"Oh?"

Zhou Huai was somewhat surprised.

He did not expect to make a discovery so quickly.

He immediately controlled Moria and, led by Jasmine, returned to the Secret Realm.

Crossing that ancient stone bridge, he returned to the magnificent ruins of the ancient city.

Sure enough, it was less than five hundred meters away from the Judgment Thunder Pillar.

At the end of the mist.

A huge rock wall appeared before everyone's eyes.

Right in the center of the rock wall, a giant stone door, one hundred meters high and carved with intricate and mysterious patterns, stood quietly.

It seemed to have existed here since ancient times, exuding a desolate and heavy aura.

In front of it, humans were as insignificant as a grain of dust.

Zhou Huai controlled Moria, a trace of irrepressible excitement flashing in those silver eyes.

The secret about the Divine Artifact was likely hidden behind this door!

"Lord, we have tried."

Jasmine stepped forward quickly, a hint of helplessness on her face.

"This door is too heavy, our men cannot push it open."

Zhou Huai nodded, his gaze sweeping across that stone door.

He immediately gave instructions.

"Use chains, pull!"

"Yes!"

Soon, dozens of tough, specially-made chains were firmly fixed to the edges of the stone door.

More than twenty strength-type Classer gritted their teeth, their muscles knotted, veins bulging, using every ounce of strength they had.

However, the stone door still did not budge at all.

"Add more people!"

Jasmine ordered again.

More and more people joined the Levels of pulling the door.

Thirty people.

Forty people.

Finally, when the number of people increased to fifty, the stone door, which had been silent for an unknown number of years, finally let out a dull and long creaking sound.

It shook slightly.

"There is a chance!"

A trace of joy flashed in Jasmine's eyes.

She immediately mobilized more members.

Ultimately, under the concerted efforts of nearly one hundred Classer.

That huge stone door was finally pulled open little by little at an extremely slow speed, revealing a crack.

Zhou Huai waited patiently.

Just as he was preparing to go in and investigate once the stone door was completely opened.

He suddenly frowned.

He suddenly turned his head, his gaze seemingly piercing through layers of thick fog, looking towards the entrance of the Secret Realm.

Qin Ming?

Zhou Huai's soul perception sensed that Qin Ming's soul link was rapidly weakening and moving quickly within the Abyss of Mist.

Shouldn't he be lurking in that underground cave?

How did he run deep into the Secret Realm?

Zhou Huai's heart turned cold.

Something happened!

Could his undercover identity have been exposed?

There was no time to think carefully.

Zhou Huai controlled Moria and left a brief command to Jasmine.

"Keep opening the door, I am going out for a bit."

Before his voice faded, his figure had turned into a pool of flowing ink, silently melting into the shadows of the ground.

...

The Abyss of Mist was shrouded in dense fog.

"Roar!"

Three one-eyed monsters, the size of calves, covered in pitch-black scales, were surrounding a blood-soaked man in a pin-like formation.

That man was Qin Ming.

At this moment, he was in an extremely wretched state.

The clothes on his body had long been stained by blood and mud beyond recognition, and bone-deep wounds covered his entire body.

He knelt on one knee on the ground, supporting his crumbling body with the dagger in his hand, panting heavily.

He stared fixedly at the three Mist One-Eyed Beasts radiating a tyrannical aura before him, his eyes filled with despair.

Each of these monsters was above Level 25.

If it were usual times, he naturally would not fear them.

But along the way, he had gone through several fierce battles.

His stamina and magic power were nearly depleted.

Being able to hold on until now relied entirely on sheer willpower.

"Roar!"

One of the One-Eyed Beasts seemed to have lost its patience, letting out a roar, spreading its thick limbs, and charging fiercely towards Qin Ming.

Inside its bloody maw, sharp fangs flashed with a gruesome cold light under the dim light.

Qin Ming gritted his teeth, squeezing out the very last bit of strength in his body, preparing to make a final desperate struggle.

However, right at this moment.

The shadow beneath his feet suddenly wriggled like a living creature.

The next second, a pitch-black, sinister demon claw exuding an ominous aura protruded without warning from the shadow.

Fast as lightning!

Pfft!

That aggressive One-Eyed Beast could not even let out a mournful cry.

Its huge head was instantly crushed by that demon claw!

Red and white matter splattered everywhere.

Seeing this, the remaining two One-Eyed Beasts instantly filled their huge single eyes with fear.

They let out a wail and turned to run without any hesitation.

However, their movements were still a step too slow.

Two more pitch-black demon claws reached out from the shadows, precisely gripping their hind legs.

With a slight exertion of force.

"Crack!"

Accompanied by two crisp bone-cracking sounds, the bodies of those two One-Eyed Beasts were forcefully torn in half.

The boiling beast blood dyed the ground red.

Qin Ming looked at this bloody and neat scene before him, dumbfounded.

He slowly raised his head.

A slender figure had silently stood before him at some point.

Silver-white long hair, a noble and melancholic temperament.

It was the Lord he thought about day and night.

Qin Ming's hanging heart finally dropped completely.

As his tense nerves relaxed, a strong sense of dizziness instantly flooded his mind.

He could no longer hold on, his vision went black, and he fell forward.

A cold yet powerful hand steadily supported him.

"Subordinate... subordinate Qin Ming pays... pays respects to the Lord."

Qin Ming forced himself to stay up, his voice weak.

Zhou Huai controlled Moria to help him up, his brows tightly furrowed.

"What on earth happened?"

"Why did you rush into the mist of the Secret Realm?"

"Did you not know it is dangerous here?"

"Subordinate... subordinate had no other choice."

Qin Ming leaned against Moria, a gnashing-of-teeth expression on his face.

His voice trembled uncontrollably with anger.

"This morning, after the people from the military escaped from the cave..."

"Those beasts from the Radiant Alliance, to prevent things from coming to light, they... they actually started killing people to silence them!"

"That is over four thousand lives!"

Qin Ming's eye sockets instantly turned red, his voice carrying a heavy cry.

"They did not leave a single living soul! They killed them all! And destroyed the corpses and evidence!"

"With that look of killing without blinking an eye, how could they still be considered human!"

"They are simply a group of devils crawling out of Hell!"

Hearing this, Zhou Huai's heart could not help but twitch violently.

An unspeakable chill rushed straight from the soles of his feet to his crown.

Over four thousand people...

All dead?

He originally just wanted to create an opportunity for Li Gang to escape and let the military intervene.

But he did not expect it to trigger such a tragic chain reaction.

In fact, he should have thought of this long ago.

The Zhou Family has always been a group of cold-blooded beasts who will stop at nothing for profit.

Whether it was his mother who died a tragic death five years ago for a political marriage.

Or the more than four thousand innocent people slaughtered today to cover up their crimes.

In their eyes, anyone who gets in their way can be mercilessly erased.

Even if they are close blood-related relatives.

Qin Ming took a few deep breaths, forcibly calming his emotions, and continued.

"Because I was previously valued by a manager of the Radiant Alliance, I narrowly escaped a disaster."

"That manager told me that everyone from the Radiant Alliance must immediately evacuate the Secret Realm and completely seal its entrance."

"I felt this matter was no trivial thing and must notify you immediately, Lord."

"So I sneaked back into the Secret Realm under the guise of going to the restroom, wanting to find you."

Qin Ming looked at Moria, his eyes filled with fanatical adoration.

"I knew the Lord would definitely be able to find me."

Zhou Huai controlled Moria to gently pat Qin Ming's shoulder.

"You did very well."

"Hard work, this news is indeed very important."

Now, to avoid the military's investigation, the Zhou Family actually voluntarily abandoned these ruins?

Doesn't that mean...

From now on, only his Evernight Guild will be left in this ancient ruin?

Zhou Huai's brain was thinking wildly at this moment.

If that is the case.

Then, telling the military about the location of the Secret Realm... perhaps it can be delayed a bit longer.

Maybe he can find the Divine Artifact existing in this ruin before everyone else.

This point is very important.

What if the Divine Artifact found can be helpful to his current self?