Leaving Soto City through the south gate, we continued towards Musu Town.
The Burial Abyss was located behind the national-level Soul Beast Forest in Musu Town.
Beyond the seven mountains of the Soul Beast Forest lay a precipice and abyss.
The Burial Abyss was a vast, dark abyss, deserted and uninhabited, a place where corpses had been dumped since ancient times.
Musu Town was located at the border between the Heavenly Dou and Star Luo Empires.
Many wars had been fought here, and the Burial Abyss was where the bodies were disposed of.
Coming from Soto City, we passed through a quiet, deep forest, beyond which lay a cemetery.
This was an ancient cemetery, now abandoned. Most of the bodies of prisoners who died were left unclaimed and dumped here.
Evil people also frequently chose this place to kill and dispose of corpses.
Because it was a border area between two countries, murders often occurred here.
In short, over the years, the Burial Abyss had become a filthy and ominous place, eerie and chilling with the smell of corpses.
Following the route of the corpse-carrying convoy, we arrived at the Burial Abyss without incident.
The abyss was incredibly deep, pitch black below, its bottom unseen.
Opposite was the precipice of the Soul Beast Forest, over a hundred meters away.
On this side, Ma Hongjun and the others stood amidst a scattered graveyard, the heavy aura of death giving off an eerie feeling.
It was as if countless eyes were watching them, and faint, greenish phosphorescent flames occasionally flickered up from the graveyard.
The legendary will-o'-the-wisps, drifting in the air, even rose from the abyss.
"Brother, this place is too eerie, I'm scared,"
Ning Rongrong said, clinging to Ma Hongjun's arm, her face filled with fear.
Zhu Zhuqing didn't speak, but he also leaned closer to Ma Hongjun; this environment was frightening even for men, let alone women.
"I told you to stay in the city with Di Xin and Shuang'er, but you insisted on coming along. Now you're scared,"
Ning Huahua said irritably. Even though he was Ning Rongrong's biological brother, she had never called him "brother" so obediently before.
For ease of movement, several Soul Masters and the Shuang'er sisters remained in Soto City, protected by Bai Baoshan.
"Hmph!"
Ning Rongrong pouted at Ning Huahua, ignoring his words.
"It's alright, I'm here, don't be afraid!"
Ma Hongjun patted Ning Rongrong's head, comforting her.
Having spent time with her, Ma Hongjun knew that this young lady actually had a strong heart. In this kind of place, she might be a little scared, but more than that, she was curious.
If she were alone here, she would truly be afraid.
Her coquettishness at this moment was simply to seek some affection and lighten the atmosphere, since this place was too gloomy.
Women always know how to stir a man's heart.
"A simulated cultivation environment!"
The Grandmaster looked around and suddenly realized.
"You mean..."
Poison Douluo seemed to have thought of it too.
"Yes, if what Hongjun said is true, this matter is related to the Soul Master with the Tombstone Martial Soul.
And this is a place where corpses are disposed of.
Think about it, how is a simulated cultivation environment created?
Tombstones, corpses, graves, cemeteries.
This is undoubtedly the best environment for the Tombstone Martial Soul to cultivate.
The corpses were thrown into the Burial Abyss, so they...
should be in the Burial Abyss."
At this point, things became very clear.
The Soul Master world always has scoundrels, or rather, some people are capable of doing the most heinous things to gain power. Martial
Souls are incredibly diverse, some even possessing various types. This Tombstone Martial Soul often needs to absorb corpse energy to cultivate.
And only the dead can produce corpse energy.
"I'll go down and take a look!"
"Old Poison, be careful."
This abyss is bottomless, and no one knows how deep it is. Oscar's Mushroom Sausage can only fly for a little over a minute now, which is probably not enough.
Soul Saints can fly through the air; only Liu Erlong, Poison Douluo, and Sword Douluo can fly here.
Liu Erlong's strength was certainly not suitable for leading the charge; someone capable of wiping out the Xiang family must be at least a Soul Saint.
Poison Douluo summoned his Martial Soul, the Azure Scale Serpent Emperor, which appeared with a flash of azure light as he leaped down into the abyss.
"Boom!"
A loud crash echoed from below shortly after.
Everyone quickly summoned their Martial Souls.
"I'll go down and check it out; you all be careful up there!"
Sword Douluo descended on his sword.
After Sword Douluo descended, a series of deafening explosions echoed below.
"The other side!"
Liu Erlong suddenly shouted.
In the darkness, the other side was invisible, but conversations could be heard, and a few faint lights could be seen as dark figures crawled up from the Burial Abyss.
"Who goes there?"
Liu Erlong asked, flying into the air and unleashing a long stream of flame.
"Xiang Chengsheng."
"Xiang Chengwang."
Through the flame's light, they could see the Xiang brothers, Xiang Chengsheng and Xiang Chengwang, looking in their direction.
Standing between them was Wei Sen, the Soul Master with the Tombstone Martial Soul, the outside help the Gan and Bei families had hired.
They had gleaming Soul Rings; the faint light they had seen was from their Soul Rings.
Xiang Chengwang had four Soul Rings, Xiang Chengsheng had five, and Wei Sen also had five.
This was terrifying information.
Three years ago, Xiang Chengwang was a Soul Master, Xiang Chengsheng was a Soul Sect Master, and Wei Sen was a Soul Master.
Their leveling speed was surprisingly no slower than that of the Shrek Seven Devils, even though the eight Shrek Seven Devils had consumed immortal herbs.
Wei Sen, in particular, had leveled up at the same speed as Ma Hongjun over the past three years.
However, all three shared a common change:
their martial souls were shrouded in black aura.
Behind them stood a group of people, more and more climbing up from the Burial Abyss.
Unlike the three's normal gazes, those people had blood-red eyes.
They were all Soul Masters, and even the weakest among them were Soul Venerables.
The two sides were over a hundred meters apart, but the abyss between them was obscured by dense black aura, making it difficult to see clearly how many people were there.
"Xiang Chengsheng, you're not dead! Where are the Grand Elder and the others?"
Xiang Chengxian shouted.
Xiang Chengsheng's lips twisted into a smile.
"Haha, Grand Elder, the Grand Elder is here."
Xiang Chengsheng beckoned, and an old man emerged from the crowd.
His eyes were blood-red, and he followed Xiang Chengsheng's pointing finger, walking forward and standing there blankly.
However, seven spirit rings shone brightly on his body, and his Black Tiger Martial Soul was even darker.
"Drive her away!"
Xiang Chengsheng said in a low voice, his eyes filled with madness.
"Erlong, be careful, retreat!"
Grandmaster shouted!
Liu Erlong was originally preparing to fly over and grab Xiang Chengsheng.
Suddenly, the Xiang family's eldest elder flew directly towards him.
Then, the seven spirit rings on his body pulsed wildly, all lighting up, and his Black Tiger Martial Soul transformed into clusters of black flames. The black energy was like a gaping maw, swallowing all seven spirit rings.
Finally, it formed a black sphere, enveloping him entirely.
The black sphere flew towards Liu Erlong.
Liu Erlong quickly retreated, but behind her were Ma Hongjun and the others.
"Retreat!"
"Oscar, Mushroom Sausage!"
Everyone began to move. Ning Rongrong and Ning Huahua's Glazed Pagodas lit up, and streams of speed flowed into everyone's bodies.
Golden light erupted from Grandmaster's body, and a five-clawed golden dragon flew out, coiling around Liu Erlong.
"Erlong, fuse your martial souls!"
The golden dragon and fire dragon intertwined, temporarily enveloping Liu Erlong.
But it was clearly too late for them to fuse their martial souls.
"Retreat!"
Ma Hongjun shouted, summoning a fire phoenix. With a flap of its wings, it helped Ning Rongrong and the others retreat.
Then, he summoned dragon scales to cover his entire body.
"Boom!"
The black sphere exploded.
A powerful force swept towards Ma Hongjun, blasting Liu Erlong away.
Grandmaster, standing beside Ma Hongjun, coughed up blood on the spot.
Ma Hongjun quickly pulled Grandmaster behind him.
The aftershocks of the black energy pushed over, and Ma Hongjun's body also left the ground, blasted away by the force.
Liu Erlong flew over Ma Hongjun like a kite with a broken string, her fire dragon and golden dragon martial souls already forced back into her body.
Xiang Chengxian was the first to regain his footing, then caught Liu Erlong as she fell from the sky.
Ma Hongjun and Grandmaster, skimming a distance on the ground, finally stood firm. Ma Hongjun
coughed up a mouthful of blood.
The opposite side was plunged into darkness once more.
Xiang Chengsheng's voice came from the other side.
"We'll meet again!"
(End of Chapter)