The Soul Realm, on a mountain in the Hun Clan.
Hun Miesheng, the Soul Hall Master, sat cross-legged atop a boulder, eyes closed and hands clasped before his chest in a strange hand sign.
Dense white currents of energy swirled around him, steadily flowing into his body.
He was already a Mid-Stage Five-Star Dou Sheng, yet he still didn't dare to make a breakthrough to the next stage.
He kept consolidating his foundation.
When you lived long enough,
you became a little afraid of death.
Just then, his tightly shut eyes slowly opened.
"What is it?"
"Hall Master, our branch hall in the Dead Soul Mountain Range was destroyed! The branch hall's Dou Venerables and protectors, along with the souls we'd collected over the years but hadn't yet had a chance to deliver—all of them are gone!"
An old man's figure appeared behind Hun Miesheng.
His voice brimmed with hatred.
He looked as though someone had dug up his ancestors' graves.
At those words,
a terrifying aura swept out of Hun Miesheng's body.
Uncontrollable killing intent surged upward!
How many years had it been?
This was the first time the Hun Clan had suffered such a loss!
To attack a Soul Hall branch was to show no regard for the Soul Hall!
And to show no regard for the Soul Hall was to show no regard for Hun Miesheng!
Across the Dou Qi Continent today,
there weren't many people Hun Miesheng feared!
"Who was it?!"
Hun Miesheng asked, murderous intent blazing.
Dou Qi surged wildly within him, making it seem as though the moment he learned who the culprit was, he'd rush off to take revenge!
And indeed, that was exactly what he was thinking!
"The Ancient Clan! It was the Ancient Clan!"
The Grand Heavenly Venerable ground out through clenched teeth.
Ever since the Xiao Clan had been wiped out,
friction between the Hun Clan and the Ancient Clan had been frequent.
But it had all amounted to little more than minor skirmishes!
No Dou Zong or stronger experts had ever died!
So neither side had pursued the matter.
It seemed to have become an unspoken understanding between them!
Who would have thought
that the Ancient Clan would be the first to break that understanding?
What were they trying to do?
Declare war on the Soul Hall?
If so,
then Hun Miesheng would accept their challenge!
But the Dou Qi around him slowly settled.
The Ancient Clan had a few tough opponents!
He couldn't beat them one-on-one!
But he couldn't lose face in front of his subordinates, either!
So
Hun Miesheng clenched his fists and gritted out, "Good! Very good! It seems the Ancient Clan really thinks our Soul Hall and Hun Clan are easy to bully!"
"Pass down my order! Effective immediately, any lone Dou Venerable from the Ancient Clan we encounter—no, anyone below Nine-Star Dou Venerable—will be killed without mercy! Also, bring back their souls!"
Hun Miesheng said coldly.
At the same time, he hesitated over whether he should report this to the clan leader.
But then he thought better of it. The clan leader had a thousand affairs to attend to!
He only worried about major matters!
He could handle a trivial little thing like this!
Jia Nan Academy was a prestigious institution founded by Mang Tianchi, an elder of the Lei Clan.
Even though it was located in the chaotic Black-Corner Region,
many forces and clans across the Dou Qi Continent still vied to send their most talented young members there to study and cultivate!
Every student who entered Jia Nan Academy could make tremendous progress there!
And the Heavenly Burning Qi Refining Tower was one of the main reasons Jia Nan Academy had become a legend!
Inside the Heavenly Burning Qi Refining Tower, Mang Tianchi had sealed a Heavenly Flame ranked fourteenth on the Heavenly Flame Ranking.
The Fallen Heart Flame.
This Heavenly Flame was extraordinary. It could help those at lower levels cultivate faster.
It was practically a cultivation cheat!
The students of Jia Nan Academy fought with all they had to obtain Fire Energy so they could enter and cultivate inside.
Then they would enter the Heavenly Burning Qi Refining Tower and cultivate like mad!
On this day, the students of the Inner Academy entered the tower to cultivate, just as they did every day!
The Inner Academy's elders also patrolled the tower as usual, checking that everything was safe.
"These reckless brats are willing to risk their lives just to get stronger!"
"Weren't you and I the same back then?"
"That's true. In this world, without strength, you're worse than dog shit! At least nobody dares to step on dog shit carelessly."
"Exactly. So if you want to protect yourself in this law-of-the-jungle world, you have to keep cultivating!"
Two elders walked through the Heavenly Burning Qi Refining Tower, chatting as they went.
Suddenly!
They both turned to look at the very center of the tower!
To their shock, wisps of powerful energy were spreading outward from within the energy barrier!
And... faintly, they could even hear deep, muffled booms!
"Damn it! Is that beast about to erupt again?"
One of the elders said uneasily.
"It shouldn't..."
The other elder hadn't finished speaking when—
Bang!
A surge of violent energy slammed hard into the barrier!
Then came a faint sound, like a heartbeat.
Bang! Bang, bang!
Bang-bang, bang-bang-bang...
The rhythm grew faster and faster!
The two elders' expressions darkened!
"Bad! That beast is attacking the seal again!"
"Quick, evacuate the students!"
The two immediately split up, heading to every cultivation chamber to evacuate the students.
Su Qian, an elder of the Inner Academy, sensed the disturbance and brought people to the Heavenly Burning Qi Refining Tower!
"Great Elder, what's going on? Didn't we reinforce the seal at the start of the month?"
An elder at the Dou Huang Realm asked with a frown.
"I don't know. Keep watch here. I'll go in and take a look!"
Su Qian knew that beneath the Heavenly Burning Qi Refining Tower lay a sea of searing magma!
A Heavenly Flame had been sealed beneath the tower!
For years, it had kept trying to break through the seal!
Each time, they had used the seal left behind by the Dean to avert disaster.
But for some reason, its reaction was especially violent this time!
Su Qian flashed forward and darted into the energy barrier.
But just then,
a Fire Python with a nearly transparent body, its full length impossible to see, a head a full zhang across, and invisible flames covering its entire body
suddenly surged up from below!
"Eee!"
The Fire Python raised its enormous head and let out a piercing sonic shriek. It opened its jaws wide and lunged at Su Qian!
Su Qian hurried back into the tower.
"Reinforce the seal!"
If he'd been even half a step slower, he would have become food for that Fire Python!
More than a dozen elders acted at once, pouring an endless stream of Fire Attribute Dou Qi into the seal's energy barrier.
Usually, this wouldn't take long.
The Fire Python would be suppressed!
But this time, it was as if the Fire Python had taken stimulants and had energy to spare!
It raised its head and slammed into the seal, once, twice...
It kept crashing into the barrier!
As if it wouldn't stop until it broke through!
At last!
Boom!
At the opening in the center of the Heavenly Burning Qi Refining Tower, a dazzling surge of energy welled up, impossible to suppress!
Like a bamboo split by a single blow, it smashed through the energy barrier!
Boom!
In an instant, a blood-red pillar of magma, dozens of meters wide, erupted from the center of the Heavenly Burning Qi Refining Tower, spraying everywhere!
At that very moment!
The energy between heaven and earth throughout the entire Inner Academy suddenly went into a frenzy!
Wherever the erupting magma splashed, the ground turned into a sea of fire in the blink of an eye!
Su Qian and the others all spat out blood when the seal failed.
They suffered injuries of varying severity,
and their auras weakened considerably.
Before you continue