# Chapter 2170: Deeply Hidden
"What will be waiting for us in the town?" Lin Feng's gaze fell upon an ancient path leading toward the town ahead. The town was filled with spiritual energy, and in the void above hung rosy clouds and auspicious light. Just one glance made one feel incredibly comfortable, with an indescribable sense of refreshment throughout the body. This stood in stark contrast to the cold, gloomy demon beast forest they had just stepped out of. However, was this truly a beautiful town?
Probably no one dared to think so. But since this was the path that had been arranged for them, they could only press forward without hesitation.
"Let's move." Lou Lanyu spoke. Immediately, the seven of them stepped forward, their figures flickering. Only Fan Jiang seemed to feel that his steps were especially heavy. Lin Feng paused briefly, glanced at Fan Jiang, and said, "If you feel your condition isn't good enough, then give up."
Fan Jiang looked at Lin Feng, then revealed a bitter smile. Of course, he understood the deeper meaning behind Lin Feng's words. This alliance of seven strangers was bound together only by mutual benefit. If a real crisis arose, the others would absolutely not hesitate to abandon Fan Jiang.
Fan Jiang was no fool. His arm had been torn, and he could see the expressions in everyone's eyes. The hearts of these geniuses were all incredibly tough; they wouldn't feel the slightest wavering or sorrow over his injury. If anything, they probably felt only indifference.
Lin Feng's reminder to him was naturally well-intentioned.
"Thank you for that attack earlier. I still want to give it a try." Fan Jiang revealed a smile toward Lin Feng. When his arm had been torn earlier, Lin Feng had helped him cut down a griffin; otherwise, his situation would have been even worse.
"That was only right." Lin Feng said nothing more. He turned and continued forward along the ancient path, drawing closer and closer to the town ahead.
When those in front reached the outskirts of the town, they stopped and looked at the entrance. Lou Lanyu turned around and smiled: "Fan Jiang, how are you holding up? In our alliance, your martial soul specializes in defense. I'm afraid we'll still need you at the forefront while we support you. Although this town seems to have a gentle aura, we don't know what we might encounter."
Fan Jiang was startled for a moment, then nodded. He stepped forward, his martial soul manifesting as a shield armor, and then entered the town.
The others followed closely behind him. As they entered the town, a mass of rosy light enveloped the entire castle. Winding roads and cold, rigid buildings stretched across the paths, making it impossible to discern any direction.
"A maze city. This is a large-scale labyrinth." Lou Lanyu walked a few steps along an ancient path and discovered that every path had branches, and many branches at that. It was impossible to find which way was the right one.
"A maze city?" Lin Feng's expression solidified. The Prophet had set this place up as a maze city. Did that mean everyone who came out of the demon beast forest could appear in this maze city and encounter one another?
"What does this mean?" The group felt a chill in their hearts. Without realizing it, they had all distanced themselves from one another. They had all arrived at the same conjecture—a very cold conjecture.
"Whoosh." Lou Lanyu's body leaped into the air. But when his body reached the same height as the buildings, he found he could not rise any further. His brow furrowed deeply: "Not only is it a maze city, but it's also completely air-restricted. We can only wander aimlessly through the maze."
Lou Lanyu glanced at the others again and said, "Let's not suspect one another. Otherwise, we'll only make things more difficult for ourselves."
"Right. Now, we need unity more than ever."
"Let's go. Let's see what kind of maze city this is."
The roads of the maze city were very wide, but there were many branches. Unable to fly, they could only follow one path and keep going.
The town was empty. They walked quite a distance but still found nothing.
"There's a sound." Just then, their hearts trembled slightly. From afar, the sound of pounding earth came rolling toward them like thunder, causing them all to stop in their tracks. The sound grew louder and louder. Soon, on the ancient path ahead, a terrifying black light appeared. A dreadful demonic aura emanated from it, extremely frightening.
"A demon venerable. It's a venerable martial realm demon beast."
"The black light on its body is flame—black flame. This is a demon lion. Its demonic fire is extremely terrifying. The demonic fire essence power can easily kill us."
Their faces stiffened as they watched the demon lion draw closer and closer. They all felt a suffocating pressure bearing down on them.
"Fan Jiang, shield! Cover us!" Lou Lanyu shouted. Fan Jiang's expression was rigid, but he still stepped forward. His martial soul shield slammed firmly into the ground ahead, continuously expanding until it became a massive ancient shield. The demon lion's body approached, and its claws stomped down fiercely. With cracking sounds, the martial soul shield shattered.
"Let's go!" Lou Lanyu shouted, turned around, and fled at full speed. The others didn't hesitate either; they all turned and abandoned Fan Jiang.
"No..." Fan Jiang mobilized all his true essence, condensed another ancient shield, and blasted it outward. At the seventh layer of the heavenly martial realm, he could actually shake a demon venerable.
But at that moment, the demon lion's iron hooves stomped down fiercely, directly tearing his shield armor to pieces. Fan Jiang revealed a look of despair. However, just then, a gust of wind swept past, and Fan Jiang felt his body become incredibly light as he was pulled backward at extreme speed. Cold sweat dripped continuously. Fan Jiang turned his head to look at Lin Feng, his eyes still trembling.
"Thank you." Fan Jiang's gaze revealed an extremely complex expression. He had been only a hair's breadth away from being torn apart. Those people had directly abandoned him.
The demon lion continued to charge madly at Lin Feng. Lin Feng moved extremely fast and soon caught up with Lou Lanyu and the others.
"What are you doing?" Several people shouted angrily. Lin Feng was only going to lead the demon lion straight to them.
"Kill the demon lion." Lin Feng said indifferently. The group's eyes flickered as they seemed to be thinking. If they joined forces, they could definitely kill this demon venerable. The question was, who dared to gamble their life by going first?
Fan Jiang's example of charging forward was still fresh in their minds. Everyone had abandoned him without hesitation.
"Fine. Let's hunt it." Lou Lanyu's eyes flickered. "Everyone, join forces. Fan Jiang, can you withstand one more attack from the demon lion? Just one. The rest of us will attack with full force."
Fan Jiang's pupils solidified. Lin Feng gave him a slight nod, which made Fan Jiang say, "Fine."
As his words fell, he frantically squeezed and released his martial soul power, while his true essence also gathered wildly. Suddenly, Lin Feng stopped in his tracks. A massive shield appeared in front of Fan Jiang, slamming down with a thunderous boom and standing firmly ahead.
The demon lion immediately chased after them. Its terrifying power stomped down with overwhelming force. In an instant, countless cracks appeared on the shield armor. But this time, Lou Lanyu and the others finally made their move. They attacked from the left side, while the blade-wielding youth attacked from the other direction.
"Slash!" A terrifying sword dao will erupted violently—ten percent sword intent. Clearly, Lou Lanyu had been hiding his strength before, just like Lin Feng. The blade-wielding youth also unleashed his strongest strike. The two of them directly severed the demon lion's legs, causing it to collapse to the ground.
"Roar!" The demon lion let out a terrifying howl. It spat demonic fire from its mouth, blasting it forward madly.
"Condense!" A freezing aura seemed to stagnate the space, causing even the flames to pause slightly before continuing forward. By then, the others had already reached the top of the demon lion and launched fierce attacks. Lin Feng also arrived. The air-restriction zone was as high as the buildings, and the demon lion was only half the height of the buildings, so jumping was still possible.
A wind sword slashed down from the void, directly splitting the demon lion's head open.
"Boom, boom, boom!" Attacks rained down madly. The demon lion's body exploded and then vanished like an illusion. At the same time, two beams of light shot directly toward Lin Feng. Lin Feng's hand reached out and grabbed them, holding them in his palm. Everyone's pupils solidified, and they all stared at Lin Feng.
As for the vanished demon lion, no one cared about it anymore.
"Lin Feng, what is it? Show everyone." Lou Lanyu smiled at Lin Feng.
"The demon lion was killed on Lin Feng's suggestion, and Lin Feng delivered the final blow. The spoils should belong to Lin Feng. There's no need to show everyone." Fan Jiang sensed the unusual atmosphere and solidified his expression, speaking coldly.
"Shing!" A dazzling blade light suddenly bloomed, so fast that no one had time to react. Lin Feng's pupils instantly froze, and he felt a chill run through his entire body. Below, Fan Jiang turned his head to look at the blade-wielding youth, then raised his head to take one last look at Lin Feng. He revealed a smile and said with difficulty, "Lin Feng, you have to keep trying..."
Another flash of sword light passed. Lou Lanyu's sword was just as fast as the youth's blade. Fan Jiang's body vanished from where it stood, completely gone.
"All of you, get lost." The blade-wielding youth said coldly. Then, he and Lou Lanyu leaped into the air at the same time, one in front and one behind, surrounding Lin Feng, who was still staring blankly at the ground. Their movements were astonishingly synchronized.
Both of them had been hiding their strength.
"They know each other. They knew each other outside." The group's hearts trembled slightly, and their expressions turned ugly. One person spoke: "The two of you clearly have the strength to break through on your own. Why did you drag us along?"
"We always need to prepare some backup plans. How could we know what we would encounter before breaking through?" Lou Lanyu swept his cold, contemptuous gaze over the others, revealing an icy smile.
"I didn't expect that demon beast's death would yield something good. I would have done it myself if I'd known. But it doesn't make much difference." The other person spoke. The two of them exchanged words, very tacitly. Of course they knew each other—they were fellow disciples. Even their names were fake!
P.S.: Still two chapters today. Sorry.