With three supreme masters, they were invincible upon descending the mountain.

"Boom!"

With a loud bang, an even larger black shadow was buried underground!

"Whoosh! Bang!"

A deep, muffled groan, as if from the ancient wilderness, came from underground, and the entire ruins trembled once more!

With that muffled groan, the dark figure finally moved.

It wasn't a struggle, it just gently turned over.

"Boom! Boom boom boom!!!"

Centered on that giant foot, the ground within a radius of several kilometers undulated and cracked like ocean waves!

More ruins were blown away, more cracks spread, and the whole world seemed to be about to completely disintegrate at any moment!

Ye Yaocheng pulled Wang Shiyu along as they dodged and weaved to avoid the sudden cracks in the ground.

He finally saw the full form of the dark figure, which slowly emerged from the smoke and dust.

What a powerful being he was!

His height was impossible to estimate, as his upper body remained hidden in the dark red clouds, with only his waist and below visible.

But the part that was even exposed was already several times larger than the giant plant from before!

His feet were firmly locked by five thick black chains, each as thick as a train carriage, with the other end of the chains driven deep into the earth.

Although the chains were enormous, compared to the shadowy figure's body, they were no different from thin ropes.

At this moment, two of the chains had broken, and the remaining three were also covered with cracks.

And during that flip just now, another one broke off.

"Snap!"

The third chain snapped instantly!

Now, only two things remain that trap him.

Just then, the dark figure slowly lowered its head.

The clouds were stirred up, revealing a blurry face shrouded in black mist.

Only those eyes pierced through the mist, casting a cold gaze down upon us.

His eyes were blood-red, but his pupils were eerie vertical slits with a dark purple flame burning in the center. Wherever his gaze fell, the air seemed to freeze.

Ye Yaocheng read undisguised mockery in that gaze.

Like watching an ant finally struggling to break free from its bonds, one's eyes are filled with only interest.

"Sure, little one."

A dull sound came, but it didn't reach the ears; instead, it exploded directly in the mind, low and hoarse, each word carrying a power that corroded the soul.

"This is so interesting. I never thought you could actually get here. I've been this interested in this for so many years now."

The dark figure spoke slowly, the chains rattling with his movements.

"It seems I have truly underestimated the heroes of this world."

Ye Yaocheng's whole body was tense, and his true energy was circulating wildly in his meridians.

What on earth is this thing?!

What is its relationship to the giant plant from before? Why is it locked here? Is it the true secret of this secret realm?

Countless questions churned in my mind.

Just then, a weak, almost inaudible voice came from the pile of rubble on the right.

"Ye... Benefactor Ye..."

Ye Yaocheng suddenly turned his head and saw a blood-stained hand tremblingly reaching out from a pile of rubble.

He rushed over immediately, shoved aside the rubble, and the person revealed underneath made his heart sink.

This person was none other than Huijiang.

But at this moment, Huijiang was no longer the virtuous monk he once was. His robes were tattered, his body was covered in a mixture of dried and fresh blood, his face was as pale as paper, and his breath was as weak as a candle flickering in the wind.

Only his eyes remained lit.

It's the last glimmer of hope that bursts forth when a dying person sees a glimmer of hope.

"Master!" Ye Yaocheng supported him, "What exactly happened?!"

Huijiang did not answer. He simply raised his hand with difficulty, using his last bit of strength to point to the sky, his fingers trembling violently.

Ye Yaocheng looked in the direction he was pointing and his breath caught in his throat.

In the sky, a corner of the dark red cloud had somehow dispersed, revealing only an eye.

An enormous eye, with a pure black pupil and eerie purple flames burning at its edges, coldly and emotionlessly surveyed the ruins.

Ye Yaocheng's back was instantly soaked with cold sweat.

Those eyes were looking at him!

"Ye... Benefactor..."

Huijiang's hand gripped Ye Yaocheng's clothes tightly.

With each word he uttered, a trickle of blood oozed from the corner of his mouth.

"The rest... is... up to you..."

"Keep going! I believe in you!"

After saying that, his eyes rolled back, his arms fell limply to his sides, and he completely lost consciousness.

"A master?! A master!"

Ye Yaocheng shook him hard and checked his nose. He was still breathing, but so weakly that it was almost imperceptible.

"No, explain yourself clearly!" Ye Yaocheng exclaimed impatiently. "What do you mean 'handed it over to me'? Haven't I already resolved the biggest hidden danger?!"

"Bang!!!"

Another loud bang, and the eighth chain snapped!

The dark figure let out a long, exhilarating roar, the sound wave causing the ruins to collapse once more.

As the chains broke, his enormous body began to slowly shrink.

It's not an illusion; it's a real contraction.

The muscles and bones compressed, and the volume decreased rapidly. In just a few seconds, the towering giant was transformed into a humanoid figure with a similar height to Ye Yaocheng.

However, he was still shrouded in a thick black mist.

The dark purple patterns appeared and disappeared in the black mist, winding around the body like the meridians of the human body. Each time they appeared and disappeared, they emitted a heart-palpitating power fluctuation.

Mysterious, powerful, and unfathomable.

"Kid."

The shadowy figure spoke, its voice no longer exploding in the mind, but truly emanating from the black mist, carrying a metallic, grating quality.

"You're really dreaming!"

He slowly raised his right hand, palm facing upward.

"I've been planning this for so many years, do you think you can just break it so easily?"

He clenched his fist in the air.

In the distance, the long-dead, withered remains of the giant plant suddenly trembled violently!

Under the shocked gazes of Ye Yaocheng and Wang Shiyu, the giant plant shrank at a visible speed, quickly turning into a withered vine the size of a palm, which rose into the air and flew into the palm of the dark figure.

"This was left behind by a Taoist priest who entered this place sixty years ago before he died."

The shadowy figure toyed with the withered vine, speaking leisurely as if telling an interesting story.

"That Taoist priest is just like you, adorably naive. He thinks that with his so-called heart of saving the world, he can purify all the evil here."

"It's a pity he underestimated human greed."

The shadowy figure paused, seemingly savoring the moment.

"Guess what happened in the end?"

He looked at Ye Yaocheng, his scarlet vertical pupils flashing with a mocking light in the black mist.

"He was killed by a group of his companions, those who had entered this secret realm together."

Ye Yaocheng was startled.

The shadowy figure continued, his voice full of mockery, "The most ridiculous thing is that the Taoist priest was clearly very strong, strong enough to kill everyone, but what did he do? He didn't put up a fight."

"He just watched those ugly creatures leave him here forever."

The dark figure held the withered vine up to its eyes.

"And this Demon Cloud Vine is that Taoist's natal magic weapon. If it weren't for the scarcity of spiritual energy in this place, making it extremely difficult to cultivate, do you think you could defeat this thing?"

"Ha ha ha ha--"

He burst into laughter.

Laughter echoed through the ruins, shrill, rampant, and filled with the smug satisfaction of having everything under control.

"What I enjoy seeing most are people like you, barging in full of hope, thinking you can change something, only to discover in despair that everything was already planned."

"So, do you think this kind of game is fun or not?"

Ye Yaocheng listened in silence.

In my mind, many fragments began to piece together.

Those legends of those who soared to great heights after leaving the secret realm; those lucky ones who suddenly gained immense power; perhaps it wasn't because they were particularly lucky, but because they had already fallen into depravity.

"I see," Ye Yaocheng said slowly, his voice icy. "They didn't get a fortuitous opportunity; they made a deal with you, right?"

The shadowy figure stopped laughing and looked at Ye Yaocheng with great interest.

"Not bad, kid." He nodded approvingly. "You figured out the cause and effect so quickly. To be honest, I'm starting to admire you."

Ye Yaocheng did not respond. He completely protected Wang Shiyu behind him, his true energy was running at its limit, and he stared intently at the dark figure.

"Who exactly are you?"

He spoke slowly and deliberately.

The shadowy figure remained silent for several seconds, the black mist undulating slowly, as if it were thinking or recalling.

"A name..."

He murmured softly.

"It has been almost a thousand years, and no one has asked my name."

The black mist suddenly churned violently, and the eerie purple patterns suddenly lit up, like venomous snakes that had come to life, slithering and coiling around him.

A pressure a thousand times more terrifying than that of the giant plant suddenly descended!

The entire ruins were trembling.

The giant eye in the sky slightly contracted its pupils, and an even more powerful pressure swept over it, as if it were cheering.

The dark figure slowly raised its head, its scarlet vertical pupils piercing through the black mist and locking onto Ye Yaocheng. Its voice seemed to come from the deepest hell.

"They all call me 'Your Excellency'..."

"The tyrant of evil thoughts."