Chapter 20

Ning Zhanji pondered for a moment, dispatched two cultivators to scout, and led the main force to retreat a distance.

A moment later, the two cultivators returned to report, "It is the corpse of a demon ape!"

The tense atmosphere of the entire team relaxed.

When the main force arrived beside the demon ape's corpse, Ning Yong exclaimed.

He saw the appearance of a Fire-Melting Demon Ape for the first time.

This demon beast had a strong physique, about three meters tall, and its whole body was covered with thick, bright red fur. The fur was pure in color, red as fire, and very beautiful.

The Fire-Melting Demon Ape's fangs were bared, its eyes wide open, dying with eyes wide open.

Its body was a peculiar existence where flesh and blood and magma were combined.

Even though it was dead now, one could see its internal structure from the wounds on its body. It was like magma, still flowing slowly, emitting intense heat, only cooling rapidly.

Ning Zhanji frowned deeply.

This was an unexpected situation.

He would rather it be a living Fire-Melting Demon Ape.

Now, the situation had become complicated.

"A fierce confrontation took place here!"

"The Fire-Melting Demon Ape fought hard here, but was ultimately defeated."

"What kind of existence could single-handedly kill an adult Fire-Melting Demon Ape?"

"Judging from the traces, it is not any kind of demon beast known at present."

Ning Zhanji knew that he had to investigate clearly.

Because, if a mysterious demon beast is left alone, when the family's main force makes a big move in the future, they are very likely to suffer a big loss under the circumstances of unclear intelligence!

Ning Zhanji led the team down the cave this time precisely to scout the environment and collect intelligence.

This was his duty.

Thinking of this, Ning Zhanji stopped thinking, decisively abandoned the original route, and followed the traces.

"But the mysterious demon beast had a fierce battle with the adult demon ape, so its combat power can be estimated. Our current strength should be able to cope."

"Moreover, it fought fiercely with the demon ape, so its combat power must have dropped by a notch. This is a very good opportunity!"

Ning Zhanji's eyes flashed, and he led the team to track continuously.

Along the way, they successively discovered other demon beasts that had suffered. For example, the fire essence scattered on the ground after the Fire-Walking Snake died, the corpse of a Flame-Stepping Lizard, and the stones scattered by a Lava Demon Head.

As the Ning family cultivators chased, the things in their hands increased.

"Boss, what kind of thing is it, so powerful, killing so many demon beasts?"

"Haha, we took advantage this time. If a few more of these mysterious demon beasts come, we won't have to do any work and will be rich directly."

Ning Zhanji frowned, secretly estimating, "The opponent left these behind without cleaning the battlefield; clearly, it is not a cultivator. But these corpses were not gnawed, and resources like fire essence were not swallowed. This seems to indicate that this mysterious demon beast does not belong to the volcanic melting cave and is not a part of the food chain here."

"Perhaps, this is a cultivator's pet beast?"

"No matter what, I must reveal its true face this time!"

Ning Zhanji made up his mind and chased all the way.

In the end, they actually arrived at a dead end.

"No way forward?"

"That shouldn't be!"

"The traces clearly point here..."

The Ning family cultivators were puzzled.

Ning Zhanji looked around, then muttered to himself and cast a certain spell.

Finally, his gaze locked onto a piece of wall.

"Step back, form an array."

"Blast this wall open and see," Ning Zhanji ordered.

The Ning family cultivators formed three small arrays, pulled Ning Zhuo and Ning Yong into the furthest small array, and told them not to run around.

Boom, boom, boom!

The array was activated, and the cultivators joined forces to blast the wall continuously.

After the surface of the wall shattered, the brilliance of an array was revealed.

A defensive array was actually hidden here!

The defensive array was laid out simply and crudely, and it did not last long before it was blasted to pieces.

The wall was pierced, revealing another passage.

"There's actually another passage hidden here?"

"Was it not discovered before because it was hidden by someone?"

Ning Zhanji frowned deeply.

Chasing to this point, his previous conjecture was shaken.

Clearly, anyone who can set up an array must be a cultivator. Even if it is not a human, it is a wise demon cultivator.

Hesitating for only one second, Ning Zhanji decided to continue the pursuit.

The Ning family cultivators began to explore the mysterious passage.

They soon discovered "demon beast traces" similar to before.

"Perhaps, this is a cultivator's spirit pet, quite intelligent, and itself has the authority to pass through the array."

"This passage has traces of human activity in many places, and the time it was opened is earlier than ours."

"In other words, we, the Ning family, are the ones who came later?"

"What is that?"

"We are about to reach the end of this path."

"Be careful!"

The Ning family cultivators tracked all the way, walked out of the passage, and arrived at an underground square with a wide view and flat terrain.

Two arrays were also laid out in the underground square, both very crude, like children's graffiti.

Ning Zhanji dispatched his subordinates to search for clues everywhere, and just at this moment, the howling of demon beasts came.

Hissing and roaring sounds rose one after another, surrounding them from all directions.

Ning Zhanji was shocked and immediately ordered a retreat.

But scorching magma suddenly surged out from the passage they came from, and they could only retreat back.

"Damn it!"

"This is a trap!!"

"Could it be the other two families, or the City Lord's side, who could have such a hand?"

Ning Zhanji was shocked and angry; on one hand, he commanded everyone to form an array, and on the other hand, he sent people to scout everywhere.

The result of the scouting was very bad.

This underground square was like a transfer station, connecting many passages. And from these passages, a large number of demon beasts were surging out.

The Ning family cultivators set up the defensive array in a corner of the square and activated the array with all their might.

Fortunately, they were well-prepared for battle and brought many array disks, so they were able to quickly build a defensive array at such a fast speed.

The defensive array was activated, forming a wall of ice-colored light, surrounding half a circle, and cooperating with the wall behind the cultivators to form a circle.

The fire-velvet mouse swarm was the first to charge over. Compared to the outside world, the fire-velvet mice appearing at this time were already half a person tall!

The fire-velvet mouse swarm charged crazily, and many mice were directly smashed to death on the ice wall.

Cracks appeared on the ice wall.

Some Lava Demon Heads floated in mid-air, crossed the ice wall, and killed their way over.

The Ning family cultivators cooperated tacitly and were well-prepared.

A large number of magic tools were activated, mainly flying swords and flying needles, piercing the Lava Demon Heads and winning critical time.

The second defensive array was built, forming half a sphere, covering everyone.

Suddenly, the noise outside the array weakened a lot.

"Continue building the array!" Ning Zhanji's face was stern.

The Ning family cultivators had just built the third large array, forming a pillar of light to support the ceiling of the underground space, when a vast aura suddenly emerged.

The cultivators were horrified.

"Golden Core aura, are we chasing a Golden Core cultivator?"

"I remember this aura; it's the Zheng family ancestor, Zheng Shuanggou!"

"Could it be that the Zheng family wants to take action against us?!"