Great Yu Dynasty, a thousand years ago?

Zhang Kui had never read the world's history books, but he roughly knew that the Great Yu Dynasty was rife with the raising of demons, to the point where principles were lost, laws were in disorder, and the world was falling apart.

Going further back, the Great Zhou Dynasty fell due to the disaster of the Square Immortal Road. These people seemed to have created some terrifying thing, inciting chaos and losing the realm.

Zhou, Yu, Qian, these are the only known dynasties, with previous history being a complete blank.

The laughable thing is, in this world, demons are everywhere, and the "Three Mountains, Four Caves, and Five Water Mansions" all have the power to overturn the world, yet the greatest threat to humanity often originates from within.

Zhang Kui shook his head and looked at the map again.

The uses of arrays are many, but they are ultimately inseparable from defense, attack, nurturing, and sealing.

From various indications, this cultivator named Lian Chengzi should have built a grand array to seal something, and the catastrophe of Pingkang County originates from this.

But has the demon sealed within escaped?

Where did the group from the Celestial Water Palace go?

Zhang Kui furrowed his brow, got up, walked out of the house, and to Guo Huai's astonishment, flew into the air, passed over the county, quickly ascended the steep cliff of the back mountain, and soon reached the top.

The map spread out, and sure enough.

Although many buildings had small modifications, the overall layout remained unchanged, forming an unnamed grand array with interconnected lines.

A thousand years...

No wonder Landlord Liu operated this place during his time; his ancestors must have been related to Lian Chengzi.

Zhang Kui put away the scroll, frowning slightly.

If this grand array has been broken and the demon escaped, why can't a trace of spiritual energy be detected?

He thought for a moment, closed his eyes, and upgraded the Cave Abyss Skill twice to level 3.

Tongyou Skill (Level 3): Passive Skills

Skill Description: Opens Yin Yang Eye, can see invisible ghosts, see through mazes, spirit veins, and invisibility spells.

Reopening his eyes, the world looked entirely different.

A trace of surprise appeared in Zhang Kui's eyes.

The spirit veins of this small town were actually pale green, densely hidden like a spider web underground, forming a nested cycle with the grand array.

There was even a strand of white light...

in the backyard of the Liu Mansion!

Zhang Kui leaped, the wind whistling past his ears, tapped the protruding rocks on the cliff twice to reduce momentum, and slid toward the county like a large bird.

"Taoist..."

The constable Guo Huai was just stuffing his mouth with pastries he had gathered from Liu Mansion, when he was startled by Zhang Kui's sudden descent.

Zhang Kui didn't waste words and went directly to the backyard.

There was a large dry well made of bluestone, antique and mottled, covered with moss.

The white light was right in the dry well.

Zhang Kui squinted slightly, lifted his little finger, and a stone on the ground flew up and fell into the well.

Constable Guo Huai watched the scene in amusement beside him.

The bottom of the well was not deep, only five to six meters, visible to the naked eye, but after the stone fell in, it vanished in mid-air!

"Dao...Taoist..."

Guo Huai's eyes widened instantly, stammering.

Zhang Kui smiled slightly,

"I'm going to investigate, do as you please."

With that, he leaped into the well and disappeared...

...

When his eyes adjusted to the light, Zhang Kui's pupils shrank, and he exclaimed: "Ancient Secret Realm!"

Before him lay a small basin, several kilometers wide, filled with stone forests, a screen of green.

In the center of the basin stood a towering giant tree, with an umbrella-shaped canopy that had already withered, hanging countless vines.

This feeling was unmistakable; Zhang Kui didn't expect that the grand array sealed an Ancient Secret Realm.

What a grand gesture by Lian Chengzi!

But why did he do this...

Zhang Kui's mind filled with deep doubt.

Suddenly, his pupils shrank again. He stepped forward a few paces and picked up a broken sword from the ground, with the words Celestial Water Palace engraved on the hilt.

It seems that the disciples of the Celestial Water Palace are here too...

Zhang Kui's expression turned serious, first using the Invisibility Skill, then sealing his whole body's mana with the Qi Prohibition Skill, and quietly sneaking in.

He hadn't forgotten that there might be a terrifying demon lurking here, hoping the disciples of the Celestial Water Palace were still alive...

After advancing several hundred meters into the stone forest, Zhang Kui stopped and remained silent.

In front of him were rows of straw men in various shapes.

Or rather, they used to be people.

Their skins and clothes were still there, but from their eye sockets, ears, and seven orifices, green vines extended, winding and connecting.

These vines writhed slightly like living things, lush and vibrant despite the lack of sunlight.

Strangely, there was no demon qi on them!

Even more terrifyingly, the large patch of green seen before turned out to be all this.

What kind of monster is this?

Zhang Kui's expression turned grave as he leaped onto the stone forest, carefully avoiding the vines as he headed toward the center of the basin.

"Junior Sister Lu!"

Suddenly, a voice filled with grief and indignation echoed, especially harsh in the silence.

Zhang Kui spun around and charged toward the source.

It was a massive, towering stone platform with two women lying on it, their faces pale and breath weak.

Another woman, tall, handsome, and full of heroic spirit, was standing before the platform with a sword.

Countless corpses with vines growing from their orifices surrounded the platform, surging upward, chilling to the bone.

The woman's sword emitted red light, and flames crisscrossed as she continuously shattered and slashed the creatures from the platform.

But seeing her erratic breath, she was obviously on the verge of collapse.

The woman lying on the ground weakly spoke:

"Senior Sister Qiu, leave us, escape quickly..."

The heroic woman frowned,

"Shut up, concentrate on healing!"

Suddenly, Zhang Kui revealed his form as he descended from the air, saying, "Are you Taoist Friend Qiu of the Celestial Water Palace? Elder Qin entrusted me to find you."

The woman was initially surprised, then breathed a sigh of relief,

"This Taoist friend is..."

"I'm Zhang Kui, can you all move?"

As Zhang Kui spoke, he drew out the Lu Li Sword, a daunting black hue appearing on the blade, and instantly, Sword Qi danced in all directions.

A large number of creatures below turned into ice sculptures and shattered, even the vines within them lost their vitality.

The woman's eyes flashed with awe, then she coughed up a small mouthful of blood and smiled bitterly:

"Taoist Friend Zhang, my two junior sisters are severely injured, and I am mana-depleted, we cannot leave."

Zhang Kui frowned, about to speak, but was startled and quickly turned his head.

Seeing the green in the basin rushing to the center, where an astonishing demon qi began to rise.

The basin rumbled, the ground cracked, large sections of stone forest tilted and fell, and the spirit veins of this Ancient Secret Realm seemed on the verge of collapse.

"There's no time left!"

Zhang Kui was alarmed, he took out a large black umbrella, and black mist scattered, wrapping the women and swiftly rolling them toward the entrance.

Yet the Space Gate at the entrance was extremely distorted, nearly a straight line like an earthworm.

The black mist dissipated, leaving Zhang Kui's face somber.

The woman, after coming out, was also shocked, her eyes full of despair, she smiled bitterly: "We've implicated you, Taoist Friend."

"No, there's still a sliver of hope!"

Zhang Kui turned toward the giant tree, his eyes full of murderous intent, "If we can knock that thing down, we can stop the Secret Realm from collapsing."

Having said that, his form instantly vanished.

Zhang Kui quickly reached the giant tree, looked up, and was shocked.

Beside the giant tree stood a massive stone monument, with large characters inscribed in a majestic script:

All things have a nature, the paths of humans and demons differ, if I were like grass and trees, I would have no time to attain the Dao.

And this giant tree before his eyes, from top to bottom, glowed with the brilliance of jade; it was a Tree Jade.

At the center was a tree hole, densely packed with writhing vines, snakes of vines swarming into the hole.

Suddenly, a hand reached out from the vines...

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.