On the ground, those who could stand in front of this group of experienced cultivators were all Spirit Repository Sword Holders. As middle-ranking members of the Sword Pavilion, they were the leaders of various squads during the war.
Each one of them, after countless battles, was an extraordinary individual. Even if they were later dispersed into other squads, they quickly gained recognition through their determination to kill and their bravery.
After going through so much, there were many who recognized them, but those whom they acknowledged were few.
Not only did they need to be their own people, but they also needed to have significant achievements and a respected identity to earn their admiration.
Xu Qing had the achievements and Kong Xianglong had the identity.
This was also the reason why these Sword Holders tacitly agreed to them standing in the front.
Now that they were here, Xu Qing, Kong Xianglong, and the surrounding comrades looked at each other in silence. Their gazes then landed on the deep pit in front of them.
The deep pit was pitch-black and bottomless.
The anomalous substances here were clearly even denser. However, when they got close to Xu Qing, Xu Qing instinctively felt a sense of comfort, as though he could absorb them.
Xu Qing's eyes narrowed. He knew that his body had been modified by the god's finger but now wasn't the time to explore. There were many experts here and he didn't want to be exposed.
Hence, he didn't absorb it and even spread out the power of the Heavenly Palaces, forming an isolating barrier.
The cries and wails were even more intense here. As they impacted his mind, scattered Sword Holders arrived one after another.
Qing Qiu and Ning Yan were among them.
As well as the captain.
However, the veteran Sword Holders didn't make way for them. Qing Qiu and Ning Yan could only stand outside. However, the captain didn't care about it, and walked forward while greeting the Sword Holders.
Those expressionless cultivators who had been through a hundred battles found it difficult to maintain their expressions when it came to the captain. They all smiled bitterly.
They had a deep impression of Chen Erniu.
In the past few months at the front line, Chen Erniu's reputation wasn't small. After all, he liked to make friends. Almost everyone who survived had seen him.
Particularly notable was his role in retrieving the bodies of fallen comrades during lulls in the fighting, and he even saved some severely injured and unconscious soldiers, bringing them back to safety.
"Brother, move aside. I want to go over."
"Haha, Old Cao, don't think that just because your cultivation is high, you can stop me from going over. At that time, I was the one who dragged you out of the pile of corpses. Have you forgotten that I was the one who stuffed your intestines back for you?"
"Little Li, your arm is growing a little slowly. I'll get you some medicine later. I have experience."
The captain's journey was smooth and he successfully cleared a path through the crowd. He walked to Xu Qing and Kong Xianglong's side and greeted the other Spirit Repository Sword Holders with great familiarity.
Those Spirit Repository Sword Holders had strange expressions on their faces when they saw their captain. Some of them had also been carried out by Chen Erniu, and almost all of them had eaten the meat Chen Erniu had given them.
Kong Xianglong rolled his eyes. Although his impression of Chen Erniu had changed after the war, his inherent impression of him still made him dislike him a little.
The captain didn't care about it at all. After he greeted everyone, he put his hand around Kong Xianglong's shoulder. While Kong Xianglong was trying his best not to shake him off, the captain chuckled.
"Old Kong, what kind of expression is that? Why are you so impatient when you see me? Don't forget that I was the one who carried Shan He back!"
Kong Xianglong fell silent.
When the captain saw this, he felt smug inwardly. He then hugged Xu Qing and winked before transmitting his voice.
'Have you seen the old man? I haven't seen him these few days. He can't have escaped, right? We lied to him, so he also wants to deceive us?'
After transmitting his voice, the captain even looked around, searching for his master.
Xu Qing was also surprised. On the way here, he had also secretly checked the surroundings but couldn't find any traces of his master.
Just as the small army formed by all the veteran Sword Holders experienced some emotional fluctuations because of the captain's arrival, the Seventh Prince and the higher-ups of the county descended from the sky.
The yellow-robed Seventh Prince had long flowing hair and an extraordinary appearance. His eyes were slender and ethereal, and he emitted a noble aura that manifested an illusory dragon. Beside him were the Deputy Governor, the generals of the three palaces, the Deputy Palace Masters, many generals, and commanders.
Among them, there was a person dressed in blood-red armor and wearing a grim-looking helmet that obscured his face, revealing only a pair of cold eyes. He stood there, emanating a strong aura of bloodthirst.
The arrival of this group of people caused the surroundings to freeze. Even the anomalous substances from the deep pit of the Prison Department were suppressed and the roars coming from them paused.
As all eyes were fixed on him, the Seventh Prince cast his gaze upon the land.
The Sword Holders of Fenghai County weren't the only ones surrounding the deep pit. There were also the soldiers of the Imperial City and the cultivators of the other two palaces.
They were all the first batch of people to enter.
As his gaze swept over, the Seventh Prince calmly spoke.
"The Immortal Forbidden concerns the human race's war, and is of great significance."
"You are the first group to enter and are also the elites of my race. Now, I order you to open a path in four days to eliminate the evil demons and provide conditions for the second group to enter."
"When the second group arrives, you can retreat and return."
"This is your mission."
"General Blood Nightmare."
The Seventh Prince's voice reverberated through the area. The figure in blood-colored armor stepped forward and knelt in front of the Seventh Prince.
"I'm here!"
The Seventh Prince took out the ceremonial sword and handed it to the kneeling Blood Nightmare.
"I wish you victory."
"Thank you, Your Highness!" Blood Nightmare said solemnly. He received the sword with both hands and stood up. He looked at the ground and his voice spread like a cold wind.
"Immortal Forbidden, open!"
Following his voice, a huge boom rang out from the bottom of the deep pit.
Due to the astonishing depth, the sound echoed endlessly and fluctuations spread in all directions.
The entire ground was quaking. In fact, many mountains in the distance began to collapse because of the fluctuations.
Cracks appeared across the vast land spanning tens of thousands of kilometers. Rising from these cracks were billows of green smoke, shrouding the sky and obscuring the sun and moon. The world plunged into darkness and gloom.
The source of all this was the deep pit. It was as though the gates of hell had been opened and the anomalous substances were released unprecedentedly intensely. They soared into the sky and churned densely.
Although there were array formations that had been prepared in advance that were constantly circulating and purifying the surroundings, it was still difficult to disperse the anomalous substances that had accumulated for endless years.
However, since the Seventh Prince had proposed to open the Immortal Forbidden, he was naturally prepared. Soon, a large number of soldiers arrived, each one carrying several fist-sized cages.
After opening the cages, numerous figures bound by chains instantly flew out.
They were all prisoners of war from the Holy Wave Race.
They had clearly been planted with some special items. After they appeared, their expressions were filled with horror as they were thrown into the anomalous substances. Their bodies seemed to have transformed into black holes as they began to crazily absorb the anomalous substances.
In the blink of an eye, many of these Holy Wave Race cultivators let out extremely mournful cries.
Due to the special item planted in their bodies, they didn't collapse. Instead, they became mutated beasts with no intelligence. After that, the imperial capital's cultivators pulled them back, sealing them in the cages again.
One batch after another.
This scene caused the hearts of many people in the surroundings to tremble intensely.
The Seventh Prince was expressionless as he watched all of this. This lasted until more than 2 million prisoners of war were thrown into the anomalous substances. After all of them transformed into mutated beasts, 80 to 90% of the anomalous substances emitted from the deep pit finally dissipated.
"Send these two million mutated soldiers to the battlefield and Toss them to the front line of the Holy Wave Race as a small gift."
"Continue bringing the remaining prisoners of war here every day and let them absorb the anomalous substances."
"We have to ensure that the anomalous substances here won't affect Fenghai County."
The Seventh Prince calmly spoke. After he finished speaking, he turned and looked at the people behind him.
"So, is this acceptable?"
The Deputy Governor remained silent. The Deputy Palace Masters of the three palaces and others lowered their heads in tacit agreement.
At this moment, the various races in the surroundings were trembling with fear.
"Then, the first batch of people can enter." After the Seventh Prince finished speaking, he turned and left amidst the respectful farewells of everyone around him.
The Deputy Governor and the generals of the three palaces stood in the sky and didn't follow. They were in charge of the safety and support of the outside world.
As for the person in charge of this first trip, it was General Blood Nightmare. Under his arrangements, the first group of people started moving toward the deep pit.
Other than the Sword Holders on the ground, there were four deacons of the Sword Holding Palace who entered the deep pit.
Among these four, other than Daoist Sima and Deacon Sun, the other two were Sword Holders under the command of the Seventh Prince, and they were at the second stage of Nihility.
There were also the Law Palace and the Observance Palace cultivators who were led by their respective deacons.
As they flew toward the deep pit, under various orders, the cultivators on the ground, including the soldiers of the Imperial City, began to enter the Immortal Forbidden one after another.
The Sword Holding Palace army that Xu Qing was in also started moving.
Very soon, hundreds of thousands of human cultivators stepped into the deep pit. When General Blood Nightmare also disappeared in the deep pit, soldiers from the Imperial City activated countless array formations around the pit.
Layers of envelopment made this place impregnable.
In the deep pit, the figures of cultivators whistled forward in groups.
The vanguard at the front was in charge of scouting. Once a certain area was deemed safe by them, the rear forces would arrive in an orderly manner.
The deeper they went, the heavier the cold air and the denser the anomalous substances.
After a while, they finally reached the bottom, and there, Xu Qing saw a massive stone cone formation emitting an ancient aura.
Huge stone pillars engraved with complicated runes stood here. Each of them was the core of the array formation.
The center of the formation had collapsed, and in the midst of numerous scattered rocks at the edges, there was an irregular large cavity.
Following the cavity, one could see the existence of a world below.
That place was the Immortal Forbidden and also one of the 36 palaces of the Ancient Sovereign Mystic Nether.
It was originally not underground, but due to the changes in the Earth's crust and the seal imposed by the ancient humans, it ended up being buried in the abyss.
As Xu Qing's gaze swept across the area, the captain beside him was also observing. At that moment, more people arrived, including Qing Qiu and Ning Yan.
Noticing Ning Yan, the captain was delighted and rushed over, embracing Ning Yan by the neck and pulling him towards Xu Qing. His eyes sparkled, but he tried to put on a sincere expression.
"Little Ningning, I've missed you so much. Did you miss me?"
Ning Yan glanced at the captain with a spurious smile as he slowly spoke.
"I don't miss you."
At the same time, in a residence in the capital city, Ning Yan opened his eyes in a daze. His eyes were a little dazed. After looking around, his eyes suddenly widened and he rushed out.
After using his fastest speed to reach the edge of the city, he looked down and discovered that the array formation was filled with people. He instantly wailed inwardly.
"It's over. How could I have fallen asleep? This can't be."
"I also want to go to the Immortal Forbidden. This, this, this… What should I do?"
With a mournful face, Ning Yan quickly glanced around and hurried back, afraid of being caught in the act of desertion. However, on his way back, Ning Yan gradually discovered something terrifying.
That was… he seemed to have lost his identity, name, and traces of his existence.
This sounded mysterious. To put it simply, those who were originally familiar with him forgot his name and identity when they saw him and treated him as a stranger.
It was as though his identity and name had been taken away.
"Divine technique!!"
This realization made Ning Yan shudder. There was a faint voice in his mind telling him to find a place to hide, and that in a few days, everything would naturally return to normal.
