However, before the struggle could continue, a bolt of lightning, catching both sides completely by surprise, struck the Water Dragon and the tentacles directly.

"Ngh..."

Zhang Deming let out a muffled grunt. The strike had instantly dissipated more than half of the Water Dragon’s body.

Zhang Deming jerked his head up. He didn’t know when it had happened, but the night sky was now blanketed by dark clouds. Between the intensity of the battle and the darkness of night, he hadn’t noticed at all.

Before Zhang Deming could observe further, another bolt of lightning struck down.

Its immense power alarmed Zhang Deming.

Without hesitation, with a single thought, he dispelled the half-crippled Water Dragon, which collapsed into a pool of clear water on the ground.

The two Summoning orbs of light within him also vanished in an instant.

With the Water Dragon gone, the lightning’s target became much clearer and more concentrated.

"CRACK..."

Another bolt of lightning struck down, charring the already heavily injured tentacles completely black and causing wisps of smoke to rise from them.

"SCREEE..."

The tentacles, which had been silent until now, suddenly reared up toward the sky and let out a piercing cry.

Zhang Deming could hear the fury in its cry.

"CRACK!"

Its response was a bolt of lightning—well, not just one.

As the clouds in the sky finished gathering their power, the lightning strikes were no longer intermittent, but became continuous.

"CRACK... CRACK..."

An endless barrage of lightning hammered down on the tentacles.

After several more strikes, the tentacles were instantly reduced to a charred mass.

Just as its aura was about to be completely extinguished, it suddenly plummeted.

This wasn’t a sign of it regaining its senses; rather, it seemed the tentacles could no longer maintain that state.

As the tentacles’ aura diminished, the clouds in the sky paused for a moment before starting to rapidly dissipate.

’So the lightning really did appear because of the Duality-level aura?’

Watching this change, Zhang Deming became certain of his suspicions.

’No wonder those Duality Elders from the Celestial Spirit Sect didn’t enter. It seems they discovered the restrictions within this Secret Realm.’

’This thunderous punishment, while similar to a Celestial Punishment, isn’t a true Thunder Tribulation. It even feels somewhat like an Array.’

’But its power clearly far exceeds the Duality Cultivation level, which must be why the Celestial Spirit Sect’s Elders didn’t dare to enter.’

Zhang Deming turned his head to look at the charred mass of tentacles.

Spiritual Light flickered in Zhang Deming’s eyes. With a thought, a Jade Vine shot out and broke open the charred tentacles.

Zhang Deming’s Jade Vine pulled out a red, earthworm-shaped object. It was as thick as a forefinger and as long as a chopstick.

Its entire body was covered with countless tiny mouths and dense clusters of eyes.

One end of its body had a single eye, the other a large mouth, and its red torso glittered with metallic flecks.

’What the hell is this thing?’

Zhang Deming’s vast repository of knowledge held not a single shred of information about this thing.

’Logically, a creature capable of controlling a corpse at the Early Stage of Tai Chi and even pushing its power to the Duality Stage should be prominently recorded in the texts of Gu Dao, no matter how bizarre it is.’

’But despite his considerable knowledge of Gu Dao, he couldn’t find any information on it whatsoever.’

’He couldn’t even find any remotely similar records.’

Zhang Deming studied the bizarre creature, using the vine to hold it up in front of him.

"SCREEE..."

It struggled for a moment, letting out a piercing shriek.

As if sensing Zhang Deming’s aura, the end with the mouth abruptly lifted up and spat out a thick, viscous liquid.

The movement was sudden, but Zhang Deming had kept his Spiritual Shield active the entire time.

Thus, the liquid splattered directly against the Spiritual Shield and slid off onto the ground.

The soil it touched immediately underwent a bizarre transformation.

’The liquid this thing spits is even more terrifying than what the larger creature was firing earlier.’

Zhang Deming studied it for another moment, but finding no familiar characteristics, he decided to dissect it.

The tip of the vine began to morph, its point glinting coldly as it stabbed down toward the creature’s body.

The bizarre blood-red worm struggled violently.

The creature, which had seemed so powerful when it was a mass of tentacles, appeared extremely fragile in this state.

At least, it didn’t seem very powerful to Zhang Deming.

Zhang Deming applied more force, and the vine pierced the worm’s outer layer.

Suddenly, Zhang Deming’s expression changed drastically.

The red worm dissolved into a bizarre, cold current that surged into the Jade Vine.

Zhang Deming instantly sensed it—this thing wasn’t a physical entity at all. The worm was merely a physical manifestation.

In a flash, he ended the Growth Technique, and the Jade Vine dissolved into motes of light.

But he was too late. In that single instant, the cold current had already traveled up the flow of Spiritual Power, invading his body and rushing straight into his Dantian.

Zhang Deming’s face twisted in alarm, but before he could react, the editor panel automatically materialized before him.

The bizarre cold current in his Dantian also abruptly disappeared.

Zhang Deming was momentarily stunned. He sensed something within the editor, and with a thought, his consciousness entered the Inventory.

In the boundless Inventory, besides the white and golden orbs of light, a new orb had appeared.

It was blood-red and radiated an ominous aura, seeming to be the complete opposite of the Golden Merit Light Ball.

If the Golden Merit Light Ball represented all that was good, then this red orb represented evil and endless sin.

’What is this?’

’A new type of orb?’

’What is it for?’

Zhang Deming looked doubtfully at the partially formed orb.

Because it was incomplete, Zhang Deming couldn’t glean any information from it.

’Right, there’s another one outside.’

’Wait, no. There should be half of one left!’

He exited the panel, and his consciousness returned to his body.

Glancing at the surrounding trees, which had already recovered, Zhang Deming ignored the pile of char. It was clearly and thoroughly dead.

The previous fight had put some distance between him and Li Shifan. Looking up and extending his senses, he could feel that the battle nearby was still raging fiercely.

Light Wings materialized on Zhang Deming’s back, and he shot off into the distance.

······

In just a few bounds, Zhang Deming arrived at the battle.

The moment he laid eyes on the scene, Zhang Deming could tell that both sides were in the final, desperate stages of the fight.

Li Shifan was on one knee, his face deathly pale. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth as he used his sword to prop himself up, barely staying conscious.

In the sky, a huge scroll was unfurled.

The Li Family Ancestor, Li Cheng, floated before the scroll, his form somewhat illusory. A small, cyan sword bobbed in the air before the space between his eyebrows.

In the distance, all the suckers on the tentacles of the leopard-headed octopus had vanished.

The leopard’s head, however, now had a mouth that had transformed into a giant sucker, spewing out a massive volume of yellow liquid.

A three-foot-long sword, glowing with a brilliant light, pushed through the liquid, slowly piercing its way toward the leopard’s head.

Zhang Deming had arrived at the critical moment of their stalemate.

He looked at Li Shifan’s pale face and Li Cheng’s illusory body.

Zhang Deming immediately opened his mouth and used Oratory—specifically, the phrase that had proven effective before.

"I heard a rumor that... corpses are difficult to control when disturbed by an outside force!"

The struggling leopard head froze. Its aura faltered, the torrent of liquid was cut off instantly, and the tentacles beneath it went slightly limp.

The three-foot sword in the sky shot forward like a meteor, piercing straight through the leopard’s head.

After piercing through, it didn’t stop. It zipped back and forth like lightning, seeming to chase something within the tentacles.

’Oh no! Don’t tell me this Li Cheng guy is a kill-stealer!’

With a thought, Spiritual Light flickered in Zhang Deming’s eyes.

He spotted something unusual among its severed tentacles.

Zhang Deming controlled a vine and had it stab toward the tentacle.

A cold, sinister energy instantly surged toward him.

"Be careful!"

In the sky, Li Cheng’s illusory figure let out a cry of alarm.

Zhang Deming flinched, but then calmly turned his head to look at Li Cheng. "What is it, Senior?" he asked.

His face was a mask of confusion and bewilderment, as if he truly had no idea what was going on.

Li Shifan also looked up, confused. Seeing Li Cheng suddenly staring warily at Zhang Deming, he asked, "Ancestor, what’s wrong?"