### Chapter 104: Cave Opportunities (Seventeen)
The six fiends—each equivalent to a Foundation Establishment cultivator—descended on the Core Formation nun like a storm. Their claws glinted with 黑气 (black energy), their roars shaking the chamber.
The nun stumbled, her spiritual energy 枯竭 (dwindling) after the battle with Li. She raised her sword, but her movements were slow, her swings weak. A fiend's claw raked her arm, leaving three deep gashes—black blood oozed from the wound, 腐蚀 (corroding) her flesh.
"Senior!" Lin Yi shouted, forcing himself to move. Fatigue 啃噬 (gnawed) at his bones, but he couldn't watch her fall. He summoned the last of his *body force*, launching a *Iron Sand Palm* at the nearest fiend.
*Crack!* The fiend's skull caved in, but another immediately took its place.
"Go to her!" Peng yelled, slicing through a demon to clear a path. Ji Li, though trembling, joined him, his sword hacking at any demon that got too close.
Lin Yi sprinted past, his eyes locked on the nun. She was surrounded, her sword 颤抖 (trembling) in her grip. "Hold on!"
He 激活 (activated) the *Purple Demon Gourd* without thinking. Black mist billowed, but instead of attacking randomly, it 锁定 (latched onto) the fiends—*repelling* their 魔气 (demonic energy). The fiends 嘶嘶作响 (hissed), backing away from the mist as if burned.
*The gourd hates their energy!* Lin Yi realized.
"Use it!" the nun gasped, seizing the opportunity to slice off a fiend's arm.
Lin Yi directed the mist at the remaining fiends. They 咆哮 (roared), but their movements slowed, their 魔气 (demonic energy) 紊乱 (disrupted).
"Now!" the nun shouted, gathering her last reserves of spiritual energy. Her sword blazed, cutting through two fiends in a single sweep.
Lin Yi followed, his *Kuang Wang* sword piercing a third fiend's chest. Peng and a handful of Foundation cultivators joined the fray, taking down the last three.
The chamber fell silent, save for heavy breathing. The six fiends lay dead, their bodies dissolving into black smoke.
The nun collapsed, her face 惨白 (pale) as a sheet. "I… can't go on," she whispered, her voice 微弱 (faint).
Lin Yi rushed to her side, but his attention was drawn to a figure stumbling toward them—Zhang Ziyan. Her whip hung limply, her robes torn, but her eyes were fixed on him, bright with relief.
"Ziyan!" He ran to her, lifting her into his arms. Her body was 冰冷的 (cold) and 颤抖的 (trembling), but she was alive.
"I knew… you'd make it," she murmured, a weak smile on her lips.
He held her tighter, anger and relief warring in his chest. *I'll never let her get hurt like this again.*
Peng approached, his face grim. "We're not safe yet. The demons… they're regrouping."
Lin Yi looked up. The remaining demons—still thousands strong—were gathering on the chamber's edges, their red eyes fixed on the 48 surviving cultivators. Without Li or the fiends to command them, they were disorganized, but their numbers alone were terrifying.
The nun, propped up against a stone, spoke through gritted teeth. "Yin Demon… he's 觉醒 (waking). The cave… it's 回应 (responding) to him. We need to find the exit—now."
Lin Yi nodded. He gently set Zhang Ziyan down, handing her a *凝露丹 (Condensation Dew Pill)*. "Rest. I'll guard you."
He turned to the others, his voice steady. "We fight our way out. Stick together—no one gets left behind."
The cultivators nodded, their resolve hardening. They'd lost too many to give up now.
Lin Yi summoned the *Purple Demon Gourd* again. The mist billowed, driving back the nearest demons. "This way!"
He led the charge, the gourd's mist clearing a path. Peng and the remaining Foundation cultivators followed, their swords and spells cutting through the horde. Zhang Ziyan, revitalized by the pill, fought beside them, her whip cracking like thunder.
The battle was 惨烈的 (bloody). Cultivators fell one by one, but they pressed on, driven by the hope of escape.
When they finally reached a narrow passage at the chamber's rear, only 30 cultivators remained.
"Through here!" Lin Yi shouted, the first to dart into the passage.
The others followed, the demons' roars fading behind them as the passage 收缩 (narrowed).
They collapsed at the passage's end, gasping for breath. Beyond them lay a dim cave, its walls lined with 发光的符文 (glowing runes)—a far cry from the chaos they'd left.
The nun, leaning on Lin Yi for support, pointed to a stone door at the cave's far end. "That's… the exit. I can feel it."
Hope surged. They'd survived the worst—surely, freedom was within reach.
But as Lin Yi reached for the door, the runes on the walls 爆发出 (flared) with 刺目的 (blinding) light. A 低沉的 (deep) voice echoed through the cave, resonating in their bones.
"Flee if you wish… but none leave my 囚笼 (prison) alive."
Yin Demon had awakened.
Lin Yi's hand froze on the door handle. The real fight was only just beginning.