Chapter 1074: Chapter 118: Where in the World Is the Path to Immortality (80) — The Spirit of Contract
The long and winding mountain cave was filled with many people.
They were mostly members of the Management Bureau, along with Cang Jinshui and Qu Xinghe.
Cang Jinshui and Qu Xinghe were sitting cross-legged on the ground, trying to recover their strength—as the information shared with the four captains of the Management Bureau earlier revealed how challenging it was to enter this place.
Upon hearing the news of the heavy casualties among the elite members of the two associations of the Divine Land Supernatural Realm, the captains of the Management Bureau were instantly shocked.
They found it hard to imagine what kind of terrifying power could nearly annihilate both the Daoist and Yao Associations—especially after listening to Cang Jinshui’s detailed account, they felt a profound fear of Gaia.
Not long ago, when supporting Cang Jinshui and Qu Xinghe, they already witnessed Gaia’s prowess—if not for Hong Ling using the Meteorite God Bullet at the start, catching one Gaia off guard, the battle would have been even more grueling.
But according to Cang Jinshui, there were over a hundred such Gaia…
Ling Feng couldn’t help but secretly feel relieved—luckily, they hadn’t started extracting valuable resources here, or they might have been overwhelmed by Gaia’s hospitality, collectively singing a requiem.
At this moment, a team member quietly approached Ling Feng and the other four captains, shaking his head, “Still unable to contact headquarters; our signal is pletely cut off.”
“Understood. Go ahead and inventory our bat supplies,” Ling Feng nodded, gesturing for the team member to get to work.
“Ling Feng, according to Cang Jinshui, there’s a high chance we won’t be able to get out,” said the female captain Hong Ling, frowning, “Looks like you’ll need to write a few more reports!”
Captain Ling Feng let out a wry smile: “It’s not that I’m unwilling to use the Meteorite God Bullet; it’s just that even with it, we might not overe this crisis, and if anything happens…”
Just then, Ling Feng suddenly stopped talking and adopted a focused demeanor. Seeing this, the other three captains also turned serious.
At that moment, from deep within the sheltering cave, some strange noises started emanating—this disturbance soon alarmed Cang Jinshui and Qu Xinghe, who were recovering their strength, followed by the entire team of the Management Bureau.
“It seems something is ing out!” Captain Ling Feng raised his hand slightly.
In an instant, all the Management Bureau members grabbed their weapons and spread out, forming a semicircular formation… In the darkness, something seemed to be emerging from the depths of the cave.
Closer… Closer! It appeared to be a silhouette!
An overly tense member of the Management Bureau instinctively pulled the trigger of his special handgun loaded with a Talisman Bullet as the silhouette was about to reveal itself.
“Wait.” But Captain Ling Feng, with sharp eyes and swift hands, immediately pressed down the person’s wrist, “Something seems off!”
Finally, the silhouette was fully exposed in everyone’s sight—it was about two meters tall, but clearly not human!
It turned out to be a humanoid mechanical form!
It had strong limbs, but the legs were assembled in a reverse-joint manner… Its head seemed to have a smooth metal plate attached, with a black crystal in the center, a red light flickering within—this was probably its eye.
However, this humanoid metal machine seemed oblivious to everyone in the cave, walking straight past them… Everyone, tense and cautious, plastered themselves against either side of the cave as the metallic machine silently marched through.
Amidst their stunned bewilderment, another similar figure emerged from the darkness… Yet another identical humanoid metal machine appeared!
And there were more than just one!
From the depths of the cave, these peculiar humanoid metal machines began to emerge one after another, maintaining a certain distance, appearing one by one, in basic uniform speed.
In this bizarre situation, time seemed to pass very slowly—finally, when no more humanoid metal machines emerged from the depths of the cave, the captains regrouped and exchanged bewildered glances with Cang Jinshui and Qu Xinghe.
Shortly thereafter, they made a decision to quietly follow and see what these humanoid metal machines intended to do.
The path out of the mountain cave was very short.
Soon, the group found themselves outside the cave entrance, once again witnessing these humanoid metal machines—not straying far, but right there, performing actions that left the group perplexed.
A metal machine was stationed under a large tree, its finger joint extending a long needle that was inserted into the trunk, seemingly extracting something—not far away, another metal machine was doing the same.
Meanwhile, several other metal machines began to change and reorganize their legs, eventually transforming into cylindrical forms from which jets of air were ejected, propelling them into the air. Their arms opened and split, revealing numerous small nozzles, from which a fine mist sprayed out.
They moved continuously, the mist gently falling onto the virgin forest, like watering plants.
Some of the metal machines were even clearing weeds on the ground… each performing their role, none causing chaos.
“They’re like gardeners…”
It was unclear who said it… But this ment quickly brought an epiphany to everyone present—no wonder these metal machines ignored everyone.
They were probably programmed for forest management tasks.
“They came from inside…” Captain Ling Feng, now realizing, frowned with a puzzled look, “Could this place be something like their workstation’s entrance?”
“Captain? What do we do next?”
“Go inside and see,” Ling Feng took a deep breath, “There might be some clues about this place inside. Since these machines came out from there, there might be a munication system inside.”
The analysis from Captain Ling Feng was strongly agreed upon by Cang Jinshui and Qu Xinghe. So the group took advantage of the metal machines working outside as gardeners, and cautiously ventured deeper into the cave.
There was no danger along the way, and the group easily reached the end of the cave—where a huge metal door appeared deep inside the cave.
Since they didn’t know what dangers might lie within, two of the four captains led three team members to form an exploration team and were the first to pass through the metal door, while the rest stayed behind, ready to respond.
Although they couldn’t relay signals to the outside world, munication devices still worked in this place.
“We’ve pleted the passageway. No danger encountered. OVER!”
“Copy. OVER!”
Holding a walkie-talkie in one hand, while also receiving live images transmitted from a camera carried by one of the team members, the group gradually developed a direct understanding of the depths of the cave.
It looked just like countless scenes depicted in science fiction movies about the future world—or rather, even more advanced settings.
The camera panned, and before anyone could shake off the awe of this technological marvel, a large number of objects resembling cryogenic pods appeared in front of the camera.
As the camera moved closer, the voice of one of the captains echoed.
“These containers seem to be where those machines rest after going out? Additionally, inside the pods, we found several small mechanical arms that could potentially perform a certain level of maintenance on those machines. Also, there’s currently no danger detected. Maybe this place has no defense, or we simply haven’t triggered anything yet. OVER!”
“Copy. OVER!” Captain Ling Feng put down the walkie-talkie, frowning as he stared at the screen.
At the same time, the exploration team was gradually unveiling the mysteries of this place.
Someone discovered something that looked like a firearm, capable of emitting beams of light. After hitting the metal wall, it left traces of melting.
Others found many rod-like objects from racks that resembled tool stands, with several buttons on them. Pressing one button caused the rod to suddenly shoot out a meter-long, condensed light beam.
“This… this might be a kind of ‘Energy Condensation’ technology! Incredible, how could such a strong energy be fixed… is it through a magnetic field? I wonder how much technology is contained inside this rod… Ling Feng, in exploring this place, though it’s unbelievable, I feel as though I’ve stepped into an alien advanced civilization’s laboratory… OVER!”
“Continue exploring and try to locate control hubs or similar areas. If there’s danger, don’t hesitate; retreat immediately. OVER!”
As time passed, with the discovery of more astonishing technology, even Ling Feng was beginning to agree with what the captain said—could it really be a lab of some alien advanced civilization?
But just as everyone was intensely focused on the progress of the exploration team, a sudden scream from behind startled them!
This sudden change caused everyone to quickly turn around, only to see three small figures had appeared in the cave at some unknown time… mass-produced bat model, Gaia!
“Damn it!” exclaimed Cang Jinshui, his face changing instantly.
With the assistance of Qu Xinghe and under the support of the Management Bureau, they had barely managed to eliminate two of them—but they didn’t expect these entities to locate them so quickly, and even e in a group of three.
The one who let out the scream… was now lying on the ground, his chest bearing a terrifying wound as if pierced by intense heat, the wound emanating a charred smell.
A cold sweat silently slid down Captain Ling Feng’s forehead as he swallowed hard—and at that moment, a loud voice suddenly rang out beside him!
Hong Ling!
In that instant, without any hesitation, Captain Hong Ling fired a shot at one of the Gaia, using a clip loaded with Meteorite God Bullets!
However, Hong Ling’s unexpected shot failed to hit Gaia—it shifted its body a few centimeters in an instant, and the bullet whizzed past it, embedding into the rock wall!
Unwilling to give up, Hong Ling gritted her teeth, and flames spat out madly from the M16A4 she held!
Gaia, floating in mid-air, dodged continuously—the dim cave making them look like elusive specters, easily avoiding Hong Ling’s barrage—after an entire clip was emptied, none of the Gaia were hit.
Hong Ling was taken aback, fumbling to change the clip, but at that moment, one of the Gaia already charged toward her, raising a transforming red sharp blade!
“Hong Ling!” shouted Ling Feng, both shocked and terrified!
At that instant, Cang Jinshui charged forward, his vast demonic power transforming into a giant azure claw, striking at the Gaia attacking Hong Ling, halting its advance.
Upon seeing the person saving her was Cang Jinshui, a plicated expression flashed in Hong Ling’s eyes!
Cang Jinshui shouted, forcefully pressing his hands to the ground—at the same time, several pillars of light erupted from the ground, simultaneously sealing off the three Gaia.
Only hearing Cang Jinshui anxiously say, “The terrain here is disadvantageous for us! The power of their attacks is too terrifying! Quickly leave this place, I can only hold them for a short while!”
Among the Four Spirits Clan, the Azure Dragon Clan is the most adept at using sealing techniques—these azure light pillars were probably some sort of Taoist magic with the ability to restrict the enemy’s movements.
At that moment, the three Gaia within the light pillars were slowly moving, seemingly about to break free from them.
“What are you standing around for, go now!” shouted Cang Jinshui angrily.
Ling Feng also wanted to retreat… but thinking of the exploration team deep inside the cave, he hesitated—but his hesitation did not last long before turning into sheer terror!
Cang Jinshui suddenly spat out blood, and the light pillars vanished—within seconds, the three Gaia broke free!
“Unexpected!”
Cang Jinshui’s face suddenly changed with surprise.
Three Gaia simultaneously approached at this moment!
This made Cang Jinshui both shocked and angry, and he let out a roar, a large amount of azure scales instantly covering his body, ready for a tough fight.
However, just at that moment, the first Gaia’s body suddenly split open — a longsword appeared in front of Cang Jinshui’s eyes… along with a black-haired, scarf-wearing youth.
This youth, dressed in casual attire with a scarf, yet holding an ancient sword, gave a slight smile to Cang Jinshui before instantly turning around and hacking towards the other two Gaia!
So fast!
Cang Jinshui and Qu Xinghe were secretly horrified, thinking about how they could dodge such a seemingly simple blow if it were aimed at them.
Meanwhile, the two Gaia suddenly stopped, facing the youth’s attack, they seemed to take no action — the ancient sword easily chopped onto their bodies.
In less than a few seconds, the youth had already directly dealt with the three Gaia — leaving those like Cang Jinshui, who had fought hard with Gaia before, with indescribable feelings.
“Strange, how did these guys suddenly bee like wooden blocks, just like the ones before?”
After dealing with the three Gaia, the youth stood in place, rubbing his chin as if pondering something.
“May I ask, who are you?” Ling Feng, being the general leader of this expedition from the Management Bureau, had no choice but to brace himself and step forward, attempting to interact with the mysterious youth.
Upon hearing, the youth ruffled his hair, turned around, “Oh… sorry, sorry, was a bit lost in thought, are you all alright?”
“Ah…” Ling Feng subconsciously nodded.
But just then, the youth noticed the member of the Management Bureau who had been killed by Gaia initially, frowned, “One died… I’m really sorry. I think I should have been able to catch up, but I was delayed because I cleaned up some outside.”
“Outside?”
The youth nodded, “Yes, outside the cave. These three probably snuck in while I wasn’t paying attention.”
“Cleaned up…” Ling Feng looked slightly stunned at Captain Hong Ling, then at Cang Jinshui and Qu Xinghe, and finally back at the mysterious youth, swallowed and asked, “H-how many?”
“About seventy or eighty?” The youth thought for a moment, casually said, “Didn’t count carefully.”
About… seventy or eighty?
Why don’t you ascend to heaven!!
“Hong Ling… does the Dao Association have such a figure?” Ling Feng quietly asked Hong Ling at this time — this youth wielded an ancient sword, and he didn’t appear to be from the demon race.
Hong Ling shook her head blankly.
As everyone was terrified of the youth’s terrifying strength, the youth suddenly spoke, “It’s good that you’re alright, start preparing to leave this place.”
“Leave?” Cang Jinshui’s eyes lit up at this moment, and he quickly said, “Do you know the way out of here?”
“I don’t exactly know how to leave.” The youth shrugged, “But there are ways to get you out.”
Still, at this moment, Qu Xinghe remained cautious — despite the mysterious youth’s terrifying strength, the group didn’t know him. She hesitated for a moment, then spoke boldly, “Why should we trust you?”
The youth listened and appeared slightly troubled, just as he was about to speak, an elderly voice sounded from behind him.
“Mister Da Zhe, let me handle this.”
An elderly white-haired man came over slowly, alongside him was an exceptionally robust man.
“Daoist Bai Jie… and, Huang Baifu!” Cang Jinshui and Qu Xinghe both exclaimed.
“Greetings, real sect master!” From the crowd, Hong Ling quickly stepped out, bowed her head towards Daoist Bai Jie — she had once been sent to Kunlun for training, carrying the identity of a Kunlun disciple.
Ling Feng and Hong Ling now had a slight change of expression — Daoist Bai Jie was of high virtue, and Huang Baifu was known as the strongest among the young generation in the Divine Land Monster Race, bringing some reassurance to their hearts.
“Time is short, listen to me first.” Daoist Bai Jie came to the front of everyone, “Everyone, I found a way out, but time is urgent. I hope everyone can leave now.”
“Daoist Bai Jie, how e you are with Huang Baifu?” Cang Jinshui frowned, “And found a way out… did you discover anything during our time apart?”
Daoist Bai Jie glanced at Cang Jinshui, Huang Baifu… Wang Hu snorted coldly, “Cang Jinshui, if you’re told to leave, just leave, why so much nonsense! I’m telling you, there’s only one chance, if you don’t take it, don’t blame us if you can’t leave!”
“Huang Baifu, you!!”
“Cang Jinshui, do you believe I’ll beat you like your old man and hang you on a pillar so you can’t e down?” Wang Hu sneered, clenching his fists, walking towards Cang Jinshui.
“Try it!”
Cang Jinshui’s eyes gleamed with a devouring divine light, a pair of short horns suddenly sprouting atop his head, his entire demonic power boiling, his aura surging wildly for a moment.
“Heh… it’s a pretty good stance, but I wonder how many punches you can take from me?”
Wang Hu continued to sneer… damn it, after ing into this place and facing multiple encounters that he couldn’t beat, he finally met someone he could definitely defeat, how touching!
“Stop arguing!” Daoist Bai Jie now widened his eyes and spoke in a deep voice, “We have already suffered heavy casualties. Do you really want to engage in internecine slaughter in this dangerous place? The time to leave is limited. I don’t want to see any more casualties… Listen, this time the vitality of our Shenzhou Dao and Yaoworld is severely damaged, and you truly want to see the plete fall of Shenzhou Dao and Yaoworld to feel at ease?”
After all, he was an elder with higher status than anyone present, the president of the Shenzhou Dao Association, and the sect master of Kunlun, a title that indeed could suppress Wang Hu’s arrogance and Cang Jinshui’s anger.
“Daoist is right.” Qu Xinghe’s sharp gaze swept among everyone and finally paused on Da Zhe, “Indeed, leaving is necessary, but Daoist, won’t you introduce this expert to us?”
“If there’s an opportunity, I’ll explain it to you clearly.” Daoist Bai Jie took a deep breath, “I will soon open up the path for you to leave… Next, there are some who are lost and possibly in danger, I must find them quickly.”
“Centennial Tribulation Leader.” Captain Ling Feng suddenly spoke, “Is the time really so rushed? This place…”
But before he could finish speaking, Daoist Bai Jie interrupted, “Ling Feng, old man knows your thoughts… However, I advise you not to have designs on this place… Although unpleasant to hear, this place is not one that you or even the country behind you can touch.”
Ling Feng frowned, “Because of these weapon-like young girls? But, we don’t lack a chance… This individual.”
He simultaneously looked at Da Zhe.
“Ling Feng, oh Ling Feng, whether to call you loyal or foolish.” Daoist Bai Jie gave a bitter smile, then his voice sank, “I’ll say it again, leave immediately!”
Captain Ling Feng remained silent.
Hong Ling simply looked over silently, and eventually, Captain Ling Feng sighed, “Since the Centennial Tribulation Leader has spoken to this extent, I have no choice but to ply… However, I will not conceal what happened here and hope Daoist Bai Jie can personally visit the Management Bureau afterwards and explain it well to our old leaders… so as not to put me in a difficult position. But some of our people went inside, it will take some time for them to e out.”
“I will… If there is an opportunity, I will.” Daoist Bai Jie nodded. “Get your men out as soon as possible.”
Captain Ling Feng nodded and walked over to a member of his team, whispered, “Tell them to e out immediately… but have them bring as much out from inside as possible, say it’s an order.”
The team member was taken aback but quickly understood, nodded, and hurriedly ran towards the back.
At this moment, Da Zhe leisurely walked in front of Wang Hu, who was at odds with Cang Jinshui, big eyes glaring at small eyes, and curiously asked, “Brother, why do they call you Huang Baifu?”
Wang Hu was momentarily stunned, then said with a stiff face, “Huang Baifu is my real name.”
“Oh, I see.” Da Zhe nodded, then asked again, “Then Wang Hu?”
“This… this.” Wang Hu… Huang Baifu whispered, “Stage name!”
Da Zhe nodded again, then rubbed his chin, “Hmm… Huang Baifu’s name is a bit awkward, you should continue being called Wang Hu, let’s happily settle it like this!”
I’m the dignified Young Master Bai Hu, Huang Baifu!
“Hmm, I also think Wang Hu is a good name, I’ll call myself that henceforth.”
…
Soon, the exploration team returned with puzzled faces.
This was when Daoist Bai Jie looked at Da Zhe and said solemnly, “You can open the passage now.”
“OK!” Da Zhe nodded, the Zhan Lu Sword in his hand made a swipe forward, tearing open a rift in the air—a rift that quickly opened, revealing a distorted space.
“Everyone, leave now.” Daoist Bai Jie said solemnly, “Remember, never return here again!”
Though Daoist Bai Jie was very serious, the question arose—who would enter the twisted space first?
Everything had e too suddenly.
But just then, footsteps were heard outside the cave… A black-haired young man walked in slowly.
Upon the arrival of the black-haired young man, the face of Daoist Bai Jie changed slightly, while Da Zhe quietly stood beside the young man.
Luo Qiu.
“Boss Luo?” Daoist Bai Jie frowned and called.
“Mr. Daoist, sorry.” Luo Qiu said calmly, “Not everyone here might be able to leave… Among them are those outside your required range, neither belonging to Shenzhou Dao Realm nor to Shenzhou Yaoworld.”
“This…” Daoist Bai Jie was momentarily stunned, frowning, “Among these people are many who have trained in sects of the Dao Realm or been sent to various major demon races for training. They can be considered half Dao and half Yaoworld people!”
“Their training can only be regarded as exchange students, not essentially belonging.” Luo Qiu spoke calmly, “Not belonging is not belonging, out of contract.”
“Boss Luo, do you really need to make such a clear distinction? For you, opening the passage is just a small effort!”
“Contract spirit.” Luo Qiu shook his head, “Both you and I need to ply, therefore… my apologies.”
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