Chapter 255: Netherworld Mountain! Husband-Selection Ceremony!

After infiltrating the strange undead city, Chen Xuan didn’t waste any time.

He directly wandered through its streets, trying to gather information about both the city and the secret realm itself.

Originally, he believed that doing so would be difficult.

After all, this was an unfamiliar world, and he was surrounded by creatures whose origins he knew nothing about.

Yet soon, he discovered that his thinking had been wrong.

In fact, gathering information here was much easier than he had expected.

It didn’t take much searching. The information came to him of its own accord.

—

“The City Lord has launched another expedition to the outside world. It’s rumored that countless undead have been brought out from the surrounding forbidden areas and controlled to invade. Once the spatial passage becomes large enough, we should also have a chance to join them.”

“Another expedition? I wonder who will be lucky enough to benefit this time. Last time, Vice Commander Luo took advantage of the opportunity, plundered resources, and reached the Peak of Rank 3. I wonder if someone else will follow in his footsteps this time.”

In a large tavern, the sounds of drinking and loud chattering could be heard.

The atmosphere was surprisingly lively.

If one ignored the skeletal appearances of the customers, it wasn’t much different from an ordinary tavern in the cultivation world.

Sitting among the other undead, Chen Xuan suppressed the absurdity of the situation and quietly focused on the content of their conversations.

He had spent some time wandering around the city.

Compared to deliberately asking questions, listening to casual conversations had proven far more useful. The undead here clearly didn’t have much vigilance toward one another.

Perhaps because the city had existed for thousands of years, the creatures living here had long since become accustomed to their surroundings.

As long as one didn’t behave suspiciously, no one would pay much attention to another ordinary undead.

Combined with the information he had gathered elsewhere, Chen Xuan now had a rough understanding of the secret realm. Or at least, this small corner of it.

According to what he had learned, the secret realm’s power structure was quite different from the outside world.

Rather than sects, it was large cities that ruled over each territory. Smaller cities and villages were all under the umbrella of their respective City Lords, similar to cities following a King.

The strength of each major city differed.

Those at the edges of the secret realm were ruled by Rank 2 undead, equivalent to Foundation Establishment cultivators.

The closer one got to the center, the more powerful the cities and their City Lords became.

The Netherflame City Chen Xuan was currently in was somewhere between the two extremes.

Its City Lord was a Level 4 undead, equivalent to a Nascent Soul cultivator. This strength was already enough to make him an Elder-like existence in the Tianxuan Domain.

Yet Chen Xuan only paid brief attention to this information.

After all, a Nascent Soul cultivator wasn’t worth much in his eyes anymore.

His attention soon landed on two other things.

First…

“Outside expeditions.”

And second, the Netherworld Mountain.

Judging from the conversations he had overheard, the so-called “outside expeditions” referred to invasions of the “real world.”

However, Chen Xuan was surprised to learn that such expeditions happened frequently. Every major city would invade the other dimension every once in a while under the orders of the City Lords.

At first, he thought it was impossible.

He had never heard of undead armies launching large-scale invasions into the Mortal World. Even if the places being targeted were other Domains, he should have heard at least some rumors.

But after listening for a while longer, he finally understood.

The Mortal World Chen Xuan was currently in wasn’t the only one being targeted.

These expeditions didn’t target individual Domains.

They targeted entire worlds instead!

‘So it seems that this secret realm is even vaster than I initially thought.’

‘The part that overlaps with the Sword Forging Sect’s territory is only a small portion of it. It is by using their connection as a springboard that they can launch the invasion.’

‘Other parts should overlap with other worlds.’

Chen Xuan’s expression became slightly solemn.

A secret realm capable of overlapping with entire worlds was already beyond his previous understanding of secret realms.

In his estimation, it was highly likely that this secret realm was as large as the Mortal World itself.

This was already shocking enough.

Yet what surprised Chen Xuan even more was the existence of another force besides the cities.

Netherworld Mountain.

According to what he had heard, this force was situated at the center of the secret realm and was supposedly the ruler of the entire known world. Every undead longed to join it.

Its strength was unfathomable.

Every time a City Lord reached a certain level, they would be accepted into the ranks of Netherworld Mountain and disappear from the outside world.

No one knew exactly what happened to them afterward.

Over the years, it was unknown how many talented City Lords had been accepted. Nor did anyone know how powerful those people had become after entering Netherworld Mountain.

This made Chen Xuan frown.

A force capable of gathering countless powerful City Lords was obviously not simple. Unfortunately, the information he had obtained was too limited.

There was no way for him to determine just how powerful Netherworld Mountain was.

However, this let Chen Xuan realize that finding Qian Lingxue was going to be troublesome.

In such a vast world with such a peculiar structure, trying to find a single person was no different from searching for a needle in a haystack.

The only thing he could rely on was Qian Lingxue and the other cultivators’ “peculiar” identities.

After all, news of human cultivators appearing in this world was far more likely to attract attention than the existence of “normal” undead.

Of course, that was provided that these people hadn’t changed their identities in the same way Chen Xuan had.

‘But at the very least, this is already a clue.’ Chen Xuan thought before calling the waiter over to pay.

Then, he left the tavern and began considering his next options.

He wondered whether he should remain in the city or leave and search for more clues elsewhere.

The former was far less dangerous. After all, he could suppress the so-called City Lord with a wave of his hand.

As long as he didn’t deliberately reveal his human strength, there was practically no danger to remaining here.

However, the disadvantage was equally obvious. It was highly likely that his investigation would eventually reach a dead end.

As for the latter, the chances of finding traces of Qian Lingxue and the others would increase slightly. But that increase would be minimal considering the vastness of this secret realm.

Even if he searched for years, there was no guarantee that he would encounter them.

Chen Xuan frowned slightly.

Just as Chen Xuan was wandering through Netherflame City, trying to decide what to do next, a sudden noise interrupted his thoughts.

It came from the center of the city.

Chen Xuan had originally planned to ignore it.

However, when his divine sense subconsciously spread out and he noticed what was happening, a strange expression appeared on his face.

Then, whether out of curiosity or simply because of instinct, he subconsciously moved toward the source of the noise.

—

In front of the City Lord’s Palace, a large number of undead had gathered.

They surrounded a high platform, their gazes fixed upon the figures standing on it.

Their appearances were different from the ordinary undead.

Within the city, whether they were the weakest undead or the guards, they all had skeletal appearances. They were no different from piles of walking bones.

Yet the people standing on the platform were different.

Were it not for the strange aura of Death Qi they exuded and their slightly grayish skin, anyone might have mistaken them for humans.

There were many of them, consciously or otherwise, surrounding a single person.

It was a woman.

She had long, flowing black hair and a pair of eyes that resembled two revolving black holes.

Her facial features were already refined enough to make her a beauty.

Her figure only enhanced that impression.

The long purple dress wrapped elegantly around her body, revealing just enough of her pronounced curves and her deep cleavage to accentuate her graceful and alluring figure.

Combined with her smooth, grayish skin, her deep cleavage, and the dark, otherworldly appearance, she resembled a beautiful dark elf—elegant, mysterious, and, above all, extremely dangerous.

Of course, no undead dared to take a second look at her. Neither the ordinary undead nor the guards had the courage to do so.

After all, this woman was the most loved daughter of the City Lord. More importantly, she was a terrifying powerhouse in her own right.

As for the reason she had come here, it was simple.

She was ready to choose a husband for herself!