The spell shook, and cracks appeared on its edges.
It was at this moment that Meng Hao’s eyes became fully clear. He shook himself and took in a deep breath. A gleam appeared in his eyes as he became aware of what was happening in the ancient cave. He saw the rope moving, as well as the rapidly collapsing restrictive spell.
There was no time to think. He clasped his hands and bowed toward the corpse. Then, carrying his mist with him, shot back toward the cave entrance. Before he could move even thirty meters, the shining restrictive spell shattered. Ten emaciated phantoms shot out, followed by the eight white-haired old men. All of them aimed directly for Meng Hao, screaming as they approached.
Behind them, thin streams of blackness floated up out of the deep hole. They looked like hair. The panting sound from within the hole became clearer.
Something inside was struggling fiercely, as if it desired nothing more than to burst out of the hole.
Meng Hao’s face was pale but his eyes shined brightly. His Dao Pillar began to rotate, sending the power of Foundation Establishment coursing throughout his body. He dashed forward several dozens of meters. Unfortunately, the emaciated, child-like phantoms behind him were even faster. Over and over again, they crashed into Meng Hao’s lightning mist.
Booms echoed out as the lightning mist rapidly began to deteriorate. The child-like phantoms didn’t seem to feel any pain. Every time they were knocked away by lightning bolts, they immediately charged back again. Everywhere Meng Hao looked, spirits charged toward him.
Sword auras shined out brightly as the wooden swords circled around him. Feathers spun, causing a wind to blow out. Meng Hao moved onward as quickly as possible.
That was when the eight white-haired men drew close. At the same time, several of the child-like spirit phantoms appeared in front of him, blocking his path. Meng Hao felt a profound sense of danger. Without hesitation, he slapped his bag of holding. A hundred flying swords appeared, forming into a sword rain which charged forth.
“Boom!”
As soon as Meng Hao uttered the word, the flying swords detonated, turning into a cloud of shrapnel that swept the phantoms off of their feet. Meng Hao raced past them toward the entrance of the cave, which was now about fifteen hundred meters away.
The shrieking behind him grew more intense. More and more black tendrils billowed about. They were nearly three hundred meters behind him.
Meng Hao didn’t have time to look closely. He knew that if he slowed even a little bit, he would most likely lose his life. Even the slightest delay in reaction on his part, and he would be finished.
“With great risk comes great reward. Getting the Eighth Demon Sealing Hex makes all of this worth it. Too bad I haven’t gained complete enlightenment regarding the Hex, otherwise I could use it right now.” He took a deep breath and pushed forward at top speed. The cave entrance was now almost twelve hundred meters away.
It was then that the white-robed men behind Meng Hao raised their arms and waved their fingers toward him.
The finger attacks made Meng Hao’s entire body turn cold. Without hesitation, he flickered his hand in an incantation and waved backwards. The feathers surrounding him shot back, then suddenly detonated. Another hundred swords appeared from within his bag of holding. They also shot back and then exploded.
A massive boom filled the cave tunnel, resounding outwards and diminishing the power of the white-robed men’s finger attacks. However, despite this, they still bore down on Meng Hao.
His face was pale as the mist around him shook; a gap opened up. His body instantly became freezing cold, and he coughed up a mouthful of blood. The blood instantly froze into solid chunks. It felt as if the power of his Cultivation base dropped by half. He was in great danger. However, amidst the danger, Meng Hao suddenly grabbed the red rope. He pulled it, borrowing from its power to shoot forward.
Meanwhile, out in the valley, the seven men gasped for breath. Gritting their teeth, they continued to heave on the red rope, pulling continuously. Behind them were over a dozen poison beasts, mouths clenched onto the rope as they pulled with incredible might.
“Dammit, how come it suddenly became so heavy!?”
“What’s happening? We just pulled out three hundred meters, it shouldn’t be like this!” The seven men were shocked, and anxious expressions appeared on their faces. Suddenly, the rope pulled back on them, jerking them dozens of meters forward. Then the tugging force disappeared. But moments later, even as they gritted their teeth and pulled on the rope again, it was tugged backwards with great strength.
As they cried out to each other in confusion, Meng Hao was inside the cave, pulling on the rope to launch himself forward. He coughed up more blood. Without hesitation, he consumed some medicinal pills, not wasting any time as he used all his power to flee.