Chapter 2988: Chapter 2988: Stalagmites

These arrays worked in three different ways. Aside from helping refine the Chaotic Source Spirits, they could protect weaker creatures as well. Moreover, they also functioned as transmission arrays.

The warriors at the Chaotic Source Realm were much stronger than those who were not able to reach this realm.

Those who were able to finish the Chaotic Source Reinforcement and had reached the Chaotic Source Realm would be directly sent outside. This was done to prevent them from killing others.

Darth already knew that Zen had gathered enough Chaotic Source Spirits. However, it chose not to say anything about it. It was perfectly clear that Zen's departure would be completely up to him.

“No way,” Zen said as he shook his head.

Zen was the core of the group. He was the glue holding these people together. If he chose to leave, Chaim would have to lead the group to explore the main peak.

That would be too risky. He couldn't just let them continue on their own.

Elvinia and Dorothy exchanged looks. They understood what this meant. They knew Zen well enough that there was no way he would just leave these people behind.

Zen and the others continued on their journey and arrived at the foot of the main peak before the next round of hurricane came.

Observed in the distance, the main peak was tall and slender. But actually, the mountain base was not that small. On the east side of it, there were two caves. One of them went upwards while the other one went downwards.

When they arrived at the east side, Zen took a quick look at the two caves. Afterwards, he chose the one that went upwards.

The Ear Mice had always been cautious, and Darth was no exception. Before they even set foot on the main peak, Darth had already ordered those Rock Mice to go inside it first and scout the area.

Upon entering, they found that the cave was very narrow. However, it suddenly became wider after they walked for over a hundred feet. The inner space was actually bigger than they had previously imagined.

Some of them felt quite uneasy and nervous at this sudden change in terrain so they released their spiritual senses to scan the cave.

Nonetheless, they found no living energy inside the cave. It seemed like this place was desolated and uninhabited.

“It doesn't seem like there is any difference between the main peak and the eastern one,” Hutton pointed out. He seemed dejected.

He walked towards several rocks and began smashing them. In the end, however, he got nothing.

The expression on the others' faces also darkened. If they couldn't find any Chaotic Source Spirit on the main peak, where else would they be able to find one?

They began to feel hopeless. Did they come for nothing this time?

“I think there's a difference. Actually, it's kind of strange,” said the Ear Mouse Darth.

“Really? What's the difference?” Zen asked. He was curious now.

“Those Rock Mice I have sent earlier to explore the cave have all been wiped out,” Darth replied while pointing towards the depths of the cave.

“Did the Chaotic Source Spirits devour them?” Chaim asked as he peered towards the direction Darth had pointed to them.

“Is it possible that another race had entered the main peak ahead of us and killed those Rock Mice?” Elvinia couldn't help but raise a question as well.

Their main concern now was whether there were Chaotic Source Spirits present here or not.

“I'm not really sure what happened,” Darth replied while shaking its head. “There is a very strange force inside. When the Rock Mice stepped within that power range, they stopped following my orders. Because of that, I don't know what they found.” ŕ𝓪ΝоＢЁṣ

“Well, there's only one way to find out. Let's go up there and see it for ourselves,” Zen suggested.

The Rock Mice had poor combat skills. It was understandable that they could have been devoured by some strong Chaotic Source Spirits.

Zen took the lead while the rest of the group walked slowly and followed closely behind him. After walking for about a few miles, Darth mentioned to Zen, “The Rock Mice disappeared somewhere around this area. Please be careful, Master Zen.”

Zen stopped for a while and looked around. He saw several sharp stalagmites in front of him. These stalagmites were densely arranged together, seemingly like the fangs of a frightful monster.

As he narrowed his eyes, Zen slightly levitated and clung to one of the sharp stalagmites. He gently touched the stalagmite with his palm and pushed it a little. With a muffled sound, the stalagmite turned to dust.

“Nothing found.” Zen shook his head and touched another sharp stalagmite. Just like the other one, the stalagmite turned into a pile of powder. He didn't find any Chaotic Source Spirit inside.

Zen and the others were thoroughly disappointed. On the other hand, they were now able to relax after confirming that no Chaotic Source Spirit could be found here. They copied what Zen did and started beating the sharp stalagmites. Also, they weren't able to find anything.

“This is so peculiar. If there's nothing here, why did the Rock Mice disappear? I don't understand what happened.” Darth exclaimed gloomily.

There was something really weird going on inside this cave. But because they gained nothing in this area, they had no other choice but to explore deeper.

Once again, they followed Zen and went deeper inside as they went around the sharp stalagmites.

After they walked for quite some distance, they suddenly heard a rumbling sound. It came from behind them.

With anxiety mounting inside them, they all looked back towards the sound. A bunch of sharp stalagmites had actually regrown in the place of the stalagmites they had just broken! Moreover, these stalagmites continued to grow and crisscrossed against each other. These had now completely blocked any way of retreat. It was as if a monster had closed its jaws!

“The stones are able to grow on their own? What on earth is going on? Let me take a closer look.” Seeing what just happened behind him, Hutton intended to go back and figure out what had caused this.

But as soon as he took a step back, several fist-sized sharp stalagmites popped out from every direction and wildly grew towards the center of the cave.

Witnessing this, Zen's eyebrows raised in surprise. With a slight flick of his hand, he cast a ray of sword radiance towards the growing stalagmites.

Cling!

Even though Zen's attack directly hit the stalagmites, they still remained intact! The others saw this and stared dumbfounded. Their eyes were wide in shock!

“Hutton, come back here! Quickly! Everybody listen to me! Run straight forward!”

Zen bellowed. Realizing they were in trouble, Zen pulled the air above Hutton's head without a second thought. Hutton was pulled back from about a hundred feet away. Everybody started to run forward.

If it was just an ordinary rock, it wouldn't matter how sharp it was because they could smash it easily without getting hurt.

However, it would be a different story if these stalagmites contained Chaotic Source Spirits. Zen and others wouldn't be able to destroy these stalagmites quickly enough. If these sharp stalagmites caught up with them, they would end up getting impaled and eventually killed by them.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Dense rock spikes began to grow all over the surfaces of the cave. They covered the entire ground. Zen and others had to fly as swiftly as they could because there was not a patch of ground in which they could stand anymore.

“The cave ahead is narrow! Watch out!” Chaim reminded the others.

Over ten sharp stalagmites half a foot in length had already grown out. It wouldn't be long before they completely covered the cave from ceiling to ground. They had to rush over before the stalagmites closed the entire cave up!

“Whoosh!”

Elvinia, Chaim, and Dorothy were the first ones to pass through them. They were followed by Zen, Darth and others.

Meanwhile, Sally, Hutton, and Umar moved a bit slower. Naturally, they fell behind.

As Zen reached the narrow area, he frowned as he saw the others were still running behind. He smashed the sharp stalagmites with his hands and feet. He unleashed a massive force that actually blocked their further extension!

“Hurry up! I can't hold on for much longer!”

The stalagmites sprang out from the stone walls and emitted a tremendous force. Zen could only delay their extensions for a short while.

“Whoosh! Swoosh!”

Sally and Hutton had now passed under Zen's arms and looked back simultaneously. “Umar, hurry up!”

Umar was the farthest one behind. He gritted his teeth and it seemed like he activated some kind of secret method. He turned into a sharp golden sword and passed right under Zen's armpit. However, his body had been cut by the tip of a stalagmite and blood flowed out of the wound.

Right after Umar reached them, Zen couldn't hold on any further. He released his hands and went through the narrow area as well.

The place he had been holding on to had now been filled with stalagmites, which blocked the way of the remaining five Ear Mice.