As the monsters here increased, Jiang Fan found himself struggling to resist.
The group of giant flying dragons was incredibly powerful, constantly circling overhead, posing a grave danger.
A single moment of carelessness could lead to injuries for both Gun Gun and Jiang Fan.
Gun Gun's shoulder was already bleeding, and the enraged monsters were viciously attacking, desperate to devour it.
Fortunately, Jiang Fan had been providing cover.
Gun Gun, despite its injury, proved formidable, tearing apart the monsters with its sharp claws and teeth.
Even the dragons in the sky were not safe, with Gun Gun occasionally snatching one down to be battered.
It was evident that Gun Gun, fueled by its wound, had gone berserk.
The endless dust plume resembled a yellow sky.
As far as the eye could see, there were only monsters and yellow sand.
Zhou Niannian, Dai Xiaomei, and Yao were at the rear, desperately searching for an exit.
However, in such chaotic surroundings, finding an exit was proving impossible.
Moreover, the sand kicked up by the flying monsters was stinging their eyes.
"This won't do. Gun Gun and Jiang Fan won't be able to hold on for much longer. There are simply too many monsters, they can't all be killed."
Zhou Niannian stamped her foot in distress, a stark contrast to her relieved joy moments before.
Had they not been in danger, she likely wouldn't have remembered how terrifying these monsters were after escaping.
Though these monsters had just hatched, their combat power seemed far from that of newborns.
The surrounding stone pillars added to the immense pressure everyone felt.
Just then, another group of giant dragons flew in. Jiang Fan's brow furrowed as he turned and shouted towards Zhou Niannian's group.
"Quick, find an exit and run! More dragons are coming, and if we don't escape, we won't be able to hold them off either."
Jiang Fan had already expended a significant amount of energy fighting the monsters. If he continued, even if he wasn't killed by the monsters and dragons, he would be exhausted to death.
After fighting for so long, the number of monsters hadn't decreased, and now a new wave of dragons had arrived.
With no other choice, Jiang Fan told Zhou Niannian to take the orb and leave first.
But breaking through the monster encirclement was easier said than done.
Jiang Fan surveyed the surroundings, then patted Gun Gun, signaling it to follow him towards another side.
The monsters were sparser there, and the dragons were less concentrated.
Wielding his fire axe, Jiang Fan, like a god of war, charged into the horde.
His fire axe swept across the monsters.
The ground was littered with mangled limbs.
Fortunately, these monsters had just hatched and their defenses were still weak. Despite their frenzy, they couldn't withstand Jiang Fan's fire axe.
At that moment, the dragons sped towards them. Jiang Fan immediately created an opening and yelled for Zhou Niannian, Yao, and Dai Xiaomei to escape through it.
Though they didn't know where they were running, this direction was free from the stone array's interference, and the monsters had been temporarily repelled by Jiang Fan.
Behind them surged a tide of enemies.
If they didn't run this way, there was no other direction to choose.
Yao, followed by Dai Xiaomei and Zhou Niannian, charged out.
At the same time, Yao drew his sword.
As they fled, any monsters that tried to pounce were cut down by Yao's blade.
With the approaching dragons, the already overwhelming oppressive wind grew even more intense.
Even the smaller stones on the ground were lifted by the wind generated by the sheer number of dragons, forming swirling sand vortexes.
These vortexes seemed to gain a life of their own, continuously swirling towards Jiang Fan.
At this moment, a powerful gust of wind gathered all the sand, forming a massive tornado.
Fortunately, this tornado attacked indiscriminately.
Not only were Jiang Fan's group disrupted by the tornado, but the monsters behind them were also sucked into it, with no escape.
These monsters, driven by instinct to kill intruders and retrieve the orb, were easily tricked by Jiang Fan's movements into the tornado.
With fewer monsters around, Jiang Fan could finally catch his breath.
However, they then discovered that the sand beneath their feet was not several meters high as they had imagined.
Instead, it was only a few centimeters thick.
Due to the tornado, the sand had been swept away and drawn into the massive vortex.
"Look there."
Jiang Fan, not yet concerned with the dispersed sand, heard Zhou Niannian shout from behind.
Jiang Fan immediately turned and looked in the direction Zhou Niannian pointed, spotting a rectangular stone slab.
This slab didn't seem to belong there; it appeared to have been deliberately placed.
On the side of the slab, four ropes were connected to its corners.
The ends of these four ropes were tightly fastened to another, thicker rope.
This rope seemed to be connected to the second floor of the castle they had just left.
Clearly, this was a lifting platform.
However, it seemed to be controlled by some mechanism, causing its guide ropes to be lowered.
Finding the switch for the mechanism would likely cause the rope to be raised.
Most likely, once the switch was activated, they could ride the stone slab, pulled by gears and pulleys, to ascend to the second level of this space.
Upon seeing this mechanism, Jiang Fan pondered that the previous space indeed lacked stairs to the second floor.
And now, this mechanism appearing, could it be meant to evade these dangers?
"Quick, find the switch for this mechanism!"
Jiang Fan turned and shouted at Zhou Niannian.