They continued forward, finally reaching the end of the corridor. Ahead was a staircase leading downward. The stairs were steep, emitting a damp, moldy odor. After descending the stairs, the space opened up abruptly. This was a massive underground cavern, about thirty meters high and the size of a football field. The cavern was filled with all sorts of instruments and containers. Inside the containers floated the corpses of grotesquely shaped soul beasts, and some... human-shaped corpses.
At the center of the cavern were three massive iron cages, each holding a soul beast. The first beast resembled a fierce tiger, but was three times larger than an ordinary tiger. Its entire body was covered in black scales, and its eyes were blood-red. It was pacing restlessly inside its cage. The second beast looked like a giant python, but its head had two curved horns. Black patterns flowed across the surface of its body, and it lay coiled in its cage, motionless. The third beast was the smallest, only about the size of a hound. It looked like a fox, but it had nine tails, and each tail was wreathed in black flames.
"So these are the void soul beasts..." Chen Hao sucked in a cold breath.
"Zhang Wan, start setting up the formation," Su Chen said. "Li Yang, guard her. Chen Hao, Lin Xue, come with me to inspect those instruments and collect all the research materials."
Zhang Wan immediately took out the jade disc, crouched down in the center of the cavern, and began setting up. Li Yang stood beside her, arms spread wide, a yellow light shield enveloping them both.
Su Chen, Chen Hao, and Lin Xue spread out, collecting the documents and samples from the cavern into their storage soul tools. The documents contained vast amounts of bloody experimental data, every page stained with dried blood.
Just as Zhang Wan's formation was half-complete, a sudden loud crash came from the cavern entrance, followed by heavy footsteps.
Su Chen whirled around and saw a tall figure descending the stairs. It was a man in a black robe, his face gaunt and his eye sockets deeply sunken. He looked like a walking skeleton. But what made Su Chen's heart sink to the bottom was the aura emanating from him—Titled Douluo.
"Miss Qian Renxue took care of three Titled Douluos, but it seems she missed the fourth," the man spoke, his voice raspy like sandpaper grinding. "Or rather, the fourth Titled Douluo never joined the battle at all, but was waiting here for you instead."
He raised his hand, a mass of black energy condensing in his palm: "Five little brats, thinking you can destroy our life's work? Dream on."
Without a second thought, Su Chen stepped forward, placing himself in front of Chen Hao and Lin Xue: "Quick, take Zhang Wan and go! I'll hold him off!"
"You?" The man let out a cold laugh. "A Soul Emperor trying to stop a Titled Douluo? Overestimating yourself."
The black energy transformed into a beam of light shooting toward Su Chen at extreme speed. Su Chen had no time to dodge. He could only gather all his soul power into his arms to meet the strike head-on.
Boom—!
The tremendous impact sent his entire body flying backward. His back slammed heavily against the cavern wall, sending shattered stone flying. Excruciating pain shot through his arms, his bones feeling as if they had shattered, and a mouthful of fresh blood sprayed out.
"Strategist!" Chen Hao roared, his Solar Will activating on its own. Golden light burst from the surface of his body, illuminating the entire cavern as bright as day.
"Oh? Solar Will?" A hint of surprise flashed in the man's eyes. "No wonder you were able to destroy the base in the Extreme North. But... you're only at the Soul King level. Even with the Solar Will, what can you do to me?"
He raised his hand once more. This time, even more black energy gathered in his hand, forming a massive energy sphere.
Chen Hao gritted his teeth. Instead of retreating, he advanced, raising both arms high and condensing his Solar Will to the extreme. The golden light grew brighter and brighter, like a miniature sun rising within the cavern.
"Chen Hao! Don't!" Su Chen struggled to climb to his feet, but his injuries were too severe. Even standing was difficult.
But Chen Hao did not look back. With a thunderous roar, he channeled the solar power condensed to its limit into a pillar of golden light, shooting straight at the man.
The golden pillar collided with the black energy sphere in mid-air, producing an earth-shattering explosion. The entire cavern shook, and chunks of stone continuously fell from the ceiling.
Chen Hao was sent flying backward, also crashing into the wall. His Solar Will extinguished, and he fell into unconsciousness.
But the man wasn't faring well either. His right hand had been scorched by the solar power, the flesh charred black, emitting a burnt, putrid smell. He clutched his arm, his face twisted savagely: "You little beast... you actually wounded me... I'll make you die a horrible death!"
Just as he was preparing to strike again, an icy voice came from the cavern entrance: "You won't be killing anyone."
Qian Renxue stood there, her long hair disheveled, the corner of her mouth stained with blood, but her gaze remained as sharp as ever. In each hand she gripped an ice blade, and the pressure of a Titled Douluo emanated from her body. Though it had weakened considerably, it was still suffocatingly powerful.
"You..." The man's face changed. "You actually killed all three of them?"
"Four," Qian Renxue said. "You're the fifth."
The ice blades sliced through the air. The man raised a hasty defense, but Qian Renxue's speed was too fast. Although her soul power had been largely depleted, her combat experience and technique far surpassed his. After three exchanges, an ice blade pierced through the man's chest. His eyes widened, and he looked down at the ice blade in his chest in disbelief before slowly collapsing.
Qian Renxue staggered, catching herself against the wall to avoid falling. Her face was as pale as paper. Clearly, the battle against the four Titled Douluos had drained most of her soul power.
"Is the formation... ready?" she asked with difficulty.
"Ready!" Zhang Wan shouted.
"Activate it! Move!"
Zhang Wan pressed both hands against the jade disc, soul power surging in. The runes on the disc lit up one by one, emitting a humming sound. Then she picked up the unconscious Chen Hao and followed Su Chen, Lin Xue, and Li Yang in a dash toward the stairs.
They had just rushed out of the cave entrance when a muffled explosion came from the underground cavern behind them, followed by continuous rumbling collapses. The ground shook violently, the waterfall was forced to flow backward, and massive amounts of rubble tumbled down the mountainside.
The five burst out through the waterfall and ran out of the valley, not stopping until they were over three hundred meters away. They turned back to look. The valley had already changed beyond recognition. A large section of the mountain below the waterfall had collapsed, and massive clouds of dust rose into the air, blotting out the sky and sun.
"It's over..." Zhang Wan collapsed onto the ground, gasping for breath.
Su Chen leaned against a tree trunk, his arms hanging at his sides, unable to lift them anymore. He looked at the unconscious Chen Hao, then at the utterly exhausted Qian Renxue, and pulled a bitter smile at the corner of his mouth.
"Let's go home," he said.
Qian Renxue nodded, walked over to Chen Hao, checked his injuries, and then breathed a sigh of relief: "Just soul power exhaustion. He'll be fine after a few days of rest."
The team slowly made their way through the forest in silence. Moonlight filtered through the gaps in the tree canopy, casting dappled shadows on the ground. Lin Xue walked at the rear. She glanced back at the valley that had become ruins, then turned around and caught up with the team.
When they emerged from the forest, the sky had already brightened. The eastern horizon showed the pale white of fish bellies, and the morning glow spread across half the sky like burning fire.
Su Chen stopped and gazed at that morning glow, suddenly feeling somewhat dazed. Three days ago when they had set out, it had also been such a morning, with the same dawn glow. In three days' time, they had destroyed a base of the Void Cult, eliminated five Titled Douluos, collected large amounts of experimental data, and even rescued a few void soul beasts by the way—unfortunately, those three beasts hadn't escaped the explosion, turning to ashes along with the base.
"Su Chen." Qian Renxue walked to his side. "How are your arms?"
"Broken," Su Chen said lightly. "Just need to get them set when we get back."
"I'm sorry. It was my oversight. I thought all four Titled Douluos were above ground. I didn't expect they would leave one underground."
"Who could have foreseen that?" Su Chen smiled. "At least we're all alive. That's the best outcome."
Qian Renxue looked into his eyes for a long time, then said softly: "Yes. Being alive is enough."
The team continued forward, heading in the direction of Tian Dou City. Su Chen walked in the middle of the group, looking at the young faces around him—the unconscious Chen Hao, Li Yang carrying Chen Hao on his back, Lin Xue supporting Zhang Wan, and Qian Renxue walking at the very front.
He remembered what the High Priest of the Void had said: The Tian Dou Empire will be destroyed. Everyone will die.
He clenched his fists. The sharp pain from his broken arms cleared his mind a bit.
"No," he said silently in his heart. "I will protect them. I won't let anyone die."
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