Judging by their presence, Wu Tian roughly estimated the strongest of this group to be a young lady in blue robes to his left. She was most likely a peak Mortal.

He did not find anyone else at this level, at least according to his own senses. Maybe three or so eighth layers and the rest between the seventh and the fourth.

In the Mortal Land, it was quite the lineup. But it was expected, this place reeking danger. How did they get here though? Is the exit near? About to ask his master, Wu Tian heard him speak. "Ohohoh~ Would you look at those kids? The young lady and the young man over there have Warrior artifacts!"

Frowning at the sentence, he still asked. "Does a Warrior artifact really matter here? If this cave is so dangerous, would an artifact of this level help in any way?" Guizou smiled at his words. He laid his gaze on a bell by the young woman's waist. "If this place was brand new, this artifact would have indeed been useless. Actually, you would be dead already. Even a Nine Stars would have."

Wu Tian did not pursue the matter further, Guizou lost in thoughts. Was the owner of this cave being pursued? Remnants of Daos that don't belong here, fragmented pieces of artifacts underneath the ground maybe?

For what should be at least a middle stage Monarch, this place is too poor looking. Rough edges, no real style. Seems to have been done in a rush.

Especially since a Monarch shouldn't even be in the Mortal Land to begin with... With how old it must be, finding anything stronger than Nine Stars is near impossible. I don't think arrays could save it. But that's of course if the owner was kind and not resourceful enough. If puppets or golems or something along those lines is still there, dormant... Aiz! I don't want to think about it!

Feeling the surrounding Daos, Guizou shivered slightly. My soul is weak, but even so, the remnant Principles of ice and darkness aren't too potent. They also aren't deeply understood enough? I guess it really was a Monarch. At least it couldn't have been even an early stage Dao Enlightened. That's a relief... in the fact that it isn't a relief, because it doesn't matter at the brat's poor level...

As Guizou thought about the situation, Wu Tian had already entered the cave since a few minutes ago. The layer of ice previously somewhat invisible was not clear to see, a strange illumination he could not see making the surroundings as bright as the forest's daytime. The cave entrance's width was also the width of the tunnel he was walking through. Sky blue ice was covering every bit of this tunnel, letting no stone to breath.

Luckily, Wu Tian was steady, compared to some behind him, from the now united group, as some of them slipped and fell on their bottom or face.

The cave kept going downward, slowly but surely. Sometimes, the tunnel would turn into a deep slant, letting them enjoy themselves from the fun ride.

But then, the tunnel faced them with another slant. A much deeper one.

In fact, it was more of plunge. Wu Tian cautiously walked near the edge before turning around. His hood blocked the prying eyes, his somewhat visible face expressionless amidst a tint of strangled fury. "Leave." His slightly hoarse voice made the group some distance above frown. They were sliding off the slant, meeting eyes with his figure.

The young lady at the Mortal Realm's summit advanced, pushing aside her allies. Now the closest to him, she pointed at his figure. "Sir, this is a place we found before you, and now you ask us to leave? No, should I say order? Believe it or not, but we are not afraid of you. We have the strongest force from the younger generation here, even rivaling some forces from the older ones. In this area, we are not to back down. Where would be put our pride then?" Cheering at her words, the group behind appreciated her decision. They felt Wu Tian to be unnerving since the very beginning. Scared, they dared not offend him without probing him first. To have the young lady, their leader, take the blunt, was quite the moral boost.

Why should they be a afraid of a creepy man? Even the city lords around gave them face!

Wu Tian, however, only narrowed his eyes. "It's fine. You can stay if you truly wish to. But before that, do give me space. This hole is deep, and I don't know how much. I want to continue exploring, but being near the edge of an abyss I cannot yet fathom is off putting. Especially when there are strangers behind me!" Grateful to the show off lessons from Guizou over the recent years, Wu Tian spoke much better than most his age.

"..." Thinking things through, the young lady remained silent. Many opportunities might be lost if they left this random and unknown man ahead of them. Or maybe they would not, as this hole could be the only exit point.

In the end, there was no point in thinking too much. Raising her hand, she sighed. "Fine! We'll retreat a bit further until you jump. But we won't wait forever! At that time, we won't be polite." Her last sentence a clear threat, Wu Tian scoffed in his heart. You want to threaten me? Try it then! See how my fist goes through your skull in one move!

Guizou was also laughing at her and her miserable group of young talents. "Look at her kiddo! She is delusional! All of them are! They came here as Mortals, where even Nine Stars would shiver! Where even peak Lords would plead! She clearly doesn't have much of a backing either. Or what? Does she have another me with her? Maybe that stupid little bell is actually an Emperor grade artifact? Look at them! I already see two or three smirking! Hahaha!"

Trying to contain his wavering smile, Wu Tian could only agree with his master. This was also one of the minor reasons he left them alive until now. Because watching meat shields run to their death where there most likely laid countless traps of incredible ingenuity fascinated him. He also never intended on splitting the loot with these people.

Compared with the rest of the tunnel, the hole was pitch black. Tossing a copper coin into it, he remained silent...

...two seconds...

...four...

...ting.

Five seconds or so? That's pretty deep... "Master, can I take the fall?" Guizou barely spared him a glance. "Are you serious? Why should you take the fall? There are many ways. Martial methods, using one of them as a meat pillow, or even better, just trying to slide down or dig. With your body and the state of this place, your fingers should be able to slow you down a bit. You might lose a layer of skin, but oh well, with how light you are, it should be fine."

Nodding, Wu Tian turned back around, facing the group. Then, he slowly crouched, before putting his legs into the hole. Increasingly going down, he was soon left with only one hand at the surface. "Here it goes, I guess?" Smiling wryly, Wu Tian used less and less strength into this hand, this same hand soon sliding into the hole, squeaking sounds from the friction to be heard.

Just as he lost the grace of the above, his body fell down rapidly. Slamming both arms into the wall just a few centimeters away, his eyelids twitched. It hurts!

Fortunately, his endeavor was not left unrewarded. His move pushing him away, sent flying to the opposite side, breaching the twenty or so meters. Using his feet as cushioning, his downward momentum was temporarily halted. This works? Repeating it with more care this time, he jumped with his legs from one side to the other, before deciding to do a short wall run.

A few seconds elapsed, he landed at the bottom. Can't see shit... Cursing at the inevitable curse of blindness now befalling him, Wu Tian looked around, Guizou's purple soul glowing without providing light somehow. "Go there." Pointing a bit to the left, Guizou saw the brat nod beneath the hood.

Walking without much thought, Wu Tian trusted Guizou.

Walking for a few minutes more, Wu Tian was stopped by Guizou's left arm spread before him. "Don't go further. There are traps ahead." His eyes pierced the darkness, his soul easily making out the shapes. "These are pretty nasty. If you go forward, you'll get impaled by around ten arrows and two spikes. Even if you manage to step back, I can already see a giant ball of steel behind you, lodged into the ceiling." Wu Tian did not even know how far the ceiling was. He could not even see his own knees.

Guizou stood in front of him. "Follow exactly what I do." Very slowly, he advanced, always waiting for the bearded man to follow.

Pivoting left, taking a step forward. Pivoting right stepping forward then turning right again, moving forward two steps. Turning left, advancing right in front for ten steps. Jumping over something at best fifty centimeters long, then turning to the left again. Once more, taking fifteen steps ahead. Turning right, Guizou stopped. He turned around, looking at Wu Tian. "Shit... these morons!" Entering Wu Tian, the young man was shocked. What's going on?! Before he could understand, he felt and saw through his very eyes his own body move on its own. Guizou was making him run and jump everywhere, like a kid playing hopscotch. "Don't mind me kiddo, these idiots behind are activating traps!" Just as he finished speaking, Wu Tian crouched while bending his torso back. The real Wu Tian heard through his body's ears a whistling sound sharply pass by. He understood these to come from activated traps. Arrows most likely.

Wanting to ask something, he tried to transmit some feelings. Guizou, still jumping and dodging around, all in darkness, was casual enough to answer him. "These traps are strong. The arrows are tens of thousands of pounds heavy, passing by at the speed of sound at least. Even a Star Realm fellow might be killed by these. You have to at least be a Great Master to survive them. And I know very well that you aren't!" Thinking of reminding him, Guizou continued. "And for your information, a Nine Stars is where you gain the title of Master!" Twisting Wu Tian's torso like a wet towel, two arrows grazed his loose robe near the intestines, another rushing at his head, Guizou forcing a bend of the knees on the spot.

Feeling his hair be ruffled, Wu Tian was sweating inside. "Almost there." His own calm voice resonated, his body still moving extremely fast with nimble landings. He did not understand how Guizou could dodge them so easily, well somewhat easily, reminded of the few close ones.

Sensing his questions, Guizou did not deny him. "I can see everything. From the first trap to here, there is a rectangular tunnel of grey stone slabs around two hundred meters long. I'd say ten to fifteen meters wide? Pretty narrow when you realize how many damn pressure plates are laid on the ground. And because I can see everything, and the traps mostly send arrows from the front, I can preemptively dodge them."

Wu Tian admired his master's ability even more. Without him, he would be dead already.

This thought made him increasingly hate the fools behind.

He would certainly remind them of being careful the next time!