Noticing the commotion outside, the burly man immediately left the Seamless Gate's envoy to one side and went out to investigate.
As soon as he stepped out of the hall, he saw several Celestial Immortal ghost kings rushing toward him in blind panic.
"Your Majesty, disaster! Disaster!"
One of the ghost kings, clad in black armor, was still shaken and shouting at the top of his lungs.
"Why are you so panicked? Have you no dignity?" Seeing his subordinates in such a state, the burly man looked displeased. "Speak. What happened?"
"Your Majesty, Lord Cui of Fengdu City has brought someone to the mine!" Rebuked by the burly man, the ghost king in black armor immediately reported what he had learned.
"What?!" The burly man's face changed drastically.
This was bad. If Fengdu learned of the Annihilation Dark Gold mine, how could he get even the slightest share of the benefits?
He immediately gave an order: "Muster the troops. We're going to the mine!"
Elsewhere, following the Book of Life and Death's guidance, Zhou Qing and Lord Cui arrived outside the mountain range where Immortal Duohe was.
"Where is this?"
Looking at the mountains shrouded in mist ahead, Zhou Qing could not help asking.
"This should be the Western Ghost Emperor's territory..." Lord Cui said after looking at their surroundings.
"You may not know this, Great Emperor, but the Netherworld is vast and sparsely populated. Our Netherworld Bureau occupies only its finest lands."
"The other desolate and remote places are occupied by powerful fiends and demons. The most famous among them are the Five Ghost Emperors of the Directions: the eastern, western, southern, northern, and central ghost emperors."
Lord Cui had just finished speaking when a burly man led a countless host of ghost soldiers charging out of the mist.
"Cui Jue!" The burly man pointed his longsword at Lord Cui and shouted, "My affairs and your Netherworld Bureau's have always been like well water and river water, never interfering with each other. Why have you come into my territory?"
"How dare you!" Lord Cui came from no ordinary background, so how could he tolerate being scolded by another? He immediately retorted, "Bai Qi, all land under heaven belongs to the king. Vast as the Netherworld is, which inch of it does not belong to our Netherworld Bureau?"
He then explained to Zhou Qing, "Great Emperor, this man is named Bai Qi. He was a mighty general of the human race in ancient times. Later, he slaughtered too many people and was exiled to the Netherworld Bureau by a powerful human."
"Afterward, the ancient world was destroyed. He survived by luck and took up residence in the Netherworld, calling himself the Western Ghost Emperor."
Bai Qi?
Zhou Qing was startled.
Is he that great general Bai Qi from before the Qin dynasty? I never expected someone like him to exist in the world of Desolate Era.
Hearing Lord Cui's words, Bai Qi sneered. "All land under heaven belongs to the king? What a joke!"
"The weak have always been meat for the strong in the Netherworld. Whoever has the bigger fist holds more territory."
"If your Underworld really has that kind of strength, you're welcome to send troops to wipe out demons and monsters like us."
Hearing this, Lord Cui's expression turned cold. "You're just a minor Empyrean God, yet you dare act so brazenly before me."
As he spoke, Lord Cui realized that, after countless years without anyone cleaning up this filth, they had misjudged both his strength and the Underworld's.
Zhou Qing had no interest in watching Lord Cui and Bai Qi argue any further, so he spoke directly. "Bai Qi, one of my people is in your territory. I want you to hand him over at once."
"Who are you?" Bai Qi asked hostilely, looking at the unfamiliar Pure Yang True Immortal beside Lord Cui.
"Listen well, Bai Qi. This is the Great Emperor of Fengdu, Beiyin Xuantian, Subduer of Demons, appointed by the current Celestial Emperor, and True Immortal Taixu, a direct disciple of the Three Pure Ones," Lord Cui immediately declared, identifying Zhou Qing.
At these words, Bai Qi's expression changed, and his eyes filled with wariness.
Clearly, what made him wary was not the divine office of Great Emperor of Fengdu, but Zhou Qing's status as a disciple of the Three Pure Ones.
After a moment, Bai Qi said, "Great Emperor of Fengdu, I don't know where your man is. Please look elsewhere."
They can't accomplish anything, but they're more than capable of ruining things!
After saying this, he could not help cursing the ghost kings who had captured the mine slaves.
They had dared to seize anyone at random and caused him such enormous trouble.
"I'll say it again. Hand my man over." Hearing the concealment in Bai Qi's tone, Zhou Qing's voice turned icy.
"I told you, I don't know..."
Seeing that Bai Qi was still trying to brush him off, Zhou Qing sprang into action at once, attacking with zero startup frames.
"Fine, fine, fine!" Bai Qi burned with anger at the sight.
"Out of respect for Daoist Sanqing, who stands behind you, I've yielded to you again and again. I didn't expect you to take an inch and demand a mile."
"So be it. I'll show you, you greenhorn, what it means to overestimate yourself."
With that, his Xiantian spirit-treasure longsword stabbed out at tremendous speed, empowered by third-level Swordforce.
Facing Bai Qi's attack, Zhou Qing remained calm and neither dodged nor evaded.
A vicious smile spread across Bai Qi's face.
As expected of someone from a Daoist background. He's no good at fighting.
His earlier inspection had shown him that this greenhorn was only a Ki Refining True Immortal. In other words, this sword strike would send that damned Great Emperor of Fengdu to the Yellow Springs.
But he was a disciple of a Daoist Sect leader, after all, so Bai Qi could not kill him.
Thus, Bai Qi decided to give the boy a chance to beg for mercy before his sword struck.
To the side, Lord Cui grew anxious when he saw Zhou Qing neither dodge nor evade Bai Qi's attack.
Why is this True Immortal Taixu so impulsive? Bai Qi is no ordinary Empyrean God or True Immortal!
In ancient times, Bai Qi had won renown among the human race with his third-level Swordforce and the Godslayer Sword technique he had created through ceaseless slaughter.
Although he could not compare to someone like Lü Dongbin, who had mastered fourth-level Primordial Power, his strength was first-rate among Empyrean Gods and True Immortals, enough to make him a top Empyrean God.
Given Bai Qi's strength, Lord Cui truly could not imagine how Zhou Qing, a newly advanced True Immortal, could defeat him.
Therefore, to keep Zhou Qing from falling, Lord Cui had already prepared to draw on his own resources to save him.
Yet Zhou Qing's next display left Lord Cui utterly shocked.
When Bai Qi thrust his way within ten paces of Zhou Qing, he suddenly became stuck as if in glue, unable to advance an inch.
"What is this?" Bai Qi's expression changed abruptly.
Third-level Space Power!
Realizing that his opponent was not as weak as he had imagined, Bai Qi turned serious and retreated several steps.
As he withdrew, the thing that had just blocked his attack beside Zhou Qing revealed its true face.
The six powers of earth, mountains, rivers, fierce winds, lightning, and flames combined in harmony to form an immense world.
At the center of this world, Zhou Qing controlled the Xiantian Supreme Treasure, the Ten Thousand Flowers Precious Lotus, making the world even more stable.
Looking at the majestic world enveloping him, Zhou Qing nodded.
As expected of the sixth level of Dark World. Its power really is extraordinary.
Indeed, after raising his Space Power to the third level beside the Six Paths of Reincarnation, Zhou Qing had naturally gained insight into the sixth level of Dark World as well.
Now, empowered by the six basic materials of a world, he could suppress even someone who had likewise mastered third-level Primordial Power.
At this thought, Zhou Qing looked at Bai Qi nearby.
"You were so arrogant earlier. I wonder if you can still be that defiant under the suppression of my Dark World."
With a thought, he brought the immense Dark World down upon Bai Qi.
"Damn it!"
Feeling the crushing pressure weighing on him, Bai Qi struggled desperately with his Empyrean God body.
Yet under Dark World's suppression, his movements became exceptionally sluggish.
At last, realizing he could not escape Dark World's restraints, a ruthless glint flashed in Bai Qi's eyes.
If I can't break through this world, I'll kill the man controlling it!
With that thought, Bai Qi swung his longsword and unleashed the technique he had kept in reserve.
"Godslayer!"
In an instant, a streak of blood-red sword light tore through Dark World's restraints at incredible speed, heading straight for Zhou Qing behind it.
"Great Emperor, look out!"
Seeing Bai Qi suddenly launch a sneak attack, Lord Cui could not help calling out a warning.
Facing the sword light at close range, Zhou Qing waved a hand and used a finishing move he had created in the past.
Sky Rend Claw!
Seeing this, Lord Cui's heart raced again.
With his discerning eye, he could tell that although Sky Rend Claw was fierce, it absolutely could not block Bai Qi's Godslayer.
Things did indeed turn out as Lord Cui had expected.
Although Zhou Qing had revised and improved Sky Rend Claw several times, making it an Empyrean God and True Immortal-level move, it was still not enough to block Bai Qi's killing move at this moment.
Yet in the next instant, with a boom, the sword light Bai Qi had unleashed actually dispersed beneath a single claw strike from Zhou Qing.
"Impossible!"
Bai Qi stared in disbelief.
His Godslayer had actually been broken by a casual move!
As for this, Zhou Qing could only say that Heartforce's advantage of being hidden had come into play.
Empowered by fourth-level Heartforce, his move just now had reached the pinnacle of Empyrean God and True Immortal power.
Using this move, Zhou Qing was confident he could block not just Bai Qi, but even a full-strength strike from Lü Dongbin.