The group was obtaining significant progress passing through the mountain and effectively killing off any beasts or defusing and avoiding any trap that may spring up at them.
The route they were taking was a dynamic one as they took many twists and turns, making it seem like they were going through a rocky maze, but it did keep them very hidden.
And on this route, there were several traps they would either sense or defuse. Traps would include poisonous mist, spike traps, or hidden ambushes.
But they were able to take on them all on, and they never had any real difficulty with beats as they all ranged from 8th level Spirit Formation to 8th level Origin Formation with the rare 9th and 10th.
They also at times taken small pit stops in the late hours of the night to rest up their energy, and like this, they traveled for five days through the mountain, and everyone could feel their control over Qi advancing at a consecutive pace.
Having to coordinate attacks, control the power of their Qi, and time their attacks helped everyone reach a more profound comprehension in their Qi, making their travels much more manageable.
Also, during this time, Kazami was taking more initiative with progressing his relationship with Brenda and Lun Yuo. With Brenda, whenever they were alone, she would sneakily grab his hand, supporting a big blush and looking away from him.
Something that Kazami found extremely cute and as well during their talk, she seemed a lot more open to her and giving out small smiles more frequently now.
With Lun Yuo, he was becoming even bolder by massaging her breasts whenever they were alone or secretly cuddling with her at night when they were sleeping.
Lun Yuo face every time would go steaming red from Kazami bold moves, yet she never once rejected him or disliked it.
Surprisingly there was little discord between the two girls as it all went smoothly for him, and he had to appreciate his sister for that. Kuzumi would always engage the girls in her weird games to give Kazami the appropriate time alone.
As well she would shamelessly boast about the greatness of their Star Twins prestige, installing the idea that she and Kazami were beyond the skies.
Though in exchange for doing this Kuzumi would attach herself to Kazami a lot more hugging him more often claiming,
"I'm just exercising my rights as your little sister!!"
As of now, the group was arriving at the end of a cliff, and on the other side to them was a large, slightly lit ominous looking cave. There was nothing else surrounding the cave, and it was covered all in that familiar black ash.
But as they were making it there, Kazami stopped and was sensing something very odd coming from down below him that made scrunch up his face.
"What's wrong, Kazami? Are you feeling alright?" Lun Yuo warmly asked him. After these long five days, Lun Yuo did felt closer to him and would always be the first to notice if Kazami felt confused.
"Are you feeling ill?" Brenda seriously asks him even though cultivators would rarely come down with a common cold.
"Don't tell me you two don't feel anything weird?" He asked them, and Kuzumi decided to jump in at this moment saying,
"I just tried brother; I don't sense anything either. Maybe it's just something you ate."
"You too, huh Kuzumi right maybe I'm just exaggerating." If Kuzumi didn't sense it, then in his mind, he did not need to pay further attention to it since Kuzumi was the only one close to his level.
Realizing their little conversation made them fall a bit behind, the four them caught up quickly, and now they all stood at the edge of the cliff looking down below.
It was pitch black but other than the air blowing, the rest also didn't feel anything from the cliff.
"Good job everyone we've reached the halfway point now all we have to do is make it to that cave." Elder Wayne said, which got everyone to perk up. Joe Xiu then asked the elder,
"Is it really in that cave? I mean, wouldn't it be easier for us to get bombarded with traps in a cave?"
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"Yes, it is this cave, it's why we took so long to come here. This cave will lead us directly to the center of the tiger lair, and we will soon be done. And don't fret about traps; we were able to gather enough intel to know their minimal traps in this specific cave."
While some were confused about how the mission will end, but they didn't want to question it. The group already made it to this point and trusted the two elders to protect them.
Azus had noticed the cave was a fair distance away from there and prompted him to ask;
"Hey, are we going to make a bridge for it? None of us can fly, and to jump towards it doesn't seem reliable unless we exert ourselves with Qi."
Nodding Elder Michi answers him,"Yes, we are going to make a bridge, Kazami just like last time, can you use your ice to make a bridge oh and make sure it's as sturdy as possible by using more Qi this time." Kazami, however, staring down the cliff feeling as if a pair of eyes were watching their every move.
Being more up close only now, he could vaguely sense something down that cliff, but he couldn't identify it's power. Everyone else was completely oblivious to whatever was down there and chose not to bring it up since the elders will shoot him down, denying the possibility if even they couldn't sense it just like with the four girls.
'Use more Qi, huh. These two, something about them out I can't put my finger on, help their expressions give me nothing to go on but might as well go along for now.' He thought and nodded, putting his hand out the cliff.
He made a robust red ice bridge that was sturdy enough for them, and once he was down, the two elders retook the lead. Walking on the bridge, they all trod carefully and quietly.
But as they were walking suddenly, the bridge started to shake, and all of them felt heavy pressure affecting their movements.
"Well, well, it's about time you all have arrived, so how would you all like to die?" A cold female voice blasted into their eardrums, making them all feel dread.
At the start of the bridge, a black sludge started growing sealing off their way back and even grew to a point to cover the sky over them.
"Shit, everyone rushes now!" Elder Wayne called out, and right when they started to run; a giant spider leg crashed upright through the red ice bridge in front of them.
They didn't even have time to react as they gazed down below black spider legs rushing at them.
"Go all out!" Was all the signal they needed it before everyone fully unleashed their Qi and sped towards the cave. They all had to react on instinct and evade the poking legs from skewering them.
"Trying to escape? Unlikely." The cold voice said, and from the cliff, a glob of white substance shot right into the cave. It quickly formed itself to be a big spider web that blocks off the cave.
They all gasped, and several them tried firing off their Qi to the web, but it was only absorbed by it. Alain pushed his metal and wind Qi to the absolute limit and coated a gold rank nascent sword in it and chop on the web.
The only thing that happens was his sword getting tangled in the web and Alain having to let go and back off the web.
"To think you all would make this so easy for me. Well better not let your rewards go to waste." The cold voice now sounded close than ever to them, but what nobody besides Kazami saw was the two elders smirking dangerously below them and to Eran, who was at the very edge of the bridge. Still, he was preoccupied with evading spider legs.
"Eran catch!" Elder Wayne roared and threw a powerful purple talisman at Eran, who focuses his attention on him and catching Eran caught on what to do.
He was preparing to throw the talisman at whatever was down there as he was the only one closes to the edge and could make a fast through.
Still, out of nowhere, he felt something pull him towards the cliff, making him fall off the bridge while the talisman activated on its own!
Eran didn't even know what made him fall, but he slowly watched a black spider leg rushing at him while the talisman was lighting up purple, and right there, he felt everything froze up as purple ice enter his vision.
He couldn't even shout as the powerful purple ice immediately froze him up and started to spread around freezing everything up, even the monster down below them!
"What the hell is this?!" The monster shouted confused as everything from its vision was being encased by strange purple ice, and soon it would be too.
Immediately the elders and the group wanted to cry out in shock of how Eran just fell off the bridge and die by that talisman. Still, Kazami, Kuzumi, and Lun Yuo gave them no time and transformed into their most vigorous divine power state and rushed at the web while in their aura.
While this time their not taking the time to merge and combine their attacks, they are still attacking at the same time which leads to,
'Riiiip!"
Cutting straight through the web like it was butter, the trio tore open a hole for all them to pass through. And not wasting a second, the others all rushed through the created hole escaping from whatever was down there.
"Ice?! Clever tricks, from clever humans. I'll be seeing all of you soon."
The voice was gradually fading away as the group was running as fast as possible away from there.
Once they were at a far enough distance, they all stopped and caught their breath after that deadly encounter.
"We've made it, and thankfully for traveling through this cave, everything will be smooth sailing." Elder Wayne told them, and all of them were shocked when he said this cave would provide them with no trouble.
"I still don't get it what the hell made Eran fall off the bridge without warning. He surely wasn't careless enough to slip off, right?" Hiles thought out loud, but Elder Michi said,
"Ah, it was an unfortunate loss. It has to be that monster pulling Eran die intending to kill him. We all saw that leg coming from him, and he must've instinctively crushed the talisman."
"Are you sure about that?" Kazami asked and with an assuring smile Elder Wayne answered,
"It's the most reasonable explanation, and this cave truly won't give us much trouble."