"Do you sense anything inside?"
"Yes, there's an Explosion Talisman at the entrance, and it's hidden well. It will explode the moment we take a step inside."
·?θm Tiara said confidently, and Ken nodded in agreement. He also sensed it, but it was nothing compared to the 13 enemies lurking inside. The frightening child took out his mask from the storage ring and wore it, instantly feeling the urge to kill.
"I also sense a formation inside. I believe it's a Suppression Formation that'd hinder our Qi control, making us much weaker than normal. There might also be a Concealment Formation."
Bryce added. As a formation master, he could use his Runic Qi to find such hidden dangers. Every top team had at least one of those in their ranks, lest they find themselves trapped and slaughtered.
"Can you disable it before we go inside?"
Ken asked the man who thought carefully before answering hesitantly.
"Yes, but it will take me at least 30 minutes to find the nodes of the Suppression Formation and a few more minutes to take it down."
Formations were a collection of runes, and by destroying a few important nodes of the formation, the connection between the runes will be destroyed and the formation will collapse. It was impossible to destroy a formation by taking down a single node since they were intentionally designed not to rely on a single node too much.
"Sure, go for it."
Ken watched the man observe the room from the door, scanning it with his Runic Qi. He was working slowly and systematically, marking each node in his mind, one node at a time.
Ken also kept an eye on the enemies lurking inside; they didn't do anything for now and only waited to see if Bryce will be able to destroy their formation. They were apprehensive to attack a strong team without a formation backing them up since none of them wanted to risk their lives for the others.
"All right, I located enough nodes to destroy the formation. Should I proceed?"
Bryce reported his progress and waited for Ken's orders before collapsing the formation. They didn't know what awaited inside the room, so he didn't want to just bring it down without warning the group first.
Before Ken answered, both the Suppression Formation and the Concealment Formation collapsed on their own, revealing a team of 8 cultivators wearing light green robes.
"Hello friends, we are from the Serene Lotus Sect. There's no need for us to fight, we are only here to ambush evil cultivators. They have been running amok in the secret realm, slaughtering our friends and comrades, and we want some revenge. Since you're from a righteous sect, there's no need for us to fight, why don't you come in for information exchange?"
Ken smiled under the mask when he heard the man's words. He knew they stole those robes from their victims since their bloodlust was much higher than righteous disciples, and he could sense their tokens easily. Besides, 5 of them were hiding. There was also a sixth person, but he seemed weakened.
"Junior Brother, what should we do?"
Daisy leaned down and whispered into Ken's ears. Ever since he killed her two friends, she switched her way of addressing him to Junior Brother, which was friendly but not intimate anymore.
"Go in and kill them, they're imposters. Those robes are from their victims. There are more of them hidden inside."
Ken whispered back to Daisy, who straightened her back and answered the man that was patiently waiting for them to finish their discussions.
"Exchanging information is good. We should help each other against the evil cultivators."
The group entered the room and walked toward the eight. Daisy already passed Ken's words to Bryce who whispered them to Tiara, so they knew what to expect. Although they were less, righteous cultivators were generally stronger than evil ones since they had more resources and didn't use techniques that harmed their bodies and souls.
The four walked intently with a small gap between them, each walking toward another member of the other group.
"Now."
"Attack!"
Two orders were said at the same moment. One came from Ken while the other came from the man who invited them inside. Ken's team was faster.
Ken's Flash Unwind decapitated 2 people right off the bat, while the others managed to take down one.
Bryce used his heavy club to crush the man in front of him, breaking half of the bones in his body in a single hit. Meanwhile, Tiara used a saber to slash her enemy's chest, making his organs fall out. Daisy didn't fall behind and killed her opponent with a single thrust of her spear.
The remaining three also launched their attacks on Ken's group, but the latter came out unscathed by using the bodies of their victims as shields before tossing them away.
5 more enemies tried to ambush them, but the team knew what to expect from Ken's warning, and nobody got hurt.
The stone room in the labyrinth erupted into chaos as the eight evil cultivators encircled Ken's group. Sensing the imminent danger, Ken swiftly analyzed the situation. To lessen the burden on his teammates, he engaged in battle against the two strongest adversaries, their swords raised with deadly intent.
With his flexible sword in hand, Ken unleashed one of his signature techniques, Snake Thrust. Mimicking the serpentine movements of a viper, his thrusts were swift and unpredictable.
The enemies struggled to anticipate his strikes, falling prey to the illusionary nature of his blade. Ken dispatched one enemy with a well-placed strike to a vital point in a flurry of stabs. The men tried to stop the sword their eyes perceived, but still got stabbed.
Tiara, proficient in the art of saber wielding and empowered by Ice Qi, unleashed her technique, Frozen Blade Dance. Her strikes were swift and precise, each swing leaving a trail of frost in the air. An outsider might think she was dancing with her two enemies if they didn't know better.
As Ken swiftly dispatched his foes, he observed Tiara's battle, silently acknowledging her prowess as the second strongest in the group.
Updated from fr𝒆ewebnov𝒆l.(c)om