Battle Against Soul Hall Once More
When Xiao Yan emerged from the Sky Tomb, even Gu Yuan was greatly surprised.
With just his Emperor-Realm Soul, he was far stronger than most Dou Sheng, not to mention that Xiao Yan was a Dou Sheng with considerable strength.
In a daze, Gu Yuan saw the possibility that the other party might break through to the Dou Di, and felt that he had made the right decision to bring Xiao Yan here.
After the initial shock, Gu Yuan guessed that Xiao Yan's ability to break through to the Emperor-Realm Soul was definitely due to Xiao Xuan's efforts.
After leaving the Sky Tomb, Xiao Yan expressed his gratitude for Gu Yuan's invitation and immediately left the Ancient Clan.
Gu Yuan knew that the Soul Hall had been making quite a stir recently, so he didn't linger with Xiao Yan.
The news that Xiao Yan had broken through the void and returned to the Ten Thousand Mountains spread like lightning across the Beast Domain, sweeping across the Alliance in less than half a day along the silver light of the teleportation array.
In an instant, the entire Beast Domain transformed into a boiling furnace. Countless streams of light shot into the sky from various branch headquarters, weaving together into a dazzling galaxy in the heavens. Xiao Yan's name rose in waves of cheers, eventually transforming into a thunderous roar that shattered the clouds—the young alliance leader's prestige within the alliance was now as undeniable as the rising sun.
The high-ranking officials looked down at the cheering allied forces, but they could clearly sense an undercurrent of tension. While the entire Beast Domain was in an uproar over Xiao Yan, the depths of the Soul Hall headquarters were eerily quiet.
The twelve blood-red soul banners fluttered without wind. The withered palace master's fingers traced the image of Xiao Yan destroying the branch palace on the crystal ball, and his hoarse laughter shook the dome, causing dust to fall. "Destroying my Soul Hall without revealing the slightest flaw."
Strangely, this provocation did not stir up any trouble. Even the patrolling Blood Guard within the Soul Hall territory retreated back to the Dark Abyss. This forbearance silenced the Central Plains's secret agents.
This unusual silence erupted into waves of cheers in the Beast Domain.
"It must be the Alliance Leader's divine might that has suppressed the villains of the Soul Hall!" The newly joined members waved their battle flags, but the expressions of the higher-ups grew increasingly solemn.
Five days later at dawn, the Soul Broken Soul Abyss, bordering the Beast Domain and the Soul Hall, suddenly fell into a deathly silence.
The battlefield, once a place of deafening battle, is now silent, with only black mist and thunderclouds facing off in the void, like two primordial beasts measuring each other's fangs.
This strange phenomenon caused all the major powers in Central Plains to change color. The Pill Tower Ancestor, gazing at the churning purplish-black tribulation clouds in the sky, nearly dropped his pill furnace. "These two madmen, are they really going to start a battle of Dou Sheng?"
Everyone understood that this duel would determine the landscape of Central Plains for the next thousand years.
If the Beast Domain wins, the Blood Sacrifice Formation, which the Soul Hall has cultivated for ten thousand years, will surely collapse; if the Beast Domain loses, the glory of resisting the Soul Hall over the years will turn into a death warrant, and those disciples who take pride in "resisting the Soul" will eventually become sacrifices in despair.
This pressure created an eerie silence within the allied forces; even the most volatile Thunder Venerable began polishing his natal thunder hammer—they could die, but the backbone of the Beast Domain could not be broken.
Seven days of silence, as still as an ancient well, yet Xiao Yan savored the mellow fragrance of time amidst the bamboo shadows in the courtyard.
This tranquility made him feel somewhat dazed—when did the boy who once fought for his life in the Magma World learn to steal a moment of peace in the blood-soaked world of martial arts?
"Alliance Leader, the Soul Hall's challenge." Yao Ming shattered the void as he arrived, the blood-jade box in his hand radiating a chilling aura.
Xiao Yan's fingertips lightly traced the dark patterns on the box's surface. His fingertip battle Dou Qi transformed into a green lotus, melting the blood jade into dust. The scarlet challenge slowly unfolded in the void, its twelve blood-red characters resembling weeping demonic eyes. "Three days later, at the Fallen Peak, I will take your head and offer it as a sacrifice!"
"The Soul Hall has gotten smarter." Yao Ming's cold laughter echoed amidst the blood-red light of the challenge letter. "They specifically chose to send the challenge while the young master was in seclusion. Did they calculate that no one in the Beast Domain would dare to accept the battle for you?"
Xiao Chen stood with his hands behind his back atop a purple bamboo grove, the moon formed from his Dou Qi casting flickering light on his face. "If Xiao Yan is defeated, the morale of the million-strong allied army of the Beast Domain will crumble."
The teacup on the stone table suddenly shattered, and the azure tea mixed with the bloody aura of the challenge letter condensed in the void to form a blood-red map.
The outline of the Fallen Mountain Range was faintly visible in the blood mist. Xiao Yan's pupils contracted slightly—that perilous place, which had been soaked with the essence of Dou Sheng since ancient times, was now seeing thirty-six blood-red pillars of light shooting into the sky, making the entire mountain range look like a hellish inferno.
The news spread much faster than expected. In just two days, the teleportation arrays on the outskirts of the Fallen Mountain Range were shining like stars.
"These old monsters are even more enthusiastic than the disciples." Yao Ming looked at the dark mass of people below, and the starlight at his fingertips suddenly surged.
At dawn on the third day, the clouds and mist at the Fallen Peak suddenly and mysteriously parted to both sides.
When Xiao Yan arrived, riding on the Emperor Flame, he saw the Soul Hall Master standing in mid-air, stepping on a blood-red skull. Behind him, the Myriad Souls Devouring Heaven Formation, formed by three hundred Soul Envoy, had even dyed the rising sun blood-red.
Further away, twelve figures, their auras as deep and imposing as mountains, stood silently.
"Alliance Leader Xiao, what a grand display." The Soul Hall Master's withered fingers traced through the void, and countless faces struggling in agony emerged from the crimson vortex. "These are all the souls of your Beast Domain. If you were to commit suicide now..."
Before he could finish speaking, Emperor Flame had already transformed into a fire dragon and shattered the blood curtain.
Xiao Yan walked slowly through the void, each step accompanied by the blooming of Heavenly Flames beneath his feet. "When your Soul Hall branch was burned, why weren't you so defiant?" Bone Spirit Cold Flame suddenly condensed at his fingertips, intertwining with the Azure Lotus Flame to form a bizarre yin-yang symbol. "Today, I'll show you what it truly means to Burn All Eight Wastes!"
The towering cliffs at the Fallen Peak suddenly trembled, and the roar of an ancient Dou Sheng echoed from the depths of the mountain.
Countless spectators were horrified to discover that their own Dou Qi was surging uncontrollably with the roar, and only those who had reached the Dou Zun could maintain their balance.
This battle transcended the scope of ordinary battles between Dou Sheng from the very beginning.
"It's about to begin." Yao Ming gripped the bone staff in his hand tightly.
Xiao Yan atop the Fallen Peak, his eyes reflecting the surging sea of clouds below.
"Heh heh, the remnants of the Xiao Clan are more tough than I imagined." The Soul Demon Elder's withered, branch-like fingers emerged from his black robe, and the Nine Nether Soul Chain wrapped around his fingertips suddenly taut, causing the 100,000 vengeful spirits locked at the chain's head to simultaneously let out mournful howls.
With each step he took, spiderweb-like cracks appeared on the jade rock beneath his feet, and endless black mist surged from the depths of the cracks.
Xiao Yan's pupils constricted sharply as Emperor Flame surged from the top of his head, incinerating the hideous illusions into nothingness. He looked at the Soul Hall Master seated on the Blood Lotus Throne, his voice booming with the oppressive power of the Heavenly Flames: "Three battles to determine life or death, or a bloody all-out war?"
"A wise person would not choose to let ants perish with him." The Soul Hall Master lightly tapped the armrest of the throne with his fingertips, and the runes flowing on the surface of the blood-red soul armor suddenly lit up, dyeing the sunlight within a thousand miles blood-red.
"My Hun Clan has a history of ten thousand years. If we are dragged into the mire by mere demonic beasts, wouldn't the Ancient Eight Clans laugh their heads off?" As he spoke, five cracks suddenly appeared in the void behind him, and five puppets wrapped with the Dou Sheng Skeleton stepped out of the air. Each puppet had a Hun Clan elder's life bead embedded between its eyebrows.
The Soul Demon Elder's Nine Nether Soul Chain transformed into a black dragon and pounced on Xiao Yan. However, a red shadow flashed behind Xiao Yan, Blood Axe Xiao Chen appeared at the black dragon's seven-inch mark by stepping on a void rift. The moment the giant axe cleaved down, the spiritual energy of the entire Fallen Mountain Range stagnated.
"Old dog, do you still remember how pathetic you were when you were running for your life in front of Ancestor Xiao Xuan?" With each word Xiao Chen spoke, a blood-red pattern lit up on the axe blade. When the nine blood-red patterns converged, they actually caused the waters of the Nine Netherworld Yellow Springs to pour back into the sky.
"Blood Axe Xiao Chen!" The Soul Hall Master suddenly stood up, and the void beneath the Blood Lotus Throne suddenly collapsed into a black hole. But even faster than him was the gray-robed old man who walked out of the black hole, leaning on a skull staff.
"Hun Qianmo ..." Xiao Chen's voice suddenly became hoarse, "This old monster is still alive! Back when our ancestor Xiao Xuan was breaking through to the Emperor Realm, it was he who secretly instigated the Nine Netherworld Python Clan to launch a sneak attack..."
Xiao Chen's axe shadow suddenly froze when it touched three inches around Hun Qianmo. The gray mist surrounding the old man was actually a deathly aura colder than the Nine Netherworld Yellow Springs.
"You're courting death!" Xiao Chen's hair and beard bristled, and his blood axe suddenly burst forth with a blinding red light. The Xiao Clan totem on the axe handle materialized and shot into the sky.
But Hun Qianmo simply raised the skull staff lightly, and the gem embedded in the staff head shot out a beam of black light, nailing the blood-red totem to the void.
Just then, the space around Xiao Yan suddenly distorted, and a boy stepped out from the flames.
The Ninth-Grade Mysterious Pill, which the Pill Tower Ancestor was toying with, spun rapidly between his fingers. Wherever its fragrance passed, the deathly mist surrounding Hun Qianmo began to dissipate. "Old man, your opponent is me."
The Soul Hall Master's pupils shrank sharply, and the Blood Lotus Throne suddenly burst forth with a blinding crimson light.
The moment the boy in green robes appeared, stepping on flames, the Pill Tower Grand Elder trembled and bowed low, his forehead almost touching the ground. "Ancestor... you really are willing to step out of the Pill Realm?"
"If this old bone doesn't get some exercise, people might forget the origins of the Pill Tower." The boy's voice was as tender as a child's, but his fingertips were shrouded in seven-colored pill mist, which circulated around Xiao Yan three times before he suddenly let out a soft "Eh."
A look of world-weariness, so incongruous with his youthful appearance, crept onto his face. "The Soul Hall has been Alchemist like ants all these years. Do you really think I didn't know? The Beast Domain Pill Tower."
Before he finished speaking, eighty-one Pill Pattern suddenly flew out from his sleeve, forming Heavenly Cycle Star Formation in the sky, enveloping everyone from the Soul Hall.
Suddenly, ghostly green flames ignited in Hun Qianmo's sunken eye sockets. As his withered lips moved, the wails of countless vengeful spirits seeped from the void. "Old ghost of the Pill Tower, are you truly going to fight my Hun Clan to the death for this ant?"
"A fight to the death?" The Pill Tower Ancestor suddenly flicked his finger, shooting out a stream of pill fire that burned the oncoming vengeful spirits into green smoke.
With each word he spoke, a golden lotus bloomed in the air beneath his feet. By the time his voice faded, the entire Fallen Mountain Range had been transformed into a pure land of Buddha by ten thousand golden lotuses.
The Blood Soul Banner in the Soul Hall Master's hand trembled violently, and the 100,000 living souls depicted on it began to devour each other. His expression shifted uncertainly as he looked at the Pill Tower Ancestor: "Do you truly intend to interfere in this matter? Know that while the Ninth-Grade Mysterious Pill is powerful, if my Hun Clan were to unleash its full potential..."
"What are you offering up?" The Pill Tower Ancestor suddenly burst into loud laughter, which shook the clouds within a hundred miles.
The ghostly flames in Hun Qianmo's eyes suddenly surged, and his skeletal fingers formed a strange hand seal. A hundred-foot-long bloody gash suddenly opened in the void behind him, and nine bone dragons made from the Dou Sheng Skeleton roared and charged out.
"Well done!" The Pill Tower Ancestor's eyes flashed with a sharp light, and the boy's body suddenly swelled into a hundred-zhang giant, with the Pill Pattern around his body materializing and swirling around him. He formed a circle with his hands, actually taking all nine bone dragons into his embrace. "Today I will show you what true Pill Flame Burns the Heavens!"
The seven-colored flames shot into the sky from the top of its head, causing the void to collapse inch by inch in their path. The bone dragon let out a mournful howl in the flames, and the sealed remnant soul of the Hun Clan, which was about to escape, was suppressed into dust by the ancient pill formula characters that emerged in the flames.
"Xiao Yan, leave this old ghost to me." The voice of the Pill Tower Ancestor came from the depths of the Pill Fire, tinged with a hint of mockery. "You go and deal with those small fry. Remember—if you lose today, I will throw you into the Pill Furnace to be refined again!"
Before he finished speaking, the sky full of pill fire suddenly contracted into a single point, engulfing Hun Qianmo and the Pill Tower Ancestor. At the instant the void rift closed, Xiao Yan clearly saw nine great suns and nine blood moons rise simultaneously in that chaotic space, the fragrance of pills and death energy intertwining to form a Taiji diagram that blotted out the sky.
"Ancestor... he has actually reached that realm?" The Great Elder's body trembled violently, and the afterimages of the Pill Tower Ancestor and Hun Qianmo fighting were reflected in the azure light. That was not the power that an ordinary Dou Sheng Expert should have; every strike carried the power to change the world.
Xiao Yan took a deep breath, the Emperor Flame leaping like a living thing in his palm. He looked at the Soul Hall Master in the distance, whose face was ashen, and shouted, "It's our turn."
Hun Qianmo let out a sinister laugh, his withered claws carving black cracks in the void before disappearing into them like a ghost.
When everyone looked again, the surface of the chaotic space opened up by the Pill Tower Ancestor had become shimmering with a glassy luster. Inside, two figures faced each other across the void, and the crimson clouds and blood mist intertwined like two dragons, making the space barrier flicker with light and shadow.
"A clash of the laws of Dou Sheng..." A reclusive old monster crushed the jade cup in his hand, amber wine dripping down his white beard. "Since the Ancient Eight Clans went into seclusion, the Central Plains has not seen a battle of this caliber for many years."
Upon hearing this, the air throughout the entire mountain range seemed to boil. Countless powerful figures had veins bulging on their necks, their eyes almost popping out of their sockets—the chaotic space at that moment resembled transparent amber.
The illusory image of the Ninth-Grade Mysterious Pill floating around the Pill Tower Ancestor was colliding fiercely with the Myriad Souls Blood Banner unfurled behind Hun Qianmo. Every time the Pill Pattern and blood lines intertwined, visible ripples appeared in the space.
"Thump!"
Suddenly, the Pill Tower Ancestor pointed his fingers into a sword, and the seven-colored pill fire condensed into a hundred-foot-long giant sword that cleaved down, creating a dark rift in the chaotic space.
Hun Qianmo unleashed nine blood-red palm prints with a backhand strike. Wherever the palm prints passed, even the spatial turbulence was corroded into a foul-smelling black mist.
The moment the two forces collided, the entire world fell silent. The energy shockwave that followed was like a divine punishment descending upon the world, causing Dou Zun expert present to cough up blood and stagger backward.
Within the chaotic space, the Pill Tower Ancestor suddenly turned cold, and the golden lotus beneath his feet suddenly expanded by a thousand feet, its petals transforming into blazing heavenly pill fire that trapped Hun Qianmo in its center.
"Shut up!" Hun Qianmo's body was enveloped in blood mist that condensed into nine skeletal avatars, each with a ghostly green soul fire flickering in its eye sockets. "Once I've refined this Mysterious Pill of yours!" He clenched his withered claws, and the entire chaotic space suddenly began to rotate in reverse. Countless fragments of space transformed into sharp blades, carrying with them deathly energy that corroded the soul, and shot out.