Dark Law King and King Shuanglin first arrived at the summit of a mountain on the eastern bank of the midstream area of the Hong River.

Standing atop this mountain, they could overlook the confluence of several rivers in the Hong River region and the directions of the various tributaries.

The two of them looked towards the east, where the three rivers converged on the eastern bank.

There lay the encampment of the Ghost King Battalion stationed in the Hong River basin, a significant river fortress within the Netherworld. On the tumultuous west bank of the river, past a forest, one would enter the western mountain range, and at the heart of the range was Wind Shelter Valley.

At this moment, within the camp, the traces of a recent savage battle were evident: fires dotted the landscape, smoke billowed from all corners, the bodies of soldiers were piled into mounds, and blood had formed rivers, flowing directly into the waters where the three rivers met, staining the river waters red. Then, along with the flow of the river, it branched northward, eventually spreading to various places throughout the Netherworld.

It could be said that, at this time, what Dark Law King and King Shuanglin saw below was a blood-red river.

"Truly a sight for sore eyes!" exclaimed Dark Law King, his eyes wide open, "I never thought my more than thirty thousand Ghost King troops would be annihilated just like that."

After speaking, Dark Law King turned his head to look at the forest behind him. Vaguely, he seemed to see the silhouette of the western mountain range. Although he couldn't make out the scene there at the moment, he could imagine that the people from Qian Mansion and Li Mansion were busy setting up camp in Wind Shelter Valley, and were probably gloating about their recent slaughter of the thirty thousand soldiers guarding the Hong River basin, and then celebrating grandly.

Thinking of this, he became suddenly furious, wishing he could lead a hundred thousand Ghost King troops to attack right away and skin Qian Feng and Li Zuole alive.

However, his reason was telling him: he must stay calm.

Years ago, Qian Feng, with fewer than ten thousand troops, not only held Wind Shelter Valley steadfastly against the ferocious onslaught of thirty thousand main Ghost King forces but also used ambush tactics to retaliate and kill more than twenty thousand Ghost King soldiers.

Now, Dark Law King estimated that the combined forces of Qian Mansion and Li Mansion were at least sixty thousand or more. To breach their defenses, he would need to bring several hundred thousand soldiers, almost equivalent to the majority of the military strength under the Ghost King's name.

This was nearly an impossible task. On one hand, he needed to deploy soldiers across the Netherworld to prevent other clans from rebelling; on the other hand, he did not control all the military camps under the Ghost King's name and could not dispatch them at will.

"Dark Law King, what should we do next?" asked King Shuanglin, his tone very calm. In the past, he would have been impetuous and erupted in a thunderous rage, but now he was very composed. To be precise, he was somewhat afraid; he was well aware that being impulsive would not only accomplish nothing but might also be detrimental to him.

After a long while, Dark Law King shook his head helplessly, lamenting, "I won't hide it from you, I don't know what to do either. The only method I can think of right now is to call back the Ghost King. Sigh, ever since that young lad Chen Hao showed up, it feels like every step we take is being led by someone else, as if all our actions have long been calculated by others. It seems we are still rather naive compared to those cunning clan leaders."

Hearing Dark Law King's words, King Shuanglin felt quite discontented, thinking Dark Law King was bolstering someone else's morale while dampening his own prestige. He glared at Dark Law King, wanting to retort but finding himself unable to do so. He realized that every word Dark Law King spoke was heartfelt truth and absolutely correct. Indeed, in terms of intrigue and secret conflicts, they were outclassed by Qian Feng by several levels.

Until today, they had not been able to find out who was the person behind Chen Hao. Meanwhile, the Eight Great Clans took advantage of the opportunity created by Chen Hao's sudden emergence to secretly arrange everything. This might just be the gap between them, the Dharma Kings, and the clan leaders of the Eight Great Clans.

"So, what exactly should we do next?" King Shuanglin asked again.

"Since Qian Feng and his people have hidden themselves in Wind Shelter Valley, it seems they have no immediate plans to confront us directly," mused Dark Law King, speaking very cautiously, "All we need to do now is to keep a close watch on the remaining five great clans, especially Zhao Chong of the Zhao Family. This man is very enigmatic; he just went up to the city wall to stop us from killing Chen Hao. Perhaps he knew about Chen Hao's arrival to the Netherworld, or possibly he knew Qian Mansion and Li Mansion planned to take advantage of the chaos to leave Netherworld City, and wanted to hold me back to prevent the people from Qian Mansion and Li Mansion from leaving."

..

Meanwhile, Zhao Chong was taking advantage of the chaos to descend to the Eighteenth Level of Hell.

He was seeking the woman in the Purgatory Fire Pool.

When he arrived at the edge of the Purgatory Fire Pool, he coughed.

It did not take long before the woman emerged from the fire pool, whose heat was intense to the extreme. She was healing, using the fire from the Purgatory Fire Pool to treat her body, which harbored the flame of the Netherworld Azure Bird.

"You look awful," Zhao Chong's brow furrowed, "are you injured?"

"Yes!" the woman replied, "I burned myself!"

"What about Chen Hao?"

The woman fell silent, hesitating whether to tell Zhao Chong about the man in black. Ultimately, she chose to honor the promise of secrecy she had made with the man in black. "He should be fine, he's probably already returned to the mortal world by now."

"Should?" Zhao Chong frowned, finding the word rather intriguing.

Anxious to avoid further questioning from Zhao Chong, the woman swiftly changed the subject, "You must have other urgent matters then, to come looking for me at this time."

"My main reason for coming to you now is concern," Zhao Chong said earnestly, "but indeed, I have other urgent matters to tell you about."

"What is it?"

"Qian Feng and Li Zuole left Netherworld City with their people today, fleeing to Wind Shelter Valley, just as the Dark Law King and King Shuanglin rushed to kill Chen Hao."

The woman was very surprised.

"Does this mean Qian Feng knew in advance that King Nanlin was going to capture Chen Hao and bring him to the Netherworld?"

Zhao Chong nodded, "It's very likely he informed King Nanlin of Chen Hao's whereabouts."

The woman's brow furrowed deeply, her eyes filled with a myriad of doubts and astonishments.

"If what you say is true, then Qian Feng knows about the Nether King's Heart in Chen Hao's left eye, as well as King Nanlin's identity and his desire to obtain the Nether King's Heart."

"That's probably the case!"

"It seems he knows everything, then stood by silently, watching the fire from across the shore, poised to gain from the fisherman's benefit. Truly cunning and crafty!"

"There is one thing he probably doesn't know," Zhao Chong said calmly, unaffected by everything Qian Feng had done, "He might not know of your existence. Now, it's our turn to watch the fire from across the shore, and see how he contends with the Ghost King."

"Yes!" the woman nodded, "You're going to the mortal world to find her, aren't you? To tell her about this matter."

The 'her' in the woman's words referred to Ye Yuqiao.

"Actually, you want me to check if Chen Hao is still alive. If he's dead, I'll come back to inform you of it."

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