Chapter 2299: Chapter 2299: No Way Back

The cave was only just formed, so its stones and soil were still soft.

A slight touch could make it collapse.

While Zen had used the Truth of Cultivation Nature to keep himself hidden, if Leland was alerted, he'd be easily exposed.

So Zen moved slowly and cautiously on his way down.

“Leland, there are two paths.”

The cave mostly went straight up and down save for the fork in the road ahead.

From where he was positioned, Zen could clearly hear the conversation happening below.

“They're not two caves. I've already checked with my spiritual sense—the one on the left is a dead end. We should turn right,” Leland explained.

“Okay.”

And so the group pressed on to the right and continued falling.

Soon after, Zen also came to the same spot.

Not wanting to go through the trouble of using his spiritual sense to identify the next paths, he decided to follow behind the group.

Without much hesitation, he fell through the right cave as well.

The cave grew darker and darker the deeper he fell.

The smell of sulfur also grew more pungent.

“The smell of sulfur is too strong…” one of the top-rank True Gods complained.

“Do you think this will lead all the way to the Abyss Demon Region?” another man muttered.

“Maybe. The cave is incredibly deep, after all.”

The Abyss Demon Region was nothing short of a nightmare to the people of the divine land.

It was common for powerhouses from the powerful clans on the Floating Islands to perish there—Nicholas had even ordered all the best True Gods out as a precaution.

If the cave truly did lead to the Abyss Demon Region, they'd be in deep trouble.

“Haha! We could gain a lot if this place really leads there,” Leland said aloud.

“You're right. We'll have found another entrance to the Abyss Demon Region,” said another man.

The only known entrance to the Abyss Demon Region was located in the depths of the Red Lotus Region, a place occupied by powerful clans.

Even as a Demi-holy Being, Leland had no right to enter the Abyss Demon Region.

The only way to do so was to seek the help of powerful clans and use their space channels.

No one could go through without the clans' assistance.

Zen hadn't expected the cave to go so deep.

But he was patient enough.

He was different from the people below, after all. They were only drawn to the abnormal phenomenon that occurred after the Stone Mouse's reincarnation—they did not actually know what was really going on. R̃Âℕổ𝐛ЕṢ

On the other hand, Zen was well aware of it.

After about 15 minutes, the tunnel below grew wider.

As he descended, he accidentally rubbed against the cave's wall. He winced, worrying that the stone would loosen to rubble and roll down to the people below, alerting them of his presence.

But to his surprise, the wall was rather soft.

“So this is the layer of soft stones?” Zen muttered to himself in shock.

He went all the way down with the group, not knowing how far he had gone—he had probably already passed the layers of gangue and flint, he thought.

'Underneath the layer of soft stones is Lethal Fire Magma. It can burn even Holy Beings, ' Zen thought to himself, remembering to stay vigilant.

As he thought about it, the discussion from below seemed to grow busier.

“We have reached the layer of soft stones. Shall we head back?”

“We can't resist the Lethal Fire Magma.”

Some wanted to head back, afraid of the danger awaiting them if they pressed on.

“We've already made it this far. Jalen, you're a consumate True God. How could you be so cowardly?” one of them chided in a low voice.

“Right. We're almost at the very end, only one step away. If we return now, all our efforts will be wasted,” Leland added.

Jalen said nothing and frowned.

But just then, a gust of hot wind blew past them from further within the cave.

“Waah...”

The hot wind seemed to whistle along the tunnel.

“Where is that coming from?”

“Let's go down and have a look!”

Getting a strange feeling from the hot wind, the group hastened their steps.

“Waah...”

The wind reached Zen and swept past him.

“This smell…” he said, sniffing the air.

Apart from the thick odor of sulfur, there was also some kind of faint fishy, sweet smell in the wind. He couldn't put his finger on what it was.

Then, out of the blue, a scream came from below.

“Watch out!”

“There are creatures coming out of the walls!”

“The legendary Earth Ghosts!”

“What the heck? How could we run into them here?”

Panicked voices grew louder.

Zen rushed to a corner to keep himself out of sight before popping his head out to take a peek.

Four-horned black snakes as thick as his arm emerged from the walls of soft stones.

It was known that the layer of soft stones was the hardest layer of earth in the divine land. Even the top-rank True Gods couldn't hope to break it, and it would also take consummate True Gods a lot of effort to destroy it.

These creatures slithering out of the walls were by no means ordinary.

In the history of the divine land, the Earth Ghosts were recorded.

They were known to be the only creature that could crawl freely through the layer of soft stones. Because they lived in the depths of the earth, not much else was truly known about them.

Because most of the True Gods who had witnessed these creatures were already dead, the Earth Ghosts remained a mystery.

But Zen knew better than to act rashly—he wasn't the Earth Ghosts' target, after all.

He figured he wouldn't leave his hiding spot unless it was absolutely necessary.

“Hiss! Hiss! Hiss!”

The Earth Ghosts bowed as they kept their tails within the walls, slipping out their tongues. They didn't seem to be in a hurry to attack.

“What are they doing?”

“Doesn't look like they mean to harm us…”

“We... We'd better go back!” A rather lanky top-rank True God began sobbing.

Jalen agreed and firmly said, “We still have time to leave. These Earth Ghosts may be protecting something, but no matter what it is, we're too weak to get past them. We can just sell this information to the powerful clans and leave them to explore.”

But just as he finished his words, the entire cave began shaking. The path they came from was completely closed off from the vibrations.

From a corner in the cave, Zen had no choice but to jump out.

If he didn't, he would've been completely trapped in the layer of soft stones.

At he showed himself, he exchanged glances with the group and smiled, looking rather embarrassed.