Chương 29: Entering the Core Area! Ambushed!

Ambushed!

I'm currently reading Chapter 29 of the novel "Entering the Core Area! Encountering an Ambush!" on Cola Novels, completely engrossed in it.

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Entering the Core Area! An Ambush Encountered!

Time flew by in the blood-red forbidden land amidst the killing and escape.

After the fierce battle two days ago, the number of cultivators in the forbidden area has been greatly reduced.

Of the original nearly two hundred Qi Refining disciples from the seven sects, at least half have been killed or injured. The survivors are either elites with outstanding strength and ruthless methods, or "lucky ones" who are extremely lucky and good at hiding.

The stench of blood in the air seemed to have faded somewhat, but the invisible killing intent had become even more concentrated.

To the south of the central area of the forbidden zone lies the edge of a vast yellow desert.

Two disciples of the Hidden Moon Sect, a man and a woman, were anxiously searching back and forth in a small sandy area.

The man was of average appearance and had a somewhat timid expression; the woman, on the other hand, was beautiful, but her face was covered with frost and her eyes were fierce.

"Where has that bitch gone! Once I find her, I'll gouge her eyes out and tear her soul out of her body!"

The woman's voice was pleasant, but the words she uttered were chillingly vicious.

"Junior sister, let's forget it... The meeting time agreed upon by the sect is approaching. If we don't leave now, we might be late." The male disciple shrank his neck and advised in a low voice, seemingly extremely afraid of this junior sister.

"Hmph! It's all your fault, you good-for-nothing! You couldn't even keep an eye on a mere Qi Refining Level 10 girl! If word gets out, where will my sister and I, the 'Two Beauties Hidden in the Moonlight,' put our faces!"

The woman grew angrier as she spoke, pointing at the male disciple's nose and yelling, "Honestly, how could our sect arrange such a good-for-nothing as my cultivation partner!"

The male disciple was scolded until his face turned red, and he lowered his head, not daring to argue back.

"Hmph!" The woman vented her anger, but she was still not satisfied.

She took out a blue talisman, infused it with magic power, and tossed it into the air!

The talisman exploded, transforming into a dark cloud several tens of feet in diameter!

Immediately afterwards, countless enormous ice spikes, each about a foot long, crystal clear, and radiating a bone-chilling cold, poured down from the dark clouds like a torrential rain, densely covering the sandy ground below.

The rain of icicles lasted for the time it takes to brew a cup of tea before it finally stopped.

The entire sandy area has been transformed into a crystal-clear forest of ice cones, reflecting a dazzling, cold light under the sunlight.

The woman's eyes widened as she carefully scanned every inch of the sand covered by icicles with her divine sense, but she found nothing unusual or bloodstains.

She stomped her foot angrily, her face so dark it was almost dripping with water. She grumbled at the male disciple and turned to leave in a huff.

Unbeknownst to her, in an inconspicuous corner of the sand amidst the icicles, faint wisps of crimson liquid were slowly seeping out.

Its color was too pale, and its aura was masked by the icy coldness, allowing it to escape her detection.

Half an hour later, as the crimson mark began to expand, the sand suddenly rose up strangely, forming a bulge.

The bulge grew larger and larger until it finally burst open with a "crash," from which rolled a woman in a green shirt with an ice pick stuck in her shoulder and half of her body soaked in blood.

The woman had delicate features, but her face was deathly pale, her brows were furrowed, and her forehead was covered in cold sweat.

She clutched a silk handkerchief that shimmered with an earthy yellow light in her right hand. It was clearly thanks to this extraordinary treasure that she had narrowly escaped the icy storm and the subsequent search.

She gritted her teeth, her left hand trembling as she grabbed the end of the ice pick on her shoulder and pulled it outward with a sudden jerk!

"hiss--!"

The excruciating pain made her gasp, and her body involuntarily convulsed.

But she stubbornly suppressed her screams, quickly took out medicinal powder from her storage bag and applied it to the wound, then tore off a strip of cloth from her clothes and wrapped it tightly.

After doing all this, she seemed to have exhausted all her strength. She collapsed onto the sand, buried her head in her knees, and suppressed, low sobs rose intermittently.

In this blood-red forbidden land, everyone is struggling to survive.

The strong prey on the weak; while the weak use every means to try and grasp at that slim chance of survival.

Every seemingly peaceful corner may conceal bloodshed and stories.

……

Zhou Ding rested in the crevice of the rock for several hours, adjusting his condition to its best.

When he set off again, he clearly felt that the "liveliness" in the forbidden area had decreased significantly.

Along the way, they did not encounter any obvious ambushes or interceptions like before.

After the initial two days of brutal cleansing, a large number of cultivators who were either too weak or unlucky had already perished.

The remaining elite forces have mostly gathered in the core area of the forbidden zone, where resources are most abundant.

The few who survived by sheer luck, like frightened rabbits, hid in some corner, hoping that the forbidden area would close soon.

Zhou Ding's target was naturally the core area.

With the speed advantage brought by the Cloud-Stepping Boots and Xiao Jin's Earth Hearing Technique for early warning, he traveled through the area without any major incidents, avoiding several places where the spiritual energy fluctuations were abnormally intense, indicating the presence of powerful beings or multiple people engaged in battle.

The stone wall appears ordinary, but its surface faintly glows with a pale blue light, exuding a sharp and unsettling aura.

Not far from one side of the stone wall stands a bronze gate that is three zhang high and about two zhang wide.

The gate exudes an ancient charm, its surface inscribed with dense, pattern-like ancient characters that no one can understand, radiating an aura of time's passage.

According to information provided by Huangfeng Valley, there are four such bronze doors on the outer perimeter of the central area, corresponding to the four directions, which are the only safe entrances to the core area.

In other areas, the seemingly low stone walls are actually shrouded in ancient restrictions. Anyone who tries to climb over them will be cut to pieces by the terrifying wind-based restrictions attached to the walls!

At this moment, the bronze gate is wide open, and inside, one can vaguely see exotic flowers and rare herbs, filled with spiritual energy, which contrasts sharply with the desolation outside.

However, right next to the gate, on the bare stone wall, three corpses were nailed there in a shocking manner for all to see!

They were dressed in the attire of different sects, their limbs pierced by thick, sharp ice spikes, pinned to the wall in a "T" shape, already lifeless, their blood long since congealed into a dark brown.

"It seems that someone has already gone in first, and... their methods are quite ruthless."

Zhou Ding's eyes narrowed slightly as he scanned the three corpses: "To be able to kill three people at the same time and pin them here is both a warning to those who come after and a display of strength. This person's cultivation is not weak, and he is ruthless."

He didn't linger at the door; in a flash, he stepped through the bronze gate.

Stepping inside, the view suddenly opens up, completely different from the outside world!

The rich, almost tangible spiritual energy of heaven and earth rushed towards us, instantly invigorating our spirits.

As far as the eye can see, there is a vibrant and beautiful fairyland: silver chrysanthemums the size of bowls sway in the breeze, strange trees as red as blood bear crystal fruits, purple spiritual herbs with a strange fragrance grow in patches, and yellow spiritual bamboo as thick as a person's waist stands tall and elegant.

A winding path paved with colorful pebbles stretches from your feet into the depths hidden by lush foliage, as if leading to a true fairyland.

"What a wonderful place! No wonder the medicinal herbs in the central area are often hundreds of years old!" Zhou Ding took a deep breath of pure spiritual energy, his eyes flashing with amazement.

The concentration of spiritual energy here is at least 30% higher than outside!

One day of cultivation here is probably equivalent to several days of practice outside.

However, his amazement lasted only a moment.

Because Little Jin, who was lurking underground, had clearly transmitted the two deliberately suppressed life fluctuations to his mind through the Earth Listening Technique.

The two auras lurked about ten feet away on either side of the path in the strange sea of flowers, motionless, like venomous snakes waiting for their prey to step into their trap.

The purpose is self-evident—to wait for the rabbit to run into the tree stump and then hunt it down!

"Another fat sheep has arrived... looks like it's alone."

A cold, hoarse voice, filled with undisguised greed, came from the flower bushes on the right.

Perhaps seeing that Zhou Ding was alone, or perhaps they were extremely confident in their own strength, the two figures did not continue to hide, but stood up directly from the flower bushes, one on the left and one on the right, blocking the path in front of them.

The man on the left was burly, with bulging muscles, a face full of scars, and fierce eyes. He held a metal staff that was yellowish-brown and as thick as a bowl, radiating a heavy spiritual pressure. It was clearly a top-tier magic weapon!

The person on the right is of medium height and extremely ugly—with uneven eyes and a face full of black pockmarks, and is about forty years old.

Almost at the same moment the two appeared, a sudden change occurred!

"Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Two emerald green shadows, as fast as lightning, shot out from the flower bushes on the left!

They were two strange flying snakes, entirely emerald green in color, with purple fleshy wings on their backs, a single horn on their heads, and their tongues flicking in and out!

They were extremely fast and moved at tricky angles, heading straight for Zhou Ding's face and throat, spewing out a pale green, foul-smelling poisonous mist from their mouths!

"Flying Winged Serpent!" Zhou Ding's eyes turned cold; he was already on guard!

With a slight thought, the black scales on the armor shone brightly, keeping the poisonous mist at bay.

At the same time, the golden blade transformed into a streak of azure light, arriving first despite being delayed, drawing two sharp arcs in the air!

"Pfft! Pfft!"

Before the two flying snakes could even hiss, they were precisely cleaved in two by the golden blade, their emerald green blood splattering all over the ground, emitting a pungent stench.

"You're asking for death! How dare you kill my Winged Serpent!"

Upon seeing this, the burly man's eyes widened in fury, and he roared in rage. The giant yellow staff in his hand swelled in the wind, transforming into a pillar several meters long, and crashed down on Zhou Ding with a whistling sound!

It is powerful and heavy, and incomparably mighty!

"Wait! It's a misunderstanding! This is a misunderstanding!" At this moment, the ugly man hurriedly shouted, trying to stop his companion.

His gaze remained fixed on Zhou Ding's Cloud-Stepping Boots, his face filled with astonishment and disbelief, his ugly features marred by disbelief.

"Cloud-Stepping Boots?!" he exclaimed, his voice shrill.

"Misunderstanding my foot!"

Zhou Ding snorted coldly. He would show no mercy to this guy who would send venomous snakes to attack without saying a word and then try to kill him.

Zhou Ding snorted coldly. He would show no mercy to this guy who would send venomous snakes to attack without saying a word and then try to kill him.

With a flash of light from his Cloud-Stepping Boots, he moved several feet to the side like a ghost, easily dodging the thunderous blow of the giant club.

At the same time, the golden blade shone even brighter, transforming into three sword shadows that attacked the burly man from the upper, middle, and lower sides!

The burly man and the ugly man's expressions changed simultaneously, and they hurriedly summoned their defensive magical artifacts to defend themselves.

A black shield with a tiger pattern appeared in front of the burly man, while the ugly man threw out a small bronze mirror.

The two magical artifacts shone brightly, barely managing to block the attack of the golden blade, but their spiritual light was also shaken and flickered.

"A top-tier magic artifact?!" the ugly man exclaimed again, his gaze towards Zhou Ding filled with even more apprehension.

He quickly winked at the burly man, then turned to Zhou Ding and forced a smile that looked more like a grimace, urgently explaining, "Fellow Daoist, please calm down! It's a misunderstanding! We... we are friends with Feng Yue! Since he gave you these Cloud-Stepping Boots, it means you're also his friend! We're all on the same side, on the same side!"

"Oh? So you're Feng Yue's friend." Zhou Ding stopped his attack, his golden blade hovering in front of him, his tone revealing neither joy nor anger.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah! Feng Yue, that guy, loves making friends! We're practically brothers with him!"

Seeing Zhou Ding stop, the ugly man assumed he believed him and hurriedly bowed and scraped, his pockmarks seemingly glowing: "Where is Brother Feng Yue now? How did you end up giving away your beloved boots to a fellow Daoist?"

Although the burly man's face was still full of anger, he put away his giant club and stared at Zhou Ding warily.

Zhou Ding was silent for a moment, as if he was thinking. Then, he slowly raised his head, and a cold smile appeared on the corner of his mouth under his cloak.

"Since you are his friends..."

Zhou Ding's voice suddenly turned cold, filled with murderous intent: "Then I'll send you... to see him!"