Nine Mask Svāhā's First Battle

Before the vermilion gates of the Iron Blood Sect.

"Hah!"

Tang Ya suddenly let out a sharp cry, her arms concealed within her sleeves abruptly spreading out at her sides.

Splat! Splat!

Countless thick, jet-black, bizarre branches covered in dark-red demonic patterns burst from behind her.

Boom!

The plaque shattered beneath the branches' assault, exploding into a shower of wood chips.

"Enemy attack—!!"

The massive commotion instantly alerted the guards within the gates.

"Who goes there? How dare you cause trouble at the Iron Blood Sect!"

Two Soul Elder guards on night patrol rushed out. Seeing the strange black figure at the entrance, they shouted sternly.

Tang Ya slowly raised her head. From beneath her black mask came a chilling chuckle.

"Die."

Buzz!

Martial Soul Possession.

The phantom of a thick, grotesque tree radiating dense deathly aura emerged behind her.

Before the two guards could react, the ground suddenly split apart.

Several barbed black roots shot out like lightning, instantly piercing through their chests.

"Ugh... Aah..."

No blood sprayed forth.

Because the instant the roots pierced them, a terrifying devouring force erupted.

The two guards' bodies shriveled at a visible rate, turning to dust in the blink of an eye.

"Enemy attack! Sound the alarm!!"

From a distant watchtower, another guard shouted in terror.

"Prepare to meet the enemy at once—"

Splat!

Before he could finish, a black branch erupting from underground pierced straight through his throat.

The alarm still sounded.

The entire Iron Blood Sect instantly erupted into chaos. Countless torches lit up as large numbers of soul masters rushed toward the main gates.

Watching the Iron Blood Sect disciples swarm toward her, Tang Ya did not retreat. Instead, she let out a crazed laugh.

"Hahahaha... Come! All of you, come!"

"Feel my hatred... and my fury!"

Beneath her feet, three soul rings—two yellow and one purple—flashed in succession.

Her third soul ring suddenly lit up.

"Third Soul Skill: Forest Hell!"

Rumble—!

Centered on Tang Ya, the ground within a hundred-meter radius instantly shattered.

Countless thick black trunks burst from the earth. They grew wildly, twisted, and intertwined, instantly transforming the area into a Forest of Death thick with thorns.

The scene looked remarkably like the Hell Chaos Huo Yuhao had once used at the Duke Mansion.

"Aah! My leg!"

"Help! These trees are draining my life force!"

Those low-level disciples with one or two soul rings charging at the front were instantly swallowed by the sea of trees.

The branches mercilessly pierced their bodies, greedily absorbing their nutrients before growing even more lush and hunting their next targets.

Screams rose and fell as blood dyed the black bark red.

"Stop!!"

An enraged roar rang out.

A burly middle-aged man led a squad of elite fighters through the sea of trees.

His face was thick with flesh. After activating his Martial Soul Possession, his arms became as thick as a bear's. He was Tie Tang, the young sect master of the Iron Blood Sect.

Back then, he had accompanied his father, Tie Li, in leading men to destroy the Tang Sect.

Tang Ya removed her mask, revealing her true face.

Tie Tang's pupils contracted as he looked at the black-robed figure standing amid the forest of trees.

"You're Tang Ya?!"

"So you're the little fish that slipped through the net? And you dare kill members of my Iron Blood Sect?"

Tie Tang laughed in extreme fury, his eyes brimming with cruelty.

"You refused the road to heaven and barged into hell instead! Get her! Capture her—I'll flay her alive!"

When enemies met, their eyes burned red with hatred.

"Die!!"

Tang Ya's eyes instantly turned crimson.

She fiercely swung both hands. The Dark Blue Silver Tree behind her trembled violently as countless black branches shot toward Tie Tang like javelins, filling the sky.

"A pathetic trick!"

Tie Tang sneered. "I thought you were strong. You're only a Soul Elder, yet you dare come here to die?"

"Martial Soul Possession: Iron Arm Bear!"

"Third Soul Skill: Iron Arm Smash!"

A metallic sheen covered his arms as he swung them fiercely, intending to shatter the incoming branches with brute force.

However.

The instant his arms touched the branches, his expression changed drastically.

Splat!

Countless tiny spikes suddenly sprang from the seemingly fragile branches, instantly piercing the Iron Arm defenses he had been so proud of.

Then, a strange and domineering devouring force surged in through his wounds.

"What is this?!"

Tie Tang discovered in terror that his Soul Power and strength were rapidly draining away, his arms instantly becoming weak and limp.

After fusing with White Zetsu Cells and undergoing Martial Soul Evolution, Tang Ya had long since been reborn.

How could an inferior Soul Ancestor like him compare to her?

"Aah—!!"

Tie Tang let out a miserable scream.

Having lost all ability to resist, he was instantly bound tightly by countless black branches and lifted into the air.

Tang Ya looked at the enemy who had once been so arrogant, her eyes holding not a trace of pity.

"It's over."

Splat!

A thick spike pierced directly through Tie Tang's heart.

"Tie Tang!!"

A grief-stricken roar came from the Inner Court.

Boom!

A powerful Soul Emperor-level pressure swept across the entire area.

Tie Li, the Iron Blood Sect's sect master, finally arrived with two Soul King-level elders.

Looking at his son hanging from the tree with his eyes still open in death, Tie Li's eyes nearly split apart.

"You... you killed my son!!"

"Tang Ya!!"

Tie Li's eyes were bloodshot, murderous intent boiling from his body.

"Since you delivered yourself to us, we're spared the trouble of looking for you!"

"Elders, attack! Tear her into ten thousand pieces!"

"Yes!"

The two Soul King elders released their Martial Souls and attacked Tang Ya from both sides.

Yet faced with two Soul Kings, Tang Ya remained exceptionally calm.

Rather than meeting them head-on, she controlled the surrounding forest of trees.

"Split!"

Several inconspicuous branches suddenly shot out from blind spots. Using strange angles and the advantage of information disparity, they instantly wrapped around the elders' ankles.

"Devour!"

A terrifying devouring force erupted.

The two elders had merely been propped up by resources, their foundations weak. Before they could unleash their soul skills, their Soul Power was drained dry. They screamed as they collapsed to the ground and were swallowed by the forest of trees.

Instant kill!

"Trash!"

Tie Li cursed furiously.

His purple sixth soul ring lit up. Tie Li's body instantly tripled in size, transforming into a giant bear that radiated an indestructible aura.

He ignored the branches winding around him, allowing them to stab into his body with crisp clanging sounds.

"Die!"

Tie Li roared, throwing a punch carrying the force of a thousand jun that shot straight at Tang Ya's face.

At that moment, most of the branches under Tang Ya's control were occupied with killing the two Soul King elders. There was no time to defend.

No... there's no time!

Watching the iron fist expand in her vision and feeling the suffocating pressure of the wind.

Tang Ya's heart sank.

Is this... as far as I go?

No... I'm so unwilling...

Just as the iron fist came within half a meter of Tang Ya, close enough for her to see the savage blood vessels in Tie Li's eyes.

Suddenly.

A purple ribbon appeared from thin air like a spirit serpent, instantly winding around Tie Li's body.

The ribbon looked soft and delicate, yet it seemed to possess the weight of ten thousand jun.

"What is this?!"

Tie Li discovered in terror that his iron fist, powerful enough to split mountains and crack stone, had been forcibly halted in midair. No matter how hard he exerted himself, he could not move it another inch.

At the same time.

A low, hoarse voice, as though descending from the heavens, echoed through the night sky.

"Azure, Vermilion, south, Xuan, Void, north, Three, Jade!"

Buzz—!

The space above the Iron Blood Sect suddenly twisted.

A massive cross-shaped formation composed of nine purple rings appeared out of thin air. Within every ring flashed an ancient Chinese character.

Nine Mask Svāhā!

"Jade!"

The black-robed, masked Huo Yuhao stood atop a high rooftop, forming a hand seal with one hand.

At his command, the Masked Beast representing the character "Jade," [Celestial Maiden], swung its purple ribbon and tightly bound the Soul Emperor-level Tie Li.

That was the reason for what had just happened.

"Aaaah! Break open!"

Tie Li struggled madly, but before the ribbon, his brute strength was useless.

Huo Yuhao watched the scene from above.

He had not been idle while Tang Ya destroyed the sect.

Using Shadow Clones and Barrier Technique, he first sealed off the entire Iron Blood Sect, along with several accomplice sects nearby that might provide reinforcements, ensuring they could not escape.

Then, using Kamui, he infiltrated the treasury and took away every bit of the Iron Blood Sect's accumulated wealth.

Only after finishing all that did he arrive "just in time."

"Look! Who's that?!"

"He's that she-devil's accomplice!"

The surviving Iron Blood Sect disciples below spotted Huo Yuhao on the rooftop and began shouting.

"Deal with that one wearing the Fox Mask first!"

"Let's attack together! He's alone!"

Huo Yuhao's gaze beneath his mask was as cold as ice as he watched the insignificant rabble charge toward him.

"Useless rabble."

He lightly flicked a finger.

Eight pillars of light in different colors descended from the formation.

The other eight Masked Monsters, each with a different form and radiating terrifying auras, slowly descended into the mortal world.

"Azure!"

"White!"

Roar—!

Roar—!

The blue dragon representing [Azure Dragon] and the white tiger representing [White Tiger] descended from the sky.

Dragon breath erupted, and tiger claws tore through the air.

Boom! Boom!

The dozens of disciples who had charged forward did not even have time to scream before they were instantly reduced to ashes and mangled flesh beneath the torrent of Chakra-infused dragon breath and the White Tiger's Super Strength.

The battlefield was cleared in an instant.

"Y-you actually have helpers..."

Tie Li, trapped in midair, watched the scene as the last trace of hope in his eyes shattered.

He looked at the corpses strewn across the ground, then at the two terrifying beasts, and fell into despair.

"I curse your Tang Sect... May you all die miserable deaths in the future!!"

Huo Yuhao ignored him. You're cursing the Tang Sect. What does that have to do with me?

He merely turned to Tang Ya.

"Do it."

Tang Ya took a deep breath. The fear in her eyes faded, replaced by the exhilaration of avenging a great wrong.

"Yes!"

She abruptly raised her hand.

The thickest trunk of the Dark Blue Silver Tree shot out like a black spear, carrying an unstoppable force.

Splat!

Bound by the Celestial Maiden's ribbons, Tie Li had nowhere to dodge.

The trunk pierced straight through his chest, pinning him dead to the ground.

His life force was drained dry in an instant.

The once-arrogant sect master of the Iron Blood Sect turned to dust and scattered away, filled with bitter resentment.

"Father... Mother..."

Tang Ya dropped to her knees in the pool of blood, tears streaming down her face as she looked up at the night sky.

"I... avenged you!"

Just then.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Four streaks of light sped over from four different directions.

They were the sect masters of the four major sects in the surrounding area, who had finally arrived after sensing the disturbance.

Four Soul Emperors!

At the forefront, flames flickered from the wings behind an elderly man. Seeing the carnage below, his rage surged to the heavens.

"You audacious villains!!"

"You actually dared to destroy our ally, the Iron Blood Sect!"

"I'll make sure you die miserable deaths right now!!"