Chapter 77: Escape Through the Side Cave
A massive swarm of scaled beasts changed direction, roaring as they pounced toward Lin Yan and Jiang Tao. The two secondary priests stood behind the beast swarm, continuously channeling psychic power to keep the remaining two nodes operational, sending sharp psychic stingers one after another toward the two men's Seas of Consciousness.
"Leave the left side to me!" Jiang Tao fully deployed his fourth-tier Sea of Consciousness. He raised a psychic barrier to block the psychic stingers while releasing psychic disturbances to disrupt the coordination of the scaled beasts on the left. "You focus on dealing with the secondary priests, don't let them get close!"
Lin Yan nodded, splitting his third-tier Sea of Consciousness into several streams of psychic threads that pierced directly into the psychic links between the two secondary priests and the nodes. At the same time, he activated his ancient martial arts footwork, maneuvering through the gaps in the scaled beasts, his short blade continuously harvesting the monsters that rushed close.
A high-tier scaled beast, burly and massive, leaped up fiercely, its thick, sharp claws aiming straight for Lin Yan's shoulder. Lin Yan dodged sideways, his short blade slashing open the beast's belly armor in the process. However, the beast's claws still grazed his ribs, tearing his combat uniform and instantly flaying his flesh. Scalding blood immediately soaked through his clothes.
"Lin Yan!" Jiang Tao caught sight of this in his peripheral vision, his heart tightening. A momentary lapse in focus allowed a psychic stinger to pierce his Sea of Consciousness barrier. He let out a muffled groan, a sharp pain shooting through his head.
Seizing the gap, a secondary priest condensed a heavy psychic impact and pounced directly toward Jiang Tao's Sea of Consciousness. Lin Yan reacted swiftly, diverting a stream of psychic threads to intercept it, forcibly deflecting the impact.
"Don't lose focus!" Lin Yan reminded him in a deep voice.
On the other side, Old Chen and the others guarded the wounded, desperately charging toward the entrance of the side cave. The few scaled beasts left behind to guard the rear entangled them fiercely. Several students fought and retreated, barely managing to squeeze into the narrow side cave.
"Hurry inside!" The instructor turned around and slashed a pursuing scaled beast with his knife. "The passage is narrow; only one person can pass at a time. Take turns covering the rear!"
The inside of the side cave was dark and damp, with mud and water constantly dripping from the rock walls. The ground was muddy and slippery. Protecting their severely injured teammate, everyone sprinted along the winding passage, their Seas of Consciousness still having to continuously resist the faint illusions projected remotely by the Ancient Progenitor.
Deep underground, the Ancient Progenitor sensed the situation on the battlefield, its dark gold vertical pupils flashing with a cold light.
"The side cave connects to an abandoned vertical shaft on the wasteland, not far from the surface. We cannot let them escape from there." The Ancient Progenitor issued commands to the two scaled beasts ambushed along the side cave, while simultaneously increasing the psychic suppression on Lin Yan and Jiang Tao. "Finish off those two as soon as possible, then go and seal the exit of the vertical shaft."
Inside the main cave of the rift, the battle continued.
Jiang Tao's psychic power was heavily consumed, his face pale, and his body scratched in multiple places by scaled beasts. His fourth-tier Sea of Consciousness was more powerful, but continuous high-intensity output consumed far more energy than Lin Yan's style, which was grounded in ancient martial arts and excelled at the precise control of psychic threads.
"We can't hold out much longer!" Jiang Tao panted. "It's hard to destroy the remaining two nodes at once. We need to retreat!"
Lin Yan's gaze swept over the encircling beast swarm and found a brief gap.
"In three breaths, I will fully disrupt the two nodes to cause chaos in the beast swarm. We'll take the chance to retreat into the side cave!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Yan focused his mind, mobilizing all the power of his third-tier Sea of Consciousness. All his psychic threads simultaneously pierced into the fluorescent links of the two nodes.
Boom!
The two nodes trembled violently, the dark blue light flickering. The psychic commands in the entire area instantly became chaotic. The charging scaled beasts' movements fell into disarray, colliding and biting each other, and the encirclement tore open a gap.
"Go!"
The two seized the opportunity, no longer engaging in a prolonged fight, and turned to sprint with all their might toward the entrance of the side cave. The two secondary priests were furious, unleashing their final psychic impacts to chase after them from behind.
Lin Yan and Jiang Tao bent down and rushed into the side cave. The psychic impacts slammed fiercely into the rock wall at the cave entrance, causing debris to fall like rain, temporarily blocking the pursuit of the priests and high-tier scaled beasts.
Inside the side cave, the shouts of Old Chen and the others came from ahead.
"This way! We're up ahead!"
Lin Yan and Jiang Tao quickly caught up and merged with the squad. No one dared to stop, continuing to rush forward along the side cave. The passage became narrower and narrower, and the sharp rock walls on both sides constantly scraped against their wounds. The severely injured student's breath grew weaker and weaker, and the medic could only stop the bleeding simply while moving forward.
"I sense the vertical shaft passage ahead!" Lin Yan's Sea of Consciousness extended forward, capturing the empty space above the rock strata. "The vertical shaft leads directly to the surface of the wasteland, but the Ancient Progenitor has already dispatched scaled beasts to guard the exit!"
Everyone quickly rushed to the bottom of the vertical shaft.
The vertical shaft was a vertical passage left over from early rock stratum exploration, nearly thirty meters high, with rusted metal climbing ladders remaining on the rock walls. From the top of the shaft, the low roars of scaled beasts could already be heard. Over a dozen scaled beasts were perched at the wellhead, waiting for them to poke their heads out.
"If we charge blindly, we'll be blocked right at the wellhead," the instructor said, looking up toward the top of the vertical shaft, his brow furrowed. "We are short-handed, and we have wounded."
Lin Yan carefully sensed the psychic signals of the scaled beasts at the wellhead, pondering a countermeasure: "I can release a large-scale psychic disturbance to briefly disrupt their coordination. While they are in chaos, you climb the ladder in batches. I will cover the rear."
"No, you can't stay behind alone this time," Old Chen immediately objected. "We go up together."
Jiang Tao spoke up: "I'll cover the rear with Lin Yan. With my fourth-tier Sea of Consciousness, I can help share his psychic consumption. You escort the wounded and climb first."
After a brief discussion, everyone made preparations. The wounded were arranged to climb first. Lin Yan and Jiang Tao stood at the bottom of the vertical shaft, their Seas of Consciousness operating simultaneously. The two streams of psychic power overlapped, releasing a large-scale psychic disturbance toward the wellhead.
The commands received by the scaled beasts at the wellhead instantly became disordered. Their roars turned chaotic, and they collided with each other. The originally tight blockade formation developed a massive gap.
"Move!" the instructor ordered in a low voice.
The wounded grabbed the rusted ladder and started climbing first, followed by the rest of the students in turn.
The scaled beasts at the wellhead quickly received the Ancient Progenitor's remote commands again. The chaos rapidly subsided, and they regrouped, pouncing and biting at the humans leaning down from above.
Jiang Tao continuously released psychic impacts to restrain them, while Lin Yan constantly fine-tuned his psychic threads to continuously interfere with the scaled beasts' commands. The psychic power of both was consumed at a rapid rate, and their wounds kept bleeding due to continuous exertion.
"Only the last three left! Prepare to climb up and retreat!" the instructor shouted from the middle of the vertical shaft.
Just then, the psychic signals of two secondary priests rapidly approached from the depths of the side cave. They had already passed through the main cave, chased into the side cave passage, and were about to reach the bottom of the vertical shaft.
End of Chapter.
"Leave the left side to me!" Jiang Tao fully deployed his fourth-tier Sea of Consciousness. He raised a psychic barrier to block the psychic stingers while releasing psychic disturbances to disrupt the coordination of the scaled beasts on the left. "You focus on dealing with the secondary priests, don't let them get close!"
Lin Yan nodded, splitting his third-tier Sea of Consciousness into several streams of psychic threads that pierced directly into the psychic links between the two secondary priests and the nodes. At the same time, he activated his ancient martial arts footwork, maneuvering through the gaps in the scaled beasts, his short blade continuously harvesting the monsters that rushed close.
A high-tier scaled beast, burly and massive, leaped up fiercely, its thick, sharp claws aiming straight for Lin Yan's shoulder. Lin Yan dodged sideways, his short blade slashing open the beast's belly armor in the process. However, the beast's claws still grazed his ribs, tearing his combat uniform and instantly flaying his flesh. Scalding blood immediately soaked through his clothes.
"Lin Yan!" Jiang Tao caught sight of this in his peripheral vision, his heart tightening. A momentary lapse in focus allowed a psychic stinger to pierce his Sea of Consciousness barrier. He let out a muffled groan, a sharp pain shooting through his head.
Seizing the gap, a secondary priest condensed a heavy psychic impact and pounced directly toward Jiang Tao's Sea of Consciousness. Lin Yan reacted swiftly, diverting a stream of psychic threads to intercept it, forcibly deflecting the impact.
"Don't lose focus!" Lin Yan reminded him in a deep voice.
On the other side, Old Chen and the others guarded the wounded, desperately charging toward the entrance of the side cave. The few scaled beasts left behind to guard the rear entangled them fiercely. Several students fought and retreated, barely managing to squeeze into the narrow side cave.
"Hurry inside!" The instructor turned around and slashed a pursuing scaled beast with his knife. "The passage is narrow; only one person can pass at a time. Take turns covering the rear!"
The inside of the side cave was dark and damp, with mud and water constantly dripping from the rock walls. The ground was muddy and slippery. Protecting their severely injured teammate, everyone sprinted along the winding passage, their Seas of Consciousness still having to continuously resist the faint illusions projected remotely by the Ancient Progenitor.
Deep underground, the Ancient Progenitor sensed the situation on the battlefield, its dark gold vertical pupils flashing with a cold light.
"The side cave connects to an abandoned vertical shaft on the wasteland, not far from the surface. We cannot let them escape from there." The Ancient Progenitor issued commands to the two scaled beasts ambushed along the side cave, while simultaneously increasing the psychic suppression on Lin Yan and Jiang Tao. "Finish off those two as soon as possible, then go and seal the exit of the vertical shaft."
Inside the main cave of the rift, the battle continued.
Jiang Tao's psychic power was heavily consumed, his face pale, and his body scratched in multiple places by scaled beasts. His fourth-tier Sea of Consciousness was more powerful, but continuous high-intensity output consumed far more energy than Lin Yan's style, which was grounded in ancient martial arts and excelled at the precise control of psychic threads.
"We can't hold out much longer!" Jiang Tao panted. "It's hard to destroy the remaining two nodes at once. We need to retreat!"
Lin Yan's gaze swept over the encircling beast swarm and found a brief gap.
"In three breaths, I will fully disrupt the two nodes to cause chaos in the beast swarm. We'll take the chance to retreat into the side cave!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Yan focused his mind, mobilizing all the power of his third-tier Sea of Consciousness. All his psychic threads simultaneously pierced into the fluorescent links of the two nodes.
Boom!
The two nodes trembled violently, the dark blue light flickering. The psychic commands in the entire area instantly became chaotic. The charging scaled beasts' movements fell into disarray, colliding and biting each other, and the encirclement tore open a gap.
"Go!"
The two seized the opportunity, no longer engaging in a prolonged fight, and turned to sprint with all their might toward the entrance of the side cave. The two secondary priests were furious, unleashing their final psychic impacts to chase after them from behind.
Lin Yan and Jiang Tao bent down and rushed into the side cave. The psychic impacts slammed fiercely into the rock wall at the cave entrance, causing debris to fall like rain, temporarily blocking the pursuit of the priests and high-tier scaled beasts.
Inside the side cave, the shouts of Old Chen and the others came from ahead.
"This way! We're up ahead!"
Lin Yan and Jiang Tao quickly caught up and merged with the squad. No one dared to stop, continuing to rush forward along the side cave. The passage became narrower and narrower, and the sharp rock walls on both sides constantly scraped against their wounds. The severely injured student's breath grew weaker and weaker, and the medic could only stop the bleeding simply while moving forward.
"I sense the vertical shaft passage ahead!" Lin Yan's Sea of Consciousness extended forward, capturing the empty space above the rock strata. "The vertical shaft leads directly to the surface of the wasteland, but the Ancient Progenitor has already dispatched scaled beasts to guard the exit!"
Everyone quickly rushed to the bottom of the vertical shaft.
The vertical shaft was a vertical passage left over from early rock stratum exploration, nearly thirty meters high, with rusted metal climbing ladders remaining on the rock walls. From the top of the shaft, the low roars of scaled beasts could already be heard. Over a dozen scaled beasts were perched at the wellhead, waiting for them to poke their heads out.
"If we charge blindly, we'll be blocked right at the wellhead," the instructor said, looking up toward the top of the vertical shaft, his brow furrowed. "We are short-handed, and we have wounded."
Lin Yan carefully sensed the psychic signals of the scaled beasts at the wellhead, pondering a countermeasure: "I can release a large-scale psychic disturbance to briefly disrupt their coordination. While they are in chaos, you climb the ladder in batches. I will cover the rear."
"No, you can't stay behind alone this time," Old Chen immediately objected. "We go up together."
Jiang Tao spoke up: "I'll cover the rear with Lin Yan. With my fourth-tier Sea of Consciousness, I can help share his psychic consumption. You escort the wounded and climb first."
After a brief discussion, everyone made preparations. The wounded were arranged to climb first. Lin Yan and Jiang Tao stood at the bottom of the vertical shaft, their Seas of Consciousness operating simultaneously. The two streams of psychic power overlapped, releasing a large-scale psychic disturbance toward the wellhead.
The commands received by the scaled beasts at the wellhead instantly became disordered. Their roars turned chaotic, and they collided with each other. The originally tight blockade formation developed a massive gap.
"Move!" the instructor ordered in a low voice.
The wounded grabbed the rusted ladder and started climbing first, followed by the rest of the students in turn.
The scaled beasts at the wellhead quickly received the Ancient Progenitor's remote commands again. The chaos rapidly subsided, and they regrouped, pouncing and biting at the humans leaning down from above.
Jiang Tao continuously released psychic impacts to restrain them, while Lin Yan constantly fine-tuned his psychic threads to continuously interfere with the scaled beasts' commands. The psychic power of both was consumed at a rapid rate, and their wounds kept bleeding due to continuous exertion.
"Only the last three left! Prepare to climb up and retreat!" the instructor shouted from the middle of the vertical shaft.
Just then, the psychic signals of two secondary priests rapidly approached from the depths of the side cave. They had already passed through the main cave, chased into the side cave passage, and were about to reach the bottom of the vertical shaft.
End of Chapter.