Chapter 85: Tunnel Escape and the Alien Race’s Hibernation
The roaring sound of fracturing rock strata continuously exploded within the karst cave. Massive boulders crashed down from the ceiling, slamming heavily into the ground. Shattered rocks and dust rolled upward, instantly filling their field of vision with a gray mist.
"Do not separate! Follow me!" the instructor roared, raising his spear to deflect the flying rubble and leading the charge back through the passage they had come from.
Deafening rumbles echoed from behind. The once expansive karst cave was being sealed off section by section by massive boulders. The few remaining high-tier scaled beasts were still in pursuit, but a multi-ton rock plummeted downward, burying them directly beneath the ruins.
As he ran, Lin Yan continuously extended his Sea of Consciousness outward, sensing the stability of the rock strata ahead and promptly warning everyone to avoid areas that were about to collapse. With the nodes destroyed, the Ancient Progenitor's remote psychic suppression had completely severed. Without psychic interference, everyone only needed to focus all their energy on escaping.
"The rock wall on the left is unstable! Move toward the center!" Lin Yan shouted a warning.
Old Chen guarded the rear of the squad, his long knife continuously hacking away at broken rocks blocking their path while remaining vigilant for any pursuers behind them. The squad members gritted their teeth, their bodies covered in dust and blood. After continuous high-intensity battles against the psychic illusion array and the scaled beasts, their physical strength was already completely exhausted; they were relying solely on sheer willpower to keep going.
The passage trembled incessantly, with rubble cascading down from above. The winding karst cave passage, originally over a hundred meters long, had already been severed by collapsing rocks for the most part. The group sprinted desperately, and finally, the gray, hazy light of the wasteland outside the cave entrance came into view.
"Hurry, get out!"
One after another, they burst out of the rift entrance. The moment they stepped out, an earth-shattering roar erupted from behind them. The entire cliff collapsed inward, and the massive rock formation completely sealed the entrance of the No. 3 main cave. A pillar of dust shot into the sky, spreading over the wasteland.
Everyone collapsed onto the scorched earth, gasping for air. Each person had sustained new injuries, and their Seas of Consciousness were utterly exhausted.
Jiang Tao knelt on one knee, wiping the dust from his face with a raised hand, and panted in a low voice, "The poison source nodes are all destroyed, and the rift collapsed directly... I guess we survived."
"The cost was not small." The instructor looked around the squad, taking a headcount. "Everyone is present. Two members have minor injuries, and no one is critically wounded or near death. This time, we were fortunate."
Lin Yan sat cross-legged, closing his eyes to regulate his breathing. His Sea of Consciousness still throbbed faintly. Destroying the four nodes and enduring the Ancient Progenitor's remote psychic heavy pressure had once again consumed a massive amount of energy. Fortunately, his foundation in mind-guarding was solid; he had not suffered the severe Sea of Consciousness cracks from last time, experiencing only a brief overdraw.
He raised his eyes and gazed at the collapsed cliff, knowing full well that the Ancient Progenitor would not give up so easily. This time, it had invested heavily in setting up the continuous illusion array and toxin nodes. With its scheme foiled, it would undoubtedly calm down and accumulate strength.
After resting in place for a while, they briefly bandaged their wounds and activated their communicators to send a mission-completed signal to the Panshi City base. While waiting for the extraction team, the wasteland was deathly silent, accompanied only by the rustling sound of wind blowing through the broken rocks.
Deep underground, in the resonance rock cave, the Ancient Progenitor lay in the center of the pool, receiving the final signal fluctuations from the No. 3 Rift before the signal was completely severed.
The surviving secondary priest lay on the ground, its psychic thoughts carrying a heavy sense of defeat: "My Lord, the nodes at the No. 4 Rift have all been destroyed, the karst cave collapsed, and the ambushing high-tier scaled beasts are completely buried. The target squad successfully evacuated."
The dark blue fluorescent light in the rock cave flickered. The Ancient Progenitor remained silent for a long time. It did not fly into a rage; instead, its icy thoughts slowly echoed.
"I had long expected that a single ambush would hardly be enough to eradicate them."
"This release of psychic toxins had two purposes. One was to erode the low-tier cultivators within the bastion, and the other was to lure this special squad here to test their methods for breaking networked nodes."
The failure of two consecutive, meticulously arranged killing traps allowed the Ancient Progenitor to clearly see the strength of this squad, especially Lin Yan. This human's ancient martial arts foundation, combined with his Sea of Consciousness, gave him a mental defense far superior to cultivators of the same tier. He always managed to find the flaws in the node network in desperate situations. Forcibly hunting them head-on would only result in the continuous depletion of its precious secondary priests and high-tier scaled beasts.
"Change the strategy," the Ancient Progenitor ordered slowly.
"Stop releasing large-scale psychic toxins outward, and no longer actively set up large illusion arrays to lure human squads."
"All secondary priests and high-tier scaled beasts are to retreat to the deep underground rifts and go into full hibernation. Accelerate the excavation of underground tunnels to open subterranean passages leading to the six major bastion cities. Massively breed high-tier scaled beast legions to accumulate decisive battle strength."
"The surface battlefield will temporarily fall silent. Let humanity believe that we have suffered heavy losses and are powerless to attack. Once all the underground tunnels are fully connected, the great army will surge out simultaneously, and the six major bastions will face the beast tide together."
"As for Lin Yan, temporarily shelve the assassination plan. Continue to observe his growth in secret, and on the day of the general offensive, crush him with my own hands."
Streams of thoughts traveled along the rock strata, reaching the scaled race outposts scattered across the underground areas of the six major regions. Beneath the wasteland, countless dark caves returned to silence, no longer releasing psychic waves outward, as if this underground world had become completely dead.
On the wasteland, the roar of armored vehicle engines was heard in the distance. The extraction forces from Panshi City had arrived.
Medics immediately disembarked to treat the squad's wounds. Everyone boarded the armored vehicles, embarking on the journey back.
The carriage was completely silent. The squad members leaned against the cabin walls to rest, no one speaking. A perilous mission had concluded, but everyone knew in their hearts that the alien race underground had not perished; they had merely temporarily hidden in the darkness, silently preparing for a general offensive capable of annihilating human bastion civilization.
The instructor opened an encrypted communication channel to report the mission details to the war zone command center.
"All poison source nodes at the No. 3 Rift have been destroyed, and the source of the psychic toxin has been cleared. The rift has suffered massive collapse. We assess that the scaled race will most likely shift to long-term hibernation, accumulating strength in the deep underground."
The command center quickly replied, synchronizing the intelligence to the six major bastions. Panshi City's combat readiness level was raised once again. The entire city strengthened its underground rock stratum monitoring, increased the cultivation of Sea of Consciousness practitioners, and expedited the development of equipment to detect deep underground tunnels.
The armored vehicle slowly drove toward the massive walls of Panshi City.
Leaning against the side wall of the carriage, Lin Yan closed his eyes to regulate his breathing, recovering his Sea of Consciousness while reviewing the battle. He had been in the third tier of the Sea of Consciousness for a while, and after several life-and-death battles, his understanding of psychic thread control, mental defense, and node networking far surpassed his previous level. But he also understood that his current strength was still minuscule compared to the Ancient Progenitor.
To defend the bastion in the future general offensive, he still had a very long road ahead.
End of Chapter.
"Do not separate! Follow me!" the instructor roared, raising his spear to deflect the flying rubble and leading the charge back through the passage they had come from.
Deafening rumbles echoed from behind. The once expansive karst cave was being sealed off section by section by massive boulders. The few remaining high-tier scaled beasts were still in pursuit, but a multi-ton rock plummeted downward, burying them directly beneath the ruins.
As he ran, Lin Yan continuously extended his Sea of Consciousness outward, sensing the stability of the rock strata ahead and promptly warning everyone to avoid areas that were about to collapse. With the nodes destroyed, the Ancient Progenitor's remote psychic suppression had completely severed. Without psychic interference, everyone only needed to focus all their energy on escaping.
"The rock wall on the left is unstable! Move toward the center!" Lin Yan shouted a warning.
Old Chen guarded the rear of the squad, his long knife continuously hacking away at broken rocks blocking their path while remaining vigilant for any pursuers behind them. The squad members gritted their teeth, their bodies covered in dust and blood. After continuous high-intensity battles against the psychic illusion array and the scaled beasts, their physical strength was already completely exhausted; they were relying solely on sheer willpower to keep going.
The passage trembled incessantly, with rubble cascading down from above. The winding karst cave passage, originally over a hundred meters long, had already been severed by collapsing rocks for the most part. The group sprinted desperately, and finally, the gray, hazy light of the wasteland outside the cave entrance came into view.
"Hurry, get out!"
One after another, they burst out of the rift entrance. The moment they stepped out, an earth-shattering roar erupted from behind them. The entire cliff collapsed inward, and the massive rock formation completely sealed the entrance of the No. 3 main cave. A pillar of dust shot into the sky, spreading over the wasteland.
Everyone collapsed onto the scorched earth, gasping for air. Each person had sustained new injuries, and their Seas of Consciousness were utterly exhausted.
Jiang Tao knelt on one knee, wiping the dust from his face with a raised hand, and panted in a low voice, "The poison source nodes are all destroyed, and the rift collapsed directly... I guess we survived."
"The cost was not small." The instructor looked around the squad, taking a headcount. "Everyone is present. Two members have minor injuries, and no one is critically wounded or near death. This time, we were fortunate."
Lin Yan sat cross-legged, closing his eyes to regulate his breathing. His Sea of Consciousness still throbbed faintly. Destroying the four nodes and enduring the Ancient Progenitor's remote psychic heavy pressure had once again consumed a massive amount of energy. Fortunately, his foundation in mind-guarding was solid; he had not suffered the severe Sea of Consciousness cracks from last time, experiencing only a brief overdraw.
He raised his eyes and gazed at the collapsed cliff, knowing full well that the Ancient Progenitor would not give up so easily. This time, it had invested heavily in setting up the continuous illusion array and toxin nodes. With its scheme foiled, it would undoubtedly calm down and accumulate strength.
After resting in place for a while, they briefly bandaged their wounds and activated their communicators to send a mission-completed signal to the Panshi City base. While waiting for the extraction team, the wasteland was deathly silent, accompanied only by the rustling sound of wind blowing through the broken rocks.
Deep underground, in the resonance rock cave, the Ancient Progenitor lay in the center of the pool, receiving the final signal fluctuations from the No. 3 Rift before the signal was completely severed.
The surviving secondary priest lay on the ground, its psychic thoughts carrying a heavy sense of defeat: "My Lord, the nodes at the No. 4 Rift have all been destroyed, the karst cave collapsed, and the ambushing high-tier scaled beasts are completely buried. The target squad successfully evacuated."
The dark blue fluorescent light in the rock cave flickered. The Ancient Progenitor remained silent for a long time. It did not fly into a rage; instead, its icy thoughts slowly echoed.
"I had long expected that a single ambush would hardly be enough to eradicate them."
"This release of psychic toxins had two purposes. One was to erode the low-tier cultivators within the bastion, and the other was to lure this special squad here to test their methods for breaking networked nodes."
The failure of two consecutive, meticulously arranged killing traps allowed the Ancient Progenitor to clearly see the strength of this squad, especially Lin Yan. This human's ancient martial arts foundation, combined with his Sea of Consciousness, gave him a mental defense far superior to cultivators of the same tier. He always managed to find the flaws in the node network in desperate situations. Forcibly hunting them head-on would only result in the continuous depletion of its precious secondary priests and high-tier scaled beasts.
"Change the strategy," the Ancient Progenitor ordered slowly.
"Stop releasing large-scale psychic toxins outward, and no longer actively set up large illusion arrays to lure human squads."
"All secondary priests and high-tier scaled beasts are to retreat to the deep underground rifts and go into full hibernation. Accelerate the excavation of underground tunnels to open subterranean passages leading to the six major bastion cities. Massively breed high-tier scaled beast legions to accumulate decisive battle strength."
"The surface battlefield will temporarily fall silent. Let humanity believe that we have suffered heavy losses and are powerless to attack. Once all the underground tunnels are fully connected, the great army will surge out simultaneously, and the six major bastions will face the beast tide together."
"As for Lin Yan, temporarily shelve the assassination plan. Continue to observe his growth in secret, and on the day of the general offensive, crush him with my own hands."
Streams of thoughts traveled along the rock strata, reaching the scaled race outposts scattered across the underground areas of the six major regions. Beneath the wasteland, countless dark caves returned to silence, no longer releasing psychic waves outward, as if this underground world had become completely dead.
On the wasteland, the roar of armored vehicle engines was heard in the distance. The extraction forces from Panshi City had arrived.
Medics immediately disembarked to treat the squad's wounds. Everyone boarded the armored vehicles, embarking on the journey back.
The carriage was completely silent. The squad members leaned against the cabin walls to rest, no one speaking. A perilous mission had concluded, but everyone knew in their hearts that the alien race underground had not perished; they had merely temporarily hidden in the darkness, silently preparing for a general offensive capable of annihilating human bastion civilization.
The instructor opened an encrypted communication channel to report the mission details to the war zone command center.
"All poison source nodes at the No. 3 Rift have been destroyed, and the source of the psychic toxin has been cleared. The rift has suffered massive collapse. We assess that the scaled race will most likely shift to long-term hibernation, accumulating strength in the deep underground."
The command center quickly replied, synchronizing the intelligence to the six major bastions. Panshi City's combat readiness level was raised once again. The entire city strengthened its underground rock stratum monitoring, increased the cultivation of Sea of Consciousness practitioners, and expedited the development of equipment to detect deep underground tunnels.
The armored vehicle slowly drove toward the massive walls of Panshi City.
Leaning against the side wall of the carriage, Lin Yan closed his eyes to regulate his breathing, recovering his Sea of Consciousness while reviewing the battle. He had been in the third tier of the Sea of Consciousness for a while, and after several life-and-death battles, his understanding of psychic thread control, mental defense, and node networking far surpassed his previous level. But he also understood that his current strength was still minuscule compared to the Ancient Progenitor.
To defend the bastion in the future general offensive, he still had a very long road ahead.
End of Chapter.