After Lin Yu and Li Nian reached a consensus, the players on their team had no objections to Mystic Cloud Master's arrangement.

Although Flying Knife, the employer, seemed unwilling... his opinion didn't matter.

Taiqing Sect's Hundred Calamity Forbidden Art, the "Earth-Crushing Mountain-Sealing Absolute Talisman Formation," continued to exert its power, its force growing ever stronger. Mountains crumbled and the earth split open—amidst this borrowed celestial might, the puppet demons had no means of fighting back!

More and more puppets were crushed by rockfalls and swallowed into the ground.

Mystic Cloud Master was true to his word. After executing the formation, though he was already extremely weak, he still mustered his strength to chant another incantation, shielding the nearby players with protective magic.

A cyan-green light enveloped them like an inverted bell, hovering over their heads.

The Taoist temple was soon smashed and collapsed by the rolling boulders. The aged bricks, tiles, and wooden beams struck the cyan-green barrier only to be repelled, producing sounds like a struck bronze bell.

"Clang, clang—"

A dense, thunderous noise rang out, making those inside the bell's range feel their heads buzzing.

"This isn't a bad move, Taoist," Seagull shouted loudly, giving Mystic Cloud Master a thumbs-up. "It's just hard on the ears!"

However, even though the cyan-green bell could block the falling rocks, it couldn't stop the ground from collapsing beneath them!

"Boom!"

With a tremendous crash, Mystic Cloud Master called out loudly.

"Good folks, watch out!"

The old Taoist shouted, and then...

The entire ground gave way!

This wasn't just ground subsidence caused by the earthquake. Lin Yu could even feel an incredibly strong pulling force coming from directly beneath him, deep underground!

Looking down, amid the cascading sand and shattered rock, he could vaguely see the flickering red glow of talismans.

Old Zheng's voice rang out with a sigh.

"I see now. This Taiqing Sect's Hundred Calamity Forbidden Art isn't just creating an earthquake... The formation is using talisman power to physically carve out a new space below. Then, with top-tier formation arts, it builds a completely independent set of rules, isolated from the 'Way of Heaven'—creating a small world within Prison Mountain Realm that resembles a paradise on earth—yet it sets no exit!"

"Combined with the initial shaking of the earth and mountains, this effectively 'seals' the entire area—along with all targeted living beings—in both a physical and mystical sense... Even top-tier great demons would find it hard to escape."

As Old Zheng analyzed Mystic Cloud Master's technique, Lin Yu couldn't help but marvel.

"With your knowledge base, if I had the 'Student' ability, I feel like I'd be pretty strong."

Lin Yu sighed, then added, "Anyway, since you've figured out the principle of this forbidden art, what should I do now?"

After all...

Right now, Lin Yu and the other six were in the midst of a rapid fall!

As they plummeted, the surroundings grew darker and darker—the sky above shrinking—not just from the descent, but because as the mountains collapsed, new peaks were rising at the same time.

The only sources of light were the cyan-green bell projection around them and the distant glow of the talisman formation far below.

As Old Zheng had said, the formation was "sealing the opening"!

Even though Lin Yu had known this would happen beforehand, actually witnessing it still triggered a primal unease.

Darkness and weightlessness both stir instinctive discomfort in humans—the other players were more or less panicked too.

Snowy Owl, High Mountain, and Li Nian were relatively calm, but Flying Knife and Seagull were already screaming non-stop like two prank toys.

The calmest one was, naturally, the spellcaster—old Taoist Mystic Cloud Master.

He even had the leisure to sit cross-legged in midair, maintaining his protective spell.

Old Zheng had clearly noticed this too.

"Nothing to do but wait until you hit the ground—see how calm the Taoist who started all this is?"

"He still needs you all, so he definitely won't let you fall to your deaths... He cast the spell, so he must have a way."

Hearing Old Zheng's words, Lin Yu nodded.

"Fine, but if I get smashed to bits, I'm shoving you into a blender when we get back."

"Boss, trust me. Nothing bad will happen." 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

Old Zheng repeated, his tone still confident but now tinged with a hint of fear.

Soon, their descent grew faster and faster.

Though Lin Yu had decided to trust Old Zheng and Mystic Cloud Master, he still couldn't help gripping the [Corner of the Gloomy] tightly in his hand, ready to activate [Most Suitable for the Virtuous and Frugal] at any moment.

He didn't know when they'd hit the ground, and the speed made him uneasy.

The talisman formation below emitted faint light, but without a reference point, it was impossible to gauge the distance.

So, after a moment's thought, he shifted Xie Chong's remains from his back to his front—that way, if he didn't react in time upon landing, it would serve as an extra cushion.

"Too bad the 'Death Game' isn't a real game... Otherwise, with my [Prayer Water Necklace], water landing would be pretty convenient."

Compared to [Corner of the Gloomy], the [Prayer Water Necklace] activated much faster.

Of course, Lin Yu was just letting his mind wander, making jokes to himself.

The thing he feared didn't happen.

As Lin Yu kept using his mental energy to sense the space below and stared intently at the talisman formation's glow...

"Rise—!"

Mystic Cloud Master, who had been sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed, suddenly opened them and formed a new hand seal.

Instantly, everyone felt their fall slow down dramatically, the pulling force from below vanishing.

Like a high-performance car with excellent brakes, in just a few seconds, their plunge turned into a gentle descent.

Now, Lin Yu felt like he was floating down on a falling leaf or a feather, slowly sinking.

After drifting like this for a short while, Lin Yu felt solid ground beneath his feet again.

The reassuring sensation of standing on firm earth returned, letting Lin Yu breathe a sigh of relief.

On the ground around him, the talismans—which had only been faint red specks—were now scattered at their feet, their patterns clearly visible.

Old Taoist Mystic Cloud Master spoke loudly, "Everyone, we have arrived within the talisman formation space!"

Snowy Owl looked around and asked impatiently, "What about... that demon? And the puppets from before?"

"Why can't we see any of them?"

Mystic Cloud Master was taken aback by Snowy Owl's eagerness—even greater than his own—and then explained.

"Esteemed friend, don't be too anxious... There's still some distance between us and them."

"I wouldn't just dump everyone right in front of the Thousand-Eyed Thousand-Silk Demon Lord and its puppets!"

Mystic Cloud Master said with a hint of exasperation.