Heaven Annihilating Seal, the Venerable Descends!

"Imperial Seal Art... Heaven Annihilating Seal!"

That cold, domineering voice, brimming with endless killing intent, exploded over Wutan City like divine thunder from the nine heavens!

Accompanied by that godlike proclamation, the enormous golden seal that blanketed the entire sky, inscribed with countless profound runes, suddenly accelerated as it descended!

"Rumble—!"

At that moment, space let out a groan of unbearable strain. Black spatial cracks flickered in and out of existence around the massive seal like a spiderweb!

That terrifying pressure, capable of suppressing the ages and annihilating heaven and earth, poured down like a tangible heavenly river, firmly enveloping the Soul Hall forces below!

"Thud!" "Thud!"

The first to bear the brunt were the dozen or so Soul Hall experts at the Dou Emperor and Dou Wang levels!

They felt as though an invisible hand had seized their very souls and viciously dragged them downward! Their bodies sank in unison beyond their control, nearly plunging straight from the air!

The black soul chains that had been wrapped around the golden barrier, radiating arrogant menace, shrieked miserably as if they had encountered their nemesis. They recoiled one after another, frantically gathering above Protector Wu and the others to form a thin, twisting, trembling black barrier!

"Hold it! All of you, hold it for this Protector!"

Protector Wu's sharp, grating roar resounded through the sky! He and another Hall of Souls Protector rushed to the front of the group at once, madly pouring their Dou Qi and soul power into the black barrier without holding anything back, struggling to sustain it!

Yet even so, the barrier formed by the combined efforts of more than a dozen experts was still on the verge of collapse beneath the slow pressure of the golden seal, emitting teeth-grinding cracking sounds!

"Dou Zong! And a peak Dou Zong at that! This brat... he is definitely a peak Dou Zong expert!" A monstrous storm had already risen in Protector Wu's heart!

The terrifying power contained within that golden seal, along with the soul pressure that seemed able to see through everything and leave him nowhere to hide, far exceeded the realm of an ordinary Dou Zong!

The ghostly flames in his eyes flickered wildly. While desperately holding on, he quietly drew a pitch-black Soul Clan Token engraved with a bizarre skull from his robes!

He injected a thread of soul power into it and silently sent a signal for reinforcements to a higher rank within the Soul Hall!

Only after doing that did he force down the fear in his heart. Raising his head, he shouted fiercely at the godlike figure, "Who exactly are you, sir?! I am Protector Wu of the Soul Hall! Do not bring trouble upon yourself by interfering in Soul Hall affairs! Are you trying to make an enemy of the entire Soul Hall?!"

He was trying to use the Soul Hall's name to stall for time and intimidate me?

Xiao Yao answered him with a laugh full of contempt.

"Heh. A petty Protector like you thinks he is qualified to represent the Soul Hall? You do not have the right to ask my name."

"You! Such arrogance!" Protector Wu burned with rage, but his eyes immediately shifted. Pointing at the cheering Xiao Family members below, he sneered, "You are the Xiao Yao they keep talking about? So that is it. Could you be the true power behind the Xiao Family? No wonder... no wonder this fallen family is so strange!"

"Enough with the act." Xiao Yao's lips curled into an amused smile as he cut him off. "I know you are stalling for time. I saw you crush that worthless little token just now. The only reason I did not stop you was because I wanted to see just how big a fish a little minnow like you could call over."

"I have been waiting specifically for you!"

"Boom!"

Those words struck Protector Wu's heart like a bolt of thunder from a clear sky!

He... he had noticed?!

Such a covert call for help had been seen through completely?!

An unprecedented chill that seeped into his bones instantly swept through Protector Wu's body! Looking at Xiao Yao's young face, filled with mockery and confidence, then at the fanatical worship in the Xiao Family's eyes below, he could no longer suppress the terror in his heart!

He could not hold on any longer! The pressure coming from that golden seal was growing more and more horrifying, as though it would crush all of them into dust the next second!

"Pro... Protector! What do we do?!"

"We cannot hold on much longer!"

The Dou Emperor and Dou Wang subordinates beside him had long since gone pale, screaming miserably.

Hearing his subordinates' wails, Protector Wu showed not the slightest trace of pity. Instead, an incomparably cruel and sinister grin flashed across his face!

"Kehehe... Do not panic! None of you panic!" he shrieked with laughter. "This operation was ordered directly by the clan to strike at the Xiao Family! This Protector has already contacted an Elder Venerable! All of you, hold on! For the glory of the Soul Hall!"

"Yes!"

Hearing that an "Elder Venerable" was coming, the Soul Hall subordinates seemed to have been given a shot of strength. A sliver of hope flared up again, and each of them desperately poured every last bit of soul power into the crumbling barrier!

But at that moment, a sudden change occurred!

Protector Wu and the Hall of Souls Protector beside him suddenly revealed vicious grins and struck at the same time!

Their target was not Xiao Yao in the sky, but... their own loyal subordinates behind them!

"Splat!" "Splat!"

Dozens of pitch-black chains pierced through the bodies of those Dou Wang and Dou Emperor experts from behind without warning!

"Protector... why... why..."

A Dou Emperor expert turned around in disbelief, staring at the grinning face with incomprehension and venom filling his eyes.

Protector Wu answered him with an even crueler laugh!

"Kehehe... Sacrificing yourselves for the Soul Hall is your honor!"

The two were incomparably skilled. Ignoring their subordinates' shock and curses before death, they formed hand seals and forcibly summoned over the dozen powerful soul bodies that had just left their hosts, filled with resentment!

They brutally fused every one of those souls into the black barrier above them, forming an even more sinister and stable formation!

"Boom!"

Reinforced by more than a dozen powerful souls, the black barrier that had been about to shatter became several degrees more solid, forcibly holding out a while longer!

Watching the inhumane scene of their kind devouring one another below, disgust flashed through Xiao Yao's eyes. He sneered, "Truly the Soul Hall's usual style—treating lives as worthless, sparing not even your own people."

He was about to directly activate the Heaven Annihilating Seal and crush this revolting swarm of flies once and for all.

Suddenly, Grandpa Lu's urgent voice rang out in his mind!

"Kid, wait! Someone stronger is coming!"

Almost at the same moment, the space above Protector Wu's head began to twist violently and bizarrely. A black spatial rift was slowly torn open by a pale hand!

A vast, boundless, terrifying aura far beyond that of a Dou Zong spread from within the rift!

Xiao Yao's heart jolted.

This aura... was actually... a Dou Zun?!