RUMBLE-!
The serpent-like trunks lining the earthen walls and jutting from the ground suddenly lurched to life, writhing and thrashing violently. A low rumbling reverberated through the vast chamber as the wooden tentacles whipped around erratically, slamming into surfaces with thunderous bangs that sent clouds of dust and debris raining down.
BANG!
A massive trunk as thick as a tree careened into the low ceiling, splintering the stone. Chunks of masonry clattered to the ground in an explosive crash.
BANG!
Another snaked perilously close to Ji Wuye, who narrowly ducked under the whistling appendage. His crimson eyes glinted with focused intensity as he sprinted for the exit, his white-shoed feet kicking up puffs of dirt.
BANG!
The possessed trunks seemed to find their target, converging on Ji Wuye's position with a barrage of strikes that hammered the walls around him. The stale air was filled with the acrid smell of crushed stone as clouds of pulverized debris swirled.
SLASH!
Ji Wuye's jian flashed in a blur of polished steel as he cleaved through the wriggling wooden tentacles erupting from the floor to assail him. Severed sections clattered and rolled away.
'This is troublesome,' Ji Wuye frowned, the crease etching his brow as he assessed the increasingly chaotic situation.
Yet...
The next moment, several snake-like trunks ahead began twitching and coiling, preparing to strike. His keen crimson eyes detected even more shifting among the shadows above, sinister shapes poised to impale him.
As Ji Wuye burst into a sprint, the trap-like wooden tentacles activated in a frenzy all around him.
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"Hufff...." He exhaled deeply, channeling his Qi to flow from his Dantian into his meridians, enveloping his body in a faint aura of energy.
While running at full speed reinforced by his Qi, he slid one foot sideways with expert precision, leaving a trailing gash in the soft earth and pulverizing any small serpentine wooden tentacles embedded there.
BANG!
The obstructions shattered into splinters with ease. In one fluid martial movement, he spun his body with whiplash speed, one foot raised high as he harnessed the rapid momentum to--
BOOM!
image [https://i.ibb.co.com/fnDBvLY/Notif-1.webp]
His descending foot met the ground in a thunderous impact, a shockwave of blue Qi rippling outward from the point of contact. With physical prowess rivaling a 7th realm martial artist, his Qi-reinforced stomp easily destroyed any wooden tentacles in his path, clearing his trajectory forward.
Splashes of loose dirt trailed behind Ji Wuye as his body glided with preternatural agility and speed.
To maintain his fluid footwork, his feet slid side to side in serpentine motions, seamlessly transitioning weight as his torso occasionally bent and leaned to avoid the massive trunks whipping towards him, all without needing to draw his jian.
SMASH!
On the other hand, the failed strikes collided in Ji Wuye's wake, the impacts generating concussive blasts of air that only propelled his sprinting form even faster across the treacherous, tentacle-riddled ground which he traversed with the grace of skating on polished marble.
But then…
RUMBLE-!
RUMBLE-!
Up ahead, Ji Wuye's path was suddenly blocked by a lattice of crisscrossing serpentine trunks violently whipping together into an impenetrable barricade.
But of course, that didn't break Ji Wuye's stride. He raised one foot, allowing the momentum of his glide to slow until his other sole hovered just above the ground. That raised leg then extended forward like a mounted cavalryman's lance.
image [https://i.ibb.co.com/f8WQR9j/Notif-2.webp]
BOOM!
Concentrating the full force of his reduced gliding speed, reinforced Qi, and physical prowess rivaling a 7th realm master, Ji Wuye's leading foot lashed out in a devastatingly powerful kick.
The wooden tentacles provided no resistance at all, shattering into thousands of harmless splinters and fragments that scattered in an explosive burst, clearing the path forward once more.
RUMBLE!
As Ji Wuye exited the passage, the walls and ceiling began to groan ominously, raining down boulders and rubble that gradually sealed off the trap-riddled corridor behind him.
...
Emerging back into the main cavern where he had left Song Jia, Ji Wuye's sharp eyes scanned the area amidst the settling dust and debris.
But then...he noticed... another path yawning open, right behind where Song Jia stood vigilantly.
'That must be the dungeon where those Dark Wolves came from,' he pondered inwardly, slowly approaching her.
Now it made sense. No wonder she kept fighting the Dark Wolves. It turned out she was actually standing right at the entrance of the Dark Attributes Dungeon.
Unlike Ji Wuye's preternatural night vision, Song Jia could only see by the flickering torchlight which cast dancing shadows across her tense features.
As Ji Wuye drew nearer, his feet crunching on the loose rocks, she whirled to face him - clothes stained by the dark blood of the vanquished wolves, chest heaving with ragged breaths, jian gripped tightly in her hand.
SLASH!
The torch tumbled from her grasp, its feeble light briefly illuminating Song Jia's defensive pivot as she instinctively lashed out with her blade. Her eyes widened in recognition upon registering Ji Wuye's familiar form easily evading her attack.
"That was a good reflex, Sister Song,"