Inside the empty hall, the stench of blood mingled with the air, forming thick clouds of blood mist. Corpses lay scattered about, creating a rather gruesome scene. However, there were still three living people in the hall, one of whom was Xiao Yan.
At this moment, Xiao Yan's body was stiff as a statue, with one foot raised in the air and paused less than two inches from the ground.
The expression on his face was particularly interesting. The previous solemn expression was gone, replaced by an extremely surprised look, and his dark eyes were filled with disbelief.
It took Xiao Yan quite a while to gradually recover from his prolonged shock.
During Xiao Yan's moment of distraction, the two men in black robes behind him did not disturb him. They simply removed the wide black robes that covered their faces, revealing their true appearances in the blood-soaked hall.
When Xiao Yan turned around and looked at the two people behind him with a surprised and doubtful gaze, the familiar and friendly smiles on their faces made him feel as if he were dreaming.
Both stood frozen in place, exchanging smiles for a long time. Then, Xiao Yan, with an excited expression, clasped his hands deeply in a fist salute to the old man who had spoken earlier, bowed deeply, and said respectfully, word by word:
"Junior Xiao Yan greets Elder Luo!"
At this moment, the blood mist in the air automatically dissipated, opening a pure passage between the two sides. At this moment, Elder Luo was also looking at Xiao Yan with a smile, his Elder Zhang full of satisfaction and pleasure.
This so-called Elder Luo is none other than Luo Ao, whom Xiao Yan had not seen for many years back in Lengcui City. As for the other young man beside him, he is none other than Luo Xiao Yan, Luo Jin's first friend after arriving in the Origin Martial Continent!
"Hehe, little guy, it's been so many years! Your achievements are truly astounding!"
Stepping forward, Luo Ao smiled and nodded at Xiao Yan. He had never heard of the powerful combat strength that the latter had displayed before. Even across the entire continent, it seemed that no one among the younger generation he had ever seen could match him!
Upon hearing this, the latter couldn't help but smile awkwardly, and then turned his gaze to Luo Jin standing to the side.
Without the black robe obscuring his view, Xiao Yan was now fully aware of the latter's cultivation level.
Mid-Stage Eight-Star Dou Di —that cultivation speed is even more exaggerated than his.
"Tsk tsk tsk, you've Mid-Stage Eight-Star Dou Di! Your cultivation speed is truly terrifying. How about we spar sometime?"
A look of amazement appeared in Xiao Yan's eyes. In less than ten years, he had risen from a mere Half-Emperor to an Eight-Star Dou Di powerhouse. Such a cultivation speed was truly astonishing!
However, the last sentence of his words sent a shiver down Luo Jin's spine. He quickly waved his hand, giving the latter a fierce glare, and said irritably:
"You bastard, are you deliberately mocking me? Sure, I'm a Mid-Stage Eight-Star Dou Di, but I saw it clearly before: even Jian Ming, a Late-stage Eight-Star Dou Di, couldn't withstand a single punch from you, let alone me... And by the way, you're only Mid-Stage Six-Star Dou Di..."
"Well..."
Luo Jin's words left Xiao Yan and Luo Ao speechless for a moment, then they burst into laughter. Luo Jin shrugged helplessly, looking completely innocent.
What he said is indeed true. With Xiao Yan's combat power, he can be considered a heaven-defying existence among all the Dou Di powerhouses on the continent. Six-Star Dou Di has killed Eight-Star Dou Di, and even a Nine-Star Dou Di has now been killed by him. Such combat power is simply terrifying!
"Heh, if I'm not mistaken, the reason you stayed until the end was for this, wasn't it?"
After a few words of conversation, Luo Ao changed the subject and returned to the main topic.
The three of them turned around and looked at the huge stone statue at the deepest part of the hall.
With no one else around, Xiao Yan felt a sudden sense of relief, and his gaze towards the stone statue became even more focused.
"Yes, my purpose in entering this ancient tomb wasn't actually for these Dou Qi inheritances..."
"Or is it to obtain the power of the Venerable Heavenly Severing's Soul Origin?"
Luo Ao raised an eyebrow, as if he had gleaned something from Xiao Yan's words.
It seems that the latter knew from the beginning that the Soul Origin of the Venerable Heavenly Severing existed within this ancient tomb.
However, none of that matters anymore. What matters is that Xiao Yan's words made them accept the Dou Qi inheritance without any problem. This way, they wouldn't have to worry about Xiao Yan's feelings after they obtained the Dou Qi inheritance. Xiao Yan's actions were a deliberate attempt to give the Dou Qi inheritance to them.
Of course, regardless of whether Xiao Yan gave it up voluntarily, it would still make Luo Ao and the other person feel somewhat apologetic. Therefore, the Soul Origin power sealed inside the stone statue naturally became a tool to smooth over this sense of apology.
The three of them stepped forward and looked at the stone statue. Luo Ao glanced at Xiao Yan and nodded slightly in acknowledgment.
Seeing this, Xiao Yan had a thought. He drew a stream of Spiritual Strength from the Soul Bead, slowly approached the stone statue, and then poured it into the statue's eyes.
"Buzz buzz buzz!"
Instantly, a golden light rose rapidly from the surface of the stone statue, enveloping the entire statue. Upon seeing this, Luo Ao's eyes flashed slightly, and a look of surprise crossed his old face.
It was clear that this layer of golden light was a kind of formation, and its level seemed to be quite high. It was left behind by the Venerable Heavenly Severing specifically to protect this stone statue. With his extraordinary eyesight and experience, Luo Ao could see that as long as this special formation was protected, if anyone tried to forcibly seize the Spiritual Strength within the stone statue, the stone statue would explode in an instant, and the enormous Soul Origin power within it would also explode.
"I didn't expect this old guy to be so cautious. Judging from the looks of it, this should be a sixth-order formation, but the technique isn't quite pure."
As Luo Ao gazed at the golden light emanating from the stone statue, he shared his thoughts. Upon hearing this, Luo Jin couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, exclaiming in surprise:
" Sixth-Tier Formation Master, isn't that the same as you?"
"Go away, shut up, brat. If I weren't too lazy to cultivate, how could I possibly be compared to a dead man from a thousand years ago?"
Before Luo Jin could finish speaking, Luo Ao quickly cut him off, then glanced at the formation in front of him again and said with a hint of sarcasm:
"Although it's a sixth-order formation, in my opinion, this so-called ' Venerable Heavenly Severing ' is probably just someone who happened to break through to the sixth order before he died."
Upon hearing this, Luo Jin glanced at the latter with a light laugh, a playful glint in his eyes, and thought to himself:
"Grandpa, when you broke through to the sixth rank, your cultivation level seemed to have reached the Origin King, right? And this guy..."
At the Early-Stage Origin Return Realm, Sixth-Tier Formation Master —based on this alone, even Luo Ao beside him probably couldn't compare. If it weren't for the untimely death of Venerable Heavenly Severing, his achievements would likely have been far greater than this.