Chapter 96 – The Thousand-Mechanism Array
A brilliant red screen of light surged from the ground, serving as a towering barrier that sealed off the space, leaving only Li Guanqi and the black-robed man within.
Li Guanqi narrowed his eyes. He tossed his armor forward and leaped up. The armor snapped into place around him in mid-air, encasing his body in full. The Emerald Wolf Sword gleamed with a purple glow in his hand, letting out faint cries. But the black-robed man made no move—he merely looked on with amusement.
The ground in front of Li Guanqi surged upward, transforming into a metal wall a hundred zhang high. He rammed straight into it, but it didn’t budge; it sent all his momentum rebounding back. Fortunately, the armor absorbed most of the shock, though his chest still ached from the impact.
Li Guanqi froze in place, brows tightly furrowed, unable to make sense of the situation. Then came the sound of laughter. “Hahaha! The ignorance of youth! Since you came here, you’ll take part in the gamble of your life!”
Rumble!
A loud rumble came from all directions, and the ground beneath him quaked. With a sudden jolt, the ground beneath his feet rose more than ten zhang into the air. At the same time, the ground beyond the red screen dropped away rapidly. All the staircases leading to the underground city vanished without a trace.
The Daxia Sword Sect disciples who had already descended suddenly found a bright red light blooming beneath their feet, then they vanished without a trace.
Li Guanqi stared at the pitch-black space behind him. When the ground rose again, another bright red light screen snapped into place. Inside were the Daxia Sword Sect disciples who’d disappeared. They bore injuries of varying degrees—many barely standing with the support of others, some completely out cold.
Li Guanqi counted eighteen people inside.
Zhou Zhi was propping up a pale-faced girl—Jiang Su.
When Zhou Zhi saw Li Guanqi on the other side of the light screen, he froze for a beat, then shouted, “Junior Brother Li! How did you get in there? What happened?”
Li Guanqi’s face darkened with fury as realization struck—he had fallen directly into the enemy's trap. “Senior Brother... I don’t know what’s happening either.”