Er Tiansheng, Gu You Saint

"Miss, look at how overbearing and arrogant the Soul Hall has become." The white-haired elder let out a heavy sigh. "Everyone, obey my command! Form the Myriad Manifestations Snake Dance Formation!"

Using Dou Qi, he spread his words to every corner of Xuanhuang Fortress. Tens of thousands of Dou Qi streams shot into the sky, converging above the fortress into an energy barrier several zhang thick. The people in the meeting hall also rushed onto Xuanhuang Fortress's walls at top speed. Beyond the fortress, as far as the eye could see, black masses of figures filled the land. The sheer numbers made one's scalp tingle.

"Elder Feng Lin, the Soul Hall's purpose behind these actions is to harvest the souls of the dead, correct?" Standing atop Xuanhuang Fortress's walls, Yao Ling turned a deaf ear to the foul curses drifting over. To her, such unpleasant words were merely the barking of those about to die.

"That should be the case." Feng Lin spoke bitterly. "Forgive me for saying so, Miss, but the Northwest Continent truly does not have many resources. If not for the purpose of gathering souls, no expert would be willing to lower themselves by coming here."

"Mm, I understand. That brawny man in the magnificent golden armor who has been provoking us all this time must hold quite a high position, yes?" Yao Ling pointed toward him. "I see several guards at the Dou Zun realm by his side."

"The man Miss refers to is Shi Tian, the sect master of the Lion Nether Sect. Many of the specific decisions in this war were made by him. Attacking the Heavenly Snake Mansion headquarters was also his idea. It could be said that his hands are stained with the blood of my Heavenly Snake Mansion and countless living beings." As Feng Lin spoke, a trace of sorrow flashed across his face.

"To shoot the rider, first shoot the horse; to capture bandits, first capture their king. Today, I will take this chief culprit's life." Yao Ling chuckled softly.

With a thought, vast Soul power shot from between her brows and condensed into a nearly tangible human figure. The figure darted and shifted swiftly, evading countless Dou Techniques. Within mere minutes, it appeared only a few steps away from Shi Tian. In the next instant, under everyone's gaze, the figure exploded!

The terrifying explosion collapsed all space within a radius of a thousand zhang around the figure. Boundless, violent Soul power swept over the entire land. Even a Dou Zong expert, upon touching even the slightest trace of that soul force, would have both body and soul shattered to pieces in an instant! Such slaughter left even the fortress's most battle-hardened commanders staring in stunned disbelief.

Shi Tian, who had just been strutting about and cursing arrogantly, had both his body and soul reduced to dust by the explosion, scattering in the wind. As Yao Ling watched the dust that had once been Shi Tian drift away, she felt not the slightest pity for his fate. In her eyes, personally killing this warmonger who had stirred up war for his own selfish gain was a tremendous honor and merit.

Earthshaking cries erupted from within the fortress. These people had been suppressed for far too long. Many had watched their friends and family be massacred before their eyes, yet had possessed no strength to resist. They could only struggle to survive while waiting for their chance at revenge. Today, that moment had finally arrived! In an instant, countless streams of Dou Qi poured down like a torrential rain. Combined with that violent Soul power, they forcibly scattered the army formation outside the fortress that had been vast enough to blot out the sky!

"Miss is truly decisive. She killed the enemy commander in a single move." Feng Lin swallowed several times before slowly offering his praise. He asked himself honestly: even if he went all out, he could never have inflicted such horrifying casualties.

"Use war to end war, use weapons to end weapons. Needless sacrifices and deaths should be kept to a minimum." A note of compassion entered Yao Ling's voice. "Every grievance has its source, every debt has its owner. The calamity of the Northwest Continent ends here."

She withdrew all of her Soul power, then flashed forward and charged into the enemy formation. Several dozen Dou Zun experts, unwilling to fall behind, followed her into battle. Though arrows rained down over Xuanhuang Fortress's skies, they posed no threat whatsoever to experts of their caliber. The army that had been so arrogant moments ago now fell completely into rout.

Seeing the army formation collapse, nearly a hundred powerful experts strode through the air and appeared before them. The black-clothed elder at their head possessed an especially deep and formidable aura. Though he wore a sinister smile, there was not the slightest warmth in it.

"Er Tiansheng of the Soul Hall, Gu You Saint?" Xiao Yan called out when he recognized the leading expert as the Second Heavenly Venerate who had attacked during the siege of Starfall Pavilion some time ago.

"Yes. I did not expect anyone to still recognize this old man." The elder spoke, and the smile on his face became even more terrifying. "Little brother, you should not have come to ruin the Hun Clan's plans. We bear no ill will. We merely wished to make use of those souls who died unnatural deaths, nothing more."

"Pah! You actually have the nerve to say that!" Yao Ling could not help spitting at the elder. She immediately drew the Imperial Sword from her waist and slashed at Gu You with all her strength.

"Little girl, you certainly cause the most trouble. Why can't we turn swords into plowshares?" Gu You did not dare underestimate the might of that slash and hurriedly withdrew to evade it. At the same time, boundless hatred for Yao Ling surged within him. The Soul Hall and Lion Nether Sect had merely been using each other. He had intended to watch from the sidelines, then gather all the souls of the dead once Lion Nether Sect's army had suffered devastating losses. Yet Yao Ling had shattered even the souls of the fallen, leaving the Soul Hall with no gains at all.

This girl is far too ruthless. She even shattered the soldiers' souls, clearly determined to make the Hun Clan look bad and forcing me to act. As Gu You fought Yao Ling, he raged inwardly. So be it. This little girl is quite capable. If I can take her soul, it will at least make up for this loss.

After exchanging more than a dozen moves with Gu You, Yao Ling swung her sword fiercely and sent him flying over a hundred zhang away. Over the course of those exchanges, she had roughly gauged Gu You's strength. If she did not use Soul power, the two would surely fight to a standstill, and she might even end up at a disadvantage. Unfortunately for him, using Soul power to repel enemies was what she did best!

With a thought, she summoned her soul avatar. Her main body continued entangling Gu You in combat, and in the flashes of battle, neither could gain the upper hand for the moment. Yet that soul avatar displayed overwhelming might amid the chaotic battlefield. In little more than a dozen minutes, it killed several Dou Zun experts above the six-star level. The balance of the battlefield gradually began to tilt toward the Yan Alliance.

"A soul avatar? Heaven Realm Great Perfection? How is that possible?" Gu You's expression changed drastically. He had initially believed the avatar to be some Heavenly Grade Dou Technique secretly passed down by the Yao Clan. But now, seeing how fluidly the avatar unleashed Dou Techniques, virtually no different from her main body, he realized the truth. If this little girl's soul had truly reached the Heaven Realm Great Perfection, then he was destined to lose!

"Senior Gu You, are you really that slow to react?" Yao Ling sighed. With a thought, a tangible blast of Soul power shot forth and struck Gu You squarely in the chest, making him vomit a mouthful of blood.