60: Shadows in the mist, temporarily avoiding the brunt of the attack.

The sense of being spied upon, emanating from the depths of the ruins, was cold, viscous, carrying an indifference that looked down upon ants and a subtle malice, like invisible spider silk, entangling itself around the hearts of the four. It wasn't a direct mental assault, yet it was more unsettling than any roaring demon, as if their every move was exposed under the gaze of some unknown entity.

“We’ve been targeted,” Lin Xuan said in a low voice, his faint golden Qi and blood instinctively retracting, like a leopard about to pounce, lowering his presence to the minimum. The immortal abode pivot token in his palm vibrated slightly, conveying a clear warning, and the two core fragments he had just collected pulsed faintly, as if fearing the source of the gaze.

Su Wanqing, Qu Feiyan, and Gongsun Yu instantly sensed the anomaly. Su Wanqing's moonlight essence was restrained, her cold eyes sharply scanning the depths of the gray mist; Qu Feiyan's seductive charm was fully withdrawn, her pretty face solemn, her Divine Sense like the finest tendrils, cautiously probing the surroundings; Gongsun Yu nervously clutched her thunder light silver ring, her lightning spiritual power accumulated but unreleased within her body, as if facing a formidable enemy.

“Is it the Guixu Cult?” Su Wanqing asked softly, her tone assertive. Lin Xuan's grave expression when he mentioned the name earlier, and this malicious gaze now, all pointed to this mysterious and terrifying enemy.

“Most likely,” Lin Xuan nodded, his gaze still fixed on the direction from which the sense of being watched came. “And it’s definitely not comparable to those mindless Skeleton Demon Statues from before. Its aura is extremely well hidden; if not for the cardinal edict’s warning, we would barely have noticed it. Its strength… is unfathomable.”

His heart grew solemn. After a series of fierce battles, especially resisting the impact of the evil formation and digesting the core fragment information, he had consumed a considerable amount of energy. Although he had touched the threshold of the False Core Middle Stage, he had not yet stabilized. Su Wanqing had suffered minor injuries, and Qu Feiyan and Gongsun Yu’s spiritual power were not at their peak. Facing a powerful enemy hidden in the dark with unknown strength at this moment was definitely not a wise move.

“We can’t fight head-on, let’s leave this core area first!” Lin Xuan made a decisive choice. Relying on the immortal abode pivot token’s faint sense of the remainingvein of this ruin, he chose a direction opposite to the source of the gaze and relatively far from the Xuntian Hall. “Follow me, conceal all auras, and try not to use spiritual power!”

The four instantly reached a tacit understanding, reducing their presence to a minimum, like four ghosts, relying on their Physical Body strength to quickly move through the broken walls and ruins. Lin Xuan led the way, relying on his Physical Body strength and keen perception, which far surpassed others of the same rank, to avoid hidden cracks and energy turbulence on the ground. Su Wanqing followed closely, her steps light, like walking under the moon, yet making no sound. Qu Feiyan's movement technique was peculiar, like a red shadow, always finding the most tricky paths. Although Gongsun Yu was not skilled in this Dao, she tried her best to follow, her pretty face filled with tension.

However, the sense of being spied upon, like a shadow, did not diminish in the slightest due to their concealment. Instead, it was like a cat playing with a mouse, with a hint of mockery, always locking onto them.

After running for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, they arrived at an even more dilapidated area. The buildings here had almost completely collapsed, leaving only huge rubble and twisted metal frames everywhere. The gray mist here also seemed to become denser, almost impossible to see one's hand in front of their face.

“Something’s wrong.” Qu Feiyan suddenly stopped, her charming eyes slightly narrowed, looking at a pile of rocks shrouded in thick mist to her left. “The mist there… it’s moving.”

Everyone focused their gaze and indeed found that the gray mist in that area was flowing and rotating slowly and unnaturally, as if alive, forming an imperceptible vortex. A faint suction came from the center of the vortex, pulling the surrounding mist and subtly affecting their spiritual power and Qi and blood.

“Is it a trap? Or some naturally formed anomaly?” Gongsun Yu asked nervously.

Lin Xuan’s pupils constricted, and the immortal abode pivot token sent a slight sense of repulsion. “Go around it!” He changed direction without hesitation.

But just as they turned, the sense of being spied upon, which had been like a thorn in their backs, suddenly became clear and sharp!

“Hiss—!”

A faint sound, like tearing cloth, came from behind them. Everyone turned sharply, only to see a blurry black shadow, almost completely merged with the gray mist, flash across an area of ruins and shadows they had just passed! The black shadow had no definite form; it seemed to be a condensed mass of darkness, emitting the same cold, evil aura as the sense of being spied upon!

It appeared!

“Speed up!” Lin Xuan low-shouted, a great sense of crisis swelling in his heart. The black shadow felt far more dangerous than the Skeleton Demon Statue!

The four increased their speed to the maximum, fleeing desperately through the ruins. The gray mist behind them surged violently, and the black shadow, like a ghost, was sometimes on the left, sometimes on the right, sometimes disappearing into the mist, and sometimes reappearing not far away, always maintaining a certain distance, as if herding them, or perhaps waiting for something.

“It’s forcing us in a certain direction!” Su Wanqing keenly noticed the anomaly. Several times they tried to change their route, but they would be forced back by the black shadow in various ways, or a stronger sense of danger ahead would compel them to turn.

Lin Xuan also discovered this, his face grim. This Guixu Cult operative was not only powerful but also meticulous and employed strange methods. It wasn't in a hurry to act, but rather seemed to be executing a hunting strategy.

“We can’t go along with its intentions!” Lin Xuan’s thoughts raced as he scanned the surroundings, finally settling on a pitch-black entrance to a large, broken pipe-like structure half-buried in the ground to his front right. “Go in there!”

The entrance was about a zhang in diameter, deep and dark inside, leading to who knew where, and emitting a strong smell of rust and dust. The immortal abode pivot token had no special sensation there, nor did it send any danger warnings.

At this moment, this seemed to be the only option to escape the black shadow’s herding.

Without hesitation, Lin Xuan was the first to rush towards the pipe entrance, ducking his body and directly drilling inside. Su Wanqing, Qu Feiyan, and Gongsun Yu followed closely.

The moment the last person disappeared into the darkness, the black shadow that had been chasing them condensed into form at the pipe entrance. It was still a blurry mass of darkness, with only two crimson lights glowing within, like eyes, coldly staring into the pitch-black interior of the pipe, but not immediately pursuing.

Inside the pipe, there was dead silence, pitch black, with only the suppressed breathing of the four. The suffocating sense of being spied upon from outside seemed to be largely cut off the moment they entered.

“It didn’t follow us in?” Gongsun Yu whispered, still shaken.

“Not necessarily,” Qu Feiyan concentrated her Divine Sense towards the entrance. “It might be waiting, or… this pipe itself is part of its plan.”

Lin Xuan said nothing. He silently circulated his Qi and blood, recovering from his previous exertions, while cautiously extending his Divine Sense deeper into the pipe. The pipe was unusually wide inside, seemingly once a passage for some large facility, with thick dust accumulated on the ground and corrosion marks covering the metal walls on both sides.

They were temporarily safe, but the crisis was not over. They had merely escaped from one perilous place into another unknown cage. And the shadow of the Guixu Cult had, like a festering bone, firmly latched onto them.

Beneath this forgotten ruin, the dark chase had just begun.