Chapter 630: Who Lives, Who Dies

At the deepest part of the mining tunnel, Lu Ye sat alone. Closer to the tunnel exit, numerous Myriad Demon Ridge cultivators formed an arc, constantly attacking and advancing in layers.

Within the vast mining tunnel, spiritual power was extremely chaotic.

Song Zhui no longer attacked; with so many people gathered, there was no need. He had been secretly observing Lu Ye's reaction. What puzzled him was that even in such a desperate situation, Lu Ye's expression remained as calm as still water, without the slightest panic.

This made his heart sink. Could this Lu Yiye have really set up a teleportation array in advance? Otherwise, why would he be so calm? Or perhaps he knew there was no escape and had no intention of resisting? But if he had set up a teleportation array in advance, he should have escaped by now. Why would he stay and take such a risk?

He secretly estimated the efficiency of his cultivators. In less than a quarter of an hour, they would cover fifty feet. Once they reached that distance, even if his cultivators only used long-range attacks, it would be enough to utterly destroy Lu Ye. He might have set up protective formations, but how long could they hold?

Just as various thoughts raced through Song Zhui's mind, Lu Ye, who had been sitting still, slowly stood up. He propped his long saber in front of him and looked towards Song Zhui from across the distance.

Their eyes met. Song Zhui was startled to see a faint smile appear on Lu Ye's lips, followed by a calm voice: "Many people have come. Excellent!"

Song Zhui frowned and snapped, "Lu Yiye, what trick are you playing now?"

He had been tricked by Lu Ye before in Heavenly River Valley, leaving Song Zhui seething. Now, Lu Ye's sudden words made Song Zhui wonder what he was trying to imply. Given the current situation, unless he had set up a teleportation array in advance, there was absolutely no way out. But looking at his stance, it didn't seem like it.

"With so many of you and only me, what trick could I play?" Lu Ye calmly retorted.

Someone in the crowd shouted, "Lu Yiye, if you know what's good for you, commit suicide quickly, and you'll suffer less physical pain. Otherwise, when we reach you, dying won't be so simple."

"Who lives and who dies... who can really say?"

The speaker burst into laughter. "You don't seriously think you'll survive today, do you?"

A large group of Myriad Demon Ridge cultivators joined in the laughter.

"Whether I survive today is none of your concern, but as for all of you today... I'm afraid you won't make it out alive."

These audacious words caused more Myriad Demon Ridge cultivators to erupt in laughter. For a moment, the atmosphere inside the mining tunnel became jovial.

Some clutched their stomachs, pointing towards Lu Ye. "I can't take it! I've always heard how formidable Lu Yiye is, but it turns out he's just full of empty bravado."

"Boasting!" someone roared. "Then I'd like to see how we won't make it out alive!"

As if in response to this challenge, a violent spiritual power fluctuation suddenly emanated from the mining tunnel behind them, accompanied by a loud buzzing sound.

This sudden change startled all the Myriad Demon Ridge cultivators. They turned their heads to look back, and their faces instantly changed. The path they had come from had somehow collapsed. About ten feet from the tunnel entrance, a large amount of rubble completely blocked the passage.

The intense spiritual power fluctuations continued to ripple, as if someone was frantically attacking inside the tunnel. As this person continued, the scope of the tunnel collapse grew larger and longer, and the continuous rumbling gradually receded.

At this moment, within the mining tunnel, Yi Yi was casting spells. Powerful techniques continuously slammed against the fragile rock walls of the tunnel, causing them to crack and crumble, blocking the passage with falling debris.

With her current cultivation, if the tunnel had been intact, collapsing it would have been somewhat difficult. But this tunnel had already been attacked by Lu Ye's explosive formations, making the surrounding rock walls inherently weaker than normal. Many sections even had small-scale collapses already. What Yi Yi was doing now was merely pushing it further, making the tunnel collapse an easily achievable task.

All the Myriad Demon Ridge cultivators had already surged into the mining tunnel, leaving the passage empty. Furthermore, everyone's attention was drawn to Lu Ye, so when she revealed herself in the tunnel earlier, no one noticed. It wasn't until she began attacking and the tunnel started collapsing that the Myriad Demon Ridge cultivators were alerted, but by then, it was too late to stop it.

Upon seeing the tunnel collapse, all the Myriad Demon Ridge cultivators simultaneously stopped their actions. Ning Zi Zai even flashed into the passage to inspect the situation. Looking up, he saw the path they had taken was completely blocked. And from the sounds, the scope of the tunnel collapse was clearly extending further and further, even spreading for a mile or two.

Such a large-scale collapse could not be cleared quickly. Even with the large number of Myriad Demon Ridge cultivators, it would take half a day to clear the passage. Fortunately, although the passage had collapsed, it didn't significantly affect the main mining tunnel. Only severe vibrations caused a lot of rubble to fall from the ceiling.

Such a massive commotion naturally reached the outside.

Following Ghost Shadow's advice, Elder Brother Qin and others waiting outside also noticed it immediately. They looked up to see the mountain ahead shaking violently.

"What happened?" Elder Sister Hu asked.

Elder Brother Qin frowned. "Judging by the sound, it seems to be a collapse."

"Why would it collapse out of nowhere?" Elder Sister Hu wondered.

"Perhaps it's caused by the aftermath of the fighting inside spreading out." As soon as he finished speaking, Elder Brother Qin felt something was off. Lu Yiye was alone, and Myriad Demon Ridge had sent over two thousand cultivators. The battle shouldn't have been so intense; once the Myriad Demon Ridge party located Lu Yiye, they should have been able to kill him quickly.

As the two spoke, a violent gust of wind suddenly swept out from deep within the mining tunnel, rushing out of the entrance and raising clouds of dust.

"It really is a collapse," Elder Sister Hu said with a look of lingering fear. Such a large-scale collapse, even cultivators in the Cloud River Realm couldn't ignore. If trapped inside, death was almost certain. She wondered if anyone had been affected.

"Is this the danger junior brother sensed?" Elder Sister Hu turned to look at Ghost Shadow. She had to admit, her junior brother's ability to sense danger was truly remarkable. If he hadn't persuaded them earlier, they might have truly encountered this catastrophe.

Ghost Shadow's expression was solemn. He slowly shook his head. "It shouldn't be that simple."

A mere collapse wouldn't have given him such a strong sense of danger. Even now, recalling that feeling sent shivers down his spine. But he truly couldn't understand what danger lay within. No matter how he looked at it, Lu Yiye seemed destined to die this time.

Inside the mining tunnel, as the sounds of the collapse continued, the Myriad Demon Ridge cultivators also ceased their actions, but their expressions remained relatively calm. As long as the entire mining tunnel didn't collapse, it wasn't a major problem. The tunnel collapse merely meant they couldn't leave for a short time. After killing Lu Yiye, with so many people working together, they could eventually clear a path and wouldn't be trapped to die here.

"He actually has a helper!" Song Zhui frowned.

The previous incident wasn't an accident; it was deliberate. Lu Yiye had a hidden helper who, after everyone entered the mining tunnel, acted from behind to collapse the passage. But no one had seen what that helper looked like. If that were all, it might have been fine, but the unusual information it revealed made Song Zhui uneasy.

He recalled following Si Nan earlier, watching him advance steadily, seemingly with boundless power, flattening the explosive formations Lu Ye had set up. At the time, he thought Lu Ye had deliberately triggered those formations early, believing they couldn't stop Si Nan, intending to collapse the tunnel to buy time to escape. But now it seemed the situation was not that simple...

Those prematurely triggered explosive formations hadn't collapsed the tunnel, but they had loosened the surrounding rock walls, making them more susceptible to collapse when attacked... And Lu Yiye had arranged for a helper to hide in the back, creating the current situation where no one could leave the mining tunnel.

The current situation was not a coincidence; it was part of a pre-existing plan. What did he want to do? Song Zhui's brows furrowed deeply; he truly couldn't guess Lu Ye's intention. The only thing he could think of was that Lu Ye had set up a teleportation array in advance and would find an opportunity to use it to leave. If so, this operation would end in failure again. But the other party had not left, indicating a high probability that there was no teleportation array. Yet he had a helper secretly assisting, creating the current situation where everyone was trapped in the mining tunnel.

Suddenly, someone in the crowd laughed. "Lu Yiye, you're not planning to collapse this mining tunnel and take us all with you, are you? If so, you're going to be disappointed. Only the passage has collapsed."

Although the excavated mining tunnel had been somewhat affected by the previous vibrations, it was largely undamaged and remained sturdy.

"Burial?" Lu Ye's gaze remained calm, looking at the dense crowd of Myriad Demon Ridge cultivators. "You don't have the qualifications for that. I said, today, only you... have no way out!"

As he spoke, Lu Ye raised a hand, curled his middle finger, with a verdant green spherical bead resting on his fingertip.

In his Spirit Aperture, at this moment, a large expanse of gray mist ignited on his Talent Tree.

Aiming towards the numerous Myriad Demon Ridge cultivators, Lu Ye channeled spiritual power into the bead and flicked it forward.

"Stop that thing!" someone roared.

Although no one knew what Lu Ye had flicked out, any action he took at this moment was highly suspicious. As the person's words fell, attacks converged on the verdant green bead.

Multicolored light enveloped the green bead, seemingly submerging it like a flood. However, in the next instant, a thick, verdant green light instantly broke through the blockade of colors, exploding like a green cloud and sweeping in all directions.

The Myriad Poison Bead, which would one day become infamous throughout the Nine Provinces and strike fear into countless cultivators, displayed its formidable power for the first time on this very day.