Underground Secret Cave

Of the three methods to break the seal, Qi Bei didn't even need to think; the third one was definitely the best.

However, what could he use to devour this entire dark soul restriction?

But he soon understood!

The answer was this mysterious black longsword. The emotions it transmitted into his mind were filled with longing, excitement, and pleading. It was hard to imagine a sword having emotions similar to humans.

The black longsword slid out from his sleeve, almost dragging Qi Bei towards the invisible dark soul restriction.

The moment the sword tip touched the dark soul restriction, Qi Bei's body trembled, and the invisible dark soul restriction suddenly became tangible in his eyes.

The intricate magic lines, the mysterious magic runes, and the thirty distorted souls were all clearly visible.

Suddenly, all of it began to shrink infinitely, being completely absorbed into the black longsword.

Marquis Lanling's courtyard was empty, as silent as a graveyard.

Qi Bei reached the door of Marquis Lanling's bedroom and still didn't sense any movement. He gently pushed the door, and it actually opened.

Only a pink magic lamp remained in the bedroom. Marquis Lanling was not inside.

"Tsk tsk, so intense and decadent! What an amazing hobby." Qi Bei muttered to himself, looking at the hood, whip, and chains hanging from the beams of the pink, oversized bed.

Marquis Lanling was not here, but there was definitely a secret in this room, otherwise, he wouldn't have set up this dark soul restriction to protect it.

Qi Bei began to search the room meticulously for clues. At this moment, his gaze fell upon the bookshelf at the very back.

On the bookshelf was an inlaid jade ornament. It looked smooth, as if it had been frequently touched.

Qi Bei stepped forward, placed his large hand on the jade, and twisted it forcefully.

The massive bookshelf slid open. Qi Bei's eyes lit up, but then his expression turned to shock.

Inside the long hidden cabinet embedded within the bookshelf, more than a dozen ** strong men were lined up like puppets.

The black longsword in Qi Bei's hand reacted again.

"Puppets, refined from ** after soul extraction using the Puppet Technique. Controlled by the caster, they become walking dead. There is no method of breaking them, only complete destruction."

At this moment, Qi Bei noticed friction marks on the side of the inlaid hidden cabinet, indicating that there was another mechanism behind it.

Qi Bei knocked on it and found it was hollow behind. He pushed forward forcefully, but it wouldn't budge!

After checking inch by inch, Qi Bei discovered a magic mechanism at the feet of one of the puppets. However, this type of magic mechanism required a magic key to open.

At this moment, a strong sense of curiosity had already arisen in Qi Bei's heart.

Since there was no magic key, he decided to take the most primitive approach.

Qi Bei knew that the materials used for this entrance were quite special and unlikely to be broken by Battle Qi. He directly lifted the floor tiles several meters away and began to dig.

His Battle Qi condensed into a sharp cone, like a drill, sending mud and stones flying.

After a while, Qi Bei's black longsword struck empty air. A hole appeared in front of him, with faint, dim magic light emanating from within.

Success!

Qi Bei rejoiced in his heart, cautiously poked his head out, and discovered that this hole was actually a passage. Steps were carved all the way down, leading to an unknown depth. Every so often, a dim magic lamp hung on the cave wall.

Qi Bei climbed in and cautiously walked towards the depths, fully on guard.

After walking for nearly a thousand steps, Qi Bei's body suddenly stopped, his pupils constricting to the size of pinpricks.

At the end of the steps, hundreds and thousands of skulls were strung together, hanging on both sides. The eye sockets of these skulls flickered with a faint green light, making one's heart palpitate.

Moreover, Qi Bei noticed that judging by the shape of the skulls, they were clearly the heads of children between seven and eight years old.

Waves of cold air rose from the bottom of his heart, followed by overwhelming rage. Humans have their way, Heaven has its Dao. This was simply too horrific to bear.

Qi Bei's face darkened as he walked down step by step.

Passing through the passage formed by the strung-together skulls, a door burning with a pale white flame appeared before him.

Fire usually gave a feeling of heat and warmth, but this pale white flame could chill one to the bone.

Qi Bei circulated the golden inner force in his Dantian throughout his body, finally dispelling the cold that seemed to penetrate his soul.

Enter or not enter?

Qi Bei stopped in front of the pale white flame door. After thinking for a moment, he decided to enter. He had come this far, and retreating now was meaningless. Besides, he had already forcefully entered this place, which was equivalent to alerting the enemy.

With his inner force bolstering him, Qi Bei rushed in like lightning, the black longsword in hand, ready to attack and defend.

As soon as he rushed in, Qi Bei was stunned. It was an underground secret chamber built with black crystals. On the innermost wall of the chamber, a thin old man with disheveled hair and a white beard was chained with cold iron chains. The hooks of the chains pierced through his shoulder blades, wrists, and ankles.

"Who are you? Did that beast Cassif send you?" The old man's weak gaze swept over Qi Bei, then he closed his eyes and said in a hoarse voice.

Cassif? That seemed to be Marquis Lanling's name.

Qi Bei didn't answer his question but instead asked, "Who are you? Why are you imprisoned here by Marquis Lanling?"

"Tell that beast who betrayed his master and abandoned his teachings that the item is already destroyed. Let him stop wasting his efforts." The old man kept his eyes closed and didn't look at Qi Bei again.

Qi Bei inferred two meanings from this sentence: this old man was likely Marquis Lanling's master, and Marquis Lanling wanted to obtain something from him.

"I am not one of Marquis Lanling's people. I am his enemy. I just stumbled into this place by accident..." Qi Bei said.

The old man remained silent, a hint of mocking laughter playing on his lips. Clearly, he didn't trust Qi Bei at all.

Qi Bei was silent for a moment, then spoke again, "I am from the Nord Family."

At this, the old man opened his eyes and looked at Qi Bei's left hand. On his middle finger, he saw the family ring unique to direct descendants of the Nord Family.

"When you entered, were there strings of skulls hanging outside? Were the eye sockets of those skulls emitting green light?" the old man asked.

"That's right," Qi Bei nodded.

"Leave quickly. That evil fellow is currently healing, which is why you were able to enter so easily. Once he wakes up, you will surely die," the old man said urgently.

Someone is still guarding this place? Qi Bei was taken aback.

"Heh heh heh... Since you've come, do you think you can leave? This venerable one is coincidentally in need of souls and vital blood." Just then, a mass of black smoke surged from the entrance of the secret chamber, and an old man as thin as a dried corpse appeared.

This old man had dark green pupils and held a black scepter, the top of which was inlaid with a small skull. His entire being exuded a chilling aura of death.

Qi Bei's heart clenched, and the hairs on his body stood on end. He even found it difficult to breathe, as if an ant were facing an elephant; if the other party willed it, they could crush him in minutes.