Chapter 564

"But."

Tanlang continued, "The underground corridors are saturated with malevolent energy several times denser than the surface, and they breed 'Earthly Malefic Demons,' 'Ancient Battle Residual Souls,' and even strange entities born from anomalous shifts in malevolent energy and earth veins."

"The peril of the environment and the limitation of perception surpass those on the surface. More importantly, you must guard against the possibility that the Beast God Organization has not only detected but also exploited these subterranean passages. Choosing this path is to place yourself deeper into the unknown darkness."

Chen Mu fell into thought.

Tanlang's analysis held merit.

Three Heavenly Palace Beast Gods had joined forces to blockade the front; a direct confrontation would be unwise.

Though dangerous, the underground corridors might offer an unexpected route.

Yet, as Tanlang said, the subterranean environment was even more unknown, and the Beast Gods might have laid traps.

"How much do you know about that corridor? Can you guarantee you'll avoid the Beast Gods' possible underground setups and find the path to the core of the Buried Weapons Valley?" Chen Mu asked.

"About a fifty percent chance."

Tanlang admitted frankly, "I have never reached the end of the corridor. Its branching paths are countless, and the flow of malevolent energy is chaotic—you must constantly survey the earth veins and malevolent energy nodes to determine direction."

"I have some insight into earth vein divination and malevolent energy sensing. If we watch each other's backs and proceed cautiously, our chances may rise to seventy percent. As for the Beast Gods' setups..."

His eyes flashed with cold light, "If they exist, we eliminate them. The narrowness underground favors ambushes and concealment—it may even grant us an advantage."

A fifty to seventy percent chance in such a perilous place was already decent.

Moreover, Tanlang clearly possessed considerable knowledge of the subterranean environment and the Beast Gods; his experience and combat prowess were vital guarantees for this collaboration.

"Agreed."

Chen Mu no longer hesitated and nodded in assent. "Where is the entrance to the underground corridor?"

"Follow me."

Tanlang said no more; his figure transformed into a streak of dark red bloodlight and plunged straight down into the abyss below the cliff, where thick malevolent energy churned.

His form moved with ease amid the violent gale and chaotic streams of malevolent energy, as if long accustomed to such harsh conditions.

Chen Mu likewise became a streak of emerald light, following closely behind.

The two, one ahead and one behind, resembled two meteors traveling in reverse, vanishing into the dark abyss that seemed capable of swallowing all light.

The deeper they descended, the faster the light vanished; only spiritual sense and special ocular techniques could perceive anything.

Cold, bone-chilling malevolent energy, thick as liquid, surged from all directions like a tide, furiously eroding their protective true energy and spiritual defenses.

Their ears were filled with the piercing shrieks of the gale, the hissing of malevolent energy rubbing together, and faint, ghostly wails echoing from the Nine Heavens below—disturbing the mind.

Chen Mu surrounded himself with true energy, completely isolating and purifying the spiritual corruption and negative emotions within the malevolent energy.

He sensed that the malevolent energy deep within this ancient battlefield was not merely icy and bone-piercing—it also carried a fierce, resentful, destructive will of war, exerting immense pressure on a cultivator's spirit.

Ahead, Tanlang's figure moved like a phantom through the thick, impenetrable black mist of malevolent energy, neither fast nor slow.

Yet he always avoided, at the last possible instant, the sudden, rapidly spinning vortexes of malevolent energy.

Or the hidden, razor-sharp remnants of spatial fissures concealed within the mist.

His mastery over the environment was evident.

After descending nearly two thousand zhang, the surroundings were absolute darkness and silence, save for the faint sound of malevolent energy flowing and his own heartbeat.

The cliff walls now bore vast patches of damage—as if torn apart by immense force or seared by some terrifying energy—and embedded within the rock layers were massive, rusted weapon fragments and bizarre skeletal remains, silently testifying to the brutality of the ancient war.

"Here."

Tanlang's voice echoed clearly in the deathly silent abyss.

Chen Mu stared ahead and saw, on the steep cliff face ahead, a black hole roughly five zhang high and over three zhang wide, its edges jagged and torn.

The entrance was not still—it breathed, slowly and rhythmically—

Streams of purer, colder, gray-black malevolent energy, thick with the stench of blood and decay, surged forth like the breath of a great beast, swirling into eddies just beyond the mouth.

The rocks around the entrance were darkened to an ominous black, as if steeped in some impure force for ten thousand years.

"The Earthly Malefic Corridor—the true entrance."

Tanlang gazed into the endless, unfathomably deep black hole. "Once inside, all five senses and spiritual sense will be severely suppressed. Stay close to me. Do not lightly probe areas where malevolent energy gathers abnormally—you may awaken the lurking horrors within. Some things underground are extremely sensitive to spiritual fluctuations."

Chen Mu gave a slight nod, indicating understanding.

He felt that the malevolent energy emanating from this entrance was several times purer and more corrosive than what lay outside.

The intense stench of blood and death seemed to seep directly into the marrow.

Tanlang said no more; his form flickered and became a thin streak of dark red, vanishing into the black hole spewing malevolent energy, instantly swallowed by darkness, his presence reduced to near-invisibility.

Chen Mu suppressed his own aura to its utmost limit, then darted forward, following Tanlang into the deep, devouring corridor.

Upon entering the corridor, it was as if he had stepped into another world.

Light vanished completely; perception relied solely on spiritual sense and special spiritual awareness.

Thick, nearly liquid gray-black malevolent energy filled every inch of space, icy and bone-chilling, carrying intense corrosiveness and spiritual contamination, violently assaulting Chen Mu's protective field and spiritual defenses.

Beneath his feet was not solid ground, but a soft, sticky substance—like a mixture of millennia-deposited bone powder, blood sludge, and metal rust—that emitted a grating, squelching "puchī" sound with each step.

The air reeked of an indescribable blend of iron rust, rotting flesh, sulfur, and a strange sweet-sour stench that made one nauseous.

The corridor was not straight but twisted downward, and unusually wide—over ten zhang in both height and width—as if carved by some colossal creature.

The walls were rough, covered in claw marks, chisel indentations, and massive, dried black stains resembling splattered ink.

When Chen Mu extended his spiritual sense, it met sharp, needle-like pain and resistance after only dozens of zhang, as if layered invisible forces were weakening and interfering with it.

Beside his ears, besides his faint heartbeat and breath, came an omnipresent whispering—countless fragmented voices overlapping, filled with malice and agony, drilling straight into his mind.

Tanlang, several zhang ahead, moved like a ghost in the darkness, silent and unseen.

In his hand, a yellowish-brown crystal now glowed brighter and steadier, illuminating a small patch ahead and seemingly resonating with some hidden pulse beneath the earth, guiding his path.

Their progress was slow; they frequently halted, pressing a palm to the ground or injecting a sliver of dark red true energy into the wall, carefully sensing something before continuing.

Chen Mu followed closely behind, maintaining a distance that neither hindered Tanlang's movement nor prevented him from offering immediate support.