"Oh no, this monster has helpers!" Gu Qingze shouted loudly.
Chu Lingxiao gritted his teeth and said, "There's no other way. I can only fight to the death!"
The two immediately fell into a fierce and arduous battle again.
The sword light was like snow, and the magic was like a rainbow, shining together and illuminating the originally dark cave as bright as day.
However, the dense swarms of little bats seemed endless, pouring in continuously like a surging black tide.
Gu Qingze and Chu Lingxiao gradually felt overwhelmed, and beads of sweat the size of beans rolled down their foreheads like rain.
"This is not a solution. We must find the key to controlling these bats!"
Chu Lingxiao shouted loudly, a hint of urgency in his voice.
Gu Qingze vigorously brandished his sword to fend off the bats' attacks, which came like a storm. He shouted, "But where exactly is the key hidden?"
Just as they were racking their brains to think hard, Gu Qingze suddenly discovered that there was a crystal on the neck of the huge bat that was shining with strange light and as bright as a gem.
It emanated a mysterious and alluring glow, like the crystal core of a spirit beast. However, unlike a spirit beast's crystal core, it actually grew outside the bat's body.
Forget it, no matter whether it is a critical point or not, the power fluctuation there is undoubtedly the strongest, and there will be no harm in giving it a try.
"Ling Xiao, look at the monster's neck!" Gu Qingze shouted.
Chu Lingxiao looked carefully in the direction he pointed and instantly understood the key.
"I will use all my strength to restrain it, and you go and smash the crystal!" Chu Lingxiao made the decision instantly.
Gu Qingze nodded without hesitation. While Chu Lingxiao was trying his best to attract the monster's attention, he rushed towards the giant bat's neck as fast as the wind.
However, just as he was about to approach his target, several small bats suddenly rushed in front of him, like crazy demons, rushing towards him desperately.
Gu Qingze gritted his teeth and swung the sword in his hand like a storm, trying his best to fight off this group of vicious little bats.
Seeing that Gu Qingze was in deep trouble, Chu Lingxiao immediately increased the power of his spell. Blazing fireballs hit the group of little bats like meteors, trying to buy more time for Gu Qingze.
Finally, Gu Qingze broke through the obstruction of the little bats and stabbed the crystal with a sword.
As the crystal shattered, the giant bat let out a heart-wrenching roar of pain, and all the little bats stopped attacking instantly and fell to the ground.
Gu Qingze and Chu Lingxiao collapsed to the ground exhausted, gasping for breath.
"It's finally solved..." Chu Lingxiao said weakly.
Gu Qingze looked at the shattered crystal and said with a bittersweet smile, "At least this cave is safe for now. We can take shelter here and take the opportunity to recover some strength."
Chu Lingxiao slowly leaned on him, breathing heavily, and said intermittently: "Qingze, everything here is too weird, too abnormal."
"If it were normal, it wouldn't be called Xuanyin. Didn't Brother Jinnian, Song Ya, and Senior Brother Helan prepare us for it beforehand? Xuanyin is a dangerous place, and the appearance of these terrifying monsters was within our expectations."
Gu Qingze said this with deep agreement, and at the same time considerately adjusted his posture so that Ling Xiao could lean on him more comfortably.
"It's not that strange in this aspect." Chu Lingxiao's strength had recovered a little, "It's something else."
"Other aspects?" Gu Qingze looked confused.
"Well, my ability is that whenever I encounter any intelligent creature, I can more or less sense their emotions and information."
"But the strange thing is, ever since I entered Xuanyin, all those noisy voices around me have disappeared without a trace."
Gu Qingze understood the deep meaning in his words, and his expression became more solemn: "Ling Xiao, you mean..."
"Um."
Chu Lingxiao looked at him firmly, paused for a moment, and then continued to slowly tell his guess:
"I suspect...the monsters we've encountered along the way, and even the various other things, are all conjured up by someone's special abilities. Just like my fire dragon, it appears to possess intelligence, but in reality, it's simply formed by the gathering of spiritual energy. The true intelligence lies with the person behind it."
Gu Qingze frowned slightly when he heard this: "If it is really as Ling Xiao suspected, being able to control so many monsters at once, then the cultivation level of the person behind it must be unmatched..."
"And... from what I know, Ling Xiao, the fire dragon you transformed into can project your own perspective into it. In other words, if that's true, then from the moment we entered Xuanyin, our every move might be under the strict control of the manipulator behind the scenes."
Chu Lingxiao patted his shoulder gently. "Although I'm extremely reluctant to think so pessimistically, this possibility... is indeed very high."
Gu Qingze did feel a little scared at the beginning, but he quickly regained his composure.
He took Chu Lingxiao's hand, interlocking their fingers tightly. The warmth from his palm made him feel at ease unconsciously.
"Ling Xiao, no matter how powerful the person behind this is, now that we've come this far, there's absolutely no reason to retreat."
Chu Lingxiao felt Gu Qingze's determination, shook his hand back firmly, looked at him with an almost comforting smile, and nodded.
The two rested for a while, drank several bottles of recovery potions, and then continued to move deeper into the cave.
The further you go in, the narrower and more cramped the cave becomes, barely enough for one person to pass through.
Gu Qingze walked in front, groping carefully.
Suddenly, his feet felt empty and he fell down instantly.
"Qingze!"
Chu Lingxiao reached out to grab it in panic, but missed.
Gu Qingze only felt the whistling of the wind in his ears, like the mournful howling of ghosts and wolves.
I don't know how long it took before I fell heavily to the ground.
He endured the severe pain all over his body, stood up with difficulty, and found himself in a completely unfamiliar place.
The surroundings were filled with thick fog as thick as ink, like a heavy curtain, making it impossible to see the direction. The leaves given by Senior Brother Helan seemed to have completely lost their effect.
Gu Qingze shouted Chu Lingxiao's name loudly, but only his own voice echoed in this empty place.
Just when he was extremely anxious, a dark shadow slowly walked out of the thick fog...
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