Ahhhh!

In the lava lake, heart-wrenching screams echoed continuously. Ling Chen had detected the anomaly beneath the lake ahead of time, allowing him to retreat just in time. However, most people were still focused on fighting for the Fire Infant Fruit and failed to react in time, ultimately being slain by the corpse fiends that surged up like a tidal wave.

The thick scent of blood quickly spread throughout the lava lake.

"Damn it, why are there so many of these ghostly things? Why is this Cave Mansion so strange, able to produce so many corpse fiends?"

"These fiends seem much more powerful than the ordinary ones earlier."

"What’s to fear? There’s so many of us. Are we really afraid of just a bunch of dead things?"

"..."

Murmurs quickly broke out among the crowd. Although they suffered a substantial loss due to being caught off guard, the strong individuals present didn’t appear too frightened. After all, they had the numerical advantage.

Moreover, more strong adversaries were hastening towards this area, giving them considerable confidence in their fight against these corpse fiends.

However, Ling Chen’s expression remained tense. If only these corpse fiends were as simple to deal with as imagined. Faintly, he could sense from the whirlpool below a more terrifying disturbance.

Most of the powerful beings were already embroiled in fighting the corpse fiends, bloodlust in their eyes, and didn’t notice the subtle changes in the whirlpool.

Even Murong Qingcheng and the others were too flustered to notice the black light expanding continuously within the whirlpool.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, from the whirlpool, an extremely vast black light surged forth. Amidst the black light, a towering figure of several meters gradually stepped out, spreading an overwhelmingly evil aura, as if a demon god had crawled out from the depths of Hell.

In sight, the figure’s body was covered with ancient black patterns, with unfathomable eyes. Behind him was a pair of bat wings purely condensed from black energy, exuding an eerie aura.

"Is this... a corpse fiend?"

At the sight of this figure’s appearance, Ling Chen’s eyes showed a hint of horror.

The figure exuded an intense evil aura to an astonishing degree. If not for it resembling a person, Ling Chen wouldn’t doubt that it was some ancient demonic beast.

"This isn’t an ordinary corpse fiend. This person must have been a powerful Saint in life; otherwise, his body wouldn’t have accumulated such terrifying evil energy."

The Human Emperor’s voice echoed in his mind.

"Even such a powerful Saint couldn’t withstand the corruption of this evil aura?"

Ling Chen was surprised. Reaching the Saint level, and being a strong one at that, with a powerful Saint Body for protection, and a highly cultivated Martial Soul and willpower, it was generally difficult to fall prey even in death. Yet, under this evil aura’s corruption, even such a strong entity didn’t escape becoming a corpse fiend.

"The forces attacking this Fire God Sect Cave Mansion aren’t typical evil cultivators."

The Human Emperor’s voice grew somber, "There might be something involved here far beyond what we can imagine, perhaps even related to the secrets of the Void Emperor’s royal decree."

The secret of the Void Emperor’s royal decree is the greatest secret of the entire Tianyuan Continent. Even the Human Emperor is unaware of it.

In his era, although there were some evil cultivators, their forces were very small. Over the subsequent millennia, he was unaware of how far these evil cultivators had developed on this continent.

"Find an opportunity to leave here. This corpse fiend is extremely formidable, and even if not as strong as in life, it likely possesses the power comparable to a novice Saint. Given that, even with many strong individuals here, it will still be hard to deal with." The Human Emperor advised.

Ling Chen nodded slightly at this. With his current power, even employing various tactics, he might only barely withstand someone of the first realm Saint level. Anything tougher would leave him no choice but to escape.

During the conversation between Ling Chen and the Human Emperor, the strong members of the Azure Dragon Family and Huangfu Clan also directed their attention to the figure shrouded in black light due to the sudden change.

"That thing is powerful. Be cautious, everyone." A white-haired elder in the Azure Dragon Family’s ranks said gravely, watching the terrifying figure emerge slowly from the black light.

"What exactly is that?" Murong Qingcheng asked with furrowed brows.

"Not sure, but definitely not anything good," the white-haired elder replied, also frowning. "We’d better leave quickly."

"Even you, Elder Bai, think so..."

Murong Qingcheng’s beautiful eyes showed a hint of seriousness. Elder Bai’s cultivation was nearly at the Saint Realm, with one foot already in. If even he was wary of this dark figure, its power indeed seemed terrifying.

Not only them, but Huangfu Qi and his group also held cautious gazes towards the dark figure, not daring to act recklessly. Apparently, the hook-nosed elder also sensed something unusual about the dark shadow.

However, most people have not yet realized that the crisis has arrived.

As all eyes gathered at the bottom of the lake, a tall black shadow stepped out from the darkness and appeared under the gaze of everyone.

At this moment, the crowd could clearly see the appearance of the black shadow, which was enveloped by extremely evil black magic patterns. These lines tangled every corner of his body; from a distance, it looked like countless black snakes crawling on his skin, making one’s scalp tingle.

The black shadow suddenly raised its head, its gaze like a black hole landing on the many strong adversaries. The next moment, his body disappeared on the spot, reappearing out of thin air mere dozens of meters in front of the crowd.

Upon appearing, the black shadow suddenly struck out with a palm, merely a stroke of the hand in mid-air, descending a terrifying black curtain onto the crowd. From within it, demon shadows loomed, and the virtual images of fierce exotic beasts emerged, instantly devouring dozens of nearby strong adversaries.

Without even having the chance to scream, dozens of top Sky Apex Realm strong adversaries were slaughtered instantly, perishing on the spot.

"Attack!"

Suddenly, a slightly sharp voice rang out, erupting in an instant as dozens of figures rushed out, vast true energy twisting into fierce martial arts, bombarding the black shadow overwhelmingly.

Woo woo!

The attacks tore through the lava, fiercely hitting the body of the black shadow. The surrounding lava exploded completely, forming a vast vacuum.

"It hit!"

Witnessing this scene, many faces lit up with joy, yet before they could expand their smile, they saw the black shadow person slowly walking forward, the evil black demonic patterns on his body flickering slightly, yet his body was completely unscathed.

The combined strike of dozens of top Sky Apex Realm adversaries did not cause him any damage at all.

"What kind of monster is this?"

Some strong adversaries reacted with shock, feeling a faint unease, realizing that this corpse seemed different from those they had dealt with before.

Just as they felt alarmed, a dense black aura surged in the black shadow’s malevolent eyes, and he emitted an extremely strange shrill sound.

Whoosh!

A sharp sound wave emitted, and the black shadow swiftly dashed out, leaving afterimages in its trail, eerily appearing in front of the same group who had attacked, the black aura flashing, penetrating through their formation, appearing behind them.

Boom boom boom!

As the black shadow appeared behind those dozens of adversaries, their bodies suddenly froze, followed by exploding clouds of blood mist on their throats, creating the size of fist holes edged with rising black evil aura, swiftly invading their bodies, eroding all the essence blood.

Ah! 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Agonized screams resonated, swiftly stopped, as those dozens of adversary bodies fell, sinking to the bottom of the lava lake.

Phew!

Witnessing dozens of strong adversaries fall in an instant, everyone around took a deep breath, their eyes filled with the utmost fear.

There were more than thirty adversaries with strength at the Sky Apex Realm!

If they worked together, even a Saint would retreat, but now, they were obliterated in the blink of an eye.

This was essentially a massacre!

At this moment, everyone finally understood that the power of this black shadow had reached unimaginable levels.

"The gap is too big."

Seeing this, Ling Chen hesitated no longer, swiftly retreating. The black shadow’s power was simply too overwhelming, impossible to confront directly, and certainly no reason to entangle with such a monster.

Ling Chen wielded the Thunder Sound Sword, pushing the power of the Divine Dragon Jade to the extreme, quickly slashing fifteen Corpse Evils nearby, extracting their relics. Though not Saint Relics, they still contained considerable energy and Ling Chen was determined to seize all of them, preparing to leave afterward.

"Such... familiar aura..."

Just as Ling Chen was about to depart, the black shadow engaged in slaughter looked towards Ling Chen, his malevolent, murderous eyes suddenly flickering.

"Divine Dragon Jade... bearer... poses great threat..."

With a hoarse, indistinct voice, the shadow’s gaze intensified sharply; the next instant, he darted past other adversaries, rushing directly towards Ling Chen!