The soul suddenly twisted, transforming into a pitch-black shadow that shot forward at astonishing speed.
Qian Anci had just finished guiding the departed souls, and the Soul Power within him was depleted.
For a moment, he couldn't react.
"Looking to die."
Castorice's icy voice rang out.
Before her words had even faded—
Behind Qian Anci, gray-white Death Qi erupted with a thunderous roar, and the enormous phantom of a Bone Dragon appeared out of thin air.
Shadow of Pollux!
The Bone Dragon opened its jaws, and a terrifying suction force burst forth.
The evil spirit didn't even have time to scream before it was forcibly swallowed into the dragon's maw.
Crack. Crack.
The bone-chilling sound of chewing echoed through the cavern.
The Bone Dragon lowered its head. Its ghostly blue soulfire swept over Qian Anci, then it dissolved into a vast cloud of gray mist and sank back into his body.
The cavern fell utterly silent.
Qian Anci dropped to one knee, gasping for breath.
He could feel that after the Death Dragon swallowed the evil spirit, the age of his First Soul Ring, [Dragonfall Ring], seemed to have increased by a fraction.
"Your Highness..."
Ya Yi's voice came from behind him.
Qian Anci slowly got to his feet without turning around.
He knew Ya Yi had seen everything: the Bone Dragon blotting out the sky, that inconceivable sight.
Qian Anci was still wondering how to handle the situation.
But the moment he turned around—
Ya Yi was kneeling on one knee, his forehead pressed to the ground.
"Your subordinate saw nothing.
The cavern has been cleared. Please instruct me on our next move, Your Highness."
What he shouldn't ask, he didn't ask.
What he shouldn't see, he didn't see.
Even if the Saint Son suddenly told him that he was actually from another world, he would have to pretend he hadn't heard.
Qian Anci watched him for a moment, then nodded slowly.
"Get up."
"Thank you, Your Highness."
Ya Yi rose and stood with his hands at his sides, as if the terrifying scene from moments ago had never happened.
"Let's go. We'll keep searching and root out every last one of these parasites."
Ya Yi immediately understood, but spoke with a hint of concern.
"Your Highness, your Soul Power is depleted. Perhaps you should let your subordinate—"
"Lead the way," Qian Anci cut him off. "We'll finish this quickly."
Ya Yi said no more and darted toward the cave entrance.
Blood Sacrifice Cavern, main peak of Black Stone Mountain.
The moment they stepped inside, the heavy stench of blood seemed almost tangible.
The entire mountain had been hollowed out, forming a vast cavern.
At its center, an enormous blood-red tree had taken root in a mound of corpses. Burls resembling human faces covered its trunk, each one silently wailing.
Beneath the giant tree sat a figure with his legs crossed. He was an old man in a dark-red robe, and blood vessels connected to the tree crawled across his exposed skin.
The instant he opened his eyes, the bloodlust filling the cavern seemed to freeze.
"Spirit Hall?" The old man grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow-black teeth. "You killed two of my brothers and still dared to come knocking.
Kid, you've got guts."
"Soul Saint."
Ya Yi leaned toward Qian Anci and explained in a low voice.
"Level seventy-four. His Martial Soul is the Blood Soul Demonic Tree, the ultimate mutation of the Soul-Devouring Vine.
Your Highness..."
"We attack together."
Before Ya Yi could finish, Qian Anci raised his right hand. The Scythe of Death took shape in his palm, cutting him off.
"He's devoured the life force of too many innocents. The longer we wait, the more likely something will go wrong."
The old man roared with laughter and sprang to his feet.
The Blood Soul Demonic Tree behind him shuddered violently. Countless blood-red vines burst from the ground like frenzied serpents, each tipped with a maw lined with razor-sharp teeth.
"Third Soul Skill, Sky-Soaring Blood Sea!"
The bloodlust in the cavern boiled over, transforming into a downpour of blood.
Wherever the blood fell, it ate through the ground, leaving smoking pits behind.
Ya Yi vanished from where he stood. With his Dark Crow Martial Soul in possession, he became a streak of black light, lunging straight for the old man's throat.
He was a level eighty-seven Soul Douluo; his strength in a direct fight far surpassed that of this Soul Saint.
But the old man merely sneered as his first Soul Ring lit up.
The face-like burls on the Blood Soul Demonic Tree's trunk all opened their eyes at once, firing a dense barrage of blood-red beams.
Ya Yi was forced to dodge. His body twisted in midair, but one beam still grazed his shoulder.
The Dark Crow Martial Soul let out a piercing cry. Ya Yi's left shoulder was instantly corroded black, and he staggered as he fell to the ground.
"Ya Yi!"
Gray light surged in Qian Anci's eyes as his First Soul Ring blazed to life.
"First Soul Skill, Guidance of the Underworld Path!"
Fine gray-white threads streaked with dark red tore through the blood rain, slashing toward the old man.
The old man didn't dodge. He let the threads cut into his chest. Blood welled up, but instead of letting them sink deeper, it stuck them fast.
"Kid, your Martial Soul is certainly strange."
The old man glanced down at the wound in his chest, his smile twisted and savage.
"But I've devoured the life force of more than three hundred people. My body is already immortal. You think a mere Soul Elder can kill me?"
He slammed his hands together. The Blood Soul Demonic Tree grew wildly, and countless vines intertwined into a blood-red palm that blotted out the sky, crashing down toward Qian Anci!
The might of a Soul Saint was truly terrifying.
Before the palm even reached him, the pressure of its Soul Power made the bones throughout Qian Anci's body groan under the strain.
The gap was too great. Between a Soul Saint and a Soul Elder lay an insurmountable chasm.
"Your Highness!"
Ya Yi roared and forced his way through the blockade of blood-red beams, throwing himself in front of Qian Anci.
His Dark Crow Martial Soul became a gigantic black wing, which took the full force of the palm.
Boom!
Ya Yi flew backward like a kite with its strings cut, crashing into the cavern wall as blood sprayed from his mouth.
The phantom of his Martial Soul flickered violently. He had clearly been gravely wounded.
"Obstructive fool."
The old man snorted and turned his gaze back to Qian Anci.
"Now it's your turn. Your life force... will taste far better than those commoners'."
Blood-red vines surged in from every direction, sealing off every path of retreat.
Qian Anci stood his ground, gripping the Scythe of Death tightly.
"Castorice."
He called to her silently.
"I'm here."
Her gentle voice answered at once, touched with concern.
"Anci, are you really going to use the Death Dragon's power again?"
"Don't forget. You only used it recently! You've used it so many times in such a short period. Your body won't be able to bear the strain."
"I know."
Qian Anci looked up at the blood-red palm gathering once more.
"But today, he has to die."
"...All right."
In an instant, a faint violet glimmer appeared in Qian Anci's pupils.
He slowly raised the Scythe of Death as the three Soul Rings beneath his feet surged into a wild rhythm.
Behind him, gray-white Death Qi churned. The phantom of the Underworld Wasteland appeared and vanished, its leaden sky and cracked earth seeming to manifest in this world.
For the first time, the old man's smile stiffened.
He felt death's threat emanating from Qian Anci.
"This is..."
Qian Anci spoke softly.
"Second Martial Soul, Pollux."
"First Soul Skill, Dragon Fall Breath."
Roar—!
A deafening dragon's roar shook heaven and earth. The Bone Dragon's phantom fully descended, opened its jaws, and unleashed a blast of gray-white breath.
It was neither flame nor frost, but the resentment left behind when the Dragon God fell—the source of death that brought all things to an end.
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