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Chapter 223 Demonic Cultivator Volunteers for Official Status, Holding Firm Underground Awaits the Dawn [Part Two]

Two flowers bloom, one branch each.

When Tang Hao forcibly opened a fissure passage in the abandoned dry well in Hufeng City.

In the Nightmare Kingdom.

The plaza in front of the magnificent main hall trembled violently.

The ground cracked like a tortoise shell during the massive earthquake, and countless black mists seeped out from the fissures.

In the mountains and plains, the greenery slowly fades away like a faded ink painting, and even the rivers begin to show signs of drying up.

The nine-leaf stone lotus in the square burst forth with dazzling golden patterns, and the nine luminaries simultaneously formed hand seals, each standing on a leaf.

The nation's energy continuously flows into the fissures in front of the palace.

The alarmed demonic cultivators emerged from their residences and gathered at the edge of the plaza.

Their hair and robes fluttered as the energy storm tore at them.

The black-armored soldiers lined up in the square like a tide, their numbers far exceeding the demonic cultivators' expectations.

Its silence is like that of a sculpture, with the black light emanating from the tip of its spear, creating a repressive energy resonance field.

From afar, the teacher looked up.

The void seemed to be torn apart by an invisible giant hand, and black and gold lightning surged like a writhing dragon.

Suddenly, the silent Nightmare Warriors raised their spears high, and the energy from the tips of thousands of spears converged into a torrent that crashed violently against the entrance to the passage.

Cold sweat beaded on her temples: "What is this? It seems... they are forcibly opening a spatial passage based on the entire nation?"

Shi Buyu didn't know exactly what the Nightmare Kingdom was; he could only speculate based on the situation.

Although the essence was not guessed correctly, the purpose was not too far off.

The fissure beneath the dry well, to be precise, is nothing more than an anchor point.

The very source of the energy required to maintain the passage lies within the Nightmare Realm.

Fortunately, after the nine women underwent their tribulations simultaneously, some miraculous reaction occurred.

The enormous stone sculpture here, resembling a nine-petaled lotus, is subtly connected to the energy of the entire small world, serving as a central hub for energy convergence.

Otherwise, no matter how powerful Tang Hao is, he wouldn't be able to forcefully open the rift channel using his projected avatar as an anchor point.

Upon hearing Shi Buyu's words, Shen Mengyao stared at the swirling black hole deep within the passage and couldn't help but swallow hard: "They actually possess such power."

"A spatial passage? What's that for? Tang, can't the Overlord just open a passage with a wave of his hand?" Jiang Yourong asked, puzzled.

She wasn't the only one confused; everyone else was equally puzzled.

"This mobilization is like we're about to go to war," a demonic cultivator sighed, shaking his head.

He was just saying it casually, but the speaker meant no harm, while the listeners took it to heart. Many demonic cultivators exchanged thoughtful glances upon hearing this.

The quick-witted Blood Cult swordsman strode a few steps and came to the side of a Nightmare Spirit soldier at the end of the line.

He nudged the other person with his elbow, looking shifty and sneaky.

When the other person turned to look down at him, the swordsman revealed a fawning smile: "May I ask, brother, what are you doing?"

The Nightmare Soldier's cold eyes flashed beneath his mask, as if confirming his identity.

Other demonic cultivators also quietly gathered around, all waiting for an answer.

Unexpectedly, after looking at the swordsman, the Nightmare soldier turned back and completely ignored him.

"This..." The swordsman was a little embarrassed, but he didn't dare to do anything to the soldier.

These soldiers, all clad in black armor, were all at the Foundation Establishment stage. Now that he had lost his sword and treasures, he probably wouldn't even be able to break through their defenses.

Of course, even if he had a hundred times the courage, he wouldn't dare to actually attack.

As the group of demonic cultivators looked at each other in bewilderment, Shi Buyu's voice came: "Save your energy. These ordinary soldiers are not very intelligent and cannot communicate with people at will."

“Indeed, besides the sergeant leading the escort, there was also the armored soldier representing the Nine Luminaries. I tried to communicate with the soldiers I encountered, but I didn’t get a response.” It was Shen Mengyao who spoke.

She was by nature fond of scheming, and upon arriving, she naturally made an effort to communicate with the Nightmare Soldiers, who were the most numerous in the area, in order to gather information and decide on her next steps.

Shi Buyu ignored Shen Mengyao's reply. When she inquired about Tang Hao, she naturally investigated him as well and knew what kind of person this woman was, and she really looked down on her.

The nine maidens of Yao Guang on the Nine-Leaf Stone Lotus naturally noticed the movements of this group.

After exchanging a glance, with a mere thought, an armored warrior with enormous butterfly-shaped wings on his back rose into the air from beneath the stone lotus and landed instantly in front of the demonic cultivators.

Is this the armored soldier who spoke on behalf of Jiuyao earlier?
Looking at the concealed wings of light behind the other party, the demonic cultivators were somewhat uncertain.

After all, these Nightmare Warriors were all too similar in appearance, except for the slight differences in the gold patterns on their armor.

Before they could even ask a question, the armored soldier spoke first: "We are ordered by our sovereign to wage war against foreign invaders. You must leave immediately and not disturb this place. Otherwise, you will be expelled from the kingdom and stripped of your conversion qualifications!"

Foreign conquest?

Shi Buyu's eyes lit up as he keenly sensed the opportunity within, recognizing it as a chance for early promotion.

After all, Tang Hao currently only has nine Core Formation warriors under his command, namely Jiu Yao.

With her joining the Core Formation stage, the chances of victory would obviously be higher, so Shi Buyu decided to volunteer for the battle.

Having made up her mind, she immediately bowed solemnly to the armored soldier and said, "Reporting to Lord Jiuyao, Shi Buyu is willing to expand the territory for the ruler!"

She didn't know why she was fighting or who her opponents were, but since it was a nation, it must be right to shout out that she was expanding its territory.

The other demonic cultivators were somewhat hesitant.

Jiang Yourong was the first to speak up: "Jiang Yourong is willing to expand the territory for the ruler!"

Seeing this, Shen Mengyao gritted her teeth and echoed, "Shen Mengyao is willing to conquer new territories for the ruler!"

The demonic cultivators' eyes narrowed as they recalled how Feng Bohan had gained a new life by pledging his loyalty, and how he had also made a desperate decision to risk the power of his remnant soul to volunteer for battle.

"We are willing to expand the territory for our ruler!"

The armored soldier paused slightly, seemingly communicating with Jiu Yao.

They bowed respectfully, but their hearts were filled with trepidation and nervousness.

Just as everyone was waiting for the armored soldier's reply, the soldier suddenly turned around, spread his wings of light, and flew back to where he had come from.

"This..." The demonic cultivators were dumbfounded.

Before they could say anything, a voice resounded through the heavens and earth: "Good!"

Looking up, one could see a black and gold throne that had appeared out of nowhere above the nine-leaf stone lotus.

Then, a group of black-gold dragon butterflies suddenly appeared in the void in front of them, instantly transforming into strands of black-gold threads that merged into their bodies.

"The bet was right!"

The joy and excitement that had just flashed in Shi Buyu's eyes were overwhelmed by indescribable pain.

Only when a mark and a wisp of strange energy imprinted themselves on her head did the pain, which originated from the depths of her soul and almost destroyed her mind, recede like a tide.

At the same time, her body quickly solidified, and the black energy on her body condensed and wove into a black robe with gold patterns similar to the Nine Luminaries style.

When Shi Buyu opened his eyes, the surrounding demonic cultivators also woke up one after another.

Their bodies also materialized, and the gold patterns on their black robes were almost identical to those of Feng Bohan.

On his throne, watching the demonic cultivators excitedly examining him, almost weeping with joy, Tang Hao's lips curled slightly.

He muttered to himself, "With the energy from the gathered kingdoms, the conversion was completed so quickly." Some of this energy dissipated as it gathered, unable to participate in the opening of the passage, which is why it didn't slow down the opening process.

Just then, a black and gold bicolor rift passage suddenly opened in front of the nine-leaf stone lotus in the square.

However, the passage was still too narrow for the Nightmare Legion to pass through.

Tang Hao's heart stirred, and in a flash, he arrived in front of the rift.

At the same time, he took out the [Judgment] from the reward space.

Although this replica of the spirit treasure flying sword has not yet been properly refined, it has already been imprinted with divine consciousness, making it easy to control. At this moment, it is indeed a great help.

[Judgment] was thrown into the passage. With Tang Hao and the nine women of Yao Guang, plus the mutated nine-leaf stone lotus maintaining it, the passage was not greatly affected.

On the contrary, the moment [Judgment] appeared, the void of the Nightmare Kingdom was pressed down with a soft "crack" sound, but it managed to withstand it.

In fact, Tang Hao could have easily sent the flying sword directly into the rift, preventing it from appearing within the Nightmare Kingdom.

This maneuver was to test the limits of space's capacity by relying on the speed of [Judgment].

In order to avoid being caught off guard if the battle situation in Hufeng City changes and it becomes necessary to contain Feng Mingyang's ghost.

It seems that the speed at which the rift passage unfolded was several degrees faster, perhaps due to the passage of [Judgment].

Upon seeing this, Tang Hao flashed back to the throne and secretly sent a message to the nine women of Yao Guang, making arrangements for the newly converted demonic cultivators.

A moment later, the fissure channel was fully formed and stabilized.

The first batch of Nightmare Soldiers descended into the dry well through the rift.

Not long after, Tang Hao's projected avatar suddenly attacked, and the Nightmare Soldiers descended, causing the once-silent well to reopen, and monsters surged in once more.

Once the fissure channel is fully formed, one can ensure its stability on one's own.

Tang Hao gestured to Yao Guang and the nine women.

Suddenly, nine golden shuttles shot into the sky from beneath the dry well, instantly tearing apart the filthy monsters that had rushed in and clearing out a safe zone once again.

Following the nine golden shuttles were ten alluring figures, none other than Jiu Yao and his master, who remained silent.

Shi Buyu had just transformed into a Nightmare Servant. Although she also knew the method of condensing energy weapons similar to the one used by Jiu Yao, she hadn't had time to learn it yet.

The treasures from before, along with the storage pouch, were taken by Tang Hao after his death, and were not immediately put to use.

She did have time to observe the surroundings, but the first thing she saw was Tang Hao wielding a black and white sword.

Shi Buyu couldn't help but be stunned: 'How is that possible?'

Just moments before, she had clearly seen Tang Hao seated atop the Nightmare Throne.

At that moment, at the bottom of the well, there was an identical figure.

'And that sword technique, the black and white lotus of sword energy—isn't that the Ninth Prince Helian Chengyu's "Nine Gazes" sword technique? He actually knows it too.'

As the sword energy cleaved through the thick, foul fog, Shi Buyu suddenly understood.

The boy on the throne is the true core of the nightmare; the one in the dry well is merely a projected blade.

After figuring it out, he was about to step forward to assist Tang Hao and Jiu Yao in guarding the cave entrance.

However, Tang Hao, while controlling the lotus of sword energy to annihilate the invading monster, turned his head to give orders.

"Jiuyao will guard this place with me. Shi Buyu, you take the Nightmare Spirits and get to work!"

He summoned the Nightmare Legion, not to fight the monsters to the death; that would be utterly insane.
With so few men, how could we possibly defeat the enemy? We'd better reinforce our trenches and hold our ground!

Shi Buyu never expected that the first order he received after volunteering to join the battle to show his loyalty was to expand and reinforce the space at the bottom of the dry well.

'They built a house in Shengjing, and now they're digging an underground palace in a dry well. These two brothers are just using me as a laborer!' She couldn't help but grumble to herself, but her actions didn't falter at all.

After receiving the detailed instructions, Shi Buyu led the Nightmare Spirit soldiers who kept descending through the rift to begin their work.

The Nightmare Warriors stood in neat formation, their black and gold spears piercing the rock face like a dense forest.

The energy ripples bursting from the spear tip spread like a spider web, blurring and reorganizing the stone walls wherever they passed, forcefully expanding the small space to the size of a basketball court.

With the space becoming more spacious, more Nightmare Warriors descended upon this place.

In just a short time, the basketball court was expanded into a football field.

The expansion of space mainly proceeded horizontally, with a slight expansion downwards, but remained completely untouched upwards.

After all, the area above is where Windcaller City is located, and the ground was treated with magic when the city was built.

Whether or not it can be shaken is one thing, but the most important thing is that there are monsters around the dry well right now. If we weaken the barriers between them, wouldn't that be suicide?

The expansion of underground space has now come to an end.

Next, thousands of Nightmare Spirit soldiers, led by Shi Buyu, continuously condensed black-gold energy beams to crystallize the stone wall, forming a thick barrier.

When Shen Mengyao and the others nervously walked through the passage, preparing to plunge into a fierce battle, they were greeted by this bustling scene.

"Wasn't it supposed to be about waging wars abroad? This is..."

"Well, everyone has their own role. We might be engineers."

"Since this is the arrangement, there must be a reason behind it. Let's just do it!"

"Yes! Let's work, let's work, and let the Lord see our loyalty."

After their initial shock, they glanced at their lord, who was guarding the cave entrance flawlessly alongside Jiu Yao in the air. They exchanged a look and then joined the construction team.

In the end, every inch of the ground beneath the dry well was covered with people.

The stone walls on all sides crystallized under the black-gold energy beams of the Nightmare Soldiers.

This crystal is even linked to the Nightmare Realm on the other side of the rift channel.

It's a long story, but in reality, with so many Nightmare Spirits working together, it didn't take much time at all.

At the moment the connection was formed, Tang Hao sensed something and moved his sword incantation.

He once again unleashed the second move of the Nine Gazes Sword Technique—[Two Elements Generate Each Other, Twin Lotus Blossoms].

Moreover, this was not a simple sword aura.

Instead, it splits [Judgment] into [Plain Shadow] and [Mysterious Pivot], and uses the spirit treasure flying sword itself to unleash it, making its power incomparable to the previous one.

Taking advantage of this moment, Tang Hao looked down and shouted, "Retreat!"

Without hesitation, the Nightmare Warriors retreated back into the rift passage like a tide.

In the blink of an eye, most of the men were gone, leaving only a small elite force.

Shi Buyu and the others were stunned, somewhat confused. Did this mean they weren't going to fight anymore?

The stronghold was just built, and judging from the battle situation of the Lord and his men, they are also in the upper hand!
They stood there, somewhat at a loss, unsure whether to leave or stay.

Tang Hao had no time to pay attention to them, and quickly formed hand seals.

Array patterns spread across the crystallized stone wall, quickly weaving into a net.

They eventually converge at the fissure channel.

Shi Buyu suddenly noticed that there seemed to be light and shadow flickering on the crystal wall above his head.

She looked up and examined it closely before she realized...

Outside the crystal wall, countless filthy monsters had crawled over it at some unknown time.

(End of this chapter)