295: imprisoned

There was no conversation along the way.

The Gray-Robed Woman led the way, with Bai Youli following behind, while Lu Chen, controlled by an invisible force, floated in the middle.

The three of them silently traversed the charred and desolate mountain forests on the outskirts of the Thunder Roar Ruins, where the faint sound of thunder echoed from time to time.

The only sounds were the faint crunching of gravel and withered branches underfoot, amidst an oppressive silence.

Lu Chen's eyes were slightly closed, leaving only a sliver of divine light, as most of his consciousness sank into his body.

Aided by the cool energy continuously channeled by Qing Yi, he focused entirely on regulating his breathing.

He slowly and steadily repaired his damaged Divine Soul and attempted to re-organize the sluggish mana within his body.

After an unknown amount of time, the Gray-Robed Woman leading them stopped before an unremarkable, charred ancient tree that seemed to blend perfectly into its surroundings.

She seemed extremely familiar with the place, taking a gray medallion from her robes and pressing it against the rough bark.

The moment the medallion touched the trunk, ripples of gray light spread out silently like waves on water.

Immediately after, the ancient tree, thick enough to require several people to encircle it, began to stir like a reflection in water.

It began to twist and blur, finally vanishing into the air as if it had never existed.

In its place was a dark cavern entrance that extended inward, unfathomably deep and emitting a faint, cold aura.

The Gray-Robed Woman stepped into the darkness without the slightest hesitation.

Lu Chen had no choice but to follow, floating inside under the control of that gentle yet freezing force.

Bai Youli walked last, and once her graceful figure vanished into the darkness...

...the air outside the entrance rippled again, and the image of the ancient tree shifted from blurry back to clear, returning to its original state and perfectly concealing the entrance.

Behind the entrance was a long, dim passage that sloped downward.

The walls appeared to be natural rock that had been roughly smoothed, and the ground was relatively level.

The only faint light seemed to come from the dismal phosphorescence emitted by certain moss-like plants on the rock walls, barely enough to see one's footing.

In the silence, only the Gray-Robed Woman's slightly unsteady footsteps and Bai Youli's nearly inaudible, light steps echoed, adding a touch of mystery.

After walking for about the time it takes an incense stick to burn, a heavy stone door appeared at the end of the passage.

The surface of the stone door was rough, blending almost seamlessly with the rock walls; it would have been extremely difficult to spot without being right in front of it.

The Gray-Robed Woman once again produced the gray medallion and pressed it into an inconspicuous indentation in the center of the stone door.

"Click... Creak..."

A low sound of gears turning rang out as the heavy stone door slowly swung inward, revealing a brighter light from within.

Beyond the stone door was a fairly spacious natural cave that had been artificially modified, with several beads embedded in the ceiling emitting a soft white light to illuminate the interior.

Over a dozen people stood in the cave, all dressed in gray or black clothing with cold auras; they were clearly People of the You Clan.

"We respectfully welcome the Holy Lord's return!"

Seeing the stone door open, the dozen or so people bowed in unison, their voices echoing through the cave in perfect harmony.

However, there was an indescribable stiffness within that uniformity.

Then, without almost any pause, the dozen or so people bowed again.

Their voices seemed slightly higher in pitch than before, carrying a hint of instinctive awe:

"We respectfully welcome Elder Bai!"

Even though Lu Chen was an outsider with a damaged Divine Soul and unrecovered senses, he could clearly feel the subtle difference between these two greetings.

The welcome for the Holy Lord seemed more like a routine matter, a mere formality.

Meanwhile, the greeting for Elder Bai clearly held a heartfelt awe and wariness toward a powerful expert and a newly advanced Core Formation Cultivator.

The Gray-Robed Woman's footsteps seemed to falter for an imperceptible moment.

But she quickly returned to normal, as if she hadn't noticed anything unusual, and said loudly, "You have all worked hard. This person—"

She gestured to the side at Lu Chen, who was being supported by the invisible force.

"—possesses a special lightning technique that is vital to our upcoming plans. Confiscate all the storage Magical Artifacts on his person and imprison him for now. Keep him under strict supervision; there must be no mistakes."

"Yes!"

Two Gray-clothed Men with solid auras immediately stepped forward. One reached for Lu Chen's waist, taking his Storage Pouch along with the purple brilliance spear and other items that had been gathered after falling to the ground.

The other searched him thoroughly and soon pulled out the soul nurturing pearl from Lu Chen's robes, which housed Qing Yi's soul.

Inside the soul nurturing pearl, Qing Yi had long since retracted all her aura and hidden in the deepest part; at this moment, it looked like an ordinary bead of decent quality with a slight Yin Qi.

The Gray-clothed Man did a brief inspection and, finding nothing unusual, placed it with the other items.

As for the storage bracelet that Lu Chen had always carefully hidden with a secret technique and worn close to his body...

...due to its excellent concealment properties and his current weak state, it fortunately went unnoticed.

After confirming Lu Chen had nothing else on him, the two Gray-clothed Men hoisted up the seemingly defenseless Lu Chen from both sides.

The Gray-Robed Woman waved her hand, and the two understood, carrying Lu Chen toward a narrower side passage in the cave.

At the end of the side passage was a heavy stone door.

One of the Gray-clothed Men took out a lower-grade gray medallion to open the stone door.

Inside was a small Stone Chamber with no light source at all, containing only cold stone walls and a floor.

The two unceremoniously threw Lu Chen inside.

Lu Chen's body hit the hard, cold floor with a dull thud.

"Bang!"

The stone door slammed shut behind him and was locked tight.

The last sliver of faint light was cut off.

In an instant, absolute, pure darkness swallowed everything.

It was pitch black, not even his own hand visible; no sound could be heard, and even the air seemed to have solidified.

Only boundless silence and cold remained, wrapping around him from all directions.

Lu Chen knew that someone must be monitoring him.

Therefore, he lay on the ground without moving.

In this place of absolute silence, he felt no fear.

Instead, he allowed his heart to gradually calm down.

Things were completely different from what he had anticipated, but Lu Chen didn't feel the slightest bit of regret because of it.

Nothing in this world ever goes exactly as one wishes.

Since his plan had been disrupted and he had been captured alive...

...then what he needed to do was calm down and think of a counter-strategy.

After clearing the distracting thoughts from his mind, Lu Chen began to plan his next moves.

The Gray-Robed Woman was seriously injured and would certainly need time to recover.

Furthermore, the You Clan didn't seem to be very united internally.

Although his Magical Artifacts had been confiscated, his cultivation was still intact.

Even without his Magical Artifacts, Lu Chen was confident he could use his lightning techniques to kill the Gray-Robed Woman.

But the one who truly worried him wasn't this woman, but Bai Youli, with her Core Formation cultivation.

Although he hadn't officially fought Bai Youli, Lu Chen knew in his heart that his chances of winning were not high.

As for seeking help from Qing Cang, although Lu Chen had thought about it, he didn't intend to contact him so soon.

Qing Cang surely knew about his situation.

Since the other party hadn't taken the initiative to act, it meant that the situation hadn't yet reached a point where it required Qing Cang's intervention to resolve.

Lu Chen had always been independent and wouldn't ask for Qing Cang's help unless it was absolutely necessary.

After all, he and Qing Cang were only in a cooperative relationship.

Requesting the other party to act would inevitably require paying a corresponding price.