In the desert.
Tents were erected, with several people hidden around, standing guard.
Inside one of the tents, Laos and another small team captain from the Hall of Light, Philias, sat by the campfire, eating rations and resting.
The two, leading their teams, had long discovered the markers left by their companions and other clues.
In their view, these inconspicuous clues should have been left by the Dark Association as they passed through various locations.
This indicated that both the previous Light team and the subsequent Dark Association team were roughly heading in the same direction.
Furthermore, as of now, the two sides had not encountered each other.
If they had met, a fierce battle would have ensued.
At that time, at least one of these markers or clues would have disappeared or changed direction.
At the same time, judging from the current situation, although there were some signs of combat, the losses were not significant; at least, they had not discovered any bodies yet.
However, after nearly twenty days of tracking, Laos, Philias, and the others from the Hall of Light were all exhausted.
Moreover, although there were two teams scouting ahead, the journey had not been smooth, with some powerful demonic beasts appearing.
Now that they finally had a moment of respite, they were seizing every opportunity to recover their strength.
"Report!"
At that moment, a voice of announcement came.
In a blink of an eye, an intelligence operative who had been searching for markers at the forefront of the team walked in.
He came directly to the two and said, "Sir, about five kilometers ahead, all markers and clues have disappeared. Only a Taijitu was found..."
Hm?
Hearing this, Laos and Philias exchanged a glance, and then their eyes lit up.
The intelligence operative had not mentioned any signs of combat, and the clues from the two teams ahead had all been severed. In their opinion, this should be related to the Taijitu.
Thinking this, the two, without a word, led their teams to investigate, following the intelligence operative.
...
Not long after, Laos and Philias, leading their men, arrived at the designated location.
On the ground, there was a Taiji disk about ten square meters in size, surrounded by yellow sand.
Strangely,
The wind and sand here were strong, yet the Taiji disk was spotless.
This sight made Laos and Philias extremely vigilant. However, as they began to examine the Taiji disk, they suddenly felt the ground tremble.
Immediately afterward, a strong suction force came from beneath their feet. In their panic, they discovered that
The Taiji disk in front of them was rapidly sinking, instantly forming quicksand.
And terrifyingly, even with all their might, they could not break free from the quicksand; instead, they sank deeper and deeper.
Thus, in panic and fear, all the members of the Hall of Light became trapped.
A short while later.
All of them disappeared, and the Taiji disk reappeared.
This scene was clearly witnessed by six figures in the distance.
They were none other than Ye Cangtian and the other Earth-level enforcers of the Dark Association.
They had long since locked onto this joint team from the Hall of Light. Through Ye Cangtian's extraordinary perception abilities, they had maintained a certain distance from the opponent.
This distance was precisely controlled.
Simply put, Ye Cangtian could sense them, but they could not sense Ye Cangtian and the others.
Because of this, Ye Cangtian was able to lead his men to follow and witness the scene before them.
"Hiss..."
Seeing such a sight, Hong Mo and the others couldn't help but gasp.
Those were at least a dozen Cardinal Bishops.
To be swallowed by quicksand like this, with their fates unknown, was truly terrifying.
After a while,
They cast their gaze towards Ye Cangtian, expecting to hear his opinion.
Seeing this, Ye Cangtian fell silent, his eyes also extremely solemn.
It was obvious that the quicksand ahead was either a place of great peril, where entering would lead to being ruthlessly swallowed by the quicksand,
Or it led to some secret realm.
However, the problem was that both were possible, and who would dare to go down and investigate!
If this was truly a death trap, wouldn't they be losing their lives?
Thinking of this, Ye Cangtian scanned the crowd and slowly said, "Maintain a certain distance from the Taiji sand disk for now. Search the surrounding areas separately to see if we can find Sha Ying and others, or any messages they left..."
With that, Ye Cangtian simply divided them into groups.
He and Lan Yue formed one group, Zi Long and Hong Mo formed another.
Huang Shan and Lv Luo formed a third group.
Then, the crowd dispersed, surrounding the Taiji disk from afar, and began their search.
And when Ye Cangtian and Lan Yue, out of the sight of the others, Ye Cangtian quickly took out the Dragon Control Seal and infused it with a trace of spiritual energy.
In the next moment, a beam of light emitted from the Dragon Control Seal shot out, directly at the Taiji disk.
Instantly, the two exchanged a glance.
Neither of them was foolish. Since the light shot into the Taiji disk, it proved that beneath the quicksand there must be a connection to a secret realm.
In other words, even if they were swallowed by the quicksand, they would not die, but would be teleported to the secret realm.
Moreover, they had also found the location of an item related to the Dragon Control Seal.
However, at this moment, neither Ye Cangtian nor Lan Yue showed any sign of excitement; instead, their faces darkened.
Along the way, the demonic beasts and monsters they had avoided were all very powerful, above Earth-level, and existed both solitarily and in groups.
These were only what they saw on the surface along the way.
In reality, both of them firmly believed that there were even more powerful beings.
If the desert was already this perilous, wouldn't the secret realm be even more dangerous?
If they entered, their survival would be absolutely uncertain.
After a long time, Lan Yue glanced at Ye Cangtian and said, "Junior Brother, you really consider me as your Senior Sister, right?"
Hm?
Hearing this, Ye Cangtian was stunned. Lan Yue, even when they were alone, would still respectfully call him Young Manor Lord.
This was the first time she had ever called him Junior Brother!
Thinking this, he subconsciously said, "Of course, why?"
Upon hearing this, Lan Yue's face showed a relieved smile, and she then said, "Since that's the case, listen to your Senior Sister today. You stay outside, and the five of us will go down to investigate!"
Lan Yue knew that the matter was fraught with danger, so she absolutely could not let Ye Cangtian go and take the risk.
After all, Ye Cangtian was the Young Manor Lord of the Dragon Control Manor and bore the future of the Dragon Control Manor.
"No!"
Hearing this, Ye Cangtian's heart was filled with warmth, but he still resolutely refused.
He gave Lan Yue a deep look and said, "Senior Sister, I will always remember your kindness, but this matter concerns the Dragon Control Seal, which is my responsibility. How can I stand by and watch you risk yourself for me?"
"Moreover, I am also the commander of the team. Since I brought you here, I have the responsibility to lead you out safely!" Ye Cangtian added.
"Are you stupid!"
"The team's duty can be set aside now. In the team, only you and I are on the same side. The lives of others are irrelevant to you!"
"And as your Senior Sister, or as your subordinate, it is my duty to take risks for you!"
Lan Yue's eyes widened when she heard Ye Cangtian's words, and she said anxiously.
"No!"
Ye Cangtian shook his head, hesitated for a moment, and then slowly said, "Senior Sister, since we've reached this point, I won't hide anything from you. In fact, Huang Shan and Lv Luo are Xin Wan's parents!"
"What!"
With one sentence, Lan Yue's eyes widened.
She had thought of everything, but she never imagined that the Earth-level enforcers guarding the headquarters were Tang Xin Wan's parents.
In other words, they were Ye Cangtian's in-laws!
This was too deeply hidden.
After a moment of silence, Lan Yue calmed down and said, "Junior Brother, since they are our own people, then you and they should stay behind!
If something happens to any of you, the family will be sad for a long time. Unlike me, who is alone and has no attachments!"
"Senior Sister, discard that thought. No matter what, I must go in."
Ye Cangtian gave Lan Yue a deep look and continued, "It's just that this time, I have a selfish motive, and I might let you down, Senior Sister. Are you willing to go with me?"
Upon hearing Ye Cangtian's words, Lan Yue understood.
Ye Cangtian wanted to leave the chance of survival for Huang Shan and Lv Luo.