Gou Zai Wudao Shi Lian Shen

The altar was completely destroyed, and the Ghost King was dragged back to the Crimson Abyss. The tense atmosphere finally eased.

The valley was a scene of devastation, with broken bones and the remains of Others littering the ground, and crimson flames still burning among the altar ruins. The air was thick with the acrid smell of burning, and the occasional faint sound of gravel rolling into the deep pit could be heard.

Several young martial artists could no longer hold on and collapsed to the ground, panting heavily. Some of them had trembling hands until they were sure the Crimson Abyss Rift had completely closed before they put down their dulled weapons.

Luo Yun stood to one side, leaning on his long sword. Most of his golden scale armor was damaged, and several of the armor plates on his chest were completely shattered. Gu Chenfeng's left arm hung limply at his side, half of his sleeve soaked in blood, clearly indicating that he had injured his tendons and bones in the fight just now.

"Old Gu, is there any chance you can save your arm?"

Luo Yun asked, panting heavily.

"It's just a broken bone, nothing serious."

Gu Chenfeng bit the corner of his clothes and used his right hand to re-fix his left arm. This injury was not a big problem for him.

Zhang Zhen stood alone before the closed Crimson Abyss Rift, his robes fluttering in the wind. He did not relax immediately after the Ghost King retreated; instead, he released his senses, probing the movements deep within the rift again and again.

Only when the last wisp of malevolent energy dissipated and the sealing runes disappeared back into the mountain wall did Zhang Zhen's tightly furrowed brows relax slightly.

He turned around, his gaze sweeping over everyone before finally settling on Lu Chen.

Lu Chen stood amidst the ruins of the altar, holding the Jinyang Blade, his chest rising and falling slightly with his breath. His body was covered in a faint golden light, with blue, white, red, and black patterns appearing and disappearing under the golden light, isolating the lingering Yin and ghostly energy around him.

Several wisps of black energy tried to approach his body, but were shredded by the fourfold demon-subduing force the moment they came into contact with the golden light, turning into black smoke and dissipating.

A look of surprise flashed in Zhang Zhen's eyes.

"The Four Directions Subduing Demon Golden Body!"

Upon hearing these words, several Golden Scale Guards nearby looked up, their gazes all falling on Lu Chen.

Zhang Zhen strode over, carefully sensing the four streams of energy flowing through Lu Chen's body, his surprise growing more and more apparent.

"The Four Directions Subduing Demon True Power is a demon-subduing true skill that has been passed down in the Martial Temple for a long time. The Azure Dragon suppresses demons, the White Tiger destroys evil, the Vermilion Bird burns evil spirits, and the Black Tortoise seals demons. Each of the four forces has its own profound mystery."

"However, the four forces conflict with each other, making it extremely difficult to master them all. To unite the four forces, integrate them into one's flesh and blood, and cultivate the Demon-Subduing Golden Body is even more difficult than ascending to heaven."

Zhang Zhen looked at Lu Chen, his tone becoming more serious.

"Out of a hundred Golden Scale Guards, perhaps only one will master it. You are so young, yet you have already reached this stage!"

"It is indeed easy to break through between life and death, but without enough accumulation, even if you hang your head on the edge of a knife, you will not understand anything."

Zhang Zhen's expression turned serious, then he burst into laughter: "It's rare for our Great Zhou to have a martial arts talent like you. This is a great thing, a great thing indeed!"

Then, Zhang Zhen took out a crimson jade bottle from his pocket and tossed it to Lu Chen.

"This is the Crimson Essence Pill from the Martial Temple; it will be very beneficial to your qi and blood."

"We don't know what will happen next, so we need to recover our strength as soon as possible."

Lu Chen caught the jade bottle, clasped his hands in thanks, and said, "Thank you, Lord Zhang."

Zhang Zhen nodded, then his expression turned serious as he looked at Luo Yun.

"Take stock of casualties."

A moment later, Luo Yun, accompanied by several guards, traversed the battlefield, gathering together the wounded who could still be treated. When he returned, his expression was much more somber.

"Seventeen people died and twenty-three were seriously injured."

"Six of them suffered damage to their internal organs. Even if they survive, it will be difficult for them to maintain their current cultivation level."

The atmosphere of relief and relief immediately turned silent.

The crowd looked at the corpses scattered throughout the valley. Those people had fought alongside them not long ago, but now they remained forever on Crimson Cloud Mountain.

Gu Chenfeng used his teeth to bite the strip of cloth and tightly wrapped it around his injured left arm.

"Being able to subdue the Ghost King is already a stroke of good fortune amidst misfortune."

He raised his head and looked towards the direction outside Chixia Mountain.

"If that thing really crawls out of the Crimson Abyss, it won't just be these few dozen people who die, but hundreds of thousands of people outside Crimson Cloud Mountain."

"They did not die in vain."

The mountain wind blew through the valley again, stirring up the ashes on the ground.

Zhang Zhen looked up at the surging crimson mist among the mountains. Although the altar here had been destroyed, the crimson tide showed no signs of abating; on the contrary, it grew even denser, and the howls of Others could be heard from afar.

Luo Yun followed his gaze.

"Lord Zhang, should we proceed to the next array point?"

Zhang Zhen remained silent for a moment, then slowly shook his head.

"It's too late."

"The third wave of ghosts has begun to converge. We have suffered heavy casualties and our energy is severely depleted. If we rashly venture deeper now, and the ghosts cut off our retreat, we will all die here."

Gu Chenfeng said worriedly, "But what if other ghost kings resurrect..."

"Then we need to restore our qi and blood first."

Zhang Zhen looked at the heavily injured martial artists behind him and said in a low voice, "In our current state, even if we reach the next array point, we won't be able to fight anymore. Let's rest here first, send out scouts to explore the array points, and then decide where to send reinforcements."

Everyone sat down cross-legged, took the medicine, and bandaged their wounds.

Lu Chen also put a Crimson Yuan Pill into his mouth. As soon as the pill entered his stomach, it transformed into a ball of scalding medicinal power, which rapidly spread along his internal organs, and the nearly depleted Golden Crow Qi and blood began to recover quickly.

Zhang Zhen stood alone at the highest point of the altar ruins, gazing into the depths of the crimson mist.

"hope……"

"Only one demon king has revived."

Outside the valley, crimson mist was silently churning. From the far depths of the earth, a muffled sound suddenly echoed.

The voice wasn't loud, but it seemed to resonate directly in everyone's hearts. Several martial artists who were bandaging their wounds paused, and their hearts skipped a beat.

Lu Chen opened his eyes.

He had just refined a small portion of the Crimson Yuan Treasure Pill, and the Golden Crow Qi and Blood in his five internal organs had only recovered to about 20%. Yet, at this moment, the hairs on his body stood on end, and a fine, stinging pain shot through his skin.

The feeling was like countless tiny lightning bolts moving through the air.

"Did you hear that?"

Bai Xiuwu looked up, his gaze sweeping around in surprise and suspicion: "What was that sound just now?"

"It's not a sound."

Xiao Jinghong pressed down on the trembling longsword at his waist, his expression gradually becoming serious: "The earth is shaking."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a second muffled thud came from underground.

boom!

The entire valley suddenly trembled.

The rubble on the altar ruins tumbled down, and fine cracks appeared in the ground. The blood-red array patterns that had been extinguished suddenly lit up again, and the remaining essence blood within them did not flow towards the newly closed Crimson Abyss, but suddenly changed direction, rapidly converging eastward along the underground array patterns.

From afar, the crisscrossing crimson array patterns resembled a giant blood net covering the entire Crimson Cloud Mountain. At this moment, all the blood lines were contracting, channeling power in the same direction.

"The blood sacrifice has not stopped!"

Luo Yun crouched down, staring at the crimson streak of blood flowing from his feet, his expression drastically changing: "A Ghost King is absorbing the power of the great formation!"

Zhang Zhen had already jumped off the altar ruins.

He spread his five fingers and pressed them heavily onto the ground. The Qi and blood of the Dragon Realm erupted, transforming into countless streams of energy that drilled into the mountain rocks and rapidly spread outwards along the blood-red array patterns underground.

A few breaths later, Zhang Zhen encountered a cold and violent aura.

That aura was like a thunderstorm buried deep in the earth; with each tremor, it would cause his senses to become temporarily numb.

Zhang Zhen abruptly withdrew his hand.

Several charred marks appeared on his palm, with tiny black arcs of electricity constantly flickering on his skin.

With a thought, a small blood dragon emerged from Zhang Zhen's palm and devoured all the lightning energy in his hand.

"Burial Valley of Thunder".

Zhang Zhen's expression was solemn as he spoke in a cold voice.

Those three short words caused Luo Yun and Gu Chenfeng's expressions to change simultaneously.

Gu Chenfeng instinctively gripped the long sword tighter.

"I remember the list of Ghost Kings of Crimson Cloud Mountain mentioning that Thunder Burial Valley was sealed off by the Martial Temple a hundred years ago, wasn't it?"

Zhang Zhen slowly stood up, his gaze fixed on the east: "But the Myriad Spirits Blood Sacrifice Array has been eroding the seal. There are still many altars on Crimson Cloud Mountain that we just destroyed."

"And the one in the Thunder Burial Valley has already accumulated enough power with the help of the great formation."

Bai Xiuwu sensed something was off about his tone and couldn't help but ask, "What kind of ghost king is sealed beneath the Burial Thunder Valley?"

Zhang Zhen paused for a moment.

"A hundred years ago, a large-scale ghost tide also broke out in Chixia Mountain."

"That time, a ghost king capable of controlling yin thunder emerged from the Valley of Burial Thunder. The thunder it wielded was different from the righteous thunder of heaven and earth; it could not slay evil, but instead extinguish life force and erode blood and qi."

Zhang Zhen looked down at the scorch marks remaining on his palm.

"That kind of thunder is called the Nine Netherworld Burial Thunder by the Martial Temple."

"When the lightning strikes, the living wither and die, their internal organs turn to charcoal. Even more terrifying is that the corpses struck by the Heavenly Lightning are assimilated by the Ghost King and rise again, becoming the lightning guards under his command."

Xiao Jinghong's expression darkened slightly.

"So, the more people it kills, the more White Walkers it has under its command?"

Luo Yun nodded: "Therefore, this Thunder Burial Ghost King is extremely dangerous!"

Bai Xiuwu pressed further, "How did the Martial Temple suppress it a hundred years ago?"

"Three Heavenly Dragon Guards from the Dragon Realm fought to the death and shattered its ghostly body."

Zhang Zhen's voice was deep: "In the end, the Martial Temple used nine Dragon-Locking Nails to pierce through its Yin Sha origin, and erected eighty-one Thunder-Suppressing Steles around the Thunder Burial Valley. With the help of the terrain of the entire valley, it was able to reseal it underground."

"Three people at the Dragon Realm..."

Bai Xiuwu's throat bobbed slightly, but he didn't say anything more.

Currently, only Zhang Zhen, a powerful expert who has reached the Dragon Realm, is here, and he has already consumed a lot of his energy and blood in order to suppress the Ghost King in the Crimson Abyss.

Boom!

Another muffled thud came from the east.

The sound was like thunder, long dormant, stirring up from the depths of the earth. The pebbles beneath their feet trembled slightly, and the swords at their waists hummed uncontrollably.

The temperature in the valley suddenly dropped.

Some martial artists developed fine black spots on their exposed skin, and their internal energy and blood became stagnant under the influence of the cold thunder energy.

"Everyone, circulate your Qi and blood!"

Zhang Zhen shouted sternly, "Don't let the Heavenly Burial Thunder invade your internal organs!"

Everyone immediately sat cross-legged and began to practice their internal energy.

Lu Chen's Four-Colored Demon-Subduing Golden Body spontaneously appeared on his body, its golden luster covering his entire form. As soon as a few strands of black electric arcs, barely visible to the naked eye, approached, they were shredded layer by layer by the Four-Colored Demon-Subduing Force.

Zhang Zhen witnessed this scene, his eyes flickering slightly.

Although the Burial Thunder is terrifying, it is still essentially a form of Yin energy.

Lu Chen's Four Directions Demon-Subduing Golden Body is just right to counter it.

Lu Chen was only at the Nourishing Viscera Realm. Even with his profound cultivation techniques, he couldn't possibly confront a Ghost King at the Dragon-Seeing Realm head-on.

"Lord Zhang, is it too late to get to Burial Thunder Valley now?"

Lu Chen asked.

Zhang Zhen did not answer immediately.

He released his Qi and blood perception again, attempting to probe the Burial Thunder Valley along the Blood Sacrifice Array Patterns. But just as his Qi penetrated deep underground, an even thicker bolt of black lightning surged back along the array patterns.

boom!

Zhang Zhen's arm jerked, and the ground beneath his feet instantly exploded.

He took a half step back, his entire right arm covered in black arcs of electricity. His dragon-like blood transformed into a crimson dragon that coiled around his arm, roaring and forcefully dispersing the malevolent lightning.

"It's too late."

Zhang Zhen looked up at the east, his voice solemn.

Meanwhile, dozens of miles away in the Thunder Burial Valley.

Eighty-one thunder-suppressing monuments lit up simultaneously.

The ancient runes on the monument emitted a dazzling golden light, and the phantom chains stretched across the valley, firmly binding a black stone platform in the center.

Beneath the stone platform lies a pitch-black thunder coffin.

The coffin was ten zhang long, with no carvings on its surface, only nine bronze dragon-locking nails piercing through the lid. Each nail was as thick as an arm and stained with dried black blood.

At this moment, the essence blood supplied by the Blood Sacrifice Array is pouring into the Burial Thunder Valley from all directions.

Blood spilled across the ground, pooling into a lake of blood that submerged all eighty-one Thunder-Suppressing Steles. Upon contact with the blood, the runes on the steles emitted a large amount of foul-smelling black smoke.

Chi Chi!

The golden runes dimmed at a visible rate.

Cracks appeared one after another on the Zhenlei Stele.

Inside the coffin, a heart that had been dormant for a hundred years suddenly beat.

Boom!

A thunderclap suddenly resounded above the Valley of Burial Thunder.

As the second heartbeat sounded, the essence blood in the blood lake began to boil. Countless streams of blood energy left the ground, transforming into crimson torrents that seeped into the cracks of the thunder coffin.

The desiccated body inside the coffin rapidly swelled.

The charred flesh regenerated, and the broken bones and tendons healed one after another. Strands of black lightning emanated from its body, spreading outward along the nine dragon-locking nails.

The third heartbeat sounded.

A charred hand rose from the thunder coffin and grasped the first dragon-locking nail that pierced through the chest.

"century……"

A hoarse voice slowly emanated from the thunder coffin.

"A full century..."

"You still want to use these pieces of junk to trap me?"

His five fingers suddenly tightened.

Click!

The first dragon-locking nail was broken off.

The illusory chains enveloping the Thunder Burial Valley trembled violently, and the nine Thunder-Suppressing Stele on the outer perimeter shattered simultaneously. Black and red lightning shot into the sky, tearing a huge gap in the crimson mist above.

The second, the third—with each broken Dragon-Locking Nail, the Thunder-Burial Ghost King's aura surged. The essence of all spirits, supplied by the Blood Sacrifice Array, continuously flowed into its body, repairing the Yin Sha origin shattered by the three Heavenly Dragon Guards a hundred years ago.

The remaining thunder-suppressing steles collapsed one after another.

Dozens of golden chains descended from mid-air, binding the charred hand and attempting to press it back into the coffin.

"roll!"

A loud shout rang out from the thunder coffin.

Boom!

Thousands of Heavenly Thunderbolts erupted simultaneously.

The golden chains were shattered inch by inch by the black lightning, and all eighty-one lightning-suppressing steles exploded at the same moment. Before the shattered stones even hit the ground, they were crushed into dust by the dark lightning.

The final Dragon-Locking Nail pierced through the Thunder-Burial Ghost King's brow.

It slowly sat up and raised its hand to grasp the nail tail.

As the dragon-locking nails were slowly pulled out, a charred and ferocious face emerged from the thunder coffin. It had four vertical eyes on its forehead, and deep within each eye, a ball of black and red lightning slowly rotated.

puff!

The last dragon-locking nail was completely pulled out.

The Thunder King casually crushed it.

With the Dragon-Locking Nails removed from its suppression, the complete Ghost King's essence was awakened. A torrent of ghostly energy surged forth from its body, connecting with the black thunderclouds above the Burial Thunder Valley.

The massive body slowly stood up.

It stood over four zhang tall, its flesh and blood resembling charred black rock, with dark red lightning flowing from its cracks. A tattered royal robe draped over its shoulders, and with each breath, deafening thunder roared from its chest.

The Thunder King raised its head, and its four vertical eyes simultaneously looked in the direction where Zhang Zhen and the others were.

The aura of the Heavenly Dragon Guard that suppressed it a hundred years ago has long since disappeared.

Now, he will return as king!