Battle Begins: Lotus Lantern vs. Nine Nether Reincarnation Map

However, just then, Lin Yang received another urgent mission: rescue the Thunder Clan. Reward upon completion: Nine-Dragon Thundersteel Flame.

"What? Soul Tian Di is stirring up trouble again?!"

After seeing the system mission clearly, Lin Yang did not dare linger. He hastily informed Gu Yuan, then immediately left.

After exiting the Mountains and Rivers State Map, Lin Yang stored the map in his palm and tucked it into his clothes.

Then, he tore through space and headed for the Thunder Clan at full speed.

He was currently in a valley in the Central Plains, not too far from the Thunder Clan. He could arrive in less than half a day.

Above the Thunder Realm of the Thunder Clan.

Lin Yang stepped out of a spatial rift. After sensing the surroundings slightly, he breathed a sigh of relief.

He had arrived in time. Soul Tian Di had not yet come, so he could set up an ambush in advance.

At that moment, Thunder Clan Chief Lei Ying sensed his presence and immediately emerged from the Thunder Realm.

"Lin Yang, long time no see. To what do we owe the honor of your visit to the Thunder Realm? Could there be some good news?" Lei Ying asked with a hearty laugh.

Lin Yang waved his hand slightly, his expression solemn. "Chief Lei, it's trouble, not good news. I received word that Soul Tian Di is preparing to launch a sneak attack on the Thunder Clan, so I rushed over to save you."

"What? Soul Tian Di is coming to ambush us?" Lei Ying was greatly shaken.

"That's right, Chief Lei. Lead the entire Thunder Clan out of the Thunder Realm first. I'll stay behind and lie in wait alone. This time, we'll strive to deal Soul Tian Di a severe blow," Lin Yang said.

"Alright. There's a space nearby that I opened up before. I'll take the clan members there to hide. Lin Yang, be careful when facing Soul Tian Di alone," Lei Ying said with a frown.

"I'll be careful. Time is of the essence. Hurry and move everyone," Lin Yang urged anxiously.

"Mm."

Half an hour later, every member of the Thunder Clan had been relocated into the nearby space.

Lin Yang began placing sealed jade bottles containing Buddha's Fury Fire Lotus throughout the space above the Thunder Clan.

The jade bottles contained soul imprints. With a single thought from Lin Yang, they would explode.

Lin Yang had prepared this to prevent Soul Tian Di from tearing open space and fleeing again.

Once he tried to escape, Lin Yang would directly detonate the fire lotuses and catch him off guard.

An hour later, the fire lotus ambush was ready. Lin Yang entered the Thunder Realm and maintained the Thunder Clan's formation, pretending that the clan members were still there as he waited for Soul Tian Di to arrive.

At that moment, not far from the Thunder Realm, Soul Tian Di was rapidly approaching.

After traveling for most of the day, he had finally reached the Central Plains from the Jia Ma Empire.

Although there was no system mission for this attack on the Thunder Clan, he had never forgotten how the Thunder Clan had joined forces with the Ancient Clan against him last time.

Before long, he arrived above the Thunder Realm.

Soul Tian Di looked down at the entire Thunder Realm, a cold smile curling across his lips. "Heh heh, a formation? Let's see how you stop me."

As soon as he spoke, Soul Tian Di directly took out the Nine Nether Reincarnation Map.

With a wave of his hand, the Reincarnation Map expanded to ten thousand zhang, casting the entire Thunder Realm into shadow.

A black beam shot out from the map, shrouding the entire Thunder Realm.

Within the Thunder Realm, Lin Yang was slightly startled.

Soul Tian Di had actually obtained another treasure. From the looks of it, it was no weaker than the Mountains and Rivers State Map.

Lin Yang did not dare be careless. He directly activated the Lotus Lantern, and a ten-thousand-zhang golden radiance shot out from it.

The black light was dispersed.

Holding the Lotus Lantern, Lin Yang tore through the air and emerged from the Thunder Realm.

"What is that? Lin Yang, damn it, it's you again?" Soul Tian Di involuntarily narrowed his eyes from the Lotus Lantern's golden light, his heart trembling slightly.

"Soul Tian Di, I knew you'd come. This time, you won't escape. Mark my words," Lin Yang said coldly.

"Lin Yang, is that so? You want to take me down? Why don't you first see whether you still have the strength to do it?" Soul Tian Di's voice was equally cold. With the Nine Nether Reincarnation Map, he had more than enough confidence to face Lin Yang.

Though he had not personally tested the Reincarnation Map's power yet, the abilities described by the system alone gave Soul Tian Di immense peace of mind.

"Heh, enough nonsense. Take this." Lin Yang sneered and directly activated the Lotus Lantern, sending a seven-colored glow shooting toward Soul Tian Di.

Soul Tian Di sneered as well and activated the Nine Nether Reincarnation Map. A black ghostly shadow flew out of the map and swallowed the seven-colored glow.

The evil ghosts and the Eighteen Levels of Hell within the map could both be released to suppress enemies. However, unlike the evil ghosts, the Eighteen Levels of Hell could only manifest as a phantom due to its origin.

After swallowing the glow, the ghostly shadow's body suddenly swelled before exploding with a boom into black mist.

Soul Tian Di waved his hand, and the black mist was drawn back into the Nine Nether Reincarnation Map.

Lin Yang's expression tightened slightly. Soul Tian Di's Nine Nether Reincarnation Map was actually even more domineering than the Mountains and Rivers State Map.

Not only did it contain its own space, it even housed evil ghosts.

Soul Tian Di snorted coldly and activated the Nine Nether Reincarnation Map again. Countless evil ghosts flew out of the map and pounced straight at Lin Yang.

Lin Yang's pupils contracted. Faced with so many evil ghosts, he hurriedly summoned the Emperor-Grade Armor to protect himself.

The silver armor enveloped Lin Yang's body, and he quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

Then, activating the Lotus Lantern, countless golden flames flew from its wick and attacked the Nether ghosts.

Whenever a golden flame struck an evil ghost, the ghost exploded with a boom.

The few scattered ghosts that struck Lin Yang did not cause him any harm either.

With a turn of the Lotus Lantern, Lin Yang made the ghosts vanish in body and soul.

However, Soul Tian Di was no pushover. He activated the Nine Nether Reincarnation Map once more.

A phantom of the Eighteen Levels of Hell suddenly flew from the map and descended toward Lin Yang.

"What?" Lin Yang's heart jolted. "The Eighteen Levels of Hell? How is that possible?"

Without time to think, Lin Yang hurriedly took out the Purple-Gold Glazed Hammer and brought forth the Immortal King's Corpse Shroud.

He smashed the hammer toward the phantom of the Eighteen Levels of Hell.

Yet strangely, the phantom was like air itself. The Purple-Gold Glazed Hammer passed straight through it.

Instead, a bizarre pulling force seized Lin Yang's hands.

Lin Yang was startled and quickly put away the Purple-Gold Glazed Hammer.

He activated the Lotus Lantern with all his strength, and a ten-thousand-zhang golden radiance suddenly erupted.

The phantom of the Eighteen Levels of Hell trembled violently, and its pulling force abruptly weakened. Lin Yang immediately pulled back his right hand and used Shadowless Formless to widen the distance.

The Purple-Gold Glazed Hammer was useless against the phantom of the Eighteen Levels of Hell, and Soul Tian Di was instantly overjoyed.

"Hahaha, Lin Yang, out of options now, aren't you? Let's see how you plan to play this next."

As soon as he spoke, Soul Tian Di brought forth the Immortal King's Corpse Shroud. The two Immortal King phantoms opened their eyes simultaneously, and a streak of black light entered the phantom of the Eighteen Levels of Hell.

The hell phantom suddenly became solid.

A terrifying suction force surged forth, enveloping everything within several thousand meters. Lin Yang was directly caught by the force and dragged toward the Eighteen Levels of Hell.

Lin Yang's heart lurched, his thoughts racing. What should I do? Seeing the Lotus Lantern, he immediately activated all the Heavenly Flames within his body and poured them into the Lotus Lantern, merging them with the wick's flame.

Empowered by the Heavenly Flames, the wick's fire suddenly erupted with an incomparably solid seven-colored glow.

The glow expanded from small to large, instantly bursting forth with ten-thousand-zhang radiance.

Soul Tian Di's phantom of the Eighteen Levels of Hell shook violently.

The once-solid phantom dimmed once more.

Seizing the opportunity, Lin Yang took out the Purple-Gold Azure Sun Sword. He directly drew upon the fiercely burning flames within the Lotus Lantern, wrapping them around the sword blade, then unleashed Void Heaven-Swallowing Slash at the phantom of the Eighteen Levels of Hell.

The sword qi flew forth and violently collided with the phantom of the Eighteen Levels of Hell.

The phantom shuddered with a boom, and a crack appeared along its edges.

Soul Tian Di, who was controlling the phantom, suddenly coughed up a trace of blood.

He had suffered backlash.

Having landed a successful blow, Lin Yang sent out another wave of sword qi.

Soul Tian Di did not dare receive it again and hurriedly withdrew the phantom of the Eighteen Levels of Hell.

The phantom turned into a streak of black light and drilled into the Nine Nether Reincarnation Map. With a gesture from Soul Tian Di, the map shrank back to its original size and flew into his palm.

The sword qi missed its target.

Soul Tian Di gritted his teeth. "Lin Yang, just wait. I'll kill you sooner or later."

As soon as he spoke, Soul Tian Di directly activated the Immortal King's Corpse Shroud. Two thousand-zhang palm prints blasted toward the Thunder Realm, preparing to use the opportunity to escape.

If Lin Yang did not stop them, the entire Thunder Realm would be blasted into ruins.

However, Soul Tian Di had miscalculated. Lin Yang had no intention of stopping him. The Thunder Clan had already been relocated; if the Thunder Realm was gone, then it was gone.

As the palm prints flew out and Soul Tian Di had just torn open space, Lin Yang snapped his fingers, and a fire lotus suddenly exploded.