“That is right. Those items are truly good. A 10,000-year-old ginseng can easily be found, but these vile-type objects are the hardest to find. It is mainly due to the fact that the conditions for their growth are highly extreme. Additionally, vile zones like this are very hard to find,” Tie Changkong said.

Shua!

With another swing, Tie Changkong sent another sword beam out and the black air before them were blown away. Finally, the three of them were able to get a clear view of the hole.

Circular in shape, it had a radius of 10 zhang and its surface looked smooth. It truly resembled the mouth of a volcano. However, it was not spouting out magma. Instead, it spouted out streams of vile energy.

“Let’s go!”

Chen Feng and the others exchanged glances before simultaneously jumping down.

Falling down the hole, Chen Feng could immediately feel the surrounding vile energy growing in thickness. The vile energy seemed alive. The moment it felt the auras coming from the team of three, the streams of vile energy swirled forward, desirous of invading their bodies to corrode them.

The way down was dark and Chen Feng’s eyes could only see up to 10 metres down. All three of them were in a highly vigilant state. Pushing their focus to the limit, they also used their soul powers to constantly scan their surroundings.

“It really does resemble a volcano,” Tie Changkong blurted out.

They had thought the hole was a bottomless pit. However, after descending through around 100 zhang, their feet made contact with the ground. Furthermore, it was hard ground.

“The stones here don’t look that durable. Surprisingly, they could resist the vile energy’s invasive power. How strange.” Chen Feng extended a hand to grab a piece of rock from the ground. With a light squeeze, he crushed the rock into pieces.

“All things complement each other. The herbs that grow near where a poisonous snake lives can be used to cure the snake’s venom. Although the rocks here are not tough, they can resist the surrounding streams of vile energy,” Shangguan Yun said with a smile.

“The underground caverns here are big,” Chen Feng could not stop himself from uttering after looking at the Thousand Seeker Mirror in his hand.

“I wonder if anyone ever made it here.”

“We should be considering what to do if we encounter yao beasts right now.”

“I don’t think we’ll find any yao beasts here.” Having said that, Tie Changkong flicked his fingers, sending several wind bullets out to investigate their surroundings.

“Careful!”

Through the Thousand Seeker Mirror, a red silhouette could be seen flashing forward at an incredible velocity. It was rushing towards Chen Feng’s team of three.

“What is it?” Tie Changkong was quick to respond. His sword swung out with lightning-like speed.

As a result, the red silhouette was cut into two. Examining it, the three of them found out that it was a red-coloured Bloodthirsty Bat, half a chi in size.

“This is a type of Bloodthirsty Bat that grows in vile zones.”

“And I was wondering just how strong it would be. In the end, one slash from me was all it took to finish it off,” said Tie Changkong with a sneer.

“As I recall, these creatures tend to live in flocks,” Chen Feng suddenly said.

Sure enough, a series of rumbling sounds rang out from afar. It was the result of the vibrating sounds created by an extremely high number of Bloodthirsty Bats.

“Judging by the sound, there should be at least 1,000 of them. Hurry, let’s get out of here!”

A formidable wave of bloodthirsty aura surged towards the three of them. The streams of vile and bloody energy were so thick, the three of them knew that they would be incapable of fighting back. Thus, they quickly decided to leave the place.

“Blade flares and sword shadows!”

Chen Feng waved both hands forward, sending both Longevity Blade and Longevity Sword out at the same time. They spiralled forward, smashing into whatever opposition they met. Next, Chen Feng turned and ran.

Tie Changkong and Shangguan Yun were no slouches either. That was especially true for Tie Changkong, who unleashed 36 sword beams in a flash. As for Shangguan Yun, she tossed out a Thunderclap Bead. The resulting explosion from the bead shocked even Chen Feng.

The three of them quickly fled, covering a distance of over 1,000 zhang in a flash. One thousand zhang!

Shock appeared on their faces. Since entering the underground caverns, the three of them had not ventured through even 100 zhang of the place. For them to run back through a distance of 1,000 zhang could only mean one thing.

“We went the wrong way,” Tie Changkong said with a reserved tone.

“We’re lost,” Chen Feng said.

The three of them had only just stopped when the Bloodthirsty Bats caught up to them. Furthermore, they were attacking Chen Feng’s team from every direction.

The distinguishing features of Bloodthirsty Bats were their ferocity and bloodthirstiness, their tough and pliable wings, sharp claws and fangs. Add their numerical advantage to the mix, even some strong yao beasts would end up getting sucked dry and torn to shreds.

Chi! Chi! Chi! Chi! Chi!

A sharp soundwave assailed Chen Feng’s team of three, causing their heads to spin. As the many Bloodthirsty Bats had simultaneously unleashed the soundwave attack, even Chen Feng was affected.

“I forgot these fellows have soundwave attacks.” After saying that, Chen Feng opened his mouth and unleashed his own roar. The formidable assault caused the approaching Bloodthirsty Bats to fall into disarray, smashing into the ground as a result.

Shua!

A sword beam burst forward and another group of Bloodthirsty Bats were cut into two each.

The Flowing Cloud Ribbon that Shangguan Yun sent out vibrated. One by one, the Bloodthirsty Bats were stunned by the vibrational waves and they flew about in a state of chaos.

“If this is all the strength they can muster, there is nothing for us to fear. We’ll just kill however many comes!” Tie Changkong laughed out as he kept swinging out rampaging sword beams, killing stretch after stretch of the Bloodthirsty Bats.

Half a joss stick’s worth of time went by and the number of Bloodthirsty Bats the three killed went beyond 500. Even so, more Bloodthirsty Bats attacked the three with no regards for their own lives.

“Strange. Could there only be bats here? How could there be so many of them? Moreover, all of them have no fear towards death. We can’t continue on like this.” Tie Changkong could feel his primary energy reserve falling.

“It is a little strange.” Chen Feng utilized the Overwhelming Astral Sword to continuously hack down on any Bloodthirsty Bats that approached him.

Unbeknown to them, as the number of Bloodthirsty Bats they killed rose, the blood energy within their bodies grew more volatile. Traces of bloody light began appearing within the depths of their pupils.

Those were symptoms of bloodthirst deviation. Additionally, the symptoms were quick to appear. After killing 1,000 Bloodthirsty Bats, the eyes of all three became completely blood-red.

The three of them had completely fallen into a state of slaughter. All they could think of was to unleash attack after attack, killing anything that came close to them.

When Chen Feng felt a painful sensation on his body, he channelled the Longevity Scripture. Additionally, his soul was connected to Purplebolt. With a thought, a stream of soul power flowed from Purplebolt’s sea of wisdom into Chen Feng’s sea of wisdom.

Immediately, Chen Feng snapped awake. Only then did he realize what had happened. Cold sweat instantly oozed out due to fear. If that situation had continued, he would have ended up as a puppet that only knew slaughter.

Sou!

A sword beam shot towards Chen Feng with lightning-like speed. With a wave of his hand, Chen Feng sent the Overwhelming Astral Sword forward, smashing the sword beam apart. Tie Changkong, both his eyes blood-red in colour, roared non-stop as he charged towards Chen Feng.

It was then that Chen Feng realized, a wound had unknowingly appeared on his chest. Blood was slowly seeping out from the wound.

Chen Feng was quick to understand that the wound was from Tie Changkong’s sword beam. At the same time, he felt secretly thankful. If he hadn’t taken the Blood Pill and increased the strength of his fleshly body, that sword beam could have cut his chest open.

“Wake up!” Chen Feng howled at Tie Changkong. However, it only succeeded in stunning Tie Changkong for a moment. After revealing a confused struggling look, Tie Changkong then continued to attack Chen Feng.

On the other side, Shangguan Yun was sending her sky-encompassing, multi-coloured ribbons to attack Chen Feng. Chen Feng released a harrumph, and an overpowering soul power assailed Tie Changkong.

“Wake up!”

“Humph!”

Tie Changkong grunted. Finally, he snapped awake. The blood-red colour in his eyes faded as he gradually recollected himself.

“I fell into a state of cultivation deviation earlier,” Tie Changkong mumbled. Immediately, he activated his domain power to expel the surrounding blood energy.

“There is still Shangguan Yun!” Chen Feng shouted. He hurriedly moved forward. Swinging his sword, he blocked Shangguan Yun’s ribbon attack. At the same time, Tie Changkong used that opening to send out a stream of soul power. Shangguan Yun’s body shook and she gradually recovered.

“That was too dangerous. I nearly became a killing puppet with no sense of self.” Cold sweat broke out from all over Shangguan Yun.

“Brother Chen saved us again,” said Tie Changkong gratefully.

“Let’s not talk about that first. Think of a way to deal with these Bloodthirsty Bats. The blood inside them actually possesses chaotic vile energy. It can easily affect the minds of cultivators like us.” As Chen Feng spoke, he unleashed three sword beams to kill off tens of Bloodthirsty Bats.

“But there are countless Bloodthirsty Bats around us. Not to mention, we are underground right now. There is no way to find our bearings. How can we figure out where to go? Maybe we need to kill off all these bats before we can get out,” Tie Changkong said.

“These Bloodthirsty Bats are unending. There is no telling just how many of them there are. They also show no fear towards death. They may be a creation of the vile energy here. I think it would be better for us to think of a way to charge out,” Shangguan Yun said.

After a moment’s consideration, Chen Feng asked, “How many more Thunderclap Beads do you have?”

“Eight more.”

“Toss them all out to blow up a path. We’ll concentrate our powers on one direction and charge out,” Chen Feng said.

“Alright.” Shangguan Yun nodded her head. With a swing of her hand, all of the Thunderclap Beads were thrown out. Next, a series of violent explosions erupted. It was as though there were several lightning bolts striking down all at once.

Chen Feng’s team of three felt their vision going black and their eardrums buzzed. Their blood energies roiled.

“What a strong explosive power! I will open a path. Let’s charge out!” After saying that, Chen Feng brandished the Overwhelming Astral Sword and charged into the thick smoke created from the explosions.

The eight Thunderclap Beads killed over 100 Bloodthirsty Bats, clearing out a large stretch of space for them. After Chen Feng’s team of three charged through, large rocks suddenly fell down from above to quickly block off the underground cavern behind them.

The explosions earlier had triggered a collapse. Hearing the rumbling sound coming from behind them, Chen Feng and the others revealed wry smiles while breathing a sigh of relief.

“Unexpectedly, we managed to stop the pursuing Bloodthirsty Bats using this method. However, our exit path is also blocked. Hopefully, there is another passageway up ahead,” Chen Feng said with a wry smile.

“What is there to fear? If it comes down to it, we’ll just dig a hole out,” Tie Changkong said enthusiastically. However, he quickly deflated. Digging a passageway out from a place that was covered in black smoke was easier said than done.

After a moment’s consideration, Chen Feng brought out a few pieces of Fluorescent Stones from the Longevity Tower and raised them into the air to serve as sources of illumination. As for Tie Changkong, he produced a torch.

1 zhang = 3.333 m

1 chi = 0.333 m