Qin Mo entered the stone gate, and the little fox returned to the spirit animal bag. Only the sound of their breathing could be heard.
When they reached the last stone step, Qin Mo stopped, reached out to stop Lin Zizheng, and said, “Be careful, there's something here!”
“Pa pa pa!” The sound of something flapping its wings had Qin Mo's expression become serious. He gripped the long sword and secured Lin Zizheng behind him.
Lin Zizheng looked at Qin Mo's back and licked his lips. His hands moved a little, but he didn't say anything.
A scarlet color appeared in the darkness. Once their appearance could be seen, Qin Mo's grip on the sword became tighter. Before them was a large group of blood bats.
They were black in color, usually hidden in the dark during the day, and they only showed their scarlet eyes when hunting. No one dared to underestimate them. One careless mistake could result in being sucked dry.
The blood bats were excited by the scent of fresh blood, eyes flas.h.i.+ng with greed, and they swooped in the two cultivators' direction.
Qin Mo's wrist twisted, and the sword cast a dazzling arc in the air. The sword went downward and cut a large number of the bats.
Even though he was powerful, he still couldn't block thousands of blood bats. Soon, numerous blood bats broke away from his control and rushed toward Lin Zizheng.
Qin Mo's pupils contracted, and he said, rather anxiously, "Be careful!" He s.h.i.+fted the sword's toward the bats in front of Lin Zizheng.
“Ah, Ds.h.i.+xiong. . .” he sighed, and a golden flame materialized in Lin Zizheng's palm. As soon as the flame appeared, the blood bats stiffened. The flame increased, and it shrouded the blood bats. In no time, they disappeared.
In the twinkling of the fire, Lin Zizheng's eyes shone and revealed an unusual emotion. Qin Mo heard him say, "Ds.h.i.+xiong, I can protect you too!"
This stunned Qin Mo. He didn't know how to feel. This teenager before him seemed to have grown up. He was relieved but a little distressed too. In the end, he only said, "En," and waved his sword, cutting down the blood bats, no longer watching out for Lin Zizheng.
Lin Zizheng's lips raised upward at the corners, and he continued to handle the blood bats in front of him.
Even if the blood bats' numbers were large, they aren't as powerful as Qin Mo and Lin Zizheng together, and soon there remained no trace of them.
The two rested and adjusted their breathing then continued inward.
At the end of the stairs, there was a small path paved by stones. They slowed their pace, glanced at each other, and walked forward.
Qin Mo's movement remained the same, but his speed slowed a little. Once he stepped on the path, an invisible but immense pressure pushed in on his body, and the pressure doubled with every step.
His expression didn't change but sweat gathered on his forehead. The path seemed to never end. Just as he thought that, black spots appeared in his vision. He could see Attendant Meng, He and Liu Qingzhou standing in front of him. They showed him a sinister smile and held a jade bowl in their hands. They raised the bowl in his direction and said, "This blood is so sweet!"
Looking at the bright red blood in the bowl, his pupils shrank. He returned his gaze back to them and noticed a powerless person lying on the ground, blood flowing nonstop from their wrists. This man was himself.
Qin Mo trembled, and his heart burst with a murderous aura. He swung his sword and cut down the person in front of him.
Weapons collided with a clang, and he forced Attendant Meng to retreat. Then he head the person before him cry out, "Ds.h.i.+xiong!"
Ds.h.i.+xiong? Qin Mo stiffened. The hand holding the long sword came to a stop, and, the person in front of him rushed to him. They held his hands tightly and said, "Ds.h.i.+xiong, I am Lin Zizheng, what happened to you?"
He blinked a few times, and this made him see the situation in front of him clearly. It was Lin Zizheng that stood before him, but now he was in a bit of difficult position, one he caused a moment ago.
His eyebrows frowned, and he looked around at this imperceptible path. Not only did this path bring pressure, but it also drew forth the rage within cultivators' heart, leading them into an illusion.
Looking at the slightly pale Lin Zizheng before him, a somewhat remorseful feeling rose in his heart, and he said dryly, "Sorry!"
Lin Zizheng smiled and he said, "It's alright!"
Qin Mo nodded and looked at their hands together. He paused but didn't say anything and walked forward with Lin Zizheng.
Perhaps because they just came out from the illusion, but the path ahead was smooth and soon, they reached the end.
There was another large iron gate carved with many patterns that they didn't understand, but the patterns were consistent with the ones on the stone gate.
Qin Mo nodded slightly to Lin Zizheng, and extended his hand to push the iron gate.
The iron gate opened, and a fierce aura emerged. Qin Mo immediately circulated his spirit energy, blocking the sword aura. When he saw the situation in front of him, a trace of amazement flashed through his eyes.
This was not a mysterious enclave, but a sword tomb, there were hundreds of spiritual swords speared into the ground.
They were all unique and had their own characteristics. If there was anything common about them, it's that these spiritual swords carried immense spirit aura, which was extraordinary.
Qin Mo's heart started beating a bit faster, and his eyes drifted to the left.
There was a long sword with a silver blade and a black hilt. It looked unremarkable within this sea of swords. But when he saw it, he couldn't s.h.i.+ft his gaze away, and his lightning fire Dantian jerked violently.
He walked one step at a time toward the spiritual sword.
He held the sword's hilt and a sense of chill flowed from the spiritual sword into the palm of his hand. Simultaneously, the originally calm sword swayed uncontrollably and uttered a "buzzing" sound. It seemed to resist him.
His forehead wrinkled and he increased his strength. He wanted to pull the sword out from the ground but to his surprise, not matter how much he pulled, it won't come out. It was as if the sword was connected to the ground.
Faced with this situation, he coldly snorted, and circulated spirit power into his hand. At this moment, the lightning fire in his Dantian flew from his palm and wrapped around the spiritual sword.
Under his astonished gaze, the spiritual sword struggled a few more times then stopped moving, and it obediently let Qin Mo pull it out.
Admiring the long sword in his hand, Qin Mo felt joy in his heart, and he caressed the spiritual sword.
Just then, he felt the whole tomb shake and turned his head. He saw Lin Zizheng standing in the center of the sword tomb, holding the golden sword located there.
When Lin Zizheng pulled out the golden sword, the entire place started to shake, all the spiritual swords in the tomb rose up and their tips pointed in Lin Zizheng's direction.
Qin Mo's heart tensed. He couldn't study the long sword in his hand, but with a slight movement, he came to Lin Zizheng's side. Watching those spiritual swords s.h.i.+ning with cold light, he felt a chill in his heart. He pulled Lin Zizheng aside and fled towards the exit.
"Buzz!" The violent vibration sounded in the air as the swords shot in their direction.
The spirit power inside Qin Mo quickly circulated, and he tugged Lin Zizheng along in a series of continuous dodges so none of the swords could hit them.
But his footsteps halted. When the long swords missed, it flew up again and gathered in front of the iron gate. If they exited there, they would be cut into pieces.
Lin Zizheng tightened his grip on the golden sword and looked at the swords as he poured spirit power into the sword.
Qin Mo on the other hand scanned the surroundings and spotted a smaller stone gate on the southern side of the tomb. His eyes brightened, and he pulled Lin Zizheng that direction.
Lin Zizheng's paused his movements, and immediately spotted the stone gate too. He followed Qin.
Those swords obviously had a spirit conscious, because the sword's shone and also followed them.
When the door was pushed open, Qin Mo stopped. There was no exit in front of him, just a small s.p.a.ce that could accommodate a few people and a teleportation array in the middle.
"Bang!" A loud noise came from behind them as the spiritual swords smashed the stone door into pieces. Qin Mo couldn't think much so he tugged Lin Zizheng along and walked into the teleportation array.
White light flashed across their vision and they stood on solid ground again. Qin Mo's body shook a little but fortunately, Lin Zizheng was always there to support him.
Before Qin Mo could say anything, a familiar voice said, "Qin Mo, how did you suddenly get here?"
When Qin Mo lifted his head to look towards the voice, he saw the blue-robed Kong Xiao to one side, casually playing with a folded fan in his hand and looking at him with doubt.