With a stomp of its foot, all the crystal spikes on the ground retracted. The Black Crystal Man waved, and the remaining Purple and Blue Crystal figures rushed swiftly toward the Dao Alliance underlings who had been scattered by the wind. Each one grabbed three or five of the Dao Alliance members, treating them like sacks of grain, and retreated into the tunnel. The Black Crystal Man then cast a curious glance at the formation artifacts left behind by Zhao Yi and the others. It barked a few more sharp commands, and dozens of crystal figures haphazardly gathered the scattered flags, ritual platforms, and other objects lying on the ground, slinging them onto their backs before rapidly vanishing into the passage.

The Black Crystal Man cautiously brought up the rear, retreating into the tunnel. It pointed at Zhao Yi and the others hovering in the air and sneered, "I, the Guardian of the Fifth Altar, am older and possess greater power than those youngsters. I, along with the guardians ranked above me, can wield the power of the Progenitor! You... quickly release our kin, or else... everyone dies!"

Hua froze for a moment, then pointed at the Black Crystal Man and cursed, "Hey! Stone-head! If you're so powerful, why did we manage to capture so many of your kin before?"

The Black Crystal Man's body stiffened. It turned its head, glared at Hua, and roared in fury, "It is the Progenitor's decree! Kin with lower strength must reside in the upper levels. Only the powerful can become Guardians protecting the Sacred Lake! If every adult wasn't required to descend to the lower levels to protect the Sacred Lake, how could our kin have been captured by you?"

In a fit of rage, Hua flipped the Black Crystal Man the middle finger.

Without hesitation, the Black Crystal Man copied Hua's gesture, extending a middle finger over half a meter long—made prominent by its enlarged physique. The Black Crystal Man cursed furiously, "Damn your mother... you bunch of villains..." After spitting out the curse, the Black Crystal Man cautiously protected its kin as it retreated into the tunnel they had come from.

"You, you!" Hua trembled with anger, roaring to the heavens, "Damn it, which bastard taught them human speech? This is utterly unjust! To even use such a vulgar gesture!"

Prajna let out a long, calm Buddhist chant toward the sky. The violent electromagnetic field stirred up by the Black Crystal Man had dissipated. He quickly connected with the flagship of the Hunting Vessel, reporting everything that had transpired here to the Bearded Commander.

The Bearded Commander was stunned. The underlings from the Asian Dao Alliance present were all elites. If they were all lost here, the Hardwood Defense Company would cease to exist, and every member would need immediate cosmetic surgery to flee for their lives. The retaliation from the Asian Dao Alliance would be enough to easily obliterate a hundred Hardwood Defense Companies.

"Now we can only wait," Prajna stated with certainty, unlike the temporarily dazed Bearded Commander. "We wait now!"

"Wait for what?" the Bearded Commander exploded, "Wait for what the hell! If we wait any longer, those turtles and bastards on the river will all be dead, and we’ll go down with them."

Prajna spoke calmly, "Wait for the Evil Dragon to emerge. If Zhao Yi is safe, the Evil Dragon must be safe. We will decide after he comes out."

The Bearded Commander blinked, then stomped his foot hard, "Fine, I'll wait!"

And so they waited—seven days and seven nights.

Dozens of Azure Crystal figures stood by the edge of the lava lake, holding assist weapons as thick as bowls, glaring menacingly at Siren and the others positioned on the opposite shore of the lake. These crystal beings seemed to operate on a very different sense of time compared to Earthlings. That Black Crystal Man hadn't specified a timeframe for the prisoner exchange, nor had it sent an envoy to make contact. The two sides simply stared blankly across the lava lake at each other.

For Hua and his group, seven days and seven nights was an agonizingly long time. But for these crystal beings, perhaps recalling the loneliness of the sea, it was only equivalent to a single breath, right? They were absolutely prepared to wait.

In the lava lake, the Blazing Qilin, which had unintentionally swallowed Gu Xiechen, lay limp at the bottom. Hundreds of massive, fiery red crystal blocks were piled beside it, with immense streams of energy constantly flowing into its body. Yet, no matter how much energy it consumed, it seemed as though a black hole existed within it, relentlessly draining away all its energy, spirit, essence, and vitality.