On either side of the boulder, where Gu Zheng's group couldn't see, there was a lattice-like void that was barely big enough to fit two people inside. All of them sat cross-legged within, their bodies shrouded in a layer of black sand that made them look like statues connected to the formation outside.
Towards the back was a more spacious space. Currently, Tang Li was standing inside it, flanked by the man and woman who'd come out first. They stood on either side of Tang Li and peered through the translucent walls to see Gu Zheng carefully advancing.
"Your Excellency Tang, why didn't we detonate the formation ourselves? Why did we trap them in here instead?" the woman asked in confusion.
As people who had been stationed here for years, they naturally knew of this final formation. They also knew that it had the ability to self-detonate when it couldn't trap anyone else, creating a destructive force that could stall for time.
"Do you even need to ask? Did you go stupid from cultivating? We still need to buy time later. If we detonate the formation, it'll affect the others and cause the teleportation to fail. Moreover, we still have so many people. Are we going to sacrifice ourselves for nothing? "
Before Tang Li could explain, the man next to him explained.
"I was too muddle-headed. I didn't think there'd be things to protect later," the woman slapped her forehead and said awkwardly.
After spending so much time outside, she'd only been curious about the future. But since she couldn't find out, she'd gradually forgotten about it. She really had been careless this time.
"The other party is about to reach the predetermined location. What happened to the people who told you to retreat?" Tang Li suddenly asked.
"All of us who weren't part of the formation are gathered here and waiting for Your Excellency to activate it so they can leave. But there's a bit of regret," the man quickly said. "Because the people we captured were all on the upper levels, there's no secret passageway to their location. That's why they're still locked up here."
"It's fine. It's because we made a mistake in our calculations that we'd have enough time to evacuate them." Tang Li didn't pursue the matter, but comforted them instead. "You guys should leave now and help the formation operate. I'll prepare to go down when the time is right."
"Your Excellency wants to have them leave first?" the woman suddenly asked curiously before she left.
"Yes. After all, we're serving His Excellency Demon God. As long as we can hold out for a while, we can retreat. Then His Excellency Demon God will definitely reward everyone," Tang Li nodded as he looked at her seriously.
The woman and man retreated with joy. Lord Demon God's reward must be extremely generous. They couldn't help but think about it. After all, it was very easy for them to leave in this situation.
None of them noticed the icy glint in Tang Li's eyes or the trace of a cold smile on his lips.
"No one in this place can leave."
Tang Li muttered to himself before leaving as well.
"This is really strange. Could it be that we are overthinking things?"
The two people walking carefully below naturally didn't know what was going on above. Meng Zhen looked around and saw that there was no movement. Seeing that they had already crossed more than half the distance, he muttered to himself in confusion.
One had to know that as long as they accelerated, they would be able to cross the distance in the blink of an eye.
Could it be that the trap was ahead?
Meng Zhen couldn't help but look over, but there was no sign of danger in the tunnel ahead. It looked like an ordinary tunnel with no inscriptions or array formations around it.
In the midst of his doubts, he was about to suggest to Gu Zheng that they should rush forward when something changed in front of them. The two of them froze in place.
Around them, ripples had appeared in the void without warning. Layer upon layer of ripples spread out in all directions, as if they were already in a foreign dimension.
Gu Zheng reached out a hand to stop Meng Zhen from doing something. He knitted his brows and looked behind them.
In the distance, ripples had appeared in space as well, giving the tunnel an illusory feel. The entrance they had entered through had already disappeared. Moreover, the stone walls around them were slowly disappearing before their eyes. It felt like the entire world was changing.
"It's okay. When we came in, we had already stepped into the other party's trap. However, I want to see if there are any changes in the other party. It seems like the other party is very vigilant and has only activated it now. If they don't activate it, it will be troublesome for us to get out," Gu Zheng said calmly.
Meng Zhen was suddenly enlightened. No wonder he felt that something was amiss. It was because he was too inexperienced and did not know anything about the various strange arrays or other things in the Eldritch World.
"So we're just going to leave it like this?" Meng Zhen looked at the brush on his shoulder that had treated him as a corpse. He didn't know if the other party could see through their plan. However, with his intelligence, he would only know the truth when he was betrayed.
"Yes, this is the other party's nest. If we want to continue, we have to pass through here. Hence, we have to break through this place first. Otherwise, we will be trapped here forever. However, it seems to be different from ordinary arrays," Gu Zheng understood what Meng Zhen meant and immediately explained in detail.
"Let's work together. No matter how powerful this array is, it can't stop us. We will definitely be able to break through this array," Meng Zhen nodded and said.
Just as they were talking, the ripples around them had gradually stopped and returned to normal. However, this place had completely changed.
Although the area under their feet was still there, the area outside that was originally rocky had become pitch black. It was like an endless void. In the distance, they could see some bright light spots of different sizes. They were arranged without any pattern. They vaguely looked like human figures and seemed to be providing mana for this array.
However, the void in front of them was really an endless void. Even if Gu Zheng stepped into it, he could be completely lost. In order to be completely safe, he had to be at least a Sage-to-be to be able to ignore it.
If he really wanted to stupidly rush over and kill those people, he was afraid that it would be exactly what the other party wanted.
"Dong! Dong!"
Two huge vibrations suddenly sounded in the distance and pulled the two of them back to their senses. They realized that in the distance, a huge monster with a height of 100 feet had suddenly appeared.
This monster had a pair of thick legs. When it took a step with its bare feet, the ground trembled a little. Even the footprints behind it were clearly visible.
There was a body that looked like a corpse. Two ghastly white bones were exposed from its two arms. It waved a black wooden stick in one hand while the other hand was a bone claw. It waved continuously in the air, leaving behind terrifying whistling sounds.
This was naturally not the most peculiar thing. If one looked at it this way, it would look like a huge human enemy. However, there were tentacles growing out from its head and waving above its head. One of the thickest tentacles had a head with a ferocious expression. Its eyes were twice the size of an ordinary head and were emitting black light. It was like a burning black fog was constantly emitted. As the tentacles waved, it looked at Gu Zheng and the others from afar.
The other tentacles also had heads of different sizes. However, these heads had their eyes closed and looked like they were in a state of deep sleep. They were far less terrifying than the one in the middle.
Overall, it looked like a person with a strange head. More importantly, its aura was even more terrifying. It was not inferior to Meng Zhen's existence.
"It seems that this place is more powerful than we thought. We have to be careful." Gu Zheng looked at the huge monster and said solemnly. He could naturally see that this monster was forcibly summoned by the array.
"I hope we can break through." Meng Zhen's hand reached out and his weapon brush was already in his hand. He looked at the front and said cautiously.
"Roar!"
The head in the middle of the monster opened its mouth and let out a loud roar. At the same time, the eyes of the other heads opened one after another. The red eyes that seemed to have gone mad suddenly lit up, and then streaks of red light instantly pierced through the void and shot toward them.
"Let me do it!"
When Meng Zhen saw this, he immediately took a step forward. The brush in his hand suddenly glowed with a black light. As the brush danced in the air, rays of black light that were not inferior to the other party's appeared in the void as well. They collided with each other in the air.
There was no earth-shattering sound. The two of them merged silently in the air and disappeared at the same time. It was as if each of them had melted the other.
After missing its attack, the head in the middle looked furious. Although there was a large distance between them, the huge wooden stick in his hand was smashing down in the air. It seemed that it would not be able to reach them at all.
However, a black shadow wrapped around the wooden stick. When the wooden stick suddenly stopped in the air, the shadow left its body and turned into a black tornado. With the help of the strong wind, it whistled and rushed towards Ye Xiwen.
Meng Zhen was not careless in the face of the monster's attack. He waved his hand and a picture scroll instantly rose in front of him. It then expanded continuously and only stopped expanding when it reached the edge of the area.
A picture scroll that was even bigger than the monster stood in front of them, completely blocking the space in front of them. The black whirlwind rushed into the picture scroll, and then the picture scroll shrunk and returned to its normal form, floating behind Meng Zhen.
However, the monster was already in front of them. This time, the wooden stick in his hand swept towards them while the other hand grabbed towards Meng Zhen. The entire space was originally a long and thin rectangle. It was surrounded by the void and there seemed to be no way out at all.
When the two of them saw this, they jumped up and dodged the other party's attack. Meng Zhen waved the brush in her hand and her body suddenly emitted a rotating black light. Her whole body seemed to be weightless and she floated in the air without any order. She was like a falling leaf. The huge bony claw missed her body every time. It was like a slippery loach and could not catch Meng Zhen at all.
Gu Zheng, who was behind them, was still falling from the sky. Suddenly, a black hole opened up in the void below him. A strong suction force came from the hole. In the blink of an eye, Gu Zheng fell into the hole as if he was swallowed.
"Gu Zheng has disappeared!"
Brush, who was playing dead on Meng Zhen's shoulder, suddenly reminded her loudly.
With this interference, Meng Zhen was almost touched by the opponent's sharp claws. Once again, she dodged the opponent's wooden stick. Seeing a good opportunity, the black light around her body trembled. Her figure fell behind, and she happened to see the black fog in the void closing.
"Don't worry about him. You should worry about me. How can I deal with this monster?" Meng Zhen said immediately.
"I can't defeat him. Why don't we wait for Gu Zheng to come out and kill him together?" Brush heard Meng Zhen's complaint and immediately admitted defeat.
"There's a monster that you can't deal with? I don't believe it." Meng Zhen retreated and looked at the monster in front of her. She was thinking of a way to deal with it.
Brush did not reply and the monster did not seem to be stupid. It stood on the spot and maintained its attacking stance, wanting to get closer to Meng Zhen. Meng Zhen was forced to retreat. However, she was about to reach the end of the line. There was no place to retreat and behind her was the void.
At this moment, the monster took a step forward and took up most of the space. Then, it stretched out its bony claws and slapped towards Meng Zhen.
At the same time, the entire bony claws lit up with a layer of black light. It completely stopped Meng Zhen's thoughts of going through the gaps. Like before, she had to be slapped down.
Meng Zhen saw this and immediately rushed forward. Even if the other party took up most of the space, there were still many gaps.
But how could the monster not think of this? As she moved, the wooden stick in her hand plunged downwards. Almost in the blink of an eye, it expanded rapidly and completely formed a huge shield, completely blocking all paths in front of her. And in the air, there was a huge bone claw wrapped in a powerful aura.
Meng Zhen's expression did not change. The brush in her hand quickly drew a few strokes in the air. Then, it flew out at an even faster speed and stuck onto the shield that seemed to have an extraordinary defense.
The symbols on the shield quickly twisted a few times and formed a semicircle. Then, with a flash of green light, the scene behind the shield could be clearly seen.
In the next instant, Meng Zhen's figure jumped and shrank in midair before rushing into the semicircle. When she reappeared, she was already behind the monster.
The monster naturally knew where she was, but didn't understand how she had escaped. Since this method didn't work, it would change to another one. The monster turned around and continued to attack Meng Zhen.
While the battle was going on outside, Gu Zheng's side had calmed down. He didn't get attacked at first, but looked at the dignified middle-aged man in front of him and hesitated before speaking.
"Tang Li, right?"
"That's me! Thank you for not killing my daughter. " Tang Li looked at Gu Zheng and smiled. There was no hostility between them at all, as if they were two friends talking to each other.
Taking advantage of these two sentences, Gu Zheng had already discovered that they were already in a special place. The space was not large, at most the size of an ordinary room. The surroundings were all void. With his sharp eyes, he discovered that below his feet was where they were just now.
He could clearly see Meng Zhen and the monster fighting.
"I wouldn't go so far as to attack a weak girl. Moreover, she didn't do anything bad," Gu Zheng gave a cold snort.
He wasn't lying, which was why he hadn't killed her. He could easily see that she didn't have any signs of killing.
"That's why I'm very grateful to you. Please stay here for a bit longer. When the time comes, I'll naturally let you all go. Everything here will be destroyed, including the people you chased here. They'll all die. Are you satisfied?" Tang Li smiled.
"Just what do you mean? Aren't you afraid that I'll capture you first? You know you're no match for me. " Gu Zheng's expression was doubtful as he looked around carefully. When he didn't find anything suspicious, his eyes flashed with cold light.
"Since I dared to stand in front of you, naturally I'm not afraid of you. If not for your kindness in sparing my daughter, I wouldn't be here with you right now," Tang Li spread his hands, ignoring Gu Zheng's threats.
"Why are you stalling for time? And why are you working for the Demon God? "
Gu Zheng glanced below. Meng Zhen was still fighting with the monster. She wasn't in any danger and even had the upper hand.
This wasn't beyond Gu Zheng's expectations. No matter how strong a monster was, it wouldn't be able to defeat an enemy in the same situation. Moreover, it was obvious at a glance that the monster had been forcefully created by an array formation. Still, if it was a group of Jin Xian cultivators, it would still be an invincible existence.
Still, he was a little interested in Tang Qing. She didn't seem to have been lured into becoming a puppet, but maintained her sense of self. From the looks of it, she was wholeheartedly working for the Demon God.
He didn't believe that she didn't know who was above her in such a crucial position.
"It's not that I can't tell you," Tang Qing glanced at Gu Zheng before speaking slowly.
"My daughter was once seriously injured. It was all thanks to His Excellency the Demon God's intervention that my daughter's life was saved. He even personally raised her cultivation to this level. Such great kindness is something I can't repay even if my body is torn to pieces."
"But you don't know how much blood the Demon God caused when he appeared. Don't tell me you didn't know a thing," Gu Zheng stared at him.
"Of course I know. I've killed countless people. My sins are monstrous, but I'm willing to do anything. As long as it's for my daughter, I'm willing to pay any price," Tang Li's eyes were as clear as ever as he spoke without a trace of guilt.
"If I knew this would happen, I would've brought him down as well. Otherwise, he would've been easy to deal with."
Gu Zheng looked at him and knew that he was a strong-willed person. If the Demon God thought highly of him, he had to be strong enough as well. But his greatest weakness was his daughter. The Demon God had saved his daughter, so it was no wonder he wanted to repay him with his life.
"Then what are you doing here? Why are you stalling for time?" Gu Zheng knew he couldn't change his opponent's mind, so he asked the last question on his mind.
The other party was so scheming and low-key. It was obvious that he was plotting something big.
"Actually, it's nothing much. I'm just refining the origin energy for His Excellency the Demon God. It's almost complete now, so I'll be able to leave in an hour. By then, my mission will be complete and I'll leave this place with my daughter."
Faced with Gu Zheng's question, he didn't hesitate to tell him the truth.
"So as long as we have a good chat, I can even make the monsters below stop attacking. Besides me, everyone else hiding outside will die together."
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