Chapter 152: Initial Clash

The influence of the Dungeon in the Black Blood Plateau was as massive as those snake-folk had described. Previously, because they had no idea why Zhou Tian had come to the Black Blood Plateau, they had remained completely inactive. However, once they obtained information regarding Zhou Tian and mobilized their true power to search for him, it became extremely difficult for Zhou Tian to find a place to hide within the Black Blood Plateau.

More importantly, Zhou Tian had no inkling of the sheer scale of the Dungeon's influence within the Black Blood Plateau. In fact, having never encountered them before, he did not even know that the Dungeon had a presence in the region. In order to lure those snake-folk out, Zhou Tian had been stirring up all sorts of chaos across various parts of the Black Blood Plateau. Under such circumstances, it was naturally very easy for the Dungeon to gather intelligence on him.

Consequently, without Zhou Tian perceiving any abnormalities, the Dungeon faction successfully collected information about him and directly transmitted it into the hands of the Dungeon's ruler.

Once they obtained Zhou Tian's whereabouts, the Dungeon took action without delay...

When the mysterious ruler of the Dungeon ordered everyone involved in the operation to assemble, the group of snake-folk, who had previously worn arrogant expressions, became a great deal more silent.

Originally, these snake-folk were not prodigies of noble birth. At the very beginning, simply because they only knew how to cast elementary magic, they had chosen that bizarre style of combat. Although their bottlenecks had failed to appear for a long time, and they had continuously refined their elementary magic through successive battles, those snake-folk had ultimately relied solely on elementary magic to become one of the formidable forces in the Black Blood Plateau. Yet, when all was said and done, no matter how strong their combat prowess was, those snake-folk still lacked a certain foundational depth.

No matter how much elementary magic progressed, it remained low-level magic. When low-level magic was mastered to a certain degree, it was naturally easier to use than average high-level magic. However, when it came to sheer might, no amount of progress could grant low-level magic a potential that surpassed high-level magic. Otherwise, what would be the point of high-level magic existing? All mages would simply be better off focusing exclusively on studying low-level magic from the very beginning.

The majority of professionals knew only the "what" without understanding the "why." While they all knew they should study high-level magic, they did not understand the underlying reasons for doing so. Instead, driven by an eagerness to learn high-level magic, they abandoned the practice and research of low-level magic. Attempting to study more profound matters without laying a solid foundation was a major reason why many people achieved very little.

Though the snake-folk of the past had laid down a very deep foundation, it was precisely because their foundation was deep enough to enable fights across realms that they had grown somewhat arrogant. Leaving aside Saint-realm masters, they had already lost their initial sense of awe even toward ordinary demigods.

Their overconfidence in their own strength made them dismissive of the arrangements made by the Dungeon's ruler.

It was not until those snake-folk actually arrived at the Dungeon's treasury, selected items they deemed suitable, and witnessed the strength of the Dungeon's core members over the past few days that their inherent arrogance was thoroughly beaten out of them.

A crushing defeat—this was the result of the snake-folk's successive challenges within the Dungeon.

Unlike the outside world, the Dungeon was a faction capable of contending against various churches for many years without showing the slightest weakness; how could its core members possibly be simple characters? It could be said that these snake-folk's strength was still far from meeting the qualifications to enter the inner sanctum. If not for someone above recommending them and the fact that they indeed possessed considerable potential, their meager current strength would truly have fallen far short of the requirements to enter the Dungeon's core.

Among the Dungeon's core members, demigods were actually the minimum standard for entry. While there were quite a few Saint-realm members as well, those Saints were, to a certain extent, even more terrifying than ordinary demigods.

Most demigods had entered the core layer relying purely on raw strength. Those who entered the core layer while still in the Saint realm either had someone covering for them, like those snake-folk, or possessed some special ability. For instance, the magical pearl ability that could control other people's minds, which Zhou Tian had encountered previously, could be considered one of the more outstanding ones.

How could those arrogant snake-folk, ignorant of the immensity of heaven and earth, possibly stand a chance of winning when fighting other core members in the Dungeon? Whether facing Saint-realm or demigod-tier core members, they lost every single time they challenged them. After being beaten repeatedly, how could the snake-folk's arrogance fail to be worn away?

Yet, all of this was undoubtedly a blessing in disguise for those snake-folk. Recognizing their own position, receiving proper guidance, and being able to cultivate accordingly meant that as long as they were not blocked by some bottleneck and failed to break through, their future achievements would be absolutely astonishing.

Of course, none of this was good news for Zhou Tian...

The mysterious ruler of the Dungeon had observed the changes in the snake-folk. Satisfied upon discovering their transformation, he couldn't help but nod. However, in front of outsiders, he did not reveal any special attitude toward the snake-folk. After merely sweeping a glance over them, he sternly issued an order to the group of Dungeon core members standing below:

"I believe you have all heard some relevant news. Outside, our Dungeon has encountered an extremely detestable Bishop of the Church of Light. That fellow used some unknown method to crack the power of the magical pearls, causing all our spies sent into their interior to be captured alive. Because of this, many of our Dungeon's branch organizations have been destroyed by him. The Council of Elders is extremely furious regarding all this, and we have taken action more than once to eliminate this person, yet we have never succeeded due to the interference of those external churches. However, an opportunity has arrived this time. For some unknown reason, that person has run into the Black Blood Plateau all by himself. This is our chance. Kill that person, and the Council of Elders has specially approved that anyone participating in this operation may go to the treasury to freely choose one collectible. Those who make greater contributions will receive other rewards as well. However, in order not to attract the attention of other factions in the Black Blood Plateau during this operation, only core members of the Saint and Demigod realms may participate. As for the rest, you will stay here in the Dungeon and await news with me!"

"Understood, Commander!"

Nodding, the Dungeon commander turned his head to look at the core members who intended to participate, and then said: "In a moment, I will teleport you to the area where the target is active. Once the target is spotted, execute him on the spot. Unauthorized actions and showing mercy or underestimating the enemy are strictly prohibited. Is that understood?"

"Understood." Regardless of what they truly thought in their hearts, upon hearing the commander speak to them as if reprimanding schoolchildren, the core members of the Dungeon below still had to give obedient replies one by one.

Seeing the distinctly helpless expressions of the people below, the commander felt he was losing face. Refusing to say anything more to them, he waved his hand and banished the people beneath him out of the Dungeon.

"This..." The others didn't feel much; perhaps they had already experienced such things many times before! As soon as they were sent out of the Dungeon, the former core members of the Dungeon quickly went into action. Left behind in the spot were only those few snake-folk who had been frightened by this display.

When had those few snake-folk ever witnessed such means? They were aware of teleportation arrays, but spatial magic like this—where a wave of the hand directly transported a group of people somewhere else—was something those snake-folk had neither seen nor even heard of. Finding themselves abruptly thrust into another place all of a sudden, they naturally appeared somewhat unaccustomed to it.

Ordinarily, had they put on such a display while executing a mission, even knowing there was someone of higher status shielding them, the Dungeon core members executing the mission alongside them probably wouldn't have let them off easily. Fortunately, Zhou Tian, the target of this mission, had yet to appear, and recognizing that these snake-folk were newcomers, they did not make things difficult for them. Figuring the snake-folk wouldn't be able to help much anyway, and leaving them behind, the rest of the Dungeon personnel quickly finished setting up various preparations.

By the time the snake-folk reacted and realized that their companions had already finished everything that needed to be done, their faces flushed. Just as they prepared to do something, they suddenly discovered that they couldn't move at all!

"You... what do you want to do?" The snake-folk could not help but panic. They had personally experienced this exact situation while inside the Dungeon; this was the magical pearl ability of a Saint-realm demon-kin who was accompanying them. Suddenly discovering that their companions had backstabbed them, how could those snake-folk not worry about their own safety? After all, they had only joined the Dungeon out of sheer desperation. In the past, they had never heard many good things about the Dungeon within the Orc Empire; anything associated with the demon race was portrayed as evil. Now, having joined a faction with such a demon-kin background, those snake-folk naturally maintained their guard against their companions.

Seeming completely unfazed by the caution of the snake-folk, a demon-kin accompanying them calmly explained after hearing their words: "Rest assured, our Dungeon does not permit inner fighting among core members, so you don't need to worry about what we might do to you. Capturing you now is merely to lure out the target named Zhou Tian. We heard he is currently looking for you, so to save us extra trouble later, you'll just have to trouble yourselves by acting as bait."

"You bastards!" Upon hearing the demon-kin's explanation, the snake-folk were filled with extreme anger. What kind of situation was this? The few of them had come here to kill Zhou Tian; not only had they failed to become the main force, but under the arrangements of these demon-kin, they had actually become bait. How could the snake-folk endure such humiliation?

Unfortunately, no matter how the snake-folk cursed, the demon-kin maintained an indifferent attitude toward them, leaving the snake-folk grinding their teeth in hatred while completely powerless to do anything about it.

Having argued and made a fuss, once they realized they had no way to stop the decision made by the demon-kin, the snake-folk quieted down.

Anyway, no matter what they did, the final result would not change in the least. In that case, what was the point of continuing to make a scene? Rather than losing face like that, it was truly better to conserve their strength and obey the demon-kin's arrangements. Although they were acting as bait, no one could guarantee that they wouldn't have an opportunity to strike later. The moment Zhou Tian arrived, the magical pearl ability binding them would naturally disappear, and as long as that ability vanished, wouldn't their opportunity arrive?

……………………求订阅……………………

Zhou Tian had no idea that he had been targeted in the shadows. On this day, after obliterating a nearby territory just like before and disposing of some people who came looking for trouble, he prepared to head toward the next, closer territory...

However, just as Zhou Tian was halfway there, he suddenly sensed a burst of combat sounds coming from not far away.

Well, fighting in the outside world might attract some attention, but what kind of place was this? The Black Blood Plateau—one of the most chaotic places on the Demon Moon Continent. What was strange about fighting happening in this place? On the contrary, if there were no commotion here on any given day, that would be something worth noting.

What truly caught Zhou Tian's attention was that he actually sensed the aura of those snake-folk. Although they had only interacted a few times, Zhou Tian had a deep impression of their aura and was quite certain he couldn't remember it incorrectly. Therefore, upon hearing the commotion coming from that location, Zhou Tian merely paused for a moment, and after confirming the aura of the snake-folk, without another word, he sprinted toward that position...

Zhou Tian did not know what those snake-folk had been up to during this period, so he naturally dropped his guard in this regard. Because Zhou Tian had always assumed those snake-folk were still active in this area—knowing full well that they would seek each other out just as he did—he had never imagined that the snake-folk would go to such lengths just to find him. Having misjudged the snake-folk's reaction from the start, Zhou Tian naturally suspected nothing.

Following the information he sensed, Zhou Tian naturally arrived at the spot where the demon-kin had set their ambush.

Looking at the several snake-folk lying motionless on the ground, Zhou Tian suddenly came to a halt...

"Something's wrong!" Just as Zhou Tian was about to walk toward the snake-folk, as if sensing something, he stopped in his tracks just in time.

The environment here certainly looked as though a battle had just taken place. Given his relationship with the snake-folk, upon seeing him, they wouldn't have merely stared at him with hateful gazes as they were doing now; if they were able to move, they should have long since rushed over to fight him to the death.

Yet, although everything seemed fine on the surface, a sense of discord lingered in Zhou Tian's heart. Standing in place, stunned for about a minute, Zhou Tian finally detected what was amiss...

"It's blood!" Zhou Tian snapped to alertness. Truth be told, the snake-folk's setup was almost indistinguishable from reality; if anyone else had come over and been the slightest bit careless, they would have fallen for their trick. However, because Zhou Tian possessed a dragon body and was quite sensitive to scents, he managed to pick up on a problem.

The Black Blood Plateau was filled with a lingering scent of blood. To ordinary living beings, this blood-scent seemed no different from any other. But Zhou Tian could distinguish between the general blood-scent of the Black Blood Plateau and fresh blood through his sense of smell, and those snake-folk were not emitting even a shred of fresh blood-scent. This was the primary reason Zhou Tian sensed an abnormality.

How could a battle occur without spilling blood—whether one's own or the opponent's? As long as the combatants' strengths were not vastly different, a battle could not possibly end without anyone getting stained with blood. Furthermore, those snake-folk were seemingly the defeated party, having even lost their mobility; how could they possibly not have sustained a single injury?

What left Zhou Tian even more speechless was this: if those snake-folk were truly fighting someone, where were their opponents? Zhou Tian hadn't seen any other creatures when he arrived. Wasn't this a massive bug?

Sparing enemies could happen elsewhere, but in the Black Blood Plateau, Zhou Tian refused to believe that the opponents those snake-folk encountered would simply walk away after beating them to the point of immobility. Naturally, this led Zhou Tian to doubt the true purpose of the snake-folk lingering there.

From these various discoveries, Zhou Tian could deduce that the snake-folk before him were likely not truly defeated and injured to the point of immobility; rather, they had set a trap and were waiting for him to walk right into it. As such, Zhou Tian was certainly not going to let those snake-folk have their way.

Even though Zhou Tian did not know what kind of trap they had prepared for him, and even though he possessed immense confidence in his own strength at the moment, he still had no reason to jump into a trap knowing full well it was waiting for him.

Sneering at the group of snake-folk who were forced to remain motionless, Zhou Tian unexpectedly produced the Heaven-Turning Seal and hurled it straight at them...

"Not good, we've been discovered!" The demon-kin of the Dungeon were no fools; when Zhou Tian suddenly stopped in his tracks earlier, they had already sensed that the situation was shifting. However, because Zhou Tian hadn't made any aggressive moves, they could only wait anxiously on the sidelines, hoping Zhou Tian would ultimately step into their trap.

Zhou Tian ultimately failed to meet the demon-kin's expectations. While this greatly disappointed them, because they had already sensed danger beforehand, Zhou Tian's attempt to ambush the snake-folk failed as well.

The moment Zhou Tian's Heaven-Turning Seal descended toward the snake-folk, the hidden demon-kin lifted the ability they had cast upon the snake-folk, finally restoring their freedom of movement.

Thus, the instant the Heaven-Turning Seal fell, the snake-folk prepared to block the attack using the exact same method as last time.

Naturally, the snake-folk failed.

The snake-folk's strength had indeed improved to a certain extent during this period. After selecting some magitech artifacts and books from the Dungeon's treasury, their current power had grown significantly compared to before.

Yet, compared to those snake-folk, Zhou Tian's growth was even faster and more substantial.

After breaking through his bottleneck, Zhou Tian gained the ability to level up. Jumping straight to level 10 had already enhanced his strength considerably. Subsequently, during this period, Zhou Tian either fought strange birds or destroyed nearby territories; amidst continuous daily slaughter, his leveling speed had never slowed down. By this moment, Zhou Tian's level had already reached 15. In terms of strength, he was at least twice as powerful as when he had last faced those snake-folk.

Zhou Tian's power had grown exponentially, while the snake-folk had only improved slightly. Under such circumstances, if the snake-folk still expected to break Zhou Tian's attack using the same method, success was simply out of the question.

Even the previous time, the Heaven-Turning Seal's attack had been blocked not because its offensive power was insufficient, but because of Zhou Tian's own limitations at the time. Had his demonic qi not lacked sufficient strength, how could the Heaven-Turning Seal's attack have been blocked by those snake-folk? Now that Zhou Tian's demonic qi was much stronger, the might of the Heaven-Turning Seal had naturally increased correspondingly. As the Heaven-Turning Seal struck down this time, the snake-folk's counter-attacks failed to pose any significant obstacle; after merely slowing the seal's descent by a fraction, the attack continued downward upon them.

If only those snake-folk had been facing Zhou Tian this time, it could be said with certainty that not a single one of them would have survived.

Yet, the snake-folk were destined not to die just yet. Accompanying them this time was a batch of Dungeon demon-kin. While the snake-folk had no way to block that strike of the Heaven-Turning Seal, blocking Zhou Tian's attack did not seem too difficult for those demon-kin.

Just as the Heaven-Turning Seal was about to land on the heads of the snake-folk, a demon-kin clapped his hands together, and the snake-folk—who were still within the attack range of the Heaven-Turning Seal—vanished from their spot. When they reappeared, they were already safely behind Zhou Tian.

Since his whereabouts had already been exposed, the demon-kin saw no further need to hide. One by one, before Zhou Tian could fully comprehend the situation, he suddenly found himself surrounded by a group of people.

Seeing a group of hostile professionals staring fixedly at him, Zhou Tian couldn't help feeling a headache coming on. What was going on here? Zhou Tian carefully recalled his past experiences, yet no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't remember ever offending anyone from the Black Blood Plateau.

"Who are you people, and why are you meddling in my business with those snake-folk?" Even knowing his words likely wouldn't have much effect, given the circumstances, Zhou Tian was still compelled to voice the question.

Yet it was obvious that Zhou Tian's words were destined to be futile.

With a cold sneer, the demon-kin had no intention of answering Zhou Tian. After staring at him coldly for a moment and forming their battle array, they immediately launched an attack against Zhou Tian...

Taking Zhou Tian as their target, the demon-kin waved their hands and unleashed an attack they had prepared for a long time.

Forbidden spell after forbidden spell... Over a dozen single-target forbidden spells were cast by the demon-kin in the blink of an eye, giving Zhou Tian no chance to evade as they blasted directly toward him!

"Boom!" A massive explosion rang out, and the area where Zhou Tian had been standing was instantly obscured by a cloud of dust.

It wasn't until the dust cleared that the demon-kin finally observed the situation inside.

"Th-this is impossible!" The demon-kin couldn't help but panic. While single-target forbidden spells lacked a wide destructive area, to powerhouses like them, such compact forbidden spells posed a greater threat than regular ones. Because the same magical elements were compressed and erupted within a tiny zone, the resulting offensive power far exceeded standard forbidden spells.

Generally speaking, without any defensive measures, even a demigod would be severely injured if caught in such a forbidden spell. Facing over a dozen forbidden spells simultaneously like Zhou Tian, even with defensive measures in place, an ordinary demigod would undoubtedly perish under such an onslaught. To prevent any accidents, the demon-kin had made these precise arrangements, and once the spells successfully struck Zhou Tian, they had assumed he was a dead man. However...

When the dust completely settled, the demon-kin were astonished to discover that Zhou Tian was utterly unharmed beneath their attack.

A massive energy bell enshrouded Zhou Tian within its body. Aside from the exact spot where Zhou Tian stood, every other place had been blasted beyond recognition by the forbidden spells. From this perspective, the power of the demon-kin's attack had not fallen short of their estimated standards; the reason it failed to harm Zhou Tian could only mean one thing—the defensive barrier of the bell-shaped artifact around Zhou Tian possessed an even greater defense than the demon-kin's offensive might.

Such an outcome was completely unexpected by the demon-kin. In their prior estimation, a single barrage of their attacks should have directly brought Zhou Tian down in defeat. Yet, unexpectedly, Zhou Tian had actually weathered their onslaught, making the situation exceptionally unfavorable for the demon-kin.

Having never anticipated such a scenario, the demon-kin naturally had no corresponding contingency plans prepared. Suddenly discovering that Zhou Tian was still alive, they found themselves utterly devoid of any effective countermeasure at that moment.

While the demon-kin failed to come up with a way to deal with him, Zhou Tian certainly wouldn't stand on ceremony...

Just now, Zhou Tian could truly be said to have been hanging by a thread. The demon-kin's attack had been far too sudden. If he hadn't managed to stop short of their ambush point, giving him a brief window before their strike to bring out the Chaos Bell upon sensing trouble, that single assault would likely have been enough to claim his life.

Facing such an incident, Zhou Tian was naturally furious.

Although those demon-kin had initially sided with the snake-folk against him, because he hadn't figured out their identity and wished to avoid making enemies arbitrarily, Zhou Tian hadn't actually wanted to start a war with them at first. Yet, he hadn't expected his momentary hesitation to be met with an assassination attempt. If not for his good fortune, he would have nearly died at their hands. How could he not seek retribution?

Zhou Tian wasn't entirely clear on the specific strength of the demon-kin, but based on their aura, he knew they were no weaker than the snake-folk. Facing such a massive group of formidable enemies, and having already failed once with the Heaven-Turning Seal, how could he possibly hold back his full strength?

With a flick of his mind, Zhou Tian injected all of his demonic qi into the Chaos Bell, glanced at the demon-kin, and rang the bell.

The intelligence gathered by the Dungeon regarding Zhou Tian was still quite limited; the time had simply been too short. Focusing solely on tracking his movements, the Dungeon couldn't possibly have obtained all related information so quickly. The demon-kin were entirely unfamiliar with the newly revealed Chaos Bell, and thus faced it with zero precautions.

Had Zhou Tian attacked with the Heaven-Turning Seal, since the demon-kin were already somewhat familiar with its attack method, it would have been difficult for him to land an effective blow.

However, because they were ignorant of the Chaos Bell's attack method and severely underestimated its power, caught off guard, they were destined to suffer dearly.

As the Chaos Bell rang, a wave of sonic energy rippled outward from Zhou Tian as the center...

Facing the attack of the Chaos Bell, although the demon-kin weren't overly concerned, they couldn't afford to take zero precautions. After all, the defensive power Zhou Tian had just demonstrated had already drawn their attention. Unaware of what other tricks he might possess and treating him as a formidable enemy, they would never look down on any attack from Zhou Tian.

Even though they assumed the bell's attack was merely a probing strike, the demon-kin displayed their respective defensive measures one after another before Zhou Tian.

Dodging, bracing themselves, or—in the case of the majority—utilizing energy shields to withstand the sound wave attack...

As the demon-kin reacted, the Chaos Bell's assault collided with their defenses, immediately creating a massive commotion.

Although sonic attacks appeared formless, that didn't mean they couldn't be defended against. In reality, whether utilizing energy or physical defenses, while they couldn't completely block sonic attacks, they could at least reduce the sound wave's potency to some degree.

Thus, when the Chaos Bell's attack struck the demon-kin's defenses, the collision of differing energies caused the impact points to shatter into pieces.

The ground cracked and dust flew. One side had been slightly careless and failed to unleash their full strength, while the other—targeting too many opponents at once and expending excessive energy—simultaneously failed to maximize their offensive output. Under such a head-on collision, the two sides fought to a dead heat, with neither able to do anything to the other.

Of course, if the confrontation of their methods resulted in a tie, it effectively meant Zhou Tian held the advantage.

In offense versus defense, if mutual losses were comparable, the attacking party always held the upper hand. Even with equal strength, the defensive side invariably suffered losses, whereas the attacking force—unless defeated—typically sustained minimal damage during combat.

The current situation mirrored this principle. Although their offense and defense seemed evenly matched on the surface, Zhou Tian's attack failing to achieve massive results had no major negative impact on him. The defending demon-kin, however, were miserable.

While the demon-kin had largely deflected the Chaos Bell's attack using their defensive arts, was the Chaos Bell's power truly that easy to block?

This was only a minor sound wave stirred up by the bell, not its true activation. Had the Chaos Bell been genuinely activated by Zhou Tian, even its most elementary attack would have claimed their lives. Yet, even with the suppressed power and the demon-kin managing to block it, the Chaos Bell's attack carried an inherent sonic-combat law. Beneath the sound wave, the demon-kin's defenses could only weaken the assault rather than truly block it.

Consequently, while the demon-kin didn't lose their lives to the Chaos Bell's attack, most of them were far from comfortable. Influenced by the residual shockwaves, they felt the energy within their bodies churning, their internal organs suffering invisible damage. The demon-kin with stronger constitutions fared slightly better, while those with weaker physiques had already begun spitting blood.

This result was entirely unexpected by the demon-kin. Stricken with dread by Zhou Tian's offensive power, they involuntarily cast their focus back toward the spot where Zhou Tian had originally stood.

Yet...

"Where is he?" When the demon-kin turned their attention back to Zhou Tian, they were astonished to discover that he had long since vanished from his original location. Left without a trace of their target, the demon-kin nearly went mad.

Deploying such a massive lineup to deal with Zhou Tian, the Dungeon had been determined to capture him once and for all. Yet, having dispatched this entire group, not only had they failed to catch him, but they had all been injured by him instead. The thought of what high-ranking Dungeon officials would do if they learned of their current state caused the demon-kin to shudder simultaneously.

It was true that gaining breakthroughs in strength was relatively easy within the Dungeon—that was an advantage of belonging to a major faction. But precisely because it was a major faction filled with members of similar strength, such achievements did not grant them the outsized privileges they might enjoy in the outside world.

In reality, missions of this 'foolproof' nature were supposed to be beneficial for both the Dungeon and the executors if completed successfully—one side achieved its objective, while the other reaped rewards. It was the sort of mission everyone in the Dungeon hoped for.

Yet, because the Dungeon's leadership viewed such tasks as effortless, if the executors failed, their fates would be nothing short of wretched.

Driven by this realization, the demon-kin neither wanted nor dared to let Zhou Tian go. Finding him missing right before their eyes, they immediately began frantically searching for his whereabouts.

"He must have fled while we were distracted by his attack earlier." Recalling the recent situation, the demon-kin unanimously agreed on the timing of Zhou Tian's escape.

The moment the Chaos Bell's attack clashed with their defenses had indeed offered the best window for escape, given the massive commotion generated by the offensive and defensive clash. Remembering the dusty environment, the probability of them noticing Zhou Tian slipping away amidst the chaos was indeed very low.

Having figured out how Zhou Tian had vanished, the demon-kin exchanged glances and immediately scattered to search the surrounding area without another word.

Less than five minutes later, a portion of the departed demon-kin returned to the spot. Finding no changes in the surroundings, they sighed in disappointment and flashed away.

About ten minutes after the demon-kin departed once more, Zhou Tian drilled his way out from beneath the earth where he had been standing all along.

"That was close. Good thing I left myself an out, or those fellows would have found me." Zhou Tian hadn't actually fled the area. While the chaotic environment was indeed suitable for escaping, the previous strike had completely exhausted all the energy within his body.

Without the support of demonic qi, even if Zhou Tian wanted to run, he lacked the capability!

Thus, from the very beginning, Zhou Tian hadn't actually run away; instead, he had utilized an Earth-Escaping Talisman to hide deep underground. Although it consumed a bit of spiritual energy to do so, judging by the current outcome, that energy had been well spent.