"Holy shit!"
Ye Feng cried out, a surge of anger rising within him.
Although the black gorilla's fist hadn't injured him, it had knocked off his gas mask. A pungent stench immediately flooded Ye Feng's nostrils, so foul it made him question his existence.
"Damn it!"
Ye Feng threw a punch, sending the black giant ape flying.
"That stench just now... this pile of stuff on the ground... could it be the urine and feces of these monsters... and the decomposed corpses of captured explorers..."
Glancing at the yellow-green liquid and the black, pulpy mud flowing at his feet, Ye Feng's stomach churned. He hastily put his mask back on and rushed forward.
"Guaka~ka!"
"Xiu! Jia~"
"Peng~kacha!"
"Puchi~hehehe~!"
...
In the darkness, after a flurry of combat, Ye Feng finally escaped the cave inhabited by the monsters.
...
About half an hour later,
"Peng~cika~peng!....."
With a wall being broken, a humanoid monster covered in mushrooms was sent flying out with a caved-in chest, Ye Feng close behind.
"It's big brother!"
Immediately, a joyful voice, Xiao Xiao's, rang out as she saw Ye Feng.
But Xiao Xiao stopped after a few steps. She covered her nose, frowning at Ye Feng.
"Who the hell is this? So
"Is it a monster? Kill it quickly!"
...
As Ye Feng was puzzling, some chaotic voices arose from the explorers not far from him.
"Xiao Xiao... I... I'll go wash up first!"
Ye Feng, somewhat helpless, quickly ran to a waterfall formed by an underground river to clean himself.
...
More than ten minutes later,
Ye Feng used up two large bars of soap to remove the smell from his body. After changing into a new set of clothes, he quickly walked towards Xiao Xiao and Qiao Ying. "How is it? Any discoveries?"
"This place seems to be a dungeon-like structure... it should have been built using a natural cave."
"We followed the map's guidance to this place... but many people followed us... and some dug their way in like you..."
"Some have even been digging for days..."
Qiao Ying quickly explained to Ye Feng, then looked at Ye Feng, "What about your side?"
"Don't even mention it..."
Speaking of this, Ye Feng was somewhat dejected. "The entire underground cave is a maze, making it difficult to distinguish directions, and there are monsters everywhere. Those monsters are quite powerful, somewhat like the ones Kohlerji created..."
"Kohlerji? You mean the one from Brad Base?"
Hearing this, Qiao Ying frowned slightly, her expression serious.
"Yes!"
Ye Feng nodded and pointed to the stone platform ahead, saying with some doubt, "What's going on ahead? Why are so many people crowded there!"
Ye Feng had noticed this while washing up. Seeing that the crowd showed no signs of moving forward, he had felt at ease to wash properly...
"Big brother, that stone door ahead looks like the entrance. It has a powerful defensive formation, and those explorers can't break it. They're discussing what to do!"
Xiao Xiao chimed in, "And Sister Qiao Ying said there seems to be a monster emitting a dark aura behind the formation..."
"Get out of the way, everyone get out of the way!"
At this moment, several burly men pushed their way through the already crowded throng, and then a young man holding a folding fan, with unusually thin lips and a high-pitched pout, walked slowly down the path cleared by the strong men.
Although this underground space was not small, there were few stable places to stand. Some people were pushed and fell directly, but they dared not speak out.
"It's people from the City of Arcane Arts!"
"It's Brother Rui and them!"
"That's great, with the young talents of the City of Arcane Arts here, breaking the formation should be no problem!"
...
"Let's go!"
Ye Feng frowned slightly and followed, Xiao Xiao and Qiao Ying close behind.
"Xiu~hu! Xiu~"
"Huhu!~"
When Ye Feng and the other two reached the edge of the stone platform, the young man called Brother Rui was already operating the formation on the stone door ahead, two arcane energies crisscrossing.
As Brother Rui formed hand seals and pressed down, the formation on the stone door sank violently and even dissipated considerably.
Seeing this, a smug smile appeared on Brother Rui's face, his lips pouting even more.
"Om!"
"Puff!"
But at this moment, the formation on the stone door flashed, and the sunken part sprang back. Brother Rui was hit by the force of the formation and vomited blood, flying backward...
"Brother Rui?"
Ye Feng turned to a middle-aged explorer beside him. "Is that person very powerful?"
"Of course, he's already Gold Rank 1 at such a young age! Among the younger generation of the City of Arcane Arts, he's a leader!"
The middle-aged explorer's eyes, full of admiration, quickly spoke, his voice quite loud, as if to make sure Brother Rui heard him.
At this moment, the middle-aged explorer's flattering words sounded extremely jarring to Brother Rui's ears...
"Hmph!"
"Tsk!"
Because it was an underground cave, the light was quite dim. Someone let out a disdainful sound...
Brother Rui scanned the surroundings, his gaze finally landing on Ye Feng. He glared at Ye Feng fiercely, then waved his hand, and two of the strong men who had cleared the way for him quickly approached Ye Feng.
"Kid, did you just mock Young Master Rui?"
"Uh~ah! Ah!"
As the two strong men finished speaking, Ye Feng twisted the hand aimed at his neck and kicked him in the ribs, directly sending him flying off the platform...
"Good!"
"Awesome!"
"Hu!~"
...
Many of the explorers present knew Brother Rui, and many flattered him, but it seemed there were also quite a few who were displeased with him in private...
Ye Feng ignored them and quickly walked to the front of the platform, soon arriving at the stone door with the formation.
"A young talent from the City of Arcane Arts... but his understanding of formations is quite mediocre. He didn't notice that the formation on this stone door is a formation within a formation, with a trap..."
"And although his strength is Gold Rank 1, the fluctuation of his arcane energy is not very stable. It feels inferior to Jiang Sishan... a bit like Wu Yeling's state after taking the Xuangu Pill..."
Ye Feng muttered, a light flashed in his hand, and he rapidly moved across the formation on the stone door.
Within a few breaths, the formation on the stone door, like what Brother Rui had done for a long time, sank inwards.
Ye Feng was not surprised by this. He had investigated earlier, and to break the formation on the stone door, one had to act at the moment of the formation's rebound...
"Om!"
As fast as lightning, Ye Feng's finger flashed, and the rebounding formation instantly collapsed and disintegrated, and the stone door slowly opened...
"Hmph! A mere trick, just picking up scraps!"
At this moment, Brother Rui's disdainful voice rang out.
Before he finished speaking, he had already rushed to the stone door, clearly intending to be the first to enter...
...