The claw resembles a human hand, yet it's covered in scales with sharp nails, leaving one to wonder what kind of demon it belongs to.

Inside the stone coffin, Zhang Kui's gaze tightened.

Yuan Huang once mentioned that although the entrance to the Underworld could only be opened during the Mid-Autumn season, one could return at any time, with some even staying there for years on end.

The other party was injured, no wonder they returned early.

Soon, a tall, thin figure, standing at two meters, appeared, dressed in a luxurious golden robe. Its skin was a bluish-gray, with dominating yet sinister features, golden pupils, and fine keratin in between its brows.

Zhang Kui felt a sense of realization—this was the Great King.

The Great King walked with a stagger, a large gash at his waist oozing blood and ominous black mist, while dragging an Octopus Demon clad in bronze armor, tossing it to the ground.

Immortal Wu had mentioned his brother followed the Great King to the Underworld, and it seemed to be the one here. Clearly, he wasn't lightly injured, as his eyes were unfocused, bubbling blood from his mouth.

"Hmm!"

Noticing something unusual in the Water Mansion, the Great King's face changed slightly, with an overwhelming burst of Evil Qi reaching the sky.

He didn't rush to investigate but instead turned and formed a spell with his hands. The surrounding dragon-shaped reliefs immediately illuminated, and where the light and shadow intersected, a shadow materialized out of nowhere.

The Great King waved his hand, sending forth a bowl-sized, dull pearl, emitting faint dragon roars as white mist turned to clouds around it.

Zhang Kui was curious—could it be a Dragon Pearl?

Before he could see clearly, the Great King retracted the Dragon Pearl, visibly relieved.

Paying no mind to the countless corpses outside, he sat on the ground, spat out a mouthful of bloody froth, and mocked:

"Wu God, this time I've truly had it rough. Running into such a creature in the Underworld, only to find my lair looted upon return."

"Grrr..."

The heavily injured Octopus Demon fainted, unable to respond, yet continued to spit out large amounts of bloody froth. Meanwhile, the gashes on its body were rapidly growing new flesh.

The Great King gazed at the Octopus Demon with reminiscence in his eyes, "You've served me loyally for three thousand years; a shame indeed. Now, with enemies all around and myself wounded..."

As he spoke, he suddenly twisted his neck, and a shadow swiftly darted out, growing against the wind, soon occupying the entire hall. Within the roiling black smoke, a creature with scales, claws, and a single horned head, eyes as large as houses—a Black Flood Dragon.

The blood-red glow in the Black Flood Dragon's eyes burned fiercely, abruptly opening its large mouth to swallow Wu God whole. Then its body was enveloped in a green Demon Fire, transforming into a mass of black mist, surging like a living creature...

Such loyalty!

Zhang Kui's eyes were cold. Even though he understood that humans and demons had different views, the Great King's actions still made him uncomfortable.

However, one thing could be confirmed: though the Great King's aura was intimidating, he was still stuck in the Mahayana Realm, unlike the Military Advisor whose depth was hard to fathom.

Thus, the strength of the Jingjiang Water Mansion appeared to be significantly inferior to the General's Tomb, possibly even less than other Water Mansions.

Soon, the black smoke dissipated, and the Black Flood Dragon Monarch emerged, his wounds completely healed, with even his once luxurious golden robe now pristine and tidy.

He cast a murderous glance around, his Divine Sense sweeping the area, immediately grasping the situation within the Water Mansion.

"Who dares to trouble me..."

The Black Flood Dragon Monarch snorted coldly, spreading his scaled claws, blowing a breath of green Demon Mist. The hall was instantly filled with a hazy vision of the Water Mansion's interior:

Lush aquatic plants, River Demons shuttling back and forth, with large shells extending tentacles, and from time to time, an Insect Woman steering a Black Painting Boat into a Black Stone Ship...

Light and shadows recounted events!

These were scenes before something went wrong in the Water Mansion.

Zhang Kui was equally curious about what happened, so he focused intently, observing.

Suddenly, a Black Painting Boat rushed into the Water Mansion, followed by the frantic escape of the Insect Woman, shrieking: "Lady save me, Lady quickly save!"

Beneath her skin, black symbols swirled like fish, and her eyes were turning black.

"What's happening!"

The phantom silhouette of the Peach Blossom Lady flashed out, an insect eye on her forehead glowing faintly, sternly shouting.

"It's Lord and Wu Liqing, they've contracted a strange disease..."

The Insect Woman hurriedly explained the situation.

Upon seeing her subordinate in trouble, Immortal Wu also revealed himself, tentacles writhing, exuding a cold murderous intent.

However, before the Insect Woman could finish speaking, her gaze began to dull, like a puppet gradually losing life.

More horrifyingly, as she passed by everyone, black symbols started to appear on their faces, spreading one to ten, ten to a hundred, quickly engulfing the entire Water Mansion.

Zhang Kui was left stunned, gasping sharply.

The image showed Peach Blossom Lady and Immortal Wu also greatly shocked, "What a powerful curse!"

Indeed, this thing clearly appears to be a curse, but it can spread and infect even at the Celestial Tribulation Realm level, something unheard of.

The Two-headed Yaksha Monarch also revealed his form, sweeping his divine sense angrily, "This thing can be resisted at the Divine Travel Realm, we must quickly find the one casting the spell."

With that said, the three Old Demons led eight Divine Travel Realm evil spirits and a swirling sinister wind rushed out of the cave...

"Fools!"

The Black Flood Dragon Monarch suddenly flew into a rage, his expression becoming unpredictable, "How could this thing appear in the mortal world..."

As he spoke, he activated a spell, and the image showed Peach Blossom Lady's group again, searching along the river, quickly discovering that bizarre archway.

After a flash of blue light, everyone disappeared at the river's bottom.

"Ancient Secret Realm!"

The Black Flood Dragon Old Demon was clearly also startled, and with a change of expression, his figure disappeared instantly.

It was unexpected for an Ancient Secret Realm to appear at the entrance of the Jingjiang Water Mansion, Zhang Kui hadn't anticipated this, and clearly those evil spirits didn't know either.

The Ancient Secret Realm is incredibly mysterious, hidden within the void, often remaining undiscovered unless something goes wrong.

Yet Zhang Kui couldn't worry about that, with a stern face he controlled the Nether Soil Stone Coffin to swiftly leave the Water Mansion, heading downstream.

This curse wouldn't even spare small shrimp, if it had already spread...

Zhang Kui felt a chill in his heart.

The Nether Soil Stone Coffin moved extremely fast, in the blink of an eye passing over that archway and reaching the canal.

Sure enough, the canal's bottom was also littered with countless dead fish.

However, Zhang Kui soon breathed a sigh of relief, as fish swam back simultaneously, indicating that the curse hadn't caused catastrophic damage.

Patrolling along the canal up and down, Zhang Kui quickly deduced based on the dead fish at the riverbed that this terrifying curse had a certain range, approximately fifty li from the archway as the center.

Fortunately, due to the blockade of the Jingjiang Water Mansion, there wasn't a single boat on the canal, and the surrounding people either had been slain by the Water Mansion or had already relocated to the mountains.

What exactly was it?

Listening to what the Black Flood Dragon mentioned, it seemed like something seen in the Underworld, could it have emerged from there?

But how could it be in the Ancient Secret Realm?

All sorts of questions flooded Zhang Kui's mind, and gritting his teeth, he headed towards the stone archway.

He needed to determine what it was, to avoid disaster without knowing.

The stone archway, hidden at the river bottom and clinging to the mountain, soon came into sight.

Zhang Kui examined it carefully, discovering it was carved from a massive stone on the cliff, approximately twenty meters high, and after enduring countless years, some patterns at the top had already become obscure.

Before for sure no one noticed it, but now that there's a problem, its faint fluctuations can be detected.

The Black Flood Dragon surely had entered; Zhang Kui didn't hesitate either, revealing in a wisp of black smoke, first employing the Invisibility Skill and Protective Golden Light, then disappeared in a blue flash at the river's bottom...

......

The atmosphere was drowsy, black mist like gauze.

Entering, Zhang Kui's expression suddenly changed slightly.

The Tongyou Skill was once again blocked, it seemed that although the mist had a different color, it bore similar traits to the yellow mist from the Ji Temple Secret Realm.

The Tongyou Skill was currently at level three, with thirteen points left from last time, Zhang Kui upgraded to level five without hesitation, his pupils changing to show a sun and moon pattern.

After experiencing the Ji Temple Secret Realm, he knew how important a clear view was in such a place.

Indeed, his sight instantly broadened considerably, initially only able to see about fifty meters, but now able to discern up to two hundred meters away.

In reality, the Tongyou Skill was more proficient at seeing through illusions, arrays, and invisible ghost gods, and the black mist had a concealment function similar to a magical treasure, hence the limitation.

Zhang Kui hesitated for a moment but didn't use the Nether Soil Stone Coffin, opting to proceed carefully while remaining invisible.

Ancient Secret Realms are inherently developed within the void, the underground situation unknown, accidentally falling into a void abyss would be truly unfortunate.

While the Ji Temple Secret Realm had withered ancient trees, the ground here was a kind of blackish-grey soil, lifeless and devoid of vitality, impossible to guess where it came from, likely useless for growing anything outside.

Soon after, a shadow suddenly appeared in the obscurity ahead, staggering with bizarre movements.

Before Zhang Kui could see clearly, the Protective Golden Light suddenly shone brightly...

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