From a loser to an immortal sage

Chapter 383 Perilous Passage, Encountering Enemies Again

What a hell!

Before the ethereal immortal's warning had even completely faded, I felt a gust of foul wind rush towards me, followed by a series of whooshing sounds that sent chills down my spine.

"Watch out, it's an arrow!" I shouted, drawing my soft sword from my waist and slashing it sharply in the direction the sound came from.

The sword energy created a gust of wind, knocking down several arrows that were shot at us, but more arrows rained down on us like a dense swarm.

These arrows were entirely black, with their arrowheads gleaming with a faint blue light, clearly indicating that they were coated with potent poison.

"Damn it!" I cursed under my breath, no longer caring about conserving my spiritual energy, and quickly erected a spiritual energy shield to cover myself, Zi Ling, Elder Qing Feng, and me.

"Boom bang bang..."

The arrows kept striking my spiritual shield, making dull thuds.

I can feel my spiritual energy shield being consumed little by little. At this rate, it probably won't last much longer.

"Everyone be careful, these arrows are coated with deadly poison!" I shouted a warning while fending off the arrows.

Before he finished speaking, the ground suddenly began to shake.

"Oh no, there's a trap!" The ethereal immortal's voice rang out again, his tone tinged with anxiety.

I quickly looked down and saw that the ground beneath our feet was slowly sinking, and a huge black hole was gradually expanding.

"Back off quickly!" I shouted, and hurriedly pulled Zi Ling and Elder Qing Feng back.

However, it was still a step too late.

"Ah!" Zi Ling cried out in surprise, her footing slipped, and she fell to the ground.

"Ziling!" My eyes widened in horror, and I rushed toward the edge of the pit, trying to grab her.

"Sister Xiao Yao!" Zi Ling's voice came from the deep pit, tinged with fear.

I stretched out my hand with all my might, but only grasped at thin air.

"Ziling!" I shouted loudly, my voice filled with endless worry.

However, there was no response from the deep pit, as if Zi Ling had been swallowed by the darkness.

"Damn it, I have to save her!" I gritted my teeth, my heart filled with anger and self-blame.

If I hadn't failed to protect her, she wouldn't have fallen into this damn trap!

"Xiao Yao, calm down!" Elder Qingfeng grabbed me and said in a deep voice, "Now is not the time to be impulsive. We must find a way to get out of our current predicament before we can rescue Zi Ling."

I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself down.

Elder Qingfeng is right. Now is not the time to act impulsively. I must calm down first before I can find a way to rescue Ziling.

"Hehehe... What a touching scene!"

A sinister voice suddenly broke the brief silence.

I looked up sharply and saw Xue Sha and Mo Yuan standing at the other end of the passage, looking at us with a mocking expression.

"Blood Fiend, Mo Yuan!" I said through gritted teeth.

"Looks like you're out of luck, falling right into my trap," Blood Fiend said smugly, his face full of mockery.

"Hmph, so what if we've fallen into a trap? You two think you can hold us back?" I sneered, showing no sign of backing down.

"Is that so? Then let's give it a try!" Mo Yuan smiled sinisterly, formed a hand seal, and a black light shot out from his hands, landing on the walls around us.

"Om..."

Suddenly, black runes lit up on the wall, forming a huge magic circle that trapped us firmly inside.

"This is... a Spirit Trapping Array!" Elder Qingfeng's expression changed drastically, and he exclaimed in surprise.

"A spirit-trapping array? What's that?" I asked quickly.

"The Spirit-Trapping Array is an extremely insidious magic array that can seal a person's spiritual power, preventing them from using any spells," Elder Qingfeng explained. "Moreover, this array will continuously absorb our spiritual power, making us weaker and weaker."

"Damn it!" I cursed under my breath and quickly circulated my spiritual energy, trying to break through the magic array.

However, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't budge the magic array at all.

My spiritual power was completely blocked, and I couldn't mobilize it at all.

"Hehehe... It's useless. This Spirit-Trapping Array was specially prepared for you. Once trapped inside, even a Great Luo Golden Immortal cannot escape!" Blood Fiend said smugly. "Now, you can just obediently wait to die!"

"Sister Xiao Yao..." Zi Ling's voice came again from the deep pit, tinged with a sob, "Save me..."

Hearing Zi Ling's voice, my heart ached.

I hate myself for not protecting her and letting her fall into such a dangerous situation.

"Ziling, don't worry, I will definitely get you out of here!" I shouted, my voice filled with determination.

However, as soon as I finished speaking, the black runes on the wall suddenly began to flash, and beams of black light shot out from the runes, attacking us.

"Watch out!" I shouted, quickly erecting a spiritual energy shield to try and block the black light.

However, these black lights were strangely powerful; they actually pierced through my spiritual energy shield and struck me.

"puff……"

I felt a tightness in my chest, and then I spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Xiao Yao!" Elder Qingfeng exclaimed and quickly helped me up.

"I...I'm fine..." I said with difficulty, wiping the blood from the corner of my mouth.

However, the black beams did not stop attacking; instead, they continued to shoot towards us.

Elder Qingfeng and I kept dodging, but we were still hit by quite a few beams of light.

Our spiritual energy is being depleted faster and faster, and our bodies are becoming weaker and weaker.

"This can't go on, we'll be worn down sooner or later!" I gritted my teeth, my heart filled with anxiety.

"I must find a way to break this spirit-trapping array!" I made up my mind.

I looked around and carefully observed the surrounding environment.

This spirit-trapping array is composed of black runes on the walls. If we can find the weakness in these runes, we may be able to break the array.

However, these runes are densely packed, numerous, and constantly flashing. Finding their weakness is no easy task.

Just when I was at my wit's end, I suddenly felt a strange sensation on the back of my hand.

I quickly raised my hand and saw that a faint white light had appeared on the back of my hand.

Although the light was faint, it was exceptionally bright, as if it could illuminate the entire darkness.

“This is…” I stared wide-eyed at the light on the back of my hand in disbelief.

I have seen this light before.

That was when I first transmigrated to this world; a similar light appeared on the mysterious jade pendant inside my body.

Could it be that this jade pendant can help me break this spirit-trapping array?

Thinking of this, a glimmer of hope ignited in my heart.

I took a deep breath, concentrated my mind, and slowly poured the spiritual energy within me into the light on the back of my hand.

As spiritual energy was infused, the light on the back of his hand grew brighter and more dazzling.

Suddenly, a white beam of light shot out from the back of my hand and towards a black rune on the wall.

"Boom..."

With a loud bang, the black rune shattered instantly and vanished into nothingness.

"It works!" I was overjoyed and quickly poured more spiritual energy into the light on the back of my hand.

Beams of white light shot out from the back of my hand, continuously striking the black runes on the wall.

With a series of loud bangs, the black runes exploded one after another, vanishing into nothingness.

The Spirit-Trapping Array began to shake violently, as if it were about to collapse at any moment.

"How is this possible?!" Blood Fiend stared in horror at the scene, exclaiming incredulously, "How could you possibly break my Spirit-Trapping Array?!"

I ignored Xue Sha's exclamation and continued to pour my spiritual power into the light on the back of my hand, frantically attacking the Spirit-Trapping Array.

Finally, through my relentless efforts, the Spirit-Trapping Array completely collapsed, turning into nothingness.

I also suffered from excessive spiritual energy consumption, and my body became weak and I almost fell to the ground.

"Xiao Yao, are you alright?" Elder Qingfeng quickly helped me up and asked with concern.

"I'm fine..." I shook my head and managed to stand up.

"Now, it's our turn to fight back!" I looked coldly at Xue Sha and Mo Yuan.

Xue Sha and Mo Yuan were pale and looked at us in horror, clearly frightened by my actions.

"Go!" Mo Yuan shouted, turned around and ran.

Xue Sha also fled with Mo Yuan without hesitation.

"Trying to run? Not so easy!" I sneered and chased after him without hesitation.

"Neither of you will leave here alive today!" My voice echoed in the passageway, filled with boundless killing intent.

However, before I could make a move, the ethereal immortal's voice rang out again: "Be careful, there are still traps!"

My heart skipped a beat, and I immediately stopped and carefully observed my surroundings.

Not far ahead of us, a huge stone gate appeared.

The stone gate was tightly closed, and it was carved with all sorts of strange patterns, making it look very eerie.

"What lies behind this stone door?" I wondered to myself, feeling a sense of unease.

Just then, the stone door suddenly opened with a rumbling sound...

The stone door slowly opened, and a cold, damp atmosphere rushed out, carrying an indescribable smell of decay, as if something had been buried underground for thousands of years and had finally seen the light of day again. The smell went straight into my nose, making me frown involuntarily.

This taste...something's not right!

Alarm bells rang in my mind, and I instinctively held my breath while pulling Elder Qingfeng and Ziling behind me to signal them to be careful.

Ziling's face turned pale, and she gripped my sleeve tightly. It was clear that she was also quite overwhelmed by the strange smell.

After the stone gate was fully opened, a pitch-black passage was revealed. Nothing could be seen but endless darkness, like a giant beast opening its mouth, waiting to devour everything.

This passage is less a road and more like an entrance to hell.

I took out a luminous pearl, and its faint light illuminated a small area at the entrance of the passage. The walls were covered with densely packed runes, which were somewhat similar to the runes that triggered the rain of arrows and the sinkhole, but were more complex and filled with an eerie atmosphere.

“These runes…” I reached out and touched the wall, feeling a cold sensation on my fingertips, like touching a piece of ancient ice. “They seem to be some kind of formation.”

“Miss Xiao Yao is right,” Elder Qingfeng squinted his eyes and carefully observed the runes. “This should be a complex formation, containing multiple different functions, including offensive, defensive, and even… mind-confusing ones.”

"Mind-confusing?" I was startled and quickly withdrew my hand. This formation was more dangerous than I had imagined.

“That’s right,” Elder Qingfeng said solemnly. “Some of these runes contain powerful spiritual energy. If you accidentally touch them, you may be confused or even lose your mind.”

Damn!

Those two, Xue Sha and Mo Yuan, are truly insidious!

They actually set up such a vicious formation!

I cursed under my breath, forced myself to calm down, and carefully observed the runes on the wall, trying to find the pattern in them.

The runes shimmered with an eerie light, like pairs of eyes watching us in the darkness, sending chills down our spines.

I felt my heart start to race, my breathing became rapid, and a strange sense of oppression washed over me.

No, I can't panic!

I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself down.

Now is not the time to be afraid. I must find a way to break this formation as soon as possible, or we will all die here!

I closed my eyes and focused all my attention on the runes, trying to use my spiritual power to sense their changes.

Gradually, I discovered that the flashing of those runes was rhythmic; they were like breathing, brightening and dimming, repeating endlessly.

Moreover, different runes flash at different frequencies; some flash fast, some slow, some strong, and some weak.

Could this be... the key to breaking the formation?

A thought struck me, and I quickly opened my eyes to look at the runes again.

I tried to use my spiritual power to simulate the flashing frequency of those runes, injecting my spiritual power into them in an attempt to change their trajectory.

At first, my attempt was unsuccessful; the runes continued to flash at the original frequency without any change.

However, I did not give up. Instead, I kept adjusting my spiritual energy output and tried again and again.

Finally, through my relentless efforts, the flashing frequency of one of the runes began to change, becoming slower and weaker until it finally went out completely.

Success! I was overjoyed and quickly continued trying to extinguish the other runes one by one.

As more and more runes faded, I felt the air around me begin to freshen, and the nauseating, rotten smell gradually disappeared.

"Miss Xiao Yao, you are truly amazing!" Zi Ling looked at me with admiration. "You actually broke this formation!"

"Yes, Xiao Yao, you are truly a genius!" Elder Qingfeng looked at me with admiration.

I smiled and said nothing.

I know this is not my doing, but the work of the mysterious jade pendant inside my body.

Just then, I suddenly heard a strange noise behind me.

I turned around abruptly and saw that Xue Sha and Mo Yuan had appeared behind us at some point. They had sinister smiles on their faces and were each holding a black dagger as they slowly walked towards us.

"You..." I was startled and quickly drew my soft sword to block Elder Qingfeng and Ziling.

"Xiao Yao, do you really think you can escape our grasp?" Xue Sha said with a sneer. "We expected you to break this formation, so we waited for you here."

"What exactly do you want?" I looked at them coldly.

"Of course, we'll kill you!" Mo Yuan smiled sinisterly. "As long as we kill you, we can obtain all the treasures on your bodies!"

"Dream on!" I roared, swinging my sword at them.

Xue Sha and Mo Yuan were equally unyielding, brandishing their daggers and charging forward.

A fierce battle is about to break out...

Suddenly, I felt the ground beneath my feet begin to shake, followed by a deafening rumble...

"Oh no!" I exclaimed, my face changing drastically. "This passage is about to collapse!"

"Xiao Yao, hurry!" Elder Qingfeng grabbed my hand and shouted anxiously, "It will be too late if we don't leave now!"

“But…” I looked at Zi Ling, who was still fighting with Xue Sha and Mo Yuan, and my heart was filled with reluctance.

"Don't worry about me, Sister Xiao Yao, you go quickly!" Zi Ling shouted loudly, "I...I'm fine!"

"Ziling..." My

I took a deep breath, forcefully shook off Elder Qingfeng's hand, and then turned and ran towards the end of the passage...

"Xiao Yao!" Elder Qingfeng and Zi Ling's voices grew fainter and fainter behind me...

I ran as fast as I could, not knowing how long I ran, nor what dangers awaited me ahead...

Suddenly, I felt a bright light before my eyes; I had finally escaped the dark passage...

"I...I'm out?" I stood there, panting, looking at everything before me, my mind filled with confusion...

where is this place?