As Hun Changqing's voice fell, the black mist around him surged, and an astonishing killing intent and death aura soared into the sky. Dragon Venerable sensed this terrifying aura, and his initial contempt instantly turned to horror. A deep sense of unease welled up in his heart, and he hurriedly waved his hand, shouting to the group of dark figures beside him,
"Something's wrong! Retreat quickly..."
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Before Dragon Venerable's words had even finished, the space around the black-robed figures suddenly distorted, then collapsed violently inward. A series of muffled explosions rang out, and the black-robed figures were instantly squeezed and shattered by the distorted space, turning into clouds of thick blood mist, like a rain of blood, recklessly pouring down in the dim valley.
As the blood mist spread, shrill screams echoed throughout the valley. Seeing this, Dragon Venerable's pupils contracted sharply, his heart filled with shock and horror.
He didn't even know how Hun Changqing made his move. In the blink of an eye, less than half of the experts under his command were dead. Although these people were not very strong, they were all experts at collecting souls and were a valuable asset to the Northwest Continent branch. How could the Dragon Venerable not feel heartbroken that they were all gone?
"Hmph! I didn't expect you to have some tricks up your sleeve! But the Soul Palace isn't so easy to break into! Today, I'll make sure you don't leave alive!"
The Dragon Venerable looked at Hun Changqing with an extremely gloomy expression, his deeply sunken eyes filled with a sinister light. He snorted coldly and spoke to Hun Changqing in a cold voice. Then, the Dragon Venerable suddenly waved his hand at the remaining dark figures and shouted sharply,
"All Soul Envoys, heed my command! Form the Myriad Soul Devouring Spirit Array!"
The remaining dark figures, who had been terrified by Hun Changqing's methods and whose faces were filled with fear, seemed to have found their backbone after hearing the Dragon Venerable's shout. Their previously panicked hearts calmed down, clearly showing that these people had great confidence in the Dragon Venerable.
Once they calmed down, the group immediately mobilized their battle qi. A massive black mist suddenly surged forth from the black figures, enveloping the valley like a dark cloud. Several swirling, black mist-like objects floated out, emitting a faint, chilling light.
One after another, illusory souls with crimson eyes burst forth from the churning black cloud like demons, emitting blood-pumping, shrill screams.
The black cloud swirled overhead, blotting out the sun. The already gloomy valley was now completely dark, devoid of any light. Countless piercing screams echoed through the valley, and countless souls moved through the black mist like demons lurking in the night, their blood-red eyes appearing particularly sinister in the darkness.
This Myriad Souls Devouring Array was created from the souls submitted by his branch hall each time, selecting and preserving a portion of slightly flawed souls. Over a century, the number of these souls had reached an extremely terrifying level. These souls were then refined using the Soul Hall's special methods, transforming them into these irrational, blood-red souls that knew only slaughter, and forming a grand array.
This array, composed of countless special souls, would certainly not disappoint the Dragon Venerable in its destructive power. Although these souls would perish after use, at a heavy cost, the Dragon Venerable sensed a strong threat emanating from Hun Changqing
. Furthermore, these souls were merely flawed entities; capturing Hun Changqing's soul, a Dou Zun, would be far more valuable than these souls. Therefore, the already decisive Dragon Venerable, upon witnessing Hun Changqing's bizarre methods, unhesitatingly deployed the Myriad Souls Devouring Array.
"Blood Feed!"
Dragon Venerable roared again, black mist billowing from his body. With a flick of his finger, a stream of crimson blood spurted out, spewing into the black clouds.
As the blood entered, the black clouds instantly tinged with an eerie dark red hue, and shrill screams emanated from them. After a moment, the black clouds abruptly paused, and after a brief silence, countless ferocious, blood-red souls poured down from the clouds like a torrential rain, their faces contorted with savagery and bloodlust, hurtling towards Hun Changqing.
At this moment, in the sky, watching the countless blood-red souls surging from the black clouds, Dragon Venerable's face revealed a hideous and terrifying smile, as if he had already foreseen the scene of Hun Changqing being swallowed up by those countless souls.
Meanwhile, Hun Changqing's expression gradually darkened as he saw the countless blood-red souls hurtling towards him.
It wasn't the crimson souls that terrified him, but rather that he had come specifically for a large number of souls. Upon arrival, he had already considered the souls within this branch hall as his possession.
The sheer number of souls released by the Dragon Venerable was immediately apparent to Hun Changqing; this crude refining method meant they would be completely wasted after this use. Hun Changqing felt as if his wealth had been squandered and wasted, a feeling that made his heart bleed.
Hun Changqing's face was extremely gloomy, his eyes icy cold, and a chilling aura surged from his body, making one feel as if their blood was about to freeze. Watching the overwhelming horde of souls emitting shrill screams as they swept towards him, Hun Changqing's eyes flashed with a cold light. He snorted coldly, clenched his fist, and a burst of silver light erupted from his body.
A dazzling silver beam shot into the sky, emanating a chilling aura. Wherever the beam passed, the crimson souls illuminated by its light felt as if their throats were being choked; their shrill screams abruptly ceased.
The moment the crimson souls were invaded by the yin energy within the silver beam, their previously radiant crimson light dimmed, turning a deathly gray. Their once bloodthirsty and ferocious eyes, like two red lanterns, instantly became black and empty. Finally, the illusory form of the soul appeared extremely solidified before shattering like porcelain, turning into countless deathly gray fragments.
Although the number of these crimson souls seemed endless, wherever the silver light passed, they were all reduced to fragments, the rate of decay being astonishing.
The crimson souls, seeing the blazing silver light, hesitated, even though they were now under control and devoid of consciousness. Their original human instincts remained, and the destructive aura contained within the silver light instilled fear in them, preventing them from advancing. Hun
Changqing, looking at the crimson soul he had casually grabbed, carefully sensed it before his face darkened. He clenched his fist, crushing the soul, and looked up at Dragon Venerable with a chilling smile.
"Very well! You actually refined my soul into this kind of monstrous thing, you're quite something! As a reward, I'll use your soul, which is at the Dou Zun realm, as the main soul of my Yin Soul Banner for the time being! This is your honor! Hehehe..."
Hun Changqing's cold and sinister voice entered the ears of the Dragon Venerable, making the Dragon Venerable's face, which was already gloomy because of Hun Changqing's ruthless attack that caused a large number of blood-colored souls to be annihilated, even darker. His fists clenched tightly, and unparalleled anger surged in his heart. He initially thought this was either a powerful Dou Zun cultivator whose soul had been stolen by the Soul Envoys and who was now searching for it, or someone with a grudge against the Soul Hall who had come to cause trouble. But Dragon Venerable hadn't expected this person to be here to steal the souls of their Soul Hall!
And what did he mean by "his souls"? These were the souls he, Dragon Venerable, had painstakingly collected year after year over the past hundred years! He had even gone to great lengths to refine them all into these blood-red souls!
Hun Changqing's words clearly indicated that he considered all the souls within this branch hall as his own possession. His arrogant and domineering attitude, showing no regard for others, was even more domineering than that of the deputy hall master of the Soul Hall branch. Who, then, truly belonged to the Soul Hall?
Hun Changqing's domineering attitude was undoubtedly unacceptable to the usually unreasonable and unrestrained deputy hall master of the Soul Hall branch, Dragon Venerable. Enraged by Hun Changqing's outburst, Dragon Venerable glared at him, gritting his teeth as he said,
"While I cannot deny you possess some skill, don't be so arrogant! The Soul Hall is not a force you can slaughter at will! You will pay the price for your disrespectful attitude!"
"Blood Shadow! Condense!"
Dragon Venerable roared, his fingers rapidly forming several hand seals. Then, he bit his tongue sharply, spitting out a drop of crimson blood that shot towards the thick black cloud in the sky.
Immediately, the blood-red souls seemed to be summoned, no longer lingering before Hun Changqing's silver pillar of light, but abruptly turning and converging towards the black cloud behind them.
As the crimson souls continued to surge away, the originally pitch-black, abyss-like black clouds turned incomparably crimson, bursting with blood-red light, transforming into a blood cloud that painted the entire sky a dark red.
Within the blood cloud, crimson light surged, and shrill screams pierced the air, even faintly mixed with chilling chewing sounds.
With Hun Changqing's perception, he could naturally see that within the crimson cloud, countless crimson souls were devouring each other like hungry wolves
, like worms in a box, cruelly killing and consuming their companions to become the last survivor.
Accompanying this seemingly endless mutual devouring, a dense, terrifyingly ferocious, and savage negative emotion was breeding and spreading within the blood cloud, as if something was gathering and solidifying.
...
Amidst the churning blood-red clouds, a piercing scream rang out, followed by a violent aura that slowly descended from within. The Dragon Venerable's triumphant laughter echoed shrilly throughout the valley as this aura arrived.
"Heh heh... This is a malevolent spirit formed from countless souls I've collected over a hundred years! Today, I'll make sure you, this arrogant fool who dares to underestimate the Soul Palace, never return!"
The Dragon Venerable's chilling laughter had barely faded when the blood-red clouds began to ripple and then rapidly dissipate. In just a moment, the blood-red clouds that had enveloped the entire valley vanished, revealing dark, ominous clouds above. As the blood-red clouds dispersed, a crimson figure appeared in the sky, emanating a chilling aura.
The figure was roughly the same size as a normal person, its body shrouded in a blood-red hue, an exceptionally dark and somber color, as if formed from countless congealed drops of blood. A single glance evoked a chilling, unsettling feeling.
This slightly ethereal figure had no face; at its head, blood mist swirled, revealing only a pair of blood-red eyes. These eyes were devoid of any human emotion, possessing only endless savagery and killing intent. This figure was essentially a monster born for slaughter.
Hun Changqing watched the blood-red figure appear in the sky, his eyes narrowing slightly as his icy gaze swept over it, scrutinizing it.
"Heh heh... The ferocious soul has already coalesced. Just as you said, dying under this ferocious soul is your honor. I'll gladly accept your soul at the Dou Zun realm and send you on your way!"
Beside the blood-red figure in the sky, the Dragon Venerable, shrouded in black mist, also stood suspended in mid-air. He glanced at the blood-red figure beside him, which exuded a violent aura, and let out a wild, monstrous laugh. It seemed that the appearance of this blood-red figure gave the Dragon Venerable unparalleled confidence, and his maniacal laughter echoed across the sky like
thunder. Just as the Dragon Venerable's maniacal laughter reverberated, the illusory blood-red figure beside him struck down like lightning. Its fist, carrying a violent fist wind and immense pressure, slammed down towards Hun Changqing.
This fist was so fast that it was almost impossible to see with the naked eye, and the fist wind it contained directly tore through the air as it arrived suddenly.
"Hehehe..."
Just as the fist was about to land on Hun Changqing, Hun Changqing suddenly let out a chilling and eerie laugh. Then, he extended a slender, white finger and lightly touched the oncoming fist. The blood shadow carrying terrifying power actually stopped in place.
"Hehehe... I thought these souls were already useless, but I didn't expect you to give me such a big surprise! You're called Dragon Venerable, right? You're very good! For the sake of your ferocious soul, I'll let you die knowing why. Remember, the one who killed you is Ghostly Venerable... Hehehe..."
Upon hearing Hun Changqing's sinister laughter, Dragon Venerable's laughter suddenly stopped, and the arrogant and ferocious smile on his face instantly froze. Looking at the blood shadow that he had placed so much hope in, which was directly pressed to the ground by Hun Changqing's seemingly light finger, a bead of cold sweat appeared on Dragon Venerable's forehead. A chill ran down his spine, making his hair stand on end and his whole body feel cold...