Chapter 507: Desperate Escape
Boom!
Rumble~!
Unaware of what was taking place back at the mountain, Xuan Hao was not at all surprised upon hearing the loud explosions and rumbling sound coming from behind him.
Good thing I left before I got drawn into the fight!
Not thinking too much about what had happened back at the mountain, Xuan Hao continued making his way back towards the underground cave network that the ancient teleportation formation he had used to arrive at the primeval jungle was located.
Knowing that a Soul Ascension Realm Expert had very likely perished inside the primeval jungle, Xuan Hao had no plans to stay around the primeval jungle and try to look for opportunities to increase his strength.
In the first place, he had only come to see the cave network that was below the valley of the Half Spirits according to them.
Something they would have figured out was not true if they had someone strong enough to make it out of the underground cave network and into the primeval jungle located just outside. Especially with the Domain Lord Realm worm that he had encountered just after entering the underground cave network…
Shaking his head as he thought about this while making his way through the thick foliage of the primeval jungle, Xuan Hao suddenly realized that shaking he had felt a moment ago had not stopped. Instead, it had increased in intensity!
"Are they perhaps fighting while moving in my direction?"
Muttering this to himself, Xuan Hao curiously looked back in the direction of the mountain before he began increasing his speed.
No matter what, he did not want to get dragged into the battle between a powerful demon beast and a group of Domain Lords-
Whoosh~!
However, before he could take more than a few steps in the direction of the underground cave network, a bloodied body suddenly came flying towards him from above.
Crack~ Bang!
Barely dodging to the side and avoiding the bloodied body that had seemingly come out of nowhere as it crashed through a few nearby trees before finally coming to a stop, Xuan Hao quickly recognized the owner of the body as one of the weaker Domain Lords from the group he had met at the mountain.
"he's dead…"
Only needing a single glance to determine that his soul had already been extinguish before having been sent flying towards his location, Xuan Hao could not help shivering a bit at the thought of the demon beast that had caused this.
No more than five minutes had passed since he had escaped into the jungle, yet one of the Domain Lord's had already died! Even worse, he could clearly tell that the fight was heading in his direction from the increasingly loud sounds of battle.
If that was not enough, he could just look up to see a few large broken jungle trees flying overhead. Having been sent flying by the aftershocks of the battle behind him…
Bang!
Seeing one of the broken trees land directly in front of him, along with the sounds of battle growing closer with each passing second, Xuan Hao did not even thinking twice before escaping in the direction of the underground cave network.
Whoosh!
Not forgetting to pick up the now dead Domain Lord's interspatial ring before escaping. After all, the wealth of a Domain Lord was nothing to scoff and would be immensely useful to not only him, but also his disciples. That would be especially true for a Domain Lord in question was from the central region of the Ewaria Continent!
…
At the same time that Xuan Hao was running away from the fight taking place behind him, the group of Domain Lords were in the same situation, as they desperately ran in the exact same direction as him.
Rustle~ Rustle~ Rustle~
The reason for this was simple, as the seemingly endless swarm of emerald demon spiders prevented them from moving in any other direction.
Two people were not present in the group, one being the Domain Lord that Xuan Hao had found dead, while the other was the leader at the Peak of the Domain Lord Realm.
Swish~
Just as the group were beginning to widen the distance between them and the emerald demon spiders chasing from behind, a painful scream suddenly echoed out from behind, as they suddenly saw their leader flying straight past them.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
"Ah-!"
Crashing through several ancient jungle trees stretching over a hundred meters into the air before slowing down enough to recover and join the group of bewildered Domain Lords in escaping.
"B-big brother… What on earth happened!? Didn't you say that you would just injure the Domain Lord Realm emerald demon spiders following after us?!"
Hearing what on of the Domain Lord's said, the leader could not help showing a depressed smile as he shook his head helplessly.
"An emerald demon spider at the Peak of the Domain Lord Realm suddenly appeared out of nowhere and launched a sneak attack, I only barely managed to block the attack before being sent flying. By the way, where is-"
"He is no longer with us… An emerald demon spider at the Fifth Stage of the Domain Lord Realm appeared to block our escape path just when you left. In the end, he held it back. Allowing us to escape before the swarm descended upon us… We didn't see what happened, but…"
"I… I understand…"
Realizing that they had already lost one person only a few minutes after the escape had started, the leader could not help feeling even more depressed over their current situation.
Not to mention the fact that they had already lost one person, the Peak Domain Lord Realm emerald demon spider was even more worrisome. Especially given the fact that it had not followed him to continue its attack after launching him flying.
Looking around himself cautiously as he thought about this, the leader felt extremely stressed. Having to both worry about the swarm of emerald demon spiders chasing them from behind, while also having to worry about a Peak Domain Lord Realm emerald demon spider launching a sneak attack when he least expected it.
Stepping into a small opening that had been created by some of the trees that had been sent flying during his short clash with the Peak Domain Lord Realm emerald demon spider, the leader and the other Domain Lords discovered the dead body of the brother who had sacrificed his life to buy them a few precious seconds time to escape.
"B-brother!"
"W-what on earth happened to him?!"
"His soul has already been extinguished…"
Not able to waste even a single second to pick up the dead body, the group could only watch with agonized faces, as the body of their brother was consumed by the tide of giant green spiders moving towards them from behind.
However, this was only the start of their escape, they were still far from making it out of the primeval jungle. Not to mention how difficult it would be for them to survive a single day; they would need at least a few weeks to leave the primeval jungle!
Like this, the painful escape for the group of Domain Lords began. The second person and third person already passing away shortly after the leader had returned due to a massive surprise attack by over twenty Domain Lord Realm emerald demon spiders…
The Peak Domain Lord emerald demon spider also showing up to restrain the leader before disappearing shortly after the death of the two Domain Lords.
From the perspective of the leader and the other Domain Lords, it almost felt like the emerald demon spiders had begun playing with them.
…
"There should be a large underground cave network somewhere over here! Remember? We camped inside one of the caves just the other day… Maybe we can shake off the emerald demon spiders and escape by entering the underground cave network!"
Already having run for close to half an hour by now, one of the only five remaining Domain Lords could not help suggesting upon realizing where they were.
"What if it's a dead end…?"
"Do we really have an option at this point in time?! Will we be able to survive if we continue running like this!? The emerald demon spiders should be preparing to launch a final attack to finish the rest of us off! It doesn't matter if you don't want to take the risk, but I will!"
Whoosh!
Not backing down in the slightest upon hearing the Domain Lord running beside him said, the Domain Lord who suggested to enter the underground cave network didn't wait for the others to agree to his idea and instead just directly rushed into the nearby small tunnel leading inside the cave that they had spent the last night inside of.
"Hah… What he said makes sense… Why not just take the risk. At least it's better than waiting for the emerald demon spiders to launch a final attack and kill all of us…"
""…""
Hearing what their leader said, the Domain Lord who had hesitated to enter the underground cave network along with the other two silently agreed.
Indeed… Staying up on ground and running through the jungle would only get them killed in the end. Better to take a risk and possibly come out of it alive in the end!
Whoosh!
Not wasting too much time in front of the small tunnel entrance to the underground cave network, the remaining four Domain Lords entered. Quickly catching up to the Domain Lord who had already rushed inside.