126: The deep sea stretches for thousands of miles, the Eastern Sea is a deep abyss!

Three thousand meters beneath the sea, the eaves of a bronze palace pierced the darkness.

Lu Chen's fingertips ignited with Nether Ghostfire, illuminating the bioluminescent jellyfish drifting through the coral thickets.

He walked along stone steps carved with oracle bone script, the tianwen sword on his back vibrating with a dragon-like roar.

After breaking free from the illusion,

Lu Chen continued walking straight ahead.

He knew that Xu Fu wouldn't have left only these things behind.

Furthermore, there was an incredibly powerful aura here.

It seemed to be a top-tier Demonic Beast!

In any Secret Realm like this, there was bound to be a secret treasure.

Lu Chen wouldn't return empty-handed.

Suddenly, he sensed something!

Lu Chen stopped in his tracks!

He looked toward the abyss ahead.

With a faint smile, he said:

"An old friend has come to visit. Lord Xu, how much longer do you intend to feign sleep?"

Lu Chen suddenly came to a halt, his scabbard thumping heavily against the sapphire floor tiles.

Web-like cracks spread instantly, and the entire palace suddenly lit up with the radiance of ten thousand stars.

A translucent figure of a white-haired old man emerged from the Void Realm, the bamboo slips in his hand flipping to create an illusion of the Milky Way reversing its course.

Xu Fu's remnant soul opened eyes filled with stars and laughed, "One hundred thousand years have passed, and you, skeleton, have become even more adept at putting on imperial airs. Even the First Emperor didn't have as much flair as you! I've only left behind some afterimages and illusions; surely I don't need to kowtow and bow to you?"

"Hahaha, that's not necessary. It's just that my state of mind has changed a bit."

Lu Chen laughed.

Then, he took out a jar of amber liquid from his storage ring; the intense aroma of wine actually condensed into the shape of a swimming dragon in the seabed.

"The Hundred-Flower Brew buried in the Lishan Underground Palace back then... the Chu Family has quite a bit of it. I bought a lot and kept it specifically, not expecting to share a cup with you again!"

Lu Chen slapped open the mud seal, and as the wine poured into the bronze cup, it triggered a Phoenix's cry.

Xu Fu's phantom flickered, and his remnant soul actually became slightly more solid.

He took the wine cup and drained it in one gulp, his sleeves sweeping out a sky full of stars. "Back then, you faked your death to escape, leaving the twelve golden men to guard Xianyang. Do you know those bronze statues have now become the Twelve Pillars of the Return to Ruins?"

Before he could finish, massive chunks of bronze peeled off from the palace ceiling.

The ghostfire in Lu Chen's eyes surged. The golden compass rose from his palm, its needle spinning wildly and shooting out ten thousand golden rays.

The falling bronze chunks melted into crimson molten iron in mid-air, casting twelve polearm-wielding armored soldiers.

He had already sensed the danger lurking in the shadows here.

It seemed these little things had been lying in ambush here for a long time.

Lu Chen wasn't surprised, but he hadn't expected them to arrive so quickly.

"The lackeys of the Heavenly Dao certainly arrived quickly."

Lu Chen sneered, and as the tianwen sword unsheathed, it brought forth nine water dragons.

Where the sword pointed, a hundred-meter-long Demonized Flood Dragon emerged from the undercurrents, blood-colored runes swirling in its crimson vertical pupils.

Xu Fu's remnant soul turned into a stream of light and entered the sword blade. "I'll borrow your sword's edge for a moment!"

The tianwen sword instantly surged to a hundred zhang in length, its spine displaying the illustrations of the classic of mountains and seas.

Lu Chen leaped onto the flood dragon's head, his skeletal claws piercing its horns as he shouted, "I could slay demon dragons a hundred thousand years ago. Do you think I can't handle a little snake like you today?"

As the flood dragon thrashed, it spat out Annihilation Black Flames, which burned even the seawater into nothingness wherever they passed.

The golden compass at Lu Chen's forehead suddenly disassembled, with three hundred and sixty copper coins forming the Zhou Heaven Star Formation.

He stepped onto the Big Dipper positions, his sword drawing water from the Heavenly River: "Activate the Starry Violet Firmament, transform into Heavenly Thunder! — Break!"

A roar like a prehistoric giant drum echoed from the depths of the Return to Ruins. Nine bolts of Violet Firmament Divine Thunder descended from the Nine Heavens, crashing down to split the deep sea.

In the thunderous light, the demonic flood dragon revealed its true form—it was actually half of a massive bronze pillar covered in cuneiform script.

The demonic flood dragon turned into a stream of light to escape!

Lu Chen struck the flood dragon with his sword and instantly moved close to the giant pillar. The moment his hand touched it!

More information, those memories from a hundred thousand years ago, surged forth relentlessly.

More, and in greater detail!

The abyssal deep now split open with ten thousand zhang of radiant light, and the three hundred and sixty copper coins melted into a flood of red-gold in the thunder and fire.

The massive Secret Realm Formation actually seemed to be on the verge of collapsing!

Lu Chen's black robes fluttered loudly. A rotating river map and book of luo Formation diagram appeared beneath his feet. With every step he took, stars exploded into brilliant rings of light in the deep sea.

"Mountains and rivers as Talismans, sun and moon as seals!" He brushed his fingers across the edge of the tianwen sword, and the engraved Gan Shi Star Scripture appeared on the blade.

The cuneiform script on the bronze pillar suddenly came to life, transforming into ten thousand Golden-Armored Terracotta Warriors that grappled with the demonic flood dragon. Every time a warrior shattered, it emitted a deep, resonant sound of ancient bells and cauldrons.

Xu Fu's remnant soul let out a long cry amidst the sword light: "Back then, the twelve golden men suppressed the Nine Provinces. Now, let's see what you, skeleton, can do! Old friend, take care!"

Before his voice faded, the entire bronze palace suddenly flipped over, revealing the Taiji Yin and Yang Fish engraved with Lianshan and Guizang on its base.

Under the pull of the Formation, the seawater formed a thousand-meter-diameter whirlpool, locking the demonic flood dragon firmly in the center of the Formation eye.

Lu Chen stood suspended in the air, his skeletal joints emitting a clear chime like jade bells.

He gripped the golden compass in his left hand and pointed his sword toward the Big Dipper with his right: "Ten thousand stars forge my bones, the Nine Nether Yellow Springs temper my soul — Break!"

The bronze pillar exploded on cue, shooting out Jade Slip fragments inscribed with ancient covenants.

Suddenly, a flame carrying the scent of sulfur sliced through the seawater, and Ignis's fiery red figure crashed through the barrier and rushed in.

"You, surnamed Lu! We agreed that after going back, you'd go to the library with me. How dare you stay here alone and push this gi—!"

The Flame Demon Girl's voice stopped abruptly.

She looked at the demonic flood dragon that was reconstructing its body, and her lava-like eyes instantly ignited with Battle Intent: "This ugly thing is mine!"

The flame demon greatsword slashed out eighteen fire dragons, forcibly suppressing the black flames that were about to condense back into the flood dragon's mouth.

At this moment, the crisp sound of ice crystals shattering came from the ceiling, and Shelley rode an ice Phoenix through the barrier.

The Arctic Princess's frost-white hair fluttered in the torrent. Her scepter tapped out hexagonal ice flowers: "Little Skeleton, be careful! There are traces of strange magical pollution on the outskirts of the Return to Ruins..."

Before she could finish, the demonic flood dragon's broken horn suddenly shot out a sky full of bone spikes, but they were melted into ash by golden Holy Light before they could reach anyone.

— Morning Dew had also fought her way in!

She spread her six wings and hovered among the coral, the holy codex floating before her chest: "In the name of the Holy Mother, Light of World Purification!"

Gentle golden light enveloped the entire battlefield. The bronze bricks corroded by the black flames actually began to grow rust in reverse.

The little nun suddenly staggered and leaned against a stone pillar. Shelley immediately threw out ice chains to wrap around her waist: "Don't push yourself too hard. Your Holy Light consumes too much against evil entities."

The last to break in, Ning Xiwei, directly crushed three Bone Talismans, and seventy-two white jade skeletons formed a Nine Palace Formation.

The current Ning Xiwei was already a powerful Necromancer!

From beneath her black robes, Nether Chains extended to wrap around Lu Chen's wrist: "Care to explain? We agreed to do this together, yet you risked it alone in the end? And now you're fighting an ancient demonic creature?"

She seemed to be questioning him, but the chains were constantly channeling pure magic.

This magic continuously nourished Lu Chen's undead soul.

Sun Feifei stepped out of the Void Realm onto a Bagua Formation Diagram, her Green-Tipped Sword lifting five lightning Talismans: "Hey, hey, sisters, can the catching up wait? This flood dragon is about to transform into a Mirage Dragon!"