"A mere island nation dares to run wild in my China, do they still think it's decades ago?"
Li Chonglou glanced coldly at the corpses on the ground, lamenting that this was not the underworld. Otherwise, collecting their remnant souls would be truly satisfying.
*Swish.*
With another violent tremor, more and more debris fell from above. It was estimated that the supposed closing time was not far off.
Li Chonglou tidied up the scene briefly, packing useful items into a bag. He was the last to leave the third level.
Everyone else had already fled, leaving the second level eerily silent.
"Strange, why don't I feel the discomfort that Tian Yi mentioned?"
A question suddenly arose in Li Chonglou's mind. Or perhaps, the statement that cultivators couldn't enter the underground mine referred to the event that would cause the mine to close?
However, there wasn't much time to ponder. Li Chonglou scanned his surroundings and quickly found the path he had taken.
*Shua.*
Still in a state of fusion, he vanished from his spot instantly.
At the mine entrance, a group of escaped villagers and guards from the main bureau watched the violently shaking entrance with lingering fear.
"This rumor is actually true. I thought it was just to scare cultivators."
A main bureau soldier looked back at the exit with lingering fear. In the rumors, even cultivators trapped inside would face certain death. Ordinary people like them wouldn't last a minute.
A villager beside him shook his head, "This is more than just a rumor. Years ago, a master at the sixth level didn't believe it, and to this day, not even his body has been found."
Those nearby were startled.
A sixth-level master, whose body couldn't even be found?
Just then, a man approached Tian Yi.
"This is bad. A Wen's condition is worsening, and Uncle Fei is out now."
This man was the one who had gone with Tian Yi to pick the living grass. He spoke while looking towards the other side of the entrance.
Not a single person from the island nation had come out. The people from Heilinjian had long since vanished. At the mine entrance now, there were only the villagers and the main bureau personnel.
And the man the speaker was looking at was a middle-aged uncle. Although his face was covered in stubble, his naturally authoritative eyes were hard to ignore. This was the kind of gaze people who had been in high positions for a long time possessed.
He was none other than Uncle Fei, whom the two had mentioned, and the representative figure of the villagers.
Tian Yi followed his gaze. As expected, Uncle Fei's first reaction upon exiting was to look for his brother.
However, A Wen, whom they spoke of, was placed in a sleeping bag to rest due to his worsening condition. He wouldn't be found easily.
Tian Yi grinned, "Don't worry, look what I have?"
Tian Yi pulled open his shirt, and several stalks of top-grade living grass sprung forth like eager competitors, releasing the unique aroma of top-grade living grass.
"This is top-grade living grass?"
The man rejoiced. Tian Yi chuckled and said, "You go treat the person first. I'll stall Uncle Fei."
He took out the living grass and quickly stuffed it into the other man's embrace.
"That's not right, Old Tian. How did you get this top-grade living grass? And several stalks at once."
As soon as the man finished speaking, he thought of Li Chonglou.
"Did that Lord Li help you get it?"
Tian Yi nodded, "Lord Li is no ordinary person. That ferocious beast couldn't even last a second in his hands! If it weren't for him this time, our Donghai Island would likely be gone."
Tian Yi's expression showed admiration. He had said before that if they survived this calamity, he would recognize Li Chonglou as his elder brother. That was no jest; he was already sincerely convinced of Li Chonglou's prowess!
"But why haven't we seen Lord Li come out yet?"
The entrance was visibly closing slowly. Not only he, but everyone else had noticed it, including Uncle Fei.
Considering he was their savior, it was natural to be worried.
However, at this moment, Tian Yi's expression changed drastically.
"Oh no! There's another stone door after the second level!"
"What stone door?"
Tian Yi ignored him and shouted towards Uncle Fei, "Uncle Fei! Is there another stone door after the second level?"
Everyone's attention was immediately drawn to them.
Uncle Fei was taken aback. After thinking for a moment, he nodded, "That's right, but it only appears when the entrance is closing."
"It's over! Lord Li can't push open the stone door!"
"That's impossible, right? We don't even need to exert force on the stone door."
"A stone door that can't be pushed open? Impossible, right?"
Everyone looked at each other, all in disbelief.
Only Uncle Fei's expression suddenly changed, "It seems so. Cultivators who enter by sealing their strength cannot push open the stone door! Have you ever seen anyone from the island nation push it?"
Over a dozen villagers who had fled from the island nation recalled, and shook their heads, "They always made us do these tasks."
Tian Yi's expression instantly lost all color.
"It's over, it's too late to go back now."
It wasn't that he didn't want to save him, but the entrance now only had space for one person to pass through, and it was constantly shrinking. There was still a distance from the first to the second level. They were just ordinary people and couldn't possibly go in to push the door in time!
At the same time, Li Chonglou was standing before the stone door that had suddenly descended on the second level.
"Where did this thing come from?"
The moment he saw the stone door, he realized something was amiss and decisively punched towards the rock face nearby.
However, in the next second, he was dumbfounded.
This seemingly ordinary rock face was actually filled with the black stone he had seen in the top-grade living grass field!
With his full strength at the fifth level, he couldn't even find a crack in this black stone!
Li Chonglou stared blankly at the stone door.
"Could I be this unlucky? To die in an underground mine where there wasn't even an opponent?"
The falling debris from above kept getting larger, as if the entire mine were about to collapse.
However, collapse was unlikely. Li Chonglou was more concerned about the poisonous gas they had mentioned.
A stone door completely blocked the way out, in a place meant only for ordinary people. If he really died here, Li Chonglou feared he would die with regrets.
But the surrounding rock face was also incredibly hard black stone. Where could he possibly get a large amount of water now?
Moreover, there wasn't enough time!
"Wait! The top-grade living grass field!"
Ever since he entered, Li Chonglou had a vague feeling that this place had an inexplicable connection to the underworld, especially the ferocious beast he encountered in the top-grade living grass field!
That place might be his only chance of survival!
Li Chonglou decisively turned around. It only took him half a minute to return to the herb garden.
At that time, due to the urgency of the situation, Tian Yi hadn't even had time to close the three stone doors, which greatly helped him.
At the same time, a stream of black gas suddenly emerged from the rock face.
There really was poisonous gas?