I transmigrated to a chaotic world and became the sole player.

Inside the cave, the stench of blood had not yet dissipated, and the atmosphere was oppressive and tense.

When Chen Bai and the others saw Lu Zhao return, although his face was pale and his breathing was slightly disordered, his eyes were still sharp. Although he had new injuries, they were not seriously hurt, and their hearts were slightly relieved. But when they heard Lu Zhao's order to "pack up immediately and travel through the night" and saw the unusual solemnity on his face, everyone's hearts were raised again.

"Senior, your injury..." Chen Bai asked with concern.

"It's nothing serious, just a superficial wound. I've already taken some medicine." Lu Zhao interrupted him, his voice leaving no room for argument. "That evil cultivator confessed before he died that they are members of the Netherworld Cult and are carrying out a shocking conspiracy in the desolate hills. They might succeed by noon tomorrow at the latest. Our whereabouts have been exposed. We absolutely cannot stay here. We must get away before dawn, the sooner the better!"

The Netherworld Cult! Although Chen Bai and the others were not of high rank, they had vaguely heard of this mysterious and evil demonic sect. Coupled with the terrifying phenomena deep within the desolate hills, everyone's expression changed.

No one dared to delay any longer, and they didn't even care about being tired. They packed their remaining belongings as quickly as possible and helped the injured and the weak up.

Lu Zhao briefly inspected the storage bags of the Yin Skull cultivator and the black-robed man, taking out several bottles of healing and spiritual energy-restoring pills, which he distributed to everyone. He also distributed some easily portable dry rations. He himself swallowed two pills to replenish his qi and blood and stabilize his injuries, forcefully suppressing the swelling pain in his meridians and the burning pain of the wound on his back.

"Walk!"

At a command, this exhausted team, fueled by their will to survive, charged once again into the vast night. This time, Lu Zhao did not choose a roundabout route, but instead, based on a rudimentary map found in the Yin Skull cultivator's storage bag, selected the relatively shortest path that led directly towards "Black Rock City".

The night was as dark as ink, and the mountain path was rugged. Lu Zhao took the lead, his divine sense fully activated, clearing obstacles for the team and avoiding nocturnal monsters. He no longer deliberately concealed his aura; the pressure of a peak Foundation Establishment cultivator subtly emanated, intimidating the low-level monsters along the way and preventing them from approaching. At the same time, he was rapidly calculating in his mind.

"Tomorrow at noon... that's too tight a timeframe. At the team's current speed, even traveling through the night, we definitely won't reach Blackrock City by tomorrow noon. Once that 'Nine Nether Demon Dragon's' fragmented soul truly begins to merge with the demonic body, who knows what kind of upheaval it will cause? An earthquake? An eruption of malevolent energy? Or demons scattering everywhere?"

"The Blood Bone Demon is an external affairs elder of the Netherworld Sect, with a cultivation level of at least the Golden Core stage, and possibly even the late Golden Core stage. With such a figure personally overseeing things, and possessing the remnant soul of the Demonic Dragon, he is far beyond my ability to contend with. The most urgent task is to get this message out as quickly as possible. Black Rock City is the nearest large market town, well-connected, and perhaps we can find a way to contact the Earth Origin Sect or other righteous forces..."

"The Earthly Origin Sect..." Lu Zhao frowned slightly. When he left the Earthly Origin Sect, he was under the pretext of "atoneing for his crimes and investigating the strange movements in the desolate hills." However, not only did the mission fail and his fellow disciples become separated, but he was also drawn into the Netherworld Sect's grand conspiracy. Furthermore, he had a fortuitous encounter and his cultivation greatly improved... How should he explain this when he returns? Will the sect believe him? Will it cause trouble?

But these thoughts only flashed through my mind; escaping was the priority right now.

The group trudged through the darkness, stumbling and struggling. Lu Zhao constantly offered words of encouragement, and used his own dragon energy (especially the gentle dark gold dragon energy) to slightly bail out a few mortals and the seriously injured, keeping them afloat. This gentle yet potent dragon energy had unexpected and miraculous effects on healing and restoring strength, allowing everyone to barely hold on.

As dawn broke in the east, they were already nearly a hundred miles away from the mountain ravine where they had been attacked the previous night. But they were still more than two hundred miles from Black Rock City.

The mountain forest was shrouded in mist at dawn. Lu Zhao stopped and gestured for everyone to rest and eat some dry rations. He himself climbed a high slope and warily looked towards the direction of Dragon Bone Hill.

In the distance, the dark gray vortex of malevolent energy still lingered on the horizon, but seemed even more solidified than the night before, slowly rotating like a giant millstone, stirring up the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. The dark red light at the center of the vortex, stretching to the heavens and earth, had deepened in color, with faint black lightning flashing within it. Even hundreds of miles away, the oppressive, chaotic, and evil aura was still faintly perceptible.

"We have to go faster!" Lu Zhao thought anxiously as he returned to the group and urged everyone to set off again.

By mid-morning, the group was exhausted, with many mortals' feet worn raw and bleeding, sustained only by sheer willpower. The cultivators, including Chen Bai, had also reached their limits, their spiritual energy nearly depleted.

Just as Lu Zhao was considering whether to risk taking a few key figures ahead, the mountain slope suddenly leveled out, and a relatively wide dirt road, worn smooth by countless footsteps, came into view. The road was littered with cart tracks and footprints, clearly indicating frequent use by people and horses.

"Ahead... ahead is Black Wind Pass. After passing Black Wind Pass, walk another thirty miles and you'll reach Black Rock City!" In the group, an old herb gatherer who had been here before said excitedly, panting heavily, pointing to the narrow pass between two black cliffs.

Blackwind Pass! Blackrock City is in sight!

This news acted like a shot in the arm, giving those on the verge of collapse a final burst of strength.

Lu Zhao's spirits lifted. He scanned the Black Wind Pass with his divine sense, confirmed there were no ambushes, and then led his team through quickly.

Passing through the Black Wind Pass, the view suddenly opened up. A relatively flat hilly area appeared ahead, and in the distance, the outline of a city built against the mountain, entirely constructed of black rock, was already faintly visible. That was Blackrock City! The city walls were tall, and figures could be vaguely seen moving about, with faint spiritual light from arrays flickering on the city walls.

"We're here! We've arrived!"

"Blackrock City! It's Blackrock City!"

The survivors erupted in ecstasy at surviving the ordeal, many collapsing to the ground, weeping with joy.

Lu Zhao also breathed a long sigh of relief. Having arrived in Blackrock City, they were at least temporarily safe. The city was protected by array formations and guarded by cultivators; no matter how arrogant the Netherworld Sect was, they wouldn't dare easily attack such an organized gathering of cultivators.

However, just as everyone relaxed and thought they were finally safe—

"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Without warning, the ground beneath their feet suddenly trembled violently, like never before! The tremor was so intense that many people who had just stood up were caught off guard and fell to the ground again.

Everyone looked up in shock, gazing in the direction of Dragonbone Hill.

Hundreds of miles away, in the sky above the core area of ​​the desolate hills, the enormous gray-black vortex of malevolent energy suddenly stopped spinning! Then, to everyone's horror, the center of the vortex abruptly collapsed inward!

Endless dark red blood light and gray-black evil energy seemed to be frantically compressed and condensed by an invisible hand! The sky seemed to be torn apart, revealing a dark and deep void rift behind it, as if it connected to the Netherworld!

An indescribable, distorted shadow, seemingly composed of pure evil and chaos, slowly emerged from the void rift, revealing a terrifying limb covered in grotesque bone spurs and rotting flesh! The projection of this single limb alone exuded a terrifying pressure that changed the very fabric of the world and caused the walls of Blackrock City hundreds of miles away to tremble!

Faintly, a dragon's roar (or rather, the roar of a demonic dragon) that was clearer and more violent than the night before, filled with endless hunger and destructive desire, resounded across hundreds of miles of space!

"roar--!!!"

In the direction of Blackrock City, alarm bells rang continuously, and the spiritual light of the array instantly surged to its maximum! Countless cultivators flew up to the city walls or into the air in panic, looking in horror towards the desolate hill.

Lu Zhao's expression changed drastically, and he looked sharply towards the eastern horizon—the sun had just crossed the zenith.

Noon...it's here!