This celestial master cultivates both physical and magical arts; why did you provoke him?

Fang Zijian lay down at the entrance of the cave and looked down.

All I could see was darkness; I couldn't see anything at all.

He squatted there, his heart pounding.

One minute, two minutes, three minutes...

Ten minutes passed, and there was still no movement below.

Fang Zijian began to feel nervous.

Twenty minutes, thirty minutes...

Still nothing.

Fang Zijian stood up, then squatted down, then stood up again, pacing back and forth.

"Won't something bad happen?"

He muttered to himself, "No way, right? He's so strong..."

Before he could finish speaking, a violent tremor suddenly came from underground.

Immediately afterwards, "BOOM—!!!"

A muffled thud came from underground, shaking the ground. Fang Zijian's legs went weak, and he almost fell into the hole.

He quickly took a few steps back, staring at the hole in horror.

The tremors continued, one after another, growing increasingly intense.

Then, a bolt of lightning shot up from the ground.

A bright flash of electricity pierced the darkness, illuminating the entire basement.

Fang Zijian clearly saw that there were not just one bolt of lightning, but three or four, one after another, blasting the entire underground passage into a bright light.

"A palm-sized grenade! It's a palm-sized grenade!" Fang Zijian was so excited he almost jumped up. "He's firing it from down there!"

The tremors lasted for a full minute before gradually subsiding.

Fang Zijian lay prone at the cave entrance, desperately trying to look down.

Darkness enveloped everything once more.

I can't see anything.

His heart was in his throat.

"Shane? Shane!"

He shouted into the cave, "Are you still alive?"

no respond.

"Shane!!"

Still nothing.

Fang Zijian panicked and took out his phone to make a call, only to find that there was no signal at all.

He stood there, pacing anxiously.

Just as he was about to rush out to find Chen Guodong, a hand suddenly reached out from the cave entrance.

One hand gripped the edge of the hole.

Then, a head popped out.

Xia En.

Fang Zijian was overjoyed and rushed over to pull him up.

Then he froze.

Xia En did not come up alone.

He was carrying something in his left hand.

The thing was dark, covered in tentacles, and had a head like an octopus; it was struggling desperately.

He was also clutching something else in his right hand.

The thing was no longer human-shaped; it was like a lump of mud, which he was holding by the neck and dragging.

"Get out of the way," Shane said.

Fang Zijian mechanically took two steps back.

Xia En jumped out of the hole and threw the two things on the ground.

"Bang!" "Smack!"

The two objects fell to the ground, twitching and struggling.

Fang Zijian then saw what they looked like.

That octopus-headed creature had a human-like body, but its limbs were ridiculously long and thin, and each finger was over a foot long with shiny black nails.

It has seven or eight tentacles growing on its head, which are twitching unconsciously.

That thing, which looked like mud, was no longer recognizable; it was just a dark, indistinct mass, but you could vaguely make out the outline of a person.

"What...what is this?"

Fang Zijian's voice even changed tone.

"An evil thing."

"Tsk," Xia En said, "There are still a dozen or so left, but I'm too lazy to carry them all, so I just shooed them away."

He dusted himself off and looked down at the two things.

The octopus-headed evil creature was glaring at him with venomous eyes, hissing as it spoke.

"What are you looking at?" Xia En squatted down and slapped it on the head. "Where does that passage down there lead?"

The octopus-headed evil creature remained silent.

"Not going to talk?" Xia En raised his hand, lightning crackling in his palm.

The octopus-headed evil creature shuddered and quickly spoke:

"Go east... about three miles away... there's an underground palace..."

"An underground palace? What underground palace?"

"N-no, I don't know... We were summoned here too..."

"Who summoned it?"

"No, I don't know... It's a voice... Every night... that voice sounds..."

Xia En frowned: "What kind of sound was that?"

The octopus-headed monster opened its mouth, trying to imitate the sound, but only managed to utter a few indistinct syllables.

Xia En looked at another evil object—that lump of mud.

The rotten mud monster shook itself and emitted a series of sharp whistling sounds.

The sound was harsh and unpleasant, but a few syllables could be vaguely discerned.

It sounded like an ancient language, or the roar of a wild beast.

After listening, Xia En remained silent for a few seconds.

Then he stood up, took out his phone, and took a picture of the two evil creatures.

"Alright," he said.

The octopus-headed evil creature thought he was going to let it go, and a glimmer of hope flashed in its eyes.

Then it saw Shane raise his right hand.

Lightning flashed in his palm.

"You...you said you wouldn't kill..."

"I didn't say that."

Xia En interrupted it, "I only asked questions, I didn't say I wouldn't kill."

"boom!!!"

A bolt of lightning struck, and the octopus-headed evil creature turned into black water.

Another bolt of lightning struck, and the rotten mud and evil creatures turned into black water.

Fang Zijian stood to the side, staring at the two pools of black water, speechless for a long time.

Xia En clapped her hands and turned to look at him: "What are you standing there for? Come on, you idiot!"

"Where are we going?"

"Find Chen Guodong," Xia En said. "Have him check what underground palace is located three miles east of the old city."

Fang Zijian snapped out of his daze and quickly followed.

After walking a few steps, he couldn't help but ask again:

"How...did you hit it down there just now?"

Xia En thought for a moment: "First, clear the area with palm lightning, then one punch each."

"One punch, one kill?"

"right."

Xia En raised his right hand and clenched his fist. "There was this guy whose skin was too thick, and the lightning magic couldn't break through it, so I punched him."

"and then?"

"Then it broke."

Fang Zijian: "..."

He suddenly remembered that Xia En had just lifted dozens of kilograms of stones with one hand as if it were nothing.

How heavy must that man's fist be?

The two walked out of the old grain station, crossed the wasteland, and headed towards the main road.

After walking a few steps, Xia En suddenly stopped.

He glanced back at the dilapidated red brick houses, then at the bronze plaque in his hand.

On the bronze medal, the eye symbol is glowing faintly.

Xia En squinted.

"interesting."

He tucked the bronze medal back into his pocket and strode forward.

Fang Zijian caught up with him: "What's interesting?"

"It's nothing."

Shane said, "I just feel that this is getting more and more interesting."

Fang Zijian looked at him, then at the wasteland behind him, and suddenly shivered.

He quickened his pace and followed closely behind.

In the distance, the sun is setting in the west.

The golden afterglow spilled onto the dilapidated rooftops of the old town, casting a warm hue on the mottled walls.

But in places where the sun doesn't shine, deep underground where the weeds cover the ground, something is awakening.

It opened its eyes and looked at the ground.

The figure of a young Taoist priest was reflected in his blood-red eyes.

"The Celestial Master's Mansion..."

A deep sound echoed underground.

"Finally...it's here..."