A figure shrouded in dense black mist silently stepped out of the void, and a chilling aura spread like a tide.
When the black mist dissipated, the figure inside was revealed.
"Hall of Souls' Nine Heavens Venerable Moyu…"
Shui Ye's playful and disdainful expression slightly receded. His eyes sharpened, and the vast, azure Dou Qi around him surged like an ocean, fending off the encroaching chill.
"Hehehe, a Seven-Star Dou Zun's soul is quite good. I can already smell the wonderful aroma of a soul."
Nine Heavens Venerable's cold eyes locked onto Shui Ye as he let out that grating laugh again.
"This elder thought Thunder Venerable had invited a powerful helper, but it turns out to be just a small fry from the Hall of Souls!"
Shui Ye sneered, completely unafraid. "You scum from the Hall of Souls, what else can you do besides hiding in black mist, being secretive, and playing tricks?"
"You're asking for death!"
Nine Heavens Venerable's voice suddenly turned cold. "A sharp-tongued thing. When this Venerable tears your mouth apart and extracts your soul, let's see how you'll still scream!"
Before he finished speaking, dozens of pitch-black chains suddenly shot out from around Nine Heavens Venerable, covered in twisted runes.
The chains instantly pierced through the void, shooting toward Shui Ye from all directions and emitting ear-piercing soul-shrieks in the air, like countless wronged souls wailing. They appeared incredibly cold and terrifying.
This was the Hall of Souls' signature Dou Technique—a very strange one. The chains were incredibly sturdy, and the runes on them were primarily aimed at the soul.
Once ensnared, not only would the body be unable to move, but the soul would also be imprisoned, ultimately leaving one at their mercy.
The pitch-black chains flickered in and out of existence in the void, appearing incredibly bizarre. The sheer deterrent force on the soul was enough to cause most people's Dou Qi to stagnate and their minds to falter.
"Condense."
Shui Ye softly uttered a word, and the azure water-attribute Dou Qi around him erupted—not as towering waves, but as an extreme compression and condensation in front of him!
The moisture in the air was instantly sucked dry, all converging before Shui Ye and forming a continuously rotating water vortex.
The Soul Chains slammed hard into the vortex. The vortex rippled violently, creating countless eddies, yet it did not break.
Instead, the chains' speed plummeted, as if they had fallen into an endless mire, their offensive power being continuously dissipated by the current.
Shui Ye instantly increased the flow rate of the water. The chains within it, as if entering a hydraulic machine, were squeezed, emitting crisp cracking sounds.
"Hmm? Discharging force with water… interesting."
Nine Heavens Venerable let out a soft exclamation, then increased the output of the Soul Chains. "I want to see how much you can discharge."
"Not much, but enough to deal with a small fry like you."
Shui Ye clenched his palm slightly and shouted coldly, "Break!"
The water vortex in front of him instantly contracted toward the center. After contracting to a certain extent, the water suddenly exploded. For a moment, water droplets and black fragments drifted down from the sky.
"Your Seven-Star Dou Zun seems to be a bit overconfident. If you have any other tricks, feel free to show them."
Shui Ye looked at Nine Heavens Venerable calmly, his voice still carrying a hint of disdain.
Hearing Shui Ye's words, Nine Heavens Venerable's face immediately turned ashen. His forehead veins bulged, and a fierce glint flashed across his eyes.
He stomped his foot in the void, and his figure mysteriously vanished under the gaze of those around him.
Shui Ye's eyes narrowed slightly. His Dou Qi condensed on his fist, and he struck out like lightning toward the void at three o'clock.
In that void, a fist encased in a pitch-black crystal layer appeared.
The two fists collided.
"Boom!!"
As the two fists met, a violent gust of wind erupted. Black crystal fragments and azure water droplets splattered everywhere, and the void at the point of impact twisted and shattered.
Both parties retreated several feet, exchanged glances, then transformed into two streaks of light and clashed again.
Under Shui Ye's deliberate guidance, their battlefield gradually moved away from Fenglei City…
Accompanying Shui Ye was a core elder of Boundless Heaven Hall named Zhang Feng, whose cultivation was at the Five-Star Dou Zun level.
He looked at Thunder Venerable with a sneer. "You dare to challenge our Boundless Heaven Hall with just this one helper? Or do you have other helpers? If you don't call them out soon, you'll die here today."
"Old Ghost Zhang, I didn't expect you to become a dog for Boundless Heaven Hall."
Thunder Venerable also recognized the person in front of him, and his face immediately darkened as he said coldly.
"That's still better than you being a dog for the Hall of Souls. Be careful not to be eaten by them until there's nothing left."
Zhang Feng scoffed. He also didn't expect Thunder Venerable to cooperate with the Hall of Souls.
Everyone in the Central Plains knew the ill repute of the Hall of Souls. Many who cooperated with them had their souls extracted shortly after.
"Alright, I won't waste any more words with you. I want to see if you have any more helpers behind you."
"Barren Mountain Seal!"
Zhang Feng formed a hand seal, and an earthen-yellow great seal formed by Dou Qi smashed down toward Thunder Venerable.
Feeling the terrifying power of the great seal, Thunder Venerable's expression changed slightly as he prepared to counterattack.
But as the great seal descended, a pale stream of air suddenly erupted from the void, colliding with the great seal, which instantly corroded and vanished.
And in the void above Thunder Venerable's head, a white figure appeared, exuding an icy chill.
This was an old man dressed in white, with white hair and beard.
"Hall of Souls' Eight Heavens Venerable, Qiudi."
Zhang Feng rapidly retreated, returning to the sky above Fenglei City, looking warily at the appearing elder.
Eight Heavens Venerable ignored Zhang Feng and the others. Instead, he turned and bowed toward the void, his tone utterly respectful. "Welcome, Second Heavens Venerable!"
Zhang Feng's eyes widened upon hearing those words, and his body shivered slightly.
Hall of Souls' Second Heavens Venerable—this was a major figure in the Hall of Souls, rumored to already be a Half-Saint expert.
Just then, the sky suddenly darkened, not by dark clouds, but by a pure, light-devouring gloom.
A spatial rift slowly spread open in the air, as if a chasm had appeared, spanning the void.
An old man dressed in greyish-white robes slowly stepped out from the spatial rift, appearing under everyone's gaze.
The old man's figure was hunched. He leaned on a skeleton staff, his eye sockets deeply sunken, and two faint green glows flickered within them, giving him a sinister and eerie feeling.
He merely stood there, and the surrounding space constantly twisted, collapsed, and repaired itself in an endless cycle.
Thunder Venerable's body trembled slightly with excitement. He hadn't expected the Hall of Souls to directly send out their Second Heavens Venerable this time.
One must know that the Second Heavens Venerable, a High-level ban Sheng known as the Bone Ghost Saint, was a figure standing at the pinnacle of the Central Plains' hierarchy.
"Heh, I wonder who it is. Turns out it's an old bone with one foot already in the coffin. At such an age, instead of waiting for death in a tomb, he insists on coming out to stir up trouble, not fearing that these old bones will break here!"
Suddenly, a lazy yet extremely cold and alluring voice—not loud, but clearly piercing through the entire world—reached everyone's ears.
---
Let me know when you have the next chapter ready! Just paste the raw text.