After traveling through the book, I conquered the male protagonist Long Aotian!

"Oh no, this monster has helpers!" Gu Qingze shouted loudly.

Chu Lingxiao gnashed his teeth and said, "There is 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, with a hint of urgency in his voice.

Gu Qingze waved his sword vigorously to resist the bats' attack like a storm, and responded loudly: "But where is the key hidden?"

Just as they were racking their brains to think hard, Gu Qingze suddenly discovered that on the neck of the huge bat, there was a crystal that was shining with strange light and as bright as a gem.

It exudes a mysterious and alluring glow, just like the crystal core of a spirit beast. However, unlike the crystal core of a spirit beast, it actually grows outside the body of a bat.

Forget it. Regardless of whether it is a critical point or not, the power fluctuation there is undoubtedly the strongest. There is no harm in giving it a try.

"Ling Xiao, look at that monster's neck!" Gu Qingze shouted.

Chu Lingxiao looked carefully in the direction he pointed and instantly understood the key.

"I will try my best 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 neck of the giant bat 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 desperately 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. Burning fireballs hit the group of little bats like meteors, trying to buy more time for Gu Qingze.

Finally, Gu Qingze broke through the little bats' obstruction and stabbed the crystal fiercely 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 one after another.

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 broken crystal and said with a smile: "At least this cave is safe for the time being. We can hide here for a while 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 and too abnormal."

"If it could be normal, it wouldn't be called Xuanyin. Didn't Brother Jinnian, Song Ya, and Senior Brother Helan prepare us for it in advance? Xuanyin is a very dangerous place, and the appearance of these terrifying monsters was within our expectations."

Gu Qingze said this with deep conviction, and at the same time considerately adjusted his posture so that Ling Xiao could lean on him more comfortably.

"It's not strange in this aspect." Chu Lingxiao's physical strength recovered a little, "It's about other aspects."

"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, since I stepped into Xuanyin, all those noisy voices have disappeared without a trace around me.”

Gu Qingze understood the deep meaning of his words, and his expression became more solemn: "Ling Xiao, you mean..."

"Ah."

Chu Lingxiao looked at him firmly, paused for a moment, and then continued to slowly tell his guess:

"I suspect...the monsters we encountered along the way, and even other things, were all transformed by someone's special ability, just like my fire dragon. It seems to have intelligence, but in fact it is just formed by the gathering of spiritual power. The real intelligence is the controller behind it."

Gu Qingze heard this and frowned slightly: "If it is really as Ling Xiao guessed, being able to control so many monsters at once, then the cultivation level of the controller behind it must be unmatched..."

"And... from what I know, Ling Xiao, the fire dragon you transformed into can put its own perspective into it. In other words, if this is true, then from the moment we entered Xuanyin, our every move may be under the strict control of the manipulator behind the scenes."

Chu Lingxiao patted his shoulder gently: "Although I am extremely reluctant to think so pessimistically, this possibility... is indeed very great."

Gu Qingze did feel a little bit of fear at the beginning, but he quickly regained his composure.

He took Chu Lingxiao's hand, interlacing their fingers tightly together. The warmth from his palms made him feel at ease unconsciously.

"Ling Xiao, no matter how powerful the person behind this is, since we have come this far, there is absolutely no reason to retreat."

Chu Lingxiao felt Gu Qingze's determination, and shook his hand back firmly, looking at him with an almost soothing smile, and then nodded.

The two rested for a while, drank several bottles of recovery potions, and 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 downwards instantly.

"Qingze!"

Chu Lingxiao reached out to grab it in panic, but his hand was empty.

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 was 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 fog as thick as ink, like a heavy curtain, making it impossible to see the direction clearly, and 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...