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Three figures landed beside the creek. They took out water bags and filled them, as even the most powerful cultivators needed to drink water.
Lin Feng hid atop the tree, observing the appearance of the three individuals.
These were three middle-aged cultivators, each carrying a longsword on their back, resembling the legendary Sword Immortals.
One of them said, "This time, the Blood Demon Emperor and Flame Demon King plot something grand, intending to awaken the last remnant soul of the Netherworld Emperor existing in the human world and then mold a Supreme Demon Body for the Netherworld Emperor. This Netherworld Emperor was one of the Seventy-two Demon Emperors of the Middle Ages, with unrivaled demonic might. If the Netherworld Emperor is resurrected, widespread devastation is inevitable."
"Now, Murong Huanyu, the City Lord of Heavenly Saint City, personally restrains the Blood Demon Emperor, and Liuu Ziyu, the City Lord of Sun Moon City, entangles the Flame Demon King, preventing these two great abilities from overseeing the resurrection ceremony of the Netherworld Emperor. Right now, the one presiding over the resurrection ceremony is the Blood Demon Emperor's first disciple, Nine-headed Shura. We must stop Nine-headed Shura."
"Time is of the essence. Let's hurry."
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...
As the words fell, the three of them soared into the sky and quickly disappeared.
"Resurrect the Netherworld Emperor?" Lin Feng's face was filled with a shocked expression.
He thought about a catastrophe from the Middle Ages.
During the Middle Ages, demons ran rampant, sweeping across the entire Heavenly Martial Continent.
This catastrophe resulted in widespread devastation, with countless Human Clan forces being destroyed as demons nearly occupied the entire Heavenly Martial Continent.
On the side of the Demon Clan, there were seventy-two Demon Emperors, among them the Netherworld Emperor, who was a terrifying figure, ranked third among the seventy-two.
At that time, the Human Clan was in grave danger, facing the threat of extinction.
At the critical moment, eight strong warriors from the Human Clan emerged, leading the counter-attack and defeating the demons.
These eight human ancestors were revered as the "Eight Heroes of the Middle Ages."
Several tens of thousands of years passed, and the strong warriors of the Middle Ages had already fallen, but the Demon Clan mastered some extremely terrifying secret techniques capable of reviving deceased strong warriors.
Should a heaven-defying figure like the Netherworld Emperor come back to life, it would be catastrophic.
"Let's go, I'll also go take a look." Lin Feng jumped down from the tree and headed towards the depths of the Underworld.
Ten days later, Lin Feng arrived in front of an ancient city.
This ancient city was extremely vast, like a primordial giant beast lying on the ground, heavy, imposing.
Around the ancient city, countless demons patrolled.
Among them were Blood-sucking Demon Bats, Flying Sky Asura, Undying Yaksha... and so forth.
The entire ancient city was guarded tightly without any gaps.
In the mountains and forests, numerous cultivators lay in ambush as well.
"So this is the place, the demon's lair. Are these demons planning to resurrect the Netherworld Emperor here?" Lin Feng, too, hid within the mountains and forests, looking towards the ancient city.
In the mountains and forests, the atmosphere was oppressive, evidently indicating that many strong forces from East County Divine Land had arrived; however, these forces were still waiting for an opportunity to attack the city.
At this very moment, in the depths of the ancient city, inside a grand mansion heavily guarded, a hall housed a tall figure possessing nine heads, observing a drawing with both hands behind his back.
The drawing depicted nine men wearing imperial robes.
The men in the drawing were remarkably lifelike, resembling nine Venerable Saints, compelling onlookers to feel an urge to worship.
Thud, thud.
A dozen demons glanced at the painting and could not withstand the pressure it exuded, falling to their knees.
"My lord, what is this painting?" asked a demon strongman standing beside Nine-headed Shura; notably, this person was not forced to kneel by the painting's pressure, indicating his formidable strength.
"This is the Ancient Nine Emperors Map," said Nine-headed Shura.
"Ah? The Ancient Nine Emperors Map? This treasure; are the nine figures on it the nine Venerable Saints of my Demon Clan?" the demon strongman asked in shock.
"Indeed, they are the nine Venerable Saints of my Demon Clan from the Ancient Era. It's said that this Nine Emperors Map holds a great secret; however, despite my long-time research, I haven't comprehended its mystery. This Nine Emperors Map disappeared with the Netherworld Emperor back then, and now that it has reappeared in the human world, once the Netherworld Emperor is resurrected, I shall present this Nine Emperors Map to him," said Nine-headed Shura.
"My lord, why not keep it for yourself?" queried the demon next to him.
Nine-headed Shura had a fluctuating expression before responding, "Let's resurrect the Netherworld Emperor first and then talk about other matters. How's the arrangement of the Nine Heavens Soul Returning Array?"
"It should be almost done, right?" the demon answered.
"Report," someone appeared outside at this moment.
"Enter," Nine-headed Shura said.
A thin, skeleton-like old demon walked in, "My lord, the Nine Heavens Soul Returning Array has been set up."
"Very good. I shall preside over the array now." Nine-headed Shura headed outside.
"My lord, should we collect the Nine Emperors Map?" asked the demon leader.
"Haha, no need. This supreme treasure of the Demon Dao will kill whoever touches it. Even if Murong Huanyu, the City Lord of Heavenly Saint City, dare tamper with the Nine Emperors Map, he'll only meet death. I rather wish the strong warriors of the Human Clan come to seize the Nine Emperors Map so that it can kill them, saving us the trouble," Nine-headed Shura laughed, then transformed into a streak of light and flew out.
The demons present were filled with awe.
They hadn't expected the Nine Emperors Map to possess such terrifying lethality.
"Let's go, protect the lord," the demon leader commanded loudly.
A group of powerful demons rushed out together.
In the center of the ancient city, there was an enormous altar.
At the center of this altar stood nine jet-black giant tripods.
Beneath the giant tripods, earth fire burned fiercely.
The nine giant tripods were arranged in an Eight Trigrams fashion, and around the altar, an ancient and complex large array was densely distributed.
This was a heaven-defying grand array known as the "Nine Heavens Soul Returning Array," which was also extremely sinister.
Because activating the Nine Heavens Soul Returning Array required the souls of 19,999,999 people as fuel, and neither more nor less would suffice.
Consequently, opening the Nine Heavens Soul Returning Array always resulted in widespread devastation.
Currently, demons invaded East County Divine Land and slaughtered countless souls.
It was all for today, to activate the Nine Heavens Soul Returning Array and resurrect the Netherworld Emperor.
Nine-headed Shura floated above the nine Demon Tripods and took out a gourd.
Subsequently, Nine-headed Shura opened the gourd.
Countless souls flew out.
"Ah, I died so miserably."
"Why? I don't want to die."
Heart-wrenching cries echoed out, with ghostly wails and demonic howls, the sinister wind raging through heaven and earth.
Even Lin Feng, hidden within the mountain forest outside the city, heard those agonizing cries.
"What is happening inside this ancient city?" Lin Feng felt his scalp tingle.
Nine-headed Shura poured the countless souls into the nine Demon Tripods.
"Nine Cauldrons Burning Souls, reverse the Heavenly Destiny, call upon the Almighty, Netherworld revive."
Suddenly, Nine-headed Shura roared.
"Nine Heavens Soul Returning Array, activate."
Nine-headed Shura's roar shook the heavens as an incredibly powerful energy emanated from the nine Demon Tripods, infusing into the surrounding large array.
Buzz.
An ancient and mysterious wicked grand array was activated.
Endless demonic qi soared into the sky, exuding an aura of destruction within it.
Low roars echoed out.
"Who? Who is awakening the soul of the Netherworld Emperor, slumbering for countless years?" The low roar echoed through heaven and earth.
"The Netherworld Emperor is truly being resurrected." Lin Feng displayed a horrified expression on his face.
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