Chapter 187: The Ancient Dragon Clan Makes Its Move!
Heaven-surging death aura pervaded the air. The Yan clan members stared warily at the surrounding black qi.
They could feel that death aura seeping into their bodies through every possible pore and crevice. This seepage—neither Dou Qi nor soul power could block it.
Feeling the life force draining from within him, thinking that the Yan clan had already begun its slow, creeping march toward death, Yan Jin was instantly overcome with violent, uncontrollable fury. He roared at the Hun clan's forces: "Even if our Yan clan is doomed—don't think your Hun clan will get off easy!"
"All elders—follow me! Kill!!!"
"Kill!!!"
Not far away, hearing Yan Jin's furious roar, all the Yan clan experts' figures directly shot forth explosively, charging toward the Hun clan's experts with resolute finality and raging fury.
The Dou Qi within their bodies all began to boil and seethe at this moment. And as their Dou Qi boiled, their auras also skyrocketed and surged. This—would be their final battle.
At this moment, they no longer held any hope of escaping alive. They only wished to drag as many of the enemy down with them as possible.
"Thinking of mutual destruction?" Seeing the Yan clan members' auras surge dramatically after using secret techniques to boil their Dou Qi, Hun Sheng Tian sneered coldly. "I'm afraid you don't have the right!"
"Death Realm Grand Array!"
With the four's furious roar, the pitch-black death qi in the sky immediately began to seethe and churn.
And the Yan clan members discovered that the Hun clan forces had long since flown outside the grand array. As they retreated, cold, mocking sneers remained on their faces, as if jeering at their pathetic overestimation of their own strength.
"Come back here!"
"Hun clan—you filthy wretches! Cowardly, gutless weaklings!"
Seeing the Hun clan forces withdraw, the Yan clan experts who had prepared for mutual destruction immediately let out howl after howl of furious, unwilling rage. They could feel that within the surrounding space, the death qi seemed inexhaustible, endlessly eroding the life force within their bodies.
If this continued unchecked, they would very soon die utterly worthless, meaningless deaths.
"Clan Leader—we must break out of here as quickly as possible!" The Yan clan's Fire Spirit Fairy, her enchanting, alluring face filled with grief and sorrow, spoke. Her aura was somewhat sluggish and obstructed—she had clearly sustained some injuries in the earlier great battle.
"Clan Leader, make your decision quickly. We don't want to die here so senselessly, so pointlessly."
"Yes, Clan Leader! We'll follow your lead!"
Hearing the wave of echoing, assenting voices around him, tears of blood-red crimson streamed down Yan Jin's eyes.
The death aura within the Death Realm Grand Array could completely isolate and block soul perception. These people were absolutely prepared to use their very lives to seek a way out—all for that single, slim chance of dealing a blow to the Hun clan.
"Good! In a moment, stick close to me! I will definitely lead you out! The Hun clan can forget about leaving our Yan Realm unscathed!" Wiping the tears from his eyes, Yan Jin spoke with a face full of fury.
"Clan Leader..."
"Fizz! Fizz!"
The others were about to speak further when, suddenly, within the death aura filling and pervading the world around them, faint sounds of tearing wind rang out. Then, countless black spears, saturated with dense, rich death aura, shot forth violently from all directions.
"Careful!" The sudden attack threw the crowd into disarray. Those black spears carried such dense, concentrated death aura that even Dou Qi defenses could not achieve much effect against them.
Very quickly, some Yan clan experts were brutally pierced through the body by the black spears. In the blink of an eye, their bodies collapsed and crumpled, transforming into piles of withered bones. Wisp after wisp of black qi seeped out from within those bones.
"Damn it!"
Seeing this, Yan Jin cursed under his breath. With no time to grieve, he roared furiously: "Everyone, follow my lead! Follow me and fight our way out!"
"Blazing Flame Burning Heaven!"
Yan Jin raised his hand. An indescribable, terrifying ripple of energy spread madly and violently across the surface of space.
For a moment, it actually blasted open the dense, concentrated death qi. And the Yan clan members seemed, in that instant, to glimpse the dawn of hope.
While the Hun clan and Yan clan were locked in great battle, and the attention of the Central Plains and the remaining imperial clans was focused on the Bodhi Ancient Tree—within the Beast Domain, a small portion of power was also quietly, silently on the move.
In a canyon in the northwest region of the Central Plains—this canyon was several thousand zhang long, its depths unfathomable, the bottom utterly impossible to see at a single glance. Sinister winds howled, and black mist coiled and pervaded.
Following the steep, precipitous cliff walls downward, where the black mist pervaded, all living things were still and silent. Not even weeds grew. It was a realm utterly devoid of life.
This place, ordinarily, would never see any visitors. Even mercenaries who loved to roam and wander would never come to such a place to seek treasure.
But if one continued downward, ever downward—within that unfathomably deep canyon, one would find a spatial barrier. And within that spatial barrier, clusters of pitch-black palaces, like giant beasts, crouched and lay in wait deep within this canyon.
Within the black mist, the palaces loomed faintly, now visible, now hidden. And just then, several black-robed figures shot out from the palaces, revealing their silhouettes within the black mist.
They were all draped in black robes, their auras exceedingly powerful. Low, muttered curses, carried by the gusts of sinister wind, gradually drifted and dispersed.
This place was precisely a branch hall of the Soul Hall in the Central Plains—and an exceedingly important one at that: the Earth Hall.
The Soul Hall's people truly had no sense when it came to choosing locations. All of them were in some exceedingly desolate, forsaken corner of the Central Plains. If, one day, some brave soul wanted to try their luck raiding the Soul Hall—any such godforsaken, bird-droppingless place would, nine times out of ten, have a branch hall hidden there.
In the sky above the canyon, where black mist pervaded and coiled, a rift suddenly split open. A figure clad in green robes soundlessly, without warning, stepped out from within that rift.
The green-robed figure raised his head and swept his gaze over the palace complex before him. Chuckling quietly, he said, "So this is the so-called Soul Hall?"
"Indeed—a bunch of rats that can't stand the light of day. If His Majesty were still here, would there be any need for such caution?!" The green-robed man was none other than Zhu Zhou of the Ancient Dragon Clan—a six-star Dou Sheng.
Since such a golden opportunity had presented itself, how could Jiang Yun possibly let slip this perfect chance to seize the Soul Hall's thousand-year accumulation?
What was more, without the Soul Hall's thousand-year accumulation, if the Nihility Devouring Flame wanted to advance to the Emperor Realm soul—before annihilating the Shi clan and the Ling clan, he could forget about it.
Zhu Zhou swept his gaze over the Earth Hall. Smacking his lips, he spoke with a face full of regret: "A single three-star Dou Sheng... presumably the Vice Hall Master of the Soul Hall. Well, it'll have to do."
Having spoken, a large, broad palm extended from beneath Zhu Zhou's sleeve. Spatial power instantly sealed off the entire mountain range.
"Who goes there—!" A sharp, piercing howl rang out from within the Earth Hall.
Hearing this, Zhu Zhou sneered coldly and paid it no mind. His palm waved casually. Then, as if transforming into a black hole, it tore and swallowed all the heaven-and-earth energy within this canyon. A palm a full thousand zhang wide twisted and shifted, gradually taking form.
Saintly might pervaded the air. The Protectors and Heavenly Venerables below felt as if they had fallen into an icy abyss. That vast, mighty aura—like the might of the heavens themselves—made it utterly impossible to muster even the slightest will to resist. Their faces were filled with sheer terror, their eyes shrouded in despair and unwilling resentment.
"A Dou Sheng..."
Boom!
The giant palm descended. With an unstoppable, irresistible force, it swept through like dried weeds and rotten wood. Everywhere it passed, space shattered and crumbled inch by inch. Not even a miserable wail could be uttered. Whether Protector, Honored Elder, or Heavenly Venerable—beneath this giant palm, in the blink of an eye, they were reduced to fine, flying dust.
The clusters of palaces within the mountain range—the countless, sturdy, pitch-black chains surrounding them—all, in this single instant, disintegrated, snapped, and shattered... Everything sank into utter annihilation!
The surrounding deep ravines all burst open into enormous fissures. The earth shook and the mountains quaked, as if an earthquake had struck.
"Wretch—!"
That voice from before rang out once more. Only, now, it was tinged with flustered, sputtering fury.
"Have you eaten the heart of a bear and the gall of a leopard?! To dare assault my Soul Hall! Today, this Hall Master will make sure you never leave!"
The instant the palace complex crumbled and collapsed, several powerful auras erupted forth. Among them, most were peak Dou Zuns. The most powerful—was a three-star Dou Sheng.
At this moment, the Vice Hall Master of the Soul Hall stared at Zhu Zhou, grinding his teeth so hard they nearly shattered. His eyes practically wanted to spit fire. He had been caught completely off guard just now and had not had the slightest chance to intervene and rescue anyone.
As a result, he could only watch helplessly as the entire Earth Hall was directly blasted into sunken, ruined oblivion.
"For destroying my branch hall—then die!" The flustered, furious Vice Hall Master of the Soul Hall had no time to observe the situation. A savage, ferocious look surfaced on his face. With a flick of his finger, a stream of black qi shot forth violently, ultimately transforming into a black dragon that snapped its jaws at Zhu Zhou to swallow him whole.
Then, his great hand also shot fiercely toward Zhu Zhou to seize him. Overwhelming, sky-covering black mist erupted violently from between his five fingers, transforming into five enormous chains that, with a great clattering and clanging, shot violently toward him.
"Tch—flashy, gaudy attacks!"
Yet faced with this supposedly fatal, lethal technique of the Soul Hall's Vice Hall Master, Zhu Zhou merely curled his lip in disdain. Then, his figure flickered. Silently, soundlessly, he crossed through space and appeared directly before the Vice Hall Master. Under the other's horrified, despairing gaze—a single punch, utterly without any flashy, fancy tricks—directly shattered and broke through every last one of his protective measures.
A terrifying force erupted. Under the witness of the several remaining peak Dou Zuns—their Vice Hall Master was directly blasted apart by a single punch from Zhu Zhou.
Boom—in the truest, most literal sense. He was directly reduced to a flickering soul light, his body convulsing and trembling.
"Ah—can't let this go to waste, either!" With Zhu Kun's explicit instructions, Zhu Zhou naturally would not make the low-level, elementary mistake of letting the other party's soul escape. He directly seized the soul and sealed it within a jade bottle.
The entire sequence of actions flowed as smoothly as drifting clouds and flowing water, without the slightest hitch or obstruction. Clearly, he had undergone specialized, targeted training.
"Ho-how is this possible?!"
Witnessing the Vice Hall Master's death, the remaining Soul Hall Dou Zuns were scared out of their wits. Even the Vice Hall Master had died—and died so cleanly and crisply at that! What possible use could they be? Immediately, they tore open space, wanting to flee for their lives.
But the spatial seal Zhu Zhou had laid down—how could it possibly be so easily broken? They tore and tore for an eternity, yet space showed not the slightest sign of movement.
Very quickly, they followed in the Vice Hall Master's footsteps and became spoils of war in Zhu Zhou's hands.
"Really can't take a beating!" After easily dealing with a few of them, Zhu Zhou curled his lip with a sense of dissatisfied, unfulfilled craving. Then, he slowly descended toward the ground.
At this moment, the Earth Hall had already become a field of broken walls and ruined rubble. There was practically not a single living soul left.
Where the original great hall had stood, countless intertwining, winding black chains were now exposed. At the ends of those chains hung countless clusters of soul light.
"I never imagined there was actually such a peculiar method for enhancing soul power. Even my own soul feels an itching, restless urge stirring within me."
Zhu Zhou gazed at those tens of thousands of withered, listless soul bodies and couldn't help but let out a sigh of wonder.
Then, suppressing the greed rising in his heart, he swiftly seized the soul origin within and silently, soundlessly departed from this place.
In order to let the Taixu Ancient Dragon Clan appear on the stage somewhat later and seize even more advantageous conditions, this time he had not even used Dou Qi at all. It had been purely physical body strength and spatial power.
He was absolutely certain—even if the Hun clan racked their brains until they exploded, they would never, ever suspect the Ancient Dragon Clan.
The Corpse Burial Mountain Range was situated at the intersection of the southwestern region of the Central Plains. Due to the topography, the yin qi here was exceptionally heavy, dense, and concentrated.
And within that yin qi was also mixed with a thick, dense corpse qi. This Corpse Burial Mountain Range was also a strange, eerie mountain range formed from graves and tombs. Under normal circumstances, human shadows were practically impossible to find here.
The Soul Hall's Human Hall was hidden within this very Corpse Burial Mountain Range.
At the center of a stretch of ground completely covered in skeletons and bones, a black great hall stood towering and erect, like a primordial ferocious beast crouching upon the ground. Wave after wave of sinister, chilling, terrifying flavor slowly spread forth, rippling and undulating within this sealed-off stretch of space.
Within the black great hall, countless exceedingly thick, massive black chains extended outward, plunging deep into the ground.
Mm... The Soul Hall's architectural style was exceptionally, remarkably similar across the board. At a single glance, one could tell they hadn't put any real thought into the design.
And just as the Earth Hall was under attack, Zhu Yu's figure also quietly, silently arrived at this place. The Earth Hall had been dealt with by Zhu Zhou, a six-star Dou Sheng. For this Human Hall, the one who had come was him—a five-star Dou Sheng.
"Only a single two-star Dou Sheng... Better finish the task His Majesty assigned as quickly as possible."
Sensing that there was only one two-star Dou Sheng within, Zhu Yu wasted no further words. The same methods, the same steps—in less time than it took to burn a single stick of incense, the Soul Hall's Human Hall was also utterly eradicated.
After digging out the soul origin, Zhu Yu soundlessly, tracelessly departed from this place—unknown to gods, undetected by ghosts.
In a single day, every major branch hall of the Soul Hall across the Central Plains—all, together, suffered utter, annihilating catastrophe. Among them were not only the Earth Hall and the Human Hall—all those important branch halls were swept clean and emptied in a single stroke.
Since they had already made their move, Jiang Yun and Zhu Kun naturally would not let this one and only opportunity slip by.
Apart from the Heavenly Hall, which was likely guarded by Hun Mie Sheng himself, of the remaining active branch halls—the Ancient Dragon Clan did not let a single one escape. To ensure absolute, foolproof certainty, this time, not even Dou Zuns were deployed.
Everything was handled entirely by Dou Shengs. The sheer extravagance and lavishness of the lineup—the Soul Hall could at least be said to have died a worthy death.
The Bodhi Ancient Tree Battlefield.
Within the void, several figures each occupied their own position, quietly watching the struggle below—which, in their eyes, was nothing more than 'children' squabbling.
"Gu Nanhai—that's your Gu clan's precious daughter, isn't it? She's got quite the skill!" A burly, thick-browed man with a lightning marking at the center of his brow gazed at Gu Xun'er below and asked Gu Nanhai beside him in a quiet voice.
"It is indeed Xun'er. Brother Lei Chen, you flatter us," Gu Nanhai said, constantly watching Gu Xun'er's every move. Seeing her manipulating the Golden Emperor Burning Heaven Flame and beating the geniuses of the various clans until they fled with their heads in their hands, he stroked his long beard with a face full of smug satisfaction.
"To have subdued the Golden Emperor Burning Heaven Flame at such a young age—she is indeed blessed with extraordinary talent. Only..." Lei Chen observed Gu Nanhai's smug, self-satisfied expression and inwardly grumbled. His eyes darting, he spoke with a hint of regret: "Only... her taste seems rather... questionable."
"Hahaha!"
Hearing Lei Chen's words, Gu Nanhai's expression instantly shifted. Down in the field, after defeating the many powerful opponents, Gu Xun'er had once again sidled up beside Xiao Yan, speaking to him with soft, gentle, endlessly compliant tenderness.
Watching this scene, the members of the various clans all roared with laughter.
The Gu clan had been exceedingly domineering and assertive in recent years, bearing the reputation of the number one imperial clan. And now, they were producing geniuses in successive waves, stirring even more envy and jealousy. Now that there was a chance to enjoy a good joke at their expense—the crowd naturally would not let it pass.
Xiao Yan, though he had now broken through to Dou Zong and was barely even in cultivation with the geniuses of the various clans, and even relied on his ability to fuse heavenly flames to be an existence not to be underestimated among the crowd—
in their eyes, Xiao Yan was still merely a 'commoner' with passable talent. The gap in status between him and Gu Xun'er was simply like the difference between heaven and earth.
For Gu Xun'er to have no interest in the geniuses of her own Gu clan, and instead go out seeking a 'wild man'—in their eyes, what was that if not the biggest joke under heaven?