Tang Dynasty Demon Suppression Division

The Heavenly Gang Locking Yuan Formation is broken!

"roar--!!"

The monster let out a roar that shook the heavens, a roar filled with the ecstatic joy of being freed. It pounced out of the formation and charged straight at Zhong Yuanzi.

Zhong Yuanzi's expression changed drastically. He never expected that his plan, which he had painstakingly developed over the years, would be ruined by the meddling of an unknown nobody.

Without a second thought, he formed hand seals, and a condensed azure sword aura gathered in front of him to meet the oncoming monster.

"clang--!!!"

The sword energy collided with the monster's claws, bursting out dazzling sparks. Zhong Yuanzi was thrown backward by the shock and slammed hard into the rock wall behind him. He felt a sweet taste in his throat and spat out a mouthful of blood.

The monster, pressing its advantage, let out a low roar and pounced on Zhong Yuanzi again.

"Stop it! Stop it now!" Zhong Yuanzi shouted sternly.

The surrounding cultivators seemed to awaken from a dream, and they all drew their weapons and surrounded the monster.

But these ordinary cultivators were no match for the monster. With a flick of its tail, the monster swept two cultivators away at the waist, and the sound of bones shattering could be clearly heard.

It opened its mouth and spewed out a dark red flame, burning the three cultivators into human torches, who screamed and rolled on the ground.

The scene immediately descended into chaos.

Upon seeing this, the miners were stunned for a moment, then someone shouted, "Run!"

As if waking from a dream, the four turned and ran wildly back to the cave passage they had come from. The cultivators were too busy taking care of themselves to worry about those who were escaping, and in the blink of an eye, their figures disappeared into the cave passage.

Li Yuan did not take the opportunity to escape. He brandished his sword and was about to rush to help, but he was surrounded by several cultivators. Swords flashed and shadows attacked from all sides. He snorted coldly and dealt with them calmly.

With his cultivation level, these ordinary sect disciples posed little threat.

A cultivator thrust his sword straight at Li Yuan's heart, but Li Yuan dodged to the side and slashed at Li Yuan's wrist with a backhand stroke.

With a sharp clang, the man screamed as his longsword flew from his hand. Another cultivator seized the opportunity to slash at the back of his neck from behind, but Li Yuan didn't turn around. Instead, he kicked backward with his left foot, striking the man squarely in the abdomen, sending him flying backward and knocking over his companion behind him.

The remaining two cultivators exchanged a glance, both hesitant and unwilling to step forward easily.

Li Yuan did not pursue, his gaze remaining fixed on the golden-veined earth beast in the arena.

His original plan was to take advantage of the chaos and escape this place of trouble, but he changed his mind and risked staying.

He discovered that although the golden-veined earth beast was extremely fierce, it seemed incomplete. Its attacks, though violent, lacked discipline and were more like an instinctive outburst of anger.

Fortunately, its body was indestructible and it was not afraid of any attacks from the other party, so it just charged around recklessly.

"clang--!"

The golden-veined earth beast's claws collided with Zhong Yuanzi's longsword, sparks flying. Zhong Yuanzi's hands went numb from the shock, and he almost dropped his sword. He quickly retreated several steps to create distance.

"roar!"

The golden-veined earth beast grew stronger with each battle, letting out a deep roar as it pounced on Zhong Yuanzi once more, its sharp claws slamming down with a piercing shriek as they tore through the air.

Zhong Yuanzi dared not take the blow head-on, and rolled away in a sorry state, narrowly avoiding the claw. The claw slammed into the rock wall behind him with a loud "boom," sending rocks flying everywhere. The hard rock wall was left with a claw mark several feet deep.

Just then, a fierce fight broke out from the direction of the gate, and shouts of alarm rose from all sides.

The four miners had already reached the door and pushed the heavy door together. With a creaking sound, it slowly opened a crack. Upon seeing this, the cultivator guarding the door immediately drew his weapon and stepped forward to intercept them.

"Whoosh—!"

A sharp ice spike pierced the air and struck a guard in the back. The man groaned and collapsed to the ground.

Immediately afterwards, a figure in moon-white robes emerged from the shadows, its sword flashing like snow, instantly forcing back two more guards.

The person who arrived was none other than Leng Ningshuang.

She had been waiting in the shadows, ready to help Li Yuan. When she saw the miners run out, she knew something must have happened inside, and she acted without hesitation.

"Senior Sister Leng, I'm here to help you!"

With a sharp cry, a slender figure rushed out from the shadows and swung her sword to strike.

Leng Ning Shuang suddenly turned around, only to find that the person who came was Ji Fanghua.

It turned out that she had found a shortcut in the intricate mine tunnels thanks to her extraordinary spatial talent, and just happened to arrive in time for this chaotic battle.

"Senior Sister Leng, let's charge in!" Ji Fanghua shouted to Leng Ningshuang as she stabbed down a guard with her sword.

Leng Ning Shuang nodded, and the two of them stood back to back, forming a pincer movement, forcing back the guards who rushed up one by one. The miners took the opportunity to push open the gate and scramble out.

"Run! There's a monster in the cave! The monster is eating people!" a miner shouted as he ran.

The shout caused an uproar throughout the mine. Miners from other mining areas heard the shout, dropped their tools, and rushed toward the mine entrance in fear.

The guards tried to stop them, but the miners were too numerous and panicked to be stopped, and the entire mine was thrown into chaos.

Lei Lie and Han Kuo, who were mixed in with the miners, heard the shouts and immediately realized that something must have happened to Li Yuan. The two looked at each other, exerted their strength at the same time, pushed aside the miners blocking their way, and rushed against the flow of people towards the gate.

Two Taixu disciples followed closely behind.

"Get out of the way! Everyone get out of the way!"

Lei Lie brandished his short axe, forcing back the guards blocking his way. A moment later, the six of them met in front of the bronze gate.

"Junior Sister Ji, what's the situation inside?" Lei Lie asked anxiously.

"Li Yuan is still inside," Ji Fanghua said. "We must go in and support him."

"You go in, we'll guard the entrance!" Han Kuo made a quick decision. "Lei Lie, you stay with me and hold off the pursuers! Leng Ningshuang, Ji Fanghua, you two go in and help Li Yuan."

"good!"

Leng Ningshuang and Ji Fanghua responded simultaneously, then turned and rushed into the bronze gate.

Han Kuo and the other three stood side by side at the entrance, facing the Xuanqi Sect disciples surging in from all directions, their heads held high and they did not back down.

Inside the bronze gate, in the deep valley.

When Leng Ningshuang and Ji Fanghua rushed in, they saw Li Yuan kick the last guard away, dust off his hands, and stand there calmly.

"Senior Brother Li, are you alright?" Ji Fanghua quickly stepped forward and looked him up and down.

"It's nothing." Li Yuan shook his head. "These few small fry can't hurt me."

Just then, a loud bang came from the field.

"Boom!"

The Golden Vein Earth Beast once again sent Zhong Yuanzi flying. Zhong Yuanzi crashed heavily against the rock wall, spitting out a mouthful of blood, his face as pale as paper.

Seeing Leng Ningshuang and Ji Fanghua rush in, he was both shocked and furious, and shouted angrily, "Leng Ningshuang, you traitor! The sect leader treated you like his own daughter, and you actually colluded with outsiders to betray the sect!"

Leng Ning Shuang coldly stared at him: "Treat me like a daughter? You only do that because you see my talent and want to use me to forge evil artifacts for you. You treat human life like dirt, feeding innocent miners to this earth beast. Do you even deserve to be called a celestial sect? Do you even deserve my loyalty?"

"What do you know!"

Zhong Yuanzi roared fiercely, his eyes filled with fanaticism, "Those miners are nothing but a bunch of ant-like mortals. The fact that they can contribute to the rise of the Xuanqi Sect is a blessing they've accumulated over several lifetimes!"