Amid numerous struggles, the Nine Calamities Divine Monarch and the Celestial Ghost Buddha gradually rose to power, but due to this prolonged turmoil, many Divine Mountains cultivating Spirit Grass were destroyed, and the prices of various cultivation resources soared.

In reality, within this vast Netherworld Realm, not only did the heritage surviving in the wilderness have a difficult life, but even the cultivators of the Eternal Immortal Dynasty were not faring well. Most of the older generation died in battle, and the new generation couldn’t grow, leading to a continuous decline in overall strength.

This time, it’s a battle concerning the fate of the Netherworld Realm, which will determine a new Realm Master. Everyone has taken sides: either face death or strive for a glorious future!

Zhang Kui did not expect to inadvertently witness this grand event. He didn’t care who won or lost, because no matter who ultimately triumphed, the Netherworld Realm wouldn’t have the strength to attack the Main Cosmos for a long time...

...

"Taoist Friend Zhang, this is Fire Element True Master..."

"Taoist Friend Zhang, these are a few fellow Taoists from the Beast Mountain Sect..."

"This is Zhang Hu, the True Monarch of the Void, highly skilled."

"Greetings, fellow Taoist."

Upon entering the camp of the Celestial Ghost Buddha’s army, Zhang Kui and the two demons from the Spirit Corpse Sect were allocated areas to defend. Being Immortal level experts, although they were not permitted to enter the starry sky above, they did have an Ancient Mirror Starship the size of a mountain.

Just after the two Spider Spirits arrived at their station, they immediately dragged Zhang Kui around to make visits.

Zhang Kui also noticed the subtleties. Although these two brothers had expertise in corpse raising and beast taming, their own strength was average. Coupled with their sect’s decline, they were not well regarded.

At any time, strength speaks, and Zhang Kui’s thick Qi Mechanism, along with his rare Void Domain Power, brought considerable respect to the two demons as well.

After half a day of turning around, they returned to the black Ancient Mirror Starship. The elder Spider Spirit Brother smiled bitterly and apologized, "Brother Zhang, don’t feel annoyed. If a great battle occurs, even those of Immortal level could fall at any moment. In the chaos, the greatest fear is being schemed against. With you holding the fort, they dare not act rashly."

Zhang Kui laughed heartily, "Rest assured, Taoist friends, I will certainly protect you when the time comes."

"Indeed, there’s no need to worry too much."

The younger Spider Spirit Brother’s compound eyes were full of cunning light, "Judging by True Monarch Chang’s intention, upon entering the Ancient Netherworld, they’d need our corpse tide to scout the way, so we likely won’t be arranged to engage in any magic duels."

"Magic duels..." Zhang Kui’s eyes slightly moved.

The two demons were not wrong. There was still some time before the Ancient Netherworld Secret Realm would open. The armies faced off on this vast Nether Ruins almost every day, sending people to duel in order to weaken each other’s strength and to provide an outlet for their increasingly restless emotions.

This was nearly a gamble with life, both sides tacitly not sending out direct lineages to fight to the death—the contestants were all loose cultivators who came to aid in the battle.

Almost all the loose cultivators were clear in their minds, but no one complained, as everyone was betting everything in this battle concerning the future.

Ever since the three settled down, there hadn’t been a moment of pause in magic duels on the huge plain between two armies, sometimes involving Immortal level fighters, sometimes even controlled Disaster Beasts, with even the mundane military below having fought several times.

The first day:

The Nine Calamities Divine Monarch’s side had a streak of victories, while the Celestial Ghost Buddha’s side lost four Immortal level experts, and an Ancient Race member was even devoured alive by the opponent’s Demon Immortal...

The second day:

The Celestial Ghost Buddha’s side turned the tables, with several loose cultivators demonstrating their might, slaying all the opposing experts, blood staining the skies...

The third day:

A battle of Disaster Beasts took place, with the Fire Tribulation Demon Dragon controlled by the Nine Calamities Divine Monarch proving unparalleled, and the defeated Disaster Beasts were torn apart with nothing left by the enraged people on the Celestial Ghost Buddha’s side...

The fourth day:

Both mundane armies clashed, almost annihilating each other, with the brutal scent of blood permeating the wilderness...

Initially, Zhang Kui showed some interest, as he could observe various unheard techniques. The Netherworld Realm’s cultivation system was chaotic, encompassing mainstream Immortal Path like the Main Cosmos, techniques that absorb and devour Evil Qi and Disaster Qi, and even ancient witchcraft path.

But soon, he sensed something amiss.

On the expansive wilderness in the center of the two armies, blood already covered the ground, remains filled with ominous air, white bones congealing Evil Qi, an unsettling Qi Mechanism continuously gathering.

When Zhang Kui first entered this Nether Ruins, he vaguely sensed something lurking deep beneath, ever-watchful, be it man or object.

Now, it was clear that thing seemed to be awakened by the surging Blood Evil...

Sacrifice!

An inexplicable feeling arose in Zhang Kui’s heart.

The true purpose of these practitioners’ magic duels was likely just this...

...

The duel participants were decided by a daily lottery; perhaps, as the two demons from the Spirit Corpse Sect thought, they still had a use, or they were simply lucky, as they had not yet been drawn.

Half a month later, anomalies appeared in heaven and earth: thunderclouds surged, disaster winds howled, and an eerie sound resembling a beast’s roar continuously came from deep underground, accompanied by an ongoing tremor in the earth...

The daily routine of magic duels had stopped, with nearly everyone from both sides staring intently at the wilderness in front of them.

"The Ancient Netherworld... is about to open!"

Someone couldn’t help but utter an unconscious moan.

Zhang Kui narrowed his eyes, raising his vigilance involuntarily.

During this time he was not idle either; under the guise of meeting fellow Daoists, he gathered information, learning many ancient secrets of this land.

Previously, he had been skeptical about how a place like the Netherworld Realm could give rise to heritages, Ancient Races, and even a diverse Demon Race, knowing full well the evolution of living beings relies on large populations of mundane life unless, like Disaster Beasts or Star Beasts, sustained by heaven and earth laws.

Sure enough, from an aged cultivator’s account, he learned that these creatures, including the wilderness heritage, all migrated from an ancient barbaric era, though what transpired back then is unknown. Initially ruling heritages gradually lost their legacies, while their slave descendants rose in power.

But the most mysterious existence in the Netherworld Realm is none other than the Ancient Netherworld; some say it hails from that ancient age of the Ten Thousand Races’ migration, while others claim it’s even older...

Just as the Longevity Immortal Monarch opened Grotto Heavens, ruling entire star realms, this Ancient Netherworld also conceals secrets capable of governing the whole Netherworld Realm.

Greed, fear, fervor... various emotions continuously spread.

Boom!

A sudden loud bang echoed across heaven and earth, and everyone’s Divine Soul reverberated with roars. Blazing white light seemed to engulf everything, but in a blink, transformed into the deepest darkness.

A vast black fog abruptly appeared at the center of the battlefield, with vague views of rocky grand stone steps extending into the dark void...

...

"The Netherworld opens, kill!"

"Our future lies within!"

Seemingly signaled, both armies became fervent almost simultaneously, with each side’s leader-level Demon Immortal emitting fervent howls.

Boom!

Even the vast Star Realm in the sky above both factions activated simultaneously, with majestic Domain Power spreading and colliding, as if two worlds were about to annihilate each other.

Heaven and earth were in turmoil, Yin and Yang, water and fire clashed. On one side, the Nine Calamities Divine Monarch’s light mass filled the sky, on the other, the Celestial Ghost Buddha’s Ghost Fire and Black Evil stirred the cosmos. Two magnificent wills collided simultaneously, with immense shockwaves spreading down from the nine heavens, overturning Ancient Mirror Starships in its path and reducing subterranean mundane armies to bloodmist in an instant...

Chaotic, utterly chaotic!

Zhang Kui’s scalp tingled. He never expected the life-and-death battle to occur simultaneously with the opening of the Netherworld. With heaven and earth laws in upheaval, shaking of earth and mountains, even he trembled, feeling like a small boat adrift on a violent sea.

Boom!

The Starship they were on suddenly shook violently, with its front collapsing massively from an attack appearing from nowhere, leaving only half remaining.

"Meow..."

Fatty Tiger shivered under the lightning light, and the Spider Spirit Brothers from the Spirit Corpse Sect were also dazed and confused, unconsciously retreating.

"Go!"

Zhang Kui’s furious shout awakened everyone, and his Void Domain expanded abruptly, enveloping them as they charged into the limitless black fog...