Yang Liangyu waited with bated breath. The air she exhaled created a white mist in front of her. Her heart beat so fast it felt like her ribs would shatter, and her stomach churned like a stormy sea. That deep-sea fish was not normal. Perhaps it was a spirit beast. Perhaps it wasn't. But whatever it was, Yang Liangyu knew it had some kind of power. There was no way its only function was just to snap its jaws. There must be some other function that has not yet been activated.

After waiting for almost ten seconds, the ground began to tremble. The tremble was actually quite soft. If not because she was currently hyper-alert, perhaps she would not have realized it.

A moment later, around a meter in front of the white candle surrounded by a golden cage, a fish emerged from the ground, breaking the layer of ice Yan Yu had created. Its purple skin was illuminated by the yellow light of the candle. Its eyes were entirely white, like a ghost's. Its scales looked rough and jagged, as if it were born from hard stone.

It was merely the size of her palm, yet when Yang Liangyu saw this fish, she almost jumped at its sudden appearance.

Soon, the second and third fish emerged beside the first, and as if it were a signal, hundreds of fish suddenly emerged and broke the layer of ice at the same time. They covered the ground, the walls, and the cave roof. Each fish looked identical, as if they were clones of each other.

In unison, they opened their mouths wide, revealing tongues that looked like green seaweed covered by dozens of tiny holes. Then, from those holes, purple mist emerged. At first, it was slow, like tobacco smoke, but soon the pressure of the purple mist became stronger until each hole was spewing purple mist like a water hose.

A loud slam suddenly came from behind them, and upon seeing that the wall behind them had closed entirely, as if a wall had emerged from below the ground and closed their escape route, Yang Liangyu realized what this trap was about. It was simple, yet dangerous.

"Poison!"

A normal poison wouldn't affect a cultivator, but there was no way this purple mist was just a normal poison. It was made by a demonic cultivator. She would not be surprised if this purple mist could corrode her entire body, perhaps even her soul!

The fishes kept spewing the purple mist. The purple mist slowly moved closer to them, like a tiger that had successfully cornered its prey and was waiting for a chance to attack. Yang Liangyu realized the place they stood was the only corner of the room where no fishes emerged, as if the demonic cultivator wanted to make sure this place was the last corner that would be flooded by the purple mist.

If she were alone, Yang Liangyu would not survive this poison. Luckily, though, her mind reminded her that Yan Yu was here. There was no way they would be poisoned to death. Yan Yu would not allow it.

When a wind swirled around Yan Yu, and a circle of thick ice formed around them, Yang Liangyu realized that she was right.

A small tornado of ice powder and snow emerged around them, creating a barrier that would blow away the poison mist. When the poison mist met the little tornado, Yang Liangyu could see that the tornado successfully deflected the purple mist. But she could also see that the purple mist pushed against it, as if it were trying to break the tornado.

While the purple mist was a form of gas, she could feel that it actually had strong pressure, and it exerted its force like two hands holding an egg and trying to destroy it by pressure alone. If she were bathing within this purple mist, before her body was corroded, she would have exploded first like a watermelon hit by a hammer.

Yan Yu exhaled deeply, expelling white mist from her mouth. This white mist sent a chill up Yang Liangyu's spine. Before, Yang Liangyu felt cold all over her body, though she could endure it. But right now, the air was so cold her body began trembling, and her teeth began chattering, to the point that she needed to hug herself.

As Yan Yu's breath met the snow and ice tornado, it accelerated wildly. Ice powder transformed into a thousand gleaming blue scales. The surrounding wind intensified, pulling inward instead of pushing. The purple mist, like a fleeing child, was drawn into the tornado. It was devoured and instantly converted to ice, causing the tornado to grow larger and spin faster.

At this point, Yang Liangyu realized that this tornado was not only for defense, but also for attack. Drawing the purple mist is only the first step, the second step is to make the tornado spin so fast that it can destroy the bubble protecting the golden cage and the candle!

As the tornado became stronger, she could see that the cave was entirely covered by layers of ice. The fishes that spewed the purple mist had now turned into ice statues. Aside from the area within the bubble, everything was covered by a thick layer of ice, making the cave look like the inside of a mountain of ice.

When the edge of the tornado hit the bubble, Yang Liangyu expected the bubble to instantly burst, but it was actually quite strong. It endured the whole force of the cold tornado and shimmering as if it were trying hard to survive.

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Yan Yu flicked her sword, intensifying the tornado. It was spinning faster than before, and the attack began to chip away at the floors and the roof that were covered by ice, creating a crackling and groaning sound that reverberated within the cave.

After a moment, a huge rumble could be heard, and when she looked up, she could see that the roof began to fall. It seemed the tornado had been shredding the roof of the cave too much until it could not hold itself and fell and would bury them alive. But when it began to fall, the cold aura froze it all, and as the tornado became bigger and stronger, it pushed the collapsing roof like an invisible hand until the roof was blown away, showing a blue sky and white clouds.

"Stubborn," Yan Yu muttered.

Despite the room that held it having been blown away, the bubble still shimmered with qi and endured the full force of the tornado. But, Yang Liangyu could see that it was just a matter of time before it popped.

"What would happen after that bubble burst? Would another trap be activated?" Yang Liangyu asked.

"No, I know what this bubble is. It's just a mere qi barrier. Quite strong and durable, but supposedly doesn't have any hidden mechanism."

Yang Liangyu didn't know whether to be happy or not. On one side, she was happy if no other trap would activate. But on the other hand, she had not forgotten the reason why Yan Yu brought her here, which was to handle a trap. Yan Yu handled the purple mist herself, which meant that the purple mist was not the trap she wanted Yang Liangyu to handle. No, it was either the trap that would be activated by the golden cage or even the candle itself.

Her heart began to quicken again. She realized that she didn't have any hope of surviving a trap left behind to protect the candle. The traps they had encountered were beyond her power. Yet, Yan Yu needed her to disable a specific trap. What kind of trap was it? Was it truly a trap that she could disable? Or did Yan Yu just want to kill her in a roundabout way?

The bubble lit up with intense light, as if it were a sun shining in the summer. A crack could soon be heard, followed by another crack, then another. After a moment, silence, then, as if the bubble were a vase that dropped from a high place, it shattered with a reverberating sound into a million pieces. The fragments of it spread outward, glimmering as if they were diamonds, and were blown away by Yan Yu's tornado.

For a moment, the tornado's whistling intensified, as if it were roaring after winning a huge fight. But soon, it stabilized, and then the spinning began to slow until the tornado dispersed entirely, turning into a wind that blew toward the sky, as if it were happy to win and happy to live.

Looking around, Yang Liangyu realized that not only had the roof been blown away, but the walls had also collapsed. Right now, instead of standing inside the cave, a more fitting description was that they were standing in the center of a crater. One that was not created by a meteor, nor a volcano, but a cultivator.

Yan Yu pointed her thin black sword forward, right at the golden cage that protected the candle. "That golden cage is a simple treasure. It has absorbed quite a lot of qi, and has attached itself into something."

"Is that the trap I need to handle?" Yang Liangyu asked. Because if it was, then there was no way she could handle it.

"No, it's a simple trap that can be disabled by brute force alone. I will handle it. What you need to do is just blow out that candle."

Yang Liangyu blinked. "Blow out the candle? Just...blow?"

"Yes."

"Is there anything special I need to do while blowing out the candle? Do I need to lace qi around my throat? Cycle my qi in a certain pattern?"

"No, a normal blow is sufficient."

Her mind tried to decipher what she had heard. There was no way it was that simple. If it were that simple, then Yan Yu would blow out the candle herself. There was no need for Yan Yu to search for her, then guide her into this cave, and while she didn't say it, protect her from any harm. There was something that Yan Yu was hiding from her, and this secret was mighty suspicious. Blowing the candle would probably trigger the trap.

"What kind of trap would activate after I blow out the candle?"

"A strong one," she simply said.

"Esteemed disciple, would you be more specific?"

Yang Liangyu tried to probe more, but Yan Yu merely stared at her with a blank face, as if she didn't hear her question. Upon seeing this, Yang Liangyu realized that she would not get the answer to her question. Still, she repeated her last question one more time, which Yan Yu answered by silence once more.

When she could see a twitch of Yan Yu's eyebrows, she realized that asking more would annoy Yan Yu, so she bit her tongue and shut herself up.

"I will attack the golden cage," Yan Yu said.

Yang Liangyu wanted to open her mouth once again, but afraid that she would blurt out any more questions, she opted to nod.

"When I give you the signal, you rush and blow out the candle. The timing needs to be perfect."

Yang Liangyu nodded once more.

At this point, Yang Liangyu realized that Yan Yu certainly had a hidden motive, one that she could not understand yet. But she also realized that she didn't have any choice regarding this matter. That candle was truly something that belonged to the demonic cultivator that attacked her empire. If Yan Yu was right, which she probably was, then blowing out that candle meant killing the demonic cultivator. Even if there was a trap, and Yan Yu had a hidden motive, she could not turn a blind eye regarding this candle and just go back to her group.

Yang Liangyu steeled her heart; her eyes shone with determination once more. Whatever the trap was, she needed to do this. She felt manipulated by Yan Yu, and her heart and instinct screamed that this girl was dangerous, but still, Yan Yu wanted to help, and for now, she would give her the benefit of the doubt. Who knew, perhaps the trap would be activated or become more dangerous if Yan Yu told her the nature of it.

"I'm ready."

Yang Liangyu cycled the qi inside her body. She didn't have any technique that could strengthen her physique, a fact which she regretted, but there was nothing she could do about it right now.

"Now." Yan Yu said, and Yang Liangyu rushed toward the candle and the golden cage.

After three steps, the golden cage instantly sprang into a flurry of movement.

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