318: If you're thinking of launching a sneak attack, you'd better train for another hundred years!

That brilliant heavenly thunder tore through the dark red sky, striking down forcefully like divine punishment!

"Rumble—!!!"

Amidst the deafening thunder, purple lightning instantly engulfed that area!

But this time, the heavenly thunder did not explode.

Instead, like a giant sword of light, it pierced directly into that seemingly ordinary space!

"Crack—!!!"

A crisp, heart-palpitating sound of shattering rang out!

As if an invisible mirror had been forcibly smashed!

Wherever the lightning reached, a layer of distorted, translucent dark-purple barrier appeared out of thin air and then instantly shattered!

Turning into countless splashing fragments of Law!

The moment the barrier broke, the scene hidden within was finally exposed before everyone's eyes—

"Hiss—!"

The Spiritual Energy Bureau Agents and experts from various sects present all sucked in a breath of cold air!

Behind the barrier was a dense, overlapping army of Abyssal Demons!

There were at least over five hundred of them!

Without exception, they were all in an attacking stance.

Sharp claws, Bone blades, venomous fangs, spheres of condensed Evil Energy... all were aimed at the direction Chen Nian and the others were advancing!

Clearly, this was an elite ambush force that had been waiting here for a long time, ready to strike!

Moreover, the aura of these Demonic Evils was more than a level stronger than the sentries from before!

If not for Chen Nian pointing it out,

with the perception abilities of those present,

they likely wouldn't have discovered these ambushes until they stepped into the center of the encirclement!

The scene suddenly fell into a strange silence.

Those Demonic Evils, who were originally poised to launch a fatal surprise attack, were now all frozen in place.

Their faces were filled with bewilderment, terror, and disbelief!

What was going on?!

Their "Shadow Stealth Barrier" had been personally set up by His Majesty, the Lord of Curses!

It fused the Abyssal Shadow Law with Space Distortion Techniques and was claimed to be able to completely shield against all detection!

But... this human... how did he see through it at a single glance?!

And so accurately, shattering the core node of the barrier with a single strike of heavenly thunder?!

Panic spread among the Demonic Evils like a plague.

This ambush force was originally the second line of defense meticulously arranged by the Lord of Curses—

They used the "Shadow Stealth Barrier" to hide perfectly, waiting for the human team to go deep into the valley.

After the first wave of ambush consumed some of their strength, they would suddenly appear and launch a thunderous strike!

Logically, this plan should have been foolproof.

Who would have thought that before they even moved, the barrier hiding them would be shattered by someone with a casual strike of lightning?!

How could they fight this?!

For a moment, the formation of the Demonic Evil army became slightly chaotic.

Many Demonic Evils subconsciously took half a step back, their eyes filled with fear of the unknown powerhouse.

On the human side, the experts were also pale with lingering fear.

Fairy Ling Shuang's face was full of shock, and her hand gripping the sword hilt trembled slightly:

"There were... actually so many ambushes..."

"My Divine Sense scan just now didn't detect any abnormalities at all..."

"If Senior Chen hadn't perceived the situation beforehand, once we stepped inside..."

She didn't dare think further.

Given the number and quality of this ambush force, if they had launched a sudden attack,

even if those present could resist, they would surely suffer heavy losses!

Sword Without Trace also had cold sweat on his forehead as he said in a deep voice:

"That was close. These Demonic Evils' concealment methods are too sophisticated; even my Sword Intent perception was completely blinded."

"Senior Chen not only saw through the ambush but also broke the situation in one strike. Such insight is truly terrifying!"

The old Daoist Zhang Mingyuan stroked his beard and sighed, his eyes full of lingering fear and relief:

"Immeasurable Heavenly Lord... This old Daoist has lived for nearly two hundred years and considers my Divine Sense cultivation to be decent."

"But just now, I was completely unaware of the hundreds of Demonic Evils right before me..."

"Senior Chen is truly a Divine Being! If he weren't here, we would likely have perished here today!"

The experts looked at each other, seeing the horror and relief in each other's eyes.

Only then did they truly realize that Chen Nian's seemingly casual action just now,

had actually averted such a terrifying crisis!

As for Chen Nian, he still maintained that calm and indifferent appearance.

He even looked over the exposed Demonic Evils with some interest.

The corner of his mouth curled into an undisguised arc of contempt:

"Oh? So there were this many hiding?"

"However, the level of your concealment Magic Formation is just so-so."

"The resentment is indeed dense, but the structure is crude, the energy flow is stiff, and the core nodes are as obvious as lanterns in the night."

"With just this, you dare to come out and make a fool of yourselves?"

"If you want to pull off a sneak attack, you'd better go back and practice for another hundred years!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the entire scene fell into a dead silence once again.

The Demonic Evils trembled with rage but did not dare to talk back.

This human... he actually saw through the Lord's Magic Formation at a glance. What level of existence is he?!

Just then.

"Buzz—!!!"

As if responding to Chen Nian's mockery, a low and grand buzz suddenly erupted from the depths of the valley!

Immediately following, waves of suffocatingly powerful auras surged from all directions like awakening Vicious Beasts!

"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The ground shook, and the rock walls cracked!

One after another, dark figures appeared forcefully in the sky above the valley!

There were even more of them than the ambush force just exposed!

At least a thousand Demonic Evils!

And their auras were even stronger!

The lowest were at the Peak of the Sixth Rank, and there were more than dozens of Seventh Rank ones!

What was even more terrifying was—

The nine leading figures all emitted the terrifying pressure of the Eighth Rank!

They were of various forms; some were like giants pieced together from countless Bones.

Some were eerie existences completely condensed from shadows without a fixed form.

Others were surrounded by black mist, emitting an aura that could corrode all things... Once these nine Eighth Rank Demonic Evils appeared, the concentration of Evil Energy in the entire Soul Burial Valley instantly skyrocketed several times over!

The cursed whispers permeating the air became clearer and more malicious, as if billions of vengeful souls were roaring in their ears!

The faces of everyone present suddenly changed drastically!