Chapter 268: Black-dragon's base

"Are you not going to protect the people in this excursion?" The Keeper asked.

"I guess we both know by now that this is not any of my concern. The allied army was formed by people who were prepared to venture even after understanding the consequences. They had it coming for someone whose plans were exposed to the enemy. My alibi would have been exposed if I helped everyone."

"But since I was made in charge to try and defend against the bandits, I will help the remaining survivors escape." Li Meng instantly instructed the avatars to converge and execute the enemy forces.

"The avatars should be capable enough of killing the initial Qi Kings easily since most of them have just connected with human and earthen laws." LI meng instructed them to instantly contact him in case a complicacy arises, such as an intermediate Qi king.

Li Meng's strength had increased immensely after break-through. Incidentally, the law blessing was able to propel his cultivation base directly into the intermediate Qi King level. Although further experiment remained, he theorized that he wouldn't be needing any more cultivation training while being in the Qi King realm.

If each of the avatars undergoes a break-through, the power which is hence delivered should be enough to propel each one of them to the peak of Qi King.

"That is just a theory which your brain formulated. If that really was the case, the ancient Qi Kings would have been extremely fast in their cultivation, but each of them had to go through the same arduous process."

"But none of them began training in the Nirvana art before surpassing the limits of Qi King. Hence this experiment is kind of a novel theory in itself. I am feeling quite optimistic about its chances to come true/. You have to agree that it would lead to direct promotion to the peak of Qi King in this way."

"We will see when you do find a suitable place for the next breakthrough." The Keeper could help but be apprehensive of this absurd theory.

The bandit group were slowly trailing deeper into the Taiwan mountains, unaware of the ghost following them in shadows. They finally reached a fairly secular mountain range which had no differences with the surrounding terrain. The leader nodded his head and took out a small hexagonal plate from his vest.

He threw the vest at the person standing in front of the group. The person got hold of it and inspected the feet of the mountain for sometime before taking the plate and inserting it into the ground. Li Meng found the process bizarre at first but was soon stumped for words.

The ground slowly shook and the seemingly ordinary mountain began to shake slightly. A small hole soon came into existence on the sidewall, big enough for the bandits to enter. Li Meng didn't expect the bandits to have such powerful means.

"How did such lowly bandits get their hands on a location like this? Last time I managed to experience something like this, it was during the beast hunt. A huge force such as the Frost-leaf sect possessed it as a treasured location. These bandits, on the other hand, are a bunch of independent cultivators."

"The leader must have come across a secret opportunity and come across the key to this place. Your luck is up to the mark this time. If my assumptions are correct, and this place is just as I theorize, you might be up for an incredible opportunity this time."

"What are you suggesting?"

"Locations like this are created with one of two purposes in mind. Either it is the location for a tactical retreat or a cultivation cave. If I have to guess, it must be a secret retreat for some powerful cultivator. I could sense rich fire energy coming out of the cave."

"From the looks of the terrain, the person who created this must be trying to create a cultivation environment by going below the mountain. It would be fairly visible if done outside, and hence the cave was created within the mountain itself. The creator must also be a formation master, or get the help of a skilled one for the creation of the gate itself."

"From the fire energy, I sensed earlier that the cave must have access to one of the fire veins in the Taiwan mountain range. We might have struck gold this time. Whoever created this wanted to excavate the fire vein's power on his own."

"What masks you think are not the bandit leader himself?"

"Boy, you can be extremely ignorant sometimes. DO you not even see the formation line which came into life when the gates opened? It is the work of a grade 5 formation master. Minimum cultivation of peak Emperor is required to achieve that. DO you think the bandit leader is a Qi emperor?"

"We have no ironclad information about what is inside of this cave. The bandit might just be fooling around while hiding a QI Emperor within their ranks. We will know for sure, once we can get inside." If the enemy was a Qi Emperor, the task ahead would be impossible to perform without exceptional circumstances.

Li Meng followed the bandits into their den, just to find that the architecture was quite precise. Whoever designed the area had managed to carve out proportionate halls deep into the grounds. From outside, it looked like a normal mountain, and only when one entered through the gates could they find the place so well hidden.

"The formation master has even employed tones of fire energy-absorbing formations. It must be made to hold the energy from rushing out through the crevices. With this in place, you will someone will never be able to notice the energy flow like the Kemono mountains. You need to be careful; the bandit leader might be more powerful than our initial assumption."

"Just having the place to himself is not going to help his power." Li meng wasn't too bothered by the fact.

"Look at the formation carefully. I am sure you could find some clues from them." Li Meng followed the Keeper's instruction and began to examine the fire absorbing formations closely. The formation was composed using the basic fire absorbent theories, and Li meng could pick some clues from them. He didn't find any peculiar differences at first, but as he continued to examine them, he saw something unusual.

An additional set of formation lines were protruding out of the formation. It was common to all the various forms to improve their power, but these lines signified a very different kind of theory. These lines had the ability to run the fire energy through them. But the fact remains, why would someone use these?

"Doesn't the formation lines and the unique arrangement remind you of something similar?" When Li Meng tried to connect the said lines to the formations he had come across in the past, he did feel two instances when something similar happened.

"These lines are quite similar to the formation which the master created during my break-through. There are some similarities to the formation you established too. If these work on the same theory, then these lines are present here to transport the fore energy into a particular place."

"What if the creator has established them with a similar objective as us?"

"It would create an extremely suitable location for a fire element cultivator." Li Meng's eyes instantly widened. What if the bandit leader managed to find the core formation where the energy gathered? He would get a huge boost in his cultivation speed, even if he is an earthen law user.

"To make things a bit more realistic, let's assume the worst scenario. Your enemy is a fire element cultivator who has established a Heavenly Law base. The Keeper's words gave rise to a cold current in Li Meng's heart. If that were true, the enemy this time was going to be extremely powerful, maybe even impossible to overcome.

"We need to inspect the interior first. Let's just hope for the best-case scenario."

Li Meng followed the path into the interiors of the cave, just to find a clear establishment in this place. The bandits were using this place as one of their hideouts. He followed the group, which returned to the mountain, into their residence. The rooms were arranged in a cobweb manner, with extremely confusing pathways.

Li Meng understood that he required a hostage who could give him a rough idea about the whole location, but doing so would cause an instant alarm within the surrounding area. This was not similar to the last case in Jiao country. He needed to be careful. He found a secluded location and tried to pick up on the conversation of the bandits.

.....................….

"Has there been any orders regarding the remaining participants of the excursion?"

"The vice-leaders have made it clear that no one is allowed to exit the stronghold for now. A group of spies is out to navigate, and once the report comes in, we will immediately strike on the remaining participants."

The strike would be the perfect occasion to sneak in and take a hostage within the stronghold. A vice-leader would be the perfect target.