Chapter 760: Fleeing in Panic

What was that sound?

Everyone’s expression changed drastically. A single roar had severely injured a Martial Sovereign at the Peak of Tier Eight Second Layer and shaken the spirit of a Tier Eight Third Layer Martial Sovereign. This was completely beyond their imagination.

‘A High Tier Martial Emperor. At least at the level of a High Tier Martial Emperor.’

Having witnessed that level of power before, Ye Xuan was secretly shocked.

Princess Qing’s expression also shifted slightly. Hailing from the Moon God Palace, her worldly knowledge and experience far surpassed that of Xiao Wuji and the others. She could naturally sense the power contained within that roar.

“BOOM!”

Just then, a violent roar echoed from the bottom of the pitch-black abyss. A figure, drenched in blood, shot upward, carrying with it a monstrous, world-shaking pressure.

When this pressure washed over them, Ye Xuan and the others immediately felt as if a great mountain was pressing down on them, making it difficult to breathe.

An expert capable of making them feel this way had to be a Nine Heavens Martial Emperor.

But at this moment, this Nine Heavens Martial Emperor was covered in blood, a look of terror on his face. He was in a pathetic state, and one of his arms was missing. Like a cannonball, he slammed into the abyss’s rock wall.

CRASH!

A large chunk of rock crumbled away, revealing a tunnel within. The Nine Heavens Martial Emperor spat out a mouthful of blood, his body riddled with wounds, yet he seemed completely unaware of them.

“Devil! Devil!”

He cried out in a terrified whisper, instantly darting into one of the tunnels and vanishing in the blink of an eye. He was like a frightened rabbit, utterly terrified.

For a magnificent Nine Heavens Martial Emperor to be in such a state of panic left Ye Xuan and the others in disbelief.

What in the world was at the bottom of this abyss to drive a Nine Heavens Martial Emperor into such a frantic state?

SWOOSH! SWOOSH!

At that moment, two more figures shot out from the abyss.

These two had ethereal movements; they were actually twins. Their figures were like ghostly shadows, never separating for a moment. But they also looked battered and terrified, rushing out in a panic, though they were in much better shape than the previous Martial Emperor.

The moment they emerged, they made to rush into a tunnel, their expressions filled with alarm.

Princess Qing hurriedly called out, “Seniors Twin Martial Emperors, please wait.”

“Hmm?”

The two Martial Emperors glanced at Princess Qing in alarm and asked in confusion, “Princess Qing, as the Holy Daughter of the Moon God Palace, what are you doing here?”

Before he could finish, the other Martial Emperor cut him off, saying urgently, “Princess Qing, you need to get out of here right now! Many ancient experts have suddenly awakened at the bottom of the abyss. It’s a catastrophe! The Martial Emperors who went into the abyss have suffered heavy casualties; it’s a near-certain death. If you little ones don’t leave now, it’ll be too late. My brother and I will be taking our leave.”

With that, without waiting for Princess Qing’s reply, the two Martial Emperors transformed into two streaks of light, vanishing into one of the tunnels before them.

Princess Qing’s expression was one of horror.

These two Martial Emperors were twin brothers with astonishing talent. Known in the Profound Domain as the Twin Martial Emperors, she had met them once before.

Although both brothers were ordinary First Layer Martial Emperors, their minds were linked. When they joined forces, they could unleash power far greater than the sum of their parts. Even an ordinary Martial Emperor at the Peak of First Layer would not necessarily be their match.

Yet now, these two were fleeing this place in such terror, not daring to linger even for a moment. It was clear how terrifying their fear was.

Princess Qing’s heart grew cold. It seemed that something truly astounding had happened at the bottom of the abyss.

Moreover, from the Twin Martial Emperors’ words, it was clear that many of the Martial Emperors who had entered the abyss had suffered heavy casualties and were more likely dead than alive.

This news caused a flicker of worry in Xiao Wuji’s heart. He said nervously, “My Xiao family’s ancestor is down there. Nothing could have happened to him, right?”

As soon as he said this, the expressions of everyone from the Xiao family changed dramatically.

Xiao Wuji didn’t hesitate. He immediately took out a communication jade slip and tried to contact the ancestor, Xiao Jingteng. But no matter how he tried, the jade slip remained completely silent.

“This is bad.” The worry on Xiao Wuji’s face deepened. He quickly tried to activate the imprint left on him by the ancestor, but to his despair, the imprint showed no reaction either.

“This is impossible!”

Xiao Wuji’s face was pale, ashen with despair.

The ancestor was a Nine Heavens Martial Emperor, a master of the void. With the Martial Emperor imprint to communicate, he could descend upon them even from thousands of miles away. But now, even though the old master was clearly at the bottom of this very abyss, there was no response no matter how he activated the imprint. Xiao Wuji couldn’t help but feel a sense of dread.

“I’m afraid your Xiao family’s ancestor has already met with a mishap.”

Ye Xuan, knowing what was on Xiao Wuji’s mind, suddenly spoke.

“What?” Xiao Wuji trembled and muttered, “The ancestor’s cultivation is unparalleled. How could he have met with a mishap? No, that’s impossible. Absolutely impossible.”

Xiao Wuji continued to mutter, and although he didn’t want to believe Ye Xuan’s words, he knew deep down that what Ye Xuan said was most likely the truth.

Ye Xuan didn’t have time to comfort Xiao Wuji. He said in a serious tone, “Patriarch Xiao, regardless of your ancestor’s current situation, all of you must leave through the tunnels immediately and get away from this place.”

Xiao Wuji was taken aback. “What about you?”

From Ye Xuan’s words, it seemed he wasn’t planning to leave with them.

Ye Xuan said calmly, “I still have some things to do. I must stay for a while longer.”

“But…”

Ye Xuan persuaded, “Patriarch Xiao, you don’t need to worry about me. I’ll be fine. However, if you return to your family and I haven’t made it back yet, I hope Patriarch Xiao can offer my business some protection.”

“Young Master Ye, rest assured. You saved both our lives. As long as the Xiao family stands, your Profound Light Pavilion will surely be safe,” Xiao Wuji and Xiao Canglan said firmly.

Seeing that Ye Xuan was determined not to leave, Xiao Wuji and the others didn’t insist. They quickly turned into streaks of light and disappeared into the tunnel.

“Princess Qing, you’re not thinking of staying behind too, are you?” Ye Xuan glanced at the motionless Princess Qing and said flatly, “Even Nine Heavens Martial Emperors can’t survive here. Though your talent is astonishing, there’s no point in you staying. If you want to help, you’d be better off leaving immediately and reporting this to the Profound Domain. The Ninth Heaven will naturally send powerful experts to descend and suppress this place.”

Princess Qing gave Ye Xuan a cold look. “And you think you’ll be useful if you stay?”

Ye Xuan replied calmly, “This young master has some minor attainments in Arrays, so I’d like to study them for a while.”

Princess Qing bit her lip. As the Holy Daughter of the Moon God Palace, her status was noble. Wherever she went, she was treated as a favored daughter of the heavens.

But Ye Xuan was blunt and dismissive with her, which annoyed her greatly.

However, her status was high. The only reason she regarded Ye Xuan differently was because he had once saved her and was able to expel that evil Demonic Qi. Now that Ye Xuan had said as much, Princess Qing naturally wouldn’t stay.

Besides, she also knew that Ye Xuan was right. With her cultivation level, it would be useless for her to stay. It was better to quickly notify the higher-ups in the Profound Domain and have them send experts.

‘This guy wants to play the hero, so let him. Once he suffers for it, he’ll realize his own foolishness.’

Princess Qing snorted coldly and quickly transformed into a streak of light, leaving the tunnel.

After Princess Qing left, Ye Xuan carefully examined the entire tunnel.

With his prior experience at the altar, Ye Xuan had a vague guess about these tunnels branching out from the abyss.

He placed his right hand on the cold rock wall of the tunnel, silently sensing for something.

“This is… It’s just as I thought…”

After a long moment, he suddenly opened his eyes, a look of horror within them.

His hands formed seals, and he rapidly executed a series of Hand Skills. Fueled by his Profound energy, they sank into the tunnel’s rock wall.

BUZZ!

Faint runic imprints instantly appeared on the rock wall, shimmering faintly. These imprints were extremely blurry, but they radiated a vast and majestic aura that left even Ye Xuan, a Ninth-level Array Master in his previous life, feeling dazzled and suppressed.

‘What terrifying array runes.’

Ye Xuan was greatly surprised. Just what kind of Array could produce such frightening runes?

Ye Xuan had always been curious. The tunnels here were numerous, tangled and crisscrossed in a chaotic and irregular manner, not at all like what a proper tunnel system should look like.

At this moment, he finally understood why.

These long tunnels, spread throughout the underground, weren’t tunnels at all. They were a massive Array, an Array that covered the entire subterranean area.

Each tunnel was a single line in the Array. The dense network of tunnel-lines formed an immeasurably vast Trapping Array, sealing this entire land of ancient demons.

And the core source of this Array was the abyss itself.

This showed that there must be something terrifying at the bottom of the abyss.

At this moment, Ye Xuan also finally understood why every rock here was comparable to a Tier Six material and had excellent penetrability for one’s Profound Sense. Since they were the materials making up this grand Array, they naturally couldn’t be ordinary rocks.

‘What exactly is sealed in this land of ancient demons? To think it would contain such a massive seal and Trapping Array.’

Ye Xuan had never seen such a large Array. The manpower and resources required for such a grand Array would likely be impossible to muster, even with the full might of the current continent.

Just as Ye Xuan was reeling in shock, a series of booming sounds of something tearing through the air came from above the abyss.

Ye Xuan looked up and saw a number of Martial Sovereigns flying down from above the abyss in a sorry state, their faces filled with terror, their bodies covered in blood, all in a state of utter panic.

When these people saw the tunnels at the edge of the abyss, looks of wild joy appeared on their faces as they frantically darted inside.

‘It’s the people from the altar earlier. Hmm? Yu Chi Bugong and his men actually escaped too, and the people from the Long family as well.’

Ye Xuan, standing at the tunnel entrance, was secretly surprised.

And just as he saw Yu Chi Bugong, Yu Chi Bugong’s gaze happened to turn his way, their eyes meeting in an instant.

However, the current Yu Chi Bugong was clearly in no mood to cause trouble for Ye Xuan. He led a few elders from the Yuchi family and fled frantically into the tunnel.