The sacrificial grounds!

In the southwestern borderlands of the Heaven Dou Empire, three figures crept through a dense forest.

"Your Highness, we're almost at the sacrificial grounds. Wait for us on the outskirts until we return!"

Yue Guan solemnly instructed Bibi Dong.

But Bibi Dong acted as though she had heard nothing, making Yue Guan suddenly stop.

"Your Highness, did you hear what I said?"

Seeing that she could no longer keep up the act, Bibi Dong could only nod obediently.

"I understand, Uncle Yue Guan."

Only after Bibi Dong agreed did Yue Guan's expression soften a little.

The three continued forward. Just then, Yue Guan suddenly shot chrysanthemum blades ahead.

"Argh!"

"Urgh!"

After two muffled groans, two black-robed men tumbled out of the thick foliage of a large tree.

Bibi Dong looked at the corpses on the ground in surprise. She had not noticed at all that two people had been hiding ahead.

"Your Highness, stay here for a little while. We'll return as soon as we finish the mission."

Yue Guan turned to Bibi Dong.

"I understand, Uncle Yue Guan."

Bibi Dong nodded in reply.

Yue Guan and Gui Mei exchanged a glance. Then their figures flashed, and they raced ahead.

Watching their retreating figures, a glint of mischief immediately flashed in Bibi Dong's eyes.

Before a cave, more than a dozen people drove scaled horned horses, bronze oxen, and other livestock, hauling cart after cart of Soul Beast corpses into the cave.

Just then, a strong gust swept in, making these black-robed people's clothes flap.

The next instant, blood suddenly spurted from their necks!

Before they could make a sound, they all fell to the ground and lay still.

The moment the last black-robed person fell, two figures appeared a short distance behind him.

Yue Guan opened his hand. Tiny chrysanthemum blades gathered in his palm, forming a golden chrysanthemum.

Yue Guan closed his hand, and the golden chrysanthemum vanished.

"So many Soul Beast corpses. The scale of the sacrifice inside this cave must be considerable!"

Gui Mei looked at the cartloads of Soul Beast bodies, his expression grave.

"Who cares! No matter how these Fallen Soul Masters hide, death is their only ending today."

Yue Guan replied in a soft, feminine voice, then walked into the cave with feline steps.

"Who are you?"

Just then, a black-robed Soul Master emerged from inside the cave. At the sight of the two, panic immediately appeared on his face.

"An ene-"

But before he could finish, a dark figure appeared behind him.

Squelch!

A hand immediately pierced through his chest.

As the hand withdrew, all strength drained from the black-robed Soul Master as well, and he collapsed to the ground with a thud.

"Hurry up. Her Highness the Saintess is still waiting for us."

Gui Mei shook the blood off his hand and spoke in a low voice.

"I know. You don't need to remind me!"

Yue Guan rolled his eyes at Gui Mei, and the two swiftly advanced deeper into the cave.

Every black-robed Soul Master they encountered along the way was silently dispatched by the pair.

Inside the cave, on an immensely broad platform, black-robed Soul Masters tossed Soul Beast corpses into excavated trenches. Viewed from the cave ceiling, the intersecting trenches formed an intricate eye pattern.

An altar stood in the center of the eye pattern, with a black-robed Soul Master seated upon it.

As Soul Beast corpses continued to fill the trenches, several Soul Masters escorted a group of people over under guard.

These people wore tattered clothes and were all commoners without the slightest Soul Power.

"Let us go. Please, let us go!"

"Lord Soul Masters, let us go!"

Pleas rose incessantly from the crowd.

"Shut up! If anyone shouts again, I'll kill them right now!"

A black-robed Soul Master threatened them, his eyes gleaming viciously.

The commoners were immediately too frightened to call out loudly again.

"We're running out of Soul Beast corpses. What's going on? Where are the people transporting the corpses from behind?"

A black-robed Soul Master kicked the Soul Beast corpse before him into a trench and shouted his question at the black-robed Soul Master behind him.

"I don't kno-"

The black-robed Soul Master behind him abruptly fell silent. He slowly lowered his head to look at his chest, where a knife-hand tipped with sharp nails had burst through.

The black-robed Soul Master in front froze as well. As the knife-hand withdrew, the corpse fell, revealing the figure behind it.

The black-robed Soul Master's pupils instantly contracted.

"Enemies!"

He had barely shouted when a soft, feminine, and icy voice rang out.

"Sixth Soul Skill! Golden Stamen Flowing Rosy Clouds!"

A figure soared into the air behind Gui Mei. A huge golden chrysanthemum bloomed, its golden light instantly illuminating the entire cave.

The next second, the golden chrysanthemum abruptly burst apart.

Countless chrysanthemum blades shot out.

"Argh!"

"Aah!"

Screams immediately rang out incessantly inside the cave. Chrysanthemum blades pierced one black-robed Soul Master after another, clouds of bloody mist bursting forth as though flowers of blood were blooming throughout the cave.

"Fourth Soul Skill! Ghost Shadow!"

Almost simultaneously, Gui Mei activated his Soul Skill.

The shadow behind him turned pitch-black as ink. Then countless black ghostly shadows flew out of it, charging at the black-robed Soul Masters!

"Seventh Soul Skill! Martial Soul Avatar!"

A black-robed Soul Master activated his Soul Skill, yet a dark shadow still passed through his body, killing him!

The commoners crouched on the ground, trembling with fear!

Scream after scream filled their ears, as though they were in hell.

Just then, a red-black glow suddenly spread across the cave floor. The trenches piled with Soul Beasts began glowing red bit by bit, like lines of a circuit!

"Spirit Hall's running dogs! Today, I'll bury you here!"

A cold, furious roar rang out. On the central altar, the black-robed Soul Master rose to his feet, his eyes glowing red beneath his black mask.

An obscure chant rang out. The Soul Beast corpses in the trenches rapidly withered, and then the entire pattern blazed with light. Streams of energy visible to the naked eye gathered toward the central altar!

"Kill him, quickly!"

Seeing that something was wrong, Gui Mei roared furiously, then launched himself toward the altar to attack. Yue Guan followed close behind, his densely packed chrysanthemum blades swarming toward the black-robed Soul Master like bees!

Outside the cave, a figure appeared at the entrance. It was none other than Bibi Dong!

Looking at the corpses scattered on the ground around her, excitement appeared on Bibi Dong's face.

Inside the cave, the eye pattern had now fully activated. The eyeball seemed to have come alive, constantly turning as it observed its surroundings.

"My lord, Scarlet Letter! I sacrifice my soul! Descend into my body!"

The black-robed Soul Master roared. The rotating eyeball instantly stopped, fixing its gaze on him.

An evil, dark presence instantly descended.

Then, under Yue Guan and Gui Mei's shocked gazes, the black-robed Soul Master's Soul Power actually began skyrocketing!

In the space of a few short breaths, it had already surged from Soul Douluo to Titled Douluo.

Under the raging energy, the black-robed Soul Master's Soul Rings involuntarily appeared: white, white, yellow, yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black!

This Soul Ring Configuration revealed the black-robed Soul Master's origins at a glance!