Chapter 13: Decisive Action

The Ning family cultivators descended into chaos.

"Silence!" Ning Zhanji roared, decisive. "If Zheng Shuanggou truly sought our demise, we would never have escaped to this point."

"But the possibility is so small. If they truly wished to strike, why harm us? Would they beat the grass to startle the snake?"

"We wouldn't be their primary target!"

Ning Zhanji calmed himself slightly, only to see a figure wielding twin hooks, breaking through countless demonic beasts, and charging towards a certain passage.

"It's Zheng Shuanggou!"

"I see his signature weapons, the Sun and Moon Hooks!"

"Phew, he's not here to deal with us!"

The Ning family cultivators, having just lowered their guard, found their hearts rising into their throats once more.

The onslaught of demonic beasts intensified, the pressure on the array surged. Ning Zhanji had no choice but to order his subordinates into teams of several, to venture outside the array and alleviate the pressure.

After all, the array had been hastily erected and was not sturdy.

The demonic beasts were ferocious!

Even with the Ning family cultivators fighting desperately, the first ice wall was quickly breached.

The second spherical shield didn't last much longer.

Fortunately, the Ning family cultivators managed to set up a fourth array in time.

They huddled within the pillar of light, struggling to hold their ground.

Ning Yong's face was pale, his body trembling. "C-Could it be that we're going to die here today?"

Ning Chen had also lost his composure, his face filled with panic and uncertainty.

Ning Zhuo displayed a similar appearance, but within his eyes, flickers of dark light swirled.

*Boom, boom, boom!*

Suddenly, three earth-shattering explosions rang out.

The demonic beasts fled in terror as a black figure smashed through the wall, charging into the underground plaza.

Following closely behind, Zheng Shuanggou, the Golden Core cultivator from the Zheng family, pursued.

"Scoundrel, daring to covet the Immortal Palace, leave your life behind!" Zheng Shuanggou roared.

Zheng Shuanggou swept out with all his might, unleashing a five-meter-long blade of qi.

The black figure's voice was aged and raspy, cackling. "Treasures of the cultivation world are for those with the greatest affinity. You few great clans of Fire Persimmon City wish to monopolize the Magma Immortal Palace? Keep dreaming!"

With that, the black figure took a hit head-on, shattering the blade of qi. He then used the force of the impact to propel himself backwards towards the Ning family cultivators.

In that instant, alarm bells rang within Ning Zhanji's heart. He retreated to the center of the array, shouting, "I will control the Grand Array!"

The defensive array burst forth with unprecedented brilliance.

The black figure reached the array and with a light wave of his hand, instantly shattered it.

With another wave, a large number of cultivators fell. Their bodies were unharmed, but their lives were extinguished.

"Demonic cultivator, still acting so arrogantly!" Zheng Shuanggou roared in fury, charging forward.

The black figure, a demonic cultivator, turned back and engaged Zheng Shuanggou in fierce combat.

"Lord Ning Zhanji!" The Ning family cultivators cried out.

But Ning Zhanji lay on the ground, eyes wide open, dead and unresigned.

Without the protection of the array and the loss of their leader, the remaining demonic beasts continued their assault. The Ning family cultivators could only scatter and flee!

The casualties quickly mounted.

In this critical moment, Ning Zhuo suddenly shouted, "Head towards the passage the Golden Core cultivators came through! There must be the fewest demonic beasts there!"

The reminder jolted the distraught Ning family cultivators.

"That's right!"

"That passage has been plowed through by two Golden Cores, one after the other. The demonic beasts there must be the fewest."

"Let's go there!"

And so, the Ning family once again united as one, charging towards the passage entrance.

"Ning Yong, Ning Chen, stay close to me!" Ning Zhuo bared his chest, taking out ice-frost talismans and scattering them around. These were all accumulated from his talisman-making practice, with precedent for their use.

Ning Yong and Ning Chen, their eyes bloodshot, panicked. They subconsciously followed behind Ning Zhuo, fighting with all their might to secure their chance of survival.

The three supported each other, "narrowly" catching up with the main force of the Ning family and entering the passage.

Looking back, the two Golden Cores were engaged in a battle of great magnitude, scaring the demonic beasts into fleeing in all directions.

Many demonic beasts were fleeing in the same direction as the Ning family, charging in from behind.

The passage ahead was littered with the corpses of demonic beasts. Few survived, but demonic beasts continued to pour in from behind.

Under this pressure, the Ning family cultivators had no choice but to steel themselves and rush forward through the passage.

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

Along the way, they encountered a few demonic beasts blocking their path, all of which were slaughtered by the frantically fleeing Ning family cultivators.

"What is that?!"

"The Magma Immortal Palace!"

"I didn't expect this passage to lead to the Magma Immortal Palace as well."

The Ning family cultivators discovered a magma lake, with a corner of the Immortal Palace's architecture peeking out from the lake.

"The Magma Immortal Palace..." Ning Zhuo murmured, his expression quite natural. As an ordinary youth, he was inevitably captivated by the sight of the Immortal Palace. Only no one saw the flash of shrewdness that flickered in his eyes!

In fact, he had already anticipated this outcome.

Ning Chen, panting beside him, realized and exclaimed, "This actually isn't that hard to guess!"

"The words spoken by the two Golden Cores earlier already revealed the answer!"

"It's highly likely that the demonic cultivator was trying to sneak in and was intercepted by Zheng Shuanggou!"

The Ning family cultivators found themselves in an awkward situation.

Ahead lay the magma lake, revealing a corner of the Immortal Palace, and behind them, demonic beasts continued to pour in.

Forced into a corner, the remaining Ning family members could only form an array to defend themselves once more.

They formed two arrays, one inside the other, mutually reinforcing. The force of the demonic beasts' assault was much weaker than in the underground plaza.

"We can hold them off!!" The Ning family cultivators had barely rejoiced when violent rumbling explosions echoed through the air.

"Where do you think you're going?!" Zheng Shuanggou's roar grew closer and closer.

The Ning family cultivators felt as though they had fallen into an ice cellar. Judging by the commotion, it was clear that the demonic cultivator had returned!

"Looks like we're destined to die today!" Ning Yong's face was filled with despair.

Ning Chen simply closed his eyes, completely losing hope.

Having just ignited the hope for survival, only to have it ruthlessly crushed, the two rookie cultivators were completely demoralized.

"So what if we die! What does it matter?" Ning Zhuo suddenly shouted. "It's better to die fighting like this than to die pathetically!"

Stirred by his words, Ning Yong's expression changed. He mustered his courage in this desperate situation, gritting his teeth as he stood up.

Ning Chen opened his eyes and looked at Ning Zhuo, secretly admiring his classmate's bravery in the face of death.

He was also motivated by courage. "Zhuo, you're right! To die at the hands of a Golden Core, in front of the Magma Immortal Palace, is a worthwhile death."

As soon as he finished speaking, a massive cloud of thick smoke surged in. The smoke was pitch-black, containing surging dark energy, capable of blocking spiritual sense.

In the blink of an eye, dark shadows squirmed within the black smoke, converging and forming countless shadowy serpent pythons, crashing towards the Magma Immortal Palace in the magma lake.

But they only made it halfway before the terrifying giant serpent pythons dissipated weakly.

Zheng Shuanggou's roar echoed. "Attacking the Immortal Palace? Don't even think about it!!"

But immediately afterwards, serpent pythons reappeared. This time, instead of attacking the Immortal Palace, they directly attacked the surrounding passages.

Under this fierce onslaught, the walls of the passages immediately cracked and crumbled, on the verge of collapse.

"Madman!" Seeing this, even Zheng Shuanggou felt a chill in his heart.

He had no choice but to switch from attack to defense, using all his strength to surge forth his magical power, covering the passages and protecting them.

In the black smoke, a shadowy serpent suddenly crashed into the Ning family's array.

As expected, the Ning family's array could not withstand an attack from a Golden Core. It disintegrated in an instant!

The black smoke surged in, completely obscuring the vision of the remaining Ning family members.

"Come!" Ning Yong shouted, erupting with all his courage, determined to fight to the death.

The rolling black smoke was so thick that one could not see their own fingers.

Ning Zhuo felt as though he was instantly alone.

He took out a token and transformed it into the Cangtie Heavy Armor. The armor covered his body, instantly granting him Foundation Establishment combat strength!