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An expanse of vast mountains, a dense blood-colored mist, a dark forest.
"Tap, tap, tap, tap..."
A rapid, rhythmic series of footsteps rang out in a pitch-black hall as a figure shrouded from head to toe in black mist slowly made his way forward.
The hall was pitch-black, with visibility extending less than ten zhang. The figure stared straight ahead, unmoved by the endless darkness, not a ripple stirring in his eyes.
His steps seemed unhurried, yet they were astonishingly swift. In mere moments, he had reached the far end of the enormous hall.
Old Ghost Yan Mo stopped and looked ahead. As always, there was nothing but darkness before him, without a glimmer of light.
Everything here looked so empty. He leaned forward slightly and resumed walking.
Before long, Old Ghost Yan Mo stopped again. Looking around, he saw that this was yet another pitch-black passage.
In the dark space, he could not tell whether it was an illusion or something else, but the space here seemed incredibly dense.
It even felt viscous. Breathing was like drawing water into his lungs.
Old Ghost Yan Mo took a deep breath of the viscous air and slowly exhaled. Just as he was about to speak, another aged voice came first.
"Old Ghost Yan Mo? Why have you come back?"
As soon as the words fell, the speaker let out a soft sound of surprise and continued:
"Huh? Your blood Qi looks unstable, your soul power is weak, and not one of the subordinates you took with you survived. Surely that old fellow Yuan Qing wasn't responsible?"
Old Ghost Yan Mo snorted coldly at this and turned his neck angrily as he replied:
"Hmph! If only it had been just Yuan Qing. If that were the case, I could have killed him that day!"
The person, whose whereabouts were unknown, raised his brows slightly and spoke again:
"Oh? So old Yuan Qing had help? Could it be that they sent someone over again?"
Before his words had faded, he shook his head slightly and frowned as he spoke:
"But that can't be right. If they'd sent someone over, headquarters would certainly have told us, yet it doesn't look like that's what happened, does it?"
"Hmph! Enough. I won't talk to you about it now. I'm going to see the hall master first. Once I've met with him, the hall master will tell you himself."
With that, he was about to step farther into the passage, but suddenly stopped.
A black figure, wrapped from head to toe in a black robe, appeared before Old Ghost Yan Mo.
The black-robed figure sneered and said with a laugh to Old Ghost Yan Mo:
"Do you think you can see the hall master whenever you please? The hall master informed me long ago that he was going into seclusion. You absolutely won't be able to see him for several months."
As he spoke, he glanced at Old Ghost Yan Mo with a smile and continued:
"What's more, the hall master only went into seclusion ten days ago. He said not to disturb him unless something major happened. You should know the hall master's temper. You want to see him? Heh heh... do you think that's possible?"
Hearing this, Old Ghost Yan Mo relaxed. He naturally knew the hall master's temper: once he gave an order, no one could disobey it.
But now, with that last remark, even if he disturbed the hall master's seclusion, the hall master would certainly not punish him.
Thus, Old Ghost Yan Mo looked at the black-robed figure before him with a mocking smile and slowly said:
"In that case, Hall Guardian, please make way for me. I have an urgent matter to report to the hall master."
Hearing this, the black-robed figure knitted his brows tightly beneath his hood and snorted coldly.
"I refuse to believe there's anything important enough for you to provoke the hall master like this. Are you truly not afraid of death?"
The black-robed man placed particular emphasis on those last few words, making them very unpleasant to hear.
But Old Ghost Yan Mo sneered and said:
"Death? Heh heh! I advise you to get out of the way as soon as possible. Otherwise, once the opportunity passes, there's no telling who will die! Take good care of that old life of yours. It would be a shame if your soul ended up scattered to the winds!"
The black-robed man's head snapped up, fury rising in his sinister eyes.
He gave a heavy snort, then his figure flickered and vanished from before Old Ghost Yan Mo.
Old Ghost Yan Mo sneered, raised his foot, and walked into the passage.
A short while later, Old Ghost Yan Mo finally emerged from the pitch-black passage, his face looking somewhat numb.
Old Ghost Yan Mo appeared in a vast, empty hall. It was as different from the outside as heaven was from earth.
It was as though one were a netherworld hell, and the other a primordial immortal realm.
The first thing to catch the eye here was a hazy white mist that lingered throughout the hall, drifting like immortal Qi.
With the pitch-black passage behind Old Ghost Yan Mo, it was as though he had stepped into another world.
The walls of the hall were built entirely of translucent, lustrous white jade, giving off a soft white glow. One glance was enough to tell that this jade was no ordinary thing.
At the very center of the hall, three transparent, colorless clusters of light hung suspended in midair, giving off a gentle glow that illuminated the entire hall.
The clusters looked ordinary, as though they served only to provide light.
But judging by the waves of power faintly emanating from them, these clusters were anything but ordinary.
If Xiao Yan had been here, he would have recognized at a glance that all three clusters were unmistakably the same kind of soul origin the Hall of Souls had collected in the past.
The hazy white mist was also being emitted by those three clusters of light.
That hazy white mist was actually made up entirely of streams of pure soul origin!
Yet Old Ghost Yan Mo seemed to have long since grown accustomed to all this.
Even so, the greed now showing in his sinister eyes revealed his desire for that soul origin.
Suddenly, a voice filled with fury rang out, making the entire hall tremble slightly.
"Yan Mo! Don't you know I'm in seclusion? You dare come and disturb me at a time like this? Are you courting death?"
At those words, Old Ghost Yan Mo instantly came to his senses, a look of terror appearing on his face. He composed himself and hurriedly said:
"Hall master, this subordinate would not dare disturb your secluded cultivation, but the matter I have come to report is truly of great importance to us and cannot be delayed in the slightest. That is why I took the liberty of disturbing your seclusion. I beg your forgiveness, hall master."
Hearing this, the owner of the voice frowned deeply and took a long breath. Only after quite a while did he snort coldly and let out a displeased roar:
"Speak! If it isn't important, I'll destroy you!"
At those words, Old Ghost Yan Mo instantly felt the temperature around him plummet, turning eerily cold. But he knew where he stood, so naturally he was not afraid.
Full of confidence, Old Ghost Yan Mo raised his head, stared straight ahead, and spoke word by word:
"Hall master, Xiao Yan has arrived!"