The two flew through the air, breaking through four soul barriers, traversing Floating Dust Ridge, Severed Shadow Creek, and the Abyss-Gazing Barren Land, finally arriving at the border of the Southern Chasm of the Nether Desert as night fell.
The sky here is perpetually gray, and the earth's veins are cracked and parched, as if eroding bones.
The soul energy was scattered and fragmented, resembling a "land of soul decay" left behind after some calamity.
"The mission description says that the Spirit-Withering Mother Nest is hidden nine levels underground, with clumps of soul mud and a poisonous aura," Zhou Yu said softly.
Qin Yu closed his eyes for a moment, then suddenly his brow twitched.
Did you feel it?
Zhou Yu's expression changed slightly. "... The loss of boundary energy and the abnormal movement of the floating soul seem to be... deliberately induced."
"Someone tampered with it?"
"Perhaps." Zhou Yu's eyes darkened. "But the Mission Hall seal is already sealed. Regardless of its authenticity, since we've signed it, we have no choice but to see it through to the end."
"If anything unusual occurs, execute them first, then seal the position."
The two slid down the crevice in the ground, plunging into the ninth level of the Ruin Abyss.
The path was littered with withered branches and vines, animal remains and broken bones, and extinguished battle runes—an ancient array used to seal remnant souls, now long abandoned.
"This is no ordinary breeding ground for monstrous plants," Qin Yu said slowly. "It's more like... a deliberately cultivated 'soul nest'."
As soon as the words were spoken, at the bottom of the nine-story cliff, the gray soul mud suddenly surged, and a pair of crimson soul eyes rose from the mud!
"Retreat!!"
Zhou Yu reacted extremely quickly and unleashed a sword strike!
Instead of attacking, the Soul Mud exploded into countless fine soul threads, which wrapped around the two of them!
"This is... the Soul-Luring Lock!"
"It's a trap!" Qin Yu roared. Ninefold Ambush Killing Formation - Initial Activation
Suddenly, three soul arrays appeared on the stone wall, namely:
Sealing Meridians and Tranquilizing Lock
Soul Poison - Scattered Consciousness Seal
Escape Formation - Breath Shifting Technique
The fusion of these three elements will cause severe damage, such as temporary inability to move the soul, severance of consciousness, and loss of sense of boundaries.
Zhou Yu barely managed to break free of the Soul-Locking Seal, and roared angrily:
"Was it Shang Kui who set this up?!"
"He actually dared to alter the pages in the Mission Hall!!"
Qin Yu did not respond, his expression calm as frost. In his palm, a faint, almost imperceptible wisp of blue light flickered, but never fully emerged.
Azure Ring - Not Allowed to Begin
He knew.
The soul pressure here is severe, and the rules of the Spirit Firmament Great Realm have heavily blocked the Azure Ring's response, so he cannot easily mobilize even the full power of the first move.
But he had one more thing:
"Black Bone Long Spear."
With a flick of his left hand, he summoned the dormant Black Bone from his sleeve. The spear tip jerked, and the remnant soul retreated!
"Zhou Yu, can you still fight?"
Blood trickled from the corner of Zhou Yu's mouth, yet he smiled, "If you can kill the enemy, I will sacrifice my life to lead the charge."
Qin Yu said in a deep voice:
"Alright, let's kill these wicked souls first. After we get out... I'll personally settle the score with him."
Black spears swept across the sky, and soul threads swirled and twisted.
The war has begun.
Beneath the nine layers of the Soul Abyss, withered mud churns and soul threads stretch like a sea.
That nest, which should have been a natural evolution of decaying remnants of souls, now seemed to have been prematurely ripened by an invisible hand. Thousands of strands of souls surged out, and the soul mud turned into flowing flames, transforming into a hundred-foot- Sinful Soul Remnant Tide that crashed down on Qin Yu and Zhou Yu!
"Soul pressure has sealed off the area; ascent is impossible."
Zhou Yu drew his sword, his expression grave. "We're trapped inside the formation."
Qin Yu's right hand was already gripping the spear tightly. In that instant, dark golden patterns appeared on the Black Bone Long Spear, and the thirteen layers of the soul diagram could be vaguely seen slowly rotating!
Deep within the sea of consciousness, the Gray Ring resounded!
Boom--
Spear Soul Resonance!
Black Bone Spear, Thirteenth Form: Soul-Extinguishing Withering Sacrifice!
As the spear tip thrust forward, the heavens and earth trembled violently, and a massive vortex that Soul Rend appeared. Black energy swirled like a whirlwind, transforming into countless tiny soul runes that shredded the oncoming tide of evil souls!
At that moment, it seemed as if the entire Ghostly Land had fallen silent.
The vengeful spirits wailed, the withered poison burned, and the array's spirit shattered!
The Gray Ring imprinted on the spear shaft resonated with the Soul Map, making it seem like a weapon capable of annihilating all realms!
"This spear..."
Zhou Yu, following behind, was shocked. "It could actually shatter the main root of the Soul Nest?!"
"What a madman!"
Soul Tide Surges Again - Second Wave Begins
However, the tide of souls did not stop. From the depths of the soul mud, a withered vine soul mother rushed out. It was human-shaped with bones like vines and wood, and its whole body was wrapped in soul poison bubbles. With each breath, it corroded a hundred feet of land!
"A monstrous-level Soul Mother?"
Zhou Yu's expression darkened, and the longsword in his hand transformed into three shadow blades, slashing out with force!
Wandering Soul Sky-Piercing Slash!
The Breath-Severing Wheel Moon!
Phantom White Petals - Shattered Shadow Style!
Three strikes combined into one, a single sword severing the boundary!
The Sword Qi roared like a tidal wave, shattering the Soul Mother's left shoulder and the three thousand withered tentacles.
Qin Yu did not retreat. His Black Bone Long Spear swept across like thunder. Under the spear's light, withered souls scattered and mud and fire boiled.
"You hold back the tide of outer souls, I'll break through the formation!"
With a roar, Zhou Yu's soul power surged, and his divine soul appeared behind him, resembling a frost dragon. With a deafening roar, a thousand souls were scattered!
Qin Yu's spear trembled again, the Gray Ring and the soul spear completely fused, unleashing a strange new move:
Ring Spear - World-Slaying Slash!
This move was not originally one of the thirteen styles, but rather the first style that Qin Yu awakened and evolved from Gray Ring during the life-or-death struggle in the Divine Abyss Realm!
The spear's light cleaved the heavens like a boundary being severed, and a black and gray rift roared from the bottom of the abyss to the top of the dome, shattering the core of the Soul Mother, Soul Rend Spring, and causing the Soul Poison to flow back in reverse!
Mission Core - The Withered Mother is Destroyed
The entire Soul Nest trembled, the soul pressure dissipated, and above the sky, the Soul Stele sensed a slight tremor, its faint golden light piercing through the abyss and illuminating Qin Yu's back.
At this moment, Zhou Yu severed the last wisp of fleeing soul with a single sword strike. Covered in soul blood, he stood at the edge of the soul nest, his heavy sword as imposing as a mountain, his robes fluttering in the wind.
"Who exactly are you...?"
He stared at the corpses scattered on the ground and the Black Bone War Spear that was stuck diagonally into the ground like a spear from the sky, his eyes surging with fighting spirit.
"Initial Origin First Stage, the Slaughtering Soul Mother, the Severing of the Three Soul Tide—someone like you shouldn't be in the outer sect."
Qin Yu merely smiled slightly, sheathed his spear, and turned to leave.
The Heavenly Palace Soul Ring slowly dissipated behind them.
They completed what was originally a trap.
But—who knew that the black-clad mastermind was standing before a soul mirror, his face grim.
"... Even the Soul Mother was killed?"
"That spear... something's not right."
He murmured softly, and afterimages appeared one after another in the Soul Mirror—
The moment the spear was thrust out, even the mirror cracked!
"That's neither a soul weapon nor a spiritual artifact..."
"That is... an unknown, extraterrestrial being."