Chapter 1168: Guard

Xu Yang's words were undeniably a bucket of cold water poured over the team members' heads. However, fortunately, Xu Yang and Xiao Hua continued to co-lead the expedition, so they didn't need to worry about other factors.

Just as Xu Yang had said, the intensity of this second phase of the dungeon breakthrough was far greater than the first. Row after row of assassins and killers in black police uniforms appeared, and these were undoubtedly the sentries detained in this Lover City dungeon.

"It's been years, no one has dared to forcibly break through this prison in such a way. You Eight Gates death row prisoners are truly audacious!"

The leading black-clad guard spoke coldly, only to hear the sneering voice of Crow Second Brother, "You guys have been living leisurely in this place for decades, enjoying special treatment from the Central Domain royal family. Isn't that quite comfortable? I imagine it would be difficult for people like you to reach your current positions without connections to the royal family, wouldn't it?"

"Pfft, you old fool, what nonsense! We came here purely by our own ability. How dare you question the strength of our Black-Clad Legion? It seems you've chosen the hard path, storming straight into hell!"

"What's wrong? I think Second Brother is absolutely right. How could good-for-nothings like you, who have been idle for decades, possibly muster enough combat strength to contend with us? While we Eight Gates prisoners once had no freedom, not a single day passed when any of us stopped cultivating. More importantly, our team's absolute leaders, Ah Yang and Xiao Hua, have now appeared. With them leading the entire operation, we are bound to achieve better results. Our goal is to completely break free from this Lover City dungeon, not to deal with you black-clad lackeys."

The leading black-clad assassin burst into laughter again. "Very well, it seems you're quite confident in your abilities. In that case, I genuinely want to see what gives you the right to be so arrogant in front of us!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the two sides immediately engaged in a full-blown brawl. This opportunity allowed Xu Yang and Xiao Hua to finally witness the specific combat strategies of each member of the Eight Gates team. As the current absolute leaders of the team, they did not intervene immediately. Instead, they focused their gaze, intently scanning each person's performance on the battlefield. Based on their individual displays and the limits of their demonstrated strength, they made a mental assessment and judgment to decide who would enter the fray next.

In fact, Xu Yang's greatest strength was not his formidable power, but his absolute control over the bigger picture and his extraordinary combat intelligence.

Xu Yang was never one to be aggressive or reckless; in fact, he disliked such behavior. At that very moment, whether by design or a casual, opportunistic move, someone delivered a powerful kick to a black-clad guard in front of them. The guard, like a fiery meteor, hurtled towards the team's core position where Xu Yang and Xiao Hua were located.

"Heh, just a good-for-nothing. You're not worthy of approaching my true form." Xu Yang snapped his fingers mid-air as he spoke. By now, he was almost capable of fully integrating all the power within him, though he had yet to find a way to break through the most crucial bottleneck.

In an instant, golden light walls erupted, appearing horizontally at the feet of everyone in the team. This effectively nullified all possible effects of the opponent's large-scale offensive techniques.

"Let me give you some advice, pal. Your mental strength isn't very high, yet you're rashly trying to wield a top-tier cultivation technique on par with the Underworld Emperor. It's quite a struggle."

"Hahaha! Enough nonsense! Do you think I'm the only one guarding this place? Give up your arrogance!"

Suddenly, the black-clad leader vanished completely, and dozens of equally formidable powerhouses behind him followed suit. The materialized figures of the assassins disappeared one by one, leaving only their black cloaks draped on the ground. Unbeknownst to them, when these cloaks were interconnected, they formed a giant array totem. Xu Yang's eyes lit up; he had never encountered such a cultivation system before and considered it an eye-opener. However, he was disappointed that the power these individuals could manifest through this technique was quite pathetic due to their incomplete mastery, not even posing a remote threat to Xu Yang.

Just as Xu Yang was about to act and utterly crush everything before him, the cloaks unexpectedly transformed into black teleportation portals. Powerful black energy surged and ebbed, followed by the appearance of more and more silhouettes of powerful individuals. There was little doubt that the one controlling the other end of these black portals was most likely Fifth Master.

"Heh, what era is this? Still using such a meaningless doppelganger technique? Let me help you immediately distinguish which one is the true body!"

The moment Crab finished speaking, he suddenly threw an incredibly intricate red-and-black iron chain from his palm. It firmly latched onto the shadow that had vanished into thin air after briefly appearing.

The individual struck by Crab's move was actually yanked back from beneath the void platform. This kind of scene had never occurred before!

No one had anticipated that the chain Crab suddenly threw would be so powerful! Not only did it precisely hook the leading assassin, but it also violently yanked them back in front of him.

"Hahaha, kid, aren't you quite good at escaping? Let me see! Where will you run now?!" As Crab finished speaking, he excitedly opened his mouth wide and roared, preparing to completely devour the enemy leader ensnared by his iron chain.

Clearly, this sudden turn of events completely exceeded the black-clad assassin leader's comprehension. He had never dreamed that his glorious lifelong cultivation would be utterly ruined by such a battle at the end of his career. His reputation would be destroyed forever. However, this was merely the outcome he had imagined; the situation he faced after being ensnared by Crab's massive chain was far from optimistic.