I've already become a god, and you're telling me about the ancient demon invasion?

Shortly after Wang Tianlong followed Xuan Qingzi into the southeastern corridor, more Nascent Soul cultivators followed suit, passing through the light barrier and arriving at the central square.

Dozens of powerful figures appeared one after another, briefly bringing noise to the once empty and quiet square. Human and demon cultivators mingled together, wary of each other, their gazes quickly sweeping over the entrances to the deep corridors and the magnificent main hall in the distance.

Some rushed in without hesitation, choosing a direction; others gathered in small groups, whispering and trying to stick together for mutual support; still others, like Wang Tianlong in the beginning, cautiously observed the subtle traces or spiritual energy fluctuations left by those who entered first, trying to determine which path might be more advantageous.

Amidst the somewhat chaotic scene, an inconspicuous, pale black shadow appeared silently, like a ghost, in the shadows at the edge of the plaza. It was none other than the ancient demon, Black Nether.

He had already concealed his demonic energy to the extreme, disguising himself as a human cultivator in the early stages of the Nascent Soul realm with a cold aura and an indistinct face, blending in seamlessly into the crowd.

However, when he saw the scale and grandeur of the continuous palace complex before him, and felt the pure and ancient aura in the air, which even he found familiar, his disguised demonic heart couldn't help but tremble.

"This palace... is definitely not from the mortal realm!" Hei Ming's pupils constricted, secretly shocked. "Its architectural layout, the spiritual materials used, the Daoist aura it contains... even in my Holy Realm, only the most prestigious ancient sects or relics can possess such grandeur! And some might even surpass it!"

He took a deep, greedy breath, as if trying to absorb all the spiritual energy and Daoist essence within his body. "This place must hold a great treasure! It might even conceal a legacy or treasure rare even in the Holy Realm!"

But immediately, he suppressed the burning desire in his heart. His gaze swept over the nearly one hundred Nascent Soul cultivators with varying auras on the plaza (more cultivators were still entering), as well as top figures such as Ling Yunchen and the Flood Dragon Clan Chief who had entered earlier, and Demon Heart quickly calmed down.

"Hmph, ants from the human realm, quite a few of them. It would be unwise for me to seize them by force alone." A cold, calculating glint flashed in Hei Ming's eyes. "Brother Mo Jiu is right, let them fight it out first. My task is to find out what's here, and who has obtained it. When the Holy Realm army arrives, all of this, along with their lives and souls, will be the spoils of my Holy Clan!"

Without further hesitation, his demonic consciousness spread out quietly like the finest spider web. Although it was suppressed by the space here, it was still able to perceive further and more subtly than human cultivators of the same level thanks to its unique demonic secret techniques.

He keenly detected the strongest traces of energy remaining in the plaza—the surging demonic power and starlight that led Ling Yunchen and the Flood Dragon Clan Chief straight to the main hall, the unique icy path left by the Ice Soul Fairy, and the directions chosen by several other top cultivators.

Finally, his demonic senses landed at the entrance to the southeastern corridor. There, besides the spiritual energy fluctuations left by Xuan Qingzi, he also detected a faint, extremely fast, and seamlessly integrated aura that remained with the wind.

"Oh? On this road, besides that old Taoist who's an expert in formations, there's another guy with decent agility who seems to be deliberately concealing his tracks..." Hei Ming's lips curled into a playful smile. "Interesting. Formation masters can often find the safest or most valuable path, while the one who's hiding his tracks is either exceptionally cautious or has ulterior motives. Following them might reveal something different."

With this in mind, Hei Ming no longer hesitated. He swayed and transformed into a wisp of black smoke that almost dissolved into the shadows of the corridor, disappearing without attracting anyone's attention. He silently slipped into the southeast corridor, trailing far behind Wang Tianlong and Xuan Qingzi.

The interior of the corridor appeared even deeper and more expansive than the exterior. The walls, neither gold nor stone, were cool to the touch, and were inscribed with some indistinct ancient murals and runes, emitting a faint yet enduring light that illuminated the path ahead. A kind of ancient yet incredibly pure spiritual energy flowed slowly in the air.

Wang Tianlong remained highly vigilant, pushing the concealment ability of the "Wind-Treading Technique" to its limit. He seemed to merge with the gentle breeze flowing through the corridor, moving forward silently. Although his divine sense was suppressed, he still tried his best to spread it out, sensing the faint aura left by Xuan Qingzi ahead.

However, after walking only a thousand feet, the view suddenly opened up, revealing a three-way intersection! Three almost identical corridors extended in different directions, their interiors deep and dark, beyond the reach of divine sense.

What chilled Wang Tianlong even more was that upon arriving here, all the aura and traces left by Xuan Qingzi seemed to have been completely wiped away by an invisible hand, disappearing without a trace! No spiritual energy fluctuations belonging to Xuan Qingzi could be sensed at any of the three forks in the road.

"Such keen perception! Such superb concealment!" Wang Tianlong immediately realized that he had underestimated this Grandmaster of Array Dao, one of the Three Elders of Kunwu. The other party had obviously already noticed that someone was following him, and had used arrays or some kind of secret technique to completely cover his tracks, and may even have laid misleading traces.

"As expected of an old fox." Wang Tianlong sighed inwardly, knowing he could no longer continue tracking. Forcing a deduction or pursuit would not only trigger the warning measures left by the other party, but also waste precious time.

He stopped at the fork in the road, his gaze quickly sweeping over the three corridors. To the naked eye, the three paths were almost identical, even the runes on the walls were nearly the same. His spiritual sense probes, however, were like stones sinking into the sea, unable to penetrate deeper.

"It seems I can only rely on luck or intuition." Wang Tianlong didn't hesitate much. In this unknown environment, hesitation is often more dangerous.

He sensed it for a moment and chose the middle corridor.

Having made his choice, he didn't hesitate any longer. With a swift movement, he once again concealed his aura to the extreme, gliding into the central corridor like a ghost. The moment he entered, he didn't forget to leave an almost imperceptible wind spirit mark at the entrance, just in case.

The middle corridor seemed even more winding and secluded. After forking a few hundred feet ahead, the path forked again! This time, there were two narrower passages on the left and right.

"A maze..." Wang Tianlong frowned slightly. The interior of this Void Heaven Palace was indeed as the legendary ancient ruins described, with a complex structure, resembling a massive maze. Without guidance or special means, it would be easy to get lost within it.

He didn't stop, this time choosing the left passage. Still guided by a subtle intuition, the airflow in the left passage seemed slightly smoother.

And so, he encountered several more forks in the road on his journey. Sometimes there were two, sometimes three, and once there were even four. Each time, he could only rely on his faint, almost unreliable intuition, his sense of airflow, or the subtle differences in the runes on the corridor walls (some of which seemed to contain directional information, but he could not fully decipher them) to make his judgment.

The corridor seemed endless, eerily silent, save for the echoes of his own footsteps (which he deliberately minimized) and breathing. Time seemed to have lost its meaning here. He had no idea how far he had walked, or if he was going in circles.

Just as he was about to stop and reconsider his strategy, a faint fluctuation, different from the deathly spiritual energy of the corridor, emanated from the end of the passage ahead. The fluctuation seemed to contain... the sound of flowing water? And a faint... medicinal fragrance?

Wang Tianlong's spirits lifted, and he immediately became more vigilant. He concealed himself even more deeply, slowed down, and cautiously made his way towards the direction from which the fluctuations were coming.