Chapter 207: Arrogance

Boom!!!

Accompanied by a deafening roar, the barrier at the Cave Entrance, disguised by vines and mountain rock, was blasted open by an overwhelming, unstoppable force. Shards of stone flew everywhere, and dense smoke mixed with raging Spiritual Power surged inward.

A figure bathed in the Spiritual Light of the flying vessel, bearing the unique pressure of a Golden Core cultivator, stood arrogantly at the Cave mouth.

Wan Tiande arrived.

He stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze sweeping the Cave interior, and what he saw was not the panicked face of Wang Shan he had expected, but utter chaos.

Over a dozen bizarre low‑level demonic beasts were frantically killing each other, flesh and blood flying, their roars never ceasing, while the air was thick with a nauseating scent of blood and frenzy.

"Heh, have the Qian donkey run out of tricks?" Wan Tiande's mouth twitched.

In his view, the scene could not be clearer. Wang Shan must have been unable to control the Counter‑Devouring beast nature within his body, causing the low‑grade creatures in the Cave to go mad as well. As for the aura that drew him here, it was probably inadvertently leaked when Wang Shan suppressed his injuries.

"Using such low‑born tricks to stall time is truly pitiful. Wang Shan, did you think these rotten fish and shrimp could block this Elder's steps?"

He was too lazy to discern any deceit; his mid‑stage Golden Core cultivation was his greatest confidence. Before absolute power, all schemes are merely paper tigers.

Wan Tiande urged the incantation beneath his feet, and the barrier‑breaking vessel's light flared brilliantly, like a small sun, charging straight into the Cave.

However, the flying vessel had barely entered three zhang of the entrance when its light suddenly dimmed, as if an invisible giant hand had clenched it hard.

"Hm?"

Wan Tiande's heart skipped a beat.

The flying vessel's speed instantly slowed, no longer cutting through like a hot knife through bamboo, but as if stuck in quicksand, each inch forward becoming agonizingly hard. The surrounding air grew incomprehensibly viscous, and the space seemed filled with invisible spider webs that tightly ensnared his artifact.

His expression darkened slightly, and his Golden Core‑stage Spiritual Sense spread out like a tide, seeking to investigate.

But the next moment, his whole body froze.

That vast Spiritual Sense, capable of covering hundreds of li, upon entering the Cave collided with an immensely thick lead wall and was forcefully pushed back! Its reach shrank to no more than three zhang around him; beyond three zhang lay a murky chaos, utterly imperceptible.

How could this be?!

This damned place can actually suppress Golden Core Spiritual Sense?

For the first time, a sense of something amiss rose in Wan Tiande's heart. He immediately tried to activate the Beast‑taming Gate technique within him, intending to use Spiritual Power pressure to intimidate the frenzied low‑level demonic beasts.

But as soon as the technique moved, he felt the Spiritual Power flowing through his Meridians become sluggish, like rusted gears. The tangled, chaotic energy here clashed with his cultivated technique, even generating a subtle repulsion. The pressure that once made ten thousand beasts submit now yielded a greatly diminished effect.

"Roar!"

In the instant he was stunned, a mutated ground‑mouse covered in bone spines let out a howl and lunged at him.

"Looking for death!"

Irritated, Wan Tiande flicked a finger, and a sharp finger‑wind instantly pierced the ground‑mouse's skull.

But the ground‑mouse did not die immediately; instead, with its last breath, its venom‑filled fangs fiercely bit into the vessel's Protective Body Light.

"Screech—" a harsh grinding sound rang out.

Although it caused no real damage, this fearless, death‑defying madness made Wan Tiande's brows knit even tighter.

Immediately thereafter, from all directions, those mutated beasts that had been killing each other turned as if sharks smelling blood, their crimson eyes locked onto the intruder, swarming toward him.

These beasts were weak; even the strongest were only late‑stage Qi‑refining, yet under Wang Shan's "environmental resonance" catalyst each became fearless of death, employing bizarre and cunning attacks. Some self‑detonated, some spewed poison, some clung to the flying vessel with their bodies.

"A swarm of ants!"

Wan Tiande's fury flared; this dignified Golden Core Elder was being entangled by a bunch of trash. He gave no quarter, flicked his dust‑sweeping sword, golden light flashed, instantly shredding the seven or eight charging beasts into a cloud of blood mist.

However, he soon discovered an even more shocking sight.

The corpses of the slain beasts did not turn into inert matter as usual; instead, the moment they hit the ground they rapidly dissolved, turning into denser, more chaotic gray‑black energy that merged into the entire Cave's environment.

With this energy's infusion, he could clearly feel the surrounding space's suppressive force on him intensify.

The beasts he killed not only failed to lessen his trouble, but instead added bricks to this prison!

"Is this… an Array? No, that's not right!"

Wan Tiande's complexion finally changed; arrogance and contempt vanished, replaced by a startled anger at being schemed.

He finally understood that he hadn't entered a madman's lair, but stepped into a trap tailor‑made for him! That old fox Wang Shan wasn't merely scraping by; he was luring a guest into a cauldron!

Damned!

Wan Tiande, no longer daring any carelessness, hurriedly drew a palm‑sized ancient compass—the Star‑Fixing Compass—from his chest.

This is the artifact he relies on to track and break Arrays; as long as there is a sliver of spatial gap, the Star‑Fixing Compass can point out the safest exit.

He poured Spiritual Power into it, and the compass's needle began to spin rapidly, attempting to locate a position within this twisted space.

"Bzzzz—"

The Star‑Fixing Compass emitted an overburdened buzzing, its needle whirring wildly, unable to lock onto any direction. Moments later, its light flickered sharply, a wisp of green smoke rose, accompanied by a light "click".

It was disrupted and lost its spirit!

Wan Tiande's heart sank instantly to the abyss.

He thrust his head upward, gazing into the endless darkness deep within the Cave, and roared hoarsely, "Wang Shan! Get out of there! Pretending to be divine, what kind of hero are you!"

The only answer was an endless barrage of beast roars.

"Good! Good! Good!" Wan Tiande laughed bitterly, "Did you think this turtle shell could trap this Elder? Dream on!"

He sheathed his half‑broken artifact, unleashing his mid‑stage Golden Core Spiritual Power without reservation; his right hand formed a claw, tearing fiercely into the void beside him!

"Open, for this Elder!"

This claw could tear ordinary spatial nodes, carving a temporary passage.

However, when his finger brushed the space, it only rippled a circle, astonishingly resilient. Wang Shan's great Array, altered with "Rule Fragments", had twisted the local spatial laws into something as hard as tempered steel.

Can't tear!

Wan Tiande's pupils suddenly contracted.

At the moment his attempt failed and a fleeting gap in Spiritual Power appeared, more mutated beasts surged from shadows, stone cracks, and pools in all directions, endless, as if the entire Cave had come alive.

He was trapped.

Trapped at the very entrance he had just scoffed at, dragged into a war of attrition by a horde of beasts he regarded as ants.

Spiritual Power is being violently consumed, the forward path is sealed, the rear path already broken, Spiritual Sense is locked, the artifact has failed.

This arrogant Ten Thousand Beasts Gate Golden Core Elder finally tasted the feeling of prey stepping into a trap, restlessness and a faint, barely perceptible fear began to spread in his heart.