Within the slightly twisted space lay a cold, damp swamp, bubbling and gurgling. The oozy water, a mixture of red and green, faintly revealed the pale remains of demonic beasts. The pungent stench and the scent of blood blended together, deterring any living creature from approaching.
This was a natural barrier.
Across the swamp, in the open area, a massive black palace stood silently, like a ferocious ancient beast crawling upon the ground. A sinister and terrifying aura permeated the sealed space.
From within the palace, countless extremely thick black chains extended deep into the ground. A cloud of black mist swirled above these chains, faintly converging into the shape of a human. From time to time, a glimmer of light flickered from the chains, finally fading into the black mist, thickening it even more.
"Whoa!"
The silence lasted for who knows how long before suddenly, more than a dozen wisps of black mist rose from the chains, shrinking into a dozen impassive figures. They exchanged glances, then moved, converging into a single entity.
"The Palace Master has sent word that the Tianming Sect is under attack from the Dan Alliance, and has ordered us to rush to their aid."
"Hehehe, it's finally our Earth Palace's turn to act! Those old monsters from the Heavenly Palace and Human Palace harvested vast numbers of souls and received generous rewards the other day. This time, I'm going on a killing spree!"
"Don't underestimate the enemy. The Palace Master said the group attacking the Tianming Sect includes powerful Semi-Saints, but the Soul Purity Saint has also passed. There's no need for us to worry; we'll simply slaughter them."
The leading figure spoke in a sinister tone. With a wave of his hand, more than a dozen figures transformed into a cloud of black mist, darting away like lightning, extending beyond this space.
At their speed, they could cover hundreds of feet in the blink of an eye.
However, after flying for several minutes, the group still couldn't escape the Zhuo Snake Mountains. To the three in the dark, they looked like headless flies, darting around in all directions.
Gradually, the group stopped mid-air, as if they had noticed something was amiss.
"Something's wrong! Quickly notify the Palace Master!"
"Bang!"
The leading black-robed figure's face was solemn. Just as he was about to take action, the world turned upside down and the sky collapsed.
The entire sky shattered !
Each black-robed figure didn't even have time to scream before they burst like bubbles being pricked.
A gentle breeze swept past, carrying away the last trace of blood.
"The spatial maze I've set up is so powerful that even a Dou Sheng can't escape it. How can you, a bunch of rubbish?"
A triumphant female voice echoed from the void, quickly interrupted.
"Don't waste time! Enter the underground hall."
"That's too easy! Even if I get in front of them, no one can detect me."
...
In the deepest part of the silent hall, darkness fell.
The Soul Hall's Deputy Master sat there, eyes closed, motionless. His wrinkled, aged face was expressionless, looking nothing like a living being, more like a mold carved from rotten wood.
The sound of hurried footsteps echoed from the corridor. The Deputy Master's withered eyes trembled slightly as he stared blankly at the trembling, black-robed figure kneeling below.
"Speak." "
Master, the soul tablets of the ten or so Tianming Sect elders we just ordered to support... have all... shattered."
Boom!
Like a sudden downpour from a clear sky, a terrifying aura instantly enveloped the entire hall, awakening countless meditating minions. Everyone felt as if a mountain had dropped down above them. The elder who had brought the news was so overwhelmed that he prostrated himself on the ground, unable to lift his head.
The Deputy Master abruptly rose, his wooden eyes sharpening, his calm face taking on a solemn expression.
In just a few minutes, over ten Dou Zun had vanished silently. One could only imagine the immense power of the one who had attacked—at least a Semi-Saint!
Furthermore…
this person must have already entered the Zhuo Snake Mountains!
Spiritual energy surged out like a tide, intending to use it to detect the hidden powerhouse.
The next moment, the Deputy Hall Master froze, suddenly turning around.
Alas!
Three people were standing so openly behind him!
One of the women even waved warmly, her smile radiating dimples.
"Soul Annihilation Palm!"
Without a moment's hesitation, the Deputy Hall Master roared, unleashing a barrage of terrifying palm strikes that shattered the entire hall. The relentless palm strikes shattered space like fragments, imbued with an aura of destruction.
The Soul Hall Elder, crouching at the doorway, was the most unfortunate. Without the strength to struggle, the aftermath of the destruction shattered him.
"Old bastard, rude!"
Zi Yan bit back, clenching her delicate hand into a fist and lashing out with a light punch. The destructive palm shadow, so powerful that even space couldn't withstand it, instantly shattered, like a sharp arrow piercing through sheets of white paper. Destruction
without a trace!
"A single finger of spiritual resonance!"
Chen Guan muttered to himself. Dou Qi and spiritual power surged out simultaneously, merging together to form a massive finger a thousand feet long and pressing down.
The Deputy Hall Master had barely recovered from the shock of Zi Yan's attack when he felt his soul being locked down, as if an indescribable tug dragged him into endless darkness.
Hastily, he mobilized his spiritual power without reservation, forming layers of defense to protect his soul, hoping for a moment of respite.
Unfortunately, he had greatly overestimated his own spiritual strength. Just like the palm shadows that had swept through the air, the defenses forged by his spiritual power shattered at the first touch.
With each shattered spiritual defense, the Deputy Hall Master trembled, his face grimacing with the excruciating pain of a sundered soul.
Even so, the Deputy Hall Master gritted his teeth and persevered, channeling his Dou Qi, transforming into a pitch-black soul dragon to prevent the massive fingerprint from falling.
"Enemy attack!"
"Hall Master!"
Furious roars echoed from the ruins. But before they could rush to their aid, a dazzling flash of nine-colored sword light streaked across the sky, growing ever larger in their sight.
Many of them were Dou Zun masters capable of ripping through space, but before this nine-colored sword light, they felt like bound dumplings. They struggled, even lifting a finger was a struggle.
"Puff!" "Puff!" "Puff!"
The sounds echoed in quick succession, the sound of heads flying off and blood spurting.
The nine-colored sword light was incredibly sharp, unstoppable.
In the blink of an eye, the ruins fell completely silent.
The nine-colored sword light, now without a target, pivoted as if possessed, piercing the Deputy Hall Master's heart with dazzling light.
The pitch-black dragon teetered, its form visibly ethereal, poised to dissolve at any moment, just as the Deputy Hall Master's eyes, shifting from fierce to painfully confused, gradually losing their brilliance.
"Boom!"
The sky-reaching finger crashed down.
When the smoke dissipated, only a deep crater, unfathomable to the naked eye, remained, the Deputy Hall Master's figure no longer visible.
Chen Guan's spiritual power emanated from his body, spreading like a tide, enveloping the entire Zhuoshe Mountains, searching for any lingering souls. Periodically, shrill screams could be heard from the distance.
Confirming that all those within the Soul Hall had been annihilated, Chen Guan opened his eyes and breathed a sigh of relief.
From the outbreak of the battle to its conclusion, the Earth Hall was utterly annihilated in a matter of minutes.
This was unbelievable to anyone who heard it.
"Sister Dieyi, you were too fast! I didn't even have time to attack. This old fellow can't handle a fight," Zi Yan complained, regretting her slowness.
In fact, the deputy hall master is not weak. With the strength of a three-star fighting saint, he can be regarded as a true master even among the eight ancient clans.
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However, the attackers were even more formidable.
Zi Yan and Medusa were both late-stage four-star Dou Sheng, each capable of crushing the deputy hall master.
Not only them, but even Chen Guan alone could confidently slay this man, though it wouldn't be so easy.
Now, with the combined strength of the three, the deputy hall master's death was well deserved.
Medusa glared at the indignant Dragon Emperor.
"Since you're so eager to fight, I'll leave Hun Mie Sheng to you from now on."
"I'd love to, but that old fellow won't fight me,"
Medusa replied with a roll of her eyes, saying nothing more.
Following Chen Guan's gaze, the main hall was practically rubble, with only a corner remaining, precariously standing. Even that tiny corner still stretched tens of feet, with thousands of pitch-black chains connecting to the ground.
"Soul Origin?"
Medusa had a guess. During the previous battle, both the deputy hall master and Chen Guan had intentionally controlled the aftermath to avoid that area.
Therefore, the answer was easy to guess.
"That should be it,"
Chen Guan nodded gently, leading the two women towards a corner of the hall.
Deeper inside, Medusa and Zi Yan were horrified to discover countless soul spheres dangling from the ends of the chains. They could vaguely discern the forms of the souls within.
Medusa had seen some souls before, such as those of Skyfire Venerable and Yao Chen.
But compared to them, the state of those dangling from the chains in this hall was drastically different, as if they could dissolve at any moment.
It was hard to imagine the inhumane torture these souls endured by the Soul Palace.
"That old man died too easily."
Even Zi Yan, with her temper, couldn't smile at this hellish scene.
Chen Guan took a deep breath, then waved his hand lightly. A terrifying gust of wind swept through like a hurricane, and the chains burst apart in an instant.
At this moment, the souls within the ball of light slowly opened their eyes, gazing around with weakness and bewilderment. Finally, they erupted in waves of ecstasy. Though they didn't know exactly what had happened, they felt a sense of freedom. For years, they had been chained here like prisoners, sometimes even death seemed a luxury.
"Go wherever you came from, go wherever you want."
Chen Guan sighed softly. He could see that these souls were already a dying candle in the wind.
In this state, their complete dissipation was only a matter of time.
Granted, Chen Guan had resurrected Skyfire Venerable, Yao Chen, and the Spirit Clan's Lingyu.
But that didn't make him omnipotent, nor did he possess such a broad mind.
These souls could not be saved.
Rescuing them from this 'hell' was the most he could do.
Countless souls hovered in the sky, finally kneeling before Chen Guan and offering him a profound salute before roaring through the spatial barrier, dashing madly towards the outside world. However, they could not yet leave the Zhuoshe Mountains; they had to wait for Zi Yan to unlock the spatial seal before they could truly be free.
Without these souls, the hall became empty.
Under the watchful eyes of Medusa and Zi Yan, Chen Guan hesitated no longer. With a flick of his sleeve, terrifying gusts of wind blew away the stone pillars, hundreds of feet tall, and continued digging.
Seeing this, Medusa and Zi Yan joined in to help.
With their combined efforts, a pit nearly a hundred feet deep appeared within the hall.
At this depth, a ball of light, approximately two feet in size
, hovered quietly. The light was transparent, and countless pitch-black chains stretched from its periphery, connecting the souls that had just escaped.
Clearly, this ball of light was extracted from those souls.
Both Medusa and Zi Yan sensed an extremely terrifying soul fluctuation within the ball of light, a wave of pure purity, untainted by the slightest impurity.
"Is this the Soul Origin?"
Chen Guan nodded, his gaze fixed on it.
The soul is the very foundation of all life. Everything in the universe possesses a soul, and deep within it lies a trace of Soul Origin. This is the very basis for the birth of souls, and it can be said to be the purest and most unique energy in the universe.
This Soul Origin was even more massive than he had anticipated.
He remembered that in the original trajectory, the portion Xiao Yan had obtained from the Human Hall was only half a meter square, but it was condensed from at least a million souls.
This two-meter portion...
it was hard to imagine the magnitude of this sin.
Perhaps it was because the Earthly Demon Halls had gathered so much Soul Origin, sending a considerable amount of it here, that such a large amount had accumulated.
"Are these essences enough for a breakthrough?"
Medusa asked. They had no idea what Chen Guan was thinking. Rather than worrying about other trivial matters, the two women were more concerned about Chen Guan's ability to reach a higher level.
Chen Guan nodded affirmatively.
"More than enough."
"I can take the soul essence with me, but I'm not sure if that would cause any damage. You protect me, and I'll absorb it directly."
With that, Chen Guan stepped down and arrived before the soul essence, sitting cross-legged in the air.
Despite his feelings, he wasn't pretentious in front of the soul essence.
He had been thinking about this for years.
"I pray for your soul's peace. Allow me to pray and guide your soul back. With such awe, I will bear your essence and your vengeance."
These gentle words suddenly caused the soul light ball to emit a faint glow, and faintly, it seemed as if a myriad of messages were emanating from it.
Chen Guan silently absorbed the messages from the Soul Essence. The Soul Light Ball contained a vast amount of Soul Essence, yet it lacked any intelligence. What remained was merely the resentment, unwillingness, and other emotions left behind before their final death.
These emotions were difficult to fully refine, and if absorbed carelessly, they would inevitably affect the mind.
Chen Guan's understanding of the soul had greatly improved, and he had even witnessed the negative emotions of Dou Di powerhouses. Therefore, to fully absorb this Soul Essence, a statement was necessary.
The Soul Light Ball's current behavior represented another form of wisdom from these Soul Essences. Even in death, they would use their final strength to inflict pain on those who had caused their death. While dispelling this with a single word was easy,
the Soul Palace would never make such a promise.
Gazing at the soul ball of light, Chen Guan let out a light breath, then extended his hand and touched it.
With this contact, Chen Guan could sense the vast power of the soul's origin emanating from the soul ball of light. That feeling filled his soul, right between his eyebrows, with an intense warmth.
At the same time, he also sensed that within this soul's origin, some subtle tricks of the Soul Palace remained.
Chen Guan smiled and shook his head, unsurprised.
"As vicious as ever, but unfortunately, the methods remain clumsy."
With that, strange fire emanated from his body.