70: Lurking in the dark

Thinking of this, Lin Feng felt a chill run down his spine. If that were truly the case, then what was hidden deep within the Black Abyss Forest was not merely a Heaven And Earth Treasure, but a conspiracy.

And the demise of Martial Uncle Zhao Ming was probably no accident.

Lin Feng held his breath again. Below, the five Chiyan Sect members did not immediately go deeper. Instead, their leader took out a compass again, cautiously probed the inside of the cave entrance, and then cast several Magical Arts to confirm that there were no further Restrictions before carefully entering the cave one by one.

The moment the last person's figure disappeared into the darkness of the cave, Lin Feng moved.

He did not follow directly through the entrance. Instead, like a gecko, relying on the subtlety of the Shadow Evasion Technique, he moved horizontally several zhang along the rock wall above the cave entrance, avoiding any line of sight they might look back at. Then, he lightly descended like a falling leaf, without disturbing a speck of dust, silently infiltrating the cave.

The passage inside the cave was quite narrow at first and not straight, with many twists and turns.

Lin Feng kept a greater distance, only using his Divine Sense to remotely lock onto the five faint Qi auras and footsteps ahead, while he himself relied entirely on the terrain, concealing his tracks by using the strange rocks and undulating shadows on the ground.

Whenever there was a slight pause or a whisper from ahead, he would immediately stop, restrain his aura, and merge with the surrounding cold rocks.

The deeper he went, the denser and purer the Yin-Sha Qi became, forming a natural sensory interference, which paradoxically became his best cover.

The attention of the five people ahead was clearly completely drawn by the treasure they were about to obtain. Coupled with the psychological effect of having just broken the entrance Restriction and confirmed 'safety,' their vigilance inevitably dropped, and they did not notice that a shadow was silently trailing behind them.

The depths of the cave suddenly opened up. In the center, a milky white stone mortar held a thin layer of strange spiritual liquid, its color chaotic, with tiny specks of light flowing and sinking.

Lin Feng sensed this unusually pure yet contradictory fluctuation from afar, and his heart was shaken.

'This item... is definitely not ordinary. The Spiritual Qi it contains is so condensed and pure. Could it be the earth core spirit quenching milk?'

'I'll observe first. If it really is, it's worth fighting for.' He secretly smiled.

Looking up, he saw that the five Chiyan Sect Disciples' gazes were firmly fixed on the spiritual liquid, and their breathing became heavy.

'earth core spirit quenching milk. It is indeed here.' The leading Disciple's eyes saw nothing else, and he eagerly stepped forward.

"Senior Brother. Be careful, there might be a Restriction." A Disciple holding a compass Magical Artifact was still cautious and quickly reminded him, the spiritual light of his compass flickering, seemingly detecting some abnormal fluctuations.

The leading Disciple merely waved his hand impatiently: "A mere Restriction, what can it do to me? Quickly, get the jade bottle."

A Disciple beside him could not hold back even more, actually rushing ahead, stepping out from the group, and reaching for the dark jade bottle on his waist, specially used to collect spiritual milk. His footsteps did not stop as he charged straight towards the stone mortar.

However, just as his foot crossed an invisible boundary, on the surface of a seemingly ordinary stalagmite next to him, a dark golden Talisman, deeply embedded and almost integrated with the rock, suddenly lit up.

The Talisman patterns instantly activated, transforming into several golden light threads as fine as ox hair but incomparably sharp, shooting out.

"Be careful!"

The leading Disciple realized something was wrong and shouted a warning, but it was half a step too late.

The Disciple rushing at the front had no time to react at all. His protective spiritual light was pierced through like paper, and several golden light threads instantly penetrated his chest and abdomen vital points.

His body stiffened, the ecstasy in his eyes not yet faded, transforming into unbelievable horror. He opened his mouth but could not make any sound, falling straight backward, his aura rapidly extinguishing.

Another Disciple, who was slightly closer, was also hit by several light threads. Blood spurted, he cried out in agony, fell to the ground, and fainted.

'Damn it! It's the 'Golden Silk Talisman.' Tianxuan Sect has good methods.' The leading Disciple was both shocked and enraged, staring intently at the now dim Talisman and his companion's corpse, no longer daring to rush forward rashly.

"Quick. Investigate carefully. Find all the traps." He turned to the Disciple holding the compass and roared, while he and another person nervously guarded their surroundings.

The Disciple holding the compass turned pale, forcefully suppressed the fear in his heart, and fully activated the Magical Artifact in his hand. The compass's spiritual light flickered unsteadily. He moved his steps cautiously, carefully sensing every subtle fluctuation of spiritual energy in the air.

Whenever he discovered a faint spiritual light suspected to be a Talisman node, he would stop as if facing a formidable enemy, casting probing Magical Arts from a distance, his movements slow and clumsy, cold sweat dripping from his forehead.

During this time, another Talisman was accidentally triggered. Although the three of them barely managed to block it together, it still left them more disheveled and considerably consumed their energy.

Lin Feng, hidden in the shadows, took all of this into his eyes, silently sensing the distribution and characteristics of those Talisman traps.

'Golden Silk Talisman... truly formidable, specialized in breaking protective spiritual light and killing invisibly. The person who set it up has seasoned techniques. If they hadn't triggered it, I might not have been spared if I had rashly gone forward.'

'They are in the open, I am in the dark. Their minds are already in disarray, their spiritual power is consumed, and only three of them remain...' Lin Feng waited patiently.

Only after the last trace of Talisman fluctuation was isolated did the leading Disciple let out a long sigh of relief.

"Quick. Get the treasure. It's not suitable to stay here long." He urged in a hoarse voice, taking out the special dark jade bottle again, and walked impatiently towards the stone mortar.

The Disciple holding the compass also breathed a sigh of relief and raised his hand to wipe away sweat.

Just as the leading Disciple was fully focused, aiming the bottle opening at the spiritual milk at the bottom of the stone mortar, preparing to extract it.

'Now is the time.' From the shadows behind him, Lin Feng's eyes narrowed.

In a flash of lightning, several thoughts rapidly raced through his mind:

'The space inside the cave is so narrow. Once surrounded and entangled by the three of them, even with my methods, it would be difficult to unleash them. I must finish this quickly and absolutely not give them a chance to catch their breath.'

'That leading Disciple's cultivation is not weak, and although the other two are fatigued, they still have some energy. If I cannot instantly dismantle their combat power and get into a prolonged fight, it will only increase variables. I need to disrupt their formation first and break their combined offensive.'

With his mind made up, he did not hesitate. The xuanming heavy water bead flickered with dark light, and a drop of black heavy water shot out silently, smashing towards a slightly protruding node next to the stone mortar that he had observed, which was constantly exhaling Yin-Sha Qi.

'The Yin-Sha gathers here, and the node is already restless and unstable. Activating it with the extreme Yin-cold power of this heavy water will surely cause a violent backlash.'

"Bang!"

A muffled sound. The heavy water collided with the node, instantly triggering a small but violent spiritual energy backlash and explosion.

Crushed rocks flew, and the cold turbulent currents lashed out like an uncontrolled whip.

"Be careful!" The leading Disciple cried out in alarm, subconsciously turning and retreating, swinging his sword to block the flying rocks. His attention was instantly drawn by this sudden change.

In the Chaos, Lin Feng darted out from the shadows.

The flowing cloud immortal binding silk wrapped around the neck of the Disciple holding the compass, who had consumed a great deal of spiritual energy from activating his Magical Artifact for a long time.

At the same time, a phantom image of a Green Flood Dragon attacked another Disciple who was slightly flustered due to the Chaos.