228: Deep in the cave, a metal box

After walking five hundred meters, Yan Ruyu stopped, a hint of solemnity in her eyes.

Before them now was a purple mountain.

Beneath the mountain was a mysterious cave dwelling, with many giant beast bones lining both sides of the path, lightning flashing, brilliant as a rainbow, electric arcs rumbling, deafening.

The power of the thunder was even more concentrated here; clearly, there was a terrifying grand array.

Yan Ruyu gazed at the cave dwelling ahead and said in a deep voice, "Now it's time for you all to scout the way."

"......"

The rogue cultivators exchanged glances, then steeled themselves and walked forward.

Xie Weilou was among them, currently pondering how to acquire the item Yan Ruyu spoke of, and perhaps extort her a bit.

If he could get his hands on her coffin, that would be even better!

He looked around; the so-called Restriction and array formations were inherently interconnected.

The difference lay in that setting up a grand array required array plates, array flags, and array-laying materials, while Restriction only required carving runes.

With the enhancement of numerous Restriction runes, the power of an array could be strengthened, or even form a grand array itself.

There was indeed a grand array ahead, covered with many Restriction.

The person who laid these Restriction was at least a Sixth-Rank Restriction Master, but these Restriction had been eroded by time, with little power remaining.

Even so, they could still threaten Dao Repository Realm cultivators.

With such a grand array outside the cave, it was certainly more perilous inside.

No wonder Yan Ruyu wanted people to scout the way.

Buzz!

Just as the group advanced about a hundred meters, the grand array was instantly triggered.

The surrounding lightning power immediately condensed, forming lightning swords that slashed towards them.

"Not good."

Everyone's gaze sharpened, and they immediately dodged.

"Ah..."

A scream rang out; someone was too slow to dodge and was instantly blasted into dust by a lightning sword, leaving no corpse behind.

"This..."

Everyone looked terrified.

Yan Ruyu's eyes flickered with light as she continuously deduced the grand array ahead.

In a short while, several more people were killed by the lightning swords.

Yan Ruyu finished her deduction and said in a deep voice, "In the northwest direction, there's a gray beast bone covering an array plate.

Li Qiu, you go deal with it."

"Okay!"

Li Qiu's figure flashed, and he immediately rushed into the grand array.

The surrounding lightning swords instantly slashed towards him.

He conjured an ancient shield, holding it behind him.

Boom!

The lightning sword struck, shattering the ancient shield.

The powerful force directly sent him flying, but he used the momentum to charge towards the northwest direction.

Soon, he arrived in front of the gray beast bone and punched it.

Boom!

The beast bone shattered, revealing a bronze array plate beneath.

Li Qiu conjured a metal triangular shuttle.

Buzz!

The triangular shuttle spun, embedding itself into the bronze array plate, continuously grinding away the array patterns and runes on the plate.

"Chunsheng Jun."

Yan Ruyu then looked at Chunsheng Jun.

It would take Li Qiu some time to destroy this array plate, so they temporarily needed to protect these rogue cultivators.

Otherwise, if everyone perished, there would be no one left to explore the cave dwelling.

"......"

Chunsheng Jun flew forward, conjuring a treasure map.

The map's power activated, instantly covering the group from above, blocking the lightning swords.

Rumble!

The lightning swords continuously struck the treasure map.

Chunsheng Jun mobilized all his strength, urging the treasure map to resist the lightning swords.

Each time a lightning sword struck, his face would turn a shade paler, the consumption was immense.

After half an incense stick's time.

Crack!

All the array patterns and runes on the array plate were ground away, and the array plate directly shattered.

The grand array here instantly disintegrated, and the surrounding lightning power quickly dissipated.

"That's good!"

Chunsheng Jun sighed in relief and put away the treasure map.

The survivors also showed joy in their expressions, but when they thought of those who had been blasted into dust just now, their mood became solemn again.

The exploration had just begun, and there was already such a killing intent; what would happen if they continued forward?

Yan Ruyu stepped forward and glanced at everyone indifferently, "High risk, high reward."

After speaking, she walked towards the cave dwelling.

As she approached the entrance, she observed it.

There were no array formations or Restriction at the entrance, which saved them some trouble.

"Keep going."

Yan Ruyu looked at everyone and waved her hand gently.

"Go!"

Everyone took a deep breath, suppressed their unease, and entered the cave dwelling.

Upon entering the cave dwelling, it was a spacious path, completely dark inside, seemingly endless and very oppressive.

However, everyone present was a cultivator, so even in complete darkness, they could easily probe the path ahead.

Yan Ruyu and the two others walked at the back, while Xie Weilou and the others scouted ahead.

Their steps were slow, and their expressions were wary.

"......"

Xie Weilou released his soul power, instantly probing the deepest part of the cave dwelling.

This path was about a thousand meters long, and at its deepest point, there was a stone table with a metal box covered in lightning power, and many other items around it.

"It seems the item Yan Ruyu wants is that metal box."

Xie Weilou thought to himself.

As for what was inside the box, he hadn't probed it yet.

This box was very peculiar; it seemed to be able to block soul perception, which made him even more curious.

The group proceeded along the path.

Initially, no killing intent appeared, but after walking over seven hundred meters, a spider web suddenly shot out.

"Ah..."

A cultivator didn't even have time to react and was instantly pierced through the brow by the spider web, dying immediately.

The spider web pulled, dragging his corpse out of sight.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Soon, more spider webs shot out.

Boom!

Everyone's expressions changed in alarm, and they immediately moved to block, but they couldn't stop these spider webs.

In an instant, several more people died, their bodies dragged away.

Xie Weilou moved his body, continuously dodging these spider webs.

There were also some demonic beasts inside this cave dwelling.

Boom!

Yan Ruyu formed a hand seal, and a purple crescent blade shot out.

Some spider webs were cut off.

Li Qiu and Chunsheng Jun were not idle either, simultaneously attacking, quickly resisting those spider webs.

Li Qiu said in a deep voice, "There should be Dao Repository Realm demonic beasts in here."

Yan Ruyu said indifferently, "If it's only Dao Repository Realm, it's fine, but I'm afraid it's beyond Dao Repository Realm..."

After the spider webs were cut off, even more spider webs rushed out, directly trapping everyone present.

"Endless?"

Yan Ruyu raised an eyebrow.

The crescent blade appeared in her hand.

She put away the crescent blade and formed another hand seal, and a fireball appeared in front of her.

Boom!

With a flick of her finger, the fireball instantly erupted, rushing in all directions.

The surrounding spider webs were immediately incinerated, and a scorched smell permeated the air.

This time, those spider webs no longer rushed out.

Yan Ruyu looked at Xie Weilou and the others.

Previously, there were over a dozen rogue cultivators, but now only five remained.

"Keep going."

Yan Ruyu mused.

"......"

The few remaining people looked hesitant and extremely anxious.

From over a dozen people, only a few of them were left in the blink of an eye.

If they continued forward, no matter how high the reward, they probably wouldn't live to claim it!

Just as everyone hesitated, Xie Weilou directly walked forward.

Although there were demonic beasts hidden deep within this cave dwelling, the next passage seemed to have no killing intent.

"Follow."

Seeing Xie Weilou take the lead, their hearts stirred, and they immediately followed.

However, they deliberately slowed their pace, walking behind Xie Weilou, intending to let him scout the way.