Chapter 335

In the depths of the Hundred Herbs Garden, behind the collapsed ruins of the palace, there indeed lay a hidden fissure—extremely concealed, covered by layers of twisted vines and spatial folds.

Had it not been for Jiu'er pointing out the general direction, and had Wang Ping and the others not forcibly disturbed it with chaotic spiritual power and sword intent of laws, ordinary cultivators passing by here hundreds or thousands of times would still fail to notice it.

The fissure was narrow, allowing only one person to slip through sideways; inside lay a rugged, uneven, damp and cold stone passage, with ancient runes long faded on the walls, barely indicating the direction.

The air was thick with an even stronger scent—mingled with iron rust, decay, and an indescribable "malice"—that weighed heavily on the mind.

Jiu'er lay on Wang Ping's shoulder, her small body trembling slightly, clearly filled with instinctive fear toward this untraveled path.

Wang Ping, while using his Chaotic Domain to clear the way ahead and purify the unpleasant odors as much as possible, also soothed Jiu'er.

Cangxuan and Yuliuli followed closely behind, each maintaining high vigilance.

Cangxuan's sword intent remained contained but not released; the Star-Guiding Disk hovered at his side, illuminating a radius of about ten feet ahead.

Yuliuli's Immortal Sound Bell rang low, forming a thin layer of sound-wave shield to resist possible spiritual erosion in the environment.

The passage was long and winding, as if leading deep into the earth. Along the way, they encountered several attacks—all strange entities born of this place's environment.

Shadows condensed from filthy energy, strange worms with fangs suddenly bursting from stone cracks, and even some shattered remnants of immortal palace guards seemingly awakened by this place's malice.

These monsters were mostly at the early or middle Nascent Soul stage; under the combined effort of Wang Ping and his two companions, they were swiftly eliminated, but undoubtedly slowed their pace and intensified spiritual exhaustion.

"This so-called 'shortcut' is indeed fraught with danger," Cangxuan said, slashing the last guard remnant to pieces with his sword, brows tightly furrowed, "Hope we're not too late."

"If Yinying could send a message, it means he's temporarily safe—or successfully concealed. We must trust him," Yuliuli said, her voice firm, though worry lingered in her eyes.

Wang Ping said nothing more, merely pushing his speed to the limit.

The shadow jade in his bosom continuously transmitted a faint, directional warmth—the resonance of Yinying's last sent positional coordinates.

After an unknown time traversing the dark, oppressive passage, a faint dark red glow finally appeared ahead, accompanied by a palpably terrifying energy fluctuation and the eerie sound of incantations!

The passage opened onto the side wall near the top of a massive cavern.

The three concealed their auras and silently crept to the edge of the opening, looking down.

The sight below caused their pupils to contract sharply, their hearts sinking.

It was an extremely vast, inverted-bowl-shaped underground stone grotto, its dome suspended high above, hundreds of zhang from the ground.

At the center stood a magnificent palace constructed entirely of a strange, dark red stone that seemed soaked in blood, its scale rivaling that of the outside Pill Palace, though its style was far more ferocious and evil.

The palace's plaque was already broken, but the two twisted ancient seal characters "逆元" remained clearly visible—Niyuan Palace!

The entire Niyuan Palace was shrouded in a thick, un-dissipating, surging dark red evil light.

Within the evil light, countless struggling shadows of living beings floated and wailed, emitting overwhelming resentment and a stench of blood.

The evil light was not static; centered on the palace, it formed inward-spinning vortices, frenziedly devouring the pure netherworld death energy gushing from all sides of the palace and even from cracks in the dome's stone walls.

There was also a faint gray energy, carrying ancient immortal韵 yet mixed with corrupt, decadent aura—apparently some primal force provided by the fallen remnants!

And before the Niyuan Palace, on the vast, empty dark red stone ground, a massive, shocking evil ritual was underway!

Hundreds of black-robed Netherworld cultivators, their lowest cultivation at Golden Core stage, along with fewer but equally eerie "fallen remnants" clad in tattered ancient armor or robes, sat cross-legged around the Niyuan Palace according to an extremely complex and vast formation diagram.

They chanted obscure, evil incantations, continuously pouring their netherworld death energy or that faint gray fallen immortal essence into the ground's formation lines.

At the heart of the formation, before the main gate of the Niyuan Palace, lay a colossal altar over a hundred zhang in diameter, composed of countless dark gold runes and flowing fresh blood!

Upon the altar stood nine towering pillars carved from unknown black bone, their tops burning with ghostly green flames.

At the altar's center floated a house-sized, constantly pulsing dark red "heart" phantom, its surface covered in vein-like patterns resembling blood vessels.

With each beat of that "heart," the entire grotto's evil light surged violently, and from deep within the Niyuan Palace came a clearer, more soul-shaking sound—like chains dragging from the deepest Nine Abyss and some colossal entity struggling, a muffled roar!

At this moment, three figures stood at the formation's core, presiding over this evil blood sacrifice.

On the left was precisely the Netherworld expert Wang Ping had once sensed from afar, wielding half-step Divine Transformation pressure—"Míngǔ"!

His aura fully unleashed, the dense netherworld death energy nearly solidified into substance, forming a black cloak; his face remained hidden in shadow, but in his hand he now held a strange scepter strung from countless tiny skulls, the skull's eyes at the top burning with pallid soulfire, continuously refining and pouring the netherworld death energy and resentment converging in the formation below into that beating "heart."

On the right was an old man clad in tattered dark gold immortal armor, his face withered, eye sockets deeply sunken, yet exuding an aura no weaker than Míngǔ's.

He held aloft a broken, ancient seal constantly oozing faint gray energy, channeling that fallen immortal essence into the formation. This man must be the fallen remnants elder spoken of by Yinying—Yúnxiān!

But most striking was the phantom figure hovering between them, directly above the pulsing "heart" phantom—its form indistinct, as if about to dissipate, yet emanating an ancient, lofty, disdainful majesty.

Its aura shared the same source as Yúnxiān's fallen immortal essence, yet far purer and vaster, faintly carrying a trace of… Immortal King aura?!

This seemed to be a remnant of a powerful divine thought from some ancient Immortal King, or perhaps the manifested will of a will corrupted and fallen!

"Accelerate! With blood as guide, with soul as fuel, 逆乱 yin-yang, shake the seal! The Gate of Gui Xu shall open for us!" the phantom Immortal King intoned in a cold, grand voice, echoing throughout the grotto.

As his command rang out, among the seated Netherworld cultivators and fallen remnants in the formation, dozens suddenly stiffened.

Then, silently, they turned into pools of pus and blood—even their souls had no time to escape—being devoured by the formation and merged into that beating "heart."

The "heart's" beat then surged suddenly stronger by several degrees, resonating more fiercely with the chain-dragging sound from deep within the Niyuan Palace!

"They're using their own people's lives in a blood sacrifice!" Yuliuli covered her mouth and cried out, her eyes filled with disbelief and anger.

"Madmen! They intend to use the extreme negative energy generated by the blood sacrifice, resonating with the Gui Xu's pull, to forcibly tear open the outer layer of the Zhen Xu Tai seal!" Cangxuan gripped his sword tightly, knuckles whitening.

Wang Ping's face sank like water. He could clearly feel, as the blood sacrifice proceeded,

the entire grotto's, nay, the entire Immortal Palace's earth-pulse energy, being frenziedly drained and twisted by that evil formation, rushing toward the depths of the Niyuan Palace.

A suffocating, apocalyptic-pressure-like horror was slowly awakening and spreading from there. Must stop! Now!

"Where is Yinying?" Wang Ping sent a mental inquiry, his eyes scanning the dense crowd and shifting lights of the formation below.

"Over there," Cangxuan said, his sword intent flickering as he pointed to a relatively dim shadow area beside and behind the altar, near the stone wall.

There seemed to be nothing, but with Cangxuan and Wang Ping's keen perception, they could faintly detect an extremely weak, icy stillness utterly alien to the surrounding evil light—exactly Yinying!

As if sensing the arrival of Wang Ping and his two companions, that patch of shadow trembled ever so slightly, and immediately, an extremely faint yet clear mental pulse entered Wang Ping's sea of consciousness:

"They're using that fallen Immortal King's remnant thought as the core, with Yúnxiān and Míngǔ presiding; the formation is already more than half complete, its core being the 'Gui Xu Blood Core' phantom.

Destroying the formation's eye or killing the presiders can interrupt it, but all three are protected by strong seals and interconnected. A direct assault won't work easily—I'm trying to create chaos."

Just then, the phantom Immortal King at the altar's center seemed to sense something; its icy gaze swept like substance over the grotto's upper reaches, especially lingering slightly on the passage exit where Wang Ping and his companions hid.

"A few ignorant insects dare to spy?" Elder Yúnxiān rasped, his eyes flashing with cruelty and mockery.

"Since you've come, you might as well serve as the final offerings for this blood sacrifice—your blood essence and souls are far purer than those trash!"

He hadn't finished speaking when he raised his hand and pointed toward the direction where Wang Ping and the three were!

Instantly, dozens of thick, dark-red evil light condensed tentacles shot out from the stone grotto's vaulted ceiling, like demonic pythons bursting from their holes, emitting piercing whistles as they tore through the air and lunged fiercely at the three!

At the same time, within the formation below, over a hundred Netherworld Clan and Fallen Remnant cultivators rose to their feet, riding escape arts or unleashing spells, blocking the three's retreat and evasion space!

"Exposed! Attack!" Wang Ping let out a low shout, no longer concealing himself, his figure shooting out from the tunnel entrance like a cannonball! The Five Elements Chaotic Domain erupted with a boom, grayish misty airflow sweeping outward to meet the sky-full of evil light tentacles!

"Chaotic Domain—All Things Return to Ruin!" He pushed the domain to its utmost, the essence of inclusivity and termination permeating; those evil light tentacles striking the domain immediately sank like into a mire, their speed plummeting, surface luster rapidly dimming, eroded and dissolved by chaotic power.

"Sword of Laws—Rending the Star River!" Cangxuan followed closely, waving his sword finger, countless fine sword auras containing spatial cutting and stellar destruction power burst forth, like the Milky Way pouring down, precisely slashing at the charging cultivators and subsequent evil light assaults, instantly slaughtering several Golden Core enemies and shattering vast swaths of evil light.

"Nine Turns of Immortal Sound—Shatter Evil, Calm Souls!" Yuliuli flicked her material hands repeatedly, the Immortal Sound Bell emitting a lofty, impassioned chime; seven-colored sound waves turned into substantive ripples spreading outward; wherever they passed, those lower-cultivation Netherworld Clan and Remnant cultivators were struck as if by a heavy blow, clutching their heads in anguished cries, their souls wounded, formations thrown into chaos.

The moment the three made their move, they displayed immense strength and seamless coordination, tearing open a gap in the dense assault and charging toward the altar!

"Hmph, some skill, no wonder you made it this far." Minggu let out a cold snort, his bone scepter pausing, "Netherworld Ghost Domain, Ten Thousand Souls Devouring Spirits!"

Boom! Even denser, more viscous Netherworld death qi erupted from him as center, instantly shrouding half the altar area, encompassing Wang Ping and the three! Within the death qi, countless more solid and ferocious vengeful spirits wailed as they surged forth, among them even a few ghost generals with aura reaching mid Nascent Soul!

"Ziji Dan Fire, Burn!" Wang Ping's shoulder, Jiu'er gathered courage, her small hand waving, a wisp of extremely weak yet supremely pure purple fire flew out from within him!

This fire wisp looked tiny, yet emitted the purest, most yang origin aura of elixir fire, possessing extremely strong restraint against Netherworld ghost qi!

The fire wisp fell into the Netherworld Ghost Domain, immediately making a "hiss-hiss" sound, burning and purifying vast expanses of death qi and vengeful spirits; though its range was limited, it greatly eased pressure on the three!

"Jiu'er, well done!" Wang Ping praised, simultaneously forming seals with both hands, fully activating the Five Elements Divine Light, a broad expanse of grayish misty light curtain sweeping forward like a giant brush, forcibly "brushing" the surging masses of vengeful spirits and ghost generals, as well as several powerful Netherworld spells, into fading and dissipation!

Cangxuan then coordinated with Yuliuli, sword light and sound waves intertwining, like a meat grinder clearing enemies on the flanks, while attempting to approach the altar.

However, the three maintaining the formation were too strong, and the formation had taken shape. Elder Yunxuan's hand-held damaged seal flashed, a pillar of pale gray light descended from the heavens, enveloping him and Minggu, forming solid protection. Simultaneously, his chanting grew more urgent, the "Return to Ruin Blood Core" throbbing faster and faster; the chain sounds and struggling howls from deep within the Return to Ruin Palace grew clearer, more frantic and violent!

"Useless! The blood sacrifice is complete, the power of Return to Ruin has been drawn! The seal trembles, the great trend cannot be reversed! You, mantis arms blocking a cart, merely add a few more wandering souls!" Yunxuan laughed madly, his eyes full of frenzy.

"Is that so?" A voice, icy enough to seem able to freeze the soul, suddenly sounded from the shadows at arm's length behind Yunxuan!

Nether Shadow! He had finally awaited the best assassination opportunity! At the very moment Yunxuan strained to maintain the formation, his mind agitated, he surged forth like a ghost from the shadow beneath Yunxuan's feet!

A pitch-black, lightless short sword, seemingly able to absorb all vitality, bearing his long-held full power, stabbed straight at Yunxuan's rear heart vital point!

This strike was fast! Ruthless! Precise! Timing seized to perfection! Moreover, it contained the terrifying assassination intent of ignoring defenses and directly slaughtering the origin!

"Careful!" That illusory Immortal King's residual thought let out a harsh shout, but seemingly limited by his state, his reaction was slightly slow half a beat.

Yunxuan, after all, was a peak Nascent Soul expert; at the critical moment, he forcibly twisted his body, simultaneously the damaged seal automatically protecting its master erupted with a blinding gray light!

"Pfft!"

The short sword pierced Yunxuan's back, but was blocked by the gray light and protective immortal essence, unable to exert full force, only penetrating about an inch, drawing a trail of dark gold blood (Remnant's blood). Yunxuan let out a muffled groan, his breath suddenly chaotic, the hand maintaining the formation also stalled!

"Courting death!" Minggu raged, his bone scepter sweeping horizontally, a condensed thread of Netherworld death light shooting toward the Nether Shadow's appearance position. However, Nether Shadow struck and retreated, his form merging again into shadow, instantly appearing tens of zhang away, dodging this strike.

Although he failed to severely wound Yunxuan, this strike interrupted the blood sacrifice formation's operation, causing obvious delay and disorder! The throbbing of that "Return to Ruin Blood Core" also faltered for an instant!

"Good opportunity!" Wang Ping's eyes flashed with sharp light, seizing this fleeting battle chance, disregarding his own consumption, he poured all his mind and remaining chaotic spiritual power into his hands!

"Five Elements Divine Light—Yin Yang Reversal!"

This time, he did not simply "brush," but simulated the Five Elements Divine Light's power into the artistic conception of yin-yang reversal and order collapse, transforming into two intertwined, rotating pillars of chaotic light, one black one white, like two roaring angry dragons, directly blasting toward the throbbing "Return to Ruin Blood Core" phantom at the altar's center!

He intended to use chaotic power to forcibly interfere with, even reverse the core of this blood sacrifice energy!

"Presumptuous!" That illusory Immortal King's residual thought finally moved in anger, raising his hand to point, a gray finger beam containing terrifying fallen immortal essence and Return to Ruin erosion power, striking first despite being launched later, meeting Wang Ping's chaotic light pillar!

"Stars as Guide, Sword Breaks Ten Thousand Laws!" Cangxuan also erupted with all his sword intent, a thread of "Break False" sword condensed to the utmost, closely following the chaotic light pillar, directly stabbing at the Immortal King's residual thought's true body!

"Immortal Sound Resonance, Soul Shatter Divine Wasteland!" Yuliuli pushed the Immortal Sound Bell to its utmost, emitting a destructive sound wave directly striking the soul's origin, disturbing Yunxuan and Minggu's spellcasting.

Jiu'er also gathered strength, spitting out another small mouthful of her natal elixir fire, turning into a spray of purple fire meteors, scattering toward the low-rank cultivator group maintaining the formation below, causing chaos.

Boom! Boom! Boom——!!!

Several powerful forces collided violently above the altar! The berserk energy storm instantly exploded, sweeping in all directions! The altar shuddered violently, the patterns etched upon it flickering indistinctly, the ghost fire on the nine black bone pillars swaying as if about to extinguish. Many cultivators maintaining the formation were swept by the energy aftermath, vomiting blood and flying backward, the formation instantly becoming even more unstable.

Wang Ping's chaotic light pillar and the Immortal King's residual thought's gray finger beam mutually annihilated, but he also suffered recoil, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, repeatedly retreating. Cangxuan's "Break False" sword thread pierced into the Immortal King's residual thought's body, causing its phantom to violently tremble, dim considerably, and emit an angry muffled groan. Yuliuli's sound wave attack also caused Yunxuan and Minggu's breath to fluctuate again.

However, the core of the blood sacrifice—that "Return to Ruin Blood Core" phantom—although throbbing violently, was not shattered! Moreover, the terrifying aura from deep within the Return to Ruin Palace, due to the prior provocation and this very stimulation, seemed to have become even more active!

"Hahaha!" Yunxuan disregarded his back injury, laughing wildly as if mad.

"Useless! You cannot break the 'Return to Ruin Blood Core'! This is formed by using Return to Ruin origin aura as a guide, fusing countless living beings' essence blood and soul spirits condensed into a phantom, resonating with the true body within the seal!

The blood sacrifice has reached its final stage, the seal will open, the power of Return to Ruin will pour forth! All of you will die! And my master, will rely on this power to return to the world!"

The "my master" in his mouth clearly did not refer to that Immortal King's residual thought.

At this moment, that illusory Immortal King's residual thought spoke in a complex, obscure tone, carrying endless resentment and a hint of madness:

"Ignorant juniors, do you truly think that old man of Chaos is some savior?

If not for him being the first eroded by 'Return to Ruin Darkness,' losing his mind, his power running amok, how could the Immortal Realm have collapsed to this extent?

Why would we need to dissolve our own bodies, using our残躯 to suppress this place? This Suppress Void Immortal Palace suppresses not external demons, but suppresses Chaos Immortal King himself!

It is his polluted form, about to become the source of destruction, that immortal body!"

These words struck like heavenly thunder, fiercely striking Wang Ping, Cangxuan, Yuliuli, and even the newly revealed Nether Shadow in the heart!

Chaos Immortal King……was the first to be polluted? The Suppress Void Immortal Palace suppresses……Chaos Immortal King's own immortal body about to become demonized?!

This shocking truth left everyone stunned for a moment.

"So," the Immortal King's residual thought continued in an icy voice, "the seal loosens, Return to Ruin power leaks, and it is not entirely bad. Perhaps……it could allow that old man of Chaos to be completely freed, and also allow us……to regain freedom! Yunxuan, Minggu, no need to hold back, activate the final step! Draw forth the true Return to Ruin power, tear apart this damned prison!"

Yunxuan and Minggu exchanged a glance, resolve flashing in their eyes. Both simultaneously spat out a mouthful of natal essence blood, merging into the seal in their hands and the scepter. The "Return to Ruin Blood Core" phantom violently expanded, contracted, then exploded with a boom! Transforming into countless dark red, vein-like energy threads, which fiercely pierced deep into the Return to Ruin Palace!

"Roar——!!!"

A roar unprecedented, seeming to come from ancient primordial times, filled with endless pain, madness, and destructive desire, erupted from deep within the Return to Ruin Palace, penetrating layer after layer of restrictions and buildings, like a tsunami sweeping the entire stone grotto! The ground shook violently, rock walls cracked, debris rained down!

An aura that made even Wang Ping feel his soul freeze, transcending God Transformation and even beyond estimation of its level—dark, chaotic, terminating—like an awakened world-destroying beast, began to slowly rise! That was the throbbing of the polluted origin belonging to Chaos Immortal King (perhaps no longer worthy of the title Immortal King), sealed for who knows how many hundreds of thousands of years!

The final step of the blood sacrifice was actually directly stimulating and provoking the polluted source within the seal, causing it to riot, hoping to tear the seal apart from within!

"It's over……" Yuliuli's face turned deathly pale.

"We must stop……we must do something!" Cangxuan's sword-gripping hand trembled, but his eyes remained unyielding.

Nether Shadow's figure solidified in the shadows, his breath somewhat disordered, obviously the prior assassination and evasion consumed greatly, but his icy eyes likewise held no surrender.

Wang Ping's brain raced. A frontal assault on the formation's core was now impossible; the "Return to the Void Blood Core" had already resonated deeply with the pollution source within the seal. Killing the presider? Protected by a residual thought of an Immortal King, and that terrifying aura had already awakened—chances were slim. Did he truly have to just watch the seal break?

His gaze, unbidden, drifted toward the side of the Ni Yuan Palace, to the entrance of the path mentioned by Jiu Er, leading to the sealed "Chaos Palace." There, it too flickered in and out of visibility under the impact of the surging energy.

Chaos Immortal King... self-suppressed... Chaos Palace...

An extremely daring, nearly mad thought flashed like lightning across Wang Ping's mind!

Since the Chaos Immortal King is the pollution source, and he has self-sealed himself within the Chaos Palace, then, inside the Chaos Palace, does he still retain his true inheritance, will, or... a method to resolve this pollution from before his corruption? Even if just a sliver of hope?

Rather than futilely attacking here a formation already resonating with the pollution source, it would be better to... take a gamble! Enter the Chaos Palace, seek a possible turning point! Even if that place might be more dangerous, possibly the core of the pollution!

This thought made his own heart race. But gazing at the ever-rising terrifying aura, feeling the earth's mournful cries beneath his feet, he knew, perhaps this was the only possible way to break the deadlock.

He suddenly turned, looking at Cang Xuan, Yu Liuli, and You Ying, his eyes resolute: "We can't hold this place! The formation has deeply linked with the pollution source inside the seal; a frontal assault will only accelerate its eruption! We must find another way!"

He pointed toward the direction of the Chaos Palace: "I will enter the Chaos Palace! That is where the Chaos Immortal King self-sealed himself; perhaps we can find a way to counteract the pollution, or at least delay the seal's collapse! You... are you willing to go with me?"

Upon hearing this, Cang Xuan and the other two were all startled. Entering the Chaos Palace, which might be the pollution core? This was no different from walking into a trap! But seeing Wang Ping's resolute and firm gaze, feeling the increasingly terrifying roars and destructive aura from behind, they knew, staying here was equally a dead end, merely a difference between dying sooner or later.

"We go together!" Cang Xuan almost without hesitation, said in a deep voice, "The Sword Dao knows no retreat!"

"Liuli is willing to go." Yu Liuli took a deep breath, her eyes regaining their firmness.

You Ying nodded, his figure once again becoming elusive.

"Jiu Er... are you afraid?" Wang Ping rubbed the shoulders of the trembling Dan Ling Tongzi.

Jiu Er looked at Wang Ping, then at the terrifying Ni Yuan Palace, her small face full of fear, but in the end she still nodded firmly: "Jiu Er... Jiu Er will follow the master! Grandfather... certainly would not want to see this..."