Mysterious Forces

The horizon began to pale with the first light of dawn.

Su Chen stood atop the stone steps, his azure robes fluttering slightly in the wind.

Xue Qinghe stood to one side, his gaze fixed on the mansion's main gate.

The rhythmic sound of hooves echoed from the street corner.

"Surround the place! Don't let a single fly escape!"

The command drifted in from outside.

Xue Qinghe's lips curled upward, his eyes cold.

"Prince Xue Xing has arrived right on time; he calculated the hour perfectly to come collect the corpses."

The main gate was kicked open with a violent crash.

Prince Xue Xing stood there in gold-inlaid armor, his hand resting on his sword hilt, his face beaming with triumph.

Behind him followed hundreds of fully armed elites from the City Defense Army, their murderous intent palpable.

"Qinghe! Don't be afraid! Your imperial uncle has brought troops to save you!"

Prince Xue Xing scanned the surroundings, unable to suppress the ecstasy in his expression.

"Where are the rebels! Tonight, your uncle shall hack these treacherous villains into ten thousand pieces to ensure the Crown Prince's safety!"

His voice cut off abruptly the moment he stepped into the courtyard.

Prince Xue Xing froze in place, his eyes locked onto the carnage covering the ground.

Three thousand battle-hardened elite death soldiers lay dead in pools of blood.

Several Soul Saints, hired at a great price, had also become cold corpses.

Prince Xue Xing's legs trembled.

How was this possible?

Less than half an hour had passed since the attack began.

Even if every guard in the Crown Prince's Residence had joined the fray, it would have been impossible to slaughter three thousand men so cleanly.

Moreover, not a single sound of battle had reached the outer city!

Xue Qinghe walked slowly down the steps.

"I am deeply grateful for your uncle's arrival to save me."

"However, these rebels were weak; they have already been completely wiped out by the staff of this residence."

"Why don't you take a closer look, Uncle? Do these leaders of the death soldiers look familiar to you?"

Prince Xue Xing's face turned pale, and he instinctively took half a step back.

The fear of his conspiracy being exposed instantly overwhelmed his reason.

If the Emperor learned that these death soldiers came from the Prince's Residence, there would be no escaping a death sentence.

He had to cut the weeds and dig up the roots! He had to pin everything on the Crown Prince!

Prince Xue Xing's expression turned ferocious as he drew the sword at his waist.

"Nonsense!"

"Crown Prince Xue Qinghe has colluded with rebels and plotted treason; I have already uncovered it!"

"Seize him! Dead or alive!"

The City Defense soldiers looked at each other, staring at the corpses littering the ground, and no one dared to take a step forward.

Prince Xue Xing gritted his teeth, pulled a black bone whistle from his robes, and blew it with all his might.

A violent wind erupted.

From behind the crowd, a gray-robed figure darted out.

Relying solely on physical speed, he left behind layers of afterimages in mid-air.

The gray-robed elder landed steadily in front of Prince Xue Xing.

His eyes were scarlet, and his body exuded a nauseating aura of blood fiends.

An eighty-ninth-level Soul Douluo.

He was only a hair's breadth away from becoming a Title Douluo.

Xue Qinghe's eyes turned cold as he secretly channeled his soul power.

There was no record of this person in his intelligence network.

"To seize this imperial power, you dare to recruit an Evil Soul Master into Heaven Dou City?"

Prince Xue Xing laughed wildly.

"History is written by the victors! The dead don't need to follow rules!"

"Senior Withered Bone, kill them both! Leave no one alive!"

Withered Bone stared at Su Chen on the steps.

He licked his shriveled lips.

"You destroyed three thousand of my blood offerings; today, I shall fill that void with the lives of everyone in this mansion!"

Eight soul rings rose.

Two yellow, two purple, four black.

The eighth black soul ring erupted with blinding black light.

"Eighth Soul Skill: Blood Fiend Devours Heaven!"

In the courtyard, the three thousand corpses on the ground underwent a grotesque transformation.

The residual blood rose as if pulled by a tether, turning into countless crimson threads.

They converged in mid-air into a blood-colored vortex that blotted out the sky.

Withered Bone hovered at the center of the vortex, looking like a vengeful ghost holding the power of life and death.

"Within my Blood Fiend Domain, all living things are but nourishment! Little brat, pay with your life!"

A thick, malevolent aura shrouded the entire Crown Prince's Residence.

The blood-colored vortex slowly descended, carrying a terrifying pressure that corroded everything it touched.

Gui Mei, hiding in the shadows, let out a muffled groan as his black mist was nearly dispersed by the blood fiend's power.

The City Defense soldiers were so weak in the knees that they collapsed in droves.

The soul power in Xue Qinghe's meridians slowed to a crawl.

Just as he prepared to step forward and fight to the death, a hand pressed onto his shoulder, isolating him from the pressure.

Su Chen looked up at the blood-colored vortex crushing down upon them.

His expression grew solemn.

His current cultivation was only at the Foundation Establishment Stage, and fighting an Evil Soul Douluo who had sacrificed three thousand lives was no simple task.

The Purple Thunder Spirit Sword manifested in his palm.

The purple thunder patterns on the blade pulsed frantically.

Su Chen gripped the sword with both hands, his Icefire Chaos Sword Body operating at an overload.

"Break!"

A streak of Purple Thunder Sword Qi shot into the sky, slashing directly at the blood-colored vortex.

The two collided.

A ring of violent shockwaves exploded in mid-air.

The blood-colored vortex stalled for only a moment before swallowing the Purple Thunder Sword Qi.

Countless blood threads followed the backlash of the sword qi, clinging to his wrists like a festering disease.

A bone-chilling cold seeped into his meridians.

Su Chen let out a muffled groan.

He could not stop his feet from sliding backward.

With every step, the stone tiles beneath him shattered into powder.

He retreated five steps before barely stabilizing his stance.

His wrists were already charred black.

Withered Bone hovered in mid-air, his hands constantly forming seals.

"A mere child, yet you dare to resist my Blood Fiend!"

The blood-colored vortex expanded once more, morphing into a giant blood hand that slammed down from above.

Xue Qinghe's eyes were filled with anxiety.

"Su Chen! Don't push yourself!"

Pure light-attribute soul power gathered in his palm, preparing to reveal his Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul for a final stand.

Su Chen backhanded his longsword into the ground.

The blade bent into an arc.

He bore the crushing weight of the blood hand head-on.

A trickle of blood spilled from the corner of his mouth.

"It is not your turn to act yet."

Su Chen wiped the blood from his lips.

He closed his eyes slightly, his mental energy connecting directly to his sea of consciousness.

[Observing the method of blood fiend convergence, gaining insight into the essence of evil.]

[Combining with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, enlightenment achieved!]

[Self-created sword technique: Purplecloud Demon-Suppressing Divine Thunder!]

His eyes snapped open.

His pupils were filled with a sea of purple thunder.

Su Chen pulled his longsword from the ground, abandoned his defense, and transformed into a bolt of lightning, charging straight at the blood hand in mid-air.

"Ten Thousand Poisons Immunity, Icefire Body Protection!"

Enduring the corrosion of the blood fiend, Su Chen pierced through the blood hand and rushed before Withered Bone.

Withered Bone's face changed drastically.

"Madman!"

He tried to pull back and retreat.

Su Chen gave him no chance.

The Purple Thunder Spirit Sword, carrying the power of absolute rigidity, slashed down.

The Purplecloud Demon-Suppressing Divine Thunder erupted along the blade.

The Blood Fiend shield around Withered Bone melted instantly like snow meeting the warm sun.

The sword's edge swept across Withered Bone's neck.

Thunder and fire intertwined.

Withered Bone's head flew into the sky, and his remains turned into a wisp of green smoke in mid-air.

Not a bone was left behind.

Su Chen fell from the sky.

He dropped to one knee, using his sword to support his body.

He gasped for air.

A tearing pain radiated from his meridians.

This battle had exhausted every ounce of spiritual energy in his body.

The blood-colored vortex vanished along with Withered Bone's death.

The front courtyard returned to clarity.

Prince Xue Xing's mouth hung open, his sword dropping to the ground.

His strongest trump card.

Dead?

An eighty-ninth-level Soul Douluo had actually been killed by a little brat!

Prince Xue Xing collapsed in despair, his knees weak.

"Qinghe! I am your own uncle!"

"It was all a misunderstanding! That Evil Soul Master bewitched me!"

"Give your uncle a way out! I will never interfere in court politics again!"

Xue Qinghe stepped forward, looking down at him from above.

"Leading troops to force the palace, colluding with Evil Soul Masters—every single act is a capital offense."

"The tumor of the Heaven Dou Empire should have been removed long ago."

Su Chen gripped his sword and slowly stood up.

He prepared to walk toward Prince Xue Xing.

The space suddenly twisted without warning.

A terrifying, suffocating pressure descended upon the courtyard.

This pressure was ten times stronger than Withered Bone's.

A pitch-black fissure tore open in space.

Deep within the crack, a sacred yet incredibly evil aura faintly leaked out.

These contradictory auras intertwined, causing the souls of everyone present to tremble.

A pale hand reached out from the fissure.

It grabbed Prince Xue Xing by the collar.

Xue Qinghe's face changed drastically.

"Who's there!"

A low, cold sneer drifted from the rift.

There was no answer.

The pale hand yanked hard.

Prince Xue Xing screamed as he was dragged into the spatial rift.

Su Chen furrowed his brows.

Enduring the sharp pain in his meridians, he swung out a sword beam.

The beam struck the edge of the rift, but like a stone cast into the sea, it didn't stir a single ripple.

The spatial rift closed rapidly.

Prince Xue Xing and that pale palm vanished into thin air.

Only the terrified elites of the City Defense Army remained in the courtyard.

They dropped their weapons and knelt in unison, kowtowing.

"Your Highness, spare us!"

"We were only following orders; we didn't know the Prince was rebelling!"

Xue Qinghe withdrew his gaze.

His expression shifted between light and shadow.

"Those who don't know are not guilty."

"Prince Xue Xing colluded with an Evil Soul Master to launch a night raid on the Crown Prince's Residence. He has fled in fear of punishment."

"Seal the scene immediately and report this to the Emperor."

The City Defense Army felt as if they had been granted amnesty, scrambling away in a panic.

In the shadows of the corner.

Gui Mei emerged without a sound.

He looked at Su Chen's pale face.

"Your Highness, how is your injury?"

"I was locked down by that spatial pressure earlier and couldn't move at all. That is definitely not a power the Heaven Dou Empire should possess."

Su Chen sheathed the Purple Thunder Spirit Sword.

He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.

"I won't die."

"The force that took Xue Xing away isn't simple. It seems the waters of Heaven Dou City are even deeper than I imagined."

Xue Qinghe walked to Su Chen's side.

He reached out to steady the swaying body.

His eyes were filled with worry.

"Xue Xing has escaped, and as for the Emperor..."

"If he's gone, he's gone."

Su Chen used the support to stand steady.

"The ironclad proof of his rebellion is right here in this courtyard. Even if the Emperor has doubts, Xue Xing won't dare to show his face again."