Calamity of Tomorrow

The Black Nebula heard the cloaked man's words and simply smiled faintly, "Don't you think they are excellent subjects for experimentation?"

The cloaked man continued, "I've checked the experimental records of the past three months. That accident was a fabrication of your own doing, wasn't it? You wanted to take this opportunity to drive out these Heavenly Demons using their killing instincts as a catalyst, using the excuse of protecting the subjects to create this forbidden zone."

The Black Nebula tilted her head, looking innocently at the cloaked man, "Wei Cang, what are you talking about? I don't understand at all."

Called Wei Cang, the exceedingly bloated cloaked man scoffed coldly, "Don't play dumb with me. I've been tracking your monitoring records all this time. Your intelligence surpasses that of most cultivators."

"You deliberately planned the Heavenly Demon forbidden area, and through this, you obtained higher authority within the Heavenly Demons, even directly commanding the 7th-level Greater Heavenly Demons."

"And this war against humanity, it was you who actively proposed the need for a massive number of humans as experimental materials."

"The Black Nebula, you want to break away from the Heavenly Demons, don't you?"

"I don't understand what you're saying." The Black Nebula smiled, her hair dancing like that of a Spirit Snake, "I just want to raise my children properly, that's all."

Then, on the rock walls surrounding her, a giant serpent with limbs covering its body pierced through the wall and emerged, crawling to The Black Nebula's side, the very serpent that had fled upon seeing Zhou Bai before.

The giant serpent crawled at The Black Nebula's feet, affectionately nuzzling her palm.

Just then, the ground trembled slightly, and the giant serpent, with a look of terror on its face, hid behind The Black Nebula.

The Black Nebula looked in the direction of the depths of the Abyss, "Your Abyss Nether Dragon Armor is acting up again. Aren't you going to soothe it?"

Wei Cang gazed deeply at The Black Nebula, "The more I study distortion, the more I delve into those freakish cases, the clearer it becomes to me, it's not the Heavenly Dao that's mad, but us. Mutation is the natural course, and your existence proves that even more."

"You don't need to see me as an enemy. The Heavenly Demons have never really trusted me, much like I have never trusted them."

Watching Wei Cang depart, The Black Nebula's mind flashed with information about him, "The former Sect Leader of the Evil Sect, became a man of the Heavenly Demons, researching the distortions and mutations of the Heavenly Dao for them."

As a former Sect Leader of the Evil Sect, Wei Cang had once fought against the Heavenly Demons on the battlefield.

In one battle, he was surrounded and attacked by several 9th-level Greater Heavenly Demons; all his subordinates were slaughtered, and he was on the brink of death.

Just as Wei Cang was about to be defeated and killed by the Heavenly Demons, his son Wei Mang donned the Abyss Nether Dragon Armor to come to his rescue.

With the aid of the Abyss Nether Dragon Armor, the Heavenly Demons were repelled, and Wei Mang successfully saved his father.

However, due to the distortions of the Heavenly Dao, the Abyss Nether Dragon Armor also underwent a mutation, which was why Wei Cang had gone into battle without wearing this treasured armament of the Evil Sect.

But out of paternal concern, Wei Mang, knowing full well that the Abyss Nether Dragon Armor was distorted, still chose to don the armor and join the battle to save his father.

Consequently, Wei Mang was mutated because of the distortion of the Abyss Nether Dragon Armor.

Heaven's Court ordered the destruction of Wei Mang and the recovery of the Abyss Nether Dragon Armor, and naturally, no one from the Evil Sect dared to defy the command.

Thus, Wei Cang chose to rebel, he locked up the mutated Wei Mang and fled with him and the twisted Abyss Nether Dragon Armor.

Under the persuasion of the Heavenly Demon King 'Ai', Wei Cang came to the side of the Heavenly Demons to study the phenomenon of mutation. At the same time, he sought to restore the Abyss Nether Dragon Armor and cure Wei Mang's mutation.

And now, the Abyss Nether Dragon Armor, just like many other powerful artifacts distorted by the Heavenly Dao, its very existence has become a source of distortion, inducing various distortion phenomena.

The whispers in the darkness were once the cries of the Nether Dragon before its death.

"Save me..."

"Why do you wish to kill me..."

At this moment, the Abyss Nether Dragon Armor continued to spread distortion, so any human within its range of influence would be subtly affected, gradually transforming from human to some deformed snake or dragon-like creature.

Recalling Wei Cang's story, Xuan Nu thought to herself, 'The Heavenly Demon and Wei Cang don't trust each other, perhaps... he can walk with me.'

"However," Xuan Nu looked at Zhou Bai and his companions on the screen, "it's still best to use them first. Their arrival is timely; my appearance was not in vain."

...

After passing through a room with glass walls, Zhou Bai and his companions were faced with a long hallway, with doors lining both sides.

Song Zhen pointed to these doors and said, "I came out from inside there; there must be many Spirit Snakes in there."

Zhou Bai crawled over and, using his Primordial Spirit energy, pushed open a door, only to find utter darkness inside, with no end in sight. As the door opened, a blast of cold air rushed out, prompting Zhou Bai to quickly close the door.

After opening several more doors in succession, they were all the same.

Zhou Bai said, "We don't have time to study what's inside there, let's keep moving forward."

As the group continued forward, they found the hallway to be much longer than they had imagined, with an endless repetition of light bulbs ahead, and the walls on both sides covered with twisted lines.

Moreover, as they progressed, Zhou Bai could feel the entire hallway slowly sloping downwards, as if leading into the depths of the earth.

Song Zhen frowned as she observed the corridor, feeling a sense of familiarity.

Continuing to move forward in such a manner, the group couldn't help but have an illusion that they were progressing within the belly of a giant snake.

Qian Wangsun remarked, "This hallway is excessively long, isn't it? We've surely moved forward at least two kilometers."

Lin Muqing kept scanning both sides of the hallway with her Primordial Spirit energy, "No Illusion Array, no signs of Dao techniques being activated; it really is this long."

Qian Wangsun, looking at the twisted lines on the walls commented, "These lines are quite uncomfortable to look at."

Qing Cao, the accompanying doctor, said, "When humans view similar images for an extended period, the brain will naturally fill in gaps, which can lead to various hallucinations and auditory illusions."

Just then, Song Zhen covered her mouth with a pained cry, blood seeping from it. When she opened her mouth, a bifurcated tongue extended, resembling that of a snake.

The others immediately became wary, suspecting that she might be transforming. Qing Cao examined her and shook her head slightly, communicating telepathically, "Her Primordial Spirit is very unstable, but she has not fully transformed."

However, Song Zhen's eyes flashed with a sudden understanding, "I get it, this is replicating the Hell Path training, just like what I saw in Nanshan City."

"What's the Hell Path?" Zhou Bai asked, puzzled.

Lin Muqing explained, "The Hell Path is a tunnel in Nanshan City, said to be over a hundred kilometers long, with no light source or water. Cultivators must traverse the tunnel alone, without any tools, to temper their minds."