In the middle of this seemingly calm but actually extremely dangerous lake was a flat piece of land, protruding above the surface of the lake. A group of cultivators could be seen standing on the flat piece of land. Wen Shaoxiu and the others were amongst the cultivators there.
Additionally, they were in the midst of fighting one another. On one side were the cultivators from Heavenly Sword Faction while cultivators from Divine Demon Grotto were on the other side. Naturally, there were also some who simply watched the fight from the side. However, there was no way to tell how long they would stay neutral.
“River of Myriad Swords!”
Jian Zhikong found an opportunity to unleash his killer move and sword energy surged to form a raging river. It surged forward, destroying everything in its path.
A cultivator was struck and the river worked to disintegrate the struck parts of his body. Due to the impact, his whole figure fell into the lake, disappearing from sight with no more than a splash.
“Great Palm of the Divine Demon!”
Boom!
One of the palm techniques unleashed by the cultivators from Divine Demon Grotto struck a cultivator from Heavenly Sword Faction and he was sent flying towards the lake.
Sou!
Wen Shaoxiu was quick to react. His hand shot out and grasped, exerting a suction force to pull the cultivator back to land.
Bang!
However, the surface of the lake abruptly erupted as a fish monster burst out from the lake. A red light flashed out and the cultivator was instantly pulled into the fish monster"s mouth. Next, it dove back into the lake, disappearing from sight.
The incident caused the two opposing sides to promptly stop their attacks. They stopped going at each other and even the cultivators who were watching on the side lines began growing wary.
“Is it a yao beast? Everyone, be careful!”
“We cannot fly here while our soul power is greatly suppressed. We are unable to investigate what is happening inside the lake.”
“This is bad. The corrosive power of the lake"s water is too strong. It can corrode even Sacred artefacts. If we fall inside, we will surely die. Additionally, there are powerful monsters inside the lake. Heh! Looks like we will be dying here.”
“Not necessarily. We were teleported here. If so, there must be a way to survive. Most importantly, we should not be fighting each other right now. If there are any grudges, put it aside first. We must first deal with our current situation. We can fight to the death once we get out of here.”
“Yes, that will be for the best.”
After a brief discussion, Heavenly Sword Faction and Divine Demon Grotto decided not to fight each other for the time being. However, in other to avoid any accidents, they had decided to put some distance between each other.
There were presently eight cultivators on Heavenly Sword Faction"s side. Two were from the Qin and w.a.n.g Family. As for Divine Demon Grotto, they had nine cultivators. The neutral side had thirteen cultivators. Amongst all the cultivators there, only two were at level 9 of the Sky Human stage. The others were all at the half-step Human Immortal stage.
Seeing the two sides stop their battle, some of the cultivators on the neutral side secretly sighed. At any rate, other cultivators who were not on the same side as them were all potential compet.i.tors. The might of Heavenly Sword Faction and Divine Demon Grotto was great. Having these two forces fight to a mutually destructive end was the best result for them.
Sou!
One of the cultivators brought out a grade 9 Prized-tier flying sword and tossed it into the lake. A sizzling sound rang out and bubbles rose to the surface as the flying sword was dissolved. It was as though the lake"s water possessed the power to break apart everything.
“Even a Sacred artefact was corroded away earlier. What on earth were you thinking by throwing in a Prized artefact?” a cultivator said disdainfully.
“What do you know? Although the flying sword of mine is just a Prized artefact, it was forged using the incomparably durable Starfall Iron. In terms of toughness, even some Sacred artefacts are no match for it. However, this is quite a loss.”
“A low-grade Sacred artefact cannot endure it. What about a high-grade Sacred artefact?”
“Heh! Given how much remains unknown, even if someone here possesses a high-grade Sacred artefact, they will not bring it out. Besides, this place is very strange. Flight is restricted here. Additionally, there are other restrictive arrays in place as well. Who knows? Perhaps, not even those who possess high-grade Sacred artefacts can leave this place.”
“Who knows just how much thicker the malevolent energy inside the lake"s water is? To be able to survive inside, the fish monsters are not to be underestimated.”
“I find it strange. Since there are fish monsters inside this lake, why aren"t they attacking us?”
“Let me try.”
After saying that, one of the cultivators stepped forward to unleash a punch. A fist blast flew out to smash the surface of the lake, causing water to splash about. Water droplets scattered across the air before descending upon all of the cultivators there. Some failed to dodge in time and pieces of their flesh were corroded away. One of them suffered the worse fate and his entire arm was torn apart due to the lake"s water.
“You wanna die?!”
“Who told you to mess around?!”
“This lake"s water possesses a formidable corrosive effect! Are you a buffoon?!”
The cultivators who were struck by the water droplets rushed forward and began beating up the cultivator who unleashed the fist blast until he was badly wounded. If it weren"t for the persuasion from the others, the poor sod would have been killed.
“Hmm, at the very least, this proved something. Although the waters are very corrosive, they cannot corrode primary energy and energy blasts,” someone suddenly said.
Hearing that, everyone"s eyes lit up. That was true. Although they could not fly now, they were still cultivators with formidable cultivation bases and fleshly bodies. It was only natural for them to possess some means to travel across a lengthy distance without resorting to flight.
“Looks like we can try leaving this place.”
“Forget it. Better not take that risk. Let"s just wait and see.”
They began discussing the issue. Although they were trapped on the flat, island-like ground, it would appear that they would be in no danger by remaining immobile.
Due to that, none of them decided to take the lead, their anxiousness notwithstanding. However, there were also some who were contemplating it.
Sou! Sou! Sou!
One hour later, light shone from the ground and three more cultivators were teleported inside. When the three cultivators saw that there were so many cultivators here, they were shocked. After an inquiry, the others found out that the three cultivators were also inadvertently teleported here after entering the crack.
“It"s strange. Why is everyone teleported here?”
“Did someone secretly arrange this?”
“Hey, to have so many people get sent over, nothing good will surely come of this. Not to mention, this is a very dangerous place. I don"t care anymore. I must figure a way to leave this place.”
One of them was finally incapable of enduring it. His figure became like an arrow as he leapt forward, das.h.i.+ng out from the protruding flat ground.
Given the might of their fleshly bodies, they would have been able to easily leapt through several hundred metres in the outside world.
However, their situation was different. The restrictive arrays here were simply too strong, containing even the laws of s.p.a.ce. Thus, after leaping through ten or so metres, his figure began falling.
Bang!
The cultivator was already prepared for the sudden fall. His palm flew forward and water splashed about. The cultivator made use of the rebounding force of his palm attack to push himself forward yet again.
After vaulting through a short distance, he unleashed yet another palm blast. Again and again, his figure was pushed forward.
This was the same thing that cultivators at the Training Body and Energy stage, incapable of flight, would do when trying to cross a river. However, this cultivator"s energy and fleshly body was much stronger compared to those cultivators.
“All right. I"m almost out.”
The cultivators who remained at the centre of the lake observed the cultivator. They were all feeling apprehensive, wanting to see if he could make it out.
I fear it would not be that easy, Wen Shaoxiu thought.
There were many who shared Wen Shaoxiu"s opinion. So many of them were teleported here. If it were so easy to leave this place, what was the point of it?
Seeing himself approaching the outer ground area of the lake, the cultivator revealed a look of joy. A few more palm blasts and he would be able to leave.
Suddenly, something unexpected happened. A one-zhang-long vortex suddenly appeared above the calm surface of the lake. Pitch-black in colour, the vortex spun rapidly and anyone looking at it would feel somewhat dizzy.
Sou!
A suction force came out from it to easily pull the cultivator into itself. Next, the vortex disappeared and the surface of the lake returned to a calm state. Not a single ripple could be seen on it.
“Sii!”
“What was that earlier? A vortex?”
“Did a fish monster do that?”
“Err…”
Everyone was left dumbfounded. Although they had speculated that it would not be that easy to leave, that was beyond what they had expected.
“As expected, we cannot leave. However, that vortex is probably not the work of the fish monster. Perhaps, it is the work of the restrictive arrays here.”
“Humph! Let me give it a try!”
Suddenly, another cultivator stepped forward and hurled a spear out, which shot far ahead.
The vortex did not appear. Instead, a few cracks appeared across the s.p.a.ce there. Like threads flas.h.i.+ng out, the cracks sliced the spear into pieces and all of it fell into the lake.
“Looks like there is no way out.” Someone sighed.
“What is the point in trapping us here? To feed the fishes?”
“Maybe there is something on this piece of land?”
After realizing that they could not get out, they began turning their attention towards the piece of land that they were standing on, hoping to find something. However, most of them were quietly waiting, secretly resting themselves as they gathered their strength in order to deal with whatever might happen next.
“Don"t waste your strength. Just wait quietly. Since this place has gathered so many of us here, something else will surely happen,” Wen Shaoxiu said.
“I"m just worried that nothing else will happen,” Jian Zhikong said with a wry smile.
“This place restricts flight while the fish monsters inside the lake view us as preys. Additionally, there is also the mysterious human-eating vortex. Even our Teleportation Talismans are no longer working. If there is nothing else slated to happen, our spirit stones will be consumed sooner or later. Since we are incapable of absorbing the malevolent energy here, we can only wait for death to claim us.”
“It will take up to ten years for our spirit stones to be completely exhausted. By then, I would probably have broken through to the Human Immortal stage.”
Sou! Sou!
The s.p.a.ce there shook and light shone as two more figures were teleported over.
“This Ancient Battlefield of Immortal Humans is very big. Unexpectedly, so many cultivators would end up here. Looks like there is a mysterious power at play.” Someone speculated.
At that moment, Chen Feng and Jian Xiaotian were facing a slight problem.
The two of them were facing the siege from a flock of variant bats. Each of the bats was as big as a goshawk, its body completely black, s.h.i.+ning with a faint l.u.s.tre. Whenever they spread open their wings, sharp spikes would shoot forward, piercing through s.p.a.ce to attack Chen Feng and Jian Xiaotian.
Sporting sharp fangs and red eyes, they emanated a thick death energy from their bodies.
They were unlike the monsters that Chen Feng and Jian Xiaotian had encountered previously. Although their bodies also contained a high amount of malevolent energy, these bats possessed wisdom. Rather, they were quite clever, capable of utilizing combat tactics against Chen Feng and Jian Xiaotian.
1 zhang = 3.333 m