of cultivators fell, their bodies unharmed but devoid of life.
"Demons, still so rampant!" Zheng Shuanggou roared in fury, charging forward.
The demon cultivator turned around and engaged Zheng Shuanggou in a fierce battle.
"Lord Ning Zhanji!" the Ning family cultivators cried out.
But Ning Zhanji lay on the ground with wide-open eyes, dead without closing them.
With the loss of the formation's protection and their leader, more monsters continued to attack, and the Ning family cultivators had no choice but to scatter!
Casualties quickly mounted.
At the critical moment, Ning Zhuo suddenly shouted, "Head towards the passage where the Golden Core cultivator came through, there must be fewer monsters there!"
After being reminded, the Ning family cultivators, having lost their wits, all shuddered with realization.
"Right!" they exclaimed. "That passage was assaulted twice by two Golden Core cultivators, so there should be the fewest demonic beasts there."
"Let's go through there!"
Thus, the people of the Ning family united once again, charging towards the entrance of the passage.
"Ning Yong, Ning Chen, follow me closely!" Ning Zhuo opened his arms wide, pulling out a batch of Frost Talismans and scattering them around. These were all products of his routine talisman-making practice at the academy.
Both Ning Yong and Ning Chen, their eyes bloodshot in panic, instinctively followed behind Ning Zhuo, fighting with all their might to secure a chance at survival.
The three supported each other and barely managed to keep up with the main group of the Ning family, entering the mouth of the passage.
Looking back, they saw two Golden Core cultivators fighting so fiercely that the demonic beasts fled in all directions.
Many demonic beasts fled in the same direction as the Ning family, attacking from behind them.
Ahead in the passage, there were numerous bodies of demonic beasts with very few survivors, but more and more demonic beasts continued to pour in from behind.
Under this pressure, the Ning family cultivators had no choice but to grit their teeth and charge forward through the passage.
Along the way, they encountered some demonic beasts blocking their path, all of whom were ferociously slain by the desperately fleeing cultivators of the Ning family.
"Lava Immortal Palace!"
"Who would have thought this passage also led to the Lava Immortal Palace?"
The cultivators of the Ning family discovered a lake of magma with the Immortal Palace subtly revealing a corner amid the lake.
"Lava Immortal Palace…" Ning Zhuo murmured under his breath, his expression remarkably calm. For an ordinary youth witnessing the Immortal Palace for the first time, it was inevitable that he would be captivated. However, no one saw the fleeting spark of determination that flashed in his eyes!
In fact, he had anticipated this outcome.
Beside him, Ning Chen, panting heavily, came to a realization and exclaimed, "It's actually not hard to guess!"
"Haven't the words spoken during the fight between the two Golden Core cultivators already given away the answer?"
"It's likely that the shadow demon cultivator intended to infiltrate this place but was intercepted by Zheng Shuanggou!"
The situation for the Ning family cultivators was quite awkward.
Ahead was the lake of magma, revealing a corner of the Immortal Palace, while behind, demonic beasts continuously surged forward.
With no other choice, the remnants of the Ning family had to form defensive formations again.
They set up two formations, one inside the other, interlocking. The intensity of the demonic beasts' assault was much weaker than it had been in the underground plaza.
"We can hold them off!!" Just as the Ning family cultivators began to rejoice, a violent booming sound erupted.
"Where do you think you're going?!" The roaring voice of Zheng Shuanggou grew closer and closer.
The cultivators of the Ning family felt as if they had fallen into an ice pit, realizing from the sounds that the shadow demon cultivator had returned!
"It looks like we're destined to die today!" Ning Yong said, his face deathly pale.
Ning Chen simply closed his eyes, succumbing to despair.
Just as a glimmer of hope for survival had ignited, it was cruelly crushed, leading to a devastating loss of morale among the two novice cultivators.
"If we're going to die, then so be it!" Ning Zhuo suddenly shouted, "Dying in battle is better than dying in vain!"
Inspired by these words, Ning Yong's demeanor changed; he mustered the courage to stand up, despite the dire circumstances, and clenched his teeth.
Ning Chen opened his eyes and looked at Ning Zhuo, admiring his courage just before his death.
He too was inspired to bravery: "Ah Zhuo, well said! To die at the hands of a Golden Core, in front of the Lava Immortal Palace, is indeed a death well met."
No sooner had he spoken than a massive surge of thick smoke came billowing forth. The smoke was pitch-black, filled with tumultuous Dark Essence, capable of shielding spiritual sense detection.
In an instant, shadows within the smoke began to move and converge, forming countless shadow serpents, which hurled themselves towards the Lava Immortal Palace in the lake of lava.
However, they only made it halfway before the fearsome giant serpents dissipated helplessly.
Zheng Shuanggou's roar could be heard: "Thinking of attacking the Immortal Palace? Dream on!"
But then, the serpents regenerated and this time, they did not attack the palace but instead struck directly at the surrounding corridors.
The walls of the corridor cracked under the ferocity of the assault, nearly collapsing.
"Madman!" Seeing this, Zheng Shuanggou felt a chill in his heart.
He had no choice but to switch from offense to defense, unleashing all his power to cover the corridor and protect it.
In the midst of the black smoke, a long shadow snake suddenly struck the Ning Family's array.
As expected, the attack, at the level of a Golden Core, was more than the Ning Family's array could withstand, and it crumbled instantly!
The black smoke spread across the sky, completely obscuring the vision of the Ning Family's remnants.
"Come on!" Ning Yong shouted, bursting with all his courage, resolved to fight to the death.
The rolling black smoke was so thick that they could not see even their own hands before them.
Ning Zhuo seemed to be left alone in an instant.
He took out his token and transformed it into Cang Tie Han Armor. Clad in the iron armor, he instantly gained the strength of a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator!