Chapter 185: Attacking the Yan Clan!
"Bang—"
Several great crashes rang out. The lids of those four black coffins suddenly blasted open and flew off. Black mist churned and seethed. Four gaunt, emaciated figures, like skeletons, slowly stepped out from within.
Four vast, mighty, terrifying auras abruptly swept forth!
"A single slumber lasting a thousand years... has the final moment finally arrived?" An aged voice came from the mouth of one of the ashen-faced, withered elders.
"Ancestors!"
Seeing the four appear, several members of the Hun clan army stepped forward and bowed deeply from afar toward the four of them.
"Hun Sheng Tian—how do you four feel at present?" The Nihility Devouring Flame came before the four, hands clasped behind his back, and asked in an even, calm voice.
Seeing the Nihility Devouring Flame and sensing the vast, mighty aura within his body, within the deathly, lifeless eyes of Hun Sheng Tian and the other three, traces of surprise surfaced. They spoke respectfully: "Congratulations to Lord Nihility on stepping into the realm of nine-star Dou Sheng! The life force within our bodies is sufficient to sustain a great battle!"
Hearing the four's answer, the Nihility Devouring Flame nodded. Indifferently, he said, "This time, we are executing a lightning strike against the Yan clan. First, lay down the Death Realm within my body. Once I swallow the entire Yan Realm in a single gulp, immediately activate the array. Give the Yan clan no chance to react. Sweep them away with the force of a thunderbolt."
"The Yan clan?" Hearing the Nihility Devouring Flame's words, the four exchanged somewhat surprised glances. They had never imagined that the Yan clan would be the first target!
Still, the four raised no objections. They nodded respectfully toward the Nihility Devouring Flame.
Just then, Yun Yi suddenly stepped forward and asked, "The Yan clan surely also has a clan-protecting grand array. I wonder—who will be the one to withstand it at that time?"
When the Yao clan was on the verge of annihilation, even then they had relied on their clan-protecting grand array to summon a remnant soul of the Yao Emperor, capable of contending against a nine-star Dou Sheng. The Yan clan's clan-protecting grand array would only be even stronger. When the time came, the Nihility Devouring Flame would inevitably need to maintain the stability of space and divide the Devouring Spirit Clan. Their side would then lack an equal, matching force.
"Leave all that to me." Just then, a calm, even voice came from within the void. Hun Tiandi, his expression utterly composed, walked over at a leisurely pace.
"Clan Leader!"
Seeing Hun Tiandi, Yun Yi was somewhat surprised, but still cupped his fists along with the others.
As expected—in agreeing to strike the Yan clan first, Hun Tiandi could not possibly be without thorough, complete preparations.
"The matter has been resolved?" Seeing Hun Tiandi, the Nihility Devouring Flame was not at all surprised. Looking at him, he asked quietly.
"Gu Yuan is still the same as ever. Right now, he's cautious and hesitant, afraid of making a move, keeping a close watch on our Soul Realm's every movement. However, to avoid revealing any openings, this soul clone of mine still needs to return as quickly as possible!"
Hun Tiandi nodded and spoke in a deep voice. If not for the aid of his Emperor Realm soul clone, the Nihility Devouring Flame could not have achieved silently and soundlessly swallowing the Yan Realm without being detected by the outside world.
And it was precisely because he had separated this soul clone that Gu Yuan had sensed that his strength was somewhat outwardly imposing but inwardly weak—creating the misconception that he was still severely injured and unhealed.
In truth, if Gu Yuan had truly followed him into the Soul Realm at that time, he would likely have been in grave danger, and the entire plan would have gone up in smoke.
Fortunately, Gu Yuan had indeed not disappointed him.
"Then let us begin," the Nihility Devouring Flame nodded and spoke in a deep voice.
A blazing fervor also abruptly ignited within his eyes. Agreeing to Yun Yi's proposal was beneficial to him as well. The Yan clan possessed numerous heavenly flames and also had a massive population of denizens.
Among the seven clans, it was the Yan clan's denizens who would be of the greatest help to him. This time, he would most certainly be able to rely on the Yan clan's denizens, in addition to the Soul Hall's thousand years of accumulation, to step into the Emperor Realm soul.
Thinking this, the gaze the Nihility Devouring Flame cast toward Yun Yi abruptly grew deep and unfathomable. At that time, he would no longer need to be restrained by the bloodline of the Devouring Spirit Clan within him.
This little 'tiny flame' Yun Yi—he could then toy with as he pleased!
The Yan Realm.
Within a magnificent, grand hall, a middle-aged man sat at the main seat. He wore a crimson-red robe. In appearance, he looked no more than forty or so, his features somewhat rough and rugged.
His two fiery-red eyebrows looked like two dancing, blazing flames. His eyes were completely crimson-red, as if embedded with two flaming gemstones. As his gaze swept past, even the very air seemed to warm.
This middle-aged man looked like a mass of burning flames. On the surface, these flames were calm and placid, yet deep within those flames burned a scorching heat capable of incinerating the heavens and boiling the seas.
"Clan Leader, Huo Xuan, Huo Zhi, and the others have already clashed with the geniuses of the various clans. According to the reports, it seems they've encountered a rather interesting fellow—someone who can actually fuse several heavenly flames into one."
Just then, a voice full of keen interest rang out from beside Yan Jin. An enchantingly alluring, beautiful woman clad in a red dress and skirt gazed at Yan Jin with a seductive, sultry smile.
The beautiful woman wore a charming, flirtatious expression. Her still alluring, mature appearance was ripe and enticing. Her entire body seemed to radiate a strange, peculiar fluctuation, faintly possessing the ability to make one's spirit dazed and disoriented.
This beautiful woman was precisely the Yan clan's second strongest expert—the Fire Spirit Fairy. Her strength was also at the seven-star Dou Sheng level, an expert equally renowned alongside the Hun clan's Four Demon Saints and the Gu clan's Three Immortals.
And at this moment, hearing Huo Ling's words, a look of intrigued interest also surfaced in Yan Jin's eyes. He himself was an expert who had fused two great heavenly flames and deeply understood the difficulty involved. And from the sound of it, the person Huo Xuan and the others had encountered seemed to be someone of the same generation.
Yet someone could actually fuse heavenly flames at the Dou Zong stage—this was simply inconceivable.
"The ability to fuse heavenly flames? A descendant of which clan?" Yan Jin looked at Huo Ling and asked quietly.
"It's said he's not a descendant of any clan at all, but a young expert named Xiao Yan. It's said he possesses four heavenly flames—the Myriad Beast Spirit Flame, the Fury Dragon Flame, the Black and Yellow Flame, and the Turtle Spirit Earth Flame. Although none of them are top-ranked heavenly flames, the fact that he has actually fused a full four heavenly flames together is still somewhat unbelievable!" At this point, a look of incredulity still lingered in the Fire Spirit Fairy's eyes.
"Surnamed Xiao?" Yan Jin, in contrast, paid more attention to the surname 'Xiao.'
"He shouldn't be of the Xiao clan. Setting aside for the moment whether the Xiao clan even has descendants—their abandoned, withered bloodline shouldn't be capable of producing any geniuses!" Huo Ling knew what Yan Jin meant. Slowly shaking her head, she spoke quietly.
"But those two who have been stirring up so much commotion recently—Jiang Yun and Yun Yi—neither of them have any special bloodline at all!" Yan Jin looked at Huo Ling, shook his head, and slowly spoke.
"That..." Hearing Yan Jin's words, the Fire Spirit Fairy was momentarily at a loss for words. Indeed—from the intelligence they currently had, neither of the two possessed any special bloodline, yet their achievements were so utterly, absurdly outrageous.
The speed of their advancement was simply beyond all of their expectations.
"Who goes there—!"
Suddenly, within Yan Jin's crimson-red eyes, a strange, peculiar flame abruptly danced and flickered. A sharp, fierce light flashed through his eyes as a harsh, piercing shout rang out.
"What—!" Seeing this, the Fire Spirit Fairy instantly shot to her feet. A terrifying aura surged and roiled with her movement. Her pair of exquisitely alluring, enchanting eyes instantly became exceptionally sharp and fierce. Heaven Realm Great Perfection soul power surged outward in all directions.
"Yan clan, on alert!!!"
At this moment, Yan Jin also rose to his feet and let out a long howl. In that very instant, within the land and mountain ranges of the Yan Realm, streaks of light shot forth in rapid succession. Every single figure was at minimum a Dou Sheng. Vast, mighty auras surged and churned, making even the energy of this stretch of heaven and earth churn in violent, restless chaos.
All the streaks of light converged behind Yan Jin in a short span of time. And Yan Jin stared at the void with a face full of the utmost gravity.
"Clan Leader, what's going on?"
Behind Yan Jin, an elder clad in red robes, radiating the aura of a six-star Dou Sheng, stepped forward and asked.
"They're here..." Yan Jin did not answer the elder's question. Instead, he stared fixedly at the distant sky. On the contrary, it was the Fire Spirit Fairy beside him who murmured in a low, grave voice.
"Boom—"
Just then, a great, thunderous crash suddenly rang out from the distant horizon. The sky abruptly seemed to darken and grow overcast.
In the far-off sky, countless streaks of black light flickered. Instantly, wretched, piercing screams rang out.
"Rustle, rustle!"
Just as the black light flickered in the distance, everyone suddenly saw, with horrified shock, boundless black flames seeping out from the void and nothingness, finally spreading forth overwhelmingly and blanketing everything, covering this entire stretch of heaven and earth. In that instant, the heavens darkened and the earth dimmed.
"What is this..." A Yan clan elder stared at this scene in terror and asked in a trembling voice.
"Ni-hil-i-ty De-vour-ing Flame—" A heavy, somber light flickered through Yan Jin's eyes as he spoke, enunciating each word with deliberate weight.
"What—the Nihility Devouring Flame!" Hearing Yan Jin's words, everyone's hearts sank. An exceptionally intense sense of impending crisis coiled tightly around everyone's hearts.
A Yan clan elder, his hands and feet trembling from sheer shock, still swiftly produced a scroll. Tearing it open rapidly, a spatial fluctuation immediately spread forth swiftly.
However, just as these spatial fluctuations were about to coalesce into a spatial passageway, it was as if they had been subjected to some kind of interference. They immediately began to fluctuate violently. The passageway that had only just taken form instantly dispersed and vanished.
Seeing this scene, the hearts of quite a few members of the Yan clan all ran cold, sinking completely into bewildered confusion. Just what was happening here?!
For someone to actually be able to completely seal off the entire great realm of the Yan clan—just how colossal and immense a power would that require?
"Hmph—"
Seeing this scene, Yan Jin let out a cold snort. The terrifying aura of an eight-star Dou Sheng shot straight into the clouds. That oppressive might—even space itself seemed to let out faint, groaning, creaking sounds.
With a sudden, fierce palm strike blasted into the void, he was resolutely determined to tear open a spatial passageway.
"Heh heh... Yan Jin, it's also been a thousand years since we last met. You're still as irritable and short-tempered as ever!"
Just as Yan Jin's attack was about to land upon the spatial node, a light laugh suddenly echoed beside every single person's ear, sending chills deep into their hearts.
In the next instant, Hun Tiandi's figure soundlessly, without warning, appeared directly before Yan Jin's attack. With a light flick of his sleeve, in that very moment, Yan Jin's full-force strike was thoroughly, utterly dispersed into nothingness.
"Hun Tiandi!"
Seeing who had arrived, no particular look of surprise appeared in Yan Jin's eyes. Only, his expression became unprecedentedly grim and solemn.
"Hun Tiandi—what have you come to my Yan Realm to do?!" Even though he already had a conjecture in his heart, Yan Jin could not help but ask aloud.
"Yan Jin, why ask a question you already know the answer to?" Hearing Yan Jin's inquiry, Hun Tiandi chuckled lightly and shook his head. Then, clasping his hands behind his back, he lowered his head and looked down upon the Yan clan members, his face wreathed in smiles. He spoke a sentence that sent chills through everyone's hearts, making their blood run cold.
"Since you've asked—then... Yan Jin, let me tell you: the Yan clan... is about to be no more."
"Woo, woo, woo..."
As Hun Tiandi's words fell, in the distant sky, amidst the wreathing, coiling black mist, aura after aura—vast, mighty, dark, and sinister—erupted forth violently.
The Hun clan's Four Demon Saints, along with quite a number of the Hun clan's experts, stared at the Yan clan members with dark, sinister, cold sneers on their faces.
Yan Jin's gaze swept heavily over the Hun clan army and the sky-filling, vision-filling, heaven-surging black flames spreading outward from the sky. His expression was also exceedingly dark and overcast.
"All members of the Yan clan, heed my command! Heaven-Burning Grand Art!"
With Yan Jin's single command, countless experts of the Yan clan unfolded their formations with lightning speed. Terrifying pillars of Dou Qi light shot into the sky, overwhelming and blanketing.
"Hun Tiandi—if you want to annihilate my Yan clan, then let's see what you've got!" Yan Jin's gaze, icy cold, fixed upon the Hun clan army. He let out a cold, fierce roar. Instantly, heaven-surging flames erupted forth, as if they would incinerate and burn away even this very stretch of heaven and earth. Finally, they transformed into a rolling, surging sea of fire that swept violently toward the Hun clan.
"Soul Burial Art!"
Seeing this scene, Hun Tiandi chuckled lightly and waved his sleeve.
From within the spread, pervading black clouds behind him came the clattering, clanging sounds of chains. Then, with a series of hissing, swishing sounds, countless black chains shot forth from within the black fog, swiftly constructing an inescapable net of heaven across the sky.
Upon the chains, black fog churned and seethed. Atop the black net, twisted, malevolent faces suddenly formed and surged forth one after another, continuously emitting wretched, mournful, piercing screams.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
As the black net took form, the Yan clan's attacks also arrived with earth-shaking force. In that instant, under that terrifying collision, the very heavens and earth trembled violently. The earth also split open into enormous fissures, like bottomless abysses.
By the time the fearsome storm in the sky gradually dissipated, the black net had not collapsed. But the Yan clan's sea of fire had already been extinguished. The Hun clan's terrifying strength was, at this moment, displayed vividly and thoroughly.
Seeing this, a look of resolute determination flashed through Yan Jin's eyes. Taking a deep breath, he once again let out a great roar: "Yan clan, heed my command! Activate the clan-protecting grand array!"
As Yan Jin's sharp, fierce shout fell, the hearts of all Yan clan members trembled. The Yan clan's clan-protecting grand array—since ancient times, this was the very first time it had been activated. From this, one could see just how deadly and perilous the crisis the Yan clan faced this time truly was.
Seeing this scene, Hun Tiandi watched the Yan clan's every move with keen, intrigued interest.
The Yan clan elders were, at this very moment, all swiftly launching pillar after pillar of light, shooting them into this mountain range. Instantly, the mountain range trembled. Enormous pillars of light burst forth from the mountains, ultimately interweaving in the sky above to form an enormous, strange, and wondrous grand array.
At the same time, all members of the Yan clan each unleashed a wisp of flame from within their bodies, transforming it into boundless, inexhaustible energy that surged forth violently and was entirely poured and channeled into that grand array.
"Rustle, rustle, rustle!"
In that very instant, the light of the grand array blazed intensely. A terrifying, oppressive might—like a giant dragon that had slumbered for several thousand years—quietly, slowly awakened.
And as this oppressive might spread forth, the entire space of the Yan Realm began to tremble and quake violently. Vast, mighty energy converged unceasingly, endlessly toward the direction where the grand array stood.
"They still have a few tricks up their sleeves. If Nihility had come alone to attack, I'm afraid there would have been some trouble!" Outside the grand array, Hun Tiandi gazed at the taking-form array and chuckled lightly. At this moment, the oppressive might radiating from the grand array had already reached a level between early-stage and mid-stage nine-star Dou Sheng.
Had he not been so cautious, some unforeseeable accident truly might have occurred.
"They are indeed quite capable. What's more, since this Yan Emperor is a Dou Di who achieved the Dao through fire—alone, I truly would be somewhat lacking in strength and find it quite troublesome!"
Beside Hun Tiandi, a mass of black flame suddenly began to slowly writhe and wriggle, finally coalescing into the form of the Nihility Devouring Flame.
"Ten thousand flames emerge together, the first ancestor returns to his post!"
At this moment, Yan Jin's hands flew through a series of rapidly shifting hand seals. His expression fierce and twisted, he abruptly let out a sharp, furious shout.
"Rumble—"
As his shout fell, at the very center of the grand array, a whirlpool abruptly appeared. Endless, inexhaustible flames surged forth continuously and unceasingly from within. At the same time, an exceedingly ancient, primordial aura also slowly spread forth from within that whirlpool.
Finally, an illusory elder, clad in a crimson robe covered in flame patterns, slowly materialized within this stretch of heaven and earth.
"Weng!"
The moment that illusory elder's figure appeared, the souls of all the Yan clan members present suddenly and fiercely trembled and quaked. A pressure that originated from the very bloodline itself instantly made countless figures throughout the entire mountain range prostrate and kneel.
"The First Ancestor!"
Yan Jin took the lead. Numerous Yan clan elders, tears of fervent emotion streaming down their aged faces, gazed reverently and respectfully at that illusory figure. Fanatical zeal appeared in their eyes.
"A remnant soul of the Yan Emperor..."
Hun Tiandi and the Nihility Devouring Flame stared solemnly at that figure. A Dou Di expert—no matter how many years had passed since their death—was always worthy of being treated with the utmost gravity and solemnity.
"First Ancestor, protect our Yan clan!" Yan Jin knelt and prostrated himself in the sky above, shouting in a low, reverent voice.
"The Yan clan..."
Within the grand array, the Yan Emperor's remnant soul let out a low, quiet murmur. The passage of countless years had left his already scant remaining memories increasingly vague and confused. But fortunately, for this clan he himself had founded, he still retained some memory. That exceedingly ancient gaze slowly swept downward below, finally transforming into a murmur that was almost like talking to himself.
"To think it has come to the brink of utter annihilation..."
Hearing the Yan Emperor's words, expressions of shame appeared on the faces of Yan Jin and the others. For the descendants of later generations to have to disturb the remnant soul of their first ancestor simply to save their lives—this was a testament to their own incompetence.
None could offer any defense or excuse. They could only hang their heads even lower.
"So it's because there is a powerhouse like you here. No wonder the descendants of later generations have fallen to such a state."
The Yan Emperor did not speak further to the Yan clan members. He slowly raised his head and gazed at Hun Tiandi in the distance. Within his murky, turbid eyes, a look of astonishment surfaced for the very first time. Even though the other party was but a soul clone, he could still see through Hun Tiandi's true depths at a single glance—a supreme expert only a half-step away from Dou Di. And...
"To think it's actually the Nihility Devouring Flame... such distant, long-lost memories!"
"A single remnant soul, drifting in a dazed, muddled haze—to think the mighty, glorious Yan Emperor of a generation would fall to such a state. Why not simply yield to me? Let me bring you to witness the dazzling glory of the Dou Di realm once more!"
In the sky, the Nihility Devouring Flame gazed at the Yan Emperor's remnant soul and smiled faintly, his voice calm and even.
"Enough pointless chatter. My time is short!"
Hun Tiandi gazed coldly at the Yan Emperor's remnant soul. Raising his palm, a black hole took form within it. Then, at an astonishing speed, it expanded to a colossal ten thousand zhang in size, directly encompassing this entire stretch of heaven and earth within it.
Gazing at that pitch-black, light-devouring black hole—if one were to be caught and twisted within it, in the blink of an eye, even one's very soul would be reduced to nothingness.