Underground Fourth Floor, Soul-Guide Restriction Killing Trap

The aftermath of the fierce battle still reverberated through the narrow passage. Dense cracks spread across the rock walls like spiderwebs, while small stones continually pattered down from above, clinging to Tang Wulin and Gu Yue's shoulders and hair. The two had only just fought desperately out of the encirclement of the Desperate Soul Douluo. Their breathing was slightly hurried, nearly imperceptibly so, and fine beads of sweat covered their foreheads, yet neither suggested stopping to rest.

They both knew that within the heart of the Spirit Pagoda, every extra second they lingered increased the danger of being surrounded.

Tang Wulin gently supported Gu Yue by the arm. Leaning on each other, they proceeded step by step down the steadily descending corridor, deeper into this colossal structure shrouded in shadow. The light within the passage grew dimmer and dimmer, and the temperature dropped sharply. A frigid wind blew from the depths, carrying the icy scent of metal mingled with soul power. It scraped across their skin, bringing a faint stinging pain.

This was the Underground Fourth Floor of the Spirit Pagoda.

Compared to the splendid halls aboveground and the heavily guarded passageways on the upper levels, this floor was exceptionally lifeless.

There were no patrolling guards, no sweeping spiritual senses, no faint glimmer from soul-guide detectors. There was not even a trace of living human presence to be found.

Yet it was precisely this deathly silence that made one's scalp prickle.

Too much silence often meant that killing intent had already arrived.

Gu Yue suddenly stopped. Her silver-gray eyes narrowed slightly as the power of six elements silently flowed through every part of her body, forming an invisible net of perception that spread in all directions. Her brows furrowed faintly, and a trace of gravity appeared on her cool, beautiful face. Her voice was extremely low, yet it reached Tang Wulin's ears clearly.

"Don't go any farther. Something is wrong with this floor."

Tang Wulin immediately halted. His golden eyes were as sharp as an eagle's as he carefully surveyed their surroundings.

The walls on both sides of the passage were no longer made of ordinary metal panels. Instead, they were engraved with countless intricate silver patterns that wound like living creatures. Those patterns intertwined, nested, and connected with one another, forming a gigantic net of light that covered the entire floor. Faint but highly aggressive blue streams of light flowed between the patterns. They appeared calm and harmless, yet every warning signal deep within Tang Wulin's soul screamed madly.

It was an instinctive warning from the Golden Dragon King bloodline.

Danger!

Extreme danger!

"It's a Soul-Guide Restriction Killing Trap." Tang Wulin's voice was low and heavy. The blood-soaked memories of his previous life surged uncontrollably into his mind, making his heart clench violently. "When I stormed the tower in my previous life, I suffered my greatest setback here. There are no guards on this floor, no powerful experts—only a fully automated killing formation. Once it's triggered, it leaves no survivors."

He would never forget that day.

In his previous life, he had been alone and frantic, with only the thought of rescuing his parents as quickly as possible. He had not examined the surroundings carefully at all. One wrong step, and he had directly triggered the entire killing formation.

In an instant, wind blades tore through the air, thunder chains pierced heaven and earth, spatial rifts ripped apart everything around them, and soul-power devouring force swept out wildly. Every attack erupted at once and completely swallowed him.

That time, his body had shattered, his blood and vitality had run dry, and he had nearly died within this killing formation.

And it was precisely because he had wasted too much time here and exhausted too much strength that he had ultimately failed to reach the secret prison on the Underground Seventh Floor before his parents were killed.

Regret, pain, helplessness...

All kinds of emotions were like poison-tempered needles stabbing viciously into Tang Wulin's heart. His fingers clenched uncontrollably, his knuckles turning white, while the Golden Dragon King blood and vitality around him stirred faintly.

Gu Yue keenly sensed the fluctuation in his emotions. She immediately turned around, extended her warm hand, and gently covered the back of his hand, using her warmth to soothe his turbulent feelings little by little. She did not offer many comforting words. She merely raised her eyes to look at him, her silver-gray gaze brimming with determination and trust. It was as though her eyes were telling him: Don't be afraid. I'm here. This time, we won't repeat the same mistakes.

Tang Wulin took a deep breath and forcibly suppressed the pain and hostility in his heart, regaining his composure.

"This is a four-element nested killing formation," he said in a deep voice. "Wind, lightning, space, and soul-power devouring—four layers of attacks fused into one. Its triggering method is extremely tricky. Every floor tile beneath our feet could be a detonation point."

"Not just that." Gu Yue slowly shook her head. Her perception penetrated deeper into the patterns on the walls, thoroughly seeing through the structure of the entire formation. "It's three layers of nesting, with Four-Kill Formation linkage. And this formation isn't operating fully automatically. Someone is watching our every move from a distant control room and can forcibly trigger it at any moment."

In other words, their whereabouts had already been locked onto.

Every step they took was within their opponent's calculations.

Tang Wulin's gaze grew increasingly cold.

The Spirit Pagoda had indeed already laid down an inescapable net. From the moment they entered the Spirit Pagoda, they had become prey.

"Can you break it?" He looked at Gu Yue, his tone carrying absolute trust.

After Sea God's Fate, he trusted her as firmly as he trusted his own bloodline.

"Yes." Gu Yue nodded, her tone resolute and without the slightest hesitation. "But it has to be absolutely precise. We can't make a single wrong step. I'll lead the way, and you stay close behind me. Step only where I step. Don't deviate in the slightest."

"Alright."

Tang Wulin agreed immediately, without any hesitation.

Gu Yue took a deep breath. The elemental power around her withdrew to the utmost limit, not leaking out even a trace. Her entire body seemed to merge with this space. Slowly, she raised her foot, her gaze precisely locking onto the gap where two patterns intersected. That was where the formation's power was weakest and least likely to be triggered. Then she gently stepped down.

"Click."

A soft sound rang out. The blue light on the walls flickered faintly, but no killing intent erupted.

Safe.

Tang Wulin followed closely behind, stepping down with absolute precision.

The two advanced slowly through the killing formation like this. Every step was like dancing on a blade's edge, and every landing was nerve-racking. The passage remained utterly silent, filled only by their faint footsteps and their steady yet tense breathing. Tang Wulin focused completely on Gu Yue's steps, not daring to let his attention wander in the slightest. He knew very well that if they made a mistake, what awaited them would be a devastating attack.

Just as they reached the middle of the passage and were about to pass through most of the killing formation.

Gu Yue's footsteps suddenly stopped, and a cold gleam flashed through her silver-gray eyes.

"They've made their move."

The moment her words fell, the entire Underground Fourth Floor erupted with blinding blue light!

All the patterns on the walls lit up in an instant. Like awakened beasts, they surged wildly as the four-layer killing formation was forcibly triggered at the same time!

"Buzz—!"

Countless incomparably sharp cyan wind blades condensed out of thin air, sweeping in from every direction with the force to tear apart everything;

Above them, purple lightning condensed into chains and crashed down, seeking to lock the two of them firmly in place;

Black spatial rifts spread wildly across the ground and walls, tearing apart everything around them;

A terrifying devouring force surged from the void, madly drawing out the soul power and blood vitality within their bodies!

Four layers of killing intent descended at once!

There was nowhere to evade, nowhere to retreat!

"Gu Yue, be careful!"

Tang Wulin's pupils contracted sharply. Almost instinctively, he fiercely shielded Gu Yue behind him.

The power of the Golden Dragon King bloodline erupted without reservation. Golden blood vitality surged into the sky, condensing before him into an incomparably heavy golden dragon-shaped light shield. Dragon patterns coiled across the shield, exuding overwhelming majesty as it forcibly blocked the first wave of every attack.

"Clang—!"

The wind blades struck the light shield, releasing ear-piercing shrieks as sparks flew everywhere;

The thunder chains crashed down with a boom, electrical currents raging wildly as the golden light shield shook violently;

The spatial rifts continuously tore at the shield's edges, trying to shred both it and Tang Wulin apart;

The devouring force pulled frantically, causing Tang Wulin's blood vitality to drain at an astonishing rate.

In only an instant, large beads of sweat appeared on Tang Wulin's forehead. His arms tensed slightly, and veins faintly bulged beneath his skin.

It was not that he could not withstand it. Rather, the power of this killing formation was simply too terrifying, and it was inexhaustible, with no end in sight.

"Hold on for me!" Gu Yue shouted softly and immediately acted.

Her hands formed seals rapidly. The three ultimate defensive elements of space, earth, and water spread out at once, layer upon layer of thick elemental barriers stacking outside the golden light shield to form an impregnable defense.

The roaring was deafening, and the entire passage shook violently as though it could collapse at any moment.

"This can't go on. The formation can continuously draw on the soul power underground. We'll be worn to death!" Tang Wulin said in a deep voice. A fierce glint flashed through his golden eyes. "We have to find the formation core and destroy it in one blow!"

"I found it!" Gu Yue's voice was urgent but clear. "Three steps directly ahead. Beneath the floor tile is the formation core!"

"Good!"

Tang Wulin hesitated no longer. The Golden Dragon King blood vitality around him surged again, and he drove his physical strength to its limit. Bracing himself against the violent winds, lightning, spatial rifts, and devouring force, he stepped forward one step at a time. Every step caused the ground to shake violently, and deep golden footprints embedded themselves into the floor tiles. His clothes were already soaked with sweat, and his arms had begun to go numb, but he did not retreat in the slightest.

His parents were still waiting for him on the Underground Seventh Floor.

In this life, he would never again arrive too late because of any obstacle.

After three steps, Tang Wulin stopped above the formation core.

Without any hesitation, he clenched his right hand into a fist. Golden dragon patterns covered his entire arm as power gathered to its limit. Then he smashed his fist viciously into the ground!

"Boom—!!!"

Power sufficient to shatter mountains erupted violently!

The entire killing formation shuddered. All the blue light suddenly dimmed at that instant. The wind blades dispersed, the thunder chains shattered, the spatial rifts slowly closed, and the devouring force vanished without a trace. The silver patterns on the walls lost all their luster, becoming like dead objects without the slightest remaining threat.

The Underground Fourth Floor finally returned to silence.

Tang Wulin slowly withdrew his fist. His arm trembled faintly, and blood vitality churned within him. The expenditure had been immense.

Gu Yue immediately stepped forward and gently supported him. Raising her hand, she tenderly wiped the dust and stone fragments from his cheek. Her actions were natural and intimate, her eyes filled with concern.

"Are you hurt?"

"No, I just used up quite a lot." Tang Wulin shook his head and grasped her hand in return, his palm warm and strong. "Fortunately, you were here. Otherwise, there was no way we could have broken the formation this smoothly."

Just as their words fell.

Slow, cold applause sounded from the end of the passage.

"Wonderful. Truly wonderful."

A soft, cold voice utterly devoid of emotion slowly emerged from the shadows. "To withstand the Four-Kill Formation alone and then accurately destroy its core—Dragon Emperor Douluo Tang Wulin, Silver Dragon King Gu Yue, the two of you are indeed more formidable than the intelligence reports indicated."

As the voice sounded.

Tall figures slowly emerged one after another from the shadows at the end of the passage.

They all wore fitted black combat uniforms. Their faces were cold and stern, their eyes sharp as eagles, and the emblems of the Spirit Pagoda's core guards hung at their waists. The soul-power fluctuations surrounding them were stable and terrifying.

Tang Wulin looked up, and his golden pupils abruptly contracted.

Soul Douluos!

Every one of them was a Soul Douluo-level expert!

And there were twelve of them!

They formed a neat battle formation, blocking the entire passage so completely that not a drop of water could pass through. Both the path ahead and the path of retreat had been utterly sealed.

The man at the front curled his lips into a chilling smile and slowly spoke:

"You think that just because you broke one killing formation, you can continue deeper?

From today onward, don't even think of taking another step forward."

"The Underground Fifth Floor is your final destination."

Killing intent once again enveloped the entire area.

The exhaustion from breaking the formation had yet to fade when a new round of deadly battle descended.