Time Travel: Ancient Martial Arts Chronicles

As the black-robed skeleton fell, everyone continued to search the hall for clues without slacking off. The air was filled with tension, as if unknown dangers were hidden in every corner.

"Everyone, split up and look to see if there are any secret doors or hidden passages." Ye Wuhen said as he walked to one side of the hall and gently tapped the wall with the Soul-Breaking Sword, listening carefully to see if there was any hollow sound.

Lin Yu was groping on the other side, and suddenly he shouted, "There seems to be something here!" Everyone immediately gathered over and saw a small bulge on the wall, shaped like a skull.

"Could this be a mechanism?" Lin Xiaoxiao came forward curiously.

"Be careful, don't move." Ling Jian warned, "There might be a trap."

Lin Yu looked at everyone, then slowly reached out and gently pressed the skull. With a low rumble, the wall on one side of the hall slowly opened, revealing a dark passage. From the passage blew an even colder wind, carrying a strong stench of decay.

"It seems this is the road we are looking for. Be careful everyone." Ye Wuhen said and walked into the passage first.

The passage was narrow and rugged, with black liquid constantly oozing out of the walls and dripping onto the ground, making a "tick, tick" sound, like a countdown clock, which made people feel creepy.

"This place is disgusting. It feels like there is danger every step I take." Su Yao frowned and cast a lighting spell to make the passage a little brighter.

"Everyone, watch your feet. These liquids may be problematic." Mo Yu reminded.

Suddenly, many black tentacles hung down from the top of the passage, and they stretched towards the crowd quickly as if they were alive.

"Be careful!" Ye Wuhen shouted, swinging his sword to cut off the tentacles that were approaching him. After being cut off, the tentacles twisted on the ground, oozing black slime.

Lin Yu, Ling Jian, and the others also took action, fighting the tentacles. Lin Yu nimbly dodged the tentacles' attacks while looking for opportunities to counterattack: "These tentacles are endless, we must find their source!"

"Watch me!" Lin Xiaoxiao threw out a talisman, and the spiritual power fluctuations generated by the talisman's explosion repelled a group of tentacles.

As they advanced, they finally discovered that the tentacles were extending from a huge tumor at the end of the passage. The tumor was covered with eyes, staring at them coldly.

"What kind of monster is this?" Su Yao said in surprise.

"Whatever it is, kill it first!" Ye Wuhen shouted, leaping high into the air and charging towards the tumor. The Soul-Breaking Sword fiercely pierced the tumor, causing it to roar in pain as more tentacles emerged from it.

"Everyone attack together and concentrate your firepower!" Ling Jian commanded everyone, and the sword formation of the Tianjian Sect disciples once again exerted its power, with sword energy shooting towards the tumor.

Mo Yu commanded the Yuhun Sect disciples to use their soul power to disrupt the tumor's control, causing its tentacle attacks to become chaotic. "Now is the time, while it's confused, attack its main body!"

With everyone's concerted efforts, the tumor finally couldn't withstand the attack and exploded. Black liquid splattered everywhere, and a large hole was blown open in the passage, revealing a larger space behind.

They passed through the opening and came to a huge underground palace. In the center of the palace was a huge dark magic circle, surrounded by many crystal coffins, the lids of which were engraved with runes.

"This must be the core area of ​​the dark organization." Ye Wuhen looked around vigilantly.

"What's in these crystal coffins? It doesn't feel good." Lin Yu said.

At this moment, the lid of the crystal coffin slowly opened, and figures shrouded in black mist emerged one after another. Their eyes were hollow, emitting a powerful aura of darkness.

"It's a dark puppet, everyone be careful!" Su Yao shouted.

The dark puppets slowly approached the crowd, their movements stiff but swift. One of the dark puppets reached out and grabbed the closest Yuhun Sect disciple. The disciple had no time to dodge and was caught by the dark puppet. Instantly, he was consumed by the dark aura and fell to the ground.

"Damn it!" Mo Yu shouted angrily, "Everyone, don't let them get close. Use soul power to attack their soul cores!"

Everyone immediately launched an attack, interweaving various spiritual powers and soul powers to engage in a fierce battle with the dark puppet. Although the dark puppet was powerful, everyone had experience dealing with them, and for a while, the two sides fell into a stalemate.

"This isn't going to work. We need to break the deadlock," Ye Wuhen said. He observed the dark puppets' movements during the battle and discovered that they all seemed to be following the instructions of the magic circle. "We need to destroy that magic circle. This might be the key!"

"I'll go with you!" Lin Yu said.

The two rushed towards the magic circle, dodging the attacks of the dark puppets along the way. When they approached the magic circle, it suddenly released a powerful suction force, trying to suck them in.

"Be careful!" Lin Xiaoxiao shouted.

Ye Wuhen and Lin Yu clung to the ground, resisting the suction. "We can't be sucked in. We must destroy this magic circle!" Ye Wuhen said through gritted teeth.

At this moment, Su Yao, Ling Jian, Mo Yu and others increased the intensity of their attack, attracting the attention of more dark puppets and buying time for Ye Wuhen and Lin Yu.

Ye Wuhen and Lin Yu took the opportunity to rush towards the magic circle. They gathered all their spiritual power into their weapons and slashed at the core rune of the magic circle. The magic circle was attacked, the light flickered, and the suction force weakened.

"Keep attacking!" Ye Wuhen shouted.

The two continued to attack the magic circle, the light of the magic circle became weaker and weaker, and the dark puppets around it began to move slowly.

"Success!" Lin Yu shouted excitedly.

As the magic circle was destroyed, the dark puppets fell one after another and turned into black mist that dissipated in the air.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, but they knew they couldn't relax yet, so they began to search for more clues in the underground palace.

In a corner of the palace, they found some ancient scrolls and books. Su Yao picked up a book and flipped through it: "It records the plan of the dark organization. They want to use the dark magic circle to open a passage to another world and release a more powerful dark force."

"Another world? This is terrifying!" Lin Xiaoxiao said in surprise.

"We must stop them and not let this passage open." Ye Wuhen said firmly.

At this moment, the palace began to shake violently, as if the entire Dark Castle was about to collapse.

"Oh no, we have to leave here quickly!" Ling Jian shouted.

Everyone ran towards the exit, but it was blocked by fallen rocks.

"What should we do? We are stuck here!" Lin Yu said anxiously.

"Don't panic, let's work together to find a way to push these boulders away." Ye Wuhen said calmly.

Everyone worked together, exerting their spiritual power, trying to push the boulder away. With their efforts, the boulder was finally pushed open, and everyone crawled out through the gap one by one.

They escaped from the Darkhold at the last moment of its collapse, and stood outside watching the once eerie castle crumble in smoke and dust, feeling a mixture of emotion.

"It was really thrilling this time. We almost couldn't get out." Lin Yu said, panting.

"But we have also obtained important clues. Next, we must prevent them from opening that passage." Ye Wuhen looked into the distance with a firm gaze. "We still have a long way to go, but for the sake of this continent, we will never retreat."

Everyone nodded. They knew that new challenges were coming, but they were ready. They would continue to fight to protect the continent and for justice and peace.