226: Chapter 227 Reverse Hunt! Cat and Mouse! The Whiteboard Demon King's Hunting Time

As the Elder threw out those words, the entire underground command center seemed as if someone had pressed the pause button.

Of the seven or eight core executives of the Li Family present, not a single person replied.

Li Qingcang slumped in the command chair, his eyes bloodshot, and blood was still seeping from the back of his hand.

The Elder straightened his back, took a step back, and said nothing more.

Some things are enough said once. To say more is to sign one's own death warrant.

Dragon Tomb sub-space.

Thirty-times gravity zone.

Lin Qi stood at the edge of the Blood Pool, his gaze piercing through the dark golden heat waves and landing on the narrow, elongated Rift deep within the great hall.

After spreading out his Martial Intent Insight, the situation inside the Rift was clearly visible.

It was not a living thing.

It was a lingering energy fluctuation, coming from a structural Rift in this altar from the ancient era. The other end of the Rift connected to the outer passage of the Dragon Tomb's lowest level.

In other words, this was a secret passage.

It was not the same path as the hundred-foot bronze gate he had pushed open.

This Rift extended from behind the Blood Pool, winding and turning, ultimately merging into the bone zone of the Dragon Tomb's lowest level.

In other words, he could circle out from here.

Circle around to the backsides of those flies.

Lin Qi withdrew his gaze and looked down at the Blood Pool at his feet. The dark golden liquid was still slowly churning at the bottom of the pool, the heat distorting the air.

Good things cannot be rushed. Before entering the Blood Pool, the matters outside must be cleaned up first.

From the moment he entered this sub-space until now, he had been fighting passively. The Li Family Death Warriors came in wave after wave, buzzing behind him like flies. Ying Wan's backstabs, Xiao Kuangyun's encirclement, and the harassment from Han Qianchi's band of pampered young masters—all of this was caused by them.

Now, it was different.

The useful energy in the outer area had been mostly scavenged, and his Physical Body had completed a round of strengthening. The foundation of his Indestructible Golden Body was completely solidified, the dark golden patterns had grown into his bone marrow, and his control over his power had become more precise by more than just one level.

It was time to change the way of playing.

Lin Qi's eyes turned cold, devoid of any warmth.

He closed his eyes.

He spread out his Martial Intent Insight to its full capacity, the coverage area rippling outward like water. Every stone, every Rift, and every speck of dust in the thirty-times gravity zone was thoroughly scanned.

Then, it penetrated the Rift and extended to the outer twenty-times gravity zone.

A dozen kilometers away.

Inside a massive bone Rift, dozens of life signs were densely crowded together.

These auras were restless, their heartbeats all too fast, and a few were even showing signs of declining vital signs due to the long-term pressure of high gravity.

Lin Qi could recognize them.

The few with stable auras at the very front were the Li Family Death Warriors, who had received professional training and could endure it.

The ones crowded together messily in the back were Xiao Kuangyun, Han Qianchi, and that bunch of wealthy young masters who had been dragged into this.

All in one nest.

This wasn't called hiding.

This was called walking right into a trap.

Lin Qi opened his eyes, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly; the smile was faint, and very cold.

A reverse hunt was about to begin.

His figure moved, and he slipped into the narrow Rift behind the Blood Pool.

The Rift was very narrow; the tightest spot could only allow one person to pass sideways. With thirty-times gravity pressing down on his body, he had to use True Qi against his joints to cushion every step he took.

But Lin Qi's pace was ridiculously steady.

The Martial Saint-level control over his body, combined with his precise grasp of power, allowed him to remain completely silent even in such an extreme environment.

There were no footsteps.

No sound of breathing.

Even the friction between his clothes and the rock walls was isolated by his membrane of True Qi.

Winding and turning, walking further and further, the gravity also slowly dropped from thirty times back to twenty times.

The pressure on his body suddenly lightened, as if he had taken off a suit of iron armor.

Having lived under twenty-times gravity for so long, returning to this level of gravity environment now felt similar to taking a stroll in his own courtyard.

The exit of the Rift was behind a pile of massive ancient bones, blocked by a few shattered ribs; from the outside, it was impossible to see that there was a path here.

Lin Qi crouched down and slipped out through the gaps in the bones, his feet landing on the ground without making a sound.

About three kilometers ahead was the bone Rift where that group was hiding.

The direction they thought was safe was towards the bronze gate.

They thought Lin Qi would come from the front.

No one would have imagined that death was approaching from their backs.

Meanwhile.

Inside the bone Rift.

A dozen Li Family Death Warriors were scattered throughout the Rift, four of whom were responsible for outer perimeter security, while the rest huddled in the depths of the Rift, sitting against the bone walls, no one saying a word.

The Death Warrior leader was a lean man in his thirties, with an old scar on his face running from his left eyebrow to his right jaw. He had paced back and forth no less than dozens of times, his boots crunching loudly on the broken bones on the ground.

He flipped the communicator in his hand back and forth, the signal bar on the screen empty.

Ying Wan's channel was dead.

An hour ago, there was still a faint signal fluctuation, but now there was nothing. Not a single bar; it was thoroughly dead.

"Boss, there's still no signal from Ying Wan." A Death Warrior leaned in, his voice kept very low.

The Scar-faced Leader didn't pay him any mind, tucked the communicator into his belt, and turned his head to look into the depths of the Rift.

Xiao Kuangyun was leaning against a broken bone pillar, his complexion sallow, his lips cracked. His S-Grade class skill could not even exert thirty percent of its power in this sub-space, and the twenty-times gravity had exhausted his stamina severely; the man looked ten years older than he had outside.

Han Qianchi was squatting nearby, hugging his knees with both hands, the draft of the IOU written in blood still tucked in his bosom, protecting it tightly for fear that someone might snatch it.

The young masters from the other small Families were even worse off; two had already fainted and were being propped up against the wall by their companions, their heads lolling to the side.

"Is that Blank Slate dead or not?" Xiao Kuangyun's throat was hoarse, sounding like sandpaper grinding.

No one answered him.

"I'm asking you a question!"

The Scar-faced Leader turned his head back and stared at Xiao Kuangyun for two seconds.

"Young Master Xiao, Ying Wan's signal is cut off. Either the communicator is broken, or the person is gone."

Xiao Kuangyun opened his mouth, then closed it again.

He didn't know which outcome he should hope for.

If Ying Wan won and killed that Blank Slate monster, they could get out. But the IOU would also become scrap paper, and he wouldn't have to pay it back. That was a good thing.

But if Ying Wan lost...

Xiao Kuangyun shivered.

He had seen how Lin Qi beat people.

That wasn't beating people.

That was crushing them.

"Stop just standing there." The Scar-faced Leader called his subordinates over, squatted on the ground, and drew a simple map on the floor using broken bones.

"We can't count on Ying Wan anymore; we have to think of a way ourselves. This Rift has three exits; the two in the front face the direction of the bronze gate, and the one in the back leads to the depths of the bone zone. I've arranged for four people to keep watch on the perimeter; as long as there is any movement, they are to warn us immediately."

"What if that Blank Slate really comes killing his way here?" one Death Warrior asked.

The Scar-faced Leader didn't speak, his fingers gripping the short blade at his waist. He didn't answer. Because he didn't know the answer either.

Outside the Rift.

About eight hundred meters away.

A Li Family Death Warrior responsible for the outermost perimeter security was leaning against a massive rib fossil, his gaze fixed on the dark passage ahead.

His field of vision was good; he could see several hundred meters ahead. As long as anyone came from the direction of the bronze gate, he would definitely be able to spot them immediately.

But he didn't look back.

Because behind him was a solid bone wall, and further back was a dead end piled with bones. It was impossible for anyone to come from that direction. Absolutely impossible.

A hand reached out from the darkness.

Five fingers firmly clamped onto the back of his head.

Lin Qi's voice rang out by his ear, as soft as if he were whispering.

"So, starting with you."