The Might of an Emperor

Above the rain of blood, a black soul struggled desperately beneath the restraints of countless pure white chains, but it was all in vain...

"A Soul Clan member?"

"How is that possible? How could Gu Yang be a member of the Soul Clan?"

"For the past century, Gu Yang has guarded the ancestral shrine all along. How could he have become one of the Soul Clan? Could it have been a hundred years ago..."

The Ancient Clan experts who had joined the siege stared at that black soul and sensed the aura unique to the Soul Clan. Their hearts were filled with shock as countless thoughts raced through their minds...

Gu Yang felt his true body being restrained. Black mist surged around him, wrapping him within it,

but no matter what, it could not conceal the terror in his heart.

He struggled with all his might, yet those chains, which contained no apparent power, bound him tightly. No method could free him in the slightest.

"Lord Nihility, save me!"

Gu Yang roared desperately, turning his gaze toward the battlefield between Gu Yuan and Nihility Devouring Flame!

At this moment, Nihility Devouring Flame had completely lost the will to fight. Flames filled the sky, yet every exchange sent him violently retreating!

Hearing Gu Yang's desperate roar, Nihility Devouring Flame's body trembled. His gaze swept over, and when he saw those pure white chains, endless terror flashed through his eyes.

Chains of Rule!

He might mistake other things, but he would never mistake these chains. Back then, he and the other Heavenly Flames had been sealed within Heavenly Flame Square by Tou She Ancient God using the Chains of Rule for tens of millions of years!

"Dou Di... a Dou Di projection!"

Nihility Devouring Flame roared. The next instant...

His human form had already collapsed. A pitch-black flame, half the height of a man and seemingly capable of devouring everything, floated in midair.

"Gu Yuan, don't force me. Let me leave!"

Nihility Devouring Flame's true body trembled as it spoke.

"Dream on!"

Gu Yuan sneered and raised his palm. Energy tides emerged across the heavens and converged madly toward him. "Ancient Sage Treasure Codex, Heavenly Emperor Finger!"

A colossal finger, tens of thousands of feet tall and condensed from battle qi, descended upon Nihility Devouring Flame like a pillar supporting the heavens.

"You forced my hand!"

Nihility Devouring Flame's true body trembled. In that instant, even time and space seemed to be devoured by him. "Soul Technique, Void!"

With that final cry, Nihility Devouring Flame's true body transformed into flames that spread across a space far greater than ten thousand feet. Carrying the flames that filled the sky, it crashed head-on into Gu Yuan's heaven-reaching giant finger!

In an instant...

The two collided, but no earth-shattering explosion followed as expected. Instead...

Void!

There was no sound at all. Everything was devoured by Nihility Devouring Flame—even the collision of power itself!

Nihility Devouring Flame ranked second on the Heavenly Flame Ranking. Born of heaven and earth, how could his Soul Technique, Void, a technique of his origin, be so simple?

"Interesting!"

Feeling the power of his attack being erased, Gu Yuan's face took on a trace of gravity. Just as he turned his hand to gather another battle skill, suddenly...

A phantom figure appeared beside Gu Yuan!

The moment that phantom appeared, throughout the entire Ancient Realm...

Every member of the Ancient Clan below the Battle Saint realm shuddered, then abruptly raised their heads and dropped to one knee!

The boiling, trembling sensation in their bloodlines told them who that phantom was without anyone needing to say it...

The ancestor of the Ancient Clan, the Ancient Emperor!

A true super expert at the Dou Di level!

At that moment, battle qi began to surge throughout the Ancient Realm, and whirlpools appeared one after another. This was because...

Some people standing at the verge of breakthrough had their bloodlines boil at the Ancient Emperor's appearance, allowing them to break through their bottlenecks!

Gu Yuan, standing beside the phantom, felt it even more intensely.

He could feel the boiling of his bloodline. He could feel that although the person beside him was merely a phantom, if he truly wished to deal with him,

it would likely take no more than three moves!

The instant Nihility Devouring Flame, who was still attacking, sensed the phantom's appearance, he did not hesitate in the slightest...

He withdrew his power, and Soul Technique, Void, collapsed on its own.

Bang! Boom!

Gu Yuan's attack crashed straight through Nihility Devouring Flame's body!

In that instant, Nihility Devouring Flame's true body turned into countless tiny sparks. His aura fused with the surrounding space as he fled toward the barrier of the Ancient Realm.

"Soul Technique, Depart!"

"You came to my Ancient Realm and think you can leave just like that? Dream on!"

As the Ancient Emperor spoke, more heaven-reaching chains emerged from the void. Every chain seized a wisp of flame spirit from the black flames filling the sky!

Flame spirits were akin to sub-flames, but far purer than sub-flames. They were the origin of a Heavenly Flame.

Hundreds and thousands descended, locking down hundreds and thousands of flame spirits.

Gu Fang watched from below. He watched those pure white chains, watched the once utterly arrogant Nihility Devouring Flame be sealed so effortlessly,

and was infinitely shocked.

Only one sentence could describe Gu Fang's astonishment at this moment!

The might of a Dou Di was truly terrifying!

Gu Yuan, standing beside the Ancient Emperor phantom, felt it even more deeply. As a Peak Nine-star Battle Saint, he knew that a single step apart was the difference between heaven and earth!

Not to mention anything else, just this move from Nihility Devouring Flame...

Gu Yuan had no way of dealing with it.

This was Nihility Devouring Flame's escape technique, one that consumed his origin. Moreover, Nihility Devouring Flame had been born of heaven and earth,

and his aura could naturally merge with all things. Once he used it, capturing him was almost impossible.

But the Ancient Emperor...

did so with such ease, binding every one of Nihility Devouring Flame's flame spirits with barely any effort.

"Let me go! Don't force me!"

Nihility Devouring Flame roared.

"You speak shamelessly."

The Ancient Emperor murmured flatly.

"Then explode for me!"

Nihility Devouring Flame's hysterical roar rang out. The next moment...

Throughout the Ancient Realm, among the Black Annihilation Army, the elders, Dou Wangs, and even Battle Saints, some people's bodies began to crumble inch by inch,

their battle qi surging wildly.

This was the sign of self-destruction!

These...

were all Soul Clan spies. Nihility Devouring Flame had altered their souls and fused them with the original souls and bodies of Ancient Clan members. Only Nihility Devouring Flame's innate power could accomplish such a thing.

Even Gu Yuan, a Nine-star Battle Saint, would have been unable to detect them unless he personally conducted a thorough examination.

But now...

Every one of them had been exposed.

And all of them were on the verge of self-destruction. Those chosen by the Soul Clan held a certain status and were stationed in important locations.

Naturally, the loss of objects was secondary. The main concern was the people...

If a Dou Wang self-destructed, everyone within nearly a hundred miles would be affected, not to mention Dou Emperors, Dou Zongs, Dou Zuns, and Battle Saints above them.

How many clan members would die was simply unimaginable!

"Gu Yang," who was bound over there, also began to swell. This too was a sign of self-destruction.

"Gu Yang" had never imagined that his final lifeline would become the chain that claimed his life!

The moment Gu Yuan sensed the change in "Gu Yang," he shot over without hesitation.

For someone of "Gu Yang's" strength, if his self-destruction succeeded, the Ancient Sacred Mountain Range would likely cease to exist. There would only be the Ancient Sacred Basin afterward!

At the same time...

The Black Annihilation Army gathered here, as well as several generations of the Ancient Clan's younger members below, would all die.

"This isn't your true body. You cannot wield your peak strength. Either keep restraining me, or go save your clansmen." Nihility Devouring Flame roared, as though unleashing his final madness.

The Ancient Emperor said nothing. He merely dispersed his phantom body, then appeared atop the testing platform the next instant.

At the same time, the moment the Ancient Emperor departed,

the heaven-reaching chains binding Nihility Devouring Flame's flame spirits immediately began to tighten.

Bang, bang, bang...

Hundreds and thousands of explosions rang out as the flame spirits across the sky shattered!

They transformed into a sea of flames.