Summoning the Gods: Start by creating the Eternal Night.

At the boundary between the Gobi Desert and the forest, the sandstorms gradually subside, and vegetation begins to grow.

Yang Guo and Zhang Wuji followed behind the Black Emperor, following a faint fragrance.

"Black Emperor, are you sure there's treasure in this direction?"

Zhang Wuji looked at the swaying little black dog in front of him with some suspicion.

"We've been walking for almost an hour, and all we see is sand and rocks; there's not even a decent blade of grass."

Black Emperor turned around and glared at him, then arrogantly raised his head:

"My nose was once renowned throughout the heavens and earth for its keen senses; how could it be wrong?"

Yang Guo smiled and shook his head: "Let's trust it one more time. Maybe there will be a pleasant surprise."

Before he could finish speaking, Black Emperor suddenly stopped, sniffed the air, and his eyes lit up instantly:

"That's it! This is the taste! Such a rich spiritual energy... It's a Spirit Essence Fruit! And there's quite a lot of it!"

As soon as it finished speaking, two familiar voices suddenly came from the dense forest ahead.

"Sister, do you think Yang Guo and the others might be around here?" It was Qingcheng's voice.

"It's hard to say, the secret realm is so vast!" Qingguo replied.

Yang Guo and Zhang Wuji exchanged a glance, both seeing surprise in each other's eyes.

"They are beauties that could topple kingdoms and cities!" Zhang Wuji laughed.

The two quickened their pace and passed through a thicket of bushes, where they indeed saw Qingguo and Qingcheng sitting under a large tree, playing with several bright red fruits in their hands, which were indeed Spirit Essence Fruits.

"A beauty that could topple kingdoms and cities!" Yang Guo shouted loudly.

When Qingguo and Qingcheng looked up and saw Yang Guo and Zhang Wuji, they were overjoyed.

"Yang Guo! Zhang Wuji!" Qingcheng jumped up. "I've finally found you!"

The Black Emperor followed, and when he saw the Spirit Fruits in the hands of Qingguo and Qingcheng, his eyes widened. He quickly ran to them, tilted his head back, and said:

"Hey! Fatty, Skinny, get me a few Spirit Fruits!"

It wagged its tail, looking every bit the big brother:

"From now on, follow me, and I'll guarantee you a life of luxury. If anyone dares to bully you, I'll settle the score for you!"

Upon hearing this, Qingguo's eyebrows shot up in anger. She hated being called "fat boy" the most, especially when it came from a little black dog.

"You're the fat boy! Your whole family are fat boys!" Qingguo kicked Heihuang.

"Awoo!"

Black King was kicked and staggered, its head spinning and stars appearing in its eyes. When it came to its senses, its fur bristled:

"How dare you! You dare kick me, Your Majesty? Do you even know who I am?"

"What? Little black dog, you're still not convinced?" Qingguo put her hands on her hips and glared at Heihuang.

Qingcheng chimed in, "That's right, daring to call us 'kids,' kicking you is the least we can do!"

The Black Emperor was so angry that he spun around in circles, about to unleash his fury, when Yang Guo quickly stepped forward to stop him:

"Stop fooling around. Black King, they're not men, they're girls."

"What?"

The Black Emperor looked up in surprise, scrutinizing Qingguo and Qingcheng from head to toe with disbelief.

"Are you sure? These... these are two women?"

Qingcheng puffed out her chest triumphantly: "What? Haven't you ever seen such a beautiful woman before? Wahahaha!"

Looking at their faces and listening to their unrestrained laughter, the Black Emperor found it utterly appalling.

Suddenly, I felt nauseous and almost vomited up the red fruit I had just eaten.

It quickly waved its paws and said, "Never mind, I won't bother with you."

Seeing this, Zhang Wuji quickly smoothed things over, saying, "Alright, let's not talk about this for now."

"Just now we saw many cultivators rushing towards the center of the secret realm on the road."

He suggested, "Why don't we go and take a look? Maybe we'll encounter some unexpected opportunities."

Yang Guo nodded: "Alright. The center of the secret realm has always been a place where treasures gather, so it's good to go and take a look."

Both Qingguo and Qingcheng had no objections: "Alright, we don't have any clue anyway, let's just go and join in the fun."

Black Emperor hung his head, reluctantly saying, "Don't go to the center, it's not a good place..."

Before it could finish speaking, it was swept up in the arms of the beauty and shoved into her bosom.

"Stop talking nonsense, little black dog, just come with us!"

The Black Emperor struggled in the arms of the Beauty: "Let go of me! I can walk by myself! You fat girl, you're choking me!"

Qingguo smacked it on the head: "Try calling me 'fatty' again!"

Black King immediately wilted and could only obediently stay in her arms, muttering, "Rude...so rude..."

The group of four people and a dog chatted and laughed as they walked towards the center of the secret realm.

The closer they got to the center, the more cultivators they encountered, most of them in a hurry, their expressions filled with excitement and greed.

Clearly, everyone had heard about the center's lineage.

About half an hour later, the group arrived at the outer perimeter of a huge blood-red palace square.

From afar, the area outside the palace was teeming with people, filled with cultivators from various powerful factions.

At the palace entrance, billowing crimson mist was rising, exuding an eerie and oppressive atmosphere.

Looking deeper in, it was pitch black, as if it were the entrance to an endless abyss.

The palace was surrounded by mountains of withered grass and decaying leaves, presenting a desolate and lifeless scene.

Clearly, these plants had been polluted by the blood-red mist for a long time, which caused them to gradually wither and die.

"This fog...something's not right." Yang Guo stood outside the cave, his brow furrowed.

"There are probably some secrets inside, and it might even be hiding danger."

He could sense that the blood-red mist contained a sinister energy, which, if inhaled, would likely affect a cultivator's mind.

The Black Emperor peeked out from in the Queen's arms and pouted:

"Hey kid, this fog carries an aura of death and demonic energy. I advise you not to go in if you don't want to die. This is really no good place."

Although its divine sense was limited, its perception of danger was very keen, and the blood-red mist made it instinctively uneasy.

In order to ensure its safe exit from the secret realm, it couldn't help but offer a reminder.

"You're just full of empty boasts to scare people," Qingcheng said dismissively.

"Isn't it a good place? Then why are all these people rushing here? Just now, several more groups have come."

She pointed to the monks who were rushing towards the palace entrance not far away:

"If they dare to come, why shouldn't we? Maybe there's something really good inside."

"How would I know?" Seeing that they wouldn't listen to his advice, the Black Emperor simply gave up and stopped talking.

"Anyway, it's not a good place. Whether there's anything good or not, I, the Emperor, know perfectly well... Hmph, those who don't listen to me will suffer the consequences."

Zhang Wuji pondered for a moment and said, "Brother Yang, why don't we find someone to ask about the situation and see what's going on here?"

Yang Guo nodded: "Okay. I'll go ask someone!"

Yang Guo's gaze swept over the surrounding cultivators, and he saw a few rogue cultivators gathered together in the distance, discussing something.

He walked over, patted a monk with a scar on his face on the shoulder, and asked:

"Brother, may I ask what's inside that palace ahead? Why are so many people pouring in?"

...