On the square of the Misty Cloud Sect, a sudden change erupted.
No one knew when it happened, but a mass of black mist had silently appeared in the midst of nearly all the experts of the Jia Ma Empire's attention. Its appearance was eerie, as if it had split off from the shadow of the stone monument itself.
The moment the black mist took shape, two pitch-black chains gleaming with a deep, sinister light shot violently out from within it, accompanied by a chilling laugh, heading straight for Xiao Yan.
The speed of the chains was terrifying almost instantly, they were already close to Xiao Yan.
At the tip of the chains, a faint, strange cold glint flickered.
Xiao Yan had only just turned his head upon hearing the voice, and what entered his vision was those black, eerie chains.
"What is this?"
Before he could even think, Xiao Yan who had just won the Three-Year Agreement was suddenly plunged into a life-and-death crisis.
The black chains showed no hesitation due to his shock. Their attack was merciless from the start, clearly a killing blow! If they struck him, Xiao Yan would be killed on the spot.
At that moment, a vast surge of power erupted from Yao Lao within the Bone Flame Ring, accompanied by a surge of pale-white flame.
A massive soul form rapidly condensed into a phantom figure, and the instant it formed, two bone-white flame cones shot forward to meet the chains.
"Boom! Boom!"
Two deafening explosions, surpassing even the earlier clashes of Flame Splitting Tsunami Ruler and Wind's Ultimate: Obliteration, echoed across Mount Misty Cloud.
When Yao Lao and the Hall of Souls' protector exchanged blows, even a casual strike between two Dou Ancestor-level experts created shockwaves far beyond Xiao Yan and Nalan Yanran's full-force collision.
"Jie jie jie~ So this soul power and Bone Chilling Flame it really is Yao Chen."
"As expected of Protector Wu. Yao Chen's soul really is inside this kid's body! We've struck gold this time. Jie jie jie~"
A ghostly, sinister laughter echoed through the sky above the square, and a mass of black mist appeared in the air.
The moment it emerged, another pitch-black chain identical to the one that attacked Xiao Yan, shot out from the mist, once again lunging toward him.
However, this attack was not truly aimed at Xiao Yan. It was meant to force Yao Lao, who was protecting him, to reveal a flaw.
At this moment, a silver flash appeared, and Lin Yuan's tall figure materialized directly in front of the chain's trajectory.
Facing the incoming strike, Lin Yuan gathered force into his leg and twisted his body, kicking the chain from the side. A mysterious spiraling force was transmitted into it.
"Sky Origin Eight-Character Art, Rotation."
The rotating force intertwined with the chain's own energy, destabilizing and twisting its trajectory, sending it crashing into the ground and embedding deeply within it.
In the next instant, a silver flash, and Lin Yuan appeared beside Yao Lao and Xiao Yan as if teleporting, calmly looking up at the black mist above, Protector Sun.
After the first exchange ended, Xiao Yan finally regained his senses, still full of confusion.
"Teacher? Brother Tian Shu?"
Before he could ask further, Yao Lao, who was already focused on Protector Wu at the stone monument spoke first.
"Xiao Yan, the situation is urgent. Don't ask for now. Someone will explain everything to you soon."
As he spoke, he glanced at Lin Yuan beside him, a trace of approval flashing in his eyes.
From Lin Yuan's effortless handling of that attack, Yao Lao immediately understood that he was an expert in combat. With him here, the next battle would be much more manageable.
Seeing his attack blocked, Protector Sun withdrew the chains that had been deflected into the ground and looked coldly at Lin Yuan, whose depth he could not discern.
"Brat, who are you? How dare you interfere with this Protector are you tired of living?"
Lin Yuan smiled faintly and replied coldly, "If I don't seek death, I won't die? Not necessarily."
"Rather than that, why don't you explain this barrier first?"
With a wave of his hand, cyan Dou Qi rapidly condensed into four powerful energy flames, shooting in all directions toward the horizon.
At the same time, he shouted loudly:
"Everyone of the Jia Ma Empire, pay attention! A barrier has been set here, we are sealed off! If things go wrong, we may all die here today!"
If there was a chance to rally people, he would never waste it.
Earlier, when the Hall of Souls secretly set up the formation, Lin Yuan had already sensed it. He did nothing then, precisely waiting for this moment.
Protector Wu wanted to harvest souls; Lin Yuan also wanted more usable allies.
Not long after Lin Yuan spoke, the cyan flames struck an invisible boundary and were blocked by a dark spatial barrier, exploding into ripples without breaking it.
The expressions of Fa Ma, Jia Xing Tian, and other Jia Ma Empire experts changed drastically.
Sensing the gazes gathering on him, Protector Sun's eyes turned blood-red with killing intent.
But Lin Yuan continued calmly, not giving him a chance to respond.
"If you don't want misunderstandings, then remove the barrier first. If it's not you, then everyone can jointly dismantle it before continuing whatever they want to do."
His gaze swept across Fa Ma, Jia Xing Tian, and the others.
After a brief silence, Fa Ma nodded slightly.
"I agree with this young friend's suggestion."
Jia Xing Tian also spoke solemnly, "Indeed. This barrier makes us uneasy. Please remove it first."
Hai Bodong's voice was cold as ice. "Or is your true goal to wipe us all out together?"
Protector Sun's killing intent grew even stronger.
"Jie jie jie Wu Protector, there is never a shortage of ignorant fools."
"Jie jie jie indeed, Sun Protector. No need to waste words with them."
Protector Wu looked down at everyone, his eyes filled with greed.
"So many souls, enough to make up for the losses from the Xiao Clan mission and complete this year's quota."
He then turned his gaze toward the Misty Cloud Sect disciples.
"Yun Shan, even in death, our debt is not settled. Today, I will take the souls of your sect disciples as repayment."
Hearing this, the expressions of Jia Ma Empire's experts grew even darker.
The killing intent in the other party's words was no longer concealed.
However, their strength was overwhelming—Hai Bodong, Fa Ma, and Jia Xing Tian could all sense that they were facing true Dou Ancestor-level experts.
After exchanging glances, the strongest experts of the Jia Ma Empire understood their position.
The only choice now was to cooperate with Lin Yuan and Yao Lao to resist this enemy.
Thus, they all moved in an instant, standing beside Lin Yuan and Yao Lao, forming a defensive formation without a word.
In the sky, Protector Wu and Protector Sun gathered together, looking down at the "ragtag group" of Dou Emperor-level cultivators below with cold confidence.
In their eyes, only Yao Chen posed a real threat.
But after the brief exchange, they had already gauged his current strength—Second-Star Dou Ancestor.
A Second-Star Dou Ancestor, plus this group of Dou Emperor's?
The result could only be, "Jie jie jie…"
Staring fixedly at Yao Lao, Protector Wu spoke in a sinister tone, "Protector Sun, I'll keep Yao Chen occupied for a while. You go deal with those ants below. After that, we'll join forces to capture Yao Chen, lest he corner himself and desperately risk his life."
Protector Sun nodded and looked downward, his gaze landing on Lin Yuan, who had cleverly deflected one of his attacks moments ago.
"Fine. Leave Yao Chen to you. Just hold him off for a while. I'll quickly dispose of these ants below."
At that moment, however, Protector Sun saw Lin Yuan reveal a provocative smile toward him. Instantly, several traces of anger entered his cold voice.
"Damn brat. Daring to provoke me? Then I'll start by killing this sharp-tongued little bastard."
Meanwhile, on the other side, Lin Yuan had also completed his survey and analysis of the surrounding spatial barrier using Soul Strength.
He had once spent some time studying methods for calculating and analyzing spatial barriers. Today, that knowledge finally proved useful.
The rich Ancient Dragon Qi within his body granted Lin Yuan a special sensitivity toward space far beyond ordinary people. Combined with his powerful soul perception and investigative experience, he swiftly located the weak points within the barrier set up by Protector Wu and Protector Sun.
At the same time, Yao Lao had also accurately determined the strength of the two Protectors.
He solemnly looked at the two masses of black fog and said in a deep voice, "Boy Tian Shu, it seems the enemy is using a four-four setup. It hasn't exceeded the plan we discussed beforehand. It's still within our ability to handle."
Sensing Protector Sun's gaze, Lin Yuan returned a provocative smile and said calmly, "Then just as we agreed before — one for you, one for me. As for the barrier…"
His gaze swept across the Jia Ma Empire's experts around him before pointing toward a position in the southwest.
"Everyone from the Jia Ma Empire, please attack that location. If my calculations are correct, that should be the barrier's weak point. We'll do our best to hold back those two black-clothed fellows. Hurry and break the barrier."
Upon hearing Lin Yuan's words, before anyone else could even voice their doubts toward him, Hai Bodong immediately sprang into action.
Spreading the icy Dou Qi wings emitting waves of frigid aura behind him, he flew without hesitation toward the location Lin Yuan indicated. At the same time, he said calmly to the others, "Let's move."
Fa Ma and Jia Xing Tian exchanged glances and smiled helplessly before immediately following behind him.
Although they did not understand why Hai Bodong had such confidence, everyone was tied to the same fate now. Moreover, Hai Bodong had always been someone worthy of trust.
Besides, among them all, Hai Bodong was also the one who understood this terrifying young man the best. They could only trust his judgment.
Afterward, Lin Yuan's lips moved slightly as a coded voice transmission sounded beside Yao Lao and Ling Ying, who was hidden in the shadows.
"The Jia Ma Empire group is bait. Once I give the signal, the three of us will immediately attack another weak point in the barrier. The exact location is."
While transmitting the barrier's weak point to the two of them, Lin Yuan's figure flashed and avoided the chain attacking from the black fog.
Immediately afterward, he spread his Dou Qi wings and rose into the sky.
Lin Yuan stared coldly at Protector Sun as he released the Augmenting Qi Pill sealed within his body. As the medicinal power spread, the Dou Qi within him began surging violently, continuously breaking through limits. In the blink of an eye, his strength rose to the level of a nine-star Dou Emperor.
"Spirit Art — Void Clarity — Second Rated Output."
As the Spirit Art circulated, although emotions still remained within Lin Yuan's eyes, they also gained an additional layer of indifference and lofty detachment.
Correspondingly, his calculation ability skyrocketed. Even this explosively increased strength could now be controlled by him with tremendous ease.
Soon after, endless green flames gathered within his hand and condensed into a solid long spear. Green flames flickered at the spearhead like a green tassel.
Holding the long spear, Lin Yuan pointed its tip diagonally toward Protector Sun. After locking onto his aura, he chuckled lightly.
"Come then, Little Black. Let this young master see just how capable you little 'jie jie' freaks are."
"Little Black? 'Jie jie' freak?"
Hearing this title, Protector Sun's gaze immediately turned sharp as he said coldly, "Jie jie jie.. what an ignorant little brat. Even after using medicinal pills to raise your cultivation, you're still only a mere nine-star Dou Emperor."
"In all these years, you're the first one who has dared insult this Protector in such a manner. Die for me!"
As his words fell, Protector Sun moved his palm, and a pitch-black chain extended from within it, twisting and coiling around him like a venomous serpent.
Immediately afterward, he flicked his finger. The black chain circling around him instantly trembled before transforming into a black streak that tore through the sky and shot explosively toward Lin Yuan.
The clattering sound of the chains resembled the sickle of death itself, harvesting souls and claiming lives.
Seeing this, Lin Yuan merely sneered coldly. Silver light flashed across his body as his figure trembled slightly, instantly becoming somewhat illusory.
"Chi!"
The chain swept through him without the slightest obstruction, yet achieved no result whatsoever. what it struck was merely an afterimage left behind by Lin Yuan.
As the afterimage dissipated, Lin Yuan's figure appeared in the distance, calmly looking at Protector Sun.
"Heh. Your speed isn't bad. Is this where your confidence comes from?"
Seeing his previously unstoppable high-speed chain attack effortlessly dodged by Lin Yuan, Protector Sun's expression darkened slightly. Soon afterward, he let out a cold smile and pointed his finger.
The chain that had missed instantly raised itself once more like a venomous snake before shooting lightning-fast toward Lin Yuan again.
Lin Yuan responded by stepping with exquisite footwork, his figure weaving and shifting within a radius of dozens of meters around him.
After perfecting the transition between the Cloud Movement Technique and Three Thousand Lightning Movement, Lin Yuan's movement technique had reached a terrifying level in terms of motion conversion, speed, and agility.
His figure resembled a nimble silver dragon, the transitions between extreme stillness and extreme movement flowing with incomparable smoothness. Protector Sun's swift and ferocious chain assaults were all evaded by him with graceful ease and composure.
For the current Lin Yuan, killing a Dou Ancestor was not easy.
However, relying on his extraordinarily outstanding movement technique and powerful soul perception, even ordinary Dou Ancestor would have great difficulty trying to kill him or even touch him at all.
As the pursuit continued fruitlessly, Protector Sun's expression gradually became uglier and uglier.
He had not expected Lin Yuan to be this slippery. Under attacks like his, even ordinary peak Dou Emperor experts would be placed in an extremely miserable state.
Yet this fellow was able to dodge effortlessly, looking completely relaxed.
"Jie jie jie, good brat. It seems this Protector underestimated you. But let's see how you escape next!"
Protector Sun sneered as he formed a seal with his hands. Instantly, black fog surged around his body as three black shadows accompanied by clattering chain sounds burst forth from behind him.
Finally, they hovered endlessly above his head like three venomous snakes.
"Triple Soul Lock!"
A black-fog-covered palm stretched outward. Immediately afterward, his hand seal changed, and the three chains hovering above Protector Sun's head suddenly shot toward Lin Yuan with shrill wind-breaking sounds.
As the three chains crisscrossed through the air, they completely sealed off all of Lin Yuan's escape routes.
Facing the three ferocious Soul Locks, Lin Yuan transformed into a streak of silver light, rapidly weaving and maneuvering through the sky.
At the same time, he used his powerful soul perception to sense one of the Soul Locks.
While flying at high speed, he guided Qi through Soul Power, using the "Rotation Formula" together with the extreme compression properties of his green flame Dou Qi to condense a pure yet ferocious flame force along the spear's edge.
After Lin Yuan evaded the interception of two Soul Locks and faced the third one head-on, his eyes suddenly sharpened.
"Now! Heavenly Origin Eight Character Art — Break!"
The Cloud Dragon revolved as he executed a reverse spear strike, hitting precisely upon the weak point in the Soul Lock's force that Lin Yuan had detected using Soul Strength.
Immediately afterward, the immense flame force condensed upon the green-flame spear together with the Green Lotus Core Flame infused into it.
After a brief stalemate, the injected flames and force suddenly exploded.
"Boom!"
With a thunderous explosion, the tip of the Soul Lock engraved with mysterious black runes instantly shattered and was blasted backward.
Meanwhile, Lin Yuan transformed into a streak of light once more, continuing to evade the remaining Soul Locks.
After losing one Soul Lock, the remaining two could no longer completely seal off Lin Yuan's flight path. With a few agile movements, he easily escaped beyond their attack range.
Seeing his attacks fail to achieve any effect, Protector Sun withdrew the Soul Locks.
Looking at the shattered chain tip, a trace of heartache flashed through his eyes. Repairing that Soul Lock would require consuming another batch of collected souls as materials.
However, when Protector Sun looked toward Lin Yuan again, additional traces of delight and greed appeared within his gaze.
"Brat, I never expected you to actually be an alchemist. Clearly only a Dou Emperor, yet you possess a Heavenly Flame and such powerful Soul Strength. Truly heaven is helping me. Even if this Protector only manages to capture you this time, it'll still be worth it."
During their exchange just now, Protector Sun had already sensed Lin Yuan's extraordinarily powerful soul force.
"You want my soul?"
Lin Yuan smiled faintly and said meaningfully, "That won't be easy. Soon enough, you'll discover that movement techniques are not what I excel at the most."
As he spoke, his gaze swept toward Yao Lao and the Jia Ma Empire experts.
At this moment, the Jia Ma Empire experts were attacking the barrier's weak point exactly as Lin Yuan had instructed, continuously weakening the barrier established by the Hall of Souls Protectors.
Meanwhile, Yao Lao had already fused into Xiao Yan's body and was using his body to contend against Protector Wu.
Although Yao Lao could not display his full current strength in this state, this was the only way to both battle a Hall of Souls Protector and protect Xiao Yan simultaneously.
Otherwise, the aftershocks from a battle between Dou Ancestor alone would be enough to kill the current Xiao Yan.
The battle between the two sides remained relatively stable for now.
Protector Wu was waiting for Protector Sun to eliminate Lin Yuan and the Jia Ma Empire experts before coming to assist him.
Meanwhile, Yao Lao was waiting for the moment when the barrier would be broken so he could send Xiao Yan away.
Only after sending Xiao Yan out would the true life-and-death battle begin.
And right now, they were still in the phase of deliberately showing weakness according to the plan.
They intentionally displayed relatively weakened combat strength to prevent the Hall of Souls Protectors from becoming desperate and using those terrifying killing techniques that consumed souls as fuel.
Thus, neither Queen Medusa nor Yao Lao's Spirit-Raising Pill had been used yet.
Sensing Lin Yuan's gaze, Yao Lao gave an almost imperceptible nod, indicating that he was still fine.
Seeing this, Lin Yuan nodded as well before continuing his delaying battle against Protector Sun, waiting for the moment the barrier would finally be broken.
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