After clearing the level, the fairies were reborn!

As these lines of text appeared, the tremors in the secret realm intensified!

"Snap—!"

The earth cracked, and deep, bottomless fissures spread across the ground.

Thick black mist surged from the crack, carrying a chilling aura and a strong sense of death. Wherever it passed, ice froze, plants withered, and even light was swallowed up.

"What is that?!" Mu Qinghe exclaimed in surprise, her face turning pale.

Xu Ze did not answer; his gaze was fixed on the cracks.

Because something... crawled out of the crack.

It started with the hands.

Pale, withered hands, reduced to bones and a few bits of decaying flesh, reached out from the cracks, gripped the edges, and struggled to climb upwards.

Then, the head.

Hollow eye sockets, rotting faces, and gaping mouths revealing gleaming white teeth. The heads swayed, emerging from the cracks, emitting silent roars.

Finally, there's the body.

One, two, ten, a hundred...

Hundreds and thousands of corpses crawled out from underground!

They were dressed in tattered clothes, which could be vaguely identified as the standard Taoist robes of the Xuanling Sect.

These zombies moved stiffly and slowly, but with a chilling persistence.

They crawled out of the cracks, surged from the ground, and converged from all directions.

Then, they all turned their heads and looked in the direction where Xu Ze was.

Within the empty eye sockets, eerie green flames flickered.

"Roar--"

A silent roar exploded on the level of the soul!

Zombie horde!

Xu Ze's pupils suddenly contracted.

He finally understood what those "Earth Spirit Grass Puppets" he had killed before were.

That wasn't a puppet for testing purposes at all.

Those were all disciples of the Xuanling Sect! They were disciples who died in the ancient war ten thousand years ago!

Now, something has triggered some kind of restriction, and all the corpses that have been sleeping underground for thousands of years have awakened!

It also transformed into an immortal and indestructible corpse puppet, awakening from its millennia-long slumber, seeking to destroy all living beings!

"Run!" Xu Ze grabbed Mu Qinghe and turned to rush out of the magic circle.

But it was too late.

The horde of corpses surged in from all directions like a black flood, instantly engulfing the plain where the magic array was located. They were so numerous and densely packed that they stretched as far as the eye could see.

They moved forward slowly but steadily, each step causing the earth to tremble.

"This is too much..." The little girl was terrified.

Behind the horde of zombies, Xu Ze saw something even more terrifying—

Several exceptionally large corpses.

They stood over three zhang tall, clad in tattered armor, and wielded heavy weapons such as giant axes and hammers. Their auras clearly indicated they had reached the Nascent Soul stage!

More than one!

Three, five, eight...

Eight Nascent Soul stage corpse generals stood behind the horde of corpses, like generals commanding a large army.

But further behind those corpses, in the deepest part of the rift, something even more terrifying seemed to be slowly awakening…

That aura... it's probably from the Nascent Soul stage!

There are even more terrifying things out there!!

Xu Ze's heart jumped into his throat.

This is no longer a trial.

This is a... catastrophe!

This is practically a zombie apocalypse version of a cultivation-themed game!

So many corpses were hidden beneath this bottomless crevice?

The resentment and fighting spirit left over from the destruction of the ancient sects, after being settled for thousands of years, have completely erupted, wanting to devour all intruders and destroy this world that has long been dead!

And he, Xu Ze, was standing right in the center of the catastrophe.

The jade token in his hand was slightly warm, as if reminding him that he was now the sect leader's personal disciple, and the sect's nominal... highest authority holder?

What exactly happened tens of thousands of years ago?

What caused all of this to happen today?

Xu Ze took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

He looked at the jade tablet in his hand, then at the surging tide of corpses around him, his mind racing.

Then, he made a decision.

……

Beyond the secret realm.

At the entrance to the Mysterious Spirit Realm, hundreds of people have already gathered.

These people were divided into several distinct camps.

The Song family was at the very front.

Song Tianqing, the head of the Song family, had a livid face. Song Xunzhen stood beside his father with a solemn expression, holding Song Yubai's shattered soul jade in his hands, his eyes flashing with cold light.

To the left is Flying Snow Valley, where a middle-aged woman in a snow-white Taoist robe stands with her hands behind her back. She is the current head of Flying Snow Valley, "Ice Soul True Person," with a cultivation level in the late stage of the Nascent Soul realm.

On the other side of the Heavenly Palace, an old man in black robes with his hair and beard standing on end, surrounded by sword energy, was the "Sword Master Elder," the law enforcement elder of the Heavenly Palace, with a peak Nascent Soul cultivation.

Lin Jianshen's death nearly drove this hot-tempered elder mad.

Originally, that should have been his prized personal disciple.

Besides them, representatives from other families and sects, large and small, were also gathered here, each with a different expression, but all of them were filled with worry and anxiety.

Their descendants or children are also among them.

The fact that a secret realm that had been confirmed to be safe was suddenly sealed off and completely cut off from the outside world was strange enough in itself.

Just moments ago, the Soul Jade of each family shattered or underwent abnormal changes one after another, and now a deafening sound has occurred, making the atmosphere extremely tense.

"What on earth happened in this secret realm?!" Sword Master roared, his voice like thunder. "My disciples of the Heavenly Vault Palace cannot have died in vain!"

“My son is also dead,” Song Tianqing said coldly. “Elder Jianjue, now is not the time to compare misery. The most urgent task is to open the secret realm and find out what happened inside.”

"Open it? You make it sound so easy!" Ice Soul True Man sneered. "The strength of the restrictions in this secret realm far exceeds our expectations. We've been attacking it together for half an hour, and we haven't even opened a crack. In my opinion, this secret realm... has probably undergone a change that we can't understand."

Everyone fell silent.

Indeed, in the past few hours, they had tried various methods, even using inherited magical artifacts, but the stone door at the entrance to the secret realm remained unmoved.

The restrictions on it seemed to be beyond the capabilities of this era, so powerful that they inspired despair.

Just when everyone was at a loss.

"Boom—!"

A violent tremor suddenly erupted at the entrance to the secret realm!

The runes on the tightly closed stone door flickered wildly, their light flashing on and off, as if a cataclysmic event was taking place inside.

"Step back!" Song Tianqing shouted sharply, taking the lead in retreating behind the crowd.

The others also retreated, simultaneously raising their protective spiritual light and watching the stone door warily.

However, under everyone's tense gaze...

The stone gate... slowly opened.

Chapter 88: He's just being delusional again.

At the entrance to the Mysterious Spirit Realm, a biting icy wind howled.

The stone door, which had been dull and lifeless, now emitted a flickering, blood-red light, like the last heartbeat of a dying beast, each flash tugging at the nerves of those present.

Everyone's eyes were fixed on them, wondering what would happen next.

suddenly.

"Om-!"

The stone gate, covered with ancient runes, suddenly shone brightly, and the entire gate began to tremble violently before slowly opening.

Inside the door, familiar figures began to run out.

Young monks dressed in various colors squeezed out from the crack in the door like startled birds.

They were pale-faced, their eyes filled with terror, and they all bore injuries, some even in tattered clothes and covered in blood.

Upon seeing these prodigies, the atmosphere immediately changed.

"Yun'er? Is that you?" First, the head of a small family suddenly exclaimed in surprise.

He rushed to a young man who had just escaped from inside the door and helped him up, exclaiming, "It really is you!"

Then, similar sounds continued to be heard:

"Junior brother, are you alright?"

"Thank goodness, my son, you're alive..."