Half-Step Nine-Level Phantom Emerges

"Ancestor, take half of the elite imperial guards and stay at the edge of the outer hall to secure our escape route."

"Yu Huatian, you and your men will lead the remaining half of the imperial guards to stand guard here as reinforcements."

"Shen Xue, Yun Meng, Ren Mingyue, follow me."

"The ten temporary workers... follow along as well."

Wang Hao issued the orders in one breath, his tone crisp and unquestionable.

Rong Xiaotian subconsciously asked, "Why should we—"

"Because you eat my food, live in my domain, take my resources, and just freeloaded off the trials of the Martial God's outer hall." Wang Hao remained expressionless. "Now it's your turn to put in the work. Got a problem with that?"

Rong Xiaotian opened his mouth, but couldn't squeeze out a single word.

Damn it.

There really was no way to refute those words, especially since he had signed a contract.

And the most infuriating part was—he made perfect sense.

Xiao Chen silently sighed in his heart.

Here we go again.

Every time they gained even a little benefit, this tyrant would show up with pinpoint accuracy and instantly turn that benefit into a "debt."

You got a fortuitous encounter? Good, that shows you have ability.

You have ability? Then get to work.

This set of logic was simply an inescapable loop.

"Let's go." Wang Hao stepped forward, the battle seal in his palm glowing faintly. "I also want to see exactly what kind of grand gift Xie Wujiu has sent me."

The group followed the cracked ancient path, rapidly advancing deeper.

The further they went, the heavier the demonic mist became.

More ancient murals and incomplete array patterns began to appear on both sides of the passage. These murals originally depicted scenes of martial artists suppressing anomalies and laying down formations to seal demons. However, some areas had been eroded by a certain black substance, causing the patterns to twist and deform, as if the things inside had been slowly crawling out over the long years.

Bai Zhantang felt a chill down his spine as he looked at them, lowering his voice considerably. "Why is this place so much more sinister than the outside?"

"Because this is the main course," Wang Hao said calmly. "The outer hall was just an appetizer, put there for show. The true danger is always in the back."

As Qin Zhiming followed along, he rapidly scanned the surrounding array patterns, sweat gradually forming on his forehead.

"These demon-suppressing patterns... many of them are already reversing."

"It's not natural wear and tear," Shen Xue said coldly. "Someone has been tampering with them over a long period."

"The Heaven's Secret Pavilion," Ren Mingyue softly spat out, her expression turning solemn.

She now understood clearly.

Xie Wujiu's interest in this place was not just a sudden whim.

He had likely planted clues around the outer edges of the Yanshan Secret Realm's demon-suppressing system years ago. He usually left them untouched, but once the time was right, he could remotely pry open a corner. If Wang Hao hadn't had the Western Depot "fine-tune" a portion of the array structure in advance, the situation this time might have truly spiraled out of control in the worst possible direction.

Thinking of this, the look in her eyes as she stared at Wang Hao's back couldn't help but grow a bit more complex.

Sometimes, this man truly acted like a madman.

But more often than not, his madness was extremely well-prepared.

The group soon arrived at the end of the passage.

Ahead was a massive, semi-collapsed underground palace.

In the center of the underground palace was a cracked black-gold sacrificial altar. Beneath the altar was a twisted, narrow fissure. Demonic mist violently churned within the bottomless crack, and a certain sticky, malicious intent could faintly be seen writhing inside.

The surrounding forest of demon-suppressing steles had mostly shattered.

The remaining intact ones were also covered in cracks, letting out a faint, sorrowful hum.

"The demon-suppressing core," an Ancestor of the Wang family said in a deep voice. "To think it's actually been ruined to this extent..."

Before his words could fade.

A teeth-aching crawling sound suddenly echoed from deep within the fissure.

It sounded like bones grinding against each other, or wet flesh dragging across the ground.

Everyone's scalps tingled simultaneously.

In the next instant, a pitch-black, sharp claw violently grabbed the edge of the crack.

Then, a second one.

A third.

Following that, a head caught between man and beast, with twisted facial features and cracks on its forehead, slowly peeked out from the fissure. The creature was extremely tall, covered in a semi-solid black substance. It dragged several long tails behind it that looked like a cross between spines and tentacles. It still retained some semblance of a "humanoid" silhouette, but it was long past being human.

As soon as it revealed its head, the temperature of the entire underground palace seemed to plummet.

What was even more terrifying was its aura.

It wasn't the aura of a complete rank-nine anomaly, but it far exceeded the Skysoaring Realm.

Half-step rank-nine.

Or rather—a rank-nine anomaly clone.

"Retreat!" someone cried out in a low voice.

Even the Wang family Ancestor had a change in expression at this moment.

The Skysoaring Realm could dominate a region on the outside, but in front of an anomaly of this level, it was simply not enough. Not to mention that this was the core demon-suppressing area, meaning the opponent naturally possessed corruption and domain suppression.

The monster raised its head, its torn mouth slowly curling upwards as if it were smiling.

"Humans..."

"So many... fresh humans..."

Its voice was hoarse and grating, like countless shards of glass grinding together, making one's brain numb.

Rong Xiaotian tightened his grip on his saber, the veins on his forehead bulging. "What the hell is this thing?"

"A surprise gift from Xie Wujiu," Wang Hao said expressionlessly, though his mind was already rapidly calculating.

A half-step rank-nine anomaly clone.

Troublesome, truly troublesome.

Under normal circumstances, fighting it head-on wouldn't be worth the cost.

But this was the deep layer of the secret realm, the demon-suppressing ground left behind by the Martial God, and also the place where he had just obtained the Martial God's battle seal.

In other words—this monster had the home-field advantage, and so did he.

The problem wasn't whether they could beat it.

But rather, how to fight it for the maximum profit.

The monster opposite them had completely crawled out.

The moment it landed, black mist instantly spread across the shattered demon-suppressing steles around it. Several imperial guards standing too close had their protective astral qi corroded and pierced before they could even let out a scream, their flesh and skin rapidly turning black.

"Retreat thirty zhang!" Wang Hao shouted sternly, his voice instantly overpowering the entire scene. "Anyone without a battle seal or a demon-suppressing amulet, step back!"

The people of the Great Zhou moved upon hearing the order.

At a time like this, the advantage of strict military discipline was immediately apparent. If it had been a group of rogue cultivators, they would have likely fallen into chaos long ago.

Even so, the monster had no intention of giving them the chance to calmly set up their defenses.

It twisted its neck, locking its gaze onto Wang Hao at the very front of the crowd.

"Imperial... destiny..."

"Delicious..."

Before its words could fade, its figure suddenly vanished!

Too fast!

It was so fast that most people only felt a blur before their eyes, and the pitch-black figure had already lunged in front of Wang Hao. It slashed down with a claw, tearing the air with an ear-piercing crack.

Yun Meng's expression changed. "Be careful!"

But Wang Hao did not retreat.

Not only did he not retreat, but in that very instant, the corners of his mouth even curled up slightly.

"I knew you were craving me."

Buzz—!

The Martial God's battle seal suddenly shone brightly. If the Thunder Abyss Demon-Suppressing Tower still had the lightning dragon containing the Martial God's full-powered strike, it would have blasted this ugly freak to death with a single bolt long ago. Now, the heavenly tribulation within the tower only had nine lightning phoenixes that might pose a threat to it, but it wasn't a surefire guarantee.

All around the underground palace, the demon-suppressing steles that had not yet completely collapsed vibrated simultaneously. One after another, surviving battle patterns were forcibly pulled up, transforming into chain-like golden light that wrapped around the anomaly clone from all directions.

At the same time, the dormant battle souls in the outer hall and middle layer were triggered by the battle seal!

Surges of ancient killing intent awakened from beneath the ground, from the void, and from the broken formations.

The monster's claw strike was hindered for a moment, and its roar instantly turned furious.

Obviously, it hadn't expected that Wang Hao, a newcomer, would grasp the control rights of the secret realm so quickly.

"Now." Wang Hao spoke incredibly fast. "Everyone with a battle seal, step up and hold the line! Those without, flank and distract!"

"Whoever retreats, I will be the first to record their merit—to be used for their beheading later!"

The ten temporary workers: "..."

Even at a time like this, you still don't forget to threaten us?!

But cursing aside, their bodies were very honest.

Ye Guyun, Gu Han, Xiao Chen, and Qin Zhiming charged out almost instantly.

The reason was simple.

The outer hall battle seals in their hands were currently resonating with the Martial God battle seal in Wang Hao's hand, allowing them to clearly feel a buffing effect. Not stepping up would be a waste.

What's more, everyone could see right now that this battle could not be avoided.

Then they could only fight fiercely.

Xiao Chen threw a punch, the force of his fist covered in strange fire, hitting the monster squarely in its side ribs.

But when the punch landed, it felt like hitting a constantly squirming mass of rotten meat. It only blasted away a patch of black sludge, not even breaking a bone, and the strange fire was isolated by the sludge. Instead, the backlash of pollution tried to drill into his meridians along the force of his punch, shocking him into an immediate, explosive retreat.

"Don't trade flesh and blood with it head-on!" Qin Zhiming shouted. "This thing's body is somewhere between ethereal and solid. We have to sever its connection with the rift first!"

"Easy for you to say!" Rong Xiaotian swung his fist and attacked fiercely, only to be whipped away by a tail the very next second. He crashed into and collapsed half of a ruined stele, spewing a mouthful of blood. "Why don't you tell us how the hell to sever it?!"

Ren Mingyue stood at the rear, her gaze rapidly sweeping over the surrounding formation patterns and stele positions. Her expression suddenly changed.

"Your Majesty!"

"Every time it takes damage, black mist surges up from beneath the rift to replenish it!"

"The altar! The core is beneath the altar!"

A sharp glint flashed in Wang Hao's eyes.

Just as expected.

This thing wasn't a complete entity. It was an avatar forcefully pushed up by the rift using external power.

Then its greatest advantage was also its greatest weakness.

As long as they cut off the supply between it and the rift, it would revert from an unkillable filthy thing back into a killable filthy thing.

"Good." Wang Hao immediately made a decision. He grinned, his eyes as dangerous as a butcher who had finally found where to sink his knife. "Xie Wujiu wanted to blow up the rift to send me to my death, but he ended up sending a massive boss for me to farm."

"This debt—"

"I have noted it down."

With that said, he abruptly raised his hand.

The Thunder Abyss Demon Suppression Pagoda appeared once more!

At the same time, the Martial God battle seal resonated with the thunder pagoda. Dark clouds instantly rolled above the underground palace, and the residual formation activated with a boom!

Looking at this scene, everyone had the same thought pop into their minds.

Xie Wujiu's move this time...

Was probably going to be in vain again.

And this time, it might be even more humiliating.

Lightning pressed down from above, and the underground palace trembled and buzzed.

The eerie shadow that had crawled out of the demon suppression rift was briefly locked down by the residual stele patterns and the Martial God battle seal, and the atmosphere in the entire space was stretched to its absolute limit.

It didn't roar and bare its fangs and claws like ordinary demonic creatures.

On the contrary, after being subjected to the dual suppression of the Thunder Abyss Demon Suppression Pagoda and the battle seal, this thing merely raised its head slowly. Its split mouth curled upward bit by bit, as if smiling, and also as if looking at a pile of meat already placed on a chopping block.

The gaze it cast upon them sent chills down everyone's spines.

It wasn't killing intent.

It was appetite.

Often, killing intent could still arouse a person's fighting spirit. But once you realized you were merely food in the other party's eyes, that feeling became exceptionally nauseating.

Rong Xiaotian spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva, raised his saber, and cursed, "Who the hell is this ghastly thing pretending to be!"

Just as he spoke, the several twisted, spine-like black tails behind the eerie shadow suddenly exploded. A pitch-black tide of mist instantly swept out in all directions.

The first to suffer misfortune weren't the people from the Great Zhou, but the several groups of evil cultivators who had previously sneaked around the edges hoping to pick up scraps.

They originally thought that with Wang Hao and his group holding the front line, they only needed to hide far away. Once the situation descended into chaos, they might be able to snatch some ancient treasures from the underground palace. But just as this thought arose, the black mist smacked them right in the face first.

"Ah—!"

Screams erupted almost simultaneously.

One of the evil cultivators at the Sky Soaring Realm reacted extremely fast, circulating his protective true essence at the first opportunity. A blood-red barrier of light expanded around him, forcibly blocking the black mist on the outside for a brief moment. A look of relief had just appeared in his eyes when, the very next moment, countless tiny pupils surfaced within the black mist, staring straight at him.

"I see... you..."

The evil cultivator suddenly froze entirely.

Immediately after, his protective barrier shattered with a pop, as if gnawed through by invisible sharp teeth. Then, his facial muscles began to twitch uncontrollably, and his eyeballs trembled madly. Laughing and crying at the same time, he tore his own throat to shreds with his bare hands in a matter of breaths.

The scene instantly descended into chaos.

"Mental pollution!"

"Don't look directly at it!"

"Retreat! Retreat quickly!"

Some screamed in terror, some turned and fled, and others frantically bombarded the black mist in a panic, only making the already chaotic situation even worse.

Meanwhile, amidst this chaos, the eerie shadow stretched its body. The black tide spread from beneath its feet, directly sweeping up dozens of evil cultivators who couldn't escape in time.

There was no sound of complete chewing.

There was only a wet, sticky, crushing, and teeth-aching sound of swallowing.

A moment later, not even the bones of those dozens of people remained. Only a few wisps of light, like true essence residue, quickly sank into the eerie shadow's body.

The aura radiating from its body immediately spiked another notch.

In the underground palace, everyone's expressions changed.

"It's devouring people to replenish itself!" Qin Zhiming's voice grew tight. "If we let it keep eating, this thing is truly going to cross over!"

An Ancestor of the Wang family said in a deep voice, "We can't drag this out any longer."

We can't drag this out any longer, everyone knew that.

The problem was, who would stall it?

Whoever went first, died first.

Everyone present was very clear on this point.

Thus, a very realistic and highly awkward situation emerged: everyone was shouting about risking their lives, but the actual footsteps daring to step forward were each more cautious than the last.

But right in the midst of this stagnation, Wang Hao suddenly raised his hand. His voice, sharp as a blade, instantly suppressed the chaos.

"Everyone, heed my command!"

He stood behind the formation core, gripping the Martial God battle seal in his hand, with the thunder pagoda hovering above his head. His robes fluttered loudly in the cold winds of the underground palace, projecting an immensely imposing aura.

"First layer, outer hall battle souls, push forward!"

"Second layer, the six who obtained the trial marks, split into the left and right wings to whittle it down!"

"Third layer, imperial guards, form a perimeter array according to the demon suppression stele positions!"

"The rest of you, do not run around blindly. Whoever breaks our formation lines, I will execute them first!"

This series of orders was issued quickly and steadily, as if he had rehearsed the entire process in his mind countless times.

The most infuriating part was—it worked.