"Big brother, did you get the answers you wanted? What should we do next?"
Xiao Huohuo and Elder Hai looked at Long Xiao, waiting for his instructions.
"Bi Xieyan told me about a place that might hold a tremendous opportunity. Want to go?"
"Really?!"
Excitement filled Xiao Huohuo's and Elder Hai's eyes.
Long Xiao's words caught them off guard, but neither harbored the slightest doubt. He had already shared so many resources with them-what reason did they have not to trust him?
"I'm in! You've shown me such great kindness, big brother. Even through mountains of blades and seas of fire, I, Xiao Huohuo, will stand by your side!"
Xiao Huohuo boldly thumped his chest in assurance.
"I'm going too!"
Elder Hai refused to be outdone.
Seeing this, Long Xiao could not help shaking his head. These two...
Half a day later.
Long Xiao reached the mountain range Bi Xieyan had mentioned and found the towering mountain.
He carefully probed it and discovered that, although this mountain looked no different from the others surrounding it, a strange power enveloped it, preventing his soul from entering at all.
Long Xiao's brows knitted tightly.
What was hidden inside this mountain?
Even his immensely powerful soul could not probe its interior.
However, he noticed a group of people shrouded in black robes at the foot of the mountain. Their leader, the Black-Robed Man, was hideously ugly, and his true form was that of a soul.
Just then, Xiao Huohuo looked at the Storage Ring on his hand. He discovered that Yao Lao had cut off all contact with him. What was going on?
It seemed he was wary of something.
Still, Xiao Huohuo did not dwell on it. With Long Xiao around, safety would not be an issue.
Long Xiao continued sensing the black-robed group.
At the foot of the mountain.
"Iron Protector, the entrance into the mountain should be right here, but it's too hard. Even with all five of us Soul Envoys working together, we couldn't budge it an inch."
A Soul Envoy spoke quietly, his voice full of helplessness.
Iron Protector said, "Looks like my instincts were right. There really is something strange about this mountain."
He had stumbled upon this place while carrying out a mission not long ago. Today, he had brought people to investigate, and it was just as he had suspected.
"Stand back. Let me try!"
Iron Protector waved his hand, signaling his subordinates to withdraw.
He took a deep breath, raised his right hand, and gathered an enormous surge of power before striking the boulder blocking the entrance.
Bang!
Yet when his fist struck the boulder, it was like a clay ox plunging into the sea-not even a single splash emerged.
This boulder was many times harder than he had imagined!
"Damn it! I'm a Four-Star Dou Zong, and even my full-powered strike couldn't budge it an inch?"
Iron Protector cursed under his breath, then shook both arms. An even mightier surge of power flooded into them, and his body began to swell.
"Let's see just what's so special about this stubborn rock!"
Iron Protector roared as he hammered the boulder with all his might.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Every blow produced a deafening boom, yet the boulder remained utterly unmoved.
He punched the rock face again and again, venting his frustration.
"Big brother, don't tell me this is the place you meant? That guy's a Dou Zong, and even he can't budge the entrance."
Xiao Huohuo looked at Long Xiao in surprise. With a boulder like that, even his big brother probably could not punch through it, could he?
Elder Hai felt as though he might have a heart attack. Who the hell were these people now?
So many Dou Zong experts-had the heavens over the Chu Yun Empire changed?
And none of these fellows looked like decent people.
"Yes, this is the place. But it looks like someone beat us to it." Long Xiao nodded.
"Then what do we do?" Xiao Huohuo asked.
Long Xiao did not answer. He extended his hand and spread his five fingers. Nine golden chains shot out of the void behind him, flying toward the black-robed group!
(Nine Dragons Heaven-Binding Chains: a divine artifact capable of binding anything, regardless of its substance. The power within anyone bound by it will be suppressed, but the chains' strength depends on the user's cultivation.)
The black-robed figures sensed danger and immediately turned to look.
"Watch out! An ambush! Dodge!"
One of them cried out, but the instant he finished speaking, a chain wrapped around him and violently flung him to the ground, leaving him dazed and reeling.
Everyone was bound, and the Dou Qi within their bodies seemed to have been suppressed by the golden chains' power.
"Who's there?! You skulking coward, how dare you ambush me!" Iron Protector lay on the ground, shouting at his surroundings.
"That's it? They're beaten?"
Xiao Huohuo and Elder Hai could not help giving Long Xiao a thumbs-up. Such a formidable group had become prisoners in an instant.
Long Xiao and his two companions jumped down from the tree, appearing before the black-robed figures.
Seeing them, Iron Protector immediately shouted, "Release me at once! I'm from the Soul... Argh!"
Before he could finish, the Nine Dragons Heaven-Binding Chains tightened, inflicting unbearable pain.
"Soul whatever-I don't give a shit. Is that how you ask someone for a favor?"
Long Xiao planted a foot directly on Iron Protector's chest, pinning him to the ground, then bent over and looked down at him.
His icy gaze sent chills through Iron Protector.
"Big brother, can you let me stomp on him a couple of times too? I've never stepped on a Dou Zong expert before." Xiao Huohuo came over and asked with a grin.
"Be my guest."
Long Xiao made an inviting gesture toward Xiao Huohuo.
"Damn you! What do you take me for... Argh!"
Xiao Huohuo stomped hard on Iron Protector's chest, sending him rolling across the ground.
Still unsatisfied, Xiao Huohuo gave him another kick.
Looking at the bedraggled Iron Protector on the ground, Xiao Huohuo felt his eyes fill with delight for some reason.
Iron Protector rolled in front of Elder Hai.
Elder Hai looked up and whistled as though he had seen nothing, but his foot delivered a vicious kick to Iron Protector.
Kicking a Dou Zong... now that felt good!
Watching their superior being bullied into such a miserable state, the Soul Envoys trembled, not daring to make a sound.
Before this man, their strength amounted to little more than that of ants. They could only pray silently that Iron Protector would endure a few more kicks and appease these men's anger, lest the fish in the pond suffer from a fire at the city gates.
But Long Xiao glanced at them and found them too weak-mere Dou Wangs, with little value. Golden flames suddenly ignited on the golden chains around them.
"Aaargh...!"
Amid agonized screams, all the Soul Envoys were reduced to ashes.
At the sight, Iron Protector was frightened almost out of his soul. His face turned deathly pale, and his entire body trembled.
"Y-you... who exactly are you?! I'm a Soul Hall Protector!"
Iron Protector's voice shook.
"Never heard of it."
Long Xiao walked up to Iron Protector with a smile.
He extended his right hand and pointed at Iron Protector's brow. A beam of golden light shot into it.
"What did you do to me?"
Iron Protector suddenly felt an extra shackle upon his soul... what was going on?
He stared at Long Xiao with wide eyes, only to find Long Xiao regarding him as though he were a little chicken or dog.
"That's a Soul Seal. If you disobey, I can detonate your soul whenever I wish. There will be absolutely no chance of revival," Long Xiao said casually.
A Soul Seal?!
Iron Protector was horrified. What kind of technique was this? It seemed even more terrifying than the Soul Hall's soul shackles!
Just what sort of monster was this young man?!
The Pill Tower? The Gu Clan?
His face instantly went ashen, and his body began to shake.
Long Xiao withdrew the chains binding him.
Iron Protector shakily rose to his feet and addressed Long Xiao respectfully. "Greetings... Master."
This fellow actually called Long Xiao his master?!
What had happened?
Xiao Huohuo and Elder Hai froze at the same time. This was too fucking incredible!
He had inexplicably gained a Dou Zong subordinate. Long Xiao was nothing short of a miracle!
Before you continue