I tricked you into thinking you had the makings of an emperor, but you actually did it?

After using his escape technique, Shen Ming entered the mass grave.

It felt like suddenly entering an endless abyss of darkness.

Thick, almost tangible fog filled the surroundings, its eerie gray-black hue clinging to their bodies in wisps.

The earth was cracked and barren, covered with crisscrossing fissures.

There was no sun, no stars, only a gray, gloomy haze.

Shen Ming's Eye of Insight failed for the first time, and he could not see the road.

Just then, two red lights appeared not far away.

Only when I got closer did I realize that they were blood-red eyes.

The owner of the eyes was a tall, humanoid being, whose massive body was covered by a thick layer of red fur.

The red was dazzling and had an eerie sheen; each one seemed to tremble slightly as if it were alive.

Black blood was flowing from his body, but no wounds could be seen.

It exuded an extremely strong and eerie aura, which spread outwards as if it were a tangible entity.

Suddenly, Shen Ming's breath hitched.

Beneath that fur were dim and lifeless divine patterns, far more intricate and complete than those on the bodies of the alien races of the sacred mountain.

This is a deity!

The red hair wasn't its own; it grew out of some kind of curse, and it was filled with an ominous aura.

Even gods must perish in the forbidden zone of life and become ominous undead.

Shen Ming's heart pounded like thunder, and a chill ran up his tailbone.

He realized he had underestimated the dangers of life.

Last time at the Burial Sea, the Taiyi Treasure Vault formed a barrier to resist the forbidden power.

Now, suddenly faced with a dead god, Shen Ming would rather go out and fight the Zheng family patriarch.

The ominous spirit's eyes stared at him, filled with resentment and endless malice.

Shen Ming felt himself being dragged into endless darkness.

Unable to go any further, Shen Ming stopped, trying to shake off the influence, and tentatively retreated.

He observed the ominous undead's reaction.

It remained in the same position, without reacting.

"Then I'm off."

After confirming that the ominous undead would not attack on its own, Shen Ming used his escape technique again to leave the mass grave.

What Shen Ming didn't know was that as soon as he left, the mist over the mass grave immediately dissipated, and even more ominous spirits emerged from the shadows.

These ominous undead all looked as if they were facing a formidable enemy, and only relaxed after confirming that Shen Ming had left.

Immediately afterwards, all the ominous undead looked at the god who had just died, the one who had just stared at Shen Ming, and all of them were filled with awe.

They actually dared to stay and face that person from before.

It turned out that at the moment Shen Ming was about to arrive, the ominous spirits in the mass grave all felt that a great calamity was about to befall them.

Despite being ominous undead, they had a primal instinct to destroy everything and scattered in all directions.

Facing so many gazes, the ominous undead took a deep breath, lowered its head, and stared at its own legs.

Dead legs, move already!

It turns out that the ominous spirit was simply too frightened to move and had no choice but to stay.

……

Shen Ming traveled through the Jiuli Mountains and saw all sorts of ominous spirits after death.

It terrified him, and his hair stood on end.

If these creatures were released, they could probably destroy the Xuanhuang World.

Fortunately, he seemed to have caught a special time when the undead showed no signs of aggression.

Surprised, Shen Ming felt intense curiosity and looked towards the deepest part of the forbidden zone, where a huge, completely black mountain stood.

Jiuli Mountain, the source of the forbidden zone for life.

He wanted to know the origin of the forbidden zone of life and how it came to be.

As if sensing his thoughts, dark clouds surged above Mount Jiuli.

"Forget it, if you don't court death, you won't die."

Shen Ming thought about it and then gave up the idea.

The dark clouds over Mount Jiuli dispersed, as if a person had let out a long sigh.

Shen Ming circled the battlefield and used his escape technique once more.

This time, he found himself on the bank of a winding river, feeling a bone-chilling cold.

A dark river, like a black ribbon, divides the land of death.

The river water had an extreme yin color, so deep that it seemed to devour all the light in the world.

Although the river was not frozen, it exuded a chilling aura that could freeze everything.

The moment they approached the River Styx, the air seemed to be sucked away, becoming incredibly cold. A layer of white frost quickly condensed on the skeletons and rubble on the banks, spreading at a visible speed, sealing everything in its path with solid ice.

"Terrible, even my physical body will turn into ice shards when it touches the river water."

Compared to this, the ice of the Ice Spirit Clan is child's play.

Shen Ming's gaze shifted, and on the deathly still water, a small boat floated silently.

The boat is made of a rare sacred wood, which is as black as ink and has a grain pattern that resembles ancient incantations, faintly flowing with a mysterious power.

Just the fact that one can travel on this river of Yin water tells one that it is no ordinary place.

The boat's canopy is woven from a special kind of spiritual silk, which intertwines to create intricate patterns, depicting scenes of life and death, reincarnation, and the liberation of the soul.

Shen Ming was itching with desire; there weren't many treasures that could tempt him.

Most importantly, he now lacks the magical tools for traveling and flying.

He was quite tempted by Princess Fire Phoenix's carriage.

"anyone there?"

Shen Ming looked around, shouted, and after confirming there was no response, carefully put the spirit boat into his storage bag.

Without saying a word, he used his escape technique to leave.

Not long after he left, a chilling figure emerged from the river.

He was tall and hunched over, covered in a tattered black robe, which was covered with the marks of time and mottled marks that were either bloodstains or some other mysterious stains.

He stared in the direction Shen Ming had left, his empty eyes revealing intense resentment and humiliation.

"My ship!"

He was the boatman; that was his boat to the afterlife.

He will send any creature that trespasses into the forbidden zone of life to the underworld, never to return.

But just now, he didn't dare to stand up.

He hated himself for not daring to respond, for not daring to stand up and face this terrifying being.

He didn't understand why such a being would want his rebirth vessel.

Shen Ming arrived at another part of the forbidden zone of life, where he saw a mysterious and dark spirit tree.

Elixir of immortality!

Shen Ming was greatly surprised; this was a treasure second only to the Half-Immortal Medicine.

One elixir of immortality is enough to allow a Supreme Realm cultivator to break through to the Dominator Realm, and it also has miraculous healing effects for those in the Dominator Realm.

One of these trees could cause the five major families of the Central Region to fight each other. This tree is full of them.

"Ahem, is anyone there?"

Shen Ming cleared his throat and spoke again.

He suddenly felt that the forbidden zone of life was not bad at all. Just like in the Burial Sky Sea, there were treasures everywhere, waiting for him to pick them up, and no one was going to take them from him.

"I'll pick it if no one's around."

There was no response, so Shen Ming began picking fruit.

One, two... When he picked the seventh one, he heard a soft murmur.

Shen Ming immediately stopped what he was doing, realizing that he had alerted someone in the shadows. He knew he shouldn't be greedy and should know when to stop.

So he took the elixir of immortality and left.

In the shadows, a dark dragon covered its mouth with its claws, its face filled with lingering fear.

It felt sorry for its elixir of immortality and couldn't help but cry out, attracting the attention of this being.

Thankfully, this being was kind and forgave me, even leaving me half of the elixir of immortality.

……