Within the magnetic shock fields, the fiends’ bodies involuntarily spun with the constricting force, their black scales clicking sharply.

In the field, two distinct powers clashed, enough to affect all forms of energy.

The power within the fiends’ bodies was similarly affected; the speed at which they could gather their strength drastically slowed, making it difficult to unleash their maximum potential.

However, the scales on these fiends were truly uncanny.

Under the field’s influence, their flesh was not shredded and torn; the sheer toughness of their bodies was fully apparent at this moment.

He Qingman’s sharp cry roused the warriors of Tianxie Cave Heaven to sudden awareness, and they charged toward the fiends together.

“Do not approach!” Shi Yan bellowed the moment he saw these people rushing the fiends. “Attack from a distance! Once you get near them, you will also be affected by the binding force! You will find it as difficult to steady yourselves as they are!”

Bati and the others’ expressions shifted slightly, and they quickly halted, maintaining a safe distance from the fiends, unleashing their proud martial arts to bombard the temporarily immobilized creatures.

Shi Yan mobilized his negative energy, doubling his physical strength, and suddenly charged toward Gu Ya.

As the architect of the domain field, he was naturally unaffected by it. The moment he entered the field, he immediately executed the Finger Gun Art, his fingers, sharp as blades, stabbing directly toward Gu Ya’s eyes.

The Black Scale Fiends were not only covered in scales across their bodies, but their cheeks and necks were also encased in the armor.

The black scales were incredibly sturdy, comparable to Shi Yan’s petrified body. Without the aid of divine weapons, piercing those scales was extremely difficult.

Only their eyes lacked any scales—making them the easiest targets.

For the first time, a look of panic appeared in Gu Ya’s dark green pupils. He watched helplessly as Shi Yan’s five fingers lunged forward. He tried to intercept with the bone spike in his hand, but found it difficult to control the direction and range of his arm movements; he felt as though he were mired in a swamp, unable to exert his full strength.

“Weren’t you quite fierce just now?”

Shi Yan sneered, his fingers rapidly closing in, suddenly thrusting toward Gu Ya’s eyes.

“Swish, swish, swish!”

Just then.

The scales all over Gu Ya’s body suddenly vibrated. The scales seemed to come alive, rippling like waves. From the coin-sized spots on the scales, a violent killing intent erupted, as sharp and intense as needles.

Shi Yan suddenly recalled Xuan Bing Han Yan’s words.

The Black Scale Fiends, at a critical juncture, could activate the scales on their bodies, causing the scales all over them to shoot out.

Those scales were comparable to blades—invincible and possessing terrifying impact. Once struck by them, a warrior of the same realm would be cut into pieces.

The scales were the Black Scale Fiends’ defensive barrier, yet also their most vital offensive weapon.

However, the Black Scale Fiends would never use their body scales against an enemy unless absolutely necessary, because once their scales were all launched, their bodies would suffer severe trauma and be difficult to recover from.

These fiends would never resort to this unless their very lives were threatened.

Gu Ya’s dark green eyes were filled with madness. He stared fixedly at Shi Yan’s approaching fingers, a cruel smile blossoming deep in the corner of his mouth.

Shi Yan was intimately familiar with the cruel smile of such a desperate rogue.

The hand about to pierce Gu Ya’s pupil retracted with lightning speed. At this moment, Shi Yan was perfectly calm, unwilling to press his luck, and rapidly retreated from the magnetic shock field.

“Flash into the passage!”

The moment he withdrew from the field, Shi Yan glanced around and suddenly noticed that the Black Scale Fiends in the remaining three fields were all conspicuously vibrating their scales, preparing for a desperate struggle just like Gu Ya—activating their life-saving measures.

The Tianxie Cave Heaven warriors, who had been enjoying attacking these fiends, all froze upon hearing this, looking at Shi Yan in confusion.

“What’s wrong…”

He Qingman was also astonished. Her silver spear had already pierced through one fiend’s scales and was about to claim its life. At this critical juncture, Shi Yan suddenly ordered a retreat, which greatly puzzled her.

“If you don’t want to die, hurry up and leave!”

Seeing the frequency of the tremors in the fiends’ scales accelerating, Shi Yan had no time for further explanation and quickly rushed toward the passage they had come from.

“Listen to him!”

He Qingman only hesitated for a second. Sensing Shi Yan’s tension, she immediately realized something was wrong. She informed Bati and the others, and she was the second to flash into the passage after Shi Yan.

The Tianxie Cave Heaven warriors finally reacted, scrambling to pull back and rush toward the passage.

“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…”

In the cavern, scales suddenly flew wildly. These scales, like razor-sharp blades carrying astonishing piercing power, shot out from the fiends’ bodies, covering every direction.

Those scales ignored the binding of the magnetic shock fields and shot outward.

In an instant, the cavern was filled with flying scales, like countless arrows haphazardly projected, saturating the entire stone chamber.

Shi Yan and He Qingman were the first to enter the passage. Bati and Zhou Nan, knowing that Shi Yan and He Qingman would not retreat now, wisely withdrew early and entered the passage before the scales erupted.

However, two Tianxie Cave Heaven warriors were a step too late entering the passage; their bodies ended up blocking the entrance.

Two piercing, agonizing screams immediately echoed from the two men. Shi Yan faced them directly and clearly saw their bodies riddled with holes by the scales, instantly shattering into chunks of minced flesh.

The sky full of scales continued to shoot everywhere, weaving a dense net of blades that filled the entire cavern.

Shi Yan’s face darkened, and he secretly gasped.

The Black Scale race’s desperate gamble was indeed vicious. This lethal strike was enough to instantly kill an opponent who was unaware of the situation.

If he hadn’t known about this move from Xuan Bing Han Yan, even if his fingers had blinded Gu Ya’s eyes, he himself would likely have been torn apart by the scales erupting from Gu Ya’s body.

With scales flying everywhere, the bodies of the Black Scale Fiends were a bloody mess; they had clearly suffered heavy injuries.

At the very moment the scales erupted from their bodies, the power within those fiends actually increased by several measures!

Among them, Gu Ya was the most formidable. After the scales shot out of his body, a surging, explosive force erupted from within him, tearing a breach in the magnetic shock field!

Gu Ya, covered in blood, looked incomparably ferocious, his dark green pupils holding endless resentment.

He did not dare linger in the cavern. Before he could figure out the strangeness of the magnetic shock field, he did not rely on the short-term power boost to chase Shi Yan and He Qingman. Instead, he fled disastrously toward the other passage they had come from, abandoning the five other bound fiends.

In the cavern, a patch of scales seemed to possess life of their own; they suddenly stopped spinning, hovering in the air for several seconds, then suddenly shot toward Gu Ya.

Gu Ya’s body seemed to suddenly become a magnet, and it actually drew back the scales that had shot from his body, one by one.

The scales pierced accurately back into his flesh. As Gu Ya fled rapidly through the passage, the scales became his body’s most solid barrier once more.

They could actually be retracted!

Shi Yan was horrified, shocked by the endless techniques of the Black Scale race. He truly hadn't expected these fellows could not only launch their scales to injure others but could also recall them to their bodies—such methods were truly beyond ordinary people.

Watching Gu Ya escape before his eyes, Shi Yan dared not pursue.

Because in the cavern, the scales from the other five fiends were still flying around.

The shooting of these scales was completely erratic and extremely dense. Rashly charging into the cavern would only make him a target, potentially getting riddled with holes by some of the scales.

Shi Yan and He Qingman hid in the passage, watching the flying scales with grave expressions.

The five fiends bound by the magnetic shock field looked somewhat fearful, struggling within the field, trying to escape.

Unfortunately, these five only had the cultivation of the Hundred Tribulation Realm. When the scales erupted, the brief explosive force generated within their bodies was not as terrifying as Gu Ya’s, failing to tear a hole in the field.

Shi Yan still dared not act rashly. Until those scales stopped flying, he remained obediently in the passage.

“You, how did you know the Black Scale race had this countermeasure?”

He Qingman looked deeply at Shi Yan, her beautiful eyes filled with strange light. “Yesterday, you said you hadn’t heard of these Black Scale Fiends before. Why do you suddenly seem so familiar with them? Have you been hiding something, and not truly intending to help us?”

Shi Yan frowned slightly, not looking at her, still staring at the flying scales in the cavern, and said faintly, “Yesterday, I was still completely ignorant of the Black Scale race. However, the rare treasure I possess can perceive the soul fluctuations of fiends, allowing me to vaguely know what they intend to do. When I attacked Gu Ya just now, I also used that rare treasure to discover his intention, which is why I warned you all.”

He attributed everything to the rare treasure he held.

He Qingman’s eyebrows were deeply furrowed, but she seemed relatively satisfied with Shi Yan’s explanation. “So that’s how it is. It seems the Yang family is truly formidable; they really possess countless secret techniques.”

“It has nothing to do with the Yang family. I haven’t even been to Undying Island yet. Who knows what strange secret treasures the Yang family possesses,” Shi Yan pouted.

“Ah?”

He Qingman was even more astonished, her gaze fixed on Shi Yan becoming increasingly strange and suspicious. “Didn’t you come from a remote place? Could such a place possess such a miraculous rare treasure?”

In He Qingman’s view, the area where the Merchant Alliance was located was a barren land on the Divine Grace Continent. Shi Yan, coming from such a place, even if he possessed a secret treasure, shouldn't have one of this caliber, right?

“Remote place?” Shi Yan caught a hint of disdain in her tone and snorted coldly. “Every place has its wonders. Don’t assume the Endless Sea is the only center for warriors on the Divine Grace Continent. Mysterious treasures exist in many places too.”

“Of course, I know the Endless Sea isn’t the center of the Divine Grace Continent,” He Qingman frowned, showing a slight disdain. “But the place you came from is definitely on the fringe. Hmph, I am from Tianxie Cave Heaven; naturally, I know where martial arts powerhouses are abundant and where they are scarce…”

Shi Yan pouted, too lazy to pay her any mind.

“Qingman! Qingman!”

From the depths of the passage behind Shi Yan, Lin Nan’s call suddenly sounded. The voice was distant; Lin Nan and the others must have received He Qingman’s message and finally arrived.

He Qingman’s expression brightened, her eyes sparkling as she excitedly said, “Our people are here! Now we can press the advantage. Hmph, this time, we’ll follow Gu Ya and directly find the main force of the Black Scale Fiends, wiping them all out in one go, so we don’t waste any more time on this island.”

Shi Yan nodded, just about to reply, when he suddenly perceived an anomaly through the Soul Gathering Orb.

Sensing intently, Shi Yan’s expression changed drastically, and he suddenly roared, “Exit the cavern, immediately!”