Soon after, they arrived at the easternmost part of the Ten Thousand Demon City, finding a pitch-black palace about seventy meters tall amidst a cluster of dark buildings.
This was the Demon King's Palace.
"Who are you? This is a crucial area of the Ten Thousand Demon City. Human cultivators are not allowed here. Leave immediately!" As soon as they arrived in front of the palace, an aged voice echoed in their ears.
Two stone statues standing in front of the palace came to life, instantly transforming into two towering demon beasts, each about twenty meters tall.
One demon beast was wreathed in flames, resembling a wolf, while the other was a giant ice python. Both demon beasts possessed the strength of seventh-rank demons, hissing at Zhang Ling and Huang Ying.
"The Demon King's Decree is here. Are we qualified to enter?"
Huang Ying said loudly, tossing the Azure Fox Jade Token in her hand. The fox carved on the jade token flashed with azure light, revealing a phantom of an azure-furred fox.
The fox phantom howled, and the aura of the two seventh-rank demon beasts immediately weakened by a third, causing them to prostrate on the spot.
Zhang Ling also sensed a powerful spiritual pressure from the fox phantom above his head, and he would have been overwhelmed if he hadn't been prepared.
This was the pressure of a transformed demon beast.
Just then, the aged voice sounded again. "Rare indeed, the Azure Fox King's Demon King Decree."
An old, hunchbacked, bald man appeared between the two seventh-rank demon beasts. He held a withered wooden staff in his hand, looking ordinary, but the spiritual pressure emanating from him was extremely strong, reaching the peak of the seventh rank.
The old man seemed to walk slowly towards them, but he instantly crossed a distance of dozens of meters, appearing before them in a flash.
Only then did Zhang Ling see his form clearly. The old man was carrying a large black turtle shell on his back, and his face was ashen.
This person was not an old man at all, but a special demon beast like the Confucian scholar youth. Although he had not reached the level of transformation, he could speak human language and take human form.
The old man did not look at them but stared at the jade token for a while before saying, "I have received the information on the Demon King's Decree, but only one of you can enter the treasure cave in the Demon King's Palace. Which one of you will go in?"
"Fellow Daoist Zhang, you go in. I will wait for you here," Huang Ying said to Zhang Ling, and with a flash of spiritual light, she retrieved the jade token.
"Thank you, Fairy Huang."
Zhang Ling took the token and bowed to the old man, saying, "Thank you for your trouble."
"It is my duty. Follow me closely. The restrictions here are powerful, so don't get lost," the turtle-backed old man glanced at Zhang Ling expressionlessly, then turned around and transformed into a black light, heading towards the palace.
Zhang Ling quickly activated his escape technique and followed, entering the black palace.
Leaving Huang Ying alone to wait quietly.
…
Inside the Demon King's Palace, the sound of footsteps echoed in the dark environment.
A layer of gray-black mist enveloped the area, only allowing visibility within a few meters. Even divine sense could not penetrate the mist.
This was Zhang Ling's first impression of entering the Demon King's Palace. After walking for an unknown amount of time, the turtle-backed old man leading the way suddenly stopped.
He slammed the withered wooden staff in his hand on the ground, and the originally dark road surface lit up with streaks of ghostly green light. The surroundings were instantly dyed ghostly green, and even the thick, invisible mist churned strangely.
Then, numerous lights gathered quickly like fireflies.
The turtle-backed old man raised the staff in his hand, and the withered wooden staff twisted and writhed like a thick black snake, plunging into the fluorescent lights.
The old man murmured as if casting a spell, and Zhang Ling watched quietly from behind.
After a few breaths, the staff transformed into a large wooden ring, and the ghostly green fluorescence merged into it. The entire ring lit up with a layer of dark black light, rotating rapidly in mid-air.
At this time, the surrounding black-gray mist fell to the ground like dust, transforming into streams of black water that surged like boiling water.
The sound of rushing water echoed continuously, and dozens of streams of black water shot into the sky, also circling around the wooden ring, quickly spinning out a water vortex more than two meters wide.
"The treasure cave is inside. Fellow Daoist, you can enter with the Demon King's Decree, but remember that you can only take one treasure from the first level of the treasure cave," the turtle-backed old man turned his head and said to Zhang Ling in a muffled voice.
Zhang Ling responded with a thank you and activated the Azure Fox Jade Token in his hand with a flash of spiritual light. Immediately, a faint azure fox phantom appeared, enveloping him.
He glanced at the constantly rotating water vortex. It seemed to be some kind of teleportation array, but it seemed quite different from the teleportation arrays established by human cultivators outside.
Thinking to himself, Zhang Ling no longer hesitated. He took a step and transformed into a streak of azure light, entering the water flow.
His vision went dark, and his head felt dizzy for a moment, then his vision brightened again, and he felt weightless before instantly stepping onto solid ground.
Zhang Ling swayed a few times and steadied himself.
He looked around and found himself standing in a rocky cave. The surroundings were filled with rocks of various sizes and some glittering fluorite, like a natural cave.
Behind him, a few meters above the ground, the water vortex was still spinning. The vortex had not disappeared, so it seemed that he would still need to use it to exit later.
Several different cave entrances connected to this stone cave, and some ancient characters were engraved on some of the cave entrances. After examining them carefully, Zhang Ling recognized them as a few extremely simple numbers.
Beside each cave entrance stood a demon beast statue. At this moment, the heads of these demon beast statues were all turned towards his location, and their eyes were glowing red as they stared at him.
He felt several powerful auras enveloping the surroundings. Zhang Ling's mouth twitched, and he quickly injected spiritual power into the Azure Fox Jade Token in his hand. The jade token lit up with azure light again, and the dangerous aura instantly dissipated.
Zhang Ling glanced at the demon beast statues. They all seemed to be inanimate objects, but the dangerous aura he had sensed earlier had come from these statues. Without thinking, he knew that the statues were used to guard the treasures, seemingly some kind of puppets.
Then, he took the jade token and walked towards the cave entrance representing the number one.
When passing through the cave entrance, he encountered a black light curtain blocking the way, but after the azure light on the jade token flashed, there was no further obstruction to entering.
After walking for a while, he arrived at another wide stone cave. Inside were many stone shelves, and some boxes and jade boxes of various sizes were placed on the ground. Some demon beast spirit bones, scales, and other materials were piled up randomly on the ground, very messy.
