31: Chapter 31: I found the third killing formation and used my wife Huo Ling'er's true blood to refine it.

"Whoosh!"

Chaotic energy permeated the air, and subterranean flames surged.

Wang Teng, in his Nine-Nether Ao form, resembled a black warship from the underworld.

Carrying the two women and the bird, he tore through the seemingly eternal silence deep beneath Chixia Ridge.

As they went deeper, the surrounding crimson magma gradually darkened, eventually turning into a dull grey color.

It wasn't cooled rock, but rather "Chaos Fire Liquid" that had been assimilated and compressed to the extreme by chaotic energy.

Each drop was heavy as a thousand jun. If an ordinary Spirit Transformation Realm cultivator were to touch even a single drop, they would be instantly crushed into meat paste and then burned into nothingness.

"We've arrived... This is the outer barrier of the Saint Emperor Palace."

The "Angry Bird" Red-Feather Vermilion Bird, perched between the dragon horns on Wang Teng's head, wore an expression of extreme solemnity, even tinged with a hint of awe.

"Kid, don't blame me for not warning you.

This outer restriction is the 'Chaos Heaven-Locking Array' personally laid down by the ancient Fire God.

Although it has been eroded by time and its power is less than a tenth of what it once was, if you take one wrong step, it will trigger a chaos storm. Even a Venerable would have to..."

"Crack!"

Before the Red-Feather Vermilion Bird could finish speaking, a crisp sound, like shattering glass, suddenly rang out.

It widened its bean-sized eyes in astonishment, watching as Wang Teng's massive front claw had, at some point, reached into the grey, misty chaotic fog.

The chaotic restriction, capable of strangling a Venerable to death, met the Nine Nether Hell Mist swirling around Wang Teng's claws.

It was as if snow had met a raging fire; it silently melted, creating a large hole big enough for three people to pass through.

"What did you say?"

Wang Teng turned his head, his huge wolf eyes filled with a hint of confusion, "This thing is called a 'Heaven-Locking Array'? How come it's like window paper—a single poke and it breaks?"

"..."

The Red-Feather Vermilion Bird's mouth hung wide open, unable to close for a long time. The ancestral restriction it was so proud of, a problem that had plagued the Fire Kingdom's royal family for thousands of years, had just... broken?

"Nine-Nether Ao... naturally breaks restrictions..."

Yun Xi sat on Wang Teng's back, her beautiful eyes shimmering with intrigue as she muttered softly:

"Ancient records state that the Ten Primordial Evils, the Nine-Nether Ao, is born in the Nine Nethers and raised in the Yellow Springs.

Its innate divine ability can corrode all things and unravel all rules and order in the world.

Before it, there is no lock that cannot be opened, only doors it does not wish to enter."

"Heh, my maid really has a good eye."

Wang Teng grinned, a look of smugness appearing on his ferocious wolf face.

"Sit tight, we're going to go restock!"

"Boom!"

His massive body passed through the gap in the restriction, and the scene before them suddenly opened up.

It was no longer a cramped magma tunnel, but a vast and boundless underground world.

There was no sky here, only swirling clouds of chaotic energy overhead.

What flowed on the ground was not water, but liquefied spiritual energy and divine substances.

In the center of that world, a crimson palace, so magnificent it defied description, floated silently in the void.

It was forged entirely from divine metal, with carved beams and painted pillars, exuding an ancient and weathered imperial majesty.

But before he could even look at the palace, Wang Teng's gaze was first drawn to something on the ground.

"That is... Chaos Soil?!"

Wang Teng's breathing instantly became heavy.

He saw piles of grey-brown soil scattered everywhere along the path leading to the palace.

These piles of dirt looked unremarkable, yet they radiated a terrifying vitality that could make all things flourish.

Chaos Soil!

This was the supreme precious soil for planting divine herbs!

In the outside world, even a fingernail-sized amount would make those sect-leader-level figures fight until their brains spilled out.

Yet here, it was treated like mud on the roadside, piled up casually, and even used to pave the road!

"What a waste! This is simply a waste!"

Wang Teng felt heartbroken and threw his massive body forward.

"Swish, swish, swish—"

The nine tails behind him were no longer lethal weapons for killing at this moment, but had transformed into the most efficient "excavators" and "vacuum cleaners."

All nine tails went to work simultaneously, like nine giant black pythons slithering wildly across the ground.

Wherever they passed, they truly "scraped the ground three feet deep."

"Collect! Collect! Collect!"

With a thought from Wang Teng, the Ten Heavenly Passages within his body transformed into ten massive storage spaces.

The priceless Chaos Soil, along with the precious bones left behind by some Ancient Remains and rare ores buried in the soil, flowed frantically into his heavenly passages like a whale swallowing water.

"Hey! That's for paving the road! Leave some for me!"

The Red-Feather Vermilion Bird felt its heart bleeding.

This was the foundation left behind by the Fire Kingdom's ancestors, which they usually couldn't bear to use.

This kid, on the other hand, looked like he was about to peel off the entire layer of ground and take it away!

"Leave what? It's a waste buried underground!"

Wang Teng said while frantically looting, his tone righteous:

"I am Princess Huo Linger's husband, and Princess Huo Linger is a princess of the Fire Kingdom. Won't everything in the Fire Kingdom be Princess Huo Linger's in the future?

Since it's Princess Huo Linger's, it's mine. I'm taking my own things; this is called 'resource integration,' understand?"

"You..."

The Red-Feather Vermilion Bird was choked with anger but could do nothing about it.

"Husband, um... there seem to be a few glowing stones over there."

Princess Huo Linger sat on Wang Teng's back. Although she felt that her husband's "bandit" appearance was a bit embarrassing.

But... looking at the mountain of treasures, she felt a strange, small sense of excitement in her heart, and even took the initiative to help point the way.

"Hmm? My wife is amazing!"

Wang Teng looked in the direction Princess Huo Linger was pointing and saw, on the rock wall not far away, a few fist-sized, blood-red crystals embedded, radiating astonishing heat and divine energy.

"Sun God Stones?!"

Wang Teng's drool was almost dripping out.

This was a top-tier material for refining divine weapons, containing the essence of Sun True Fire.

"Haha, I'm rich, it's all mine!"

In just half an hour, this outer area had been looted by Wang Teng until it was cleaner than if a dog had licked it.

"Hiccup—"

Wang Teng burped with satisfaction, feeling that his Ten Heavenly Passages were almost full.

"Let's go, to that palace. The real great fortune should be inside."

Wang Teng had the two women sit properly again and, with a swaggering gait, walked towards the floating Saint Emperor Palace.

However, when he got within a hundred zhang of the Saint Emperor Palace, a sudden sense of crisis made his hair stand on end.

"Hum—"

The void trembled, and extremely complex, murderous array patterns appeared in the air.

These array patterns were no longer the chaotic restrictions from before, but carried a supreme ferocity capable of strangling souls and annihilating true spirits.

"This is..."

Wang Teng stopped, a hint of solemnity flashing in his huge wolf eyes.

"The Third Killing Array!"

The Red-Feather Vermilion Bird was no longer making a fuss, its expression becoming extremely solemn:

"This is one of the top three ancient chaotic killing arrays!

Although it is only a remnant of the array, even a false god who has ignited their divine fire would be turned into ashes in an instant if they trespassed!

This is also the greatest foundation of my Fire Kingdom, not to be easily disturbed by anyone without the royal bloodline."

"The Third Killing Array..."

Wang Teng muttered to himself. Not only was he not afraid.

Instead, he felt the Nine-Nether Ao's innate instinct for breaking arrays roaring wildly within him; it was an excitement born from encountering an ultimate challenge.

"Princess Huo Linger, lend me a drop of your blood."

Wang Teng suddenly spoke.

Princess Huo Linger did not hesitate at all; she bit her fingertip, and a drop of bright red royal true blood flew out.

Wang Teng opened his mouth and swallowed the true blood. Instantly, he felt an inexplicable connection with this world.

"Nine Nether—Insight!"

"Hum!"

The third vertical eye on Wang Teng's brow opened to the extreme.

In that eye, which contained reincarnation and destruction, the once airtight and infinitely murderous array patterns before him began to become slow and clear.

He saw the flow of the array, saw the nodes of energy, and even saw... the faint flaws and cracks hidden within the perfect killing array!

"So that's how it is... Using chaos as the foundation, and slaughter as the function. Wonderful, truly wonderful!"

Wang Teng exclaimed, then a wild and arrogant smile curled at the corners of his mouth.

"However, before these eyes of mine, no matter how perfect the array, it is full of loopholes!"

"Nine Tails—Dissociation!"

"Swish! Swish! Swish!..."

The nine tails behind Wang Teng transformed into nine of the most precise scalpels at this moment.

They did not use brute force to destroy, but with an extremely bizarre rhythm, they rapidly poked and wove through the void.

Each tap landed precisely on the nodes of the array's energy flow.

"Ding... ding... ding..."

The crisp sounds were like large and small pearls falling onto a jade plate.

The Red-Feather Vermilion Bird watched in horror as the Third Killing Array, known as the "forbidden zone for gods," actually began to... stop turning under Wang Teng's "operation"!

The originally violent killing intent, like a tamed beast, slowly calmed down.

The array patterns, which were capable of strangling all things, actually parted to reveal a passage leading straight to the palace gate!

"This... how is this possible?!"

The Red-Feather Vermilion Bird felt its worldview shattering.

This was a killing array that even the Fire Emperor had to be cautious of and hold an ancestral command token to pass through!

This kid just poked it a few times with his tail and broke it?

"This is technique."