Chapter 2305 - 2303: Desperate Situation?

Until he stepped onto the ninth level of the staircase, Ning Gu's doppelganger finally breathed a sigh of relief.

It seems Lu Ye is indeed someone who knows the times.

In fact, Lu Ye considered more than he thought; if he wanted to kill this doppelganger, it would naturally be effortless.

But what happens after killing this doppelganger?

Not to mention, Ning Gu's true body would definitely be implicated, as he was already at the lowest level of the staircase, under great pressure. If the doppelganger suffers any damage, the true body would be affected, and the pressure would only increase.

At that time, Ning Gu would surely leave the staircase for self-preservation.

If that happens... the consequences are hard to predict, and possibly everyone's efforts will go to waste. Once trust is compromised, it's difficult to repair it.

So, if Lu Ye wants to leave this place, he can only let it be.

Ning Gu's doppelganger soon reached the top. That fortunate Peak Dao Fusion also had companions. Just as Ning Gu moved, someone immediately shouted in anger, "Fellow Daoist Yuu, watch out!"

Fellow Daoist Yuu, who was laboriously pushing the door, looked back and was instantly shocked!

Only because Ning Gu's doppelganger was already standing in front of him.

"Ning... Fellow Daoist Ning?" Fellow Daoist Yuu was tense and fearful, not quite understanding the situation, mainly because Ning Gu's action was too quick.

While speaking, he glanced downwards. After seeing Ning Gu still standing on the lowest level of the staircase, and missing an arm, he realized, and his face turned grim.

Ning Gu's doppelganger extended a hand: "Hand over the item, I won't trouble you!"

Fellow Daoist Yuu's expression flickered indecisively for a moment but ultimately handed over the token he had just acquired to Ning Gu's doppelganger. His 6th Order Dao Fusion cultivation, with little augmentation from Dao soldiers, was merely 120 Dao force when exerting full effort, how could he resist Ning Gu's doppelganger?

Ning Gu's doppelganger indeed did not intend to trouble him, instead heading straight to the door, raising his hand to push.

Below the stairs, pairs of eyes were fixed.

But the door did not budge at all...

Ning Gu's doppelganger obviously was exerting all his might, yet still couldn't move the door.

However, Fellow Daoist Yuu, with less strength, had managed to open a crack in the door earlier.

"You go!" Ning Gu's doppelganger instructed Fellow Daoist Yuu again.

Fellow Daoist Yuu, resigned, continued to open the door. Under his exertion, the gap of the door gradually widened.

Seeing this scene, all the Peak Dao Fusion instantly understood that no matter how strong a doppelganger is, it is still a doppelganger and cannot move this door.

It makes sense, after all, escaping this trap inherently requires a certain number of people; if doppelgangers were useful, escaping wouldn't be so difficult.

Actually, before Lu Ye arrived here, they had already tried using doppelgangers to see if they could occupy a spot on the staircase.

After all, Ning Gu wasn't the only one who cultivated the Clone Technique.

The result of the attempt was impossible!

Unexpectedly, even opening the door is impossible now.

Under everyone's gaze, Fellow Daoist Yuu spent tens of breaths before finally pushing the door completely open.

Without hesitation, he darted out.

And right at the moment when the door fully opened, all the Peak Dao Fusion standing on the staircase suddenly felt a sense of relief.

The trap was broken!

Everyone's hearts were clear, and they began to move swiftly.

Lu Ye moved the fastest because he had been attempting all along.

With one leap, he reached the top of the staircase. However, he didn't hurry to leave but instead drew his blade and slashed at Ning Gu's doppelganger.

Ning Gu's doppelganger was obviously prepared for this and immediately activated his Dao force to protect himself.

"You dare!" Ning Gu's true body swiftly came, shouting in rage, while his companion, Junior Sister Shuang, also shook a longsword out, merging herself with sword light and, following closely behind Ning Gu, attacked Lu Ye.

With two Peak Dao Fusion attacking together in such a narrow space, even Lu Ye couldn't help but feel a sense of crisis.

"Pfft..." Ning Gu suddenly spurted blood, his aura weakened greatly, full of regret and anger.

At the top of the staircase, when the brilliant sword light vanished, Ning Gu's doppelganger had already become a cloud of blood mist.

Lu Ye easily picked up the token, then reversed his blade to strike at the approaching Junior Sister Shuang.

The moment their sword and blade collided, each felt the other's powerful strength. As Junior Sister Shuang's body trembled slightly, a hint of suspicion flashed in her beautiful eyes.

Because she clearly felt that there was something off about Lu Ye's Dao force...

Yet she couldn't afford to ponder as her body soared; meanwhile, Lu Ye had already used the recoil to shoot through the door, disappearing without a trace!

"Quick, chase!" Ning Gu passed by Junior Sister Shuang, gritting his teeth and roaring, his face vicious.

What a loss.

The exotic treasure just acquired was stolen; worse, his doppelganger was killed too. This loss would take a century to recover.

His hatred for Lu Ye was immense, with only one thought in mind: to kill Lu Ye and exact revenge.

Junior Sister Shuang halted her movement, closely following Ning Gu in pursuit.

It wasn't until the figures of the three disappeared that the other Dao Fusion cultivators heaved a sigh of relief and flew towards the open gate, filing in one after another.

They initially thought that crossing this gate would allow them to escape the trap where they had been stuck for many days, but when they saw the scene before them again, everyone was dumbfounded.

The scenery before them looked identical to the space they had been trapped in before!

No, it wasn't the same.

In the previous space, there were thirteen steps, but here there are more, a full twenty steps, and one more difference: there's no exotic treasure here, and the gate at the top of the steps is not closed, but wide open.

What does this mean?

Just escaped one trap and stepped into another?

And with twenty steps, more than the previous thirteen, wouldn't escaping be even harder?

Amongst the astonishment, the Dao Fusion cultivators felt more of an anger of being toyed with.

Nobody knew whether this trap was manmade or naturally formed, but since they were already trapped here, there was no point in dwelling on it.

At this moment, on one of the steps, Lu Ye was holding a knife, while below two steps, Ning Gu and Junior Sister Shuang stood side by side, the former glaring at him angrily, as the grievance of losing his doppelganger was not a small one.

He would kill Lu Ye right now if he could.

But he already noticed something was amiss. Lu Ye's strength was not just a simple 9th Order Dao Fusion because his doppelganger had died too decisively!

Lu Ye was also helpless, initially planning to kill Ning Gu's doppelganger, seize that token exotic treasure, and then escape the trap, with the sky and the sea as wide open as the world itself, thinking Ning Gu and Junior Sister Shuang would be too late to catch him.

After all, since Ning Gu was the one scheming first, couldn't he play the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind?

Yet he never expected there to be a second layer to this trap!

When he rushed through that portal, he was completely dazed.

Since there's a second layer, could there be a third, a fourth? If this is an infinite loop, they might as well resign themselves to death.

Luckily, whether it was him or Ning Gu and Junior Sister Shuang, they had already realized that this second trap was different from the first!

It wasn't that there were more steps.

Instead, it lacked the restrictions of the first trap.

Right now, Lu Ye stood on the tenth step, but below, there were only Ning Gu and Junior Sister Shuang, who stood on the eighth step.

This meant one thing: escaping this trap did not require a specific number of people.

But it required more strength, as moving from the first step to here, Lu Ye had to withstand increasing pressure, and the pressure at his current position was already significant for him.

With half the steps still to go, the pressure would inevitably grow!

Ning Gu and Junior Sister Shuang had also sensed this, but since they were at a lower position, the pressure was considerably less.

Ning Gu snorted coldly and raised his hand, unleashing a secret technique at Lu Ye, but to his astonishment, its formidable power sharply diminished as it traveled toward Lu Ye, as if the technique itself was under immense pressure.

Clearly only a distance of two steps, yet when the technique struck Lu Ye, he was unharmed!

Ning Gu was furious and shouted, "Kill!"

He and Junior Sister Shuang immediately advanced together, quickly pressing toward Lu Ye.

Lu Ye frowned, stepping back gradually, maintaining a two-step distance from Ning Gu and Junior Sister Shuang.

If it came to a fight, he wouldn't be afraid; with the Talent Tree Avatar deployed, he wasn't fighting alone, and handling Ning Gu's group was entirely feasible.

But this second trap was rather odd, and until he fully understood the situation, he preferred not to reveal the existence of his avatar.

The two approached, and he retreated. Moments later,

Lu Ye halted at the sixteenth step, where the pressure was immense. Even with all his Dao force fully activated, his body trembled involuntarily.

Ning Gu and Junior Sister Shuang weren't faring much better.

They were two steps lower than Lu Ye, yet Ning Gu's figure was hunched, as if bearing a star, and Junior Sister Shuang's expression was equally strained.

They dared not advance; this was their limit. Perhaps they could ascend one more level, but they definitely couldn't reach Lu Ye's position.

Junior Sister Shuang's eyes were filled with surprise.

As a Peak Dao Fusion, she couldn't match Lu Ye, which was unfathomable.

The only conclusion was that Lu Ye was hiding his strength, and he too was a Peak Dao Fusion!

"Notice?" Lu Ye suddenly spoke, grave, "This is a dead end!"

A twenty-level staircase, he couldn't climb it, let alone Ning Gu and Junior Sister Shuang. Their Dao soldiers were attack-type; their protective power was only at the level of 200 Daos, hence their worse performance compared to Lu Ye.

If the three of them couldn't ascend, the others could stand no chance.

This trap, while not requiring a certain number of people, demanded strength that even Dao Fusion couldn't touch!

In other words, from the moment everyone stepped into the first trap, it was a dead end!

While the breaking of the first trap brought joy, it was soon overshadowed by growing despair. If this trap was manmade, the personality of the powerful figure who set it up would be quite nasty.

It was a complete mockery of human nature.