In the remote northeastern region of the Central Plains, a vast canyon stretched for thousands of meters, its depths seemingly bottomless. Eerie winds whispered through the air, and an impenetrable black fog shrouded the surroundings.
Descending along the cliffs, where the black fog was thickest, all signs of life disappeared, and no vegetation dared to grow. It was a desolate, lifeless realm, a forsaken land where even mercenaries who roamed far and wide would never venture in search of treasure.
However, as one descended deeper into the unfathomable abyss, one would eventually encounter a spatial barrier. Within this barrier lay a cluster of dark palaces, like colossal beasts lurking in the depths of the canyon.
In the black fog, these palaces appeared and disappeared like phantoms. Several figures in black robes emerged from the palaces at this moment, their presence breaking the eerie silence of the place.
All of them were clad in black robes and exuded formidable auras. Amidst the eerie winds, they murmured their discontent.
"... Damn it, why do they keep sending us out to capture souls every day? Are souls that easy to capture? We don't even get a day off!"
"... Calm down, at least the rewards are much richer now. We couldn't earn these rewards in the past, even if we worked three times as hard."
"The conflicts with the Heavenly Court have escalated recently. Many Protectors who went out haven't returned. Even the Venerable Elders have become scarce. We must be vigilant."
"..."
At that moment, a crack appeared in the canyon sky amidst the black fog, and two figures stepped out of it.
"Who are you!"
The black-robed individuals outside noticed the sudden arrival of the unfamiliar figures. The deep aura emanating from these newcomers sent shivers down their spines, but one of them still dared to call out sternly.
However, the two newcomers paid no attention to them. They continued to tread on the void, descending gracefully until they reached the cluster of palaces. The earlier call had caused more black-robed figures to emerge from the palaces.
An eight-star Dou Venerate, a Tianzun-level figure, stepped forward and raised his head to the sky. Even he couldn't help but feel a palpable sense of oppression from the mysterious black-robed figures.
"Who is Your Excellency? How dare you invade the territory of my Hall of Souls?"
"Ha, the Hall of Souls? This is exactly where we wanted to come. Why should we be afraid?"
Zi Yan glanced around the surrounding palaces with a hint of disdain in her tone.
"You!"
"Yellow Spring Finger!"
Xiao Ming couldn't be bothered to listen to any more of his nonsense. His white robes fluttered without a breeze, and a slender palm appeared beneath them. At first glance, the palm appeared fair and unblemished, but the next moment it was stained with countless traces of blood.
With a casual gesture, an immense amount of energy gathered and quickly condensed into a massive, deep yellow finger hundreds of meters in length. Although its surface appeared coarse, it exuded a faint aura of destruction. Viewed from afar, it resembled a colossal pillar standing tall between heaven and earth.
The aura of sanctity permeated the surroundings, enveloping the black-robed individuals like an icy cave, leaving no room for resistance. Their faces were contorted with horror, their eyes clouded with fear and despair.
"A Dou Saint-level powerhouse..."
Boom!
With another tap, the colossal Yellow Spring Finger descended from the sky with a deafening roar. The entire expanse of space crumbled at that moment, deep ravines ruptured all around, and the earth shook violently, resembling an earthquake.
Without even a chance to scream, whether they were Protectors, Venerable Elders, or even Tianzuns, they all turned into mere specks of dust in an instant under the might of this giant palm.
Then the giant finger continued its descent, crashing into the cluster of sinister palaces. The sturdy structures and unbreakable chains all crumbled and snapped in an instant. The whole place descended into utter destruction.
"You scoundrel! Who do you think you are, daring to provoke my Hall of Souls! Today, this hall chief will ensure you have no chance to return!"
As the palaces crumbled, several formidable auras surged forward. Among them were three Dou Saints, with the most powerful among them being a three-star Dou Saint who appeared as young as a teenager.
"Deputy Chief, it's been a while." Xiao Ming said with a smile.
"It's you, you little piece of trash! How dare you invade my territory to cause trouble?!"
The Deputy Chief of the Hall of Souls gritted his teeth at the sight of Xiao Ming, his eyes almost spitting fire. He vividly remembered the last time Xiao Ming had thrown one of his avatars into a pit latrine.
It was truly humiliating!
Now that he was face to face with his enemy, his hatred burned even fiercer.
With a flick of his finger, a dense black gas shot out and transformed into a black dragon that swooped down on Xiao Ming. At the same time, his hand reached out and unleashed a torrent of black fog from his five fingers, forming five massive chains that rushed towards Xiao Ming.
"Do not think that breaking through to the three-star Dou Saint is enough to be arrogant. We have three Dou Saints on our side! You'll see how I deal with you after I capture you today!" A sinister grin appeared on the Deputy Chief's face.
His strength had reached the advanced three-star Dou Saint stage, and with two other Dou Saints assisting him, he was confident that Xiao Ming wouldn't leave this place unscathed.
Because he was so focused on Xiao Ming, he overlooked Zi Yan's superior strength next to him.
The other two Dou Saints immediately joined the battle. In an instant, the world trembled as their overwhelming aura pierced the sky, creating an atmosphere of impending doom in the canyon.
However, despite the ferocious attack from the Hall of Souls' Deputy Chief and the other two Dou Saints, Xiao Ming's expression remained calm. His figure flashed, effortlessly cutting through the storm of Dou Qi and appearing right in front of the Deputy Chief. Without any fancy moves, he unleashed a straight punch that shattered all of the Deputy Chief's defensive measures.
A wild burst of lightning power then erupted. The Deputy Chief was instantly transformed into a glowing figure, convulsing and shaking uncontrollably.
Seizing the moment when the Deputy Chief was temporarily paralyzed, Xiao Ming delivered a blow that snapped his neck, and then another that ruptured his heart meridians!
Afterward, he smoothly extracted the Deputy Chief's soul and sealed it away, his actions executed flawlessly.
The unfortunate fellow didn't even have a chance to utter a last word before he met his end!
"How is this possible!!"
The two remaining Dou Saints from the Hall of Souls were horrified to see the Deputy Chief die so quickly. If even the Deputy Chief had met such a miserable end, what chance did they have? They immediately tore open a rift in space and tried to flee.
"Tsk. That Deputy Chief was such a waste! I didn't even get a chance to join in the fun," Zi Yan grumbled in disappointment before gracefully stepping forward and disappearing into the void.
Seeing this, Xiao Ming no longer cared about the fleeing Dou Saints. Instead, he gazed down at the ruins below, where a few surviving Tianzuns and Venerable Elders could still be seen.
With a sudden step into the empty space, a surge of dark energy erupted, creating ripples like roaring waves. These waves formed a circular pattern and rapidly spread out in all directions.
In an instant, they caught up with the fleeing Dou Venerates, crushing them to a pulp.
Blood rained from the sky, and in this bottomless canyon, the eerie atmosphere and looming black fog gave it the semblance of a realm of death.
Eventually, only Xiao Ming remained alive in this desolate place.
A short time later, the space tore apart.
Swoosh!
Zi Yan stepped out, carrying two lifeless bodies.
These two bodies were the Dou Saints who had tried to escape.
With that, the Earth Hall of the Hall of Souls was annihilated, and not a single survivor was left.
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"Those two old fools thought they could show off their spatial manipulation skills in front of me. They dug their own graves," Zi Yan said as she tossed the two corpses disdainfully, leaving them floating in the air.
Xiao Ming smiled faintly at this. Zi Yan was currently at the intermediate four-star Dou Saint stage, which was already higher than these two Dou Saints. Moreover, with her spatial manipulation skills, it was rather foolish for those two old guys to try to escape through the void in front of her.
He quickly collected the two corpses and signaled for Zi Yan to descend. After a quick inspection, he confirmed that their souls were shattered.
Inside the ruins of the Earth Hall, there was nothing left but broken walls and debris, resembling a desolate ghost town.
Where the main hall had once stood, there were numerous intertwined black chains with countless soul orbs dangling from their ends.
He had deliberately avoided this area when eliminating the members of the Hall of Souls earlier, leaving it relatively undisturbed.
As he looked at the countless withered soul orbs, Xiao Ming couldn't help but sigh softly. Although the entire continent operated on the principle of survival of the fittest, with few truly good-hearted individuals on the path of cultivation, the methods employed by the Hall of Souls were exceptionally ruthless, even among the wicked. Exploiting souls even after death showed a complete lack of humanity.
After this brief sigh, Xiao Ming lightly waved his hand and a terrifying surge of energy swept through the area, shattering the chains in an instant.
The souls within the orbs gradually opened their eyes, appearing weak and disoriented as they looked around. Eventually, waves of intensely joyful soul fluctuations began to emanate from them.
Though they couldn't pinpoint the exact moment of their release, they felt a sense of freedom they hadn't experienced in countless years.
How many years had they been imprisoned here? Sometimes even death had become a luxury they longed for...
"Go, all of you. Don't let the Hall of Souls capture you again," Xiao Ming said to the souls who were overcome with joy and excitement, tears welling up in their eyes.
Countless souls gathered in the sky, all kneeling before Xiao Ming after making a deep bow. Then they howled as they burst through the spatial barrier, racing towards the free world beyond.
Xiao Ming couldn't help but shake his head as he watched these souls flee the area. He then looked towards the center of the main hall where he felt the pure soul essence.
With a wave of his sleeve, a tremendous blast of energy sent the massive pillars, hundreds of meters high, flying away.
His foot landed on the ground, and as his white robe fluttered, a roaring sound filled the air. A thunderous surge of dark energy exploded, creating a deafening 'boom' and forming a massive crater several meters deep.
Inside the crater lay soul chains, and at the center of the pit was a high platform inscribed with eerie, lifelike runes. It resembled an altar, and on this altar was the cluster of soul essence Xiao Ming had sensed.
These soul chains were connected to the cluster of soul essence at one end and branched out at the other, each one connected to the souls that had just escaped to extract their soul essence.
Xiao Ming jumped into the pit, where he could sense that the remaining soul essences still held traces of lingering resentment. The amount of resentment here was greater than any other cluster of soul essence he had absorbed before.
This cluster of soul essence had clearly absorbed more souls.
"I have avenged you all. If any of you sense this, let go of your grudges and disperse," Xiao Ming's words were more than a formality. The slightest dissipation of their grudges would make it easier for him to absorb and refine the cluster of soul essence.
The cluster of soul essence began to emit a faint glow after his words landed. Eventually, a thin gray mist began to emanate from it, dissipating into the air.
Zi Yan glanced at the dissipating mist and felt an instinctive aversion to those malevolent thoughts.
"Xiao Ming, what is that thing?" She asked him, intrigued.
"That cluster of light is the essence of millions of souls gathered together. What just dissipated were the obsessions of those millions. These obsessions are like curses, designed to harm the person who absorbs their soul essence. Without being aware of it, even a Heaven Realm soul could lose their mind and possibly go insane and die if they absorbed them recklessly."
"That terrifying?" Zi Yan widened her large, watery eyes upon hearing this and took a few steps back.
The souls of magical beasts were quite weak, and even as the Dragon Emperor, her soul was no exception. She had no desire to absorb these obsessions and risk the stability of her soul.
"Hehe, there's nothing to be afraid of. These obsessions have mostly dissipated by now," Xiao Ming reassured her.
He then stepped forward, his white robe swaying as he reached out and gently touched the cluster of soul essence. After a wave of fluctuation, he collected it.
Everyone in this Earth Hall had been slaughtered. While many of the experts in the Hall of Souls were soul bodies that would disperse into the world upon death, there were still some with physical bodies. As a result, this space now appeared as a sea of flesh and bones, with a pungent smell of blood permeating the air.
Xiao Ming looked around calmly, his heart without a ripple. He had no sympathy for people as evil as the members of the Hall of Souls. This mindset had been forged during his experiences in the Black-Corner Region.
"Let's go," Xiao Ming said.
He didn't want to stay in this place filled with corpses. He gathered the cluster of soul essence and turned away, heading towards the mountain range. Zi Yan quickly caught up and grabbed his arm as she followed...
Half an hour after Xiao Ming and Zi Yan left the area, slight spatial fluctuations occurred near a mountain peak not far from the canyon.
A shadow shot out and eventually entered the ruins of the Earth Hall. When the shadow saw the excavated ruins, its face darkened and its eyes filled with fury.
"All the souls gathered by the Earth Hall in the last century have been snatched away. The Man Hall suffered a similar fate. Combined with the previous soul essence losses, we've lost almost half of the soul essence collected by our Hall of Souls in a century. If this information reaches the clan, even I will be severely punished! Damn it!"
That figure was Hun Mie Sheng. With a hint of greenish pallor on his face, he stared into the empty depths of the Earth Hall.
The Earth Hall and the Man Hall were vital branches of the Hall of Souls that contained powerful souls. The soul essence they collected was naturally powerful as well.
Because of their strong defenses, when the branch halls were attacked in the past, only the souls of the Disha Halls and those below were transferred.
Now, the soul essence of both the Earth Hall and the Man Hall were taken, and the trapped souls were released. Such losses were unbearable, even for the Hall of Souls.
"The Heavenly Court had become a great threat. Only by destroying the Heavenly Court can we recoup our losses. If I act alone, I will undoubtedly be stopped by that old ghost. It looks like I'll have to ask someone from our clan to intervene. Hmph! Xiao Ming, you better be ready..."
Hun Mie Sheng's figure disappeared into the world, but his eerie and malicious muttering lingered in the air for a long time.
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