The Devil Lord was utterly delighted. He immediately tossed Madam Li a command token. "Madam Li, with the command token of Devil Island in hand, you may bring a few subordinates with you to repair the altars. The more hands you have, the faster it will be."

"This jade slip details the layout and method of restoration. Among them, the three main altars are the most important. With this talisman, you can enter the trial realm, where there is also one main altar." Fairy Nangui handed the jade slip and spirit talisman to Madam Li, explaining the locations of the three main altars.

With Fairy Nangui’s guidance, the task would not be as troublesome and perilous as it had been for the three alliance leaders before. Lingzhuzi had no objection.

Madam Li nodded, suppressing her injuries, and flew down the mountain with all her belongings.

Fairy Nangui, the Devil Lord, and Lingzhuzi turned their gazes toward the ancient devil.

Faced with the three top experts, the ancient devil paid them no mind. Instead, he looked toward the direction beyond the mountain col, his eyes flickering strangely as if sensing something amiss.

A moment later, fury surfaced on his face, and he ground his teeth. "Never thought there would come a day when even I would be countered by a devilish servant and made into bait!"

The three were startled by its words. Suddenly, the mountain rocks quaked violently.

Boom! All around the mountain col, sheets of stone walls peeled off, boulders tumbled down, and the earth shook with a deafening roar. Countless fossilized spiritual trees shattered and collapsed. Rubble flew everywhere.

Those ancient palaces, already decayed and on the verge of ruin, were shaken apart by the tremor and collapsed in masses, sending clouds of dust into the air.

Crack! A thunderous roar split the sky as Yitian Peak suddenly opened with a massive fissure!

Rumble... The fissure rapidly spread from afar, cutting across the mountain slope and piercing the entire mountainside. It grew wider by the second as rocks plunged into the abyss, swallowed by the darkness below.

From above, one could see that the mountain col sat right at the fissure’s center. It was being torn apart completely.

Everyone’s hearts leaped in alarm as they took to the air to avoid the falling stones. Even so, they did not forget the ancient devil. They still surrounded him, wary of him taking the chance to flee amid the chaos.

But the ancient devil showed no sign of leaving. He stood unmoving on the ground, wrapped in surging true devilish qi. Any stone that fell near was instantly shattered by the devilish qi.

He remained unscathed, staring fixedly at the fissure below with a constantly shifting expression.

"That is..." Fairy Nangui frowned, peering into the depths.

There, within the darkness, faintly appeared a massive black screen. Within the screen, countless runes flickered in alternation. The power of an ancient barrier covered the underground realm, sealing it into a seamless screen.

A thin crack ran across that screen. The fissure was as fine as a hair, barely visible to the naked eye, but it meant that the ancient barrier had fractured!

Beneath the stone stele in the mountain col lay another altar, and right now, that altar sat directly above the crack in the black screen.

Seeing this, Fairy Nangui gasped. "A fissure of the ancient barrier!"

The old man’s gaze swept toward the source of the fissure’s spread. His expression changed drastically when he realized it came from the cliff’s direction. "This is bad!"

The young boy and girl were still in the great hall. The upheaval had started from there. Who knew what had happened to those two heirs?

The old man swiftly sent a voice transmission to Fairy Nangui, then, disregarding his own injuries, grabbed the Devil-Suppressing Stele and darted toward the cliff.

Swish! From deep within the fissure, a vast black net shot out like lightning, rushing toward him.

Having already suffered an ambush once, the old man was not unprepared this time. He immediately sensed the anomaly, roared, and sent out a beam of rainbow light to strike the net.

He was furious. This was the second time he had been ambushed. One after another, they all targeted him.

The most prominent forces of the human race were gathered here, yet this attacker did not belong to any of them!

Although he had been vigilant, his old injuries had not healed, and the opponent’s strength was clearly no less than his own. The rainbow light failed to break the black net and was instead devoured by it. Forced back, the old man retreated several steps.

"Daoist, where do you think you’re going?" A figure emerged from the fissure, retracting the black light into its hand. Smiling, it said, "I went to great lengths just to make you move the Devil-Suppressing Stele of your own accord."

The newcomer revealed himself. It was Qingzhu! However, his eyes gleamed with uncontrollable madness and bloodlust. It was obvious that his body was under the control of a devilish soul, not the true Qingzhu himself.

"Who are you?" Seeing Devil Qingzhu, the four present were taken aback.

They had assumed another power was involved in the incident, yet the person before them was unfamiliar.

The Devil Lord, Lingzhuzi, and the Four Saints Palace's heirs, who all represented the strongest forces among humans, had never seen him before.

"So it was you!" The ancient devil’s face twisted with rage as it glared at Devil Qingzhu. "I helped you escape, taught you my art, and you dare betray me!"

"Not so, not so..." Devil Qingzhu shook his head. "Everything I’ve done has always been according to the orders of the Devil Monarch. However, that order did not come from you, the split soul!"

A mocking smile tugged at his lips. "Even if I were to pledge allegiance, it would be to the true devil. A mere split soul like you thinks you can command me?"

The ancient devil’s face darkened with shock. "It’s him! When did he ensnare you?"

Devil Qingzhu sneered. "Long before I met you, I had already sworn my oath to him. My true body even burned his origin to send you out. Yet you, this split consciousness trapped for so many years, dared to develop independent will, seeking to usurp the master’s place instead of breaking the altars and breaking the ancient seal!"

The ancient devil’s expression twisted in disdain. "He is me, and I am him. We share the same origin. What difference is there between master and servant?"

His eyes swept across the people hovering above, and realization dawned. His expression turned vicious. "You were the one who led all these people here!"

The ancient devil was seething with fury. According to his original plan, he would lure the three alliance leaders to break the seal, then have Devil Qingzhu ambush the Four Saints Palace's heirs and seize the Devil-Suppressing Stele. Once free, he would dominate the world.

After regaining his full strength, he would then release his true body and devour the main soul. By doing so, he would become the true Devil Monarch. Yet everything had been ruined by Devil Qingzhu’s interference.

After being sealed for countless years, his power was far weaker than before. The seal on his body remained unbroken, and now he faced siege from three late-stage Spiritual Infant experts. The outcome would surely be disastrous.

"It’s merely a matter of going along with the flow. I wanted to use you as bait, to make the Four Saints Palace willingly remove the Devil-Suppressing Stele so that I could arrange matters freely. And breaking the barrier also required your strength. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have released you at all," Devil Qingzhu said indifferently.

"I left Seven-Kill Hall back then and infiltrated Canglang Sea. After discovering certain clues, I decided to play along and draw in a few more opponents, lest you truly managed to escape."

In mid-air, the four listened to the exchange between Devil Qingzhu and the ancient devil, each wearing a different expression.

The Devil Lord’s eyes flickered as a thought stirred within him. He examined Devil Qingzhu carefully.

The man’s appearance was unfamiliar, yet there was something vaguely familiar about him, as though they had crossed paths before.

"You’re the Sword Devil?" the Devil Lord finally recalled.

Devil Qingzhu turned his gaze toward him and nodded slightly. "Daoist Yin spoke highly of the Devil Lord indeed. Your reputation is well deserved. It’s a pity that back then I met with certain unexpected circumstances and never had the chance to befriend you."