The Unexpected Royal Family

Looking down at the complex terrain of the Abyss Empire, Li Xingyao understood.

Most of the cities in the Abyss Empire are built underground, with crisscrossing tunnels and underground spaces forming a vast underground labyrinth.

Invaders unfamiliar with the terrain, even if they manage to break through surface defenses, will be gradually worn down underground and eventually overwhelmed by the Abyss Empire's home-field advantage.

Historically, the Tianlong Empire had attempted to wipe out the Abyss Empire several times, but each time it failed because it could not penetrate deep underground.

"Unfortunately, you are facing an undead army."

Li Xingyao gently patted Flamel's dragon horns.

The Undead Nether Dragon let out a deep roar, its massive body shuddered, and it swooped down toward the largest entrance to the rift.

As large beams of teleportation light appeared, the undead army followed closely behind.

The Death Knight rode his Nightmare steed down the rift's slope, the eerie blue flames beneath his hooves leaving long trails of light in the darkness.

The Necromancer and the Dark Ranger unfurled their energy bone wings, shooting into the depths of the rift like gray arrows.

The liches hovered in mid-air, slowly drifting down into the darkness, the cold light from the tips of their staffs casting swaying shadows on the rock walls.

The raging behemoth of death strode with heavy steps, its enormous roar echoing through the tunnel like muffled thunder rolling through the depths of the clouds.

Li Xingyao's Soul Banner perception field remained effective even below ground level, and a three-dimensional map with a radius of 50,000 kilometers was clearly presented in his mind.

The underground structure of the Dark Gate resembles an inverted spire—

The top layer is the trading and residential area, the middle layer is the military fortress and fortifications, and the bottom layer is the mines and the core institutions of the Abyss Empire.

The area of ​​each layer decreases, but the defensive strength increases.

There are even a few areas at the lowest level where his mental perception is slightly disturbed, and he can only explore the situation by relying on the domain of the Soul Banner. That should be the core of this giant city of the Abyss Empire.

"Clear out the upper-level enemies first, and at the same time plunder relevant resources." After figuring out the basic situation, Li Xingyao issued the order through the soul link.

The undead legion surged into the various passages of the Underworld like a tidal wave, and battle suddenly erupted in the dark underground space.

Li Xingyao acted too quickly in the Axis Empire, and after finishing a battle, he did not go to occupy territory, but went straight to the next target.

Therefore, the Abyss Empire's garrison was completely unprepared to encounter such a massive army of Saint-level undead at this time.

What's worse is that the oppressive power of their dark environment, which they were originally so proud of, has become their natural home ground for these undead.

The Shadow Hunter moved silently through the shadowy gaps, dragging out the shadow assassins who tried to hide in the darkness one by one.

The Death Knight's heavy armor rolled through the narrow tunnel, smashing the hastily erected defensive line to pieces.

The lich's death skill becomes even more powerful in confined spaces. Professionals enveloped by group skills can only feel the fear of their life force being slowly drained away in despair.

Li Xingyao did not take action personally.

He rode Flamel, hovering above the rift entrance, calmly directing the battle through the Soul Banner Domain and his soul clones within the Soul Palace.

As the battle progressed, Li Xingyao noticed something unusual: even when the Abyss Empire's defenders were at a significant disadvantage, almost none of them surrendered.

Their fighting spirit was exceptionally strong, even when facing an undead army that was dozens of times stronger than themselves.

Even knowing that death is inevitable, they will detonate the star energy core within their bodies at the last moment, attempting to inflict more damage on the surrounding undead.

"Faith? No! This is a spiritual imprint!" Li Xingyao captured some fragments of memory from the absorbed souls.

The people of the Abyss Empire firmly believe that after dying in battle, their souls will enter the "Eternal Abyss" and be reborn in the divine kingdom of the Lord of Darkness.

On the other hand, high-level professionals are also gradually imprinting their own spirit into the spirit of their "subordinates" through day-to-day propaganda.

This combination of faith and control is more effective than any command in motivating them to fight to the very end.

But for Li Xingyao, this situation is actually more convenient.

Since they didn't want to surrender, there was no need to consider taking prisoners. The domain of the Myriad Soul Banner continued to operate throughout the battle, completely devouring the souls of every fallen Abyss Empire professional.

After being decomposed by the Chaos Tree, those souls were all transformed into pure soul power and flowed into the Ruins of Return.

Under this continuous absorption, the soul power reserves of the Guixu World are rapidly increasing at a visible rate.

The battle lasted less than half an hour, and the upper and middle levels of the Dark Gate were completely controlled by the undead legion.

Nearly a million defenders of the Abyss Empire perished, their souls becoming nourishment for the Banner of Ten Thousand Souls.

The remaining high-level professionals all retreated to the lowest level—the core area of ​​this giant city, and the location of the rulers of the Dark Gate.

Li Xingyao maneuvered Flamel to land in front of the entrance on the lowest level.

The space beneath his feet suddenly opened up, revealing a huge underground cavern before him.

The area here is several hundred meters high and has a diameter of nearly 100 kilometers. The cave walls are covered with runes, which are faintly emitting a deep purple glow.

The runes formed a massive mural, playing out the origin legends of the Abyss Empire—

The story of an abyssal star god born from the depths of the Central Continent, and his journey of leading dark-type professionals to build "their own" civilization in this world.

At the center of the underground space is a palace built of black crystal.

The palace's style was ancient and somber, and each crystal exuded a rich energy of death and shadow.

Standing directly in front of the palace were dozens of powerful Saint-level figures, all of whom were at least at the intermediate level, with no fewer than thirty of them being high-level Saint-level figures. At the very center were three "elders" who were at the peak of the Saint-level.

Behind them, the palace gates were tightly shut, with a huge six-pointed star emblem radiating a deep purple light engraved on them.

"The royal emblem of the Abyss Empire..." Li Xingyao looked at the emblem, a glint of light flashing in his eyes.

"Surrender, or die." He spoke, his voice echoing in the empty space, carrying a terrifying effect bestowed by his spiritual power.

The three elders at the peak of the Saint rank exchanged a glance, and then simultaneously took a step forward.

They didn't speak, but instead unleashed all the star energy within them, with deep purple and dark red light intertwining and rising from their bodies.

The hundreds of Saint-level warriors behind them also mobilized their star energy at the same time, and the combined terrifying domain rushed towards them.

Li Xingyao shook his head speechlessly, then waved his hand in acknowledgment.