Ink-Clad Creator

The Thunderbolt Talisman in Han Yunyang's hand pulsed with lightning, its power terrifying. This mid-level talisman was far superior to the initial-level Vajra Talisman; it was crafted by Han Yunyang using his own pure profound energy combined with the secret techniques of a talisman master, containing a trace of true thunderous intent.

When Li Xian saw this "upgraded firecracker," he felt a chill run down his spine. The memory of being blown away earlier immediately returned, and he involuntarily paused in his tracks.

Han Yunyang was torn between two conflicting thoughts: Was the opponent human or demon? The Thunderbolt Talisman was too powerful; using it in this confined cave might harm Ling Shan and the two elders…

In that instant of hesitation—

Buzz—Whoosh—!

A sharp, high-tech whistling sound swept over his head without warning!

"What the hell?!" Han Yunyang looked up sharply and saw three small, dark, bat-shaped flying machines hovering in the sky above the hall in a strange trajectory! They were about ten centimeters long, and their two compound eyes at the front of them were flashing with a ghostly blue light, casting two straight white beams of light, like deadly crosshairs.

This creation was completely beyond his comprehension, causing him to take two steps back in shock, further confirming his belief that Li Xian must be an evil spirit controlling demons!

Contrary to his fear, Li Xianxian was stunned for a moment, then jumped up in wild joy, pointing to the sky and shouting:

"Drones! Drones! And attack drones at that!" He was so excited he practically jumped for joy, almost reaching out to touch them. "There are more behind! There are more behind!"

Sure enough, two small, pink quadcopter drones followed smoothly in, their streamlined bodies hovering silently beside Li Xian, appearing harmless—if one ignored the tiny launch ports faintly visible beneath their bellies.

Five creations from otherworldly technology hovered in the air, creating an extremely eerie contrast with the ancient cave and mysterious runes.

"Try to seize the energy carrier from the opponent." The brain calmly gave the order, showing no surprise at the scene.

Li Xian immediately took advantage of the situation, put his hands on his hips and shouted, "Hey! Young Master! Hand over that iron lump in your hand, and I'll spare your life!" He had the air of a villainous underling.

"Yunyang! Don't believe his lies! He's trying to trick you!" Elder Feng shouted with all his might.

"Brother Yunyang, use the talisman quickly!" Xiao Lingshan didn't care about anything else.

Han Yunyang gritted his teeth, raised the Thunderbolt Talisman high in his right hand, pressed his thumb against the energy activation point at the base of the talisman, and shouted sternly, "Demon, look carefully! This is the Demon-Slaying Thunderbolt Talisman, which summons the power of heavenly thunder! If you do not submit now, you will be reduced to ashes in an instant!"

However, his threat had barely subsided—

Sizzle—!

The front of the three black bat drones suddenly lit up with blue light, and three thin but extremely concentrated red lasers shot out in an instant, hitting Han Yunyang's right eye, right wrist and the thumb that was pressing against Fu's foot with perfect accuracy at the same time!

"Ah—!" Han Yunyang felt a burning pain in his right eye, and his wrist and thumb instantly went numb and out of control, as if they had been pierced by invisible needles! He screamed and the Thunder Talisman fell from his hand.

Guided by his "brain's" prediction, Li Xian rushed forward and, with a swift movement, caught the palm-sized talisman—neither gold nor iron, covered in silver lightning patterns—in his hand. It felt cold and heavy to the touch, and a faint energy seemed to flow between the patterns.

"My eyes! I can't see!!" Han Yunyang covered his right eye, blood seeping from between his fingers. He staggered backward in pain, the fear of being deprived of his sight throwing him into complete disarray.

This precise, ruthless, and inhuman method of attack sent chills down Elder Xiao's and the others' spines. The three black drones, having completed their mission, slowly landed on Li Xian's head and shoulders, like tamed falcons. At this moment, in everyone's eyes, Li Xian was no different from a demon's representative.

"Energy carrier successfully seized. Analyzing its structure... it contains unstable high-energy aggregation and crude simulation of 'lightning' attribute rules." The brain rapidly analyzed the thunderbolt rune. "Now, continue the energy collection mission. Drain their internal energy."

This time, Li Xian had a clear objective and walked straight to Elder Feng, who was slumped on the ground. Having learned from his previous experience of "borrowing" power, he placed his palm directly on Elder Feng's lower dantian acupoint—the core hub for storing internal energy, where absorption efficiency was highest.

Elder Feng tried to resist with his internal energy, but felt the air around him solidify, as if he were firmly locked in place by an invisible force. He could only curse, "You little thief! You demonic cult member! You will die a horrible death!"

While feeling the much purer and more profound internal energy surging into him, Li Xian still had the leisure to "comfort" him: "Save your energy, Old Feng. I'm not going to kill you. Internal energy is like leeks, you can cut it once and it will grow back..." He was completely unaware that for a martial artist of Elder Feng's age, having decades of hard work destroyed in an instant was sometimes more cruel than killing him.

"A conspiracy...this has been a conspiracy from beginning to end!" Elder Xiao whispered hoarsely to his daughter, watching from afar. "The remnants of the Demonic Cult set a trap, luring us to this perilous place, all to absorb our power and achieve their nefarious secret!"

"Father," Xiao Lingshan said urgently in a very low voice while Li Xian was focused on absorbing internal energy and the drone was monitoring other areas, "come closer, it's extremely important..."

Elder Xiao quietly moved closer, his hand gently touching the knot of the silk thread on his daughter's back, his ear close to hers.

Xiao Lingshan recounted in a low voice what she had seen and heard in the cave at an extremely fast pace: the small pine tree that could absorb internal energy, the magical ability to "revive" tiny people by injecting energy, Li Xian's sometimes normal and sometimes strange words and actions, and the various creations that clearly did not belong to this world (drones, the hall of white light)...

Elder Xiao listened, his expression shifting from solemnity to astonishment, then from astonishment to an overwhelming excitement and longing. He even forgot to continue untying the knots. If his daughter was telling the truth, this wasn't some demonic cult trap at all. This was clearly... a tremendous opportunity that touched upon the "origin of creation" from ancient legends! The characteristics exhibited by that small pine tree were so similar to the fragments he had glimpsed in ancient scrolls!

Meanwhile, outside the cave.

Lord Han had been waiting for a long time without any news, and his heart was filled with extreme anxiety. Finally, a clever follower whom he had previously sent to secretly follow and investigate squeezed out from the crack in the rocks, his face still full of shock.

"Fortress... Fortress Master! Something terrible has happened!"

"Calm down! Explain yourself!" Elder Tian shouted in a deep voice.

The attendant, panting, stammered out a report of what he had seen in the cave—the young master of the fortress was injured, Elder Feng was subdued, Miss Xiao was trapped, and Li Xian was controlling a strange flying device.

"Alas! I was careless!" Lord Han stamped his foot, filled with regret. "I thought Elder Feng's presence, along with Yang'er's talismans, would be enough to handle it. I never imagined the villains would possess such treacherous methods!" His black robes fluttered without wind, and the powerful aura of someone just beginning to grasp the Heavenly Origin Realm flowed faintly within them. "I'll go in myself!"

"Lord, wait!" Elder Tian hurriedly advised, "I suspect this is a carefully laid trap by the enemy, designed to lure us in and defeat us one by one. The enemy is in the dark while we are in the light; the situation inside the cave is unknown. I urge you, Lord, to reconsider!"

"The arrow is already on the bowstring!" Lord Han said resolutely, his gaze sweeping over the two elders beside him. "Elder Peng, Elder Cao, do you dare to follow me into this den of dragons and tigers?"

"Haha! The Lord of the Fortress has decreed that water and fire can coexist! We are willing to go!" Elder Peng (Ling Han Shui Tong Gong) and Elder Cao (Zi Xia Huo Yun Gong) exchanged a smile, their fighting spirit soaring. One water, one fire; one still, one moving; yet at this moment, they shared a common hatred for the enemy.

"Very well!" Lord Han's spirits soared. He turned to Elder Tian, ​​"Elder Tian, ​​you lead your men outside to provide support and maintain contact with those inside the fortress. If we haven't emerged in half an hour..." A cold glint flashed in his eyes, "then proceed according to the worst-case scenario!"

"Understood!" Elder Tian solemnly accepted the order.

Lord Han said no more, leading Elders Peng and Cao, along with several elite followers, and with a swift movement, they slid into the narrow crevice like fish. Elder Tian had previously used the "Listening to the Wind from the Ground" technique to probe the area and knew that there was more to the cave than met the eye, enough for Peng and Cao to use their skills.

Inside the cave.

Li Xian had just absorbed most of Elder Feng's internal energy and was sitting cross-legged, diligently trying to regulate and guide the several different and surging internal energies within his body. A faint aura lingered around him, and his internal energy cultivation was increasing at an astonishing rate.

Just then—

"Yang'er!"

A deep shout filled with heartache and anger rang out!

Lord Han and his entourage had already entered the hall! He immediately saw his son, Han Yunyang, lying on the ground groaning with blood in his right eye. His heart ached, and he rushed forward.

"Father..." Upon hearing his father's voice, Han Yunyang felt a sense of relief and fainted.

Lord Han hurriedly bent down, exhaling pure and gentle Xuan Qi from his palm, gently channeling it into his son's eye acupoints to relieve his pain and heal his injuries. After confirming that his beloved son was not in immediate danger, he slowly stood up.

That unwavering and profound gaze, as firm as black iron, instantly locked onto the center of the hall—the young man who was sitting cross-legged practicing his internal energy, with a strange black object perched on his shoulder, and Elder Xiao's daughter, Xiao Lingshan, who was bound on the stone bed beside him.

Elders Peng and Cao, standing to the left and right respectively, approached Li Xian step by step as if facing a formidable enemy. Elder Peng was surrounded by a pale blue, cold, watery mist, while Elder Cao's side was shrouded in crimson flames.

The ancient cultivators of profound energy clashed with the technological creations and their agents from an unknown dimension in this mysterious cave!