Elder Wan issued a warning. The grand witch priest and the others promptly produced their poison-warding treasures.

The gray-robed elder, skilled in toxins, distributed several secret antidote pills to the group. They finished their preparations and stepped through the teleportation array one after another.

The light of the teleportation array faded. Silence returned to the stone hall.

High above the hall at the valley's rim, a lone figure had been standing the entire time, hands clasped behind his back, gazing down at the stone hall as if his sight could pierce the deadly barriers within the valley.

Neither the grand witch priest nor Old Devil Fang had noticed this person’s presence. Their infiltration of the valley and the opening of the hall had all been witnessed by him.

"How did you understand the witch array? Even the witch race’s grand witch priest failed to see through your tampering." A voice sounded from within the man’s body.

"The witch race lost its own inheritance. Was it so hard to deceive them?" The man opened his mouth to reply, as though conversing with himself.

After a brief silence, the inner voice spoke again, cold as ice. "Why did you lure the witch race into the inner hall? Whatever it is you intend, with me here, you will not succeed."

"What is this? Are you afraid?" A faint, mocking smile tugged at the man’s lips. "Since when did you grow a tender heart for the masses?"

"I have no wish to shoulder the fate of the world, but a cataclysm must not begin because of me." The voice within barked the words, firm and unyielding.

The man’s smile chilled. "So you admit this external incarnation's primordial spirit and you are one and the same. In that case, stop resisting. Let me devour you, and I will know my purpose clearly enough."

Once the grand witch priest and her party activated the teleportation array, the man tapped the ground underfoot and also flew away from the place.

***

In an unknown hidden realm in the inner hall...

After breaking a celestial barrier, the Jiao King and the other beast kings had descended here and fled onward without pause, yet they still had not left this barren expanse.

"Daoist Nine Phoenix, how much longer until we exit this hidden realm? If we keep wandering like this, Seven-Kill Hall will close before we can escape. I have no wish to die trapped here. Why did we not use the True Heavenly Phoenix Feather to teleport directly into the inner hall at the start?" The black-armored brute rumbled, impatience creeping into his tone.

Only after entering did they realize they had not arrived in the inner hall proper. This place bore no resemblance to the inner hall recorded by the humans and was clearly a hidden realm locked behind a celestial barrier within the inner hall.

Celestial barriers were everywhere inside the inner hall, so such a detour was not surprising. The demon kings could only search for an exit.

If they failed to leave the hidden realm before Seven-Kill Hall sealed again, treasure hunting would be out of the question. The only good news was that no ferocious beasts or other dangers lurked here. Nine Phoenix Monarch was their sole hope of escape, yet she still had no lead.

"Back then, I relied on a barrier left behind by my Heavenly Phoenix ancestors. I used it to clash against the celestial barrier, forcing the True Heavenly Phoenix Feather inside. Trying that elsewhere would greatly lower the chances of success. Besides, aside from a few regions explored by humans, the rest of the inner hall is exceedingly dangerous. Even if we avoided this place, we would face other perils." Nine Phoenix Monarch’s beautiful face was cold, and her tone was sharp and unyielding. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

The Jiao King stepped in to ease the tension. "Brother Hei, there’s no need to grow anxious. This hidden realm must have been left behind by the Heavenly Phoenix lineage. Anyone else would likely have been trapped here forever. Daoist Nine Phoenix is a descendant of that bloodline and wields the True Heavenly Phoenix Feather. Finding the exit won’t be difficult, it will just take time."

He paused before continuing, turning toward Nine Phoenix Monarch. "Daoist Nine Phoenix, Brother Hei’s concern isn’t unfounded. Once we leave this realm, I must use the Dragon-Guiding Art to determine the True Dragon’s remains. If it’s too far away, we’ll need time to reach it. The sooner we get out, the better."

Nine Phoenix Monarch nodded gently. She raised a jade-white hand, the True Heavenly Phoenix Feather floating above her palm as she poured her true essence into it. Closing her eyes, she began to sense the way forward.

The black-armored brute forced a dry laugh, unwilling to disturb her. Glancing at the white bone in the Jiao King’s hand, he asked curiously, "Daoist, this Dragon-Guiding Art, does it come from your Jiao Clan’s inheritance?’"

The Jiao King nodded. "According to legend, every part of a True Dragon’s body is treasure. After death, its remains must be returned to the dragon tomb for burial, lest they be desecrated. For that reason, the True Dragon Clan created a blood-guided corpse-seeking technique. Though the Dragon-Guiding Art belongs to my clan, it is said to have originated from that very method. This white bone comes from a True Dragon. I found it on a human Spiritual Infant cultivator. After interrogation, he admitted he obtained it by accident from the inner hall of Seven-Kill Hall. As long as a dragon corpse exists within Seven-Kill Hall, we can use this bone and the Dragon-Guiding Art to find it..."

The black-armored brute’s eyes gleamed. "How strong do you think that True Dragon was in life? If it had reached the heavenly demon level, its remains wouldn’t have decayed so much, would they?"

"The power of a heavenly demon is beyond our imagination." The Jiao King gazed at the decayed white bone in his hand. "Whatever its strength, it far surpassed ours. Any relic of a True Dragon could grant tremendous power. If we find an intact corpse untouched by humans, even if the bones have decayed, we might still recover its reverse scale[1], True Blood, or perhaps even its demonic core. With that, attaining Divine Transformation or even Void Refinement would no longer be a dream."

A trace of temptation slipped into his voice. The surrounding demon kings listened with pounding hearts, each imagining the glory of possessing the dragon’s remains.

"The gap between this era and the ancient cultivation world spans every realm. A single dragon corpse can’t bridge it. Otherwise, Divine Transformation wouldn’t be so rare, and Void Refinement wouldn’t be beyond reach."

The black-armored brute remained clear-headed, unmoved by the Jiao King’s enticement. "I’ll be satisfied if I can break through to the late stage of the Transformation Realm and survive a few more heavenly tribulations. If there’s truly a chance for Divine Transformation, I only hope you succeed, Daoist. We’ll help you seize the teleportation array and strike back at the human cultivators. The two realms will belong to our demon race. My only fear is that the humans have already found the dragon corpse and stripped it bare."

He frowned, wary that the journey might end in vain.

The Jiao King, however, spoke with calm assurance. "If you placed this white bone before human cultivators, they wouldn’t recognize its worth. Besides, True Dragon remains are as valuable to humans as they are to us. If they had discovered them, there would have been signs by now. Every True Dragon had ways to guard its own corpse after death. If it was strong enough in life, those protections might still linger. It’s not so easy for outsiders to dig up an entire dragon corpse. You’ll see soon enough."

Unable to assist Nine Phoenix Monarch for now, the group discussed their next course of action.

Treasure hunting in the inner hall meant they could encounter human Spiritual Infant cultivators at any time.

Lingzhuzi and the Devil Lord needed no introduction. As for the three alliance leaders, though not great cultivators, rumor held they had reached the very pinnacle of the middle stage of the Spiritual Infant Realm, their power far beyond ordinary cultivators. Both righteous and devilish sects feared them deeply, proof enough of their strength.

Compared to the humans, only the Jiao King among the demon kings had reached the late stage of the Transformation Realm, and even his power was far from equal to theirs.

1. Reverse scale is a scale right below the dragon's neck. It's said to go in the opposite direction as the other scales, hence the name. ☜