Yan Xiaobao stood next to Deng Wu, gazing down at the tunnel. When the Dragon Army left the cave’s end, they would reach the tunnel.
The biggest problem was that the Dragon Army had just arrived. Yan Xiaobao and everyone else had no idea how long they would spend indulging in the city’s delicacies and fine wines before departing.
While the Dragon Army enjoyed the warm hospitality of Cave’s End City, Hui Yue and the others stood in the pitch-black tunnel, not daring to light their glow stones as they patiently waited for the army to arrive, so they could rescue Sun and return her to her family.
Yan Xiaobao’s decision to engage the Dragon Army in the tunnel was driven by the eerie silence and the presence of many magical beasts.
Killing them within Cave’s End—an area devoid of dangerous magical beasts and home to only low-ranking cultivators—would instantly alert the rest of the army, making the remainder of the journey fraught with uncertainty and danger.
Slaying them within the tunnel, however, could be concealed using wolf blood to mask their deaths, ensuring they left no trace and allowing water-affinity cultivators to cover their tracks.
The first day passed with difficulty. Now, Yan Xiaobao and the others were no longer in the stone room. They had split into two teams: two people would cultivate at a time, while the other two dealt with unruly magical beasts and surveyed the tunnel ahead, awaiting the Dragon Army’s arrival.
Yan Xiaobao had chosen an ambush plan, prohibiting anyone from using glow stones, as doing so would obviously give away their position.
Life inside the abyss was even worse than life in the stone room. Without using glow stones, every day felt the same, and they had no real sense of how long they’d been waiting.
As he was often busy meditating and guarding their position, they had refrained from refining more bone dust. Instead, they planned to resume once they managed to escape the accursed tunnels. Even the white-haired boy was growing increasingly weary.
The only benefit Yan Xiaobao noticed was that his auditory abilities had greatly improved from living in the pitch-dark tunnels. He no longer needed to rely on Qi to heighten their senses; they were already at the peak of their abilities.
Reflecting on what benefits he’d gained brought some comfort to Yan Xiaobao. But as he drowned in his thoughts, he felt a hand placed on his shoulder.
Wang Julong gestured toward the tunnel before them. After listening attentively, Yan Xiaobao indeed noticed faint sounds ahead.
His hand touched the shoulders of Deng Wu and Sha Yun, waking them from their meditation, a faint smile appearing on his face.
Looking at one another, Yan Xiaobao and his friends exchanged sinister smiles—it was finally time for them to battle the Dragon Army.
As they stood together, awaiting Sun and her captors’ arrival, they remained utterly silent. As Qi and spiritual energy surged simultaneously, adrenaline coursed through their veins. At last, they had a chance to resolve matters and bring Sun home.
Kuang Fengji’s face brimmed with disdain as she glanced at her teammates. She was the only woman in the ten-person squad, and unquestionably the smallest of the group.
The woman wore an azure robe, with a leather chestplate over her torso, accentuating her well-proportioned figure.
Atop the leather chestplate was a delicate insignia—a dragon head meticulously carved from the finest sapphire.
Her clothing was made entirely of elegant yet durable materials. Upon closer examination, one could discern that they were adorned with intricate inscription patterns to enhance their defenses.
The men were also clad in blue robes, but none had straps covering their upper bodies nor the azure dragon insignia adorning their chests.
The entire squad consisted of cultivators at Master and Master-level ranks, who delighted in bragging to one another—whether about their strength, the newest spiritual art skills they had acquired, the women they claimed to have conquered, or the achievements they supposedly had accomplished.
The tunnel system echoed with loud noises, a warning of magical beasts in the distance. However, this was no real concern, as their team could effortlessly slaughter any beasts they encountered; they couldn’t even be bothered to stop and collect beast cores from their remains.
"It’s ridiculous that we’re assigned to such a trashy city like Cave’s End, a place that leads nowhere," one of the senior men grumbled, wielding a heavy axe and gouging long cuts into the stone wall as if it were made of butter.
"It’s not that bad," another man replied. This man was slightly shorter, with a face resembling that of a weasel. "I’ve been here before," he continued. "They have some delicious girls here, and they’re so weak they don’t even dare speak up." A dreamy expression accompanied by a wanton grin spread across his face, causing Feng Ji’s face to twist with disgust.
"That would be great," the first man retorted, "but we’ve got Captain Kuang with us. Do you think she’d let you near those girls?"
These remarks stirred some discontent among the others, though none dared voice their opinions openly—they all cast a furtive glance in Phoenix’s direction.
Feng Ji was an Eight-star Master, her power unquestionably surpassing that of the surrounding men. The dragon head on her chestplate clearly marked her as the leader of the squad.
Kuang Fengji was filled with contempt as she looked at the many men under her command, observing the way they gazed at her—eyes brimming with desire and greed instead of the respect and admiration she had expected.
Having just been promoted to Captain, she had been buzzing with excitement, until she learned her first assignment was to collect taxes in the distant Cave’s End City. freeweɓnovēl.coɱ
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