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Shortly after, north of Jialing Pass, a Spirit Empire transport army was rushing through the night. They were escorting grain, medicine, and spare spirit tools to send them to the Heaven Dou front line. The officer leading the unit looked exhausted, but he was not flustered. The front line was winning battle after battle. Angel God Qian Renxue was personally presiding over the situation, so in their view, this war had no suspense left.
Suddenly, the ground began to tremble. A soldier frowned and asked, "What is that sound?"
The next moment, a dull ringing of a hammer came from deep within the night. A heavy boom echoed, followed immediately by a second sound and then a third. It sounded like thunder rolling across the ground.
On the road ahead of the transport army, six tall figures slowly walked out of the black mist. They held gray-black Clear Sky Hammers and were wrapped in dark Rakshasa Death Qi. Their eyes were completely hollow, and their expressions were stiff. The person in the lead had the heaviest aura of all. It was the undead Tang Xiao.
The Spirit Empire officer's expression changed abruptly. "Clear Sky Hammer? No, they aren't living people!" He wanted to order his troops to defend, but the undead Tang Xiao had already raised his massive hammer.
The giant hammer fell with a massive boom, causing the entire mountain road to collapse directly. Dozens of grain carts were smashed into fragments by a single strike. Screams erupted as the five undead Clear Sky Sect Elders charged into the military formation right behind him.
The Clear Sky Hammer was originally the number one tool spirit under heaven. However, now that it was contaminated by Rakshasa Death Qi, it lacked its original fierce righteousness and instead gained a sinister, poisonous destruction. Every time a hammer fell, it brought up large swaths of purple-black death qi. The soldiers were not only smashed away, but their souls were also forcibly extracted by the death qi, flying toward the rakshasa altar in the black mist in the distance.
In just a short moment, the transport army completely collapsed. The grain was destroyed, the medicine was burned, and the escorted spirit tools were all smashed to pieces. The souls of those dead soldiers became nourishment for Tang San to restore his undead origin.
On a distant mountain peak, Tang San watched the scene quietly. The scar left by Di Tian's Dragon God Claw on his chest faded a bit more under the replenishment of so many souls. A hint of satisfaction appeared in his eyes. "Very good. The Clear Sky Hammer is indeed useful. Uncle Tang Xiao, when you were alive, you could not protect the Clear Sky Sect. After death, just destroy the Spirit Empire for me."
The undead Tang Xiao stood in the firelight while the gray-black Clear Sky Hammer hung at his side, his hollow eyes showing no emotion at all. Tang San looked toward the direction of Heaven Dou City in the distance, where Qian Renxue should still be forcing Heaven Dou to surrender. He smiled slowly. "Qian Renxue, the faster you fight, the faster I kill. When you look back, you will discover that the cities behind you have all turned into my death grounds."
The black mist churned again, and Tang San disappeared into the night with his undead army. Meanwhile, in the rear area that the Spirit Empire had just conquered, an unexpected rakshasa fire had already begun to burn.
Far away in the Star Dou Great Forest, inside the Great Fierce Land, ancient giant trees blocked the sky and sun, and thick tree roots coiled on the earth like dragons. The air was usually filled with an extremely rich aura of life, but right now, mixed within this life aura was a pungent smell of decay. That was the death qi left behind by the Rakshasa divine force.
Although Tang San had already retreated, the pollution he brought had not completely disappeared. Large swaths of land remained black, many ancient trees had cracked bark with yellow leaves, and the ground still held the bloodstains of ten-thousand-year spirit beasts along with hollow corpses left behind after having their souls extracted by the Rakshasa Demonic Scythe.
Further away, Bi Ji was healing the injured spirit beasts. A blue-green light constantly spread from her body like a gentle spring rain, falling upon the scarred forest. Xiong Jun stood to the side with several wounds deep enough to see bone on his chest. The dark gold fur on his body had been corroded by the death qi, leaving some places charred and cracked. Still, he stood tall with his eyes full of suppressed rage.
Chi Wang's three heads panted heavily while the edges of Zi Ji's dragon wings were split with several gashes, making the aura of the Hell Dragon somewhat unstable. Ten Thousand Demon King was rooted deep in the earth, controlling vines to slowly absorb and clear the Rakshasa Death Qi in the ground. In this battle, although the Star Dou Great Forest forced Tang San to retreat, the cost was not small.
Just at this moment, a stream of cyan-gold and blue-gold light lit up in the distant sky. The light moved extremely fast, and wherever it passed, the vegetation that had been polluted by the Rakshasa divine force trembled slightly, as if sensing a familiar aura.
Bi Ji looked up first and smiled softly. "He's here."
Xiong Jun also turned to look, snorting a puff of hot air from his nostrils. "Hmph, at least this kid didn't arrive too late."
Chi Wang said in a deep voice, "I just hope he can really deal with that madman."
The next instant, the stream of light landed in the Great Fierce Land without any earth-shattering explosion or overbearing divine pressure. Tang Chen held the Sea God Trident and landed slowly on the edge of the Lake of Life. The blue-gold Seagod's Light flowed on the trident, while a cyan-gold life aura slowly spread from his body.
As soon as he landed, the vegetation around him that had been polluted by death qi began to recover its vitality bit by bit. The blackened grass leaves turned green again, and new tender buds emerged under the withered bark. The smell of decay in the air was also diluted by the power of life.
Tang Chen looked around, his gaze sweeping over the corpses of the spirit beasts, the dead ancient trees, and the injured vicious beasts one by one. His expression sank as he asked, "Tang San has been here, hasn't he?"
Di Tian stood in front of the Lake of Life. He transformed into a man in black, his golden eyes deep and majestic while his body faintly radiated the ancient aura of the Black Dragon King. Seeing Tang Chen arrive, Di Tian spoke slowly, "You're one step too late."
Tang Chen walked forward and looked at him. "How bad is the situation?"
Di Tian glanced at the surrounding vicious beasts while Bi Ji gently flapped her wings to treat the wounded. Xiong Jun snorted coldly but didn't interrupt.
Di Tian explained, "Tang San brought a group of undead Titled Douluo and broke into the Star Dou Great Forest. He slaughtered ten-thousand-year spirit beasts in the outer and middle areas to extract their beast souls and life origin. Hundreds of spirit beasts are dead, and our losses among ten-thousand-year beasts are heavy. He wasn't simply killing, either. He was forcing us to show ourselves. Xiong Jun made the first move, and Bi Ji had to leave the core area to treat the severely injured spirit beasts. Tang San calculated all of this because his true targets were Xiong Jun and Bi Ji."
Xiong Jun grinned, revealing his cold fangs. "That human is extremely sinister! He used ten-thousand-year spirit beasts as bait to lure me out, and then used injured spirit beasts to force Bi Ji to appear. If it wasn't for Di Tian's final move, Bi Ji might have been severely injured by him."
Bi Ji sighed softly. "Tang San's Rakshasa Demonic Scythe is very dangerous. It doesn't just attack the physical body, it can directly tear apart the origin of life and the soul. If I were struck in a vital spot, my life origin would likely be forcibly stripped away."
Tang Chen gripped the Sea God Trident tightly. "He has already begun collecting life origins for the Rakshasa Ninth Trial."
Di Tian nodded. "Correct. He admitted it himself. The Rakshasa Ninth Trial requires devouring the life origin of hundred-thousand-year spirit beasts to condense the Rakshasa Divine Set. The stronger the target and the deeper their resentment, the more complete the divine set becomes. Xiong Jun, Bi Ji, Chi Wang, Zi Ji, Ten Thousand Demon King, and even I are all on his hunting list."
Tang Chen was silent for a moment, then asked, "What about his undead puppets?"
Hearing these words, the expressions of all the vicious beasts became dark.
Zi Ji said coldly, "They're very troublesome. Those undead around Tang San have no sense of pain or fear. Even if you break them, they just reassemble using the Rakshasa divine force."
Xiong Jun added angrily, "I tore them apart several times, but those things are like mud that crawls back up after being broken! If Di Tian's Dragon God Claw hadn't destroyed their origins, we really would have been worn down by them."
Tang Chen turned to Di Tian. "You used the Dragon God Claw?"
"I did," Di Tian answered. "The Dragon God Claw can destroy their undead origin. With one claw, I smashed all eleven undead. At the same time, through the connection between them and Tang San, I injured his true body."
Tang Chen's eyes flickered. "Is his injury severe?"
Di Tian replied calmly, "It's not light. The Dragon God Claw left a deep wound on his chest, so he can't fully recover in a short time. But the problem is that those undead haven't truly disappeared. Tang San bound their core imprints to the rakshasa altar. After I destroyed their undead bodies, they were resurrected by the altar again. Although their power is a bit weaker than before, they can still fight. As long as the rakshasa altar isn't destroyed, those undead are difficult to clear."
A cold light flashed in Tang Chen's eyes. "That means we must destroy the altar core inside Tang San or in the Rakshasa Space."
Di Tian agreed, "Correct. Simply killing the undead is meaningless because they will just resurrect again. Tang San can easily replenish their power as long as he continues to swallow souls."
Tang Chen nodded slowly. He finally understood the most troublesome part about Tang San right now. It wasn't just the Rakshasa divine force or the Rakshasa Demonic Scythe, but the fact that he had established a complete cycle using slaughtered souls, spirit beast origins, and undead puppets. He kills people and swallows souls to repair the undead, the undead fight to kill more people, and he collects more souls to advance his Ninth Trial. As long as this cycle isn't broken, Tang San will only grow stronger.
Di Tian looked at Tang Chen, his golden eyes flickering slightly. "Tang Chen, your aura has changed. Have you pulled out the Sea God Trident?"
Tang Chen didn't hide it and raised the weapon in his hand. "The Sea God's Eighth Trial is finished, and my Sea God affinity has reached its peak. However, the final legacy isn't complete yet."
Di Tian looked at the Sea God Trident and said, "No wonder. I felt the ocean's divine force from you, along with a stronger life origin."
Xiong Jun frowned and asked, "Are you still a bit away from becoming a god? Can you kill Tang San right now?"
Tang Chen didn't answer immediately. He looked into the depths of the Great Fierce Land and then at the spirit beasts being treated by Bi Ji. After a short pause, he said, "If it's just the current Tang San, I can kill him. But the premise is that he cannot escape into the Rakshasa Space."
Di Tian narrowed his eyes. "The Rakshasa Space is indeed troublesome. When he retreated, he used his scythe to tear open space and escape before my second Dragon God Claw could fall."
Tang Chen continued, "Therefore, to kill him, we must first seal the Rakshasa Space. Otherwise, even if we severely injure him, he will just escape to slaughter cities and swallow souls to recover."
Bi Ji asked softly, "How can we seal it? The Rakshasa divine force is good at shadows, resentment, and spatial rifts, and Tang San also has his divine weapon."
Tang Chen looked down at the Sea God Trident in his hand. "The Sea God Trident can suppress space, my Blue Silver Emperor can cover the earth's life network, and Di Tian's Dragon God Claw can destroy the undead origin. If the three of us cooperate, we can trap him. We can use the Blue Silver Grass as a net, use the Sea God's power to suppress space, and use the Dragon God Claw to cut the connection between the undead and the altar."
"You want to cut their connection while I destroy them?" Di Tian pondered for a moment. "I will use my Blue Silver Emperor Life Domain to purify the death qi in their bodies and weaken the altar's pull on them. Meanwhile, I'll use the Sea God Trident to suppress Tang San's Rakshasa Space so he can't escape easily. But if Tang San notices something is wrong, he might avoid a head-on fight. He prefers to slaughter cities, launch sneak attacks, and force us to divide our forces."
Tang Chen's eyes turned cold. "Then we cannot let him lead us by the nose. If he wants to swallow souls, he has to kill people. If he wants to complete the Ninth Trial, he must search for hundred-thousand-year spirit beasts. And if he wants to recover from your Dragon God Claw, he will target crowded cities or high-level spirit beasts. We just need to make sure he has nowhere left to kill."
Xiong Jun asked, "How do we make sure he has nowhere to kill?"
Tang Chen raised his hand, and a Blue Silver Emperor plant appeared in his palm. A cyan-gold light spread from its leaves, and immediately after, all the Blue Silver Grass around the Great Fierce Land lit up. Continuous life fluctuations spread along the earth toward the outside of the forest.
"Blue Silver Grass is everywhere on the Douluo Continent," Tang Chen explained. "From now on, I will use all the Blue Silver Grass to monitor the Rakshasa Death Qi. As soon as Tang San appears, I'll sense it immediately. Here in the forest, we can also establish a barrier through the Lake of Life and the Blue Silver Grass. If he dares to step inside again, he will be exposed instantly."
Surprise appeared in Bi Ji's eyes. "You can really achieve this level?"
Tang Chen nodded. "I couldn't do it before, but after pulling out the Sea God Trident, my control over life and the ocean has improved a lot. The ocean connects to the edges of the continent, while the Blue Silver Grass covers the land. Given a little time, I can set up a perception network that covers the entire continent."
Di Tian nodded slowly. "This can indeed limit Tang San's movements."
Zi Ji added, "However, the Spirit Empire is at war with the two major empires right now. Human cities are in chaos with many deaths and injuries. Tang San is very likely to take advantage of the war to swallow more souls."
Tang Chen's eyes sank. "It is already happening."
Di Tian looked at him as Tang Chen closed his eyes to sense his surroundings. Through the Blue Silver Grass network, he had already captured the faint death qi coming from far away.