Accepting Disciples, Ten Thousandfold Returns: Starting from Battle Through the Heavens, Part 34

Qin Hao possessed a Spirit Realm soul, so he naturally sensed the power of this restriction. From it, he felt powerful fluctuations of spatial force.

Spatial force was a power one could only come into contact with upon reaching the Dou Zong realm. In other words, this restriction had at least been left behind by a Dou Zong, perhaps even a Dou Zun.

If this were outside, then with Qin Hao's strength, given enough time, he might have been able to force it open through brute-force bombardment. After all, though Qin Hao was only a one-star Dou Huang, his true strength far surpassed his cultivation.

But this was a passage deep within the mountain. A forceful attack would one hundred percent bury them alive. They were over a thousand meters into the mountain's interior—if they were buried alive in a place like this, the outcome...

So brute force was definitely not an option.

Breaking the Restriction! Netherworld Poison Flame! A Soul Body Appears!

However, Qin Hao's expression did not change much. If it were an ordinary Dou Huang or even a Dou Zong, breaking this restriction would indeed be difficult, but Qin Hao was clearly an exception.

"Buzz!"

With a thought, Qin Hao instantly activated his Double Pupils. Two beams of divine light bloomed from his eyes, and a mysterious aura that seemed capable of seeing through everything instantly enveloped the bronze door before him.

Under the insight and analysis of his Double Pupils, the complex inscriptions on the bronze door seemed to come alive. At the same time, through Qin Hao's analysis and perception, everything became incomparably clear.

Before long, Qin Hao found the weakest spatial node within the restriction.

With that discovery, breaking the restriction became much simpler.

"Now!"

At that moment, Qin Hao's gaze sharpened as he instantly seized the opportunity. He keenly sensed that this was the moment when the spatial node's energy was at its weakest and the space itself was most fragile.

"Crimson Flame Finger!"

"Ninefold Savage God Force!"

Qin Hao thrust out a finger, and an incomparably sharp ray of finger force shot forth, blasting directly toward the spatial node.

Not only that, Qin Hao also activated the earth-tier Dou Technique, Ninefold Savage God Force, instantly causing Crimson Flame Finger to erupt with nine layers of hidden force.

Empowered by Ninefold Savage God Force, Crimson Flame Finger, originally only a mid-grade mystic-tier technique, unleashed power directly comparable to the earth tier.

"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom..."

A series of terrifying explosions rang out. The instant the sharp finger force struck the bronze door, the inscriptions upon it burst forth with dazzling light.

Then, as wave after wave of hidden force slammed into it, the inscriptions seemed to suffer a horrifying impact and began to tremble violently, as if they were about to collapse.

"Crack..."

The instant the ninth layer of hidden force erupted, a crisp sound rang out. Under Qin Hao's Double Pupils, that spatial node finally collapsed completely.

The moment the spatial node collapsed, the light on the densely packed inscriptions across the bronze door instantly dimmed, their aura completely dissipating. The entire restriction collapsed as well.

Without the restriction's protection, the bronze door naturally could no longer block Qin Hao's path. He easily pushed it open, revealing a massive stone chamber before him.

Qin Hao's gaze immediately fell upon the center of the chamber. There, a skeleton sat cross-legged, the clothes on its body having long since decayed away with time.

But Qin Hao was not focused on the skeleton. Instead, he was staring at a pale purple "butterfly" resting atop it.

"Eh, a butterfly? How could a butterfly survive in a place like this?"

Qinglin's voice followed. She had clearly noticed the "butterfly" perched upon the skeleton as well.

"Netherworld Poison Flame!?"

Yet Qin Hao directly uttered those four words, his tone filled with indescribable emotion.

That purple butterfly was no true butterfly. Under the insight of his Double Pupils, Qin Hao instantly saw through the pale purple "butterfly's" true nature. It was a Heavenly Flame.

From it, Qin Hao sensed a terrifyingly poisonous aura that made his heart tremble. Among Heavenly Flames, there could be no other flame with such an aura besides the Netherworld Poison Flame from the Heavenly Flame Ranking.

Clearly, Qin Hao had never imagined that he would encounter the legendary Netherworld Poison Flame here.

In the original story, the Netherworld Poison Flame had only been mentioned by name and description; it had never truly appeared.

Many people had guessed that the most likely place for the Netherworld Poison Flame to appear was the Cloud Empire, since it had the greatest number of poison masters and the richest variety of poisons. Yet Qin Hao had unexpectedly encountered the Netherworld Poison Flame here.

However, although he had recognized the Netherworld Poison Flame, Qin Hao had no intention of acting immediately. Instead, he stared fixedly at the skeleton, the wariness in his eyes rising to the extreme.

Because aside from the Netherworld Poison Flame, Qin Hao sensed another aura upon that skeleton.

"Come out. Why hide like a coward?"

Qin Hao's cold voice rang out.

"Eh? Interesting. I never expected you to sense this Venerable's existence! And a mere Dou Huang actually managed to break the restriction this Venerable set. That truly surprises me!"

As soon as Qin Hao finished speaking, a deep, hoarse voice sounded. Then, under the shocked gazes of Qinglin and Xiao Yixian, a phantom slowly emerged from above the skeleton.

It was unmistakably a soul body.

Judging by the skeleton's condition, its owner should have died quite some time ago. Yet the soul body had survived for so long. It was obvious that this person's strength in life had been anything but ordinary.

Combined with the way he called himself "this Venerable," Qin Hao instantly determined that this soul body had been a Dou Zun-level existence in life.

Even Qin Hao did not dare show the slightest carelessness before a Dou Zun-level soul body.

"Eh, wait, this aura is... the Calamity Poison Body. It really is the Calamity Poison Body, and an innate Calamity Poison Body at that!"

"Hahahaha, wonderful! Truly wonderful! I searched everywhere only to find it without effort. Heaven has not forsaken this Venerable!"

"Hehehehe..."

Before Qin Hao could say anything else, the soul body's gaze was suddenly drawn to something. Its eyes instantly landed on Xiao Yixian behind Qin Hao.

After sensing Xiao Yixian's aura, the soul body first revealed a look of astonishment, then wild joy, before finally letting out an eerie cackle.

Its gaze upon Xiao Yixian was filled with blazing desire and greed, as though it were looking at a peerless treasure.

Feeling his stare, Xiao Yixian instinctively felt uncomfortable and shrank behind Qin Hao.

Qin Hao's expression, meanwhile, turned incomparably cold. Although he did not know the identity or purpose of the soul body before him, one thing was certain: it clearly harbored ill intent and had set its sights on Xiao Yixian.

The way the soul body looked at Xiao Yixian was almost identical to the way Mo Cheng had once looked at Qinglin.

Qin Hao would never let off anyone who dared set their sights on his disciples.

Originally, Qin Hao had thought that if he encountered a soul body like this, he might be able to subdue it if the opportunity arose. Once the conditions were right in the future, reviving it would not be impossible.

After all, in the original story, both Yao Chen and Skyfire Venerable had been revived by Xiao Yan.

Possession? Devouring the Soul Body! Mid Spirit Realm!

But clearly, the Dou Zun-level soul body Qin Hao had encountered this time was no decent character.

"Whoosh!"

In the next instant, the soul body turned into a streak of light and shot straight toward Xiao Yixian's glabella.

"You're courting death!"

Qin Hao shouted coldly, a chilling glint flashing in his eyes.

Immediately afterward, the soul power of the Spirit Realm erupted. His terrifying soul force transformed into a dreadful spike and shot toward the soul body.

"Pfft!"

"Aah!"

Before the soul body could even approach Xiao Yixian, it was caught completely off guard and instantly pierced through, accompanied by an incomparably shrill scream.

Its previously rather solid form began to shake violently, as if it might collapse at any moment.

"Damn it, a Spirit Realm soul! And a soul Dou Technique! How is that possible? How could someone like you exist in a backwater like the Northwestern Region?"

A voice filled with panic, fury, and terror came from the soul body.

It had clearly never expected that this Dou Huang, whom it had barely regarded as a threat, not only possessed a Spirit Realm soul but also had a soul Dou Technique specifically meant to target souls.

Normally, as a soul body, it was extremely difficult for ordinary cultivators to harm them. Unless they encountered methods specifically designed to restrain them, soul bodies possessed formidable life-preserving abilities.

Unfortunately, it had encountered Qin Hao, who completely countered it. With Qin Hao prepared and the soul body caught unprepared, it was severely wounded in a single exchange.

"You talk too much."

Qin Hao could not be bothered to waste words with it. Strike while it was down and take its life—an even more terrifying aura immediately erupted from his body.

"Junior, you seek death!"

The soul body's eyes flashed with savagery. In the next instant, the Netherworld Poison Flame that had been quietly resting atop the skeleton in butterfly form suddenly blazed with brilliant light.

It then instantly transformed into a sky full of purple flames, sweeping toward Qin Hao and engulfing him.

Qin Hao did not dare be careless. Parting Flame Astral Energy activated instantly, and a crimson-gold barrier enveloped his body, firmly sealing off the purple flames.

Although the Netherworld Poison Flame was a Heavenly Flame and possessed extraordinary power, if the soul body had been in its prime, Qin Hao might not have been able to withstand the Netherworld Poison Flame it wielded.

But after the long passage of time, the soul body had already become extremely weak, and now it had been seriously injured by Qin Hao. Thus, the power it could bring out from the Netherworld Poison Flame was quite limited.

The instant he withstood the Netherworld Poison Flame, Qin Hao once again activated the soul Dou Technique, God-Slaying Thorn, and launched it at the soul body.

"Aah! Aah..."

Faced with such a sudden attack at such close range, the soul body had no room to evade at all. It took two more God-Slaying Thorns head-on, letting out several more shrill screams.

More importantly, after taking another two God-Slaying Thorns, the soul body's condition worsened further. Its aura became increasingly feeble, and it could no longer even control the Netherworld Poison Flame.

"Now!"

"Die!"

Seeing the soul body's state, a cold glint burst from Qin Hao's eyes. His movement Dou Technique, Nine-Palace Phantom God Steps, erupted instantly, and his figure flashed like a ghost directly before the soul body.

"Soul-Devouring Art! Devour!"

In the next moment, Qin Hao activated the soul cultivation technique, Soul-Devouring Art, with all his strength. A black vortex manifested out of thin air above the soul body's head, radiating terrifying devouring power.

"Damn it, what kind of method is this!? Stop! Stop it, quickly stop!"

Upon sensing the aura within the black vortex, the soul body's pupils contracted sharply. An unprecedented sense of death rose from the depths of its heart. It clearly understood that if it were truly devoured by the black vortex, it would likely be completely reduced to ashes.

"Only scared now? It's too late!"

Qin Hao sneered. Not only did he not stop, he frantically urged the Soul-Devouring Art even harder.

In the end, the soul body held out for less than ten breaths before it was completely devoured by the black vortex.

The instant the soul body was swallowed by the black vortex, Qin Hao felt an incomparably vast surge of soul origin power flood into his body.

Without any hesitation, Qin Hao first waved his hand and stored the Netherworld Poison Flame, now no longer controlled by the soul body, into his World Ring.