The Great Battle Erupts

Battle of the Heaven-Burial Mountain Range

Central Plains, Heaven-Burial Mountain Range.

The area is shrouded year-round in cold, black mist. Deep within the mountain range, a massive palace constructed from pitch-black boulders crouches like an ancient, ferocious beast, exuding a sinister aura that makes one's soul tremble.

This is the headquarters of the Soul Hall, the most powerful stronghold of the Soul Clan on the surface, responsible for harvesting souls and suppressing the west.

In ordinary times, this is a forbidden zone that no living soul dares approach, a place that strikes fear into the hearts of countless experts.

Yet today, the space above the Heaven-Burial Mountain Range was suddenly torn apart by an irresistible, colossal force!

Rumble—!

As if the firmament itself were collapsing, dozens of figures exuding world-destroying auras stepped out. Their majestic pressure swept down like a tsunami, scattering the black mist covering the mountain range into tatters!

"Enemy attack!!" A shrill alarm instantly resounded throughout the entire Soul Hall headquarters.

Countless Soul Hall guards and protectors looked up at the sky in sheer terror. When they sensed those terrifying auras—the weakest of which were at the Four-Star Spirit Saint level—and especially the towering figures at the lead who were causing space itself to collapse, they were all frightened out of their wits!

"Gu Yuan! Yan Jin! Lei Ying! You are courting death!" A roar filled with shock and fury erupted from the depths of the Soul Hall. The figure of Soul Hall Master Hun Miesheng shot into the sky, followed by several Soul Hall vice-masters and Heavenly Venerables. All were at the Spirit Saint level, yet before the allied army, they appeared so small and fragile.

"Hun Miesheng, today is the day your Soul Hall is annihilated!" Gu Yuan's voice was cold. Without a shred of wasted breath, he swung his hand down. "Kill! Leave no one alive!"

"Kill!!"

The allied army surged forward like tigers into a flock of sheep, erupting instantly!

There was no need for top experts like Lin Hai or Gu Yuan to make a move.

The Three Immortals of the Ancient Clan, the Seven-Star Spirit Saints of the Flame and Thunder Clans, and the four beast Spirit Saints under Lin Hai's command acted as seven torrents of destruction, charging into the ranks of the Soul Hall experts first.

A Seven-Star Spirit Saint against a One or Two-Star Soul Hall Spirit Saint was an absolute, crushing slaughter!

The Heaven-Burning Crocodile threw a punch, and dark red flames swallowed the heavens. A Soul Hall vice-master with the strength of a One-Star Spirit Saint didn't even have time to scream before being reduced to ash!

The Flowing Fire Sky Owl spread its wings, and ten thousand flaming feather arrows fell like a rainstorm, instantly clearing out a vast area of Soul Hall guards!

The Three Immortals of the Ancient Clan joined forces, their three majestic streams of Dou Qi sweeping across like giant dragons, tearing through the Soul Hall's meticulously arranged defensive formation as if it were made of paper!

The experts of the Flame and Thunder Clans were also incredibly valiant. Where fire and thunder intertwined, those of the Soul Hall were either dead or maimed!

The battle was almost entirely one-sided.

Although the Soul Hall headquarters possessed significant power, it was utterly unable to withstand the meticulously prepared and overwhelmingly superior combat strength of the alliance.

Buildings collapsed in swathes, formations shattered one after another, and screams rose and fell in succession.

Hun Miesheng's eyes were split with rage. He tried to intervene, but was intercepted by the Ancient Clan's Grand Commander, Gu Lie.

An Eight-Star Spirit Saint against a peak Four-Star Spirit Saint—the outcome was without suspense. Within a few exchanges, Hun Miesheng was heavily injured and captured by Gu Lie, his entire body's Dou Qi sealed.

In the span of a single incense stick, the once-fearsome Soul Hall headquarters had been reduced to ruins.

Every Soul Hall elder and Heavenly Venerable-level expert had been slaughtered, low-ranking disciples suffered countless casualties, and only the Hall Master, Hun Miesheng, was taken alive.

The allied army hovered above the ruins, their murderous intent soaring, waiting for the anticipated counterattack.

Sure enough, not long after the Soul Hall headquarters was destroyed, an aura far more terrifying and chilling than before erupted suddenly from the depths of the distant void!

"Hum—!"

That expanse of space was torn open like a curtain, and figures permeated with endless death and the wails of vengeful souls stepped out.

The leader wore gray-white robes; his face was handsome yet carried a trace of demonic, evil charm. His eyes were indifferent, as if all things in the world were but ants to him.

The aura around him was as deep as the sea, and it was not the least bit inferior to Gu Yuan or Lin Hai!

It was the Soul Clan Chief, a peak Nine-Star Spirit Saint—Hun Tiandi!

To the left of Hun Tiandi, a humanoid black flame burned fiercely, exuding a bizarre aura that devoured all things. It was the Void Devouring Flame, ranked second on the Heavenly Flame Ranking, and its strength had actually reached the late Eight-Star Spirit Saint stage!

To the right of Hun Tiandi stood four old men dressed in ancient black robes. Their faces were withered, and soul-fire flickered within their eye sockets.

These four shared a connected aura, chilling and profound; they were all terrifying existences at the late Eight-Star Spirit Saint stage!

They were the Four Great Elders of the Soul Clan, hidden deep within, whose seniority was even more ancient than Hun Tiandi's!

Behind these five top experts, the elite forces of the Soul Clan were also fully revealed:

- Six Seven-Star Spirit Saints with fierce auras!

- Five Six-Star Spirit Saints with sinister gazes!

- Thirteen Five-Star Spirit Saints!

- And eighteen Four-Star Spirit Saints!

The Soul Clan army descended, their terrifying pressure like the Nine Nether Hells arriving in the mortal world. It instantly stood toe-to-toe with the majestic momentum of the allied army, and that chilling, bizarre aura even seemed to hold the upper hand!

The entire Heaven-Burial Mountain Range seemed to fall into a state of absolute solidification.

The experts of both sides confronted each other across the air. As their gazes collided, space constantly cracked and reformed; the atmosphere was tense to the extreme.

Hun Tiandi's gaze first swept over the ruins of the Soul Hall. His eyes showed no fluctuation, as if it were merely an insignificant stronghold.

Then, his gaze fell upon Hun Miesheng, who was captured and sealed by Gu Lie, remaining just as indifferent.

Finally, his gaze slowly swept over Gu Yuan, Yan Jin, and Lei Ying, eventually locking onto Lin Hai, whose aura was the most mysterious and unfathomable of all.

"Gu Yuan, Yan Jin, Lei Ying..." Hun Tiandi's voice was flat and rippleless, yet it carried a heart-palpitating chill. "And one unfamiliar friend... It seems that having found a bit of confidence, you dare to come and pluck the whiskers of my Soul Clan?"

Behind him, the Void Devouring Flame let out a cackling, eerie laugh as black flames churned.

The Four Great Elders were as silent as withered wood, yet they exuded an aura of suffocating deathly stillness.

The members of the allied army wore grave expressions; although they had anticipated it, the peak power displayed by the Soul Clan still exceeded their estimates.

Four Elders at the late stage of the Eight-Star Dou Saint!

Adding the Void Devouring Flame and Hun Tiandi himself, the Soul Clan did not seem to fall far behind in terms of top-tier combat strength!

A peak battle that would sweep across the entire Dou Qi Continent was on the verge of breaking out!

Gu Yuan stepped forward, his voice like a thunderclap: "Hun Tiandi, your Soul Clan has acted against the natural order; today is the time to repay your blood debts!"

A strange arc curled at the corners of Hun Tiandi's mouth: "Blood debts? Just by relying on you lot? Very well, I had intended to let you live for a few more days, but since you have delivered yourselves to my doorstep... then all of you shall stay here."

As his voice fell, the terrifying momentum from both sides, suppressed to the extreme, collided with a roar!

The great battle erupted!