553 Chapter 552: Heavy Losses for the Three Clans

"Hmph, want to leave? It's too late!"

A grayish dark-faced skinny elder sneered as his eyes flashed with coldness. His hand movements became even faster.

After which, the four Deathly Silence Gates connected. Immediately, a dark world enveloped the entire mountain range, its deathly aura corroding all life within.

The alliance army gathered together as the monstrous deathly aura spread. Their eyes glanced cautiously at the black Qi surrounding them.

They could sense that this deathly aura was seeping into their bodies through every pore. Such an invasion was not something they could block with their Dou Qi or Spiritual Strength.

"This is the legendary Death World Formation. We're in deep trouble now!" 

Lei Ying, Yan Jin, and the many experts from the Ancient Clans had dark and solemn expressions as they looked at the deathly aura spreading around them. Their hearts involuntarily felt unease.

If this continued, even if they, as the top experts, were able to resist this aura, those weaker individuals would suffer great damage. Such heavy losses were something they could afford.

"We need to break through this quickly..."

The Black Submerged King, Gu Lei, spoke with a grave expression. Earlier, he had been stopped by two seven-star Dou Saint-level experts from the Hun Clan, resulting in an earth-shattering battle.

As for those four Hun Clan powerhouses whose strength was equal to his own, Gu Lei had never heard of them before.

Clearly, the Hun Clan had been hiding their strength all these years. Such a strength was far greater than the Gu Clan's. If it weren't for the alliance with the Yan Clan, the Lei Clan, and the Heavenly Court, relying on the strength of the Gu Clan alone would be no match for the Hun Clan.

"This is difficult. A death realm has already been established over this place, and these deathly auras can isolate any spiritual probe. If we were to attack randomly, it would only lead to the rapid exhaustion of our strength..." Yan Jin spoke with a deep voice.

"However, we will also most likely end up dead if we continue to stay here." Gu Dao from the Three Immortals of Gu Clan spoke with a bitter smile. Now, it seemed that they were in a dilemma.

"Clan Head Gu Yuan is probably being held back by Hun Tiandi. It would be extremely difficult for him to intervene." Fairy Huo Ling of the Yan Clan had an extremely serious expression on her charming face. Her aura was also slightly sluggish, clearly injured during the great battle earlier.

"We may have to wait for Alliance Leader Xiao to deal with the Nihility Devouring Flame before he can free his hands. But who knows how long that will take..." 

Everyone fell into a somber silence. No one had expected that the originally balanced situation would suddenly take this turn.

"Cough, cough, this old man happens to have a Deathly Silence Gate given by the Alliance Leader. Maybe we can use it to find a loophole in the formation and save some people," Zhu Zhen said, stepping forward at Zi Yan's signal. A huge black gate appeared in a flash.

Upon seeing the gate, which looked identical to the four giant gates from earlier, the alliance army didn't display much enthusiasm. 

The Death World Formation had now become a complete formation. Even if they could find a small loophole, how many people could they truly save?

They feared that only a small fraction of the people could be saved, just as Zhu Zhen had said.

Swoosh swoosh swoosh!

While everyone was unsure of what to do, a faint sound of piercing wind suddenly emerged from the deathly aura surrounding them. In an instant, a barrage of black spears rained down from all directions.

This sudden attack caused panic among the forces of the alliance army. The black spears carried a dense deathly aura, rendering their Dou Qi defenses almost ineffective. 

Some strong experts were pierced by the black spears in an instant. Their bodies collapsed and turned into piles of dry bones, with wisps of black gas seeping out from the remains.

"Damn it!"

Lei Ying and others wore grim expressions as they witnessed the alliance army falling into a passive situation.

"There's no time to waste! Let's try to use the Deathly Silence Gate to see if we can break the formation together! Elder Zhu Zhen, please make your move first. We will assist you!"

"Alright, follow me!" 

Zhu Zhen nodded and then snapped his fingers. The massive Deathly Silence Gate floated out from above him, covering the sky above the army. A suction force erupted, absorbing all the deathly energy within its range.

The pressure on the alliance army suddenly decreased, but unfortunately, due to the limited range of the Deathly Silence Gate, many were still engulfed by the deathly aura, resulting in occasional casualties. 

Most of these unfortunate souls belonged to the Three Clans. The Heavenly Court experts, who were fewer in number and had gathered around Zhu Zhen, remained relatively unharmed.

In the heat of the moment, no one paid attention to these details.

Swoosh swoosh swoosh!

The experts from the Hun Clan seemed to have detected something as the army quickly flew to one side of the Death World. The deathly aura around the place surged. After which, it transformed into a three-thousand-meter giant hand of death that mercilessly struck down the allied forces.

Yan Jin's figure flashed and appeared in the sky. He opened his mouth and sprayed out an overwhelming torrent of flame that was created by the merging of two Heavenly Flames.

Boom boom!

The merged Heavenly Flames collided with the giant hand of death in a brutal manner.

Whoosh!

A sharp sizzling sound immediately filled the air, accompanied by a dense rotten smell.

Yan Jin's successful defense against the initial assault was short-lived, as more colossal deathly hands formed, creating a devastating tempest that swept relentlessly across the battlefield. In a matter of moments, more experts met the same grim fate, reduced to lifeless piles of bones.

Xun'er floated in the sky, surrounded by a golden flame that continued to surge from her body. 

She had followed the rest of the Gu Clan army to the ancient battlefield without hesitation. But now, she was helpless in the face of this nightmarish onslaught and could only watch the catastrophic events unfold with clenched fists.

The giant hands were wreaking havoc on the alliance army. Lei Ying and other top experts were desperately trying to break through the deathly space, and Yan Jin was unable to block the numerous black hands descending from the sky. 

The Black Submerged Army had suffered tragic losses as a result. Many had fallen and were reduced to nothing more than dry bones. Xun'er's resistance thus far was thanks to the Gold Emperor Incinerating Heavenly Flame within her body.

It was ranked fourth in the Heavenly Flame Ranking for a reason. This flame was known to be so fierce that it could even burn Dou Qi, and it had proven to be effective even against this deathly aura. 

However, even with the protection of the Gold Emperor Incinerating Heavenly Flame, she was still drenched in perspiration. For Xun'er, who had not yet reached the Dou Saint realm, the energy consumption was immense. She feared that she wouldn't be able to last more than a few breaths before her energy was completely exhausted.

Her eyes roamed the distant sky with an unusual calm. After observing the battlefield, she was well aware that it was highly unlikely that the allied forces would be able to break through the deathly realm in that amount of time. 

Determination suddenly etched into her face. She was prepared to self-destruct her Heavenly Flame against the barrier before she was left depleted of Dou Qi. This act would likely give everyone a chance to escape...

But suddenly, her field of vision was abruptly blocked by a colossal shadow.

'This can't be...'

Xun'er's heart sank as she observed a colossal hand of death hurtling directly towards her! 

With her Dou Qi depleted to such an extent, she lacked the power to resist. Self-destructing her Heavenly Flame against the giant hand would undoubtedly destroy it, but at the cost of her own life and potentially the lives of those nearest to her!

"Roar!"

At this critical moment, a majestic roar resounded from the center of the allied forces, followed by a torrent of golden-purple flames surging towards the colossal hand.

Bang bang bang!

With a resounding bang, the golden-purple flames shattered the colossal hand into nothingness. Then, they continued their advance, disintegrating another hand before finally dissipating.

The flames, though not quite as powerful as Xun'er's Gold Emperor Incinerating Heavenly Flame on their own, were bolstered by the formidable Dou Qi of a high-star Dou Saint and exuded the aura of a supreme dragon!

"Quick, bring your people to the formation's center!"

Zi Yan said as she appeared in front of Xun'er. But when she saw Xun'er's awestruck expression, she urged her with growing impatience, "What are you waiting for? Move!"

Xun'er could not be blamed for her reaction. In front of her stood a breathtakingly majestic dragon, its huge body covered in purple scales and adorned with intricate golden patterns. The dragon's colossal golden-purple eyes exuded an undeniable air of authority.

Zi Yan had transformed into her dragon form!

Xun'er had seen pictures and descriptions of Ancient Void Dragons, but none compared to the grandeur of the one in front of her!

'No wonder those flames could effortlessly obliterate the hands of death. Her Ancient Void Dragon lineage has reached a terrifying level!'

"Understood, Dragon Emperor Sister!" 

Xun'er quickly recovered from her initial shock and responded to Zi Yan in a friendly manner. It didn't take her long to realize the identity of the person before her.

She felt a surge of immense gratitude toward this person who had saved her from what would have been a horrible death.

After that, she quickly relayed orders to the remnants of the Black Submerged Army and moved to the center of the formation. There, she saw other Ancient Void Dragons, also in dragon form, forming a protective circle that shielded a portion of the allied forces from the deathly aura. 

'Dragon Emperor Sister, huh? Hehe, this girl is not bad!' Zi Yan thought, feeling pleased. 

With a powerful flap of her dragon wings, she shimmered with a golden light and disappeared in an instant, reappearing among the forces of the Heavenly Court in the blink of an eye.

After the attack on the barrier continued for many minutes, a somewhat dim formless barrier appeared a short distance in front of the alliance army. There seemed to be a figure hovering behind the barrier. It was one of the four strong zombie experts from the Hun Clan.

"Clan Heads Lei Ying and Yan Jin, join me in breaking through this space!" Zhu Zhen shouted as he looked at the figure.

Lei Ying and Yan Jin quickly nodded when they heard Zhu Zhen's voice. The world's energy surged in an instant. Several formidable attacks were unleashed in unison, hammering against that particular spot of the barrier with ferocious intensity.

Bang!

The formless barrier finally began to tremble in the face of their relentless onslaught!

…

Outside the reach of the Death World Formation, Xiao Ming forced the Void Devouring Flame to retreat with a muffled groan using a casual palm strike, then turned his gaze to the pitch-black realm.

"Heh heh heh, worried about them? If you stop opposing us, I'll order my people to spare the Heavenly Court. How about that?"

Nihility Devouring Flame's black flames dissipated somewhat, and his aura became slightly chaotic. He didn't dare to act rashly when he saw that Xiao Ming didn't attack. Instead, he tried to tempt him.

"People on the verge of death sure talk a lot."

Xiao Ming coldly looked at Nihility Devouring Flame. He could sense that the situation inside the Death World was almost settled and was too lazy to continue the charade with Nihility. His hand seals began to change rapidly.

"Silent World!"

Terrifying soul power was mobilized between his eyebrows and then spread out like ripples all around him.

As the soul fluctuations spread, Nihility Devouring Flame felt a moment of dizziness, followed by an irresistible pull. By the time he regained his senses, he found himself in a world of ice and snow.

The terrain here was extremely flat, the land and sky stretching endlessly. Amidst the raging storm and drifting snow, there was an eerie absence of sound, making it bizarrely silent.

"What is this place!"

"This is a world created by my soul power, and it's also your resting place." Xiao Ming's figure appeared not far away.

"How is this possible, I also have an Emperor Realm soul, how can you do this to me!" Nihility Devouring Flame exclaimed in disbelief.

Xiao Ming just smiled in response. Although Nihility Devouring Flame possessed an Emperor Realm soul, his understanding and use of soul power were too superficial compared to an alchemist like him. Bringing Nihility into this world was within his capabilities.

The fate of Nihility Devouring Flame was sealed today. As long as he extinguished Nihility's soul, he would become a pure Heavenly Flame.

It would be ideal for refining Ninth-Tier Golden Pills. Then he could potentially attempt to break through to the Dou God realm. There was no way he would let this opportunity pass him by!

Without wasting words, Xiao Ming waved his hand, and a violent surge of soul power swept towards the Nihility Devouring Flame...

…

Moments later.

The white world shattered, revealing Xiao Ming floating above the mountain range. Black Flames were swirling in his palm. These flames were filled with a terrifying devouring power. An extremely ancient and strange aura was emanating from them...