The black tiger let out a howl that sounded like a mournful dog, darting past Qin Yan and running towards Lin Shiqi and the others behind. Yu Ji quickly stood up, using a long spear emitting a dim red light to stab towards the black tiger. The black tiger leaped suddenly, jumping over the crowd and avoiding Yu Ji, Lin Shiqi, and the others, running towards the exit of the cave without looking back, soon disappearing from sight without a trace.

"... "

"..."

This scene left everyone stunned, as they never expected the fierce-looking black tiger to be so timid, directly scared away by Qin Yan's sword without any resistance.

Meng Die said, "Perhaps it is the 'Qiong Qi' we saw before. It ran away because it recognized Qin Yan."

"Ah, I see." Lin Shiqi laughed, "Haha, it seems that the last time Qin Yan left it with a great psychological trauma."

Qin Yan said, "Well, that's good. This thing is quite powerful, and it takes quite an effort to defeat it. Let's continue on."

The group set off again and soon reached the end of the cave, where a thick stone wall appeared in front of them.

"No way out, what should we do?" Lin Shiqi walked to the end of the cave and hammered on the wall, hearing a crisp sound.

"This stone wall seems hollow, could it be a stone door?" Qin Yan said, trying to push the stone wall with his hand, but it didn't budge.

"If this is really a stone door, there may be a mechanism on the wall..." Qin Yan muttered to himself, carefully examining the stone wall. Suddenly, he noticed a metal disc-like object in a remote place on the wall, grabbed it and turned it.

With a crisp sound, the wall made a grinding noise, slowly rising upwards. A gap appeared at the bottom, widening into an open door. A dazzling light shone in from outside, making it difficult for Qin Yan and the others to open their eyes.

"Wow, it really is a door. Could there really be humans here?!" Lin Shiqi exclaimed with joy.

"Let's go in and see!" Qin Yan's spirits were lifted, leading the way through the door emitting light.

"This... where is this..." Qin Yan was stunned, seeing a vast space behind the door that looked like a valley, surrounded by tall and steep mountains. It seemed that there was no way in except flying in from the sky or entering from the cave. In the distance, there were various ancient buildings in the vast plain area of the valley.

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"Is there really someone living here?" Lin Shiqi was amazed at the strange valley she saw.

"We'll know once we go over." Qin Yan said, heading towards the valley plain area with many houses. However, he didn't go far before hearing heavy footsteps. A burly man with a large hammer emerged from behind a large stone, blocking their path.

"Who goes there, daring to trespass into the sacred land?!" The burly man with a beard glared menacingly at Qin Yan and the others, holding a heavy round hammer in his hand that looked like it weighed a hundred pounds. With his posture, it seemed like he could smash Qin Yan and the others at any moment.

"Wow, it's really a human!" Lin Shiqi exclaimed in joy.

"It looks like we've come to the right place!" Qin Yan was also pleased. After being in this world for so long, he finally saw people similar to them. He carefully examined the burly man in front of him, noticing that the man appeared to be in his forties, nearly two meters tall, shirtless with coarse pants, and extremely muscular and tough-looking.

The burly man, seeing that Qin Yan and his group were not afraid of him but rather excited, couldn't help but feel strange. He also scrutinized Qin Yan and his companions and suddenly noticed the trident spear in Qin Yan's hand, demanding rudely, "Where did you get that weapon from? Give it to me now!" He took big strides towards Qin Yan, reaching out to grab the weapon.

"What do you want to do?!" Qin Yan reflexively stepped back to avoid the man's grab, thinking that although the man appeared human, he couldn't guarantee that he had no ill intentions. He couldn't hand over his weapon to him.

The burly man, seeing Qin Yan dodge, once again showed anger on his face and shouted, "Who are you people? Put down your weapons now!"

Qin Yan had no intention of obeying the man. He spoke loudly, "We're here just to find someone, with no ill intent. I can't give you this weapon."

"Ridiculous! This area is under my control. Since you've come here, you must obey my orders, or else..." The burly man seemed to roar, swinging his heavy hammer towards a large rock nearby, shattering it into countless small pieces.

"I'll say it again, put down your weapons and obey my command!" The giant man roared at Qin Yan, his eyes wide with fury, looking extremely intimidating, as if he could smash Qin Yan and his group into pieces at any moment.

"What should we do, this guy looks tough. Maybe we should just leave." Lin Shiqi, feeling pressured by the man's presence, involuntarily took a few steps back, feeling scared.

"No, after finally finding humans, we can't just leave like this. We must figure things out today." Qin Yan said, looking at the burly man seriously, "I won't obey your orders. If you want to fight, I'll fight you. But do you think you can take on all of us alone? If we injure you, we won't take responsibility."

The burly man chuckled disdainfully, staring at Qin Yan with contempt and said loudly, "You think you can hurt me? Even if all of you attack together, you're no match for me!"

"Alright, let me test your skills. Everyone, spread out!" Qin Yan declared loudly. The others immediately moved back, and Qin Yan swung his trident spear towards the giant man. The man swiftly swung his hammer towards Qin Yan, hitting the trident spear with a loud clang, causing it to be knocked aside and forcing Qin Yan to retreat under the powerful force.