Lu Zhen vomited a mouthful of blood as he stared at the numerous entrances with a frown of confusion on his face.
"What is this place?" he wondered, his expression a mix of bewilderment and frustration.
He couldn't afford to waste any more time. Without hesitation, he chose a random tunnel and sped through it. As he moved, his deformed body slowly began to recover, and his strength returned.
Lu Zhen had adapted to the relentless attacks and was regaining his original form. He continued running with all the urgency of someone fleeing for their life.
The tunnel lacked any Qi patterns, preventing him from using teleportation.
After what felt like a decade but was only a few minutes, he finally glimpsed a faint light at the end of the tunnel.
"Finally," Lu Zhen muttered, his pace quickening to a sprint as he raced towards the light.
At that moment, a chilling, silent killing aura locked onto him, causing a shudder of fear to ripple through his body.
Lu Zhen turned around, eyes blazing with killing aura, and stared at the guardian. The Guardian had appeared behind him without any prior warning or sense of presence.
"Guardian, do you really think I am afraid of you?" Lu Zhen's gaze burned with a fierce determination.
With a swift motion, he moved his hand like a saber, slashing through the air. A razor-sharp saber arc streaked towards the guardian, tearing through what seemed like the very fabric of reality itself as it headed for its target.
"Guardian, die!" Lu Zhen roared, his voice echoing with raw power. He stomped the ground with such force that the earth seemed to tremble, producing a thunderous sound that resonated throughout the cavern.
Yet, the guardian regarded Lu Zhen with calm, indifferent eyes. The saber arc struck him, but it passed through his form as if he were made of mist, leaving a gaping two-metre hole in the cave wall behind him.
"Impressive, brat. For you to be able to damage this cave, built with some of the strongest materials in the ancient era, your strength is definitely greater than just a Mid First-stage martial artist," the guardian said with a condensing gaze.
Lu Zhen didn't waste words; he slashed with his hand like a saber, sending saber arcs at the guardian. As expected, all of them passed through the man, and a chill crept up his spine.
Lu Zhen roared and pushed his body to the limits, the invisible intent within him glowing and rapidly enhancing his strength.
He rapidly dodged all the chess pieces and shot toward the old man.
"You!" The guardian looked at Lu Zhen with astonishment. "It is meaningless to attack me; you cannot damage me in any way possible."
"We'll see about that soon, Guardian," Lu Zhen roared, his mind racing as he focused on the seals he had unlocked.
At present, Lu Zhen didn't have a direct way to deal with the guardian, so he had to rely on the seal he had unlocked.
If that didn't work, he would have to escape, which he was fully capable of. However, he was reluctant to do so because the guardian had inflicted numerous injuries on him.
If Lu Zhen couldn't even return the favour slightly, he would feel a gnawing discomfort. It was like being slapped out of nowhere with no way to vent the anger—who likes that feeling? Maybe masochists do, but Lu Zhen didn't. His heart, forged in fighting, war, and violence, would be deeply unsettled by such a situation.
"Found it." Lu Zhen's mouth curved into a sneer.
At this moment, Lu Zhen was still dodging the chess pieces, not because he was slow, but because his thinking process was operating at superhuman speed. His mind functioned like a supercomputer, analysing trillions of data points almost instantaneously.
"Formula Twenty: Soul Buster."
Lu Zhen extended his palm, performing intricate calculations in his head as the plant Qi travelled along a precise pattern.
A green glow appeared in his palm, revealing a complex trident pattern.
"How could he cast that formula so quickly?" The guardian narrowed his eyes, scrutinising the pattern.
Even with the information for the seal, comprehending was no small feat, let alone using it instantly.
Having the information and being able to use it were two entirely different matters.