Chapter 144: Desperate Ground
"I'm sure you all understand the situation in this godforsaken place," Ethan said. "If we don't find a way out and get back to the surface soon, we'll miss the window when our sects' Golden Core Masters open the Teleportation Array. No matter how many treasures we've collected, we'll rot here. So I propose we unite all the nearby cultivators and organize a proper search. That's the only way we'll find an exit quickly. The Palace's strength here is second only to my sect. If you agree to join, the search will go much smoother."
"That sounds good," Leo nodded. "But if we come across any more rare treasures, Senior Brother Ethan can't pull the same trick as before."
Ethan's proposal aligned perfectly with Leo's own thoughts. But this kid—barely into his teens, freakishly strong, and already so mature and capable in his dealings. The Ancient Sword Sect had clearly invested a great deal of effort into grooming such a genius.
"That's fair," Ethan said with a laugh.
Though the fight over the Youth Preservation Fruits was over, the cultivators crowded along the riverbank didn't disperse. They remained packed together, the air thick with tension. Many of them had been trying to kill each other just moments ago.
The reason was simple: most of them had suffered losses at the claws of the Bloodshadow Lizards. Now that the two strongest squads—the Ancient Sword Sect and the Palace—had formed a temporary alliance and were organizing everyone to hunt the lizards, the scattered cultivators from other sects eagerly joined in. After all, if they split up, they'd be the first to die. Only by wiping out every last lizard could they search for an exit in peace. For everyone trapped here, finding a way out was the top priority.
Soon, the cultivators divided into four or five groups. The strongest—the Ancient Sword Sect, the Palace, and a few other teams made up of two or three core disciples each—fanned out in an arc, supporting one another as they searched for the Bloodshadow Lizards. The plan was for each team to be able to handle two lizards at once. If a lizard was spotted, nearby teams would rush in and together take it down. Any treasures found along the way would be split among the team that discovered them. That way, everyone's concerns were addressed.
The strange region they were trapped in wasn't too large, but it wasn't small either—about a hundred miles in circumference. Along the way, they found more treasures and picked up more scattered cultivators from various sects. In addition to gathering several types of herbs needed for Foundation Establishment Pills and Rejuvenation Pills, Leo also found another kind of soul stone. He had now collected all the materials needed to forge the Soul Severance Blade.
A hundred-mile radius would have taken ordinary people days to search thoroughly. For cultivators, it was only a few days' work. But at the edges, they found nothing but solid rock walls — no way out.
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Frustration set in. After several days, over three hundred cultivators from various sects gathered near a Teleportation Array. Beside it stood a stone tablet inscribed with the words "Blood Soul Teleportation Array" and several smaller lines of explanatory text.
When they read the text, everyone's face changed.
"Looks like out of the three hundred of us here," a voice said, "fewer than thirty will make it out alive."
The speaker was Draven, a core disciple of the Golden Radiance Sect. On paper, he was second only to Ethan and his Blazing Sun Sword. But his entire team had been wiped out. He was alone.
Ethan and Draven were the two strongest among the three hundred cultivators. Neither had to worry about being eliminated. The twenty or so core disciples present were less anxious too. But the faces of the ordinary disciples had turned green. According to the tablet, the Teleportation Array would only activate after ten duels had been fought on it — with only the last survivor standing. The core disciples would avoid each other. Ordinary disciples facing a core disciple with a magic artifact? They were dead.
"Senior Brother Leo," Quiver said, her face pale, "what do we do?"
In their moment of utter helplessness, her first thought was Leo — the man who had led them out of danger time and again.
"It's too early to jump to conclusions," Leo said, shaking his head. "Ethan and Draven haven't made a decision yet. Why should we rush? Wait here for me. I'm going to take a look around."
He fell silent and walked off. The Teleportation Array before him reminded him of the altar Hann had used to escape in the underground palace.[A quick reminder: The Teleportation Array Leo is remembering first appeared in Chapter 90, when Hann and his son escaped using a similar altar deep in the underground palace.]It looked like a small Teleportation Array. But something about it felt wrong.
Quincy and the others exchanged glances. They had no better ideas for now. Leo was right. If the inscription was true, until Ethan and Draven were teleported away, who would dare step onto the Teleportation Array? Offend one of them, and death would come in an instant. They wanted to follow Leo, but he hadn't invited them. As core disciples, Quincy and Lowell couldn't swallow their pride and tag along. And those like Quiver and Solon, who might have been willing to lower their heads, shrank back under Leo's gaze.
As the cultivators crowded around the Blood Soul Teleportation Array, pointing and murmuring, no one stepped forward. Leo circled it once but found nothing unusual. He then went to the stone tablet and examined both sides carefully. To the other cultivators, his actions seemed unremarkable. Everyone's attention was fixed on the inscription. No one paid him any mind.
Before long, Leo finished wandering around the edges of the crowd, dusted off his hands, and walked back.
Draven looked at Ethan. "Senior Brother Ethan, dragging this out won't help. We've searched every inch of this hundred-mile area. Aside from this Blood Soul Teleportation Array, there's no other way out of this hellhole. I don't know what kind of trap this is, but we have to try something."
Ethan stood with his hands behind his back, his brow furrowed. He had taken a good look around as well. He knew Draven wasn't wrong. But in this situation, who wanted to be the first to step up?
Draven could see that Ethan was tempted, but Ethan was worried that forcing others onto the Teleportation Array would turn the other sects against the Ancient Sword Sect. In any other place, it wouldn't matter. But here, trapped in this desperate ground, the other cultivators numbered in the hundreds. As strong as Ethan was, he couldn't fight a hundred at once.
"How about we draw lots?" suggested a core disciple from the Fire Departure Sect. "The first ten names drawn have to step onto the Teleportation Array. As for who survives in the end—that's up to heaven. If they die, they can only blame their own bad luck."
"That works." Ethan and Draven nodded. The decision was made.