Chapter 557: Falling into a Trap

The reason there were so many spiritual herbs in this canyon was that a Spirit-Gathering Formation had been set up here. Although this place was not particularly difficult to find, people would come here every time the Heaven-Reaching Tower opened.

However, three hundred years had passed since the last opening, which was enough time for most of the spiritual herbs inside to mature. Song Song Qingming and his group happened to arrive a step early this time, which was why they were able to pick up this bargain.

"Fellow Daoist Zhao, shall we head directly to the third level next, or stay on the second level for a while to search for spiritual items?" After distributing these spiritual herbs, the still-excited True Person Qingluo asked another question.

"Hehe, those who have entered the second level by now must all be experts at the late-stage Golden Core or Nascent Soul stages. I reckon they wouldn't look down on the spiritual items on this level. Now that they are all trying to find ways to reach the third level, it is a great opportunity for us to search for treasures here." As soon as True Person Qingluo finished speaking, Jin Wu Ziyuan immediately smiled and expressed his thoughts.

Regarding Jin Wu Ziyuan's suggestion, Zhao Zhao Menglian also nodded and said, "Junior Brother Jin's words are very reasonable. There are far fewer teleportation arrays from the second level to the third level. If we go looking for a teleportation array now, I'm afraid we might run straight into those experts who are in a hurry to reach the third level. Let's wait two days before going up.

Besides, everyone just saw that third-tier spiritual items can also be found on this second level. Why should we abandon what is near to seek what is far and be in such a hurry to go to the third level!"

Having seen two third-tier spiritual items here with their own eyes, the group naturally agreed with Zhao Zhao Menglian's statement and immediately nodded in agreement.

Although Song Song Qingming really wanted to go to the third level immediately, Zhao Zhao Menglian was also quite right. At this time, I am afraid that some Nascent Soul old monsters are still on their way to the third level. It is really too dangerous to rashly go looking for a teleportation array; it would be safer to wait a little longer.

The Heaven-Reaching Tower opens for at least a month each time. For Song Song Qingming, he is indeed not in a hurry for these one or two days. The main reason for coming to the "Heaven-Reaching Tower" this time is to see if he can find some useful spiritual items and opportunities. Naturally, he does not want to lose his life here. Regardless, being cautious is always better.

After the group discussed it, they set off directly, following the original path to walk out of this Spirit-Gathering land that produced abundant spiritual herbs, and then flew upward from the canyon, wanting to go to other places to search for spiritual items.

After this gust of yin wind surrounded Song Song Qingming and the others, its power increased by a few points in an instant, directly blowing the group slowly toward the pitch-black land on the other side of the canyon.

At this moment, the group in the yin wind also felt that something was wrong. This strange yin wind that appeared suddenly seemed to be controlled by someone, wanting to roll them all into that piece of darkness.

Seeing this, the others immediately released a defensive barrier one after another, wanting to block the suction force of this strange yin wind.

"Fellow Daoists, we are all cultivators from the Xiaoyao Sect of the Wei State. We have no grievances with you all. There is no need to come here to cause trouble for us over a few second-tier spiritual herbs!"

Just as the six of them had reached mid-air, a gust of cold, fierce wind suddenly struck from both sides of the canyon, catching the group off guard and making it difficult for them to stand steady.

Just as the six of them were preparing to rush out of this yin wind immediately, several bursts of wild laughter suddenly came from above their heads. Following closely, four Golden Core cultivators wrapped in black robes jumped down from above and blocked the path of the group who wanted to escape.

Although she knew that the other party had gone to such great lengths to set up a trap here, they were definitely not here with good intentions, but Zhao Zhao Menglian still calmly brought up her identity as a member of the Xiaoyao Sect to see if she could make peace with them.

However, apart from the three with higher cultivation bases—Zhao Zhao Menglian, Yun Yun Xinxue, and Jin Wu Ziyuan—who could handle it relatively easily, the two early-stage Golden Core cultivators, True Person Qingluo and Zhang Zhang Tieyang, clearly lacked a bit of magic power and could only release a defensive magic treasure to stop their backward steps.

"Not good! This wind is a bit wrong. It seems someone has set up a formation here. Everyone, quickly find a way to rush out first! It will be troublesome if we are sucked over!"

Seeing these four mysterious black-robed people, Zhao Zhao Menglian and the others were shocked. It seemed that they had already been discovered when they were breaking the restrictions below, which was why the other party had specifically set up a trap here waiting for them to come up.

"Haha, you all must have obtained quite a few good things down below, right? We arrived a step late. I wonder if we can have a share of the spoils now?"

Although Song Song Qingming was also at the third layer of the Golden Core stage, he performed slightly better than the two of them. After displaying the Profound Light Armor he had cultivated for many years, plus a Five Elements Shield spell he obtained after switching to the "Five Elements Profound Gang Art," he did not feel too much pressure.

After feeling the power of this yin wind, Zhao Zhao Menglian released a magic power barrier to stabilize her figure and hurriedly issued a warning to everyone.

Among the four black-robed people in front of them, three had cultivation bases that had reached the mid-stage of the Golden Core, and the remaining one was an early-stage Golden Core cultivator. Their strength did not actually look very strong.

If this were at any other time, Zhao Zhao Menglian and the others would certainly not fear the other party, but at the moment, the group had been restrained by a trap set by the other party, consuming quite a bit of their magic power. Wanting to defeat the other party head-on might not be as easy as it would be under normal circumstances.

When Jin Wu Ziyuan and the others saw those black-robed people, although they were extremely angry in their hearts, the situation now seemed somewhat unfavorable to their side. Standing behind Zhao Zhao Menglian, they could only temporarily endure and not act.

"Hehe! We indeed have no grievances with you all. However, since we arrived a step late, we can't go back empty-handed, right? Fellow Daoists might as well consider handing over the storage bags on your bodies. That way, we can also guarantee that we will not make things difficult for you all anymore!"

"Hmph! What big words! If you want the storage bags, that depends on whether you have the ability!" Seeing that the other party had no intention of making peace at all, Zhao Zhao Menglian did not hold any more expectations and directly took out her magic treasure, taking the initiative to kill toward the other party.

Jin Wu Ziyuan and the others on the side had also long wanted to have a great battle with the other party. Without too much hesitation, they each took out their magic treasures and rushed toward the other party.

Seeing that the other party had torn off their masks so quickly, these four black-robed people were not surprised at all. After letting out a few light laughs at the group, they also each began to take out their own magic treasures to face the enemy.

One of the black-robed people standing in the front took out a pitch-black scroll, then cast a spell to draw out a burst of black mist, summoning from within a strange object with the head of an ox and the body of a human, which also carried a mass of black flames on its body.

"Everyone, be careful! These people are demonic cultivators!" Seeing the magic treasures and moves used by the other party, which were all somewhat strange, Zhao Zhao Menglian immediately recognized the identity of these black-robed people in front of her.

Hearing that the other party might be demonic cultivators, Song Song Qingming and the others also revealed a trace of surprise. No wonder these people had always been wrapped in black robes and dressed so mysteriously; it turned out they were people of demonic cultivator origin.

Although they had long heard that every time the Heaven-Reaching Tower opened, there would be demonic cultivators coming in to fish in troubled waters, Song Song Qingming and the others did not expect that they would run into these demonic cultivators so quickly after coming in. They could not help but have a new understanding of the dangers in the Heaven-Reaching Tower.

Righteous cultivators of the human race and demonic cultivators have always been sworn enemies. Whether it is here or outside, there is no reason to let the other party go. Once falling into the hands of the other party, the result is inevitably worse than death. Knowing the identity of the other party as demonic cultivators, Song Song Qingming and the others now completely abandoned any other thoughts; there was only one battle to be fought.

Although the ox-headed monster that appeared on the side of the demonic cultivators was only a spiritual body summoned out, the pressure on its body was already no less than that of an early-stage Golden Core cultivator. As soon as it was summoned, it fiercely pounced toward Zhang Zhang Tieyang, who had the lowest cultivation base, and its strength was not weaker than his.

True Person Qingluo faced the early-stage Golden Core demonic cultivator with the lowest cultivation base. Although his strength was slightly stronger than the other party's, because of the restriction of the formation, True Person Qingluo did not immediately gain the upper hand after the two clashed.

Zhao Zhao Fenglian and Yun Yun Xinxue faced a mid-stage Golden Core demonic cultivator with a cultivation base similar to theirs, respectively. The last remaining sixth-layer Golden Core demonic cultivator was faced by Song Song Qingming and Jin Wu Ziyuan together.

After the two sides fought in the canyon for a while, although the demonic cultivator side was slightly in the upper hand overall, Song Song Qingming and the others did not show any signs of defeat.

The demonic cultivator side also knew that dragging on with the other party here for too long would definitely be unfavorable to them once other cultivators were attracted.

Seeing that they could not take down the other party, the two mid-stage Golden Core demonic cultivators with the highest cultivation bases looked at each other, then each took out a small formation flag and spat a mouthful of essence blood onto it. Under their joint spellcasting, they increased the power of the yin wind formation behind the group.

Another mid-stage Golden Core demonic cultivator also took out a black scroll similar to the previous one and summoned another tiger-headed monster with strength similar to the previous ox-headed monster, increasing the attack on Zhang Zhang Tieyang.

"Junior Brother Song, fighting like this is unfavorable to us. Leave this person to me first. You quickly find a way to go down and destroy the formation they set up first, otherwise, I'm afraid none of us will be able to hold on for too long."

Feeling that the yin wind restraining the group had increased by a few points, Jin Wu Ziyuan also knew that the situation on all battlefields had started to look a bit bad, so he decisively transmitted his thoughts to Song Song Qingming beside him.

Song Song Qingming naturally understood this point in his heart. After hearing Jin Wu Ziyuan's voice transmission, he immediately changed direction and rushed directly toward the dark place in the rear.

After fighting with the other party for so long, Song Song Qingming had already detected the location of the core of this formation, which was roughly below that dark area. As long as he could get close to there, he would have a way to break this great formation.

"Brat, where are you going!"

Seeing Song Song Qingming suddenly leave the battlefield and rush directly toward that side following the suction force in the darkness, the demonic cultivator who was entangled with Yun Yun Xinxue also detected a trace of something wrong and immediately controlled the tiger-headed monster he had summoned, which was attacking Zhang Zhang Tieyang, to quickly chase after Song Song Qingming.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 558 =====