Chapter 73

Before their eyes, the scene was exactly the gate of Yunming City, but now it was no longer the majestic sight of daytime, instead a ruin of broken walls and debris, utterly dilapidated.

The tall, sturdy city walls seemed to lose support and collapsed with a boom, raising clouds of dust that mingled with the surrounding gray mist, blurring vision.

From the ground sprang many eerie blood-colored tentacles, lunging at the crowd.

These tentacles writhed flexibly, continually launching attacks on the crowd.

In the blink of an eye, several young disciples were tightly entwined and then dragged, like prey, straight into Yunming City.

Before she could regain her senses, a strong hand seized her wrist.

Her heart jolted; she hastily lifted her head, and upon seeing who it was, she couldn't help but cry out, 'Third Senior Brother!'

Yuan Yao wanted to ask her third senior brother what was happening, but the blood-colored tentacles attacked toward them.

Cang Li without hesitation pulled Yuan Yao behind him for protection, gripping a spear that flashed with cold light and swung it forcefully.

Boom!

In an instant, thunder and lightning flashed, a powerful aura burst forth, striking the tentacle tips.

The tentacles, like vines sensing danger, suddenly recoiled.

Seeing this, Yuan Yao instantly summoned the Phantom Spirit Sword and asked, 'Third Senior Brother, what's going on?'

'The seal of Yunming City has been broken, the mist has spread out, and when we opened our eyes again, the scene became like this.' Cang Li's face grew grave, adding, 'Perhaps it's an illusion!'

'Junior Brother Cang!'

'Junior Sister!'

Disciples of the Carefree Sect gradually gathered around Yuan Yao and her companion, backs to each other, continually defending against the blood-colored tentacles.

'Senior Brother Ao, Junior Brother Cang, what should we do now?' one senior brother asked anxiously.

'If what we see before us is truly an illusion, then we must find a breach!' Ao Su said calmly, 'The breach is very likely inside Yunming City...'

'And if it's not an illusion?' Yuan Yao interjected, recalling that the citizens of Yunming City had inexplicably fallen into a deep sleep that could not be roused, indicating their consciousness might have been drawn into a mental realm.

Yuan Yao had previously cultivated mental power, and her consciousness had been pulled into the mental realm created by Senior Nie Lie.

Could there be some similarity between the two?

Ao Su frowned, saying, 'If it's not an illusion, then it's even more troublesome.'

'Careful—'

Suddenly, several thick, ferocious, blood-red giant tentacles erupted from the hard ground without warning and lunged at Yuan Yao and the others with astonishing speed and vicious force!

Yuan Yao twisted her wrist and thrust her sword forward!

With a 'splitch', one tentacle was instantly pierced, and it thrashed violently from the pain!

At the same time, the Phantom Spirit Sword transmitted a message: 'It reeks! Let me go!'

Yuan Yao's mouth twitched slightly; she sent a mental reply: 'Just endure a little longer!'

Then, without hesitation, she pulled the sword free and, following the motion, swung down heavily on that same tentacle.

A dull thud rang out, and a disgusting segment of the tentacle snapped off, crashing to the ground.

At the same time, the other sects' teams were thrown into disarray by the tentacles' appearance, most disciples forced to scatter.

They had to fight alone!

The tentacles seemed endless, impossible to hack apart!

'Ahhh, save me!' another disciple was wrapped by a tentacle and violently dragged into Yunming City.

The Heavenly Cloud Sect's squad leader had intended to retreat with his team to Yushan City, but as they ran, they found that the original Yushan City had become a bottomless cliff.

Then, the edge of the cliff began to collapse.

Countless rocks tumbled down, emitting a booming 'rumble rumble'.

'Go! Hurry back!'

The Heavenly Cloud Sect squad leader's face turned pale with fright as he shouted.

The group hurried back toward Yunming City.

As the cliff collapsed faster and faster, one disciple, having run too hastily, twisted his ankle and fell hard to the ground.

Before his fellow disciples could reach out to help, the spot where he stood instantly cracked and then gave way.

'No—' the disciple reached out, screaming in terror.

Seeing this, the Heavenly Cloud Sect disciples' faces blanched; they could only speed up their retreat to outside Yunming City.

At the same time, the Severed Love Sect, Twin Poles Sect, and Tai Sui Sect teams all chose to enter Yunming City.

Strangely, as they entered Yunming City, the tentacles did not seize the opportunity to attack them!

It felt as if… they were being welcomed into the city.

Those who did not choose to enter the city were all attacked by the tentacles.

'They're forcing us into the city.' Cang Li said with a grim expression.

Ao Su quickly formed seals and slammed a palm toward the tentacles, saying, 'There must be something strange inside the city!'

At that moment, Yuan Yao heard a sound from behind, turned her head, and saw the Heavenly Cloud Sect group frantically fleeing toward them.

Upon seeing their situation behind them, Yuan Yao's face changed abruptly.

'Third Senior Brother, look quickly!'

Cang Li and the others followed the sound and also saw that scene.

Cang Li's expression shifted, and he said, 'It seems we have no choice but to go in…'

If the cliff collapses to this extent, there will surely be no place for them to take refuge.

Cang Li and Ao Su exchanged a glance and nodded in unison.

'Go!'

Cang Li reached out and grabbed Yuan Yao's wrist, leading her toward Yunming City.

The Carefree Sect disciples quickly caught up.

Soon, they successfully entered the city.

But no one expected that as soon as they entered, the people around them would disappear.

"Yuan Yao! Yao Yao!" Cang Li discovered his hand grasped at nothing, his face drastically changed, he quickly looked around, searching for Yuan Yao's figure.

When the surrounding mist thinned, he discovered he was actually inside a room, and there were three people in the room.

One of them shrank in fear in the corner, her gaze somewhat scattered, as if she were on the verge of a mental breakdown.

The other two were disciples of the Rushing Void Sect and the Dual Extremes Sect, respectively.

They were obviously also just sent in.

"What place is this?" the Rushing Void Sect disciple said with a tense expression.

The Dual Extremes Sect disciple headed straight for the door, and just as his hand reached the latch——

A sharp pain suddenly transmitted from his sea of consciousness, making him let out a miserable cry instantly.

"Ah!"

His whole body jerked like a spasm, and he stumbled back two steps.

Cang Li, seeing this, fell into thought.

His gaze fell on a stool not far away; he then walked over, picked up the stool, and hurled it toward the door.

But an astonishing scene occurred——

Just as the stool was about to hit the door, it actually stopped and floated in midair, remaining there for a few seconds.

With a "bang," the stool fell to the ground.

Cang Li instantly realized something… they were trapped here.