But before the elder and Ji Yin could release their spirit beasts and demon corpses, an unexpected change erupted on the sacrificial platform.
One of the giant green silkworms within a sphere of light suddenly began to tremble. Then the golden light around its body rapidly dimmed.
Almost simultaneously, the golden thread in its mouth snapped with a sharp "pop" under the strain.
"Not good!"
But before they could take any action, the other golden silkworms began to show the same symptoms.
After their golden light similarly diminished, the golden threads of the other two giant silkworms also snapped on the spot.
This time, Wan Tianming's heart sank to the bottom of a pit. His body, which had been about to move forward, froze on the spot.
But it wasn't over yet!
Although the threads of the remaining three giant silkworms were still intact, having lost the support of half their companions, they were suddenly yanked with a whoosh as if by a tremendous force, and were pulled into the huge hole at incredible speed.
Following this, a thunderous crash of something heavy hitting the ground echoed, causing the entire stone platform to shake violently.
At the same time, the blue light at the mouth of the hole instantly dimmed, and the chilling cold significantly decreased.
Seeing this scene, the expressions of all the Righteous Path members turned grim.
Meanwhile, the old demons like Ji Yin, who had been about to act, exchanged peculiar, wide-eyed stares, their faces displaying equally fascinating expressions.
"Haha! Haha..."
Barbarian Beard clutched his belly and burst into laughter. His laughter was so hearty that the yellow whiskers on his chin trembled, looking extremely satisfied.
At this moment, Ji Yin and the elder in the scholar's robe also reacted, revealing faces of schadenfreude, all grinning as they looked towards the three Righteous Path cultivators.
Upon seeing this, Wan Tianming's face turned ashen.
For this treasure retrieval, he had expended so much scheming and paid such a great price, only to end up being ridiculed by the Demonic Path.
This made the fire in Wan Tianming's heart flare up, completely beyond his control.
He abruptly spun around, his eyes flashing with a cold, sinister light as he glared at Ji Yin and the other two.
The smiles of Patriarch Ji Yin and the scholar froze on their faces.
The opponent was a cultivator at the mid-stage of Nascent Soul. Even though they belonged to the Righteous and Demonic Paths respectively, neither of them was willing to easily form a deep enmity with Wan Tianming.
But Barbarian Beard, although he stopped his wild laughter under that glare, stared back uncerentiously.
"What is it, does Sect Master Wan wish to compete with me, Barbarian, right here? I have been wanting to test the Celestial Net True Art, one of the three great divine arts of the Confucian tradition," Barbarian Beard said provocatively, his face tightening.
Wan Tianming glared coldly at Barbarian Beard for a moment, and finally, a hint of rationality returned to his face.
"Let's go!"
He flicked his sleeve and took the lead in leaving the platform, no longer bothering with the few remaining Golden Silk Silkworms. He merely recalled the white flood dragon that had been confronting the Demonic Path cultivators.
Tianwuzi's expression was similarly unpleasant. After retrieving his giant turtle, he followed closely behind Wan Tianming with a grim face.
It was the thin, dark-skinned old farmer who, apart from having somewhat icy eyes, appeared relatively composed.
As the Righteous and Demonic parties brushed past each other, both sides were extremely wary, cautiously eyeing one another.
Fortunately, although Barbarian Beard was extremely arrogant, he refrained from saying anything to provoke the other side at this moment. He merely watched with a cold smile as Wan Tianming and the others gradually moved away and finally disappeared from the protective barrier.
"I'll have the Azure Thorn Birds lie in ambush at the entrance. If these Righteous Path fellows turn back, we will know," the elder in the scholar's robe suddenly said, gazing in the direction they had left.
"In that case, I will also send two Heavenly Capital Corpse People to lie in ambush at the entrance. If they suddenly launch a sneak attack on us, they can provide some resistance," Patriarch Ji Yin said with a sinister smile after his eyes flickered.
Upon hearing this, Scholar Qingyi was momentarily stunned, but his expression quickly returned to normal, and he said nothing.
Then, with a flick of his scholar's sleeve, a cyan light the size of a fist shot out and soared into the sky.