Just as the old patriarch forced me to my death, I achieved the unity of Dao and fruition.

Linhai Old Town.

This place was once one of the most prosperous coastal cities in the East China Sea Province.

Seventeen years ago, the Rebels planted a twisted pillar in the city.

Before the pillars had even fully taken shape, the entire city was dragged into a terrifying illusion that lasted for seven days.

Millions of people living in the city were evacuated in an emergency, but nearly 100,000 people were unable to get out, along with half of the city, and disappeared into the Twisted Realm.

Later, the coastline collapsed, seawater flooded in, and a huge hole with a diameter of tens of miles was washed out in the center of the city.

From above, the entire old town looks like a ring with its heart bitten off.

The outer perimeter still bears remnants of leaning skyscrapers, broken railroad tracks, and rusted starport supports, but the center is nothing but bottomless darkness.

Gu Changjin and the others were standing at the edge of the void.

Chen Mo unfolded a semi-transparent map.

"The information left by my grandfather matches the fragment of the map found in the secret realm last time."

"The entrance should be 3,700 meters underground, 16 degrees east of east."

Zhou Jingming peeked out.

"Knowing the location makes things easy. Go down, find the entrance, then get the treasure, hehe! Simple as can be!"

Su Xingmian crossed her arms and pursed her lips upon hearing this.

"You said the same thing last time, and as a result, you stepped on the trap three times, causing us to be chased by a bunch of twisted beings."

Zhou Jingming coughed lightly and scratched his head.

"That was an accident."

Gu Changjin followed behind the group without speaking. In fact, after learning that the Xinxiang Sect's legacy might exist underground in the old city of Linhai, the military had already searched the area thoroughly.

They used all the Federation's top-of-the-line detection technologies, but still found nothing.

But when Zhou Jingming arrives, things that didn't exist before often appear on their own; this is destiny.

The group walked down the broken maintenance tunnel.

The closer you get to the bottom of the cavity, the denser the city ruins become.

The upside-down building is stuck in the rock wall, the abandoned train is covered by seawater and silt, with only half of the front of the train showing. Some rotten license plates still occasionally flash, and the eerie blue light shines in the darkness like open eyes.

Less than ten miles later, a dragging sound suddenly came from ahead.

rustle.

rustle.

Something crawled out of the collapsed shopping mall.

It was still wearing human clothes, but its body looked as if it had been repeatedly crumpled and reassembled, with six mouths on its chest and its legs bent backwards.

The skull was split into four pieces, and inside there was no brain, only a clump of constantly wriggling black threads.

Su Xingmian's expression changed slightly.

"Twisted Body".

The monster raised its head.

All four halves of the head screamed simultaneously.

In the surrounding darkness, pairs of scarlet eyes lit up one after another.

Dozens of twisted creatures crawled out of the city's ruins.

Gu Changjin did not make a move immediately.

Because just as these things appeared, the Dao Fruit trembled slightly.

Although extremely faint, I was still able to perceive it.

It's interesting that these distorted entities can cause the Dao Fruit to tremble.

Gu Changjin's eyes lit up slightly, as if he had suddenly discovered something interesting.

"interesting."

He had never really taken either the Reverse True Society or the Twisted Pillars seriously.

He only planned to follow Zhou Jingming to initiate the inheritance and take away the world's origin left behind by the Xinxiang Sect.

Once we've taken most of the stuff, we'll also take the opportunity to kill off the Rebellious True Society and the Nine Lineages of Taoism.

But now it seems that these distorted things themselves are also related to something that the Dao Fruit needs.

That would mean something different.

"Brother Gu, watch out!"

Zhou Jingming shouted.

A twisted creature had already pounced down from above.

Gu Changjin raised his hand, his palm condensing blood energy, but he only controlled it to the level of around the Thousand Phases Realm.

He threw a punch.

boom!

The twisted creature exploded in mid-air, its flesh and blood not falling to the ground, but turning into a large cloud of black mist.

The Dao Fruit trembled slightly again, and a wisp of extremely subtle gray aura was directly absorbed into it.

It did not instantly transform into the Dao Yuan, but rather transformed slowly, like the polluted origin of the world that needed to be purified gradually.

"They really can eat a lot."

Gu Changjin smiled.

Then there's no need to be polite.

He took a step forward, his blood and qi blazing like fire, sweeping across the entire passage.

Zhou Jingming drew the wooden sword left by his grandfather, and covered the blade with the power of his mind.

A miniature mechanical city unfolded behind Chen Mo, with countless metal blades shooting out from the city gate.

Su Xingmian's eyes gleamed with a silvery light, and fear briefly overwhelmed reality, causing several twisted beings to stray into a non-existent abyss.

The four of them continued forward.

Twisted creatures kept lunging out along the way, only to be shattered one by one.

On the surface, Gu Changjin only displayed the combat power of the Thousand Phases Realm.

But every punch landed precisely on the most vulnerable spot of the twisted body.

Zhou Jingming watched with eyes full of admiration.

"Brother Gu, is this really the first time you've seen something like this?"

"first."

"Then how come you're more skilled than me?"

"talent."

Zhou Jingming nodded in deep agreement.

Chen Mo pushed up his glasses but didn't say anything.

He was too lazy to expose him.

Half an hour later.

The group arrived at the location marked on the map.

This place should have just been a rock wall eroded by the sea.

At this moment, a dark blue crack appeared in the corner between the rock wall and a collapsed high-rise building.

The crack was only about two people high, and its surface rippled with light patterns like water waves.

Gu Changjin narrowed his eyes.

When the military personnel arrived, there was absolutely nothing unusual about the place.

With Zhou Jingming's arrival, the twisted body was created, and the entrance was also established.

"That's really giving me face."

Gu Changjin was satisfied.

The Chosen One thing is indeed useful.

Zhou Jingming had already approached the crack.

"This should be the place."

"Go in?"

"Go in."

Gu Changjin stepped in first.

A deep blue light instantly flooded our vision.

When the group opened their eyes again, the ground beneath their feet was no longer damp ruins.

Instead, it was a vast grassland.

A gentle breeze blows, the green grass ripples like waves, and the sky is a clear, unblemished blue.

In the distance, a silver-white tower pierces through the clouds, seemingly connecting to the very edge of the sky.

Zhou Jingming opened his mouth wide.

"This place is way too big!"

Gu Changjin looked at the tall tower.

The vibration of the Dao Fruit was much more pronounced than before.

at the same time.

On the other side of the grassland.

Six figures emerged from another spatial entrance.

The person in the lead was none other than Xuanming Daoist, the abbot of Xuanzhen Temple.

Behind him followed five experts at the Thousand Phases Realm from the Nine Lineages of the Daoist Sect.

Xuanming looked at the distant tower, and a hint of joy finally appeared in his eyes.

This is not an ordinary secret realm, but the true ancestral home of the nine branches of Taoism.

Tens of thousands of years ago, after Xinxiangmen retreated to its original world, it left behind powerful artifacts to suppress pollution in this place.

The nine branches of Taoism are now at war with the Reverse Truth Society.

Twisted pillars appeared one after another.

The federal government, however, blocked the roads and stood by and watched.

The Celestial Master of Shangyuan Prefecture could only open the ancestral temple ahead of time to allow them to retrieve that item.

If successful, the Zhenwang Division will regain the initiative.

A Daoist named Qianxiang beside him asked in a low voice, "Fellow Daoist Xuanming, what exactly is that powerful artifact?"

Master Xuanming remained silent for a moment.

Looking up at the top of the tower.

Strictly speaking...

"It is not a magical artifact."

"It is a living thing."