Chapter 267

This was a labyrinthine cave filled with stalactites; though its full extent was unknown, it clearly was not small.

After Han Li lifted a moonstone and examined the surroundings, he reached this conclusion.

In the instant the tunnel collapsed and earth and stone fell, Han Li swiftly activated his protective barrier; though buried deep underground amid a series of violent tremors, he at least gained a moment to breathe and regroup.

But the terrain shifted too drastically during the shaking, leaving Han Li unaware of his exact location or direction. With no other choice, he released several lizard puppets nearby, ordering them to dig simultaneously in different directions, hoping to find an escape route.

At this moment, he deeply regretted not having learned Earth Submersion Technique earlier—if he had, a simple spell would have let him move freely through the soil. Now he had to crawl slowly behind the paths carved by the puppets.

The idea of using a magic treasure to clear a path crossed his mind briefly, but he would never actually do it.

Under conditions where direction and location were unknown, recklessly wasting spiritual power was unwise; moreover, using magic treasures inside earth and stone was extremely dangerous—a single misstep could trigger another collapse.

Thus, Han Li always first controlled several puppets to scout a given area, then chose the most promising direction to advance. After hours of monotonous crawling, he finally reached this unknown stalactite cave, and his tightly wound nerves finally relaxed.

What a relief to have survived!

Han Li glanced back at the cave he had crawled out of, knowing others must have also survived the tunnel collapse. But whether they could find a way out of the rubble was another matter entirely.

In a sealed, airless space, even a Foundation Establishment cultivator could not last long—Qi Refining disciples stood little chance of survival!

Yet, despite his relief, Han Li felt puzzled.

Why had the tunnel collapsed and the earthquake struck so soon after they entered? Was this the work of the demonic sects? Han Li believed this guess was almost certainly correct.

…

On the surface, the demonic cultivators were ruthlessly destroying the entrance to the spirit stone mine, smashing everything inside with magic treasures.

High above the mine, the yellow-robed elder spoke regretfully to the red-clad girl:

"Sister Lian, this is overkill! Why waste a Seismic Talisman on a few fugitives? That's a rare mid-grade talisman!"

"Hmph! Do you think anyone can escape from me, Lian Feihua, so easily? Though clearing this spirit stone mine was only a side task, letting them slip away cleanly still leaves me with an unpleasant feeling!" the red-clad girl said dismissively.

The yellow-robed elder could only laugh helplessly.

To waste a rare talisman over such a trivial reason was absurd—but who was he to argue? She was the only daughter of the Demon Flame Sect's leader. Sigh. As a Guardian of the Tian Sha Sect, he'd best mind his own business.

With this thought, the elder fell silent.

Soon after, the demonic cultivators, having utterly destroyed the spirit stone mine, flew away, vanishing into the distance.

One day later, the same group launched a surprise attack on a vast medicinal herb garden hidden far from the mine—every herb ready for alchemical refinement was looted, and even the seedlings were reduced to ashes by Qingyang Demon Fire.

This immediately alarmed the upper echelons of the Seven Sects. In comparison, the attack on Han Li's spirit stone mine seemed trivial. After all, a destroyed mine could be restored with time—but the stolen and burned herbs could not regrow for decades.

The Seven Sects' leaders, furious, dispatched elite cultivators to pursue them—only to be ambushed en route by the enemy's reinforcements, suffering another minor defeat.

Repeated setbacks left the Seven Sects no longer willing to endure humiliation. With their strength partially restored, they once again launched a large-scale offensive against the Six Clans.

…

Underground, Han Li furrowed his brow and finally spotted an opening where a breeze stirred—he ordered two puppets to scout ahead and followed them.

After passing through dozens of caves, the stalactite cavern grew larger, with the biggest nearly spacious enough to hold a hundred people without crowding. The breeze also strengthened, giving Han Li slight reassurance—wind meant a passage to the surface existed.

As Han Li stepped into a new cave, he encountered six or seven people: Xuan Le, Lu Lu Tianmeng, and even Zhong Wu were among them.

They were momentarily startled by Han Li and his two puppets.

But as Xuan Le opened his mouth to speak, a piercing scream echoed from another direction, causing everyone to freeze, their faces pale with shock.

Xuan Le and Lu Lu Tianmeng exchanged glances, abandoned any questions about Han Li, and immediately rushed toward the sound. All of them activated defensive spells and weapons without hesitation—no one dared to be careless.

Seeing this, Han Li hesitated, then pulled out the White Phosphorus Shield and followed slowly. He did not cast any defensive spell on himself, but applied Light Body Technique and Wind Riding Spell simultaneously—he always believed speed mattered more than defense in confined spaces.

After passing through three or four large caves, they entered a far larger stalactite cavern—and froze at the sight before them.

In the center of the cave, a crystalline white spider, several zhang long, gnawed on a mangled corpse. The tattered white robes identified the victim as a disciple of the Hidden Moon Sect who had escaped burial. Nearby lay three or four ruined magic treasures.

But what drew greater attention was a cluster of raw spirit stones behind the spider, surrounding an ancient six-sided teleportation array. Beside the array sat a five-colored skeleton in meditation, floating three chi above the ground, cradling a glowing blue tablet that emitted a faint radiance.

"What is this?"

A Qi Refining disciple swallowed hard and asked dryly. No one knew whether he meant the strange spider, the array, or the skeleton and tablet—and no one answered him.

Perhaps his voice startled the spider—the creature stopped eating and lifted its head, fixing its cold gaze on the newcomers.

Han Li and the others tensed instantly, going on guard.

But after a moment, the creature lowered its head and resumed tearing at the corpse, ignoring them completely—leaving everyone staring at each other in confusion.

"Die!"

One Hidden Moon Sect disciple, moved by grief at seeing a fellow disciple killed, suddenly hurled a fiery, dart-shaped magic treasure toward the spider.

This startled Lu Lu Tianmeng and others—internally cursing the fool for his recklessness.

With a sharp *crack*, the dart struck the spider's head without evasion—and bounced back, leaving not even a scratch on the creature, while its tip bent slightly.

Other cultivators nearly dropped their eyes in disbelief. How could the spider's shell be this hard? This was absurd!

"Attack together!"

Xuan Le glared furiously at the reckless disciple but had no choice—he shouted for everyone to strike, for the spider had stopped eating and was slowly crawling toward them.

At his command, over a dozen magic treasures were launched simultaneously, unleashing dazzling powers toward the giant spider—Han Li also released his Golden Blade.

Instantly, the spider was engulfed in a storm of colored light, its form obscured by the barrage—seemingly doomed to annihilation in an instant. But after a flurry of clattering impacts, all the attacks' light rapidly dimmed, and five or six lower-grade magic treasures fell to the ground, their spiritual essence completely gone.

Han Li and the others were stunned—they simultaneously recalled their magic treasures for inspection.

The top-grade treasures were unharmed; the high-grade ones bore noticeable damage; the ones on the ground were clearly lower-grade. The white spider, now visible again, showed not a single wound—and continued its slow, unhurried advance.

"Retreat!"

Lu Lu Tianmeng and Xuan Le exchanged glances and spoke in unison.

Though they both harbored thoughts of the teleportation array and the tablet, fighting such a beast outright would cost far too dearly—returning to the surface was far more important.

But at that moment, the white spider opened its mouth and spat a stream of milky-white fluid toward the center of the group.

Having witnessed the creature's power, no one dared to foolishly intercept the unknown fluid—they all dodged instinctively to either side.

"No!" Han Li's mind flashed with realization—he cried out involuntarily.

The others paused, confused.

The fluid suddenly transformed mid-air into a massive net, shooting straight for the cave entrance and sticking firmly to it—sealing off the only way they had entered.

The cultivators' faces paled—they now realized this stalactite cave had only one entrance.

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