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As several violent Heavenly Flames erupted within Xiao Yan's body, his Dou Qi surged with an overwhelming force. In just an instant, his strength skyrocketed, breaking through the barrier of Eight-Star Dou Zong and stepping directly into the realm of Dou Zun.
"Skyfire Three Mysterious Change?!"
Sensing Xiao Yan's rapidly increasing strength, the Eighth Tian Zun raised his brow slightly, a hint of surprise flashing across his face.
As one of the Nine Tian Zun of the Hall of Souls, he naturally recognized this supreme secret technique of Burning Flame Valley.
However, seeing Xiao Yan use it still caught him off guard. But when he remembered that Xiao Yan was from the Xiao Clan, the Eighth Tian Zun's expression returned to normal.
He chuckled in mild surprise and said, "Didn't expect that after so many years, those people from Burning Flame Valley would actually return this secret technique to the Xiao Clan."
"Hmph!"
Hearing those words, Xiao Yan's expression stiffened slightly before he let out a cold snort.
He still remembered how much effort it had taken back then just to get Burning Flame Valley to let him view the Skyfire Three Mysterious Change. If it hadn't been for the Gu Clan's face, those stubborn fools from Burning Flame Valley would've never agreed.
But when he heard this man mention the Xiao Clan, Xiao Yan clenched his teeth tightly. He had already learned from Xun'er that the Xiao Clan a thousand years ago had been annihilated—ambushed and destroyed by none other than the Hun Clan behind this Hall of Souls.
Hearing it brought up again now made the rage in his heart surge uncontrollably. If not for those bastards of the Hun Clan, his father wouldn't have been captured by the Hall of Souls. His two older brothers wouldn't have gone missing, their life and death unknown.
The Xiao Clan back in Wu Tan City… wouldn't have ended up with nearly everyone slaughtered. Thinking of all that, Xiao Yan's anger burned hotter and hotter. The fury in his chest felt like it would burst his lungs.
"Oh? From that expression of yours, it seems you already know what happened to the Xiao Clan."
Seeing no hint of confusion in Xiao Yan's eyes—only blazing killing intent and hatred—the Eighth Tian Zun stroked his pale beard lightly and said with a faint smile.
"The things the Hun Clan did to my Xiao Clan…" Xiao Yan's face twisted, his voice seething with venom, "I swear, one day, I'll make you all pay for every single debt! You'll taste the agony of losing everything—family, clan, and life itself!"
The Eighth Tian Zun's hand froze mid-stroke.
Then he recovered, chuckling coldly. "Hehe, I'm afraid you won't live long enough for that. You, the Three Thousand Burning Flame, and the soul here—these three prizes have already been divided among the three of us. If we let you escape, how would we split the credit?"
The moment his words fell, the temperature around them plummeted.
In less than a blink, it dropped from above zero to several hundred degrees below. The air itself froze. Tiny specks of dust turned into minuscule ice crystals, glittering as they fell to the ground.
Seeing such a chilling sight, both Xiao Yan and the nearby Two-Star Dou Zun felt their hands and feet turn cold, unease creeping up from the depths of their hearts.
Then Xiao Yan turned to the Two-Star Dou Zun beside him and said, "Senior, we only need to hold out for a while. I believe the experts from the Pill Tower outside will soon be able to free themselves and come to our aid."
"Don't worry, old man knows," the Two-Star Dou Zun replied gravely. He understood perfectly well that Xiao Yan was warning him not to run away midway—if he did, they'd be picked off one by one by the Tian Zun.
Once Xiao Yan received his assurance, he relaxed slightly. With two of them joining forces, and relying on his own techniques, he was confident they could hold out for some time.
But if the other man fled, then even with his Skyfire Three Mysterious Change and barely attained Dou Zun strength, Xiao Yan wouldn't last long before being defeated or captured. If that happened, everything would be over.
"Hehe, even if he doesn't run—what can you two low-level Dou Zun do? You think you can hold me back?"
As soon as the Eighth Tian Zun finished speaking, a vast and overwhelming aura erupted from his body, spreading outward like a tidal wave for dozens of miles.
"Be careful!"
Sensing that terrifying aura, Xiao Yan shouted a warning. Then he summoned all the Heavenly Flame Dou Qi within his body, pouring it outward to resist the crushing pressure of a peak Eight-Star Dou Zun expert.
As for the Two-Star Dou Zun beside him, even he didn't dare show the slightest carelessness in front of such a terrifying opponent. He too hurriedly mobilized the Dou Qi within his body to resist that overwhelming pressure.
However, just as the two of them were struggling to withstand the aura, the figure of the Eighth Tian Zun suddenly vanished from the sky. In the next instant, he appeared eerily in front of the Two-Star Dou Zun.
"Careful, he's heading your way—move!"
Relying on the soul power of his low-stage Spirit Realm strength, Xiao Yan immediately sensed something wrong the moment the opponent moved. He shouted a warning toward the Two-Star Dou Zun.
The moment the latter heard Xiao Yan's cry, alarm bells rang wildly in his heart. Drawing on years of battle experience, he unleashed a Dou Technique toward a specific spot in space and swiftly retreated backward.
"Boom!"
The Dou Technique exploded violently, and from within the blast, a black shadow shot forth at blinding speed. In the blink of an eye, it was already in front of the retreating Two-Star Dou Zun.
Before the latter could react, a hand wreathed in dense white frost silently pressed against his chest. A terrifying chill gushed from that palm, pouring straight into the Two-Star Dou Zun's body.
"Puchi!"
A faint spurt of blood burst from his mouth. In the next moment, his entire body was flung away like a meteor crashing through space, leaving behind a blur too fast to see. He was hurled violently into the distant darkness.
"Damn it!"
Seeing the Two-Star Dou Zun defeated so quickly, Xiao Yan's heart sank heavily, and his expression turned grim. Back in the Pill Realm, he had managed to defeat Old Mu Gu, and that victory had given him immense confidence.
He had thought that, with his own power combined with a Two-Star Dou Zun, even if they couldn't defeat this Eighth Tian Zun, they could at least hold him off for a while. But to his disbelief, the battle had barely begun, and his only ally had already been slain before his eyes.
Through his soul perception, he had clearly seen that when the Eighth Tian Zun struck his opponent's chest, the man's heart and the surrounding flesh instantly froze into pure white ice before shattering into countless fragments.
With his heart utterly destroyed, there was no chance of survival.
"Damn it! Don't tell me I really have to give up the Three Thousand Burning Flame this time?"
Staring at the Eighth Tian Zun, who was smiling faintly at him from not far away, cold sweat trickled down Xiao Yan's forehead as uncertainty and hesitation surged within his heart.
—
A.N:
I've slightly adjusted the strength levels of the Hall of Souls's Nine Tian Zuns as follows:
Ninth Tian Zun: Peak Eight-Star
Eighth Tian Zun: Peak Eight-Star
Seventh Tian Zun: Nine-Star Dou Zun
Sixth Tian Zun: One-Change Dou Zun
Fifth Tian Zun: Two-Change Dou Zun
Fourth Tian Zun: Three-Change Dou Zun
Third Tian Zun: Low Ban Sheng
Second Tian Zun: High Ban Sheng
First Tian Zun: Two-Star Dou Sheng
**
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