A total of 7 disciples gathered at the massive entrance. However, to everyone's surprise, none of them had been kicked out, despite the massive increase in difficulty.
The weird thing was that Zhao Feng, Lin Fan and Liu Yue'er seemed to be very relaxed. They showed no sign of fatigue, and they were instead filled with energy.
"Brother Zhao... you've broken through?"
Yang Gan felt the change in aura coming from Zhao Feng's body. Because he had broken through, his aura was wild and chaotic, and it wasn't in its usual controlled state.
Feeling a pressure bear down upon them due to Zhaso Feng's cultivation speed, Bei Moi and Quan Chen's expression changed slightly as they gave each other a complex look. This was especially so for Bei Moi since the difference in cultivation between him and Zhao Feng was now basically nonexistent.
A surge of battle intent appeared in Bei Moi as he thought that this was a great chance to battle Zhao Feng in a fair fight. Bei Moi had absolute confidence in his own strength — he didn't even try his best in the tournament from before.
"I must not let him leave the Floating Crest Palace alive... "
Quan Chen's expression was dim and wary. His instincts told him that if he didn't dispose of Zhao Feng soon, then the latter would become a major threat to him.
"There are many things in this trial which aid me in my cultivation," Zhao Feng said casually.
The seven disciples that had survived up to this point in the trial had all made improvements; it wasn't just Zhao Feng that had improved. However, the latter was the disciple who had improved the most, with Lin Fan and Bei Moi following close behind.
"Ok, with the 7 of us teaming up, we can enter this cave. I have a feeling that if we break through this point then it'd be much easier for us to finish this trial."
Yang Gan started to formulate a plan.
Zhao Feng understood that there were thousands of bats within the bat cave, and that every one of them was at least at the 1st Sky of the Ascended Realm.
Bei Moi then said to everyone, "According to what I found out, there is a Bat Emperor within the cave who has reached the 6th Sky of the Ascended Realm. Apart from the Emperor, there are also 6 Bat Lords whose cultivation levels range from the 4th to 5th Sky of the Ascended Realm. Luckily, these Bat Lords are spread out far and wide within the massive area of the bat cave."
Hearing this, the others were all stunned.
This news was found by Bei Moi, who had entered the caves with Yang Gan, with the latter catching the attention of the stronger bats.
Overall, the bats' strength far exceeded the participants' in terms of quantity and quality.
When facing the human sea tactic, even someone as strong as Yang Gan had to run, while the weaker disciples didn't even have the strength to protect themselves.
"We obviously can't fight them head on.... We must slay a few bat lords before the bat emperor appears. If that turns out to be successful, then we can get a few treasures on the way. If it's doesn't, then all we can do is fight to the exit. The worst case scenario is everyone going off in their own directions...."
Yang Gan told everyone his plan and there were a total of 3 different possible situations that could occur.
The best situation iss that the group steals a few treasures on their way to the next area.
The group teams up to fight a path to the exit, only choosing to protect themselves.
The group falls into a desperate situation, meaning that no one would be able to help each other.
After Yang Gan shared his plan he sighed in his heart. According to his analysis, the probability of the 1st plan succeeding was lower than 10%, whereas the 3rd plan had the highest chance of happening.
This was because there were far too many bats, including the bat lords. Any hesitation could mean instant danger.
"This plan isn't bad, but what are the chances of winning against the bat emperor?"
Zhao Feng asked.
The bat emperor's cultivation had reached the 6th Sky, the same as some Deacons within the Clan.
"I don't have much of a chance of winning, but I should be able to fight it for a while," Yang Gan answered after thinking for a while.
Zhao Feng was slightly surprised when he heard this. It seemed Yang Gan's strength was stronger than he imagined.
After discussing for another bit the group got ready to leave.
"Brother Yang, I think you forgot one possibility."
Zhao Feng smiled faintly.
"What possibility?"
Yang Gan was extremely surprised. In his mind, the worst possible situation had already been foretold.
"Bloodwash.The. Bat. Nest."
Zhao Feng said one word at a time to Yang Gan. A flash of shock appeared in his eyes before Yang Gan shook his head bitterly, "Brother Zhao, you can stop joking."
Yang Gan then led the group and charged towards the bat cave headquarters.
The 7 all had battle power comparable to at least the 3rd Sky of the Ascended Realm, with the majority being comparable to the 4th Sky or higher.
Therefore, the scattered bats that were roaming around were all easily slain.
"Everyone keep it up, if we meet a bat lord we'll team up and kill it together," Yang Gan ordered.
The group delved deeper and soon met a group of around 100 bats that were led by a bat lord, whose cultivation was close to the 5th Sky of the Ascended Realm.
Flipping Cloud Palm!
Yang Gan thrust out his palm into the crowd of bats ahead, instantly killing 5 or 6 of them.
In the one move just then, the bat lord had been injured by Yang Gan.
Zhao Feng couldn't help but be slightly moved, Yang Gan was far stronger than he had expected. No wonder he was ranked in 2nd of the core disciples, and had the ability to fight for the head disciple.
Beng Sou~~~
A dark azure light flashed into the bat lord's throat.
Plop!
The enormous corpse of the bat lord fell down to the earth.
Yang Gan looked slightly surprised at Zhao Feng. The latter's Luohou Bow was extremely powerful, and could threaten those at the 4th Sky–especially when it was a sneak attack.
After the bat lord had been destroyed, the remaining bats scattered in fear, with over half of them dead or injured.
"Brother Zhao, you have some great archery skills. We can kill a few more bat lords together and I'll give you a higher share of the rewards we get."
Yang Gan smiled.
"Sure," Zhao Feng nodded his head in agreement. However, his aim wasn't just a few resources gathered in haste - he wanted more.
The group continued forward and another bat lord soon appeared, this time leading around 100 - 200 bats, some of which included those that had just run away.
This bat lord had actually reached the 5th Sky, and this time, Yang Gan could only gain the upper hand without killing it in a short amount of time.
"Northern Dark Heavenly Water - Heavy Wave Slash!"
Bei Moi exclaimed as he lept into the air, leaving a few after images as he sent out a rippling palm that seemed to be 5000 kilograms in weight towards the bat lord.
Boom!
The bat lord was smashed into the ground by the combined attacks of Bei Moi and Yang Gan.
Everyone's heart skipped a beat–they didn't think Bei Moi was this strong.
Zhao Feng secretly analysed that Bei Moi's Northern Dark Heavenly Water Skill was on par with his own Lighting Wind Palm, if not stronger.
The group of 7 disciples then teamed up and slew the bat lord.
"Very successful.We've taken care of two already. We just need to finish off two more and everything will be fine."
Yang Gan laughed.
Wait!
Zhao Feng's expression suddenly changed dramatically, "The remaining bats aren't running away."
Immediately after he said that, a soul trembling screech could be heard as a chaotic wind appeared, rocking the walls and revealing a bat emperor which had a wingspan of around 3.5 metres.
The nearby bats instantly screeched in response, their morale rising in the presence of their leader.
"Not good! We caught the attention of the bat emperor so quickly."
Yang Gan took a deep breath and drew out an ancient, long, golden sword as he leapt into the air. He then slashed heavily towards the bat emperor, ripping apart tens of bats in the process.
The long golden sword was a Middle class Mortal weapon, and with his cultivation, he could even threaten those at the 6th Sky.
Hu~ Sou~~
The bat emperor screeched loudly and flew out of the way of the sword attack, effectively nullifying the damage caused on itself.
Sou! Sou! Sou....
Hundreds and hundreds of bats started to gather from all directions due to the call of their emperor.
Apart from the hundreds of regular bats, the other 4 bat lords also surrounded the group.
They were completely surrounded!
The expressions of everyone changed. The worst case scenario that Yang Gan had predicted had happened. However, this was ever worse than imagined. There were also hundreds of bats who were at the Ascended Realm surrounding the group.
The area was filled with screeching sounds, which made it difficult for everyone but Yang Gan to move.
The untouchable sound wave was a mental energy attack which could affect their minds.
"Kekeke, there's so many bats all packed so closely together."
Zhao Feng was full of smiles.
Quan Chen and co., who were engaged heavily in battle, couldn't help but stare at him in anger. How could he laugh in such a situation?
Boi~~~
Zhao Feng opened his mouth and a mental energy sound wave blasted out.
Tok! Tok! Tok....
A wave of bats fell down to the ground.
Instantly, 20-30 bats fell onto the ground as an area void of bats appeared in front of Zhao Feng.
The weird thing was that the sound attack only seemed to affect the bats, and didn't harm the nearby people. On the contrary, it seemed to partially nullify the bats' mental energy attack.
Boi! Boi! Boi....
Zhao Feng continuously opened his mouth as bat after bat dropped from the sky, while some of them scattered in fear.
This scene caused the others to be stunned.
The mental energy sound attack seemed to counter these bats and even the bat lord would be full of fear when it approached Zhao Feng.
In reality Zhao Feng's sound attack was changed according to the bodies of the bats and had the greatest effect on them.
In terms of hearing, there was a great difference between humans and bats. Therefore, the other cultivators didn't feel anything.
Sou~ Beng--
Zhao Feng pulled his Luohou Bow and a dark azure light flashed into a bat lord at the 4th Sky of the Ascended Realm.
The jaws of the others nearby dropped.
Zhao Feng was like a bat slayer who perfectly countered bats with his archery and sound energy skills.
"Brother Zhao, good job!"
Yang Gan who was fighting against the bat emperor was overjoyed.
Boi~ Boi~ Boi...
Zhao Feng kept on opening his mouth and sending out mental energy sound attacks one after another, which were like waves that kept on killing bat after bat.
In the dimension of his left eye, the azure abyss spun faster and faster, providing mental energy for Zhao Feng.
In just a few tens of breaths, Zhao Feng had killed and forced around 100-200 bats to retreat.
The bats that were forced to retreat had been mentally injured, and didn't respond to to the calling of even the bat lords.
Everyone looked towards Zhao Feng in fear and shock.
The remaining 3 bat lords glanced warily towards Zhao Feng and didn't dare close in.
"Everyone cover me and we'll bloodwash the bat cave!"
Zhao Feng's voice full of killing intent sounded out, making the others feel a surge of battle intent and excitement.