Having witnessed the improved Thunder Array, my confidence was significantly bolstered. After a brief respite, we finally entered the passage leading to the fifth level.

All along the way, the obstacles before us remained the Skeleton Legions or high-level undead. However, the Vermilion Bird Alliance was no longer what it once was; the Skeleton Legions standing in our path were pulverized into fragments by the mages.

Before long, we reached the fork in the road leading to the Wuling Shimo Zhen (Netherworld Demon Devouring Formation) of the Yellow Springs Sect Leader.

“Everyone, be careful. The Wuling Shimo Zhen where the Yellow Springs Sect Leader resides isn't far ahead,” I said, feeling a knot of tension.

“En!” Feng Qingtian and the others nodded grimly, “Form up.”

The five hundred-plus members quickly arranged themselves into a massive Bagua circular formation and advanced toward the fork. We soon arrived at the valley where we had ambushed the Yellow Springs Sect Leader last time. The surroundings were unchanged—scattered rubble and fine dust everywhere, coupled with that shocking great pit in the center—causing everyone to instinctively grip their weapons tighter.

Many present had survived the life-and-death battle against the Yellow Springs Sect Leader in the Netherworld, and the memory of how terrifying he truly was remained vivid. Naturally, approaching the area where he haunted once more brought back lingering dread.

Gazing at the massive pit before us, the nightmarish, terrifying memories of that time were reignited in many minds. Perhaps only the Yellow Springs Sect Leader possessed the ability to blast open such a vast chasm in one go.

Though we hadn't witnessed the actual scene, the degree of devastation surrounding the area was a testament to the Sect Leader’s terrifying might.

A sense of unease settled over everyone, yet they grit their teeth and continued toward the end of the fork.

From a distance, we finally spotted the huge open area, but the Wuling Shimo Zhen, which once shone with a bewitching blue light, was nowhere in sight. Nor was the Yellow Springs Sect Leader present.

The only thing left at the scene was a gigantic deep pit. Faint blue lines along the edges hinted that this was indeed the location of the Wuling Shimo Zhen where the Yellow Springs Sect Leader had materialized, though it had been utterly destroyed.

The entire scene resembled the aftermath of a nuclear catastrophe.

This sight took everyone by surprise, leaving them stunned. Who could have done this? Could it have been Master Jian Li and his group? My mind reeled. Yet, I couldn't fathom how Master Jian Li’s group could have achieved such a feat; the power required to blast open such a colossal pit was unimaginable.

But if it wasn't them, could it have been the Yellow Springs Sect Leader himself? If so, why would he do this!

For a moment, my thoughts became a chaotic mess.

However, I quickly regained focus. This was hardly the time to dwell on such questions. I cautiously sensed the slightest disturbance in the wind, finding nothing amiss. Only then did we edge closer to the great pit.

For safety, we dared not approach the inside of the pit—the area where the Wuling Shimo Zhen had been—fearing the Yellow Springs Sect Leader might suddenly materialize and crush us into pulp.

“I’ll go in and check the situation,” Tong Lei stated in a deep voice.

“Be careful,” Feng Qingtian warned.

“If things go wrong, run immediately,” I urged tensely. “We’ll cover you from behind.”

“En.” Tong Lei nodded slightly, then took a deep breath and walked toward the pit. My Eye of Death Lust immediately activated its search, ready to unleash a powerful attack the moment the Yellow Springs Sect Leader appeared. With my current cultivation, coupled with the Thunder Array's near-infinite energy source, I was confident that if the Sect Leader dared to show himself, he would not escape my onslaught.

Soon, Tong Lei walked into the great pit, but the scene everyone feared did not materialize. Even so, we dared not relax our vigilance.

A short while later, Tong Lei emerged from the pit and returned to our side.

“There’s nothing inside except a passage leading underground,” Tong Lei reported.

“Strange, the Yellow Springs Sect Leader didn't show up,” I and Feng Qingtian were equally baffled.

“Who cares? Let’s hurry to the next level while we have the chance,” Han Yunzhen suggested.

“Right, otherwise if the Yellow Springs Sect Leader shows up, we’ll be in for a tough fight,” Xia Ya agreed.

“Yes, let’s not worry about that for now,” Feng Qingtian said. “That passage leading underground should be the route to the sixth level of the Illusion Realm.”

“Then let’s go in,” Yun Xi concluded. ....................................................

We maintained high alert, carefully creeping into the great pit. Unlike the pit in the previous valley, this one was clearly blasted open by immense force descending from above, rather than erupting from below.

In the center of the pit's wall was a pitch-black opening resembling a train tunnel. Despite the tension, we steeled ourselves and entered.

The passage was narrow and deep. Feng Qingtian and I took the lead. The light emitted by the Phoenix Pearl revealed that this tunnel was ancient. Many reliefs were carved on the surrounding walls, mostly depicting monsters we didn't recognize. However, some were familiar—like the Red Wild Boars, Black Wild Boars, Crab Snakes, and Horned Flies from the Pig Cave.

But these were not what caught our attention. Soon, Yun Xi found a special symbol on the wall and exclaimed happily, “The main force entered this passage on May third; the situation seems to be relatively smooth.”

“Ah!” I couldn't believe it. With just a simple symbol, Yun Xi could decipher so much information—it was more incredible than Morse code.

Although I desperately wanted to ask him how he deciphered it, I held back. I knew well that every major clan or faction on the continent possessed their own unique secret communication codes, which were never shared. Others, even if they saw the symbols, couldn't understand the message they conveyed.

However, since it was a coded message left by the Yun family, it meant the main force was progressing without major issues, which offered our small group some measure of relief.

Four hours later, we finally traversed the long, narrow passage.

Before us was a bright expanse, filled with the stench of blood and pungent feces. Looking at the familiar humanoid reliefs on the walls and the scattered bodies of Red Wild Boars, Black Wild Boars, and Black Maggots—mutated creatures—on the ground, I quickly realized this must be the sixth level of the Illusion Realm. Lu Tong had once told me that the map of the sixth level was identical to the seventh level of the Mengzhong Pig Cave. Therefore, I wasn't surprised by the sight before me.

We still advanced cautiously toward the northeast, following the trail of Yun family secret codes left along the way, keeping track of the main force's progress based on the messages.

Five days later, we reached the northeastern end of the sixth level. There stood a strange, giant structure resembling a sphere—a bunker. In front of the bunker was an open passage, but right in the middle, a huge pit had been blasted open, revealing a passage leading to the next level below.

Nearby, Yun Xi found another Yun family coded message.

“May seventeenth, the main force arrived here and was strongly resisted by the Stone Tomb Corpse King. After successive hard battles, they finally killed it. The Azure Dragon Gang lost sixty members; the Brotherhood suffered no losses. The White Tiger Alliance lost forty members; the Yun family suffered no losses,” Yun Xi read out, then continued, “May twentieth, the main force entered the passage.”

“May twentieth, a week ago,” Feng Qingtian said excitedly. “It looks like we are very close to them.”

“Indeed,” Yun Xi confirmed. “We should hurry to catch up. If we can maintain a one-day distance from them, that would be the ideal coordination status; we could provide timely support if any unexpected situation arises.”

I had originally expected the sixth level of the Illusion Realm to involve another grueling battle, but judging by the situation, although the main force’s fight wasn't easy, they weren't completely routed—at least it seemed much easier than battling the Yellow Springs Sect Leader. This suggested that the Stone Tomb Corpse King guarding this area probably wasn't that formidable.

Of course, this was mere speculation; no one could say for sure what the situation was like without witnessing it firsthand.

Four hours later, we passed through the narrow passage and entered the seventh level of the Illusion Realm.

What none of us expected was that the seventh level turned out to be an underground palace complex identical to the Zumar Temple.

“This is the sixth level of the Zumar Temple,” I exclaimed.

“Right,” Tong Lei and Feng Qingtian and the others were greatly surprised. “We didn’t expect the seventh level of the Illusion Realm to be the Zumar Temple.”

“That means the one guarding this place should be the Zumar Cult Leader,” Han Yunzhen deduced.

“I’m not entirely certain about that,” I said, finally confirming the thought nagging at my mind. The first level of the Illusion Realm was the mysterious connecting passage between the Centipede Cave and the Zombie Cave.

The second level was the first level of the Pig Cave.

The third level was Woma Level Three, where the Woma Leader resided.

The fourth level was the Coffin of Death in the Centipede Cave.

The fifth level was the Yellow World of the Bone Demon Cave.

The sixth level was the seventh level of the Mengzhong Pig Cave.

The seventh level was the sixth level of the Zumar Temple.

Everything seemed to align perfectly with the Illusion Realm world from Legend.

If my guess was correct, the main force shouldn't encounter any strong resistance here, because, in my memory, the seventh level of the Illusion Realm did not host the Zumar Cult Leader.

The eighth level should be the Gale Hall, guarded by the Iris Cult Leader.

The ninth level should be the Path of Selection leading to the Red Moon Demon Altar.

The tenth level would be the tenth level of the Ox Demon Cave, with the Ox Demon Altar at its center. Directly south of the Ox Demon Altar should be the Holy Domain space.

In an instant, I organized the thoughts in my mind. Previously, I had only speculated inwardly, but now it seemed my guesses were likely accurate. Realizing this, I said instinctively, “There is no Zumar Cult Leader on the sixth level of the Zumar Temple; I believe this level should be without major incident.”

“Without major incident?” Feng Qingtian and the others stared at me in astonishment.

“Haha, just a guess,” I chuckled dryly.

“Let’s hope so,” Yun Xi and Tong Lei looked somewhat worried.

The seventh level might be uneventful, but the eighth level housed the Gale Hall, guarded by the Iris Cult Leader. Thinking of this made me tense. After all, the Brotherhood had nearly been wiped out by the Iris Cult Leader once; no one could predict what the confrontation would be like this time.

Furthermore, the Ox Demon King on the tenth level was also an incredibly terrifying behemoth. In Legend, the Ox Demon King’s strength was comparable to the Yellow Springs Sect Leader. I wondered who was stronger between the Ox Demon King in this world and the Yellow Springs Sect Leader. But one thing was certain: as the final layer's ultimate BOSS, its terrifying power was likely beyond our current comprehension.

Following the Yun family's coded messages, we rapidly moved toward the northwest. Along the way, we could still see piles of corpses—Zumar Guards, Zumar Statues, and Zumar Archers. Clearly, these were the mutated Zumar creatures slaughtered by the main force ahead. Occasionally, a few Zumar creatures that had escaped the slaughter attacked us, but they were instantly atomized by the mages before they could even get close, resulting in a gruesome sight.

Two days later, we reached the northwestern end and found another Yun family code message.

“June first, we arrived here and found the passage to the next level,” Yun Xi read aloud, then looked at me in surprise. “We expected to face resistance from the Zumar Cult Leader, but we didn’t see him. It was indeed without major incident.”

“You actually guessed correctly,” Feng Qingtian said, amazed.

“I told you there was no Zumar Cult Leader on Zumar Level Six,” I murmured, while simultaneously wondering what scenario awaited the main force when they encountered the Iris Cult Leader in the next level, the Gale Hall.

“What’s wrong? Are you worried about the next level?” Xia Ya seemed to sense my apprehension.

“Yes,” I admitted. “None of us know what the next level holds. Levels six and seven seemed too easy; I’m worried the next level might hide some truly powerful monsters.”

“Powerful monsters,” Yun Xi murmured. “Perhaps one of the Ten Great Fiends? But which one could it be?”

“Forget about it,” Han Yunzhen interjected. “Worrying about it here is useless; let’s hurry and enter. It should be easy to guess once we get there.”

“That’s true,” I replied with a dry laugh.

Following the guidance of the Yun family codes, we quickly located the passage to the next level.

Five hours later, we finally reached the eighth level. The area was littered with dense corpses. Surprisingly, among these bodies, we could identify Zumar creatures as well as Black Wild Boars, Red Wild Boars, and White Wild Boars from the Pig Cave.

The place we were in appeared to be a massive underground palace, surrounded by thick, hard, dark brown stone bricks. In the distance, we could see a huge gate topped by a giant skull, entwined with countless sharp, blood-red bone spikes, creating a sight that struck terror into the heart.

“This is the Gale Hall of the Sealed Demon Continent,” Feng Qingtian gasped in horror.

“Gale Hall,” everyone exclaimed in alarm.

“Doesn't that mean the Iris Cult Leader is guarding this place?” Yun Xi asked, shocked.

“It seems undeniable,” Xia Ya said. “The Iris Cult Leader is no easy opponent; even the Brotherhood suffered heavy losses at its hands.”

“Right, this looks like it will be a hard fight,” Han Yunzhen’s expression turned grave.

“Iris Cult Leader.” Everyone worried about the fate of the main force ahead. The Iris Cult Leader was in no way inferior to the Yellow Springs Sect Leader; no one could definitively say which was stronger, but without exception, both were terrifying devils that made people blanch at the mention of their names. Moreover, the Iris Cult Leader possessed not only formidable personal strength but also subordinates like the Iris Pig Guards and Iris Scorpion Guards, all of whom were incredibly strong and not to be trifled with. No one could imagine what kind of confrontation the main force would have if they clashed with them.

But one thing was certain: this was going to be an unprecedentedly arduous battle.