The ancient martial arts master traveled through time

The netherworld was shrouded in the thick, inky darkness of night. The midnight bell pierced the dead silence, each sound like a sob from the depths of the underworld. Ruan Xiaojiu held his breath and concentrated, invoking the "Nether Butterfly Hidden Trace Technique." A translucent, faint blue light enveloped his body, and his figure vanished into the shadows like a ghost.

She followed A Yao carefully, and with every step she took, she precisely avoided the "Soul-Eroding Curse" lines on the ground that were winding like blood vessels. Those dark purple runes were emitting a disgusting stench, as if silently cursing all intruders.

After turning around the cracked corridor, a stone valley stained by blood-red moonlight appeared before our eyes.

The demons and monsters carved into the rock faces on either side were lifelike, each ferocious face emitting materialized black mist. The outlines, drawn with the "Reverse Soul Curse," glowed in the Netherfire, oozing a foul-smelling dark-brown slime that slowly flowed down the stone walls, gathering into eerie patterns on the ground. A-Yao raised her hand and knocked on the stone door. As her knuckles touched, the "Soul-Locking Nail" embedded in the door knocker suddenly glowed with a faint blue blood. Tiny beads of blood oozed from the veins on the nail, wriggling as if alive. It was clearly an evil artifact forged from the sacrifices of countless wronged souls.

Ruan Xiaojiu seized the moment the barrier opened and closed, unleashing his "Void Rift Technique" and slipping into the rocky chasm like a shadow. A thick, sinister dragon aura washed over him, blending with the black mist swirling around the city lord to create a suffocating, oppressive feeling.

The masked man with a ghost face turned the ring inlaid with the "Twin Pupils of the Netherworld", ripples appeared in the air, and the space began to twist and deform. This was a sign that the "Soul-Captivating Sound Wave" was about to be launched. The surrounding stones collapsed and turned into powder under this force.

"How dare you come to see me?" The city lord's voice was low and cold, with the hoarseness and brutality unique to practitioners of the "Nine Nether Demonic Codex". The sound waves shook the rock wall like a substance, causing black blood to ooze out. After those blood beads fell to the ground, they quickly corroded deep pits.

The "Soul Binding Rope" that slipped out of his sleeve was completely black, and the chain was wrapped with "Yellow Spring Poison". Wherever it passed, the air was filled with a strange green mist. The soul-calming bell rang before it rang, and the devilish sound it emitted struck the depths of the soul, making people shudder.

A-Yao knelt on the ground, the "Ink Shadow Order" tattoo on the back of her neck glowing an ominous purple in the dark light, as if burning. "The princess has not yet awakened her 'Nether Phoenix Bloodline,' and the 'Rebirth Curse Seal' within her body remains sealed." Her voice was deliberately amplified, yet the syllables carried the vibrations of 'secret voice transmission.' Her fingertips quietly traced the ground, forming a 'warning symbol' known only to them—a secret signal for help they had agreed upon in their childhood, each stroke imbued with complex fluctuations of spiritual energy.

Ruan Xiaojiu's pupils suddenly constricted, instantly realizing the conversation was a mere prank for the City Lord. Just as she was about to unleash her "Illusion-Breaking Pupil Technique" to penetrate the barrier's flaws, the "Blood Moon Totem" atop the col suddenly blazed with blinding light, sending the entire space trembling violently. She acted decisively, unleashing her "Netherworld Escape Technique" to retreat swiftly. The moment her sleeves brushed the rock face, she triggered the hidden "God-killing Trap."

Countless poison-tipped "Soul-Catching Nails" came down from the sky like a rainstorm, the nails emitting a strange green light. Wherever they passed, the ground was instantly corroded into gullies that emitted green smoke, and the air was filled with a pungent smell of sulfur.

After returning to the palace, before Ruan Xiaojiu could open his mouth, the peach wood sword on Xiao Zeming's waist suddenly vibrated violently, and the "evil-repelling talisman" engraved on the sword body emitted a dazzling golden light - this was a warning that the magic weapon sensed a powerful "evil spirit".

Outside the chamber, A-Yao's figure slowly emerged. A black mist, reminiscent of the "reversal of yin and yang," lingered around her, the faint cries of wronged souls echoing through the mist. Her pupils had transformed into the dual-toned demonic pupils of the "Yin and Yang Messengers" under the Ghost King's throne: one red, one black, exuding a captivating eeriness. The "Nine Nether Demonic Patterns" embroidered on her skirt twisted and wriggled like a living thing, devouring the surrounding light. A chill permeated the air wherever she passed.

"Hand over the key to the Pluto's Codex." The puppet controlled by the City Lord spoke, its voice carrying the chill of a bone-eating poison, each word like an icy blade. The Nine Nether Demonic Flames condensed at her fingertips, a dark purple hue, instantly igniting the surrounding veil. The flames burned without a trace of warmth, emitting a bone-piercing chill.

The moment she pressed the mechanism of the bed, the Nether Crystal containing the "Blood Covenant Seal" appeared, and mysterious runes flowed on the surface of the crystal. The "Soul-Calming Pillars" throughout the palace simultaneously wailed, and the carvings on the pillars began to peel off, foreshadowing that the "World-Destroying Disaster" suppressed under the Blood River was about to break the seal, and a crisis that could subvert the underworld was quietly approaching.