Chapter 538

Upon hearing the sound, everyone stopped in their tracks and looked in the direction Cang Li pointed.

In the far distance ahead, a huge shadow stretched across the horizon, like a heavenly chasm.

As they quickened their pace and drew nearer, the sight before them startled them.

It turned out to be an endless cliff!

The cliff's edge was as steep as if carved by knife and axe; below lay a bottomless darkness, like the maw of a beast that devours men, sending a chill down one's spine.

Directly opposite them, far away, lay the other side of the cliff, separated by a vast gully nearly a hundred meters wide, shrouded in mist and unfathomably deep.

Yuan Yao walked to the cliff's edge with a solemn expression, crouched down, and picked up a stone from beside her feet.

She slightly raised her wrist and hurled the stone hard toward the opposite cliff.

The stone flew out with a whistling sound, but when it reached the middle of the chasm it plummeted swiftly, vanishing instantly into the endless darkness below, leaving not even an echo.

Yuan Yao slowly rose, her gaze deep as she looked at the opposite cliff, and said slowly, "This should be the 'Abyssal Line' my master once mentioned. Crossing this boundary, we will truly enter the most core and dangerous part of the Abyssal Realm. The Abyssal Beast Lord lurks there, and most of the heavenly talents who entered the Abyssal Realm in the previous session lost their lives there."

"Shall we go in?" Qian Yunzhou raised an eyebrow and smiled.

Yuan Yao tilted her head to look at him, "If I say we should go in, will you go?"

Qian Yunzhou laughed, "I'll naturally follow you."

Zhai Qingye felt wary in his heart, his face solemn as he said, "Such a dangerous place—we'd better not go in."

Yuan Yao's brows suddenly furrowed; she sensed a hurried, chaotic fluctuation of spiritual power and cries for help coming from not far behind her.

She turned to look—

She saw a dozen or so figures in disarray, their clothes stained with blood, stumbling desperately toward this side.

Behind them, a huge abyssal beast resembling a tiger pursued them relentlessly!

The beast's fur was pitch black, its mane like upright steel needles, its eyes glowing scarlet—it was clearly a powerful early seventh‑stage existence!

It let out an earth‑shaking roar; its sound waves turned into a material blast that instantly hurled the few heavenly talents at the rear into the air, spewing blood, they fell like broken kites and crashed heavily to the ground, landing not far in front of Yuan Yao's group.

"Save… save me!" one of the fortunate heavenly talents who had not yet lost consciousness, his vision blurred, saw eleven black silhouettes suddenly appear ahead; not caring who they were, at this life‑or‑death moment he summoned his last strength and screamed hoarsely, like a desperate patient seeking any doctor.

"Shall we save them or not?" Dong Jiao's eyes narrowed, her hands already gripping the hilts of the two kitchen knives at her waist, her tone hinting at eagerness to try.

"As fellow humans, how could we not save them?" Ying Wuji hardly hesitated, drew his sword with a clear ring, and in a flicker of his form vanished from the spot.

"I've been waiting for those words!" Dong Jiao pushed off with her feet and sprang forward, lunging at the mid‑seventh‑stage abyssal beast.

Almost at the same moment, Song Yan, Xiao Zhufeng, and Ling Huya drew their longswords; in a flash of cold light they became three streaks of light, shooting straight to the fallen heavenly talents and forming a defensive line, solidly bearing the beast's ensuing fierce lunge!

Boom—

A tremendous roar came, and the air waves surged.

Song Yan and the two others felt their arms go numb, the ground beneath them cracking like a spiderweb, yet they managed to hold firm.

"Really a hassle," Qian Yunzhou stood where he was, his tone slightly impatient, yet he made no big move—just raising his hand, a jade flute appeared in his grasp.

He brought the jade flute to his lips and began to play it softly.

The flute's melody, both melodious and carrying a piercing killing intent, instantly spread like an invisible sound blade, precisely striking the abyssal beast, successfully disrupting its violent aura and temporarily restraining its movements.

Meanwhile, Yuan Yao seized the moment while everyone engaged the beast, swiftly forming hand seals and deploying the Labyrinth Transposition Formation.

Soon, the severely wounded heavenly talents were silently conveyed to a spot not far from Yuan Yao, away from the battlefield's center.

She then crouched, deliberately lowering her voice, and asked one of the still‑conscious heavenly talents, "Why only you? Where are Ying Wuhuan, Lu Xiangxiang, and the others?"

"We… we got separated," the heavenly talents said, hesitating a few seconds after seeing them actually help, then decided to tell the truth.

Yuan Yao blinked slightly, "How did you get separated?"

The heavenly talents exchanged glances upon hearing that, but did not answer.

Obviously, they harbored reservations.

Because to them, Yuan Yao's group were strangers—strangers even within the Abyssal Realm.

Yuan Yao felt a stir in her heart, and just then she heard movement ahead; she swiftly rose, flashed forward, drew her sword, and joined the battle.

The eleven of them surrounded the abyssal beast together!

Soon, the beast seemed to sense danger, madly retreated backward, turned and fled the scene!

"Don't pursue a desperate foe!" Ying Wuji's eyes narrowed slightly as he spoke.

Xue Jin, Dong Jiao, and Xiao Zhufeng, who had originally wanted to give chase, halted their steps upon hearing that.

And those heavenly talents, though heavily wounded, helped each other to their feet, eyeing Yuan Yao's group warily.

"Thank you for your help," one of the heavenly talents said, clasping his hands sincerely, "We'll take our leave now."

"Wait," Yuan Yao called out to the heavenly talents about to leave.

Upon hearing that, the heavenly talents' expressions instantly turned tense, and they stared warily at Yuan Yao.

Yuan Yao lowered her voice and said, "You needn't fear; we are neither demon nor monster. We only wish to ask you one question: why did you become separated from the other heavenly talents?"

"You're not demon or monster—could you be human?" At that moment, a youth with a bloody head narrowed his eyes and countered.

Upon hearing that, they all looked at Yuan Yao's group with a mix of curiosity and scrutiny.

Then a young woman had a flash of inspiration; she stared incredulously at the eleven black‑clad figures before her, "You couldn't be the Qian Shan Six, could you? And… the young master of Feiyun Island, Qian Yunzhou, and Dong Jiao of the Fourth Continent!"

Qian Yunzhou's and Dong Jiao's weapons are too easy to recognize.

A jade flute.

Two kitchen knives.

Plus Xiao Lingwei of the Qian Shan Six, whose weapon is a long whip…

So it's hard not to suspect the identity of this group in black.

"We're not," Qian Yunzhou chuckled lightly, "Not every sound‑attack cultivator wielding a jade flute is me."

"Actually…" Yuan Yao coughed lightly, "We are agents sent by the Buddha Sovereign on a secret mission. You may call us—"

"The Abyssal Extermination Squad."