Netherworld Retrograde

Key? Right.

The Book Holder had once given Li Yelai a so‑called array map to open an Opportunity, which must be the key to unlock some legacy.

Each key corresponds to the legacy of a certain civilization.

With this many civilizational legacies, the "key" Li Yelai has doesn't necessarily belong to the Snake-men.

If he went through all that trouble to reach the Treasure Vault gate, only to find the key doesn't match and the door can't be opened, that'd really be enough to piss him off...

So... every faction that entered this Land of Opportunity probably has at least one key.

According to what the Little Mad King's avatar said, the Sea of Time wants the legacy of the giants. They probably have the key corresponding to the giants' legacy.

Sea of Time, Mirror Domain, Throat of Gui Xu, and the Ark Chosen Ones...

The "key" he obtained should originally have belonged to some faction, but because of the appearance and interference of a Variable, fate changed.

The originally designated target failed to grow to the level the Book Holder wanted, or simply missed the chance to obtain the Opportunity.

Keeping it is keeping it, so they used it as compensation and lured Chaos into the game?

Paying back causality, what a joke!

Causality that's been calculated—every one of you is a piece in someone's scheme!

Li Yelai's gaze swept over the Merfolk, a cold sneer in his heart.

Shame that neither he nor the Little Mad King has any means of extracting intel and memories from corpses.

Otherwise, that old bastard Kui Suo's head would definitely be full of secrets.

At the very least, he'd know all the "keys," right?

If not him, then those powerhouses from the Desert Sea?

What a pity. Next time he can't make a move so fast; he didn't even lick the plate clean. He should've reverted to the strength of a Deceit Chosen One, tricked all their secrets out, then transformed into the Blood God Chosen One and one‑shot them all...

"Forget it, same difference! They're all going to become Opportunities for Humans!" Li Yelai thought.

Hai Hui frowned; vaguely, he sensed a trace of malice.

"Chaos... bargaining with a tiger for its skin." Hai Hui sighed inwardly.

"We'll explore the underground palace together and hold multiple keys. The odds of opening a legacy are high, we should split it evenly. If your key is the one that opens it, you take seventy percent. If our key opens it, we'll only take fifty percent. How about it?"

The sincerity's not bad... boosts the chance of getting a legacy, but seventy percent is a bit low. Whatever, I'll just find a chance to backstab them and take it all back.

Li Yelai said, "What if neither of us can open this legacy?"

So he's agreeing to cooperate?

Hai Hui's heart stirred as he replied, "We'll eventually run into one we can open. Like I said, no matter what legacy we find, we'll give you an extra twenty percent!"

Li Yelai gave a slight nod. "Then we have to explore shoulder to shoulder."

Hai Hui felt a twinge of pain, but at least he'd found an ally.

As for shoulder to shoulder... afraid we'll play dirty tricks, huh? Paranoid as hell!

Still, once the main force arrives, there'll be room to maneuver. No matter how strong Emperor's Fall is, he's just one Divine Chosen...

So Hai Hui also nodded slightly. "Of course, we've always been generous to allies!"

That was a lie; at least Hai Hui wasn't that kind of Merfolk.

"Excellent. We of Chaos have never abandoned our allies either..."

That was a lie; Chaos loves corrupting allies—who doesn't know that?

And so, the two sides who'd just been smashing each other's brains out formed an alliance, each harboring their own schemes.

The two strongest forces in this place allied; the scattered Desert Sea powerhouses lost in the maze naturally couldn't stir up any waves.

The few remaining Forbidden Zone Creatures, bearing malice and curses, committed suicide and returned to the Void Realm.

Before dying, they killed all the Forbidden Zone Humans who wanted to surrender.

This was to prevent them from being tainted by Chaos and sent back to their main force to cause trouble. That's some Loyalty, at least.

After that, the troops of Chaos and the Merfolk advanced together.

Li Yelai and Hai Hui explored side by side.

While prying into information about the Throat of Gui Xu from Hai Hui, Li Yelai quietly activated the Deceitful God's Chosen Mask, probing the secrets of this ruin.

Humans know too little about the Throat of Gui Xu. As a seabed Forbidden Zone, they're far too mysterious and rarely interact with Humans. They're much more focused on contending with other Ocean Forbidden Areas.

They're all thinking of unifying the seas first, then marching onto land to sweep the world.

Between Forbidden Zones—different races, different civilizations—with no Humans, there's only endless conflict.

So war in the seas has long since become the norm. Large Legions march out of the Forbidden Zones, each on guard against the others.

Right now, the Legions of the Throat of Gui Xu and the Sea Abyss of God Burial are locked in a standoff.

As for intel on this Land of Opportunity, that was obtained by accident amid the war.

Combined with the Merfolk's own divination, they patched together this information.

"Heh, obtained by accident—more like a Heavenly Destiny Walker arranged for you to 'accidentally' get it!" Li Yelai sneered inwardly.

This so‑called causality is just the Book Holder's way of baiting a trap.

Those two Forbidden Zones as well—most likely they were drawn in step by step by some "accidental" prophecy, message, or other Token.

What's the purpose? To let some specific person obtain some specific inheritance?

Li Yelai recalled that mechanical mega‑structure.

Or maybe because the Forbidden Zone had grown too powerful, some internal strife had broken out inside the Throat of Gui Xu.

This time Hai Hui didn't wait for the main force to arrive but led a unit into the Land of Opportunity on his own, to earn more benefits for his own clan. Once the other clans' powerhouses arrive later, his say won't count for much.

"When that time comes, will you still have the final say?" Li Yelai dodged a blade flashing in front of him and asked casually.

"Our elder brother is coming too; even a Supreme has to give him face..." Hai Hui yelled as he frantically dodged traps. "Seriously, you had to ask me that now? Why are there so many traps?!"

Ever since the two sides teamed up and delved deeper into the underground palace...

The traps they encountered became more and more numerous, and more and more deadly.

Even an Overlord found these traps troublesome.

In contrast, Li Yelai's reactions were lightning fast. Often, as soon as a trap was triggered and Hai Hui was in a panic...

The ground would suddenly collapse, and numerous spikes imbued with poison and curses would shoot up at supersonic speed.

Massive boulders that suppressed Spiritual Energy would come crashing down...

Stone statues would suddenly awaken, swinging a blade in a horizontal slash with berserk force...

The problem was, the scouts who'd gone ahead earlier hadn't triggered any of this; they all sprang out only when it was their turn. As if the traps were waiting just for them!

"Bad luck, I guess. Or maybe the traps are reacting to your Divinity? I'm getting dragged down by you!" Li Yelai cursed under his breath, secretly amused. He'd already activated the Face; with Calamity descending and all these traps going off, what's so strange about that?

"Not going to cancel your Divine Barrier?"

"Hmph!" Hai Hui had indeed suspected Li Yelai, but seeing Li Yelai suffering the same bad luck as him made him feel much better. He figured it probably wasn't him. Maybe it really was because of the Divinity?

But as an Overlord, there's no way he'd give up his Divine Barrier.

There was literally a Chaos Chosen who'd killed an Overlord standing right next to him!

At last, after the thirty‑sixth trap was dismantled, the battered group finally reached the deepest part of the underground palace.

There stood a massive black Stone Gate, draped in mysterious, ancient patterns.

They exuded a vast power that protected this entire facility.

Hm, seems like space folding.

This made Li Yelai, who'd planned on busting the door open by brute force, back down.

Who needs a key? With Weakness Perception in hand and a Chaos Holy Artifact by my side, what door can't I break through? A key? No key and you just can't open a door?

Oh, space folding, huh. Well, that's that then!

This one really can't be forced open.

After testing, they found that this was indeed the ruin corresponding to the key the Merfolk possessed.

So after checking the surroundings, the Merfolk began modifying the patterns on the gate, step by step unlocking the legacy.

Meanwhile Li Yelai's eyes gleamed. The writing left behind by the civilization of this Land of Opportunity carried no Divinity, so the Merfolk couldn't read it.

But as a Deceit Chosen One, Li Yelai could.

He saw a section of engraved text on the Stone Gate.

"Fake. It's all fake! The world is fake, and so are we!"

What does that mean? Why is everything fake?

At the same time, the Stone Gate opened, space distorted, and the sealed space burst wide!

In that instant, a dense killing intent exploded forth; Li Yelai even sensed the Chaos Aura of the Blood God.

The next moment, a figure clad in Heavy Armor and gripping a long blade charged out from the distorted space!

That's a Human?

A Human Hero!

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