Upon entering the hole, everything before him turned dim.

Through the haze, Chen Hao seemed to see a door amidst it all.

In the blink of an eye, a warm and moist sensation hit him, and he immediately realized he was at the bottom of the hot spring pool. He looked down just in time to see the sealing door slowly closing.

"Yuqiao, we're back in the Netherworld!" Chen Hao sent a silent message to Ye Yuqiao.

But just then, a purple light flashed across Chen Hao's left eye, revealing the replicated rune Ye Yuqiao had left there. As the light faded, Chen Hao felt a wave of dizziness and passed out.

It was Ye Yuqiao who had knocked him out by stimulating the seal. Unaware of what had happened, Lin Huashan and Yi Ning let go of Chen Hao's hand and swam towards the surface.

As their heads emerged from the steaming waters of the pool, both had already fainted, similarly stunned by Ye Yuqiao using the Nether King's Power.

Below them, Ye Yuqiao was holding Chen Hao's waist with one hand and slowly swimming upwards.

She placed both hands on Chen Hao's face, closed her eyes, and kissed the unconscious Chen Hao, not surfacing until their heads broke through the water.

She was bidding farewell with a kiss. She didn't know when she would see Chen Hao again, but she had a strong premonition that Chen Hao wouldn't make her wait too long.

"Chen Hao, your Yuqiao is waiting for you, waiting for you to bring her home!" Ye Yuqiao said with a tone brimming with sadness.

At that moment, sensing the Yang Energy and Spiritual Power emanating from Chen Hao, Ye Yuqiao's Nether Soul Body and Zhao Chong rushed to the edge of the pool.

Seeing that Chen Hao and the two beside him had all fainted, Ye Yuqiao's Nether Soul Body heaved a sigh of relief; meanwhile, Zhao Chong's expression turned exceedingly ugly, his eyes filled with shame towards Ye Yuqiao's Yang Soul.

Originally, between Ye Yuqiao's Yang Soul and her Nether Soul Body, he chose her Nether Soul Body and betrayed Ye Yuqiao's Yang Spirit.

"You did enter the Demon-Sealing Door!" Ye Yuqiao's Nether Soul Body said coldly.

"Inside the Demon-Sealing Door is the Dust Realm, it was the former Dust King who put me inside a few days ago!" Ye Yuqiao's Yang Spirit explained. At first, she thought the Dust King Chen Ji had allowed her in because he was moved by her feelings for Chen Hao; later, she realized that Chen Ji was just using her to increase the difficulty of Chen Hao's test.

Chen Ji wanted to know if Chen Hao would entertain the thought of exterminating the Dust Clan to save his own life for the sake of his loved one.

"So, it was the Dust King who let you out then?" Ye Yuqiao's Nether Soul Body asked again.

Ye Yuqiao's Yang Spirit didn't answer, but instead pushed Chen Hao toward the shore.

Her Nether Soul Body instantly came forward, bear-hugged Chen Hao from behind and dragged him onto the land, then released him and buried her head in Chen Hao's chest, sobbing openly, unconcerned that her clothes were getting wet from the water on Chen Hao's body.

"Chen Hao, thank goodness, you're finally back by my side!"

Even though she looked exactly like herself, upon seeing this, Ye Yuqiao's Yang Spirit still felt a tinge of jealousy and couldn't help but worry that one day Chen Hao might fully accept her Nether Soul Body and forget her forever in the fiery pit.

After a moment of shock, Ye Yuqiao then pushed the unconscious Lin Huashan and Yi Ning toward the edge of the pool. Zhao Chong then approached to pull them onto the shore.

Ye Yuqiao's Yang Spirit glared at Zhao Chong with wide eyes.

After making eye contact with Ye Yuqiao's Yang Spirit, Zhao Chong's face became even more mortified, feeling too ashamed to face Ye Yuqiao's Yang Spirit.

"Sorry!" Zhao Chong said in a low voice, then turned his back and, with one hand on each, dragged both Lin Huashan and Yi Ning onto the shore.

"I will never forgive you!" Ye Yuqiao's Yang Spirit said to Zhao Chong's receding back. She had always believed that Zhao Chong, apart from Chen Hao, was the most trustworthy person. However, Zhao Chong had betrayed her!

Zhao Chong paused for a moment, then continued to walk forward. Although he appeared nonchalant on the surface, his heart was experiencing the pain of a knife being twisted repeatedly inside.

Ye Yuqiao's Yang Spirit, in temperament, was closer to Nether King Yuqiao with whom he had grown up since childhood.

When Ye Yuqiao's Yang Spirit came ashore, her Nether Soul Body also just left Chen Hao's chest. After wiping away the hot tears on her face, she asked, "What exactly did you go through in the Dust Realm?"

Ye Yuqiao's Yang Spirit did not answer, but instead knelt beside Chen Hao, forcing the unconscious Chen Hao's mind to recall their experiences in the Dust Realm using the Nether King's Heart.

Her Nether Soul Body immediately closed her eyes, perceiving the scenes that appeared in Chen Hao's mind through the Nether King's Heart.

A quarter of an hour later, she opened her eyes, and tears once again flowed from her eyes.

The reason she cried was first due to the life-and-death ordeal Chen Hao had faced in the Dust Realm and second because the bond between Chen Hao and her Yang Spirit had deepened, and Chen Hao had begun to realize that she was not the same as her Yang Spirit.

She was envious and frustrated, thinking that it would have been better if she had been the one to enter the Dust Realm.

"Alright, according to our previous oath, it's time for you to go back!"

Ye Yuqiao's Yang Spirit nodded slightly, her gaze on Chen Hao full of reluctance. She lowered her head and left a light kiss on Chen Hao's face.

Seeing this, Ye Yuqiao's Nether Soul Body felt a bitter taste in her heart! Like her Yang Spirit, she did not want the person, who looked exactly like her, to have intimate gestures with Chen Hao. She immediately flung her hand and summoned a fiery pit on the ground, urging, "Get in now!"

After some delay, Ye Yuqiao's Yang Spirit finally got up. Before entering the fiery pit, she did not forget to glare at Zhao Chong.

She knew that Zhao Chong would feel guilty and blame himself, which is why she did this to get back at him.

When the fiery pit retracted, Ye Yuqiao's Nether Soul Body looked toward Zhao Chong, then walked up to him, took his hand, and said softly, "In this world, there's a Yuqiao who hates you, but there's also a Yuqiao full of gratitude for you. To her, you are the most trustworthy and dependable companion she could ever have."

Zhao Chong took a deep breath and then nodded slightly. The warmth from Ye Yuqiao's palm eased the pain and self-reproach in his heart.

"Your words are enough for me!"

..

..

Approaching noon.

Netherworld City, East Court.

The Ghost King was sitting on a couch in his room, resting with his eyes closed. Although the current state of war was tense, he wasn't the least bit panicked. What interested him more were the other three Demon-Sealing Scrolls in the hands of the Clan Leaders of the Zhao, Qian, and Li families.

Just then, a soldier rushed into the courtyard and came to the door, reporting, "Ghost King, urgent news from the east! The allied forces of the Qian and Li families are attacking our camp at the western bank of the Hong River."

"Is Qian Feng planning to attack the camp to force the hundred thousand troops in the north to retreat?" the Ghost King said, "A mere seventy thousand troops think they can force me to fall back? Don't forget, I have a hundred thousand troops of my own! No, wait."

The Ghost King suddenly realized something was amiss...

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