Gu Yuan struck with thunderous force when the Nihility Devouring Flame was at its weakest.
Black flames filling the sky gathered in the void, amassing enough to condense into a humanoid figure once more.
"That undying old bastard crippled my Spirit Devouring Origin!"
The Nihility Devouring Flame spoke in terror, its face twisted hideously. Its aura was feeble; not only had it suffered grievous injuries, it could no longer even maintain its early-stage nine-star Dou Sheng cultivation.
"Gu Yuan, I'm curious. In all these thousands of years, when did you become so bold?" Hun Tiandi glanced at the Nihility Devouring Flame, whose origin had been damaged, then turned his gaze to the man before him.
The Hun Clan had suffered devastating losses today. Not only had the Soul Emperor Remnant Soul failed to help, he had also crippled Nihility's Spirit Devouring ability. This meant the Hun Clan could never again devour other clans' bloodlines.
"Heh, Hun Tiandi, as the Hun Clan's Clan Leader, you attacked your own Dou Di ancestor before your entire clan, all for the sake of that abomination. How do you explain yourself?"
Hun Tiandi's expression chilled slightly. He took a peculiar sealed pill from his Storage Ring and handed it to Nihility. "Since when did I, Hun Tiandi, need to explain my actions to others? Gu Yuan, are you feeling pleased with yourself?"
"Hun Tiandi, you're actually willing to use a Nine-Grade Profound Pill to heal the Nihility Devouring Flame. How generous. But even so, how long can it hold out?"
Lei Ying, Yan Jin, and Yao Dan, the three Emperor Clan leaders, slowly walked up behind Gu Yuan. During the battle between the Soul Emperor and Nihility, each had swallowed a Ninth-Grade Treasure Pill.
Now, not only had their injuries healed completely, their auras had returned to their peak.
The Nihility Devouring Flame swallowed the Nine-Grade Profound Pill in one gulp. As it used its Devouring Divine Ability to rapidly absorb the astonishing energy within the pill, it glared viciously at the leaders of the Ancient Races.
Its pitch-black eyes were filled with frost.
"Heh, Lei Ying, Yan Jin, even with less than twenty or thirty percent of my strength remaining, I have nothing to fear from you two eight-star ants!"
"Hmph, is that so? Your origins may be extraordinary, but don't be so arrogant. You're just a wounded early-stage nine-star Dou Saint. Stop acting as though you're a Dou Di!"
Lei Ying and Yan Jin were both peak eight-star Dou Saints. They had long since touched the threshold of nine-star Dou Saint and were not far from that realm. With their Dou Di Bloodlines activated, they could barely hold their ground even against an uninjured Nihility Devouring Flame!
"Enough nonsense, Hun Tiandi. Nihility is gravely wounded, the Soul Realm Formation has collapsed, and your clansmen are either dead or injured. What do you have to say?"
Gu Yuan waved a hand, a sharp gleam in his eyes.
He had to ascertain Hun Tiandi's intentions.
If a peak nine-star Dou Saint wanted to leave, no one present could stop him.
It would take two peak nine-star Dou Saints holding him back at any cost, and even then, they would have to risk trading one life for another.
Once Hun Tiandi abandoned the Soul Realm and his clansmen and escaped, the Ancient Races would face nightmarish torment in the days ahead.
The Spirit, Stone, and Yao Clans might even face annihilation.
That was what made a peak nine-star Dou Saint so terrifying.
The other clan leaders also watched Hun Tiandi nervously.
With the leaders of the Yan and Lei Clans stationed in the Thunder Realm and the Ancient Realm, their Emperor Clan Formations could unleash the combat strength of a peak nine-star Dou Saint. But they could only passively endure attacks, and sustaining those formations consumed immense resources.
If Hun Tiandi lurked outside their gates, returning whenever the formations ended and fleeing whenever they activated, no one could do anything about him.
The Yao Clan was a tier weaker. Its strongest member was Yao Dan, a mid-stage Seven-Star Dou Saint. Even if they summoned the Medicine Emperor, they would possess eight-star peak combat strength at most.
Even if Gu Yuan did not intervene or was absent from the Ancient Realm, the Gu Clan could still unleash peak nine-star Dou Saint combat strength once its formation activated.
As for the Spirit and Stone Clans...
They were better left unmentioned.
Hun Tiandi remained expressionless.
He merely waved his hand.
"Hun Clan, fight to the death!"
With that, Hun Tiandi returned to the center of the Hun Clan's ranks with the Nihility Devouring Flame.
"Gu Yuan, even Xiao Xuan, whom I defeated, could fight to his final moment. How could I, Hun Tiandi, be inferior to him?"
Hun Tiandi swept his sleeve and led the Soul Clan Army deeper into the Soul Realm.
"If you want to destroy my Hun Clan, let's see whether you have what it takes!"
His indifferent voice rang in everyone's ears!
"Brother Gu Yuan, what do you think?"
Strange flames of two different colors rose from Yan Jin's body. Through his exceptional affinity for fire and formidable control over it, he had fused two Heavenly Flames into a flame that was every bit the equal of the Golden Emperor Burning Heaven Flame.
"The Soul Emperor is already gone, and their formation has been broken. Whatever other reserves the Hun Clan has, we have them too-and ours will only be greater!" Gu Yuan analyzed.
"Indeed. Having fought this far, we can only advance, not retreat. Spirit Devouring can only increase the number and cultivation of their experts. It has no other effects. As for the Hun Clan's other reserves, they're nothing more than a Dou Di Inheritance. We all have that."
Lei Ying nodded slightly as he spoke.
Yao Dan frowned and said to Gu Yuan, "Even so, we mustn't underestimate the enemy. The Nihility Devouring Flame and Spirit Devouring took us completely by surprise!"
Gu Yuan stared at the retreating Soul Clan Army. His memories seemed to return to a thousand years ago, when that army had breached the Xiao Clan's Xiao Realm, leaving rivers of blood and the cries of the suffering everywhere!
"Clan Leader Yao Dan, keep your Yao Clan army some distance behind us and secure our retreat. Remember to maintain your formation at all times. Without my orders, do not enter the battlefield!"
Yao Dan nodded slightly. The Yao Clan's combat strength could not match the other clans, so its role on the front lines would be limited. But with a formation combining the strength of the entire clan, only Hun Tiandi and Nihility could threaten them.
"My Gu Clan army will take the center and the vanguard, confronting the Hun Clan's remaining forces head-on. The Yan and Lei Clan armies will hold the flanks, forming mutually supporting horns!"
Lei Ying and Yan Jin nodded in full agreement.
They were deeply moved that the Gu Clan army would charge at the front, sparing no cost.
"Remember, after eliminating the Hun Clan's high-level combatants, do not attack the others. We mustn't drive Hun Tiandi into leaping over the wall like a cornered dog!"
"Agreed!"
"Agreed!"
"Agreed!"
Under their clan leaders' command, the allied army of the four clans began pressing deeper into the Soul Realm in orderly ranks. Their densely packed forces filled the entire sky.
An army several times larger than the Hun Clan's pursued them relentlessly.
Wherever it passed, space was ground to dust, and everything belonging to the Hun Clan was utterly erased.
The Black-Corner Region.
The Inner Academy of Jia Nan Academy.
Flames soared into the sky, and the sounds of battle rang out everywhere.
After leaving Black Seal City, Han Feng, the Gold and Silver Elders, and the other Dou Emperors had not paused for a moment. At last, in the early hours of the following morning, they found the location of Jia Nan Academy's Inner Academy.
Then more than a dozen Dou Emperors charged into the Inner Academy without holding anything back.
They broke through the formation maintained by the Dou Wangs almost effortlessly, then began bombarding the Heavenly Flame Qi Refining Tower.
The Inner Academy's Peak Dou Emperor, Hu Gan, and its Dou Zong, Su Qian, were absent. Though many other elders remained, they were all merely Dou Wangs and could not stop the attackers.
Han Feng and his companions seemed to have a clear objective. They did not attack the Inner Academy's students. After killing several Jia Nan Academy elders and forcing everyone else back, they turned their attacks on the seal containing the Fallen Heart Flame.
The Fallen Heart Flame, which had lain dormant for so long, naturally would not let this opportunity slip away. Vast flames surged from the magma deep beneath the earth, breaking through the fragile seal in a single rush.
"Hiss!"
A giant flaming python coiled in the sky above the Inner Academy, coldly watching Han Feng, whose own icy-blue flames churned around him!
"Vile beast, today I shall subdue you on Jia Nan Academy's behalf!"
Han Feng spoke coldly.
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