Chapter 1612

Ximen Wudi reached out and touched the jade pendant, a sudden thought stirring in his heart.

For he felt that within this jade pendant, there seemed to be a powerful attraction—as if it were a storage space containing a seed, frantically absorbing the surrounding Qi.

"A storage pouch—this jade pendant must be the legendary storage treasure!" Ximen Wudi mused inwardly: "I wonder if such storage treasures truly exist in this world?"

Thinking this, Ximen Wudi shifted his intent, and the jade pendant floated into the air, slowly opening.

Ximen Wudi permeated his spiritual sense into the jade pendant, carefully probing its internal changes.

"Huh?" Ximen Wudi blinked in surprise.

Within the jade pendant, there were five vivid, multicolored hues—golden, red, green, purple, and blue.

Besides these five colors, there was also a peculiar scent.

When Ximen Wudi's spiritual sense scanned this scent, an image surfaced in his mind.

It was an endless ocean, upon which several massive warships drifted, their masts flying black banners with red characters.

"Black Water Legion…" Ximen Wudi murmured.

This jade pendant must be the banner of the Black Water Legion, the largest force under Heishuicheng.

The Black Water Legion was an army composed of three million troops.

This army consisted of ten million soldiers, each of whom had reached the Nascent Soul realm.

Within this army, besides the commander of the Black Water Legion, there were three deputy commanders.

The commander himself had reached the peak of the Nascent Soul realm, just one step away from entering the Soul Splitting realm.

The two deputy commanders each possessed only a Jin Dan core, but both wore a defensive armor—should a Soul Splitting expert be caught off guard by it, they would be injured, even risk losing their life.

These three million troops were the elite of the entire Black Water Legion, and the elite of Heishuicheng.

Of course, besides the Black Water Legion, Heishuicheng also possessed another force: a continent known as the Demon Clan.

The Demon Clan was an extremely mysterious and powerful race.

This race had very few members and was exceedingly reclusive, rarely showing itself to the world, living only in one specific location.

Within this race, there existed a special bloodline capable of absorbing Qi and wielding spiritual power.

This race was also immensely powerful, possessing not only formidable offensive techniques but also incredibly sinister evil curses—once targeted by them, even a person barely clinging to life would be tortured to death.

However, the Demon Clan's strength was extremely weak, so their combat power was far inferior to that of the human race.

Thus, neither the Lord of Heishuicheng nor the commander of the Black Water Legion took the Demon Clan seriously.

But the true terror of the Demon Clan lay not in strength, but in their sinister curses and mysterious curse arts—once cast, these curses instantly amplified the target's power, and gradually intensified over time until the victim eventually exploded into fragments.

This curse art was the most terrifying of all—even a Tribulation Cultivator ensnared by it could only perish in despair.

This was precisely why the armies of Heishuicheng were so formidable!

Yet Ximen Wudi was not afraid.

He had cultivated the Heavenly Fire Scripture; Heavenly Fire burned all things and possessed strong resistance to curses.

Long ago, in the Xuanbing Valley, Ximen Wudi had been hunted relentlessly by the Lord of Heishuicheng, yet he ultimately used the immense power of the Heavenly Fire Scripture to slay the Lord of Heishuicheng and successfully seized Heishuicheng.

After stowing the jade pendant, Ximen Wudi sat cross-legged and closed his eyes to meditate.

Soon after, waves of heat radiated from Ximen Wudi's body, and his clothing ignited completely.

…..

Xiantiancheng.

Night fell, and Xiantiancheng was illuminated with bright lights.

A luxurious carriage slowly entered Heishuicheng.

Inside the carriage, a beautiful woman reclined against cushions, her beautiful eyes gazing out the window, calm and languid.

Beside her sat a middle-aged man clad in a red robe.

The middle-aged man was strikingly handsome, with a robust frame and a heavy aura of malevolence in his brows.

"Husband, do you think the commander of the Black Water Legion will meet us?" the beautiful woman asked with a smile.

"Hmph, that bastard dares not refuse me!!!" the man snorted: "Though the Black Water Legion nominally falls under imperial jurisdiction, in truth, it is jointly controlled by various Zong Sects and clans—these factions' leaders are usually aloof and look down on everyone, but whenever crisis strikes, they inevitably beg for help from our Zong Sects or clans. Thus, many within the Black Water Legion are vassal families of our Zong Sects or clans."

Hearing this, the beautiful woman nodded: "If that's the case, let's go find him quickly! If we can ally with the Black Water Legion, our quest for that treasure will be much easier!"

The man smiled slightly: "Good. Let's go!"

……

The commander's mansion of the Black Water Legion spanned a vast area.

Within it stood dozens of palaces, one of which was especially grand and magnificent.

The commander of the Black Water Legion, Heishi, resided there.

At this moment, Heishi stood by a lakeside, gazing at the water, his expression dark.

"These bastards!!!" Heishi cursed repeatedly.

Originally, the Black Water Legion had been preparing to march, but just now, a group had stormed the Black Water Legion's headquarters, slaughtering its soldiers—worse still, these people showed no Gu Ji whatsoever.

They didn't just massacre the Black Water Legion's soldiers; they also captured every member of a family in Heishuicheng and declared that if Heishi did not appear within three days, they would kill every civilian in Heishuicheng.

This was an open provocation.

How could Heishi, commander of the mighty Black Water Legion, endure such humiliation?

"General Heishi, we've already dispatched scouts to track down these people!!!" a middle-aged man approached Heishi.

"Hmph!!!" Heishi drew a deep breath, suppressing the fire in his chest: "Confirm their whereabouts as soon as possible—once located, issue a wanted notice and execute them all!!!"

"Yes!!!"

……

On the other side, inside a mountain cave in the northern part of Profound Ice City, a figure lay on a bed.

The figure's skin was deathly pale all over, like a skeleton, with a head of silver hair draped over the shoulders.

On his left arm, a bandage was tied, and fresh blood had stained it red.

"Huff~ huff~!"

Suddenly, the skeleton violently opened both eyes.

In an instant, a patch of green ghostly fire rose up from within the skeleton.

He raised his head and looked around.

The mountain cave was very spacious, easily able to hold several hundred people.

The furnishings here were very simple — only a bed, and a table and chair.

Beside the bed, there was a huge crystal core, flickering with a greenish eerie glow.

"Hiss—"

A thin, long tentacle suddenly drilled out from within the crystal core, then in the blink of an eye wrapped itself around the skeleton's neck.

"Ah!!!!"

The skeleton screamed in agony.

The tentacle rapidly grew thicker and longer, and kept twisting, as if wanting to break free from the green vine's binding.

But the green vine was terrifyingly tough; no matter how desperately the skeleton struggled, it remained firmly bound around the skeleton's body, unable to break free.

"Ah!!!!"

The skeleton let out another piercing shriek.

The green vine tightened its grip more and more; a crunching, cracking sound came from the skeleton's throat, as if bones were shattering.

Just like that, the skeleton was tormented by the vine for a full half a cup of tea's time before slowly stopping.

By this time, the skeleton's body had withered, completely devoid of any sign of life.

"Crack~~~!"

The green vine also shrank back along with it.