Chapter 980: The Shock of Lu Feng and Others

The storage rings of these two great kings were veritable treasuries, containing countless weapons and elixirs of all kinds, along with nearly ten thousand high-grade spirit stones.

"They were probably given these specifically to complete their mission..." he guessed.

These two great kings had surely come to the Subterranean Lair with an ulterior motive. The Otherworldly Demonic Tribe would naturally provide them with the best items for any contingencies.

But now, it was all his.

Perhaps even the high-ranking members of the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe who sent them could never have imagined that so many of their subordinates, having just arrived in the Subterranean Lair and accomplished nothing, would be completely annihilated by a mere Grandmaster of the Subordinate Saint rank.

"Huh? What's this?"

With a flick of his wrist, a circular platform-like object appeared before him. It was inscribed with countless special runes, somewhat similar to those in the Rune Hall he had seen previously.

"This is an altar!" the formidable one remarked.

"An altar? Is it for teleporting members of the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe?" Zhang Xuan was momentarily stunned.

In the depths of the Subterranean Lair, there was a seal left by the ancestors. Under normal circumstances, it would have been impossible for members of the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe to break through and enter. Yet, the reality was that not only had they entered, but so many of them had.

Could they have been teleported here using this very altar?

"Not very likely..." the formidable one said after a careful look. "This altar seems to be for sacrificing items, for summoning special artifacts. It has nothing to do with spatial movement!"

"Summoning special artifacts?" Zhang Xuan frowned.

He didn't know much about the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe. After studying the altar for a while and failing to understand its purpose, he decided to set it aside for now and placed it back into the ring.

He went through the enemies' belongings again, and a pile of books appeared before him.

"These are... about the soul?" Zhang Xuan's eyes lit up as he scanned them.

This pile of books detailed methods for cultivating the soul.

Beyond the Spirit Aperture realm, the importance of the soul grew significantly. As two powerful experts of the Saint 4-dan realm, these two had naturally prepared many such books.

He quickly scanned them, storing their contents in his mind, and then flipped through them again.

"This isn't right," he muttered. "Didn't the Witch Soul race already pledge allegiance to the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe? Logically, their soul cultivation methods should be extremely powerful, far surpassing those of humanity. So why are there so many errors?"

After reading for a while, Zhang Xuan couldn't help but frown.

These secret manuals for cultivating the soul contained far too many errors. Every single one was riddled with flaws, boasting thousands of defects. He truly wondered how these individuals managed to cultivate with them.

He had originally thought that with the allegiance of the Witch Soul Masters, the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe's soul force cultivation techniques would be incredibly pure and could help his soul force advance further. Only after seeing this did he realize that was not the case at all.

If one were to cultivate according to their methods, even if they didn't suffer a qi deviation, their soul would almost certainly collapse at any moment.

"Perhaps humans and the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe are two different species, and their cultivation techniques aren't interchangeable..." Zhang Xuan shook his head.

This was the only explanation he had for now.

While he was examining the treasures, his numerous puppets had already slaughtered all fifty-plus members of the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe who remained at the site.

They brought over a pile of storage rings.

Examining them one by one, Zhang Xuan collected many more treasures and spirit stones, along with quite a few books on the soul.

After dealing with these matters, he wasn't in a hurry. With a grasp of his hand, he dispelled the illusion array. He also had the puppets clean up the corpses of the dead Otherworldly Demonic Tribe members, before he once again disguised himself as Goldenleaf King and stood in place.

There were over 200 Otherworldly Demonic Tribe members in total. He had only slaughtered fifty-plus of them so far; another 150-plus were still out exploring. Since he had begun, he naturally had to slaughter them all to truly finish.

Guarding the spot, he didn't wait long before the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe members began to fly back one by one.

He had the Saint 3-dan puppets ambush them from the surroundings, killing them one by one as they returned. In less than two hours, the entire contingent of the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe that had crossed the seal was completely annihilated.

"Now, let's go check out the seal..."

Knowing that these cannon fodder-like individuals surely wouldn't know any secrets, he was too lazy to interrogate them further. After slaughtering them all, he flew straight towards the seal.

He had already specifically asked Lu Feng and others about the location of the seal, and its exact whereabouts were now known to him.

In a small valley within the Subterranean Lair, a group of master teachers dispelled their hidden formation. Each of them exhaled, their eyes gleaming with resolve.

It was Lu Feng and the others, who had been recovering from their injuries.

After several hours of recovery, their physical strength had almost fully returned. Although some severe injuries couldn't be completely eliminated, they were nearly healed.

"Our injuries are almost recovered," one master teacher declared. "It's time we went to help!"

"Exactly," another agreed. "Master Zhang is facing so many Otherworldly Demonic Tribe members alone. Even if his life-preserving abilities are strong, his true strength... is still too weak! I'm afraid he'll be in danger..."

"He put so much effort into saving us," another added. "How can we just stand by and watch him fall into danger, doing nothing?"

"No matter what, we have to go check on him..."

Many master teachers stood up, each showing firm resolve.

Master Zhang had faced near-certain death for them, disregarding everything else. How could they possibly sit there at ease, watching him fall into danger alone?

"Since that's the case, let's all go together..." Lu Feng said, seeing that everyone was in agreement.

Among them, although he wasn't the oldest, he held the highest status and possessed the strongest cultivation. Moreover, being an old acquaintance of Master Zhang, he had the most authority to speak.

"Alright!"

Everyone nodded simultaneously. They each took out their weapons and collectively flew towards the direction where they had previously been besieged.

"How come there's no movement at all?" a master teacher wondered as they flew. "And have you noticed, the aura of slaughter here seems to have significantly decreased..."

The shortest time any of them had spent in the Subterranean Lair was over two months. The aura of slaughter here had become increasingly heavy and dense, constantly exerting immense pressure on them.

But now, this sensation had become very faint, as if it could dissipate at any moment.

Most crucially, if Master Zhang had really gone to confront these Otherworldly Demonic Tribe members, why was there no sound at all? And why hadn't they even encountered anyone sent out to search for them?

"When things are unusual, there must be a reason..." an older master teacher advised. "Everyone, be careful!"

Everyone nodded and continued flying forward.

It wasn't long before they arrived at the base built by the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe.

They had scouted this place countless times before. Each time, they were either discovered or trapped in formations. In over two months, at least a dozen master teachers had met violent deaths here.

But now... there wasn't a single soul in sight. Most crucially, the buildings before them had turned into a pile of ruins.

"These buildings..."

Everyone stared blankly.

"Look! What's that?"

They flew closer and looked around. Suddenly, a master teacher cried out, and hearing his call, the others quickly gathered around.

They saw a pool of blood on the ground before them. It carried a strong aura of slaughter, completely different from that of humans.

Lu Feng approached, joined his fingers to form a sword, and lightly drew a line on the ground.

*Whoosh!*

A pile of buried corpses was revealed, stacked one on top of another. There were over two hundred of them, including the two most powerful kings they had encountered earlier.

"Th-this... they're all dead?"

"Could it be... Master Zhang came not to cause trouble, but to kill them all?"

"How is this possible?" someone exclaimed. "Over two hundred Saint 1-dan cultivators and two Saint 4-dan experts... With this kind of combat power, even if all the elders of the Master Teacher Academy were brought here, they might not be able to defeat them. Yet, one person slaughtered them all..."

Everyone was stunned.

They had personally witnessed the power of these Otherworldly Demonic Tribe members. The entire Hongyuan Empire would struggle to win against them, yet Master Zhang had annihilated them all... And most crucially, how much time had passed?

How did he do it?

"I can confirm, it's definitely Zhang Xuan..." Lu Feng said with a bitter smile. "Perhaps only he could do this, accomplishing something truly unbelievable..."

While he had harbored some doubts before, seeing this, everything became perfectly clear.

Only this unfathomable young man could accomplish such an astonishing feat.

No one else could have done it.

Back then, even as a Harmonization and Spirit Severance realm cultivator, he could cause chaos in the Master Teacher Academy. Now that he had reached the Half-Saint pinnacle, how could a mere group of Otherworldly Demonic Tribe members be his match?

"Slaughtering so many Otherworldly Demonic Tribe members and foiling their conspiracy..." a master teacher remarked. "The magnitude of this achievement is truly terrifying. We must report this to headquarters as soon as possible; Master Zhang's meritorious deeds cannot be buried. We should also report this entire matter, of course..."

"Indeed!"

Everyone nodded simultaneously.

Resisting the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe was not an individual's affair, nor the responsibility of a single master teacher, but a matter concerning all of humanity.

For one person to kill so many Otherworldly Demonic Tribe members and thwart their conspiracy—the magnitude of this merit, once reported to headquarters, would surely be greatly rewarded. This was something no one could erase.

With clear rewards and punishments, the Master Teacher Pavilion had been able to operate for tens of thousands of years without criticism.

"Alright, I'll report this matter..." Lu Feng nodded.

While they were astonished by Zhang Xuan's actions and intended to apply for merits for him, Zhang Xuan, who had been traveling forward, finally stopped.

He had reached the seal!

It was at the end of the Subterranean Lair, blocking the connection between the Outer Realm Battlefield and the human world.

From a distance, it looked like a massive light barrier, several hundred meters in diameter. It sealed everything off, making it impossible to see what lay on the other side.

However, standing before it, he could clearly feel a dense aura of slaughter gushing out intermittently, as if wanting to tear people apart.

The aura within the Subterranean Lair must have originated from this gushing, accumulating over time.

"This is the seal?"

With a glance, Zhang Xuan's pupils involuntarily constricted.

This thing was even more terrifying and far more solid than he had imagined. With his current strength, let alone breaking through it, even attacking it might not leave a single mark.

"With such a powerful seal, how did those Otherworldly Demonic Tribe members and King Qingye manage to get here?"

After observing for a while, Zhang Xuan couldn't help but feel perplexed.

If the seal had been damaged or broken, it would have been understandable. But what lay before him was mighty and imposing, giving off an indestructible aura, meaning it had no damage whatsoever. Under such circumstances, how did they manage to break through the barrier and arrive here?

"Defects!"

Feeling puzzled, Zhang Xuan's mind stirred, and he softly murmured in his thoughts.