Chapter 12: Trap

Ning Zhanji pondered for a moment before dispatching two cultivators to scout ahead while he led the main force to retreat a short distance.

Soon after, the two cultivators returned to report, "It's the corpse of a Fiery Ape!"

The tense atmosphere of the entire team eased considerably.

When the main force arrived beside the Fiery Ape's corpse, Ning Yong exclaimed in surprise.

It was the first time he had seen the appearance of a Fiery Ape.

This monstrous beast was powerfully built, standing about three meters tall, and covered in thick, crimson fur. The fur was a pure, unadulterated color, fiery red, and quite beautiful.

The Fiery Ape's fangs protruded outwards, and its eyes were wide open, unwilling to accept its demise.

Its body was a strange combination of flesh and blood intertwined with magma.

Even in death, its internal structure was visible through its wounds. Like magma, it still flowed slowly, radiating intense heat, though rapidly cooling.

Ning Zhanji's brow furrowed.

This was an unexpected situation.

He would have preferred a living Fiery Ape.

Now, the situation had become more complicated.

"A fierce battle took place here!"

"The Fiery Ape fought valiantly here but ultimately succumbed."

"What existence could have single-handedly slain an adult Fiery Ape?"

"Judging from the traces, it's not any known type of monstrous beast."

Ning Zhanji knew that he had to investigate thoroughly.

Because, ignoring a mysterious monstrous beast could lead to significant losses when the family's main force launched a major operation in the future, without sufficient intelligence!

Ning Zhanji's mission this time, leading the team into the underground cave, was precisely to scout the environment and gather information.

This was his duty.

With this thought, Ning Zhanji ceased his pondering and decisively abandoned the original route, following the tracks and traces.

"However, the mysterious monstrous beast and the adult Fiery Ape had a fierce battle, so its combat strength can be estimated. Our current strength should be able to cope."

"Furthermore, it fought fiercely with the Ape, so its combat strength must have declined. This is an excellent opportunity!"

Ning Zhanji's eyes flashed with shrewdness as he led the team to continue tracking.

Along the way, they successively discovered other unfortunate monstrous beasts. For example, the fire essence scattered on the ground after the Deathly Fire Snake perished, and the corpse of a Flame Striding Lizard, the scattered stones of a Lava Demon, and so on.

As the Ning family cultivators continued to pursue, they accumulated more and more spoils.

"Boss, what exactly is this thing? It's so formidable, killing so many monstrous beasts?"

"Haha, we're taking advantage this time. If there were more of these mysterious monstrous beasts, we wouldn't have to do anything and would become rich."

Ning Zhanji's brow furrowed, as he secretly estimated, "It's leaving these behind, not cleaning up the battlefield, so it's clearly not a cultivator. But these corpses haven't been gnawed on, and resources like fire essence haven't been consumed. This seems to indicate that this mysterious monstrous beast doesn't belong to the volcanic cavern, is not part of the food chain here."

"Perhaps, it's a pet beast of some cultivator?"

"No matter what, I must reveal its true face this time!"

Having made up his mind, Ning Zhanji continued the chase.

In the end, they actually arrived at a dead end.

"There's no road ahead?"

"That shouldn't be!"

"The traces clearly pointed here..."

The Ning family cultivators were puzzled.

Ning Zhanji surveyed the surroundings, and then he mumbled, casting a certain spell.

Finally, his gaze settled on a section of the wall.

"Retreat, form the formation."

"Blast this wall to see what's behind it," Ning Zhanji ordered.

The Ning family cultivators formed three small formations, pulling Ning Zhuo and Ning Yong into the furthest formations, and instructing them not to run around.

Boom, boom, boom!

The formations activated, and the cultivators combined their strength to continuously bombard the wall.

After the surface of the wall shattered, the glow of a formation was revealed.

A defensive formation was hidden here!

The defensive formation was laid out simply and crudely and did not last long, soon being blasted apart.

The wall was penetrated, revealing another passage.

"There's actually another passage hidden here?"

"We didn't discover it before because it was hidden?"

Ning Zhanji's brow furrowed deeply.

Having chased to this point, his previous conjectures were shaken.

It was obvious that someone capable of setting up a formation was necessarily a cultivator. Even if not human, it was an intelligent demon cultivator.

Hesitating for only a second, Ning Zhanji decided to continue the pursuit.

The Ning family cultivators began to explore the mysterious passage.

They soon discovered similar "monster beast traces" to before.

"Perhaps, this is a spiritual pet of a cultivator, quite intelligent, with access to formations."

"Many places in this passage show signs of human intervention. The development time is even earlier than ours."

"In other words, our Ning family is the later party?"

"What is that?"

"We're about to reach the end of this passage."

"Be careful!"

The Ning family cultivators followed the trail and exited the passage, arriving at an open, flat underground plaza.

Two formations were also laid out in the underground plaza, both crude, like children's scribbles.

Ning Zhanji dispatched his men to search for clues everywhere. Just then, the roars of monstrous beasts were heard.

Hisses and roars rose and fell one after another, surrounding them from all directions.

Ning Zhanji was shocked and immediately ordered a retreat.

But scorching magma suddenly poured out of the passage they had come from, forcing them to retreat.

"Damn it!"

"This is a trap!!"

"Who could have planned this? Could it be the other two families, or perhaps someone from the city lord's side?"

Ning Zhanji was both shocked and enraged. He directed everyone to form a formation on one hand and sent people to investigate on the other.

The results of the investigation were terrible.

This underground plaza was like a transit station, linking many passages. And from these passages, a large number of monstrous beasts were surging out.

The Ning family cultivators deployed a defensive formation in a corner of the plaza, activating the formation with all their strength.

Fortunately, they were well-prepared, bringing many formation discs, so they were able to quickly construct the defensive formation.

The defensive formation activated, forming an icy light wall, creating a half-circle, and in conjunction with the wall behind the cultivators, formed a circle.

The Fire Vole swarm was the first to charge over. Compared to the outside, the Fire Voles that appeared here were already half a man tall!

The Fire Vole swarm charged madly, and many rats died directly on the ice wall.

Cracks appeared in the ice wall.

Some Lava Demons floated in the air, crossing the ice wall and attacking.

The Ning family cultivators cooperated tacitly and were well-prepared.

A large number of magical artifacts were activated, mainly flying swords and flying needles, piercing the Lava Demons, buying crucial time.

The second defensive formation was completed, forming a half-sphere, covering everyone.

Instantly, the noise outside the formation was reduced significantly.

"Continue building formations!" Ning Zhanji's face was stern.

Just as the Ning family cultivators had completed the third great formation, forming a pillar of light, supporting the ceiling of the underground space, a vast aura suddenly emerged.

The cultivators were horrified.

"Golden Core aura, are we chasing a Golden Core cultivator?"

"I remember this aura, it's Zheng Family Patriarch Zheng Shuang Gou!"

"Could it be that the Zheng Family is going to attack us?!"