The outlook on the mission immediately changed. Despite some lingering enmity, Liam and Randall couldn’t help but exchange a glance, understanding their respective mutual thoughts.
The fact that someone had already gone to the mission’s location was good. It not only confirmed that the place still held valuable resources. It also meant that the current team wouldn’t explore it blindly.
However, the mission had already exacted casualties on both sides. Joel hadn’t specified how many cultivators the previous teams had, but at least two had died, and chances were that was a low estimate.
Clearly, the danger wasn’t only real. It was beyond confirmed, which was probably why Joel had recruited inner disciples this time. They would be able to hold their ground in ways that outer disciples couldn’t, increasing their odds of survival and of finding that precious mineral.
As for the dead outer disciples, Liam didn’t need to ask. The Pale Moon Sect had been ready to put them all at risk to preserve his life. They were expendable by every definition of the word.
Still, there lay the problem.
’I need to be wary,’ Liam thought, ’Probably more about Randall and the others than the magical beasts.’
The Crimson Warrior Sect’s disciples had been aware of Liam. Randall had already tried to trick him, and Melissa was inscrutable with her silent, disinterested stance.
Odds were that enemies, rather than companions, surrounded Liam. His Master had warned him about that point, and he planned to keep it in mind, especially in a place where life was frailer than usual.
Still, that frailty didn’t only apply to Liam. Anyone with him would share that feature, and he knew how to respond to unwarranted attacks better than most.
The heated run through the barren plain grew silent after that revelation. Now that the danger was undeniable, the atmosphere became tense, especially for Liam and Randall, since they had to readjust their mindset.
The red group ahead seemed to share that silence since Liam couldn’t pick up on any voice. Despite the distance, he heard their hurried steps, but nothing else reached his ears.
The arrival of clouds and the passage of time darkened the night. Visibility was at an all-time low, but the plain’s rather even surface kept the advance steady and swift.
A couple of hours passed, drawing the night closer to the following morning, but the awaited change eventually happened. The group ahead suddenly stopped, and Joel’s team hurried there to stare down at the same scenery.
Truth be told, Liam sensed it before seeing it. His nape tingled, bringing his gaze to the ground under his feet, until reaching the red group made it disappear.
The plain abruptly ended in a long but narrow crevice, which turned out to be far more than that. That sudden fissure expanded for a few hundred meters and couldn’t be more than five meters wide, but its dark depths seemed to stretch endlessly.
’This is a canyon,’ Liam concluded, and his realizations didn’t stop there.
Now that Liam could look down at the canyon’s depths, the previous tingling sensation became more evident, as well as its source. Something, or multiple somethings, full of Qi were down there, making him wonder how he could even invade it unnoticed.
The red group seemed to share that hesitation, be it due to the abundant Qi or what Cecilia had revealed during the trip. Nothing spelled ominous like those dark depths, but the rooting experts had reassuring words for their teams.
"This is as far as Joel and I can go," Cecilia announced. "The entrance to the ruins is down there. Neil will show you the way."
"Most of what was the Demonic Sect collapsed," Joel added. "The lair is an intricate maze of underground tunnels now, and many will be safe to tread in this cold."
"What lives under there?" Liam asked, his hunter training already flooding his mind with information.
"Three different packs share the lair and live off each other," Joel explained. "They are rats, bats, and snakes."
Liam nodded to himself. Except for the rats, the snakes and bats were bound to be far less active in winter, which Joel and Cecilia had probably included in their calculations.
"Good luck," Cecilia exclaimed. "Bring honor to the Crimson Warrior Sect."
"Thank you for doing this, Junior Brothers, Junior Sister," Joel said. "If the danger is too great, just run away. We can always try again as long as you are alive."
After that, Neil jumped down the canyon, lightly stepping on narrow footholds to jump down into the darkness. Melissa promptly followed, treading the same path, and everyone else went next.
As for Liam, he made sure to go down last to keep an eye on everyone.
That dark, vertical path would have been impossible to climb down for mortals. Even the use of ropes and other specific tools wouldn’t have made it any less dangerous.
However, the group of six descended swiftly, turning tiny protuberances into proper steps, as if diving through a staircase that led into the darkest depths of the world.
Liam never had problems with darkness, and his time inside the Divine Cult had only improved that side of his sight. He was also a cultivator, his Qi enhancing his senses in ways that were superhuman.
Yet, the darkness threatened to become blinding, but the arrival at a larger, inclined surface marked the end of the descent.
The group of six gathered there, staring at a vast, tall collapsed passage that dived underground, some of the boulders on the wall and surface featuring words that time had almost erased.
It was easy to imagine how the passage had once been a majestic entrance, its size capable of sending chills down the spines of anyone looking at it.
In comparison, the entrance’s collapsed state was almost sad, but Liam couldn’t feel any compassion. He had yet to finish studying the word-bearing boulders, but his brain had already caught up with it, and his own hatred rose through his being to give birth to an ancient hiss.
"What does it say?" Milo asked, whispering, searching for the answer from Neil since he had already explored that place. Neil also opened his mouth to reply, but someone else ended up beating him to it.
"The Divine Cult is my life," Liam muttered, looking deep into the collapsed passage, finding newfound desire to seize anything that place might hide.
After all, due to some cruel twist of fate, Liam could very well be the rightful owner of that destroyed Demonic Sect.