Giant Gate

The tunnel Ye Mo landed in stretched far and the walls were covered in shining bluestones, giving view to its passengers.

These luminescent stones were often collected by people and used as a source of light in houses and buildings.

Here and there, stone columns rised from the ground or hanged from the ceiling while at some point they connected with each other, forming small pillars ressembling thin, grey tree trunks.

"With how long i fell, i should be below the mountain. Who dug this underground passage and where does it lead to?"

Ye Mo was suspicious as he advanced in this odd tunnel.

From the particularity of the cavern, he understood that, at least starting from the botomless pit, this place wasn't natural.

As for wether a man or a creature did this, he couldn't be sure.

He continued walking forward for a long time and at some point, he reached a small pond at the conclusion of the tunnel.

Just a few meters further, on the other side of the pond stood the wall of the cavern cutting the water down.

There was noting else, he couldn't continue on this path.

"There is no other passageways, why would there be such a prolonged tunnel just to welcome a pond?"

Ye Mo stooped down and focused on the water, but couldn't find anything abnormal.

It was just clear water and he could see his own reflection on the surface.

Then he looked at his blood tracking fly.

Blood beasts have greater senses than humans, if there was another creature in the surroundings, it would detect it and react, yet, here the fly wasn't agitated at all, but only roaming on his hand aimlessly.

"I guess i have no choice, with everything i went through to reach this place, i don't want to miss anything." With a sigh, Ye Mo took off his clothes and stored them in his pouch.

Then he untied the thread from his finger and let the bug move by itself, flying away from him.

The blood tracking fly couldn't follow him underwater.

The water was freezing cold and even Ye Mo shivered as he went inside.

The pond was small, around 8m², but it was surprisingly deep, he couldn't touch or perceive the ground at all so he dived down.

He rarely had the occasions to swim in his life, but doing so wasn't anything difficult for him when compared to multitasking.

In an instant, he understood he had to move his hands and his feets in a rhythmical manner to stay afloat.

As for underwater, even children unable to swim could move below the surface before rising up when out of breath much less him who directly dived down in a straight line while looking at the surroundings.

To make sure of his position and the distance covered, he took hold of the wall that blocked his path as he went in deeper.

After diving for six meters, he found the wall came to an end and there was a passage below to continue on.

"There really is another way!" Ye Mo smiled as he returned to the surface to recover his breath.

He lost some time searching for a way previously, but now that he filled his lungs with air, he dived down once again and activated cyclone kick.

As his Qi was expended, his feets moved so fast that a wave of bubbles was left on his trail.

Although the pressure of the water didn't permit him to move his legs as fast as ordinarily, at this moment, he still progressed faster than any mortal could hope for as he engulfed himself in a narrow tunnel below the rock wall.

The use of a battle skill also depended on the imagination of the cultivator, they didn't serve only to fight but for all kinds of tasks depending on your abilities to adjust to the surroundings, that's why adapting to your environment and increasing your understanding of the art was a crucial part of a cultivator.

Ye Mo's breathing capacities were also much more developed due to his body refining cultivation and after advancing for more than four minutes, the walls of the tunnel surrounding him were left behind as he returned to the surface on the other side.

He looked around and found that this place was exactly the same as the one he came from.

He was in a small pond inside an underground cavern with the same looking wall behind him.

However, after climbing to the shore he saw that a small pair of stairs were placed further and at its top stood a gigantic white gate, more than twenty meters tall.

Meanwhile in the headquarters of a certain clan...

Crack!

All kinds of furnitures were sent flying from a desk, some of them breaking after they crashed on the ground.

The guards at the entrance jolted hearing the sounds inside and looked at each other in trepidation, but didn't dare move a finger.

"How! Three elders, a hundred elite disciples, all dead! The blood tracking fly, lost! How did this happen!"

Behind the door, an infuriated Liu Dan stormed the room in fury, howling his disgruntlement in madness.

Even during the golden age of the Liu clan, they had only a bit more than twenty elders, but currently, with those three losing their life, only eleven remained in the clan.

"Please father, calm yourself, this is not good for your health." Liu Han was by his side as he tried to soothe him.

Internally, he was shocked, he has never seen his father losing his composure like that in the past.

"We even used the chasing smoke to trace his steps back to this jungle but they aren't capable to bring one kid here? What kind of dogs did we raise, don't they have arms and legs like us, do they not have a brain to use! They better tell me they got ambushed by a dragon there or i am telling you, I AM KILLING THE REST OF THEM MY-blurgh!" When Liu Dan's uncontrollable rage reached its peak, he suddenly vomited blood out of anger.

"Father!" Liu Han precipitated himself towards him and supported his body as he shouted, "Call the medicine elder, quick!"

The guards outside hurriedly ran towards the medicine hall when they heard the order.

While Liu Dan was transported to a bed and the medicine elder was on his way, in a dark basement of the Liu clan, were stored many light green crystals in the shape of a pyramid.

These pyramidal crystals are called soul crystals and are directly linked to the lifeforce of Liu clan elders and patriarch, among them, three broke in pieces.

The crystal shattering was an undeniable truth that the person linked to it lost his life.

With the sight of these broken soul crystals and the reports of the recent events, the Liu clan was clear of the situation in the jungle.

The teams and other elders patrolling from the border of the jungle to the second mountain grew suspicious when their comrades stopped giving any signs of life and discovered the slaughter soon after Ye Mo left.

A few minutes after Liu Dan was treated, a council was held in the clan's hall.

Liu Hao sat at the main seat while the elders sat in two rows beside him.

"This time, the clan losses are too great, this is a real disaster that befall all of us. We have no choice, call back everyone, those in the jungle, the ones watching over the institute, the guards defending our shops... Everyone must return." Liu Hao said with a heavy heart.

Immediately, the hall turned in turmoil.

"What about the tavern in the fourth block, we're already harassed by the Hui clan, if we retrieve our guards they will take it from us!"

"Our restaurant near the center of the city is in the same state, the Mao clan will make it their property if we don't defend it, we already had to repel their members multiple times."

"And the chasing smoke, how do we compensate for it? This powder once used with the precise image of a person in mind, will float towards the target's direction for a certain distance, that's how we were able to pinpoint the kid's location as there was nothing beside the jungle where the chasing smoke led us. Yet, the little thief hasn't been seen at all, this is an expensive treasure used for nothing, we must recover this loss!"

Elders raised their voice one by one.

It was supposed to be a simple operation, Ye Mo lowered his guard and went outside, but thanks to their informant, they knew about it.

They just had to capture him and come back, it was nothing difficult, just one elder alone should have been more than enough, yet they deployed such large troops to make sure there wouldn't be any mistake.

However, to think they would face such a high death count while not a trace of him would be found...

"The situation has changed, we lost too much forces in this seemingly auspicious operation. We are not fighting for ressources, gold coins or some compensation anymore, let theses hyenas take what they want and, with a little bit of luck, devour each other, from now on we're fighting for survival! Call back everyone to the headquarters." Liu Hao declared then stood up and left.

The Liu clan had to preserve themselves from multiple rival clans for a long time now, they always were short on manpower.

Now that three elders and so many disciples died, it attained a critical state where they had to forget about the superfluous and all the businesses they took efforts to make flourish and produce income had to be abandoned.

Liu Hao took the decision to focus on defending the core of the Liu clan with the rest of the members united, if they separated themselves and tried to defend several points at the same time, it was only a question of time before each squad fell prey to their enemies and at this time it would be too late to protect the headquarters with their remaining members.

On his way out, Liu Han followed him.

"How is father?" Liu Hao asked casually.

"It's nothing serious, he just needs rest. He didn't sleep much these days, spending all his thoughts on catching the kid, this was the last stroke for him..."

"With what happened, we can only leave this matter for later and focus on defending ourselves against outside threats." Liu Hao suddenly said, continuing on his way.

Liu Han stayed behind looking down with a face of frustration mixed with bitterness.

"I knew i should have went to capture him myself, but these two wouldn't let me go."

In his heart, Liu Han disapproved his brother and father's decisions.

Yet, he couldn't do anything. His cultivation was too low and his status didn't permit him to deny their orders, the world is ruled by strength but his talent wasn't good enough to achieve success in this aspect.

In the underground tunnel, Ye Mo had dressed himself and walked in front of the giant gate.

Haa!

Raising both hands, he pushed with all his strength, but although his face grew red from exertion, the gate only moved for less than an inch, a low rumble resounding for an instant.

"With my current strength i can't push it open, this gate looks like some kind of test to see if you're worth entering or not. Well, there's only one last option." Ye Mo's gaze shone as he clenched his fist.

Raising his hand, he took an optimal stance to send the most force possible with the stone breaking punch.

The next instant, his fist flashed as he punched!