Chapter 245: Mysterious Cave

Zuoqiu Gongye used all the Celestial Chi in his body to fly toward the formation arranged by Tuoba Yan.

Nie Qingyun, Great Emperor Mingwu, and the others had already surrounded Zuoqiu Gongye from all directions.

"Old Zuoqiu, there's nowhere else to run!" Nie Qingyun's rounded face revealed a foxy expression.

"Nie Qingyun, don't get ahead of yourself!" Zuoqiu Gongye snorted coldly. He landed in the eye of the formation and looked up at Nie Qingyun and the others. A cold glint flashed in his eyes.

Nie Qingyun, Great Emperor Mingwu, and the others had not seen the formation and moved in from above.

The Golden Sun Condor also swooped down from above.

In the distance, Tuoba Yan was still getting chased wildly by the Venomous Hornets. He never stopped running.

Buzz buzz buzz. The Venomous Hornets followed him everywhere.

Gradually, Tuoba Yan ran to the southernmost part of the Exclusion Zone. He plunged into the dense mountain in front of him and suddenly discovered a cave in the distance after running for several hundred meters. The entrance of the cave was found between two huge boulders and gusts of dark wind blew from inside.

By this point, Tuoba Yan's head had swollen to the size of a pig's head. He threw caution to the wind and charged into the cave.

The Venomous Hornets lingered at the entrance of the cave for a long time but did not dare to continue flying in.

Ye Chen's Astral Body had been tracking Tuoba Yan from behind. Seeing Tuoba Yan heading into a cave in between two boulders, he immediately followed after.

Ye Chen, Little Tanuki, and Little Wingsy landed outside the cave and looked in. The inside was dark and gloomy.

Ye Chen's Astral Body swiftly entered and traced Tuoba Yan, who was still running. The cave was full of twists and turns, and sloped downward to the deep underground.

Ye Chen was surprised. Could this cave be the source of the dark energy that his Astral Body had detected before? From time to time, gusts of dark wind blew from the entrance of the cave.

Dark energy constantly emerged from underneath the Exclusion Zone. What kind of secret was hiding down there?

Ye Chen had sensed from the Golden Sun Condor that Great Emperor Mingwu, Nie Qingyun, and the others were almost done on their end. Should he continue to pursue Tuoba Yan?

"Big Brother Ye Chen, should we go in?" Little Wingsy looked at Ye Chen.

Little Tanuki's bright eyes also looked at Ye Chen, implicitly asking for his opinion.

"Come on, let's go in and have a look!" Ye Chen had decided. He brought Little Tanuki and Little Wingsy, and entered the cave. The cave was dim. Both sides of the cave were artificially excavated rock walls.

Ye Chen followed the twists and turns of the cave further down. His Astral Body continued to extend into the cave, paying attention to the situation inside. If anything happened, he would be prepared.

Tuoba Yan was not choosing the paths he took anymore. He ran to a relatively open and empty area, and only sighed in relief when he saw that the Venomous Hornets did not chase after him.

Tuoba Yan felt incredibly wronged. Why was it that he never had any problems in the past when using the Venomous Hornets, but this time, the Venomous Hornets turned against him? He did not understand what was going on.

Was someone playing tricks on Tuoba Yan?

However, even if someone was playing tricks on Tuoba Yan, what methods were the other party using?

Tuoba Yan had been determined to win but he had never expected to end up in such a miserable situation. He took out a bronze mirror and looked at himself. There were seven red and swollen welts on his forehead, three on his cheeks, and countless more on his arms and body. If not for his Mystique Venerable Rank cultivation's forced suppression of toxins, he would have died already.

Looking at his unrecognizable face and feeling the burning pain of his body, Tuoba Yan carefully took out some herbal mixtures and medicinal pills from his Heaven-Earth Pouch. He ate the pills and dipped his fingers in the herbal mixture before rubbing it on his face.

"Hiss!"

As soon as Tuoba Yan's hand touched the large welt on his face, he felt a terrible pain. His face twisted due to the pain.

"Mommy!" Tuoba Yan let out a piercing howl. Even if he cut himself several times with a knife, it would not be as painful.

When Tuoba Yan used and saw others being attacked by the Venomous Hornets in the past, he felt a sense of satisfaction in his heart. However, he ended up on the receiving end today. Was this karma?

Tuoba Yan applied the medicine on the swelling on his face while observing the situation nearby. He did not know what this cave was used for. However, looking at the walls on both sides, he could confirm that the cave was not formed naturally but was dug manually. Although it looked slightly old, there were still artificial traces.

"Who knew there was a place like this in the Exclusion Zone? I don't know where this cave leads. Could there be some secrets hidden in the Exclusion Zone?" Tuoba Yan muttered to himself. He jolted. Could it be fate that he ended up here?

While Tuoba Yan was deep in thought, he quickly gathered his Celestial Chi. First things first, he had to recover. He sensed a dense dark energy underground. If he did not recover his cultivation, he would not dare to continue onward.

Ye Chen stopped at a distance of around five hundred meters away from Tuoba Yan and hid between some stones. With his Astral Body, he saw Tuoba Yan sitting on the ground rubbing gray herbal mixture all over the swollen areas on his face, arms, and body. Black Celestial Chi wafted from Tuoba Yan's body continuously.

Ye Chen could tell that Tuoba Yan was expelling the toxins from his body.

Tuoba Yan was a Mystique Venerable One. If Ye Chen waited until he recovered, even if he used his Astral Body, he would be no match for Tuoba Yan. It was better to act now!

"Little Tanuki, let's go! Little Wingsy, wait here. You can come out later!" Ye Chen sternly said. His Astral Body quickly emerged from his body and formed the gold-armored soldier in the air. Little Tanuki stood on Ye Chen's shoulder and also used her Astral Body. Strands of white energy entered the purple flames burning on the gold-armored soldier's body.

The gold-armored soldier looked fierce like a soldier from heaven. The sword it held made it possess a brave and valiant aura.

"Kill!" Ye Chen's pupils contracted. The gold-armored soldier whistled through the air, waving its sword like a purple meteor cutting across the sky.

Tuoba Yan was recovering with his eyes closed when he suddenly sensed a hint of killing intent. He quickly opened his eyes, only to feel a dark wind roaring around him.

"What's going on?" Tuoba Yan frowned. He quickly took out a pair of studded gauntlets from his Heaven-Earth Pouch and wore them. His Celestial Chi surged.

Bang bang bang!

Around him, several towering boulders were blown to dust.

Even if these stones were hard, they were brittle against a Mystique Venerable One's Celestial Chi.

Tuoba Yan looked incredibly ugly with thin and long arms that made him look like a gibbon. No one could tell that he was a powerful master, but when he released Celestial Chi, his body suddenly became like a taut bowstring capable of releasing infinite power at any time. It was like an eagle spreading its wings to soar in the sky.

Tuoba Yan's eyes suddenly burst with coldness as he stared at the dark tunnel in the distance. It was the direction where he came from.

Cold air howled, making Tuoba Yan's heart feel more on guard.

In the darkness in front, there was a faint purple light in the winding tunnel.

Tuoba Yan frowned. He did not know what it was. He had not encountered any creatures in the tunnel along the way. Did someone follow him?

The moment he thought this, the purple light in the distance had suddenly reached Tuoba Yan.

When Tuoba Yan saw what the newcomer looked like, a chill rose behind him. It was not a human that came after him, but something like a spirit. It was wearing gold armor and carried a long sword. It had no facial expression but somehow, it looked dignified and ferocious.

If it were human, Tuoba Yan would not be afraid. However, his opponent was not human. This caused some fear to appear in his heart.

"What the hell is this thing?!" Tuoba Yan frowned and cried.

The gold-armored soldier's sword slashed down. The tip of the sword glinted coldly, carrying an incomparable sharpness. It seemed like it could cut through anything.

The gold-armored soldier attacked too swiftly and Tuoba Yan did not have time to dodge it. He quickly raised his gauntlets to parry.

Boom!

Purple flame on the gold-armored soldier's sword collided with the surging Celestial Chi on Tuoba Yan's body. Astral Body and Celestial Chi had crashed against each other, creating tremors in the air. Countless boulders were split into pieces and large pits five to six meters in diameter appeared on the ground. The gold-armored soldier's sword energy was deflected by Tuoba Yan's Celestial Chi and cut into the stone wall instead. It immediately left a huge crack two to three meters deep.

Tuoba Yan had been poisoned by the Venomous Hornets and his strength was already greatly damaged, but now, he was attacked by the gold-armored soldier. The Celestial Chi in his body surged as he was forced back several steps. He almost spit out a mouthful of blood.

As for the gold-armored soldier, its situation was also quite miserable. The explosive Celestial Chi had pierced it and the gold armor it wore was in tatters. Its sword also started to chip and its body had become slightly thinner. It paused in the air for a moment.

Standing in the shadow of a corner, Ye Chen's complexion turned slightly white. He immediately reached into his dantian and urged the Flying Dagger. From his Celestial Chi, energy for his Astral Body rose and added into the gold-armored soldier's body.

The wounds on the slightly thin gold-armored soldier's body healed quickly as the gold-armored soldier recovered to its original state. The damaged sword also returned intact.

When cultivating inside the Heavenly Astra Vice Seal, Ye Chen had a lot of experiences having his Astral Body crushed and putting it back together again. Many times, it was directly annihilated by the Purple-fire Astra Lion's purple flames. However, Ye Chen merely gritted his teeth and survived. After such arduous training, the actual combat capability of the gold-armored soldier had increased several times. It would not be destroyed that easily.

"What powerful recovery!" Tuoba Yan looked up and saw that the gold-armored soldier had already been restored to its original state. His eyebrows could not help but raise. "This d*mn thing only has the strength of a peak Heavenly Venerable One. If I weren't poisoned and injured to this extent, it would definitely not be able to hurt me!"

Tuoba Yan's heart sank in anger. He was subjected to much indignities after getting injured. A peak Heavenly Venerable Rank cultivation was incomparable to a Mystique Venerable One!