The Ning family cultivators’ emotions began to spiral into chaos.
"Silence!" Ning Zhanji shouted decisively. "If it were really Zheng Shuangjun intending to harm us, we wouldn’t have any chance of escaping this place.”
“But that’s highly unlikely. If they really wanted to take action, why bother targeting us? To alarm the enemy?”
“We wouldn’t be their primary target!”
After slightly stabilizing their mood, Ning Zhanji saw a figure wielding twin hooks breaking through countless demonic beasts, heading directly towards one of the passages.
“It’s Zheng Shuangjun!”
“I see his signature weapon, the Sun and Moon Twin Hooks.”
“Phew, he’s not here for us!”
The Ning family cultivators just started to calm down, only for their anxiety to spike the next moment.
The intensity of the demonic beasts’ assault increased drastically, putting immense pressure on the formation’s defenses.
Ning Zhanji had no choice but to order his men to form small teams and fight outside the formation to relieve some of the strain.
The formation, hastily set up, was far from robust.
The demonic beasts were ferocious!
Even though the Ning family cultivators fought with their lives on the line, the first ice wall was soon broken.
The second shield didn’t last much longer either.
Fortunately, the Ning family cultivators managed to set up a fourth formation in the meantime.
Everyone huddled together, defending desperately within the pillar of light.
Ning Yong’s face was pale, his body trembling. “Could it be… we’re going to die here today?”
Even Ning Chen, usually calm, looked panicked, completely losing his composure.
Ning Zhuo displayed a similar expression, though there was a flicker of dark light in his eyes.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Three massive explosions shook the ground.
The demonic beasts fled madly as a black figure smashed through a wall, bursting into the underground plaza.
Right behind it, Zheng family’s golden core cultivator, Zheng Shuangjun, pursued relentlessly.
“Scoundrel! How dare you covet the Immortal Palace! Leave your life here!” Zheng Shuangjun roared.
Zheng Shuangjun unleashed a full-strength sweep, sending out a five-meter-long blade aura.
The shadow, with an aged voice, let out a sinister laugh. “The treasures of the cultivation world belong to those fated!"
"You families of Fire Persimmon Immortal City wish to hoard the Lava Immortal Palace? Dream on!”
As he spoke, the shadow took a heavy blow, scattering the blade aura and using the force to fly backward toward the Ning family cultivators.
Ning Zhanji’s heart sounded a fierce warning. He ducked into the center of the formation, shouting, “I will command the formation!”
The defensive array blazed with unprecedented radiance.
The shadow approached the formation, lightly waving a hand, instantly shattering it.
Another wave of his hand, and a swath of cultivators collapsed, their bodies unscathed but their lives gone.
“Demon cultivator! Still so arrogant!” Zheng Shuangjun, enraged, rushed forward to engage.
The Shadow Demon Cultivator turned to battle with Zheng Shuangjun.
“Lord Ning Zhanji!” the Ning family cultivators cried out.
But Ning Zhanji lay on the ground, eyes wide open, dead with lingering resentment.
With the loss of the formation’s protection and without a leader, the remaining demonic beasts continued to surge forward, forcing the Ning family cultivators to flee in all directions.
Casualties quickly mounted.
In the midst of the crisis, Ning Zhuo suddenly shouted, “Go through the passage the golden core cultivator cleared; there must be fewer demonic beasts there!”
Awakened by his reminder, the panicked Ning family cultivators snapped back to their senses.
“Right!”
“That passage was swept by two golden core cultivators; there must be fewer demonic beasts!”
“That’s the way out!”
With this newfound determination, the Ning family cultivators rallied and headed for the passage entrance.
“Ning Yong, Ning Chen, stay close to me!” Ning Zhuo opened his arms, pulling out several frost talismans and scattering them around.
These were accumulated from his time at the academy.
Ning Yong and Ning Chen, eyes red with fear, instinctively followed Ning Zhuo, fighting with all their strength to increase their chances of survival.
The three supported each other, joining the main group of Ning family members as they reached the passage entrance.
Looking back, the two golden core cultivators’ clash sent shockwaves, scaring the demonic beasts into fleeing in all directions.
Many demonic beasts, in the same direction as the Ning family members, rushed toward them from behind.
Ahead lay the bodies of demonic beasts, with few survivors, but more beasts continued to pour in from behind.
Under such pressure, the Ning family cultivators gritted their teeth and pushed forward through the passage.
“Kill! Kill! Kill!”
Along the way, any demonic beast blocking their path was fiercely slaughtered by the fleeing Ning family cultivators.
“That’s…!”
“The Lava Immortal Palace!”
“Who would’ve thought this passage would lead to the Lava Immortal Palace.”
The Ning family cultivators found themselves before a lake of lava, where a corner of the Immortal Palace building jutted out from the lake.
“The Lava Immortal Palace…” Ning Zhuo whispered, his expression natural.
As an ordinary youth seeing the Immortal Palace for the first time, his heart couldn’t help but be captivated.
However, no one noticed the gleam of ambition in his eyes!
In truth, he had anticipated this outcome.
Beside him, Ning Chen panted, catching his breath, “It wasn’t hard to guess!”
“When those two golden core cultivators were fighting, didn’t their words already reveal the answer?”
“It’s likely the Shadow Demon Cultivator attempted to infiltrate, only to be intercepted by Zheng Shuangjun!”
The Ning family cultivators were in a dire situation.
Before them was a lake of lava with a glimpse of the Immortal Palace, and behind them, demonic beasts kept charging in.
With no other choice, the remaining Ning family cultivators had to form defensive arrays once more.
They set up two formations, one inside the other, interlocking.
The intensity of the demonic beasts’ assault was weaker than in the underground plaza.
“We can hold them back!” Just as the Ning family cultivators felt a glimmer of hope, a deafening rumble echoed nearby.
“Where do you think you’re going?!” Zheng Shuangjun’s roar grew closer.
The Ning family cultivators felt a chill run down their spines. Judging by the sound, it was clear that the Shadow Demon Cultivator had returned!
“It seems we’re doomed today!” Ning Yong’s face was ashen.
Ning Chen simply closed his eyes, utterly despairing.
Their fleeting hope for survival was crushed, and both novice cultivators lost all will to fight.
“Then let it be death! So what?” Ning Zhuo suddenly shouted. “Dying in battle is better than dying in disgrace!”
Spurred by his words, Ning Yong’s expression changed.
In this moment of desperation, he found courage, clenching his teeth and standing up.
Ning Chen opened his eyes, looking at Ning Zhuo, secretly admiring his classmate’s bravery in the face of death.
Inspired, he said, “Well said, Zhuo! Dying at the hands of a golden core cultivator, in front of the Lava Immortal Palace, is at least an honorable death.”
As he spoke, thick, dark smoke billowed forth, dense as ink, containing powerful dark energy that blocked spiritual sense detection.
In an instant, shadows writhing within the smoke formed into countless shadow serpents, surging towards the Lava Immortal Palace on the lava lake.
But halfway there, the giant serpents dissipated.
Zheng Shuangjun’s shout rang out, “Attack the Immortal Palace? Dream on!”
But the next moment, the serpents reformed, this time attacking the surrounding passage walls instead.
Under this frenzied assault, the passage walls cracked and seemed ready to collapse.
“Madman!” Zheng Shuangjun, witnessing this, felt a chill in his heart.
With no other option, he switched from offense to defense, channeling all his spiritual power to shield the passage.
In the thick smoke, a long shadow snake suddenly struck the Ning family’s formation.
Unsurprisingly, a golden core-level attack instantly shattered the Ning family’s formation.
The black smoke surged, completely obscuring the Ning family survivors’ vision.
“Bring it on!” Ning Yong shouted, mustering all his courage for a final stand.
The smoke was so dense that visibility was zero.
In that moment, Ning Zhuo found himself seemingly alone.
He took out a token and summoned Azure Iron Armor.
Once the armor enveloped him, he immediately gained the strength of a foundation establishment cultivator!