Powerhouses Deep Underground

As they continued deeper, the originally dim surroundings unexpectedly began to grow brighter.

This light did not come from outside moonlight or lamps, but rather from the mysterious patterns on the stone walls. Those obscure and difficult-to-understand ancient scripts were now being activated by some force, beginning to emit a pale white light.

They intertwined, forming bizarre patterns that resembled a massive magic formation.

“Is this... a magic formation? But there doesn't seem to be any aura of mana,” Xia Duo said, her eyes widening in surprise. She followed the flowing light on the stone walls downward, only to see a truly extraordinary scene.

The mysterious light originating from the stone walls flowed slowly as if it were alive, eventually converging on a massive circular magic formation directly beneath them. In the very center of the formation was a small pool of water.

Starlight squinted as he looked down at the peculiar pool. He could see the water within emitting a faint blue fluorescence, and there seemed to be a figure quietly floating and drifting in the water.

“That... that's! Lian!?” Moen, of course, had also noticed the pool in the center of the formation. With her eyesight being much better than Starlight's, she recognized the figure floating in the water at a glance and couldn't help but gasp in surprise.

“What? Lian? Why would she be in a place like this?” Starlight was shocked to hear this. He quickly pulled a small spyglass from his storage space and aimed it directly below.

Through the spyglass, Starlight could clearly see the scene at the bottom of the massive pit.

Reflected in the pale blue light, he saw that familiar figure lying quietly in the center of the water's surface, her entire body enveloped in a mysterious glow.

Her face was peaceful, as if she were merely slumbering in a dream. The surrounding water flowed gently over her body without causing even a ripple.

“What on earth is going on? Is she trapped?”

Before Starlight could carefully ponder these questions, Xia Duo suddenly turned and pulled the two of them aside, interrupting his thoughts.

“Look over there. I knew we weren't the only ones here...” Xia Duo’s uneasy voice reached his ears as she pointed toward a corner of the magic formation.

Only then did Starlight notice four figures silently floating in a corner below. Two of them were people they had seen not long ago—the Night Elf Sword Saint El and the Saint Archmage Ryan.

Currently, El and Ryan were gathered with a female Night Elf behind an old man with hair and a beard as white as snow. At this moment, they seemed to be immersed in some kind of ritual and had not noticed the arrival of the three.

However, their presence put immense pressure on Starlight and the others.

“Saint Rank experts... it looks like all four of them are!”

Although the four in the corner were not emitting their auras, the fact that they could float naturally in mid-air without relying on any elements was proof enough of their strength.

“Four Saint Ranks stationed here? What is this... could it be that the top power of the Dark Tribe is concentrated in this place?” After seeing the faces of several of them, Xia Duo’s expression also became somewhat grim.

She completely could not understand why these individuals would be gathered here at this particular time.

One had to know that even among the Tree Elves, the recognized Saint Rank combatants numbered no more than ten, and most of them were scattered far and wide, rarely gathering in one place like this.

Yet, among the Dark Tribe, whose population was far smaller than that of the elves, four Saint Rank powerhouses had appeared at once. It seemed the records in the World Tree had underestimated them.

“What are they doing? Lian will be okay, right?”

Starlight's tone carried a hint of anxiety. From just now until now, his gaze had not left the center of the magic formation, staying tightly locked on the pool below.

He tried his best to see Lian's condition, but she lay at the bottom of the water as if asleep, seemingly bound by an invisible shackle, motionless.

Just as the three were hesitating on the spot, feeling at a loss, a strange sense of tension suddenly surged from the depths of Starlight's soul. This feeling was like a cold snake's tongue sliding across his spine, making him shiver involuntarily.

Moen, leaning against his side, immediately noticed his abnormality and asked with concern, “Starlight, what's wrong?”

“Just now... Noah sent me a warning through the soul link. Our actions have been discovered!” Starlight took a deep breath and said in a low voice.

“What? Then we must retreat immediately! Po Kong might be in danger!” Xia Duo was startled and immediately realized the severity of the situation, whispering urgently.

While Starlight and Xia Duo were tensely discussing their retreat plan, Moen's attention remained focused on the direction she was guarding.

Suddenly, her gaze froze, and a look of panic instantly climbed onto her face. She stared with wide, disbelieving eyes at one of the figures below—the old man who had been with El, Ryan, and the female Night Elf.

At some unknown point, the old man had actually raised his head. His eyes, which seemed capable of piercing through everything, were looking brightly toward where the three were hiding.

The old man's gaze revealed an indescribable depth and majesty, as if it could penetrate all obstacles and look directly into one's heart.

“Since you're here, don't bother hiding. Come out!” An old but powerful voice rang in the ears of the three, like a sudden clap of thunder, followed by an overwhelming, massive pressure.

“Damn! We've been spotted!” A chill welled up in Starlight's heart, and he immediately intended to grab the two girls and use instant movement to leave.

But just as he was about to tear through space, he found that the surrounding space seemed to have turned into a viscous liquid. The difficulty of tearing it open and merging into it had increased more than tenfold.

“Aura Reversion, Break!” The moment she knew their tracks were exposed, Moen shouted without hesitation, dispelling the aura camouflage on the three of them. Since they had been discovered, the disguise was no longer meaningful.

Under the influence of this power, the carefully arranged aura camouflage on the three of them began to rapidly disintegrate. The subtle auras used to cover their true identities vanished like morning mist dispersed by sunlight, revealing their original aura characteristics.

Facing the four Saint Rank powerhouses before them, they had no room for holding back or relying on luck.

“Go! We need to leave this place first! Light Burst! Wind Condense!”

Faced with the massive pressure brought by four Saint Rank powerhouses, Starlight did not choose to wait for death but instead took decisive action. He knew full well that in the face of an absolute strength gap, meeting them head-on was by no means a wise move.

Starlight gave a sudden roar, and a dazzlingly giant ball of light rose from his hand, exploding within the hollow space and dyeing everything around them a snowy white.

At the same time, a burst of wind elements quickly enveloped the three of them. While providing them with additional protection, it also boosted their speed to the absolute limit.

Propelled by the wind elements, the figures of the three were like three bolts of lightning, quickly vanishing from their original positions and racing toward the exit above.

However, the four Saint Rank powerhouses below were no ordinary individuals. The impact of the Light Burst only caused them less than a second of blindness before they quickly reacted.

With a cold snort from El, his figure and that of the female Night Elf beside him, who also possessed Saint Rank strength, instantly turned into two meteors streaking across the night sky.

The speed of the two was so fast it almost surpassed the limit of what the naked eye could see, causing even Xia Duo to lose her composure in shock.

By this time, El had already drawn the longsword at his waist, while his companion pulled a weapon resembling a short spear from behind her. A terrifying aura was emanating from their hands.

Sensing that he had been locked onto by two Saint Ranks, Starlight's heart tightened. He knew that with their current speed, it was almost impossible to escape directly.

Therefore, he immediately condensed the mana within his body and summoned a massive ice wall out of thin air, intending to completely seal the entrance to the cave to delay the opponents' speed.

But facing two Saint Rank powerhouses going all out, his magic only held for a mere instant before being breached. The white ice wall beneath them was sliced into fragments by the longsword in El's hand like a cracker.