Meanwhile.

Deep underground in Donghai City, within the Abyss of Mist ruins.

Members of the Evernight Guild were still conducting a heated, carpet-style exploration within that ancient and desolate ruin.

Ever since the projection of Great Sage Li Er descended and forcibly eradicated the gray thick fog that had permeated this world for tens of millions of years with a single Words Become Law, the visibility of the entire ruin had been improved to an unprecedented level.

"Swish——!"

A fierce dark-red blade light flashed, and a huge Level 30 Shadow Leopard was split in half, its foul-smelling blood spilling all over the ground.

An elite member of the Evernight Guild skillfully shook off the blood on the blade, reached out to dig a magic core from the Shadow Leopard's corpse, and then let out a breath, bantering to the companion beside him:

"Damn it, now that the Abyss of Mist suddenly has no mist, I really feel a bit unaccustomed to it."

"Who's saying it isn't!" The companion beside him laughed and chimed in while vigilantly looking at the clearly visible broken walls and ruins around, "This feeling is like being nearsighted and blind for many years, then suddenly wearing 800-degree glasses, instantly able to see every pore of this world clearly. It's bright and clear, but my heart always feels a bit creeped out."

"Hahaha! You two stop acting coy after getting the better end of the deal!"

Walking at the very front of the team, Qin Ming heard the banter coming from behind, turned his head, and cursed with a smile.

Holding the Epic-grade dagger burning with dark-red flames in his hand, he scanned the gradually narrowing passage ahead.

"Stop running your mouths! Everyone pay attention, the huge stone gate is right ahead!"

Qin Ming's voice suddenly rose, and his tone became serious.

"In a moment, once we pass that stone gate, it will be the true ruins imperial palace! The exotic beasts wandering in there generally have a Level above 40! Moreover, there are definitely many calamity-grade bosses lurking inside!"

He looked at the more than one thousand elites behind him and shouted sternly: "Those who don't want to get hurt, those who don't want to die inside, better raise your alertness to the maximum! Grip your new equipment tightly!"

"Yes! Vice Guild Leader!"

Everyone responded in unison, and the originally relaxed atmosphere was swept away.

Mentioning the imperial palace in the ruins, the eyes of many people burst with fanatical brilliance, and they all perked up.

Previously, due to that bizarre mist, their vision was extremely limited, and a slight carelessness would lead to a sneak attack and total wipeout by high-Level exotic beasts, so they didn't dare to go too deep at all, only skimming the outer edges.

Now that the mist had dissipated and the vision was broad, coupled with the top-tier equipment bestowed by the Lord, they actually had the opportunity and confidence to take a good look at what earth-shaking treasures were hidden in this ancient imperial palace! Perhaps the Mortal Demon Source Stone that the Lord specifically named to find was hidden inside!

The team of over a thousand people maintained a tight combat formation, stepping on the gravel all over the ground, slowly approaching the tens-of-meters-high huge black stone gate at the end of the passage.

However, just when the crowd was less than a hundred meters away from the stone gate.

An abnormality suddenly occurred!

"Boom... Boom... Boom..."

Accompanied by teeth-grating metal friction sounds, it suddenly came from inside that closed huge stone gate!

That sound was like some behemoth pacing heavily, and even the ground beneath their feet began to tremble slightly!

Qin Ming, who was walking at the very front, changed his expression.

He raised his left hand clenched into a fist, held it high, and made a tactical gesture to stop moving forward.

"Stop!"

The team of several thousand people stopped in place, pin-drop silent, with only heavy breathing echoing in the passage.

"Vice Guild Leader, what's wrong?" A Cheng beside him tightened his grip on the long saber in his hand, asking in a nervously lowered voice.

Qin Ming stared at the pitch-black stone gate ahead, frowning: "Something's wrong... Why do I hear what sounds like human footsteps inside?"

"Human footsteps? Impossible, right? Besides our people, how could there be human footsteps in these ruins?" A Cheng swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

"No matter what it is, let's figure out the situation first."

Without the slightest hesitation, Qin Ming turned his head to look at the two scouts in the team who had awakened the Shadow Stealth profession, and commanded in a deep voice: "You two, activate Stealth, sneak into the gap of the stone gate and take a look! Remember, no matter what you see, don't alert the other party, and report back immediately!"

"Understood!"

The figures of the two scouts flickered, transforming into two dark shadows. Hugging the gloomy base of the wall, they silently crept toward the huge stone gate.

Time passed minute by minute.

The atmosphere in the team was depressed to the extreme.

In less than two minutes, rapid breathing suddenly came from the darkness ahead.

Immediately afterward, one of the scouts tumbled and crawled out from the shadow of the stone gate!

When he stumbled and ran in front of Qin Ming, everyone could clearly see that this usually bold and meticulous scout had a pale face, and even his lips were trembling!

"What's going on?! What are you panicking about?!" Qin Ming grabbed the scout's collar and sternly interrogated, "What on earth is inside?!"

The scout panted heavily, his voice trembling: "I... I've seen a ghost! Vice Guild Leader, I've really seen a ghost!"

"I... I looked inside through the gap of the door... Inside... inside is definitely not some exotic beast!"

"I seem to... have seen an undead army clad in armor!!!"

As soon as these words came out, the surrounding Evernight Guild members who heard them gasped, their scalps tingling.

An undead army?!

"Are you sure you saw clearly?" Qin Ming frowned.

"I definitely didn't see wrong!" The scout was so anxious he was almost crying, nodding repeatedly, "They are all ghastly white skeletons, wearing rusted ancient armor, holding rusted swords and sabers! The number... the number is too large! A dark mass of them stuffed the entire plaza, at least... at least tens of thousands of people!"

The scout swallowed a mouthful of saliva, pointing in the direction of the stone gate, his voice shrill: "And... and there is blue fire burning in their eyes, walking towards the stone gate here! They are coming out right away!"

An undead army?

Qin Ming's expression sank.

They had explored the ruins of the Abyss of Mist for so long, killing countless bizarre-shaped exotic beasts, but they had never seen the existence of the undead type!

This was clearly the stronghold of powerful exotic beasts, so how could an undead army of such a massive scale suddenly pop up?

Innumerable questions flashed through Qin Ming's mind, but he knew that now was definitely not the time to think about these things.

Listening to the increasingly close and loud heavy footsteps behind the stone gate, Qin Ming clenched his dagger.

Without half a word of nonsense, he decisively turned around and roared loudly at the adjutant behind him:

"Send out the signal immediately! Have people contact the teams of Moli, Chu He, and Mo Hen, tell them to abandon peripheral exploration and close in to support us at full speed!"