Chapter 65: Soul Void!

In front of him, the space suddenly twisted. The blockade array he had previously set up seemed like nothing and was easily broken through.

"Is it you who reported about Yao Chen?"

A faint voice slowly emerged from the twisted space. Elder Mu Gu, dressed in a black robe, slowly stepped out from within.

At the moment of his appearance, an invisible wave radiated out, and Yun Yi felt a terrifying soul force sweep over him. This force was much stronger than his own—conservatively estimated to be at the mid-level of the Spirit Realm, if not higher.

"It seems you were the one who attacked this branch hall." The surrounding situation was fully surveyed in Elder Mu Gu's mind, and he didn't care in the slightest about the destroyed branch hall.

As he sized up Yun Yi, Elder Mu Gu seemed to lightly chuckle, his eyes flashing with a cold gleam that made the temperature plummet, "I am very curious about what made you dare to toy with my Soul Hall."

"Just a puny Dou Wang? You don't know your limits!"

Feeling Elder Mu Gu's killing intent, Yun Yi's eyes narrowed, staring directly at him. The other party's indifferent gaze was so sharp that it seemed to pierce through his soul.

"What if the news I sent out wasn't false?"

"Oh~~~. Do you know Yao Chen's whereabouts?" Elder Mu Gu's eyes brightened at Yun Yi's words, staring fervently, "Where is he?"

"May I ask which elder of the Soul Hall I am speaking to?" Yun Yi did not rush to answer but asked in an unyielding manner.

"Heh—seems you know a lot about my Soul Hall!" Elder Mu Gu sneered at Yun Yi's demeanor, eyes turning cold as he mocked, "You think you're qualified to negotiate with me?"

"Arrogant boy, do you think there's anything I won't know if I capture you?"

As his voice fell, Elder Mu Gu waved his sleeve, and the space around Yun Yi suddenly twisted. A formidable, irresistible force seeped out from the space.

"Playing with space against me?"

Seeing a flash of silver light on his foot, Yun Yi broke through Elder Mu Gu's spatial barrier in the next moment, appearing right in front of him.

"Dou Zun? Let me see how far I am from reaching Dou Zun!"

As he spoke, Yun Yi punched with all his might toward Elder Mu Gu.

"Presumptuous!"

Facing Yun Yi, a mere Dou Wang who dared to attack him and couldn't even be confined by him, Elder Mu Gu's anger soared, his voice turning cold.

With a casual wave of his sleeve, concentrated Dou Qi swiftly condensed into a fire spear. As he flicked it, the spear tore through the void, carrying fierce energy directly at Yun Yi.

Feeling the fierce wind from the spear's tip, Yun Yi didn't dare to be careless. His figure trembled, and a dense spatial fluctuation appeared, causing him to vanish instantly.

"Sly eel!"

"Ten Thousand Soul Bind!"

As he failed again, Elder Mu Gu's killing intent surged. He grabbed fiercely toward the void behind him, causing numerous black threads to emerge from his fingers, quickly weaving into a giant net and enclosing the space where Yun Yi was.

At this moment, feeling the resistance in the space around him, black flames flickered in Yun Yi's eyes. A pitch-black halberd condensed in his palm, and he struck out with it, showing no fear even against Dou Zun's attack.

"Boom—"

As soon as they clashed, a burst of sound erupted. As a fire spirit, Yun Yi's inherent quality was extremely high, though his cultivation was lacking. In contrast, as a Dou Zun, Elder Mu Gu's Dou Qi was much purer and far surpassed Yun Yi's.

Currently, their energies started to erode each other frantically.

"Break—"

With sharp eyes, Yun Yi's halberd surged with black flames, fiercely tearing apart the dark fire net.

"Heaven-Swallowing Great Handprint!"

Tearing the fire net apart, Yun Yi's figure retreated swiftly. As he did so, black flames flowed in his palm, and a point of black light appeared. On closer inspection, this point of light was actually a large seal.

With the appearance of the black light, a terrifying suction force surged out, causing the surrounding energy to riot. As the energy from the world was swallowed, the black light expanded.

In an instant, the seal took shape, and Yun Yi brought his palm down!

The space nearly collapsed in an instant, with a pitch-black seal emanating a chilling aura, firmly restraining Elder Mu Gu.

"What is this?"

Looking at the falling black seal and sensing the familiar yet strange aura, Elder Mu Gu momentarily lost focus.

"Damn it—"

As he was distracted, the black seal quickly descended toward Elder Mu Gu. Feeling the stinging pain on his skin, he snapped back, fury engulfing him as he saw the seal so close.

"Underworld Star Shatter Slash!"

A savage grin appeared on Elder Mu Gu's face as his vast Dou Qi surged out, condensing into a ghostly, purple-black flaming saber. The flames on the blade distorted the space around it.

Holding the saber, Elder Mu Gu's gaze turned sinister. The ant before him had rendered him futile numerous times, and he vowed to sever Yun Yi's head to soothe his anger!

"Die—"

With a deep roar, Elder Mu Gu slashed downwards. The space before him disintegrated instantly, with spatial fragments emerging. The tyrannical saber light easily shattered Yun Yi's 'Heaven-Swallowing Great Handprint' and headed straight for him.

"Indeed, the gap is too large."

Faced with Dou Zun's attack, Yun Yi showed no fear and murmured softly.

"Heaven-Swallowing Realm, devour the sky, devour the earth, devour all beings!"

Raising his head again to face the fierce attack, he chuckled, his hands forming a mysterious seal.

"Buzz—"

As his seal changed, the surrounding space buzzed. When the terrifying saber light was within ten feet of Yun Yi, a pitch-black flame black hole spontaneously appeared, rapidly devouring the saber light.

Witnessing this implausible scene, Elder Mu Gu screamed. His attack, a Dou Zun's strike, had been neutralized by a mere Dou Wang.

Impossible!

"Pu—"

As soon as Elder Mu Gu had the thought, Yun Yi spat out a mouthful of blood. Bizarrely, his blood turned into black sparks, dissipating into the air.

The power gap between Dou Wang and Dou Zun was too immense. Elder Mu Gu's underestimation and unfamiliarity had largely contributed to Yun Yi's use of the Holy Demon Flame for this feat.

However, the sharp saber Qi had still wreaked havoc in Yun Yi's meridians, heavily injuring him.

"Heaven and Earth Reversal!"

Despite his injuries, Yun Yi's eyes remained deep as he lightly rotated his palm.

A black vortex appeared beside him, and the next moment, a sharp saber Qi shot up, aiming at Elder Mu Gu.

Recovering, Elder Mu Gu's face darkened as he shattered the incoming saber light with a palm strike, his expression fluctuating as he stared at Yun Yi.

Yun Yi, on the other hand, calmly looked at Elder Mu Gu. His earlier bloodlust subdued, Yun Yi now embodied tranquility, detecting various emotions on Elder Mu Gu's face.

Doubt, surprise, confusion, unwillingness—all transformed into fear!

Elder Mu Gu's voice was hoarse as he asked, "Who are you exactly?"

Hearing this, Yun Yi knew his plan had taken its first successful step.

Indeed, drawing the Soul Hall elder was part of his plan!

As the largest organization on the Dou Qi continent, how could Jiang Yun not have a scheme against the Soul Hall?

At this point, Hun Tiandi had likely completed his final arrangements to initiate his imperial plan.

Being one of the continent's three apex Nine-Star Dou Sheng, Hun Tiandi had been preparing for his transformation into the Emperor for a thousand years. Facing the so-called First Imperial Clan and the continent's strongest, Xiao Xuan, he seized the opportunity and launched a genocidal war.

Before this, two of the five supreme experts on the continent had already perished at the hands of the Soul Race. Thus, compared to Gu Yuan, Hun Tiandi was truly an ambitious hero, the most qualified to become Emperor!

In this rare moment of continental peace, peace among the Imperial Clans was not ideal, at least not before Jiang Yun grew stronger. Hun Tiandi should not be allowed to gather the ancient jade.

Thus, Yun Yi's joining the Soul Hall served two purposes: better growth and disrupting the Soul Race's plans.

Step one of the plan was successful. Yun Yi had bet that the visiting Soul Hall elder had seen the Soul Hall master and would suspect Yun Yi's identity seeing his flames.

His flames bore a striking resemblance to the Nihility Devouring Flame. As for his identity being revealed, he had no worries. Few would know of the successful condensation of flame spirit over the ages except for the Nihility Devouring Flame and the Pure Lotus Demon Flame. 

Even if his identity was uncovered, it was merely a flame avatar, and Jiang Yun could afford the loss.

Holy Demon Flame suppressed beneath the tower: Piece of cake, piece of cake!

"What do you think?" Yun Yi sneered at Elder Mu Gu, nearly driving him to fury with just a glance.

Yet, considering Yun Yi's possible identity, Elder Mu Gu took a deep breath and sinisterly looked at him, "You've got lucky, boy. You'll live a few more days!"

As his words fell, Elder Mu Gu's Dou Zun strength exploded. His five fingers extended, shooting out five light beams that condensed into a prison, trapping Yun Yi inside.

Yun Yi remained indifferent, sitting cross-legged to restore his Dou Qi, undisturbed about his safety.

With a sour expression, Elder Mu Gu couldn't fathom Yun Yi's calm demeanor, making his heart sink further.

What rotten luck!

Cursing inwardly, Elder Mu Gu took out a black token, infused his soul force into it, and waited respectfully.

After some unknown time, a formidable soul force suddenly descended, sealing the entire space and firmly locking Elder Mu Gu's body in place.

Fearing but also fanatically, he greeted, "Welcome, Lord Hun Xu."

Yes, Hun Xu. Hun Miesheng had hidden the child flame of the Nihility Devouring Flame too deeply for Elder Mu Gu to know. He only once had the chance to see Hun Xu refining pills and received some guidance, thus aware of this flame's devouring nature.

Whether it was the second-ranked Nihility Devouring Flame, he didn't dare guess or ask!

So, by a stroke of luck, if it hadn't been Elder Mu Gu but another Soul Hall elder, Jiang Yun would have needed another plan, as this flame spirit form would be compromised.

"Kekeke. It's you, Mu Gu. I remember you're Yao Chen's junior, aren't you?"

A black-robed figure slowly solidified before Elder Mu Gu, surveying the surroundings with interest.

"Yes, I am Elder Mu Gu. I had the honor of receiving guidance from Lord Hun Xu back then!" Flattering servilely, Elder Mu Gu looked eagerly at the figure. If he received more advice, wouldn't breaking his current bottleneck be effortless?

"Alright, what's the matter?" Hun Xu uttered with a hint of disdain for Elder Mu Gu's begging.

Despite a century, the latter was still an eight-grade alchemist, still at the peak of the Spirit Realm without advancement. This level of expertise wasn't worth his acknowledging.

Why was it that two disciples of the same master could differ so greatly?

If not for Yao Chen's potential, would Hun Xu even remember Mu Gu?

"Yes!" Interruption felt cold, but Elder Mu Gu dared not show dissatisfaction and carefully recounted Yun Yi's actions.

Hun Xu's face darkened. A mere Dou Wang—what significance did he hold, despite innate talent?

He's busy all the time as a Grandmaster Alchemist, summoned urgently for this trifle?

Just as Hun Xu was about to erupt, he heard Elder Mu Gu mention, "That boy wielded flames with devouring power..."

"Wait, what did you say?"

Hun Xu's brows furrowed, coldly interrupted, He stared at Elder Mu Gu intently.

"Uh—, a flame that can devour!" Surprised, Elder Mu Gu repeated.

"Take me to him!"

(Chapter End)