You Don't Understand the Soul Hall

"Unfortunately, he doesn't understand Han Feng."

Hearing his Dragon Lord say this, Old Turtle's expression turned strange. He thought, He doesn't understand him? Then how do you understand him?

Old Turtle asked, "Master, should we seize the Heavenly Flame now?"

"Not yet. The 'protagonist' hasn't appeared yet."

Above the treetops, the Soul Hall Protector's figure flickered like a ghost, his sinister laughter lingering endlessly over the road.

"Kill!"

Faced with Protector Lin's sinister demand for surrender, Zhou Ziyang did not hesitate in the slightest. With a grim expression, he shouted sharply as immense Dou Qi surged from within him. In an instant, he transformed into his true form—a gigantic Six-eared Spirit Python hundreds of meters long. Its powerful aura blasted the fallen leaves and debris from the surrounding ground backward. Judging by this imposing presence, his strength had likely reached the level of a half-step Dou Zong.

Seeing Zhou Ziyang still resisting, Protector Lin said coldly, "If you're waiting for reinforcements from the Six-eared Spirit Python Empire, then stop wasting your effort. Your distress signal cannot get through. This place has long been sealed by a special spatial force. You cannot escape."

Sure enough, Zhou Ziyang had crushed the soul jade slip hidden between his teeth some time ago, yet no reinforcements from the empire had arrived.

He had thought he was the hunter, only to discover that he was the prey. Worse still, the real hunter had lured him into a fatal trap long ago, slowly carving him up and eating him piece by piece.

"Stop! The Heavenly Flame isn't on me. I left it within the imperial royal palace!" Zhou Ziyang was whipped to the ground by a chain, scales flying from his body and several of his teeth knocked out.

Although he possessed the strength of a half-step Dou Zong, he was utterly incapable of fighting back against a true Soul Hall Protector. Moreover, it was obvious that Protector Lin was merely toying with him like an old man teasing a child, taking pleasure in torturing him to death. Every attack precisely avoided vital areas, as though he intended to slice the scales from Zhou Ziyang's body one piece at a time.

However, Protector Lin did not pause his attacks in the slightest at Zhou Ziyang's words. "Hehehe, Venerable Yao said that if the Heavenly Flame isn't on you, then kill you. He will find another way to obtain the Heavenly Flame from the Six-eared Spirit Python Empire. So now, you can die in peace."

He did not fall for it at all!

Soul Hall Protectors had all climbed their way up step by step. They had hunted at least eight hundred, if not a thousand, souls. Zhou Ziyang's little trick was as laughable before him as a worn-out joke.

Puff! Puff! Puff! Three soul chains formed from soul power instantly nailed Zhou Ziyang to the ground. Protector Lin had even broken his bones, leaving him sprawled on the ground and howling in agony.

"Don't... stop... I'll give it to you." Zhou Ziyang raised his snake tail, then shoved it into his mouth and pulled a special storage ring out from his flesh.

Seeing Zhou Ziyang finally take out the storage ring he had hidden away, Protector Lin finally stopped. He sneered, "Aren't you asking for it? You refuse to hand it over unless you get beaten first. Open the soul imprint."

Storage rings all possessed special soul locks. Forcing one open would cause spatial collapse and could very likely destroy the items inside. That was why Protector Lin had kept torturing Zhou Ziyang, forcing him to take the item out himself.

Zhou Ziyang gritted his teeth, but he had no choice. He obediently opened the seal on the storage ring, and a familiar medicinal cauldron appeared. A yellow flame was sealed within it.

Even Protector Lin was somewhat surprised upon seeing the Black-Yellow Flame sealed inside the medicinal cauldron. "Hm? This medicinal cauldron... can actually seal a Heavenly Flame?"

"I've already handed over the Heavenly Flame. Let me leave. If you kill me, the Nine Nether Deep Earth Python Clan will not let you off." Zhou Ziyang's aura was weak, and he had been tortured until he no longer even resembled a snake.

"Why are you so naïve?" With a thunderous boom, Protector Lin stepped through the air, moving with a speed akin to teleportation. He struck Zhou Ziyang's snake head with one palm. "You're an outsider who knows too many secrets. Whether you have the Heavenly Flame or not, you must die. You don't understand the Soul Hall."

"Aaaah!!"

Protector Lin's hand became a claw, and with one fierce tug, he ripped out Zhou Ziyang's soul and devoured it. He also extracted the power of his bloodline. "Eh? There's even a magic core. Hehehe, a half-step seventh-rank magic core is quite nice."

Protector Lin smiled faintly, greatly satisfied with his harvest. Looking at the medicinal cauldron containing the Heavenly Flame, he swept his sleeve and collected both the cauldron and Zhou Ziyang's storage ring before departing into the distance.

"Master?" Old Turtle looked at Zhu Jin. The Heavenly Flame had already been taken. Were they still not going to act?!

"Not yet. He won't get far." Zhu Jin clenched his dragon claw so tightly that his fingertips turned white. He did not act immediately, but forced himself to remain calm, because he knew he had only one chance. If he failed to gain something substantial from this opportunity, he would have no more chances.

Things were different now. The timeline had changed, and he could no longer cling to someone powerful. He had to consider how to grow stronger, how to survive the final world-destroying war, and even how to clear the Dragon Island dungeon without Xiao Yan.

And the dragon scale his father had given him was his only bargaining chip!

Sure enough, Protector Lin did not travel far before stopping atop a mountain peak. Not long after he appeared, a streak of sea-blue suddenly emerged in the sky. Scorching waves like a burning sea engulfed the heavens, and a spatial rift appeared.

"Hehe, you did well." As the soft laughter fell, a figure slowly stepped out from the spatial rift.

"Greetings, Venerable Yao." Protector Lin bowed toward the figure emerging from the void, holding up all the pills and the storage ring containing the Black-Yellow Cauldron with both hands.

There was no doubt that this man was Venerable Yao, Han Feng!

Given Han Feng's personality, how could he possibly refrain from coming in person after learning of the Heavenly Flame's existence? He had actually been monitoring things in secret all along. If anyone left to seek rescue, he would strike immediately. However, robbery and murder did not suit the identity of the "Starfall Pavilion's Venerable Yao," so he had first sent the Soul Hall Protector to seize it, lest anyone discover him.

The Flame Mantra within Han Feng sensed the Heavenly Flame's presence and had already begun circulating slowly. "These are the pills I promised you."

Han Feng flicked his finger, and a blue gleam flashed from the Dark Sea Ring on his hand. A bottle of pills flew out from the storage ring.

However! At that very moment, a sudden change occurred. An extremely strange and powerful spatial force took advantage of the instant Han Feng opened his storage ring, crossing through the void and drilling into the Dark Sea Ring.

"Void Retrieval!" A voice filled with barely restrained excitement rang out from afar. The next second, soul energy approaching the level of a Dou Zun soared into the sky. The void began to twist, and space was completely sealed.

Roar!! A dragon's roar shook the void. An enormous phantom of an Ancient Void Dragon appeared in the sky, coiling through the heavens. The Ancient Void Dragon soul phantom reached toward Han Feng from afar!

The spatial fluctuations became abnormal. The storage ring in Protector Lin's hand and all the pills vanished in an instant as though pulled off by a magic trick! It was not just the items in Protector Lin's hand—an invisible dragon claw also appeared inside Han Feng's Dark Sea Ring, fiercely grabbing at whatever it could seize.

Although Han Feng swiftly sealed the space with the Heavenly Flame, some items were still stolen.

"Who is it?!"