Dracarys

When Huadi appeared, Xia Linyuan raised an eyebrow slightly and said coolly, "Nyarlathotep."

The moment he met those indifferent golden eyes, an inexplicable sense of unease welled up in Huadi's heart.

After sizing Xia Linyuan up for a good while, Huadi said, "A guest is always welcome. May I ask what brings you to the seventh layer of my Abyss Plane?"

At that, Xia Linyuan couldn't help laughing. "What a fine 'guest is always welcome.'"

"When you invaded the Douluo Plane, you certainly didn't welcome us as guests."

Hearing Xia Linyuan's words, light flickered in Huadi's yellow eyes. "Are you a human from the Douluo Continent?"

"No. I'm a creation of the Abyss."

A flash of anger crossed Huadi's eyes. "If you're a creation of the Abyss, why are you siding with the humans and slaughtering my Abyssal Creatures?"

Xia Linyuan replied coolly, "I may be a creation of the Abyss, but I never said I was created by your Abyss Plane."

Huadi's pupils contracted violently. "Then, then you're..."

"Heh." Xia Linyuan chuckled. "Do you really think you're worthy of being called the Abyss?"

As soon as the words left his mouth, a sinister light blazed in his golden eyes. The instant his gaze intensified, a vast and terrifying pressure swept toward Huadi like a tidal wave.

A fearsome gale rose across the entire seventh layer of the Abyss, plunging its already bitterly cold temperature even lower.

An icy, despairing presence pierced Huadi's thoughts like an arrow.

At that moment, Xia Linyuan seemed to transform into a god high above the world, looking down at him with cold, unrestrained contempt. Huadi couldn't summon even the slightest thought of resisting.

Meeting those golden eyes—cold and utterly devoid of emotion, yet as mesmerizing as a whirlpool—Huadi shuddered violently, his expression changing drastically. His very soul trembled and wailed.

"Thud!"

Huadi's legs gave way. He fell to his knees and bowed his head to the ground, unable to move another inch.

He struggled to lift his head, but it was as if an invisible hand was pressing it down. No matter how hard he fought, it was useless.

Just how powerful was this man who called himself Nyarlathotep?

Huadi's yellow eyes were filled with terror.

After living for so many years, he felt an emotion he had never experienced before quietly rise in his heart. That emotion was fear.

The seventh layer of the Abyss fell utterly silent.

"If you hadn't crossed my bottom line, why would I have bothered coming all this way?"

Huadi knelt there in a wretched heap, pale and unwilling, drenched in cold sweat and unable to raise his head. He cursed inwardly. Which fool had provoked this big shot?

This time, Xia Linyuan was truly angry. Even he didn't know how long it had been since he last felt this way. The last time he'd been angry was... the last time.

"Carlos!"

Carlos understood. He beat his wings, and his body instantly grew to over a thousand zhang, nearly blotting out the sky. In the darkness, all that could be seen were his golden beastly pupils, hungry for slaughter!

"I'll give you ten minutes to hand over the three Emperor Rank Abyssal Creatures who teamed up to attack a human today. For every minute you're late, I'll wipe out one layer of your Abyss. Now get lost."

With Xia Linyuan's permission, Huadi didn't dare waste a moment. He was certain that Xia Linyuan wasn't bluffing when he said he'd wipe out a layer of the Abyss for every minute Huadi was late. He would absolutely do as he said!

Huadi flashed away, vanishing into the boundless darkness in the blink of an eye.

After Huadi left, indescribable black matter writhed behind Xia Linyuan's icy figure. He simply sat atop the mass of darkness.

Before long, Huadi reappeared in Xia Linyuan's sight, dragging along three bizarrely shaped Abyssal Creatures.

Xia Linyuan said coldly, "Nine minutes and fifty-seven seconds. Congratulations. You've saved your own life!"

Huadi was instantly drenched in sweat.

Xia Linyuan glanced coldly at the three strange Abyssal Creatures, who were trembling like sieves, then turned and left.

Xia Linyuan had ordered Huadi to bring the three Abyssal Creatures back within ten minutes. Yet after they arrived, he'd merely glanced at them before leaving. Huadi couldn't figure out what Xia Linyuan was thinking.

But the very next moment, Xia Linyuan gave Huadi the answer he wanted.

"Carlos, Dracarys."

With a roar, flames rained down from the sky, and the three Abyssal Creatures were burned away without leaving so much as a speck of ash.

Streams of gray energy drifted off toward the depths of the Abyss Plane. But suddenly, a streak of black light shot in from afar, crossing more than a hundred meters in an instant. It pierced the streams of gray energy, scattering them before erasing them completely.

Huadi stared blankly at the scene, utterly stunned.

He'd thought that even if Xia Linyuan killed the three Emperor Rank Abyssal Creatures, their energy would still be reclaimed by the Abyss Plane and used to create new Abyssal Creatures. He hadn't expected Xia Linyuan to go so far as to erase all of that powerful energy completely.

Those had been three Emperor Rank Abyssal Creatures! And now they were gone!

Although the Abyss Plane had plenty of top-tier combatants, and every layer's Abyssal Lord was at least as powerful as an ordinary human Titled Douluo, cultivation was incredibly difficult for Abyssal Creatures. Huadi would be lying if he said he didn't grieve the loss of three Emperor Rank Abyssal Creatures all at once.

"Mom, I want to train with Dad's army."

At the dinner table, Xia Linyuan spoke to Zou Yihan with a perfectly serious expression.

Zou Yihan furrowed her brows. "Linyuan, you're still young. You'll have plenty of chances to train later. The front lines are at war right now. You'd only cause trouble for your dad if you went. Be good."

"I won't cause Dad any trouble. I'm a Spirit Master, and I know there are lots of ordinary people in his army. If I go, I'll only lighten his burden." Xia Linyuan puffed out his chest, putting on an air of pride.

"No! Even if you are a Spirit Master, what can a little kid like you do to help? Your dad would have to worry about looking after you, too! Linyuan, you're a good, sensible boy. Don't make things difficult for Mom and Dad."

"Because I'm a sensible boy, I should go train with the army and lighten Mom and Dad's burden!"

The only way you'd lighten our burden is by not acting up, all right?

Zou Yihan felt a headache coming on. She didn't want to discourage Xia Linyuan's enthusiasm, but she couldn't just be blunt with him, either. After thinking it over, she said, "How about this, Linyuan? If you can reach Soul Grandmaster within a year and a half, I'll let you train with Dad's army. Deal?"

Reaching Soul Grandmaster in a year and a half? That would be easy!

"Deal!" Xia Linyuan agreed without hesitation.