CHAPTER 530: CHAPTER 96: HE COMES FROM HELL

"Tsk, she didn’t catch up," amidst the startling sound of flowing water, a tall, slender man leapt up from beneath the water.

He was none other than the Sky Bandit Leader who, earlier, had evaded Yue Jinghua by entering the Balkan River Cave.

This man, like the Sea Witch Jue Shang, was a prisoner trapped in the Senluo Sea.

Among the four who escaped, his Cultivation was the highest; he was a master of Small Success of Dark Heavenly, and he was also the most cunning.

While hiding in the Balkan Region, he had specifically chosen this cave as his stronghold and secretly lurked underwater, waiting for the moment Yue Jinghua ventured deep inside to then secretly assassinate her.

However, Yue Jinghua, worried about her comrades outside, turned back halfway.

The river water, which seemed unusual to Yue Jinghua, appeared normal to the Sky Bandit Leader who had hidden there for years.

He was familiar with the Balkan River Basin; walking inside the cave led to the river’s inner area, which was also the Underground River Valley.

During the first and fifteenth of each month, this river would undergo a strange phenomenon where a small ridge would rise from the middle of the watercourse, splitting the flow into two: one part flowing downstream, the other upstream. This phenomenon would last about two hours

After which, the river would return to normal.

Today was exactly the fifteenth of the month.

Thus, to the Sky Bandit Leader, the changes in the river course were not at all strange.

The water quality in the underground river area was excellent, warm in winter and cool in summer, clear and nourishing with a sweet taste, and rich in minerals, beneficial for the recovery of physical fatigue.

As he scooped a mouthful of water ready to drink heartily, the Sky Bandit Leader muttered angrily in secret, "July Mercenary Team, once I get the upper hand, I will surely eradicate you entirely,"

It was indeed right that Yue Jinghua didn’t continue tracking; she didn’t know that this underground river path leading to the source of the Balkan River was twisty and forked in many places, akin to a labyrinth.

Despite living here for a long time, the Sky Bandit Leader had never found the source of this river.

As he was about to gulp down the water, the Sky Bandit Leader’s ears moved.

He seemed to hear a rustling water sound coming from ahead to his left.

Listening to that noise, it seemed as though something had come out of the water.

The sound was initially very light, but as the water flow became more turbulent, it grew louder.

For some reason, that sound gave the Sky Bandit Leader, who had escaped from Senluo Sea, a chilling illusion.

He wanted to immediately run, but his feet felt as though they were stuck in a swamp, unable to move in the rapid current.

Suddenly, he opened his eyes wide in terror.

He saw something.

On the river ahead, suddenly, there appeared blossoms of fire.

Those fires, mud-colored, each as large as a lotus, floated down the river one by one.

In the air, there seemed to be a strange odor.

It was like the smell of blood, yet there was also a sweet scent.

After the appearance of the Ghost Fire Pool Lotus, the turbulent flow in the Balkan River abruptly came to a halt.

It was as if the river surface had suddenly frozen over, the entire river flat as a mirror.

In the center of the river, a black Transmission Array flared like ghostly flames in a chaotic graveyard, exceptionally bright.

From the Transmission Array, a swarm of Demon Worms resembling lice crawled out, densely crowding along the riverbank.

Next, the eyes of the Sky Bandit Leader brightened as a fragrant breeze passed by, with the dazzling light of crystals flashing, and several Magic Dance Butterfly Girls with jet-black butterfly wings and petite figures like elves fluttered out from the Transmission Array.

Following them, several Bone-toothed Wolves, as large as young bulls and draped in corpse bone armor, emerged.

From the Transmission Array, a bull head emerged first, followed by a wide python body. It was a Bull-headed Python Warrior, clad in muscular armor, wielding a large axe, with both bull and snake features.

Its eyes glowed with a dim green light, and its snake body, as thick as a barrel, slid out of the water.

Next, several ghastly white, chilling Hell Corpse Soldiers appeared, emanating a killing aura as they methodically waved their well-aligned Corpse Bone Spears, emerging one after another from the water.

The Sky Bandit Leader was still in his initial position, bending over the river, but now he felt an icy chill all over his body.

These bizarre-looking creatures, radiating sinister Evil Qi, seemed to range from small to large, weak to strong.

These were all Dark Demons that should not exist on the Canglong Continent, and even in the Senluo Sea they were rarely seen.

Upon emerging from the water, these Dark Demons, without even glancing at the Sky Bandit Leader who was close at hand, stood as if he did not exist.

They neatly lined up on both sides of the river, like two rows of honor guards, chanting an ancient, deafening demon verse.

It seemed they were eagerly anticipating the return of their Dark King.

As no more Dark Demons appeared from the Transmission Array,

the light within it did not diminish but grew even more dazzling.

The Sky Bandit Leader felt an urge to run, but his feet were stuck as if mired in mud, unable to move.

A flash of dark light passed by, just like a shooting star in the sky.

A man appeared in the Transmission Array; his eyebrows sharp like a sword, eyes cold as an autumn moon in a cold pool, dressed in simple black clothes that inexplicably exuded an air of nobility.

Despite not holding any weapon and having no fluctuations of Dark Energy around him, merely his indifferent cold glance made the Sky Bandit Leader nearly unable to breathe.

"Dark Emperor," the shocking title flashed through the mind of the Sky Bandit Leader like a sharp arrow, as the water in his hand spilled onto the river surface.

Only a Dark Emperor from Hell could command such a mighty army of Dark Forces.

Good heavens, has he encountered an invasion army from Dark Hell?

"You, are you a subject of this continent?" When the man spoke, his voice was deep, as if from another era.

The man could no longer remember how long it had been since he last spoke.

Since he had made a pact with several Demon Gods from Dark Hell, he hadn’t seen a humanoid creature again.

The cunning-faced man in front of him, who had inadvertently stumbled upon the scene of the army of Dark Forces emerging into the world, showed too many emotions in his eyes.

"Dark Emperor?" The knees of the Sky Bandit Leader went weak. He shuffled his feet, finding his sense of touch seemingly returned.

He felt an impulse to run and never look back.

But his Divine Sense seemed to have completely lost control and his feet seemed no longer his own. With a splash, he kneeled down, the cold river water splashing onto his body.

"Your Highness, exalted beyond compare, I am a subject of this continent, willing to be your steed and conquer this land for you," the Sky Bandit Leader realized he had met a powerful being who could forever free him from the threats of the Senluo Sea.