The sky seemed to be pierced as two colossal figures arrived at breakneck speed, then halted unnaturally mid-air. Their immense frames, poised in a commanding, condescending posture, stared intensely at the encroaching Evil Phoenix and Black Serpent. One of them opened its maw and boomed in a deep, muffled voice, "Intruders, how dare you sabotage the formation and trespass into the Palace of the Underworld King? Surrender immediately and beg for pardon from Lord Underworld King."

"What? Underworld King?" The Evil Phoenix was startled, a mixture of shock and delight flashing across her face. Shocked that this was, in fact, the legendary Palace of the Underworld King—naturally fraught with peril. Merely observing these two giant guardians suggested they would be exceedingly difficult to deal with. Delighted, however, because peril often walks hand-in-hand with opportunity.

Who was the Underworld King? He was, without question, one of the most renowned supreme beings in the history of the Six Domains and Nine Continents, the former ruler of the Nether Realm. His strength was said to be absolute, comparable to the strongest powers in both the Immortal and Demonic Realms. Though separated by ages, there was indeed a connection between Lei Dong and the Underworld King.

First, the Underworld King’s Body Tempering Art that Lei Dong practiced transformed his mortal, flesh-body physique into the exceedingly rare Nether Physique, dramatically enhancing his constitution and soaring his strength. Second, the Art of Ghost Soldiers that Lei Dong cultivated was reportedly first devised by the Underworld King himself. Furthermore, the famous innate spiritual treasure, the Underworld King Banner, was the ancestor of all the various banners Lei Dong employed. Most contemporary Ghost Control Banners were merely imitations of the Underworld King Banner. Although Lei Dong’s self-refined innate spiritual treasure, the Netherflame Ghost Banner, was considered the pinnacle of its class, it still could not stand comparison with the original Underworld King Banner.

However, the Underworld King Banner had long since vanished after circulating through the world for ages, leaving countless powerful Ghost Cultivators sighing in regret—Lei Dong included, naturally.

The palace of such a supreme being naturally caused the Evil Phoenix profound astonishment. The Underworld Phoenix Clan, despite producing many powerful figures throughout its history, had never produced a single figure as legendary and eternally remembered as the Underworld King. Rumor had it that the Underworld King had cultivated to the absolute extreme, reaching a state of near-immortality, though why he subsequently vanished remained a mystery.

"Intruders, surrender now!" the gigantic bronze guardian roared again, fiercely.

"Surrender?" The Evil Phoenix scoffed, retorting fiercely, "As one of the Four Emperors of the Nether Realm, I, the Evil Phoenix, have no record of yielding before a fight. Moreover, you mere two guardians, only possessing initial-stage Soul Transformation cultivation, expect to force this lady to surrender? What a monumental joke." Suppressing the negative emotions churning within, the Evil Phoenix displayed her customary dominance and might.

"Aooo~"

The Nether Black Serpent immediately let out a fierce roar, subtly carrying a hint of a true dragon’s cry. Its sinuous body twisted violently, rapidly expanding until, in the blink of an eye, it transformed into a massive serpent easily a hundred feet long. Its pitch-black body was awe-inspiring, its sheer size matching that of the towering bronze guardians without yielding an inch.

It was only then that the Evil Phoenix clearly discerned what these two newly awakened powerhouses were: their bodies were cast in a heavy bronze hue, clad in ancient battle armor, and wielding weapons, looking every bit the formidable generals. But clearly, these were not living beings, but two puppet bodies.

Perhaps only a slumbering puppet could maintain function for so many years before being roused back into combat.

Even so, the strength of these two puppets was terrifying enough. Initial-stage Soul Transformation realm—in the current Six Domains and Nine Continents, puppets achieving this level were exceedingly rare, each considered a supreme treasure among the top-tier factions, a fearsome deterrent.

And the cost to create each one was astronomical. What was even more dreadful was the complexity and extreme preciousness of the materials required for a Soul Transformation-level puppet. Even those skilled in forging such mechanical puppets would struggle immensely to gather the materials for even one. Many of the required ingredients were globally scarce, impossible to obtain merely with spirit stones.

Seeing their attempt at coercion fail, the two puppet generals stopped wasting breath. Each gripped its battle-glaive and sliced downwards through the void. The sharp blades ripped space itself, striking their targets with pinpoint accuracy, the resulting screech sharp enough to rupture eardrums. The Netherflame Black Phoenix Banner was currently cycling to accumulate energy, suggesting its power was limited in smaller skirmishes.

However, the Evil Phoenix, as one of the Four Emperors of the Nether Realm, possessed an inexhaustible array of techniques. She immediately channeled strength through her arm, unleashing thousands of radiant feathers from her Primordial Spirit in the Phoenix Dance of Nine Heavens, scattering like a swarm of locusts to engage one of the puppets. Clang! Clang! Clang! A continuous barrage of sounds erupted as the Evil Phoenix effortlessly deflected the bronze puppet’s deceptively simple, yet powerful, strike.

As for the Black Serpent, it possessed fewer obvious external techniques. Yet, this dark, shadowy void, while primitive in civilization, was never a peaceful place; rather, like the Savage World, it was an arena where the strong preyed upon the weak. The Nether Black Serpent ascending to the Soul Transformation stage in such an environment required not just immense fortune and luck, but countless battles, even brushes with death, to claw its way to its current status.

This implied that its life was saturated with constant conflict and life-or-death struggles. Facing that heaven-shattering attack, the Serpent roared in fury, whipping its massive tail out like a colossal whip, slicing the air with sharp whistles. This was clearly a favored move. It wrapped around the battle-glaive with flawless precision and yanked hard, instantly engaging the bronze puppet in a pure contest of strength.

The two separate battles swiftly devolved into deadly, close-quarters contests. The Evil Phoenix, worthy of being one of the Four Emperors of the Nether Ghost Domain, deployed a continuous stream of diverse methods. Although the Netherfire Black Phoenix Banner moved slowly and struggled against powerful foes, its foundational might was unquestionable. When unleashed at full power, condensed into a single Netherfire Cannonball, even a Soul Transformation expert could not absorb a direct hit unscathed. As a supplementary deterrent, or a final trump card, it had significant impact.

The Evil Phoenix’s combat prowess was always formidable, especially when she transformed into a massive black phoenix with wings spanning dozens of feet, boosting her power by several tens of percent. Unlike the struggling Black Serpent, the Evil Phoenix possessed considerable wealth, particularly the innate spiritual treasure Phoenix Dance of Nine Heavens, whose destructive power was substantial. After just a dozen exchanges, she gradually began to gain the upper hand, beating the bronze puppet until it had little room to counterattack.

The Serpent’s situation, however, seemed the exact opposite. This Nether Black Serpent had only recently advanced to the Soul Transformation stage, having survived entirely within this savage territory. While it possessed a rare ferocity in a true brawl, lacking various spells, spiritual treasures, or even the aid of elixirs, it was clearly half a step weaker than the bronze puppet. It managed a few parries initially, but was gradually suppressed by the puppet’s aggressive assault. In a short time, its colossal body was already covered in numerous gashes.

Seeing this, the Evil Phoenix had to divert some focus to aid the Black Serpent, lest the powerful combat pet she had finally acquired perish at the hands of a mere puppet. Though the Serpent currently held a slight disadvantage against a standard Soul Transformation expert, once they returned to the Nether Realm, the Evil Phoenix could easily leverage the superior resources of the Underworld Phoenix Clan to equip him with a set of powerful spiritual treasures, along with cultivation techniques and arts, naturally elevating the Serpent’s strength.

Furthermore, while the Evil Phoenix was gaining the upper hand against one puppet, she had not yet achieved overwhelming superiority. If the Serpent were to fall first, she would be forced to contend with two puppets simultaneously—a scenario that would almost certainly lead to defeat.

With the Evil Phoenix intervening, the highly intelligent puppets naturally began to interfere with each other’s targets. After only a brief engagement, the clash escalated into a chaotic four-way melee. It was fortunate that the architecture here was constructed from some unknown material that prevented it from being instantly obliterated by the combined fighting of four Soul Transformation-level powerhouses.

Lei Dong had been shielded by the Evil Phoenix and moved to the sidelines right as her battle began. Luckily, the puppets showed no interest in the unconscious Lei Dong, relieving the Evil Phoenix of any collateral worries so she could fight unrestrained. Yet, it was precisely at this moment that Lei Dong's awakening reached its most critical juncture. His consciousness was nearly fully clear, but a different problem abruptly arose.

The moment his consciousness cleared, his vital energy surged explosively. The various medicinal properties of elixirs he had absorbed into his bloodline—both fully and partially assimilated—rapidly flooded his system as his body snapped out of its protective hibernation.

During Lei Dong’s years of slumber, the Evil Phoenix had fed him nearly every pill available. The heavenly materials and earthly treasures she collected had also been generously applied to his body. Furthermore, she had infused him with considerable amounts of Chaos Spiritual Qi. These powerful essences, both medicinal and spiritual, were partly digested by Lei Dong’s slow metabolism, and partly passively absorbed with the aid of the Evil Phoenix’s True Essence. However, the largest portion had settled within his blood vessels and every fiber of his being, creating a colossal reserve of medicinal potency.

As he awoke and his bodily functions normalized, his metabolism instantly intensified. Those potent, latent medicinal energies rushed into his bodily systems in an instant, creating an overwhelming supply of energy that threatened to make his blood vessels and meridians feel as if they would explode.

At this critical juncture, Lei Dong dared not make any rash moves. He immediately began furiously circulating the Profound Yin Heart Sutra, refining the medicinal energies filling every corner of his body, along with the massive influx of Chaos Spiritual Qi. Yet, no matter how quickly he absorbed, his physical tissues were being shredded by the surging medicinal energy, only to be rapidly restored by the help of the medicine and residual Chaos Spiritual Qi.

That sensation of meridians and cells constantly being torn apart nearly made Lei Dong believe he had returned to the moment he was first cultivating the Underworld King’s Body Tempering Art.