For a moment, the world went quiet.
Deep underneath the manor, within the shifting and confusing labyrinth of the Akatsuki Headquarters, the Tang attack squad was still advancing carefully but through the metallic corridors.
Tang Niu led at the front, his expression focused as he guided his companions deeper into the base.
"Weird. I can understand not meeting someone for now, but for there to be no life threatening trap? Everyone, we—"
Then, without any warning, an irresistible gravitational force locked onto every single one of them.
"What—?!"
Before anyone could react, their bodies were violently yanked upward.
"W-What's happening?!"
"N-No, it hurts! It hurts! Aaaah!"
"Someone, someone save me!!"
"Nooooo!"
"Aaaaaugh!"
The Clear Sky Clan members were dragged upward at terrifying speed, their bodies slamming through multiple layers of reinforced metal walls, shifting platforms, solid rock, compressed earth, and thick layers of dirt. The labyrinth's structure offered no protection against the absolute pull of the deva path.
Their screams were cut short as their bodies were crushed, torn, and shredded by the successive layers of solid material. Blood, flesh, organs, and fragments of clothing were left scattered throughout the holes in the earth they were being pulled out of.
A few moments later, chunks of meat, blood and soul bones flew out of the earth and into the open sky.
Heavenly Attraction of All Creation", as the name states, is a innate jutsu of the Rinnegan, part of the Deva Path, that grants the user power of attractive force; to pull matter towards the user at will. Moreover, with his mastery of the jutsu, disrupting the flow of circulation of soul power in his target's body as he pulls them towards him was quite simple.
The Clear Sky Clan members was expected to all die when pulled out of the Akatsuki Headquarters, with some pieces of them and their soul bones remaining. As the number one super clan in the world, backed by Gods and two Great Beasts, supplying their younger generation with soul bones was simple for them. It would serve as a small compensation for destroying the manor, invading the Akatsuki Headquarters, and causing mental and emotional damage to its members.
Yet, miraculously, there was one survivor!
"...aaahh...." Tang Niu's body was heavily damaged, his bones shattered in multiple places and his flesh torn open. A faint wisp of breath still remained in him.
Huo Yuhao watched coldly at his broken figure, dangling helplessly in the air and observed him briefly.
"Not bad. Judging by your Soul Sage cultivation and the 100,000 year old left arm soul bone in you, I'm guessing that you're the Clear Sky Clan's top genius or something. You're definitely destined to become a Transcendent Douluo at least. Shame. You were born into a clan with shameless ancestors."
"...." Tang Niu couldn't reply. The light in his eyes grew dimmer.
Huo Yuhao shook his head. He hopes that Tang Niu and the others lives a modest next life.
He held his hand out and swung down.
Tang Niu's body split in two, his remains fell except for his soul bones.
Huo Yuhao didn't hesitate to take their soul bones. While they couldn't provide him with much improvement to his cultivation, they'd do well to serve as rewards or funds for his friends.
He whistled and inwardly sighed in awe at the wealth of an ancient super sect, as each one of the Clear Sky Clan members were outfitted with an almost complete set of high quality soul bones—with none being below ten thousand years old!
That's something only Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan and Sun Moon Imperial Engineering Academy was wealthy enough to do.
"Ye Guyi, here." Huo Yuhao casually tossed two soul bones towards Ye Guyi.
"Aah! Be careful with these!" Ye Guyi snapped out of her daze and quickly caught the soul bones in her arms, glaring at him for recklessly throwing precious soul bones. Except that soul bones, despite looking fragile like crystal, are incredibly sturdy.
She paused, checking the soul bones in her hands.
One was a right-arm soul bone gleaming with a bright orange color and radiating with intense Light and Fire attributes, with a mix of some wolfish intent. While the other was a left-arm soul bone of earthly yellow color that gave off a powerful pressure.
"By my judgement, that right arm soul bone should be from a 15,000 year old Holy Flame Wolf while the left arm is from a 20,000 year old Lightbound Mammoth. They're yours."
"But, master—"
"Save it. You've more than earned them." Huo Yuhao interrupted her without room for argument. "Absorb them when you have the chance. Your Holy Angel Martial Soul will benefit greatly from the Light attributes. Moreover, this isn't over yet. By the time we hunt down for your seventh soul ring, you're going to be needing your eighth."
Ye Guyi looked down at the two soul bones in her arms, her expression complicated for a brief moment before she carefully stored them away.
"...Thank you, Master."
Huo Yuhao nodded once and turned his gaze into the Daikokuten and observed the frozen Titled Douluos, especially Tang Haoran.
He furrowed his brows and he immediately made up a shadow clone and had it enter the Daikokuten.
Huo Yuhao was cautious and careful by nature. A Limit Douluo that was under Tang San was quickly defeated without putting up a fight? He was sure he had defeated Tang Haoran, but against Tang San's tricks?
He became stronger, but he was still mortal and a God's methods could never be underestimated. Even sealed and frozen under Absolute Zero, there was no guarantee that Tang San hadn't left some hidden contingency within the Clear Sky Clan's strongest experts.
However, that didn't mean he didn't have methods of his against the divine.
Th shadow clone placed his hands firmly on their heads, his eyes glaring down at them.
'Reveal to me, your secrets!'
Human Path - Soul Absorption!
Suddenly, pale white apparitions were pulled out Tang Ruoxi and Tang Haoran's bodies. The translucent figures struggled weakly, their faces twisted in pain and resistance as their souls were forcibly drawn out under the power of the Rinnegan's Human Path.
Despite the name "Soul Master", almost all of them lacked the ability to manipulate their soul and others. The only ones who could are those with a Spiritual-type martial soul or have trained their spiritual power for decades like his old teacher Mu En.
Despite having an immense level of spiritual power, not all Limit Douluos are well versed in using their spiritual power and soul. Mu En, Dragon God Douluo, wasn't proficient in spiritual power and was forced to train in it after he suffered a severe injury that crippled him for the remainder of his life. Not even his old comrades could compare to his mastery in spiritual power.
Tang Haoran was an "ordinary" power attack-type Limit Douluo and is relatively young. His mastery over spiritual power was ordinary of his level. While the Human Path can be resisted with those with enough power, Huo Yuhao's half-step Divine Origin Realm completely overwhelms Tang Haoran.
The clone popped, and streams of memories, thoughts, and hidden information flooded into Huo Yuhao's mind like a raging river. Scenes of the Clear Sky Clan's internal structure, their secret techniques, the extent of Tang San's influence over them, and the purpose of this operation flashed rapidly before his eyes.
His six eyes spun faster as he filtered through the vast amount of information with cold precision.
'....Well, this is unexpected.' After digesting the information he got from them, Huo Yuhao was surprised to find out about their purpose and information about an old friend of his. 'Attacking all these locations wasn't just to get to me. It was all to hide a deeper reason. A diversion to find Wang Dong'er. The young master of the Clear Sky Clan to most but to higher ups like these two they know her as a demigod!'
'She.... she's Tang San's daughter!'
It was like a bolt of lightning struck him. Huo Yuhao remembered the time when Wang Dong'er went to him for help about her strange repulsion towards modern soul tools. That was when he discovered that a God was backing her and he wanted to become more friendly with her to secure a safe connection with her backer so he could have a smooth journey to Godhood.
But after Tang San sent down a Heavenly Punishment back in the Great Star Dou Forest, he quickly made the connection with the divine mark in Wang Dong'er's spiritual sea. So he made sure he kept a certain distance away from her, from Shrek Academy entirely and remained in the forest for as long as possible.
However, he never could've predicted that Wang Dong'er was Tang San's daughter! A descendant perhaps, but his child? He's ten thousand years old!
But with the knowledge of the dragon kings now...
'Where is Wang Dong'er anyway? Ever since I went to the Sun Moon Empire, the last I heard about her is that she went on a journey across the Three Empires to further advance her cultivation.' Huo Yuhao racked his brains for any information about Wang Dong'er but came up on blank.
He turned to ask Ye Guyi but then...
"Looks like I won't have enough time," He huffed and snapped his fingers, instantly, the sky and land turned into a frosty wasteland. The temperature plummeted to extreme levels as the foundation from his domain of dark-blue ice rapidly spread across the entire swamp and the surrounding area, freezing trees, water, and the very ground itself into a crystalline domain of absolute cold.
A massive throne of pure dark-blue ice erupted from the frozen earth, like massive temple with intricate patterns of snowflakes forming along its surface.
'Show off,' In his second spiritual sea, Snow Empress looked at all that and snorted. She was the true ruler of Snow and Ice here! If someone was going to show these Titled Douluos their place with the use of the petrifying cold, it should've been her.
But unfortunately, this situation had nothing to do with her. This was his organization, his friends, and his problem. 'This Empress shall not interfere unless necessary,' Snow Empress thought to herself as she watched to see what comes next.
Huo Yuhao sat upon it with casual indifference, one leg crossed over the other, his six eyes glowing coldly as he gazed toward the approaching forces.
Ye Guyi took to his side like a loyal subordinate, her two pairs of angel wings partially unfurled, pure holy light forming a stark contrast against the endless frost.
Huo Yuhao smirked.
"I'm right here, come!"
❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️
AN: DN