Apart from the ten thousand soldiers of the King's Battalion, several colossal creatures also followed the Dark Law King and King Qingyu on their journey.

These creatures walked at the very end of the procession, their silhouettes moving against the profound night sky like a series of protruding mountains, accompanied by a thunderous rumble and the constant trembling of the ground.

Their bodies resembled large serpents, yet they had birds' heads and several pairs of claws along their elongated forms. People in the Netherworld called them stone serpent beasts, and the reason they were associated with the word "stone" was that their bodies consisted of countless irregular rocks.

In the ancient tales of the Netherworld, the Twisted Forest in the south used to be a desert of stone. The stone serpent beasts lived within this stone desert. Later on, when the ancient Tree People attacked, a war ensued that lasted for hundreds of years. The Tree People defeated the stone serpent beasts, took over the south, turned the desert into a forest, and the stone serpent beasts were scattered across the Netherworld, either hiding in the ancient wastelands or immortalized as eternal mountains and stones.

Therefore, in the present Netherworld, stone serpent beasts were on the brink of extinction; sighting one was a rare event.

Unexpectedly, tonight, there suddenly appeared more than a dozen stone serpent beasts.

When the Dark Law King and King Qingyu arrived, an eager King Wumeng immediately asked, "Dark Law King, these massive beasts must be the legendary stone serpent beasts, right?"

The Dark Law King nodded and then praised with a smile, "King Wumeng truly has extensive knowledge, even recognizing such rare ancient creatures as the stone serpent beasts."

"On the patterns and ancient texts left by my Crow Tribe ancestors on the stone walls, there was documentation about the stone serpent beasts," King Wumeng explained. "Among these records, most descriptions are of the time when our Crow Tribe people resisted the invasion of the stone serpent beasts, which is why I recognize them."

"Dark Law King, where did you find these big fellows?" asked King Shuanglin.

"Last month, when the Ghost King sent people to search for King Nanlin, they found them in the deep mountains of the southwest region," explained the Dark Law King. "After more than a month of taming, these stone serpent beasts now fully obey us. Their ability to tunnel through the earth and shatter mountains is very strong. With them on our side, not to mention taking down Falling Shade Mountain, destroying half of the Dayang Mountains wouldn't be a problem."

Hearing this, both King Wumeng and King Shuanglin couldn't hide their wild joy and exclaimed, "If that's the case, then that's fantastic!"

"Oh, right," King Wumeng suddenly recalled something. "Earlier, we clashed with Zhao Chong and that woman who inherited the bloodline of the Netherworld Azure Bird. Chen Hao didn't show up, so it seems he's probably not on Falling Shade Mountain."

The Dark Law King sneered with a stern face, "That's truly unfortunate! This means he probably hasn't fully recovered yet. Then, let him live a few more days!"

With that said, the murderous intent in the Dark Law King's eyes deepened.

..

..

Atop Falling Shade Mountain.

After the five major families and their eighty thousand troops converged, Ye Yuqiao, Zhao Chong, and Zhou Ke returned to the top of Falling Shade Mountain.

"Nether King, before leaving the Huiyin Mountains, Chen Hao wanted to join the army on their campaign, but I refused him," Zhou Ke reported respectfully as he followed behind Ye Yuqiao.

"You did well!" Ye Yuqiao said expressionlessly.

As the group approached the tent, Zhou Ke's trusted general, Meng Xuanwu, also rushed up from the foot of the mountain, knelt on one knee, and saluted, "Clan Leader Zhou, Clan Leader Zhao!"

At this moment, Ye Yuqiao still wore a veil on her face, and Meng Xuanwu was not yet aware of her identity as the Nether King.

"Meng Xuanwu, have our soldiers been arranged properly?" Zhou Ke turned and asked Meng Xuanwu.

"To answer Clan Leader, everything has been arranged!"

At that moment, a spark of realization shot through Ye Yuqiao's eyes as she remembered something of great importance. She turned around and asked Meng Xuanwu, "Was it you who took Lin Huashan away back then?"

"Yes!"

"And where is she now?"

"She did not come with us and is still at the severed mountain. I have assigned eight soldiers to guard her," Meng Xuanwu replied in a humble tone. Though he was unaware of Ye Yuqiao's true identity, seeing her walk between Zhao Chong and Zhou Ke, he knew she was no ordinary person.

Ye Yuqiao's brow furrowed slightly, suddenly worried that eight people might not be enough to keep Lin Huashan in check.

"Don't worry, Huashan won't be able to escape," Zhao Chong whispered to Ye Yuqiao at this moment.

Ye Yuqiao nodded and then walked towards the tent.

Inside the tent, the leaders of the three great families – Wang, Wu, and Zheng – had been waiting for quite a while to discuss the next steps with Ye Yuqiao.

Although the allied forces of the five major families and the Ghost King Battalion had already assembled, the majority of both camps' members had just gone through an arduous journey overnight and needed rest and recuperation.

Therefore, the likelihood of the two sides starting a battle within the next day was not high.

In terms of morale, the two sides were evenly matched. Although news that Chen Hao was still alive had spread across the entire Netherworld continent, he did not actually participate in the battle this time, so it did not significantly boost the allied forces' morale. In contrast, the morale of the Ghost King Battalion had increased somewhat due to the addition of the ancient stone serpent beast, making the tough task of breaching Falling Shade Mountain seem easier.

Therefore, the allied forces needed to boost their morale before the two camps clashed officially.

The best way to do this was for Ye Yuqiao to publicly reveal her identity as the Nether King in front of the soldiers. Not only would it significantly boost their morale, but it would also intimidate the Ghost King Battalion with the authority of the Nether King.

After discussing with the leaders of the five families inside the tent, Ye Yuqiao decided to unveil her mask the next evening in front of tens of thousands of soldiers and then to launch a proactive attack on the Ghost King Battalion stationed in the black forest during the night.

..

The night was deep, and all was quiet.

Within Wind Shelter Valley.

Qian Feng sat in his room, waiting for the latest news from the Dayang Mountains to be delivered by the Infinite Bird while contemplating something.

"Could the woman who inherited the Netherworld Azure Bird's bloodline be the same person as Yuqiao?" Qian Feng murmured to himself.

Ever since he received the voice message from Lin Huashan through the Blue Butterfly, he had been pondering this question.

He was one of the few in the Netherworld who knew that Ye Yuqiao possessed a body with three souls; moreover, he was the only person who knew why Ye Yuqiao had a three-soul body.

The reason was that Ye Yuqiao's mother originated from the mortal world, resulting in her child with the Nether King, Ye Yuqiao, possessing an additional soul, the Yang Spirit, compared to others born in the Netherworld.

He also knew Ye Yuqiao was born with a fiery destiny. So, when he learned from Lin Huashan that Zhao Chong was utterly obedient to the woman who inherited the blood of the Netherworld Azure Bird, he suspected that this woman could be the Nether Soul Body of Ye Yuqiao.

"It seems the situation has become quite interesting, and very complicated!" Qian Feng continued talking to himself, "I wonder what choice that young man Chen Hao will make in the future?"

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