Chapter 104: Overwhelmed

Wu Tie's team did not return the same way.

In the complex tunnels outside the Origin Cave, they found a winding road that deviated about fifty-odd li from the original entrance.

Ahead lay a dead end, a massive amount of mixed iron ore, and an extremely hard rock wall blocked the way.

A stone giant stepped out, he muttered a spell in a low voice; his originally gray‑white skin quickly turned bronze, thick strands of Blood Light swelled up from beneath his skin, mist roiled behind the stone giant, and a faint apparition of a warrior wielding a great axe appeared.

"Five Ding Opening Mountain"

This is the divine ability the stone giant gained after cultivating to the Chonglou Realm; it excels at splitting mountains and breaking stones, chopping giant stones as easily as cutting tofu.

The giant let out a deep shout, seized a great axe, and chopped down at the rock wall ahead.

A bronze‑colored axe light flashed past, and with a muffled "hum" a section of rock wall several meters across and seven to eight meters deep exploded into countless soybean‑sized stone fragments, accompanied by a hissing spray all around.

A group of gray dwarves rushed forward, skillfully using tools to quickly haul away the scattered debris on the ground.

The stone giant stepped forward a few steps and swung his axe again.

The stone wall was breached once more, a large hole seven to eight meters deep, and the gray dwarves cleared the debris at top speed.

After continuously chopping over a hundred axe swings, they opened a passageway more than two li long ahead; the stone giant, panting, retreated, and another giant who likewise possessed the Five Ding Opening Mountain ability took his place.

The two giants opened the way in succession, while the remaining three stone giants used various auxiliary divine abilities to help them break the rock.

After a day and night of work, Wu Tie's party newly opened a passageway, then broke out of a desolate rock wall outside War Blade City.

The two stone giants were already exhausted, their magical power drained to the point of having no strength left.

But the passageway had reached this point; Wu Tie and company had already detoured around War Blade City, the distance to the secret path they came by was not far. Wu Tie commanded the Wind and Cloud Banner, taking advantage of the moment the False Sun extinguished, the group silently returned to the original secret path without alerting the people of War Blade City.

"Woo woo!"

Yan Hanlu, dumped on a large cart, watched Wu Tie et al., and indeed they had newly opened a hundred‑li long passageway to evade War Blade City; she couldn't help but struggle vigorously.

These past days she has indeed suffered greatly, her heart full of resentment.

Now Wu Tie seems to want to take her away from War Blade City, away from the Yan family's territory; Yan Hanlu anxiously feels as if boiling oil were splashed on her.

Wu Tie walked up to Yan Hanlu's side, lowered his head to look at her all dirty, and gently shook his head.

"Miss Yan, I cannot let you go."

"Destroying your family's Origin Cave is a deadly feud; if you return to War Blade City and bring people to hunt us, wouldn't we be in trouble?" Wu Tie pointed at the ground: "Moreover, the existence of this secret path makes it impossible for you to return and spout nonsense."

Yan Hanlu glared at Wu Tie.

Wu Tie looked at her clear eyes and calmly said: "Take you back to Stone City… let Shi Meng decide how to deal with you. Shi Meng is not a bad person; he won't mistreat you."

After tightening the cloth gag stuffed in Yan Hanlu's mouth a bit more, Wu Tie waved his hand, and the large troop continued forward.

A line of rat‑people warriors stayed behind, carefully cleaning up the traces left by the group.

Almost at the same moment Wu Tie's party broke out of the desolate spot outside War Blade City, two Yan Family Elders, seven or eight Yan Family experts, and a group of Changsheng Sect experts, like stars surrounding the moon, accompanied Yu Mo to the entrance of the Origin Cave outside War Blade City.

"Miss Yu Mo, the Blazing Triple Tribulation Fruit you mentioned is deep in this mine cave…… that Origin Cave is the most vital lifeline of my Yan Family……"

Before Yu Mo could speak, a rather handsome Changsheng Sect follower snorted: "Cut the chatter, Miss Yu Mo, how noble you are, could you possibly take a fancy to your Yan Family's Origin Cave? Lead the way quickly; if you delay Miss Yu Mo's harvesting of the Blazing Triple Tribulation Fruit, you're all guilty of a capital crime!"

Yu Mo glared at this youth.

The handsome youth hastily bowed slightly, wearing a fawning smile toward Yu Mo: "Miss Yu Mo, you should hardly deal with these rustic locals; they're all extremely crafty, if you don't show them some toughness, they don't know what tricks they'll play..."

As they spoke, several Yan Family warriors had already entered the cave mouth, walking out dozens of meters downward.

Not knowing what they stepped on, they heard a booming "rumble", fire scattering, earth shaking, mountains trembling, and a stretch of passageway over a hundred meters long collapsed.

Several Yan Family warriors reacted extremely quickly; passageway collapses are commonplace; in this world, this era, any warrior with sufficient wilderness survival experience stays constantly alert to such things.

The explosion had just occurred; several Yan Family warriors swiftly rolled backward, clumsily dodging the falling boulders.

A large cloud of dust rushed out of the cave mouth, spraying Yu Mo and company from head to face.

"Ah?" Yu Mo slightly opened her mouth, foolishly staring at the dust‑filled cave mouth.

The two Yan Family Elders also froze, their bodies slightly trembling, how could this perfectly fine secret Origin Cave entrance collapse?

Normally no one comes in or out here, right?

The Yan Family, in order to guard the secret of the lower Origin Cave, fabricated many rumors.

For example, they said this place is merely an abandoned, worthless mine cave.

For example, they said inside there are many poisonous snakes and spiders; anyone who enters will die.

To match the rumors, they even deliberately killed many slaves in the tunnels, then threw out their gruesome corpses to intimidate.

No one randomly comes in or out here, and the surrounding rock layers are extremely stable; how could it suddenly collapse?

"No, the explosion sound just now was that of a specially crafted powerful mountain‑opening thunderbolt..."

A Yan Family Elder suddenly realized, he jumped up shouting.

The specially crafted powerful mountain‑opening thunderbolt is a tool most adeptly used by the Shi Family's miners to break stone and open mountains to seek veins.

The Shi Family's miners also possess a vexing skill: with just three or five mountain‑opening thunderbolts, they can easily collapse a mine tunnel.

This unique skill of the Shi Family is not unfamiliar to the Lu Family and the Yan Family.

Several Yan Family warriors, faces covered in dust, rushed out of the cave mouth, shouting: "Elder, it's the Shi Family people… they collapsed the passage."

The two Yan Family Elders looked at each other.

"Shi Family people? How could they appear here?"

"They're fine; why would they collapse our passageway?"

Suddenly the two Elders shouted in unison: "Not good, they… they… the Shi Family people have ambushed our Origin Cave!"

A vast blood mist rose in the direction of War Blade City; Zhu Zixi, worried about Yu Mo's safety, personally led a large troop over. Standing outside the collapsed cave mouth, Zhu Zixi, with a grim face, listened to several subordinates' reports; he waved his right hand, and a great expanse of Blood Light sprayed from his palm.

Zhu Zixi personally took action, moreover experts from the Yan Family and Changsheng Sect cooperated.

Wu Tie had Old Bai and those dwarves' along‑the‑way arrangements all broken; Zhu Zixi and company only needed a little over an hour to smoothly arrive inside the Origin Cave.

What a bleak Origin Cave.

All the Origin Grass had been pulled out clean, the original soil mixed with magma, thoroughly compacted.

The fire crocodile people warriors stationed here have vanished; where the Blazing Three Calamity Fruit trees were originally planted, only a large pit over two meters in diameter remains.

The entire Origin Cave is spotless, cleaner than a dog licking it.

Even the few bags that Ga Lu and his companions used to hold jerky were ordered taken away by the thrifty Lao Bai.

"What's going on?" Zhu Zixi glowered, looking at the Yan Family senior officials present.

"Shi Family... it must be the Shi Family... it's the Shi Family's revenge!" Several Yan Family elders shouted in panic: "A few days ago, we used Blazing Flame Gold-eating Ants to attack Stone City; we originally just wanted to warn those few Shi Family brats who dared oppose us... but we never expected..."

"Lawless... truly lawless!" The Yan Family elders wailed as if they had lost their parents: "Envoy, this really isn't our fault."

Zhu Zixi snorted coldly, squeezing out a few icy words from between his teeth: "Investigate thoroughly, track them down, I will personally take action... the Blazing Three Calamity Fruit is Yu Mo's opportunity; whoever dares to seize it... will die!"

Wu Tie and the others, in order to save distance, detoured around War Blade City; the newly opened hole in the rock wall was quickly discovered.

In the stone cavern where War Blade City is located, the number of fissures and openings in the surrounding rock walls has long been known clearly for countless years.

Suddenly, a huge opening appeared; not long after, the news was transmitted back to War Blade City.

Afterward, the passage behind the opening was also discovered; the Yan Family elder immediately determined that this was a channel opened by the divine ability 'Five Ding Open Mountain'.

In the Cangyan Realm, only the Giant Clan and the Shi Family, who possess the Giant Bloodline, could possibly cultivate the Five Ding Open Mountain divine ability. Without a doubt, this passage was opened by members of the Shi Family.

The passage entrance was found; under the Yan Family's all-out investigation, a hidden tunnel dozens of li away was searched and soon its concealed rock wall was opened.

Wu Tie and the others were retreating at full speed through the passage, while those gray dwarves skilled in using Opening Mountain Thunder laid various traps. If there were no pursuers, the traps would not trigger; if there were pursuers, these Opening Mountain Thunder explosives could bury thousands of enemies, and could also sever communications, making pursuit impossible.

Everyone felt that once they reached the hidden tunnel, they would naturally be safe.

Wu Tie also sat cross-legged on a large cart, swallowed a stalk of lava grass, silently cultivated his Mysterious Skill, and gradually accumulated magical power.

Strands of heaven-and-earth primordial energy gathered and, above Wu Tie's head, formed a hazy primordial energy vortex. Filament after filament of primordial energy continually poured down, entering his body through the crown of his head and transforming into threads of golden magical power.

The lava grass in his abdomen also exuded vigorous heat, transforming even faster than the surrounding primordial energy.

Threads of magical power exploded, turning into specks of golden light that merged throughout his body; Wu Tie could clearly feel his body gradually growing stronger, that solid, grounded feeling giving him a sense of inner clarity.

Hei Pi furtively glanced at the motionless, cross-legged Wu Tie, stuck out his long tongue and licked the corner of his mouth, then casually walked over to the large cart where Yan Hanlu was.

Back in the Origin Cave, everyone was busy eating lava grass to increase their strength; although Hei Pi had long harbored designs on Yan Hanlu, he had neither the time nor the mood to engage in such scheming.

But on the road back to the city, Hei Pi was not as diligent in his cultivation as Wu Tie, so he naturally could indulge in some pleasant pastimes.

He gave a "keke" laugh, Hei Pi slapped a paw onto Yan Hanlu's cheek, quickly glanced at the meditating Wu Tie, leaned close to Yan Hanlu's ear and whispered softly: "Little girl, don't move, don't cry... just obey, I only want to have a quick thrill."

"Hehe, let Uncle Wolf have a little fun, or else Uncle Wolf will gnaw off your head." Hei Pi opened his mouth, his yellowed fangs exposed, a bloody red tongue dripping saliva; the more frightening he looked, the scarier he was.

Yan Hanlu's expression changed; she wasn't afraid of Hei Pi gnawing off her head, but of something else.

Hei Pi silently grinned, reaching out to grab Yan Hanlu's chest; suddenly, the surroundings were simultaneously engulfed in bloody light.

At the rear of the troop, in the direction of War Blade City, the piercing bloody light surged like a sea**—accompanied by the sharp 'jiji' sound, a blood-colored skeleton filling the entire passage, with a diameter over a hundred meters, condensed from the bloody light.

The enormous blood-colored skeleton spat dazzling bloody flames from its eyes, the light illuminating the entire troop.

A terrifying suction spewed from the blood-colored skeleton's mouth; blood mist swirled at its lips into a huge blood-colored vortex.

The hundred-plus rat-person warriors in the rear couldn't even cry out; their bodies rapidly withered, vast blood mist jetting from their bodies and instantly sucked into the blood-colored vortex. With a 'papapa' sound, these rat-person warriors had all their blood plasma and moisture drained dry, their shriveled bodies collapsing to the ground and instantly exploding into gray ash.

"Enemy!" an iron dwarf snapped his head back, and in the bloody light he happened to witness the entire process of those rat-person warriors' deaths.

He bellowed hoarsely, just as he raised his battle axe, his body also rapidly withered away.

Within the troop, from rear to front, each warrior's body kept spewing blood mist; they opened their mouths but could emit no sound, their bodies rapidly withered into desiccated corpses, then collapsed heavily to the ground and exploded into gray dust.

The five giants clearing the way at the front of the troop simultaneously turned around, roaring as they seized their massive weapons and hurled them at the blood-colored skeleton.

Bloody light sprayed from the blood-colored skeleton's eyes onto the five massive weapons; the five heavy primordial weapons instantly turned into liquid and splattered down, spraying great sheets of fire across the ground.

Unpredictable, a hehe sound came from somewhere; Zhu Zixi stepped out from the center of the blood-colored skeleton's forehead, standing in a blood mist, looking down from above upon the entire troop.

"Where is the Blazing Three Calamity Fruit? Bring it out, so you can die a quick death!"

Zhu Zixi's gaze swept over the convoy; he waved his hand, and while the tightly bound Yan Hanlu and other Yan Family members on the cart suffered no harm, the warriors Wu Tie had brought alongside the cart frame collapsed one after another.

A terrifying aura filled the hidden tunnel; Wu Tie's body stiffened as he opened his eyes, watching helplessly as One-eyed Child and Iron 88 turned to ash before him.

In just a few breaths, Wu Tie's force was almost completely wiped out.