Wuque’s move was like an unexpected surprise.

“Have your injuries healed?” asked Lin Xun.

“How would they recover so fast?” The ferocious aura around Wuque had long receded, and at that moment, he looked like an untamed youth with a bright smile.

He stroked his chin in thought, “I’ve recovered around thirty percent of my former strength.”

Lin Xun’s expression flickered.

With only thirty percent of his strength, he managed to kill a fourth level Emperor?

How powerful was Wuque in his peak state?

Then he looked at Sword Spirit Yezi who was flying over from a distance, while thinking about the terrifying figure lurking within the Broken Blade...

It suddenly dawned on him that he had become the weakest one of them…

Wuque suddenly said aloud, “My Little Master, I may not be able to come out for a long time, unless...”

“Unless what?” Lin Xun asked.

Wuque mumbled awkwardly, coughing every now and then. “Well, Little Master, you know that I have only barely restored some of my former strength after absorbing the essence of quite a few treasures over the years...”

“Emperor-grade treasures?” Lin Xun understood his hints before he even finished speaking.

Wuque nodded and added, “The more the better.”

Lin Xun’s lips twitched imperceptibly. “Don’t worry, I will definitely collect more Emperor treasures in the future.”

Wuque seemed a little embarrassed as he explained, “Little Master, you also saw it just now. Although I only swallowed some Emperor-grade treasures and recovered a bit of my former strength, killing that old man earlier didn’t require the slightest effort for me.”

Yezi suddenly interjected, “That attack just now seemed to have drained all your strength. I wouldn’t call it effortless at all.”

Wuque’s smile stiffened, then he stared at Yezi intensely, saying “Little Master, if you let me swallow this little sword spirit, my severely damaged life force will be fully restored in less than a day.”

Yezi said calmly, “I am different from you. I do not need to absorb the essence of Emperor-grade treasures to repair myself. And I am certain that, as a weapon spirit like me, your cultivation at your peak state won’t be better than mine.”

After a pause, he continued, “Thus, your idea of wanting to swallow me is no different from a toad craving to eat swan meat—It is wild and unrealistic and you are overestimating your own capabilities.”

Those words were as sharp and direct as his swordsmanship, leaving Wuque dumbstruck for a moment.

He suddenly exclaimed, “Little Master, that little sword spirit is very sharp.”

“I am called Yezi and not ‘little sword spirit.’” Yezi corrected him.

Sensing the tension between the two, Lin Xun hurriedly stepped in and intervened, or a fight would have erupted.

“Little sword spirit, next time we meet, maybe I’ll have a taste of you.” Wuque smirked before retreating into the No-Nonsense Bow and falling into silence again.

“That guy…” Yezi remarked after a thought, “...wants a beating.”

He spoke in a fiery tone.

Lin Xun couldn’t help but laugh. “Let’s go.”

When he thought of Xi, his heart became heavy again, and the smile quickly faded from his face.

After taking a deep breath, he began to take action—gathering the spoils left on the battlefield first, and then teleporting to the distant starry sky.

“Where are we going?” Yezi asked.

“The Ancient Nebula Underworld,” Lin Xun answered without hesitation.

“Are you not worried about Xi?” Yezi couldn’t help but ask.

“She will come find us,” Lin Xun uttered in a low voice.

“What if…”

“There’s no what if…”

“I understand.”

While talking, Lin Xun and Yezi had disappeared into the vast starry sky.

Not long after they left.

In the depths of the starry sky, a figure appeared, standing there quietly. His eyes reflected strange visions such as the ever-changing heavens and the transformation of the world.

Even if he was just casually standing there, he radiated the majesty of a supreme ruler of the starry sky. He was a lone, towering figure that existed independently from the world.

“Lord.”

As an extremely respectful voice sounded, a formidable, burly man of almost ten feet appeared, his body crackling with black lightning.

His aura was unparalleled, and with each breath, the very starry sky trembled in response!

Despite that, in that moment, he stood respectfully beside the lone figure, bowing his head.

“Speak.” The figure was very direct with his words, and that one word was like the sound of the great dao, directly reaching the mind.

“Heavenly Emperor Shi has appeared in the Ancient Nebula Underworld. The leaders of the Holy Illumination Ancient Sect and Earth Treasury Realm have all submitted to him.” The burly man’s voice resounded like thunder.

“As predicted.” The figure’s voice was tinged with a touch of scorn.

The burly man hesitated for a moment before he said, “Lord, Heavenly Emperor Shi has sent a message through the Earth Treasury Realm, instructing you to go pay your respects.”

“Pay respects?”

When those two words came out of the figure’s mouth, the starry sky dimmed and countless stars rocked wildly in the sky.

The burly man went stiff, and a cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

The figure was silent for a moment, then he sighed, “You are just a dog from the other side of the cosmos. Do you really think you are the ruler of the starry sky?”

The burly man smiled wryly in his heart.

In this Ancient Nebula Underworld, perhaps only my lord dares to address Heavenly Emperor Shi like that...

However, he knew his lord very well.

He could be described with one word: Prideful!

He was so consumed by pride that no other person mattered in his eyes!

In fact, it was not only in the Ancient Nebula Underworld, but even in the Ancient Nebula Road, only very few existed in his eyes.

That excessive pride, or rather arrogance, was based on absolute confidence and absolute foundation!

To this day, the burly man still distinctly remembered something his lord once said:

‘Not even the weight of the great dao can crush my unyielding pride.’

‘Even if everyone in the world is my enemy, my pride will not be diminished in the slightest!’

In the eyes of the burly man, in this world, throughout history, the person of highest pride had to be his lord!

He remembered that once an Emperor visited his lord with the intention of discussing the dao with him, but his lord just said, “The great dao is beyond words, and great words are meaningless. Your dao is a minor one, and you are not worthy of discussing with me.”

Those words made the Emperor leave in shame and anger.

“Tell that old dog that I’m heading to the other side of the cosmos,” the figure said suddenly.

The burly man looked blankly at him and could not help but remind him, “Lord, everyone knows that with the appearance of Heavenly Emperor Shi, the path to the other side of the cosmos has been cut off again.”

“So what?”

The burly man smiled wryly.

How would the mighty Heavenly Emperor Shi not be able to see through such a poor excuse?

“Go now. When the time comes, I will have a talk with that old dog.” He waved dismissively.

The burly man nodded and left.

The figure’s gaze focused back on the direction where Lin Xun left and he murmured in his heart, “Master gave you the supreme fortune that he left in Kunlun Dominion. I’m curious to see how big a storm you can stir up in this Ancient Nebula Underworld...”

After a long while, he silently disappeared.

……

Ancient Nebula Underworld.

Since ancient times, it had been known as the Land of All Evil, the Realm of Chaos. For endless ages, countless wicked beings and heretical forces had run rampant in this land.

Rules and laws did not exist here. If one wanted to survive, one either had to be tough enough to withstand it, or strong enough to overcome it!

There were many legends about the Ancient Nebula Underworld, but almost all were related to crimes, killing, carnage, and turmoil.

The territory of the Ancient Nebula Underworld was vast, divided into thirty-three regions, and covering a land area equivalent to that of the forty-nine states of the Great Primordial Chaos World.

Nightmare City was located in the Frosty Air Region, one of the thirty-three regions of the Ancient Nebula Underworld.

There were countless similar cities in the Frosty Air Region.

Nightmare City had fallen into decay, its walls crumbling, and only a handful of buildings were standing among the empty streets.

This was expected.

In the Ancient Nebula Underworld, order had collapsed and murders and destruction happened endlessly every day. The aftermath made it difficult for any city to stand for long.

Nightmare City might have fallen into ruin, but it was already amazing that it was still existing to this day.

Unlike the outside world, no clan or sect had been able to occupy an ordinary city like Nightmare City for a long period. Just last year, Nightmare City had experienced a change of leadership.

The previous city lord was killed by the current city lord, Daoist Croc.

Over the past one thousand years, Nightmare City had seen the rise and fall of one hundred and forty-nine city lords, and each of them had died a violent death.

This was not an uncommon situation in the Ancient Nebula Underworld.

In the Ancient Nebula Underworld, once one seized a city, one would draw powerful figures to their side, allowing them to build a force that helped them better survive in this brutal and turbulent world.

Everything was for survival!

The strength of one person was ultimately too weak. Only when one had their own force could they survive longer in the Ancient Nebula Underworld.

At dusk, Lin Xun appeared on the periphery of Nightmare City.

Night was about to fall, and outside Nightmare City, only a sparse few figures drifted in and out.

“Fellow Daoist, you don’t look familiar. Is there anything I can help you with?”

A dark-skinned young man in black with a slender and well-defined figure came over and greeted Lin Xun.

“What can you help me with?” Lin Xun swept a glance over him.

The young man in black said with a smile, “As long as the price is good enough, I’m willing to sacrifice my life for you.”

Lin Xun said, “I’m new here. How do you think I should prepare myself if I want to live here for long? Tell me something useful.”

As he said that, he tossed a storage bag over at the young man.

After taking a look inside the storage bag, the young man in black smiled more enthusiastically, “Fellow Daoist, then you found the right person! Arriving somewhere unfamiliar is not a problem, what’s truly terrifying is being clueless and losing your life before you even realize what’s going on. Fellow Daoist, I can tell that you’re a smart man.”

Lin Xun stared at him. “I also hope you’re smart.”

The young man in black felt a chill in his heart, but he still put on a smile and said, “Rest assured Fellow Daoist, good relations lead to fortune, I definitely won’t do anything stupid.”

The young man in black looked around. “The periphery of the city is the most dangerous place. It is not convenient to talk. Please follow me.”

As he said that, he was already walking into the city.

Lin Xun put his hands behind his back and followed him.

He indeed needed a local to understand the situation of the city, provided that this local would not do something foolish.