Chapter 166

"Everything packed?" Wang Shan's voice echoed in the modest cave dwelling, sounding unusually calm, "Food, drink, changes of clothes—don't leave anything behind. We might have to stay in a godforsaken place for a long time."

Li Hu tied the last bundle with a knot, gave a simple, honest pat, and said, "Master, everything's ready. But… are we really leaving? This place is good—hidden, and with the array you set up…"

"Bullshit." Wang Shan gave him an annoyed glance, "You think the Wan clan are vegetarians? The one who died was Wan Honghai, late Foundation Establishment, a big shot in the Wan clan. He's dead—do you think they'll just let it go? This place has already been scouted once; we can't stay."

Zhang Mei cradled the still-drowsy, just-awakened Wang Zhitao and whispered, "Master, where are we going?"

Wang Shan glanced at the ancient altar flickering with eerie light deep in the cave, before he could speak, it felt as if a red-hot iron awl had been violently driven into his mind!

Hum—!

That wasn't a sound, nor an illusion, but an indescribable sharp alarm that exploded directly on his soul level, making his vision go black and nearly causing him to collapse.

【Highest-Level Alert! Highest-Level Alert!】

【Detected an unprecedented powerful aura rapidly approaching Ghost Sorrow Cliff!】

【Warning! Target's pressure far exceeds late Foundation Establishment! Locked as Half-Step Golden Core realm! Advancing toward the host's position with unstoppable force!】

The system's alert tone was no longer the usual flat mechanical voice; it was filled with a tearing urgency and sharpness, each word striking like a heavy hammer on Wang Shan's heart.

Half-Step Golden Core?

Wang Shan's nerves, which had just relaxed, instantly tightened to the extreme; his whole body's blood seemed to have chilled halfway at this moment. He had just dealt with a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, and in the blink of an eye came an old monster who had touched the threshold of Golden Core?

Heaven really thinks highly of him, this Wang!

Before he could even digest this bad news, the system's warnings came like life-taking talismans, one after another.

【Target identity matched……Wan family Closed Meditation Elder, Wan Tianxiong!】

【Detected target carrying two high-grade magic artifacts! Now analyzing……】

【Analysis complete!】

【Magic Artifact One: Fourth-Grade Upper Grade Binding Demon Rope. Effect: Specially refined to bind powerful demonic beasts; once bound, spiritual power is imprisoned, the flesh numbs, and the soul is also suppressed. Against human cultivators the effect is halved, but against cultivators who practice beast-transformation techniques it has threefold restraining effect!】

【Magic Artifact Two: Fourth-Grade Medium Grade Soul-Suppressing Banner. Effect: An intangible banner that, when shaken, can directly strike the soul; lightly it causes fainting, heavily it leads to soul flying apart and spirit scattering. Against those with insufficient soul strength, it can be called an absolute kill!】

A string of information was like icy knives, stabbing into Wang Shan's cognition one after another.

If Wan Tianxiong's Half-Step Golden Core cultivation is an insurmountable mountain, then these two magic artifacts are a coffin lid tailor-made for him, Wang Shan.

【Binding Demon Rope】 restrains beast-transformation techniques; his cultivation of the Ten Thousand Beasts Reversal is exactly its source. Once bound, he probably wouldn't even have the strength to move a finger.

【Soul-Suppressing Banner】 is even more sinister, directly attacking the soul. Although his soul strength is not weak, the opponent is a Half-Step Golden Core activating a Fourth-Grade magic artifact—what can he use to block it?

Thud.

Wang Shan's heart gave a heavy thump, a chill surged from the soles of his feet straight to the crown of his head. The little self-satisfaction and composure he had just gained from his Foundation Establishment were crushed to powder in this instant.

This is not a crisis, this is a desperate situation.

"Sir, what's wrong with you?" Li Hu noticed Wang Shan's abnormality; his hand was trembling slightly.

Just then, an indescribable terrifying pressure, like a tide, seeped in from outside the cave.

It was neither wind nor sound, but a pure, soul-shaking pressure. On the stone walls of the cave entrance, the simple sealing sigils Wang Shan had carved didn't even get a chance to flicker before they went 'hiss' and turned into flying ash.

The air was so viscous that one could barely breathe; each inhalation exhausted all strength.

Li Hu and Zhang Mei's faces instantly drained of color; their bodies trembled uncontrollably, their teeth chattering 'click-click', as if an invisible mountain pressed down on them, making it extremely hard just to stand. They hadn't even seen the enemy's shadow, yet they were almost crushed by this aura.

"Grandfather..." Wang Zhizhe's little face turned deathly pale as he clutched tightly to Wang Shan's trouser leg, his voice full of fear. In his arms, Wang Zhitao was even more shaken by this aura; the complexion that had just improved turned bluish again, and he let out a painful whimper.

"Don't be afraid."

Wang Shan's voice was a little hoarse; he backhandedly pulled the two children behind him, releasing his Foundation Establishment spiritual power without reservation, forming a shield that blocked that terrifying pressure from outside.

Only then did Li Hu and Zhang Mei feel the pressure ease; they gasped heavily, looking at Wang Shan with eyes full of reliance and lingering fear.

"Sir... what... what kind of person is this?" Li Hu's voice trembled.

"The Wan family's ancestor has arrived." Wang Shan spoke concisely, his eyes fixed tightly on the depths of the cave, "A single one of us combined wouldn't be enough to withstand even a finger of his crushing power."

He knew clearly that running was impossible. The opponent was a Half-Step Golden Core; his spiritual sense could cover the entire Ghost Sorrow Cliff, any stir of wind or grass couldn't escape his notice. To fight head-on would be sheer fantasy—it was no different from willingly sticking one's neck under someone's blade.

All escape routes were blocked in that instant.

The siege by Wan Honghai and the black-clothed person was like an appetizer. Now the true main course has arrived—a feast capable of devouring the lives of them all.

"Li Hu, Zhang Mei!" Wang Shan's voice suddenly turned low and forceful.

"Present!" The two instinctively straightened their backs.

"Listen, there's no time left." Wang Shan spoke extremely fast, each word as if squeezed from between his teeth, "Soon, no matter what happens or what you see, do not make a sound, do not resist. Hold the children close, follow behind me, not a single step away!"

He abruptly turned around, no longer looking outside the cave; in his eyes, which had just regained clarity, now only remained the madness and resolve of being driven into a desperate situation.

The sole path to survival lay right before him!

He grabbed the weakly Wang Zhitao in one arm, took Wang Zhizhe's hand with the other, and strode purposefully toward the ancient altar deep in the cave that emitted an ominous aura.

"Grandfather, where are we going?" Wang Zhizhe, frightened by this tense atmosphere, couldn't help but ask in a low voice.

Wang Shan did not turn back, his steps did not pause in the slightest, yet his voice came across unusually clearly.

"To a place...... where we can truly survive!"