The sounds of the fight next door gradually died down.
Huang Sheng was clinging tightly to the stone slab. He couldn't detect any movement from that side. Zhang Tianyuan apparently noticed this too and quickly leaned in.
"Teacher Huang—"
"It seems the fight over there has stopped."
"So soon?"
A deep frown creased Huang Sheng's brow. He knew Su Nian's abilities better than anyone. She definitely wasn't a match for that beast, but it was also impossible for her to be killed by the beast in such a short time, right?
But indeed, there was no more sound from next door.
"Teacher Huang, should we go over and take a look?"
Huang Sheng shook his head. "Let's wait a bit longer."
At this moment, Huang Sheng was on edge. He always felt that things weren't that simple.
Previously, Su Nian had shouted for help. But now, not even a growl could be heard from the other side. Could it be that the beast was really that powerful? In just a few minutes, it had wiped out all of them?
"Zhang Tianyuan, I think there's something fishy about this. What do you think?"
Zhang Tianyuan nodded. Although he desperately wanted to obtain the beast's core, he also knew his own limits. If he lost his life here because of a momentary greed, it would be a huge loss.
"Teacher, shall we leave?"
"Yeah, let's get out of here first."
Just as they were about to slowly back out through another passage, the stone slab blocking their way suddenly crashed to the ground with a loud bang, knocked down by a powerful spiritual force. Even a fourth - stage spiritual pharmacist couldn't have produced such force.
Then, two huge beasts came into their sight.
They had very different appearances, but it was clear that they both had ape - like features.
"Teacher Huang?"
"Oh no!"
The Zhuyan and the Huodou, both were ancient beasts!
No wonder Su Nian and the others had only lasted for a short while. Facing such powerful beasts, no matter how many people there were, it was just a suicide mission.
The sudden appearance of the two beasts made some students start to panic and back away.
Zhang Tianyuan and Huang Sheng also used all their spiritual power and slowly moved towards the exit.
But they had forgotten that they were facing ancient beasts. The Huodou was known for its speed. In an instant, it leaped and blocked the exit tightly.
"Damn it! There's the Huodou in front and the Zhuyan behind. This time, even if we don't die, we'll surely be seriously injured."
Huang Sheng cursed silently. He looked at Zhang Tianyuan, who also had a cautious look on his face. If he had known that the beasts were the Zhuyan and the Huodou, he wouldn't have dared to come to the center of the maze cave even if he had been given a hundred guts.
Now, Su Nian and her group had lost their lives here, and they would soon follow.
In the blink of an eye, Su Nian and her group were outside the maze cave.
"Student Zhao, we just came out like this. Shouldn't we do something about them?"
Zhao Shuning looked in the direction of the maze cave and smiled. "Those who harm others will eventually harm themselves. Teacher, I'm not capable enough to save them."
It wasn't that she was not capable. Everyone had witnessed Zhao Shuning's abilities. She just held grudges and didn't want to waste her energy on those villains.
The Huodou and the Zhuyan would give them a hard time.
"But, Student Zhao..."
Se Se stepped forward and quickly said, "Teacher Su, our leader knows what she's doing. The Huodou shouldn't harm our fellow disciples."
Kong Shishuang continued, "But that Huang Sheng and Zhang Tianyuan have a feud with Zhao Shuning. Zhao Shuning surely won't let them off easily."
Su Nian looked at Zhao Shuning's back. For a moment, she felt that this girl was different from everyone else.
She was so powerful. In the Dark Swamp Land, she could climb to the fifth height alone. And before, her surging spiritual power and the ancient beast Huodou she carried with her all told Su Nian one thing: this little girl in front of her was much more powerful than they had imagined.
She was decisive in her actions and dared to love and hate.
Zhao Shuning looked into the distance. She came to the Maze Forest not just for the inner cores in the maze cave. Before she left, she had specifically told Little Huodou to search all the inner cores from Zhang Tianyuan and his group and bring them out.
Just now, for a moment, Zhao Shuning also hesitated to be so ruthless.
After all, most of the fellow disciples following Huang Sheng were innocent.
But they had abetted the evildoers. Even if they hadn't done anything bad themselves, they had still played a role in promoting it.
When the avalanche comes, no snowflake is innocent.
Zhao Shuning didn't want to take their lives, but this time, she had to teach them a lesson.
After they rested for a while, Se Se could stand up. She asked Zhao Shuning, "Leader, are we going to continue on our journey or...?"
Zhao Shuning smiled playfully. "Let's wait."
"Wait? Wait for what?"
"To beat the dog when it's down."
Zhao Shuning was using the situation to her advantage, and she wasn't ashamed of it at all.
Although she was now a third - stage spiritual pharmacist and a fourth - grade alchemist, it would still be a bit difficult for her to deal with Huang Sheng and his group. At most, she could only fight them to a draw and end up both injured.
She wasn't that stupid. Now that she had the Huodou and the Zhuyan, she would surely use their strength to deflate Huang Sheng and Zhang Tianyuan's arrogance.
"Return evil for evil."
Se Se shook her head with a smile and stepped back. Their leader always had a delicate mind. Zhao Shuning never claimed to be a righteous person. As long as there was an opportunity to gain an advantage, she would seize it immediately. It was this kind of personality that made her seem approachable.
Hearing what Se Se said, Su Nian felt even more admiration for the girl not far away.
She was not only powerful but also far more intelligent and strategic than her peers.
Previously, Zhang Tianyuan and Huang Sheng had wanted to use the beasts to exhaust Su Nian and her group's strength so that they could reap the benefits. Now, Zhao Shuning was using the same method to exhaust Huang Sheng and his group's strength, and then they would step in. The saying "the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind" was something Zhao Shuning had heard from her master when she was little.
"Here, take these."
Zhao Shuning casually took out several sets of black clothes from her Qiankun bag and threw them to the six people.
"What are these?"
Zhao Shuning gave a sly smile. "Equipment for later."
She still had to get along with them in the Misty Rain Tower in the future, so she wasn't going to burn her bridges. She was going to let that group taste what it was like to be at a loss.
Although this method wasn't very honorable, when dealing with villains, you had to use villainous methods, right?