Chapter 328: Fire Bat

Below, it seemed completely dark. Many had already taken out their Sandalwood Gold illuminators. The various factions pursuing them poured into the sinkhole like a meteor shower; while their formation was spectacular, they appeared tiny amidst the vastness of heaven and earth.

Only upon reaching the bottom did they realize it wasn't entirely dark. Instead, many small, crack-like blue lights, clustered together, made the place look quite bizarre.

It was also upon reaching underground that everyone discovered the surface was an abyss, and a large underground passage wound its way below.

They could discern the passage because of the scattered, crack-like blue lights that spread densely into the distance.

Despite the numerous crack-like blue lights, their luminescence was weak and didn't illuminate far. The vast underground passage remained dim, giving off an unfathomably eerie feeling.

Faced with this unfamiliar and dangerous territory, most of the people who had charged straight down instinctively halted. Should they really venture inside?

Those enveloped in Wind Scales did not land, but floated and hovered in mid-air.

Not to mention others, even the Blazing Fire Sect, led by Yin Tianlu, similarly paused with apprehension.

The various sects who had followed along to stir up trouble naturally turned to watch the Blazing Fire Sect's reaction. They were merely joining in for potential gains, so to expect them to desperately charge ahead when nothing was yet clear was impossible.

On the Blazing Fire Sect's side, Wu Xiao, who was wary of his surroundings, worried that Shi Chun's fire-spirit woman might use the dangerous environment against them, just as he had previously advised Yin and Hei.

Just as he was about to remind them again, Black Tiger, whose nostrils twitched, saw the figures of the Summer Dao Mountain group already nearing disappearance from sight. He immediately urged, "Hurry and follow! The closer we stick, the safer we'll be!"

Yin Tianlu nodded after a slight hesitation. "Follow them."

Although Wu Xiao, who was piloting the Wind Scale, hesitated, he had no time to argue or deliberate then. There was no time, so he had no choice but to charge forward and lead.

The Blazing Fire Sect naturally followed.

With the Blazing Fire Sect advancing again, taking the lead in facing the unknown dangers, the various factions immediately followed suit.

The Summer Dao Mountain group, who had rushed ahead, also looked anxious and fearful. Because of their delay, the Bright Mountain Sect group had already vanished, and they wondered if they could still catch up.

As they continued their journey, the vast underground passage gradually seemed to narrow. In reality, it wasn't shrinking, but rather, spatial obstacles gradually appeared.

At times, there were stone pillars connecting the ceiling and floor; at other times, interlocking stalagmites from above and below; and sometimes, situations resembling piled-up debris. People could only pass through gaps of varying sizes. At times, it felt as if many passages of different sizes appeared simultaneously. Fortunately, all paths seemed to lead in the same direction.

Gu Lianni was in the midst of vexation and self-reproach when suddenly someone from behind shouted, "Look!"

The leading individuals heard this and looked back. On the stone walls where the Wind Scales had whizzed past, two pea-sized red lights successively appeared within the clusters of blue crack-like lights. This phenomenon gradually spread.

Yuan Yao, suddenly realizing, exclaimed, "They're eyes! Those are living creatures! We've disturbed them!"

Gu Lianni and the others also reacted, realizing that some dormant creatures had been awakened by the commotion of their Wind Scales passing by.

Previously, due to the larger space and greater distance, they hadn't been disturbed. But now, because of the terrain obstacles, they sometimes had to pass by closely, thus disturbing them.

As they spoke, palm-sized creatures, resembling stones when curled up and looking like a cross between bats and birds, detached from the stone walls. Emitting squeaking sounds, each with a sharp, blue crack-like glowing spike on its head, they chased and collided with them.

This commotion, like a shockwave, spread all the way in the direction the Summer Dao Mountain group had fled. Countless red eyes opened, and countless strange bats awakened to join the pursuit.

All at once, a loud buzzing filled the air.

The Summer Dao Mountain group had to fly at full speed, racing against the strange bats detaching from the surroundings. They had to rush to get through before being blocked.

Logically, the flying speed of these strange bats was far inferior to that of the Wind Scales; the difference in speed between the two was immense. However, the underground terrain was complex, with too many winding turns, making it impossible to proceed at full speed. Going too fast would prevent them from turning in time, causing them to crash head-on.

Soon, Gu Lianni realized something and exclaimed, "Wait, Shi Chun and his group ran ahead. Why didn't they disturb these monsters?"

Others looked at the commotion of the recently awakened monsters ahead and also realized, "Yes, why are Shi Chun and his group fine?"

Yuan Yao suddenly said, "If Wind Scales passed by, it's impossible not to disturb them. Unless they found another path, there's only one possibility: once they reached here, they stopped using Wind Scales. If that's the case..." He looked ahead, his eyes lighting up, and shouted again, "Hurry! Without Wind Scales, they can't travel fast. They might not be far from us, possibly just ahead."

Because they had disturbed the strange, fluttering bats ahead, the Blazing Fire Sect group, who were rushing in pursuit from behind, widened their eyes. They didn't know what kind of monsters these were or how powerful they were; the scene of countless fluttering creatures effectively blocked the path ahead.

Wu Xiao immediately slowed down. After Black Tiger perceived his intention, he urgently urged, "They're just some fire-attribute spirits. There's no fighting commotion ahead. If they can pass, so can we. Hurry and chase! If they shake us off, it will be difficult to find them again in the vast Divine Fire Domain."

Yin Tianlu thought so too, thus he did not object.

Wu Xiao, leading the way, had no choice but to forcefully charge through with his Wind Scale.

Seeing this, the various factions behind, whose hearts were pounding, also rushed forward, driven by their desires.

They hadn't caught up to the Summer Dao Mountain group ahead. The strange bats fluttering in place seemed to have already spotted them and were already charging towards them.

The moment the clanging and crashing impacts resounded, Black Tiger realized his mistake.

The strange bats charging like a meteor shower were not strongly defended. Although their bodies were sturdy, they could not withstand the shearing and swirling force of the Wind Scales' rapidly rotating blades. All that collided were shredded to pieces.

Seeing how vulnerable these monsters were, Wu Xiao breathed a sigh of relief, and the various faction members who had charged into the fluttering lights and shadows at that moment also breathed a sigh of relief.

However, the various faction members who continued to charge forward quickly grew tense.

The exploding monster bats splattered out bluish, fluorescent liquid. Once the liquid adhered to the Wind Scale blades, it stuck to them like maggots clinging to bone, smoking, and began corroding the metal blades.

"Ah..." The first person to cry out in agony appeared.

Amidst the wildly splattering fluorescent liquid, the rapidly rotating Wind Scale blades couldn't entirely block it. Someone accidentally got splashed on the shoulder by the liquid, and a sizzling, smoking hole appeared, accompanied by a burning stench and screams.

It was a burning sensation that pierced to the bone and soul, a pain that even magic couldn't dispel or alleviate.

Soon, screams rose one after another.

Some cast protective qi barriers around themselves, but the corrosive power of the bluish fluorescent liquid was extraordinary. It could even easily corrode through protective qi. Fortunately, it could somewhat delay the corrosive liquid's approach, giving the defenders time to react and shake it off.

They themselves managed to shake it off, but those around them were in trouble. In desperation, anything flung away had to go somewhere. One by one, they flung it around like snot, from one person to another.

What was even more terrifying was the sheer quantity; the exploding liquid rained down.

Yin Tianlu, casting spells to counter, urgently looked around. He saw that those affected by the corrosive liquid were trembling uncontrollably from pain, their minds seemingly bewildered by the agony.

"The Wind Scales are failing!" shouted Wu Xiao, who was piloting one.

He didn't need to shout; Yin Tianlu and Black Tiger also felt it. The Wind Scales were clearly unstable, on the verge of collapse.

It wasn't just them. The Wind Scales of everyone from every sect were shaking. Nearly every blade of the Wind Scales was covered in bluish fluorescent liquid, and nearly every blade was corroded. All Wind Scales were essentially unable to fly forward anymore.

As the corrosion deepened, finally, many Wind Scales couldn't even maintain their basic rotation, disintegrating in mid-air, and the people inside plummeted down.

As they fell, the surroundings were filled with spinning Wind Scale blades and spurting corrosive liquid. How could they dodge? It could only be chaos.

Ultimately, none were spared. Everyone inside a Wind Scale landed, and no one dared to take out another Wind Scale easily.

Meanwhile, more and more strange bats, disturbed by the commotion of the fight, appeared, filling the cave in overwhelming numbers. They were everywhere.

Countless strange bats charged, using the spikes on their heads, attacking fearlessly and relentlessly.

Some struck down large numbers with remote palm attacks.

Chaos was unavoidable. The chaos caused by the people themselves was the most terrifying, but there was no choice. In desperation, everyone had to look out for themselves first, neglecting others. Coupled with the attacks from the strange bats, screams also rose one after another.

Those who were hit were in such pain that they convulsed.

The more ruthless ones directly used knives to cut out the corroded flesh.

Black Tiger, who was desperately defending himself, was one of them. After experiencing this sensation, he understood that this corrosive liquid had a special toxicity. Looking at the misery around him, his scalp tingled with dread. He knew he had made a grave mistake.

"Retreat!"

"Go back!"

People shouted orders occasionally.

Many people, without needing orders, fled outwards howling like ghosts and wolves. However, while the strange bats couldn't match the Wind Scales' flying speed, they could keep up with their dashing speed.

Some managed to escape back to the bottom of the sinkhole, but covering the abyss-like distance under the strange bats' siege was a brutal breakout process.

Some powerful individuals controlled magical artifacts and rushed upwards. The strange bat swarm, rising like flying dragons, also pursued them out of the sinkhole, continuing their relentless chase in the outside world.

Someone's magical artifact was splashed with the bluish liquid, and the artifact began to corrode...

The Bright Mountain Sect group had been proceeding quite easily. Zhen'er had guided them beforehand, and Shi Chun knew how to instruct his group of brothers.

He told his brothers that those monsters were called Fire Bats.

He told his brothers not to make too much noise and not to use Wind Scales, as it would disturb the Fire Bats.

They shouldn't use Sandalwood Gold illuminators, as the Fire Bats would attack bright spots.

In short, they just needed to tiptoe quietly through the underground passage. Using the light from the monsters' bodies to see the way, there was no need to generate more light.

Thus, the brothers of the Bright Mountain Sect surprisingly felt a sense of quiet satisfaction. "Look," they thought, "such a dangerous place, and we can pass through it easily, knowing all the details. It's truly right to follow the Boss."

Shi Chun also found that sense of easy contentment. With the Summer Dao Mountain group covering their rear, escaping should be worry-free.

Based on his understanding of that woman Gu Lianni, the Summer Dao Mountain group would not back down from the Blazing Fire Sect.

However, this sense of contentment did not last long. The Bright Mountain Sect group gradually stopped and looked back as a buzzing, noisy commotion came from behind. Soon, one by one, they instinctively widened their eyes, seeing a group of people piloting Wind Scales, leading a massive number of Fire Bats charging towards them. The formation was like a tsunami, engulfing them.