Chapter 56: Capturing the "Hehehe" Monster!
The black clouds churned layer upon layer. A voice of exasperation came from within, faint traces of blood-red seeping through, appearing somewhat strange and sinister.
Watching the soul bodies being continuously burned, the pressure emanating from the black clouds slowly ceased. The black clouds churned, and shrill cries continuously emerged from within.
"Hehehe, kid, do not celebrate too soon. This guardian's methods are not as simple as you think." At this moment, Guardian Xuan's sinister, cold laugh suddenly rang out from within the churning black clouds.
"Soul-Devouring Chains."
A sinister voice came from within the black fog, as piercing and strange as a crow's cry. Then the black fog contracted, revealing a withered old man in black robes. Within the black robes, a pair of eyes gleamed with a bloody red light.
With a movement of his palm, chains extended from his hand, coiling around him like poisonous snakes.
Then, with a flick of his arm, several chains shot toward Jiang Yun and the others.
"How dare you!"
Seeing that Guardian Xuan dared to take on all of them by himself, the group showed anger on their faces.
You are only a Four-Star Dou Zong, yet you dare to challenge five Dou Zongs? Do you really think they are made of clay?
"Diamond Earth-Shaking Fist."
"Void-Splitting Thousand Wind Sword."
"Purple-Gold Dragon Spear."
"..."
Feeling slighted, Su Qian and the others struck out in anger, condensing their Dou Qi. The next moment, several powerful Earth Class Dou Techniques shot toward Guardian Xuan.
Seeing this, Guardian Xuan's expression changed drastically. He waved his hand again. Amidst the churning black fog, over a dozen chains covered with strange patterns extended from the void, intertwining with each other. Black energy wrapped around them as they charged toward the attacks, clearly intending to attack instead of defend.
In the blink of an eye, the several dazzling attacks collided.
Rumble —
"Ah —"
A loud crash resounded across the sky, followed immediately by a miserable scream. Under the combined attacks of the group, Guardian Xuan, who was closest to the explosion of the powerful Earth Class Dou Techniques, suffered great damage.
As their attacks poured down, the black curtain covering the sky suddenly showed faint tremors. After a moment, several cracks quietly spread across the black curtain. Dazzling sunlight poured in, dispelling the darkness from this sky.
Guardian Xuan's current appearance also appeared before everyone. There, in the void, a broken figure stood. One arm and one leg had already vanished.
His haggard face was filled with venom. He stared intently at Jiang Yun and the others, as if trying to burn them into his eyes.
"This debt, this guardian will remember." Guardian Xuan said through gritted teeth, each word distinct. Then, he suddenly exploded, turning into sky-covering black fog again, rapidly fleeing in all directions.
"Stop him!" Seeing this, Su Qian sensed trouble. It was not the thief one feared, but the thief keeping watch. Being targeted by a Soul Hall guardian was not a good thing.
More importantly, if he notified other guardians or honored elders to come, the Jia Nan Academy would be in serious trouble.
He shouted anxiously to the group, while quickly chasing after the black fog in one direction.
The others also understood the gravity of the situation. With serious expressions, they each attacked the black fog in their assigned directions.
Zi Yan's long purple hair fluttered in the wind. Her amethyst-like eyes held a look of eager anticipation.
"Little girl, you are asking for death!" Guardian Xuan's hoarse voice came from within the black fog. With a wave of his hand, a surge of black fog surged out.
"Take this punch — Taixu Punch!" Her gem-like eyes stared fixedly at the black fog rushing toward her.
A strange purple light slowly filled Zi Yan's eyes. A faint draconic pressure appeared in Zi Yan's tense body. Purple light coiled around her arms, solidifying on her fists into strange purple crystal layers, like a dragon's head. Then, with terrifying power capable of shattering mountains and splitting rocks, she punched out fiercely.
Boom —
As Zi Yan punched out, the air before her was suddenly compressed into an invisible concave arc. A sharp wind-breaking sound rang out. The invisible air cannon, compressed by that power, struck the wisp of black fog like a cannonball.
How such a slender body could erupt with such terrifying power was something outsiders could not know.
Bang —
A low explosion sounded. The red eyes that had appeared in the black fog shattered. Clearly, the physical entity was not inside.
"Damn it, it was a fake."
Looking at the black fog she had just punched to pieces, Zi Yan's brows furrowed. Her expression showed dissatisfaction.
Bang, bang, bang.
At the same time, explosions sounded one after another. Black fireworks suddenly rained down from the surrounding sky. But not a single physical entity was found. This situation made the group's expressions extremely grim.
"Damn it, they were all fakes."
"He still got away."
"This is a big problem."
"..."
Su Qian and the others spoke one after another, their expressions quite ugly. They had all attacked together, yet he had still escaped.
"Escaped? That may not be the case."
Over on this side, a strange smile appeared on Jiang Yun's face. He looked ambiguously at a certain spot beneath his feet. His terrifying soul power had already firmly locked onto a certain guy underground.
It had to be said, regardless of their other skills, these Soul Hall people's concealing methods were indeed impressive.
Unfortunately, none of this could escape Jiang Yun's perception.
As his voice fell, Jiang Yun slowly raised his right hand. The fire-attributed energy in his right hand suddenly condensed quickly. This was clearly the Earth Class mid-level Dou Technique he had just used — Heaven Burning Great Hand Seal.
If this Dou Technique was executed by someone who possessed a heavenly flame, its power could reach an even higher level.
Heaven Burning Great Hand Seal: Fire burns mountains and rivers, palm shatters heaven and earth.
At this moment, everyone could feel the fire-attributed energy in the vicinity rapidly rushing toward Jiang Yun's right hand. Just as Guardian Xuan was hiding in the shadows, harboring hopes of escape...
A few seconds later, Jiang Yun struck out with his palm. A fiery red giant flame hand shot toward his hiding place at extremely fast speed.
Swish —
A wind-breaking sound rang out. Guardian Xuan's figure fled in disgrace toward the distant sky.
"Turn!" Seeing the target appear, Jiang Yun raised his hand and guided. The Heaven Burning Great Hand Seal, which had been facing downward, suddenly turned and continued chasing after Guardian Xuan.
"You go too far!" Feeling the energy lock of the giant flame hand behind him, and the fluctuations in the surrounding space caused by its energy, Guardian Xuan roared in anger.
"Soul Burial!" Wisps of strange black fog rapidly surged out from within his body, finally condensing in the sky into a huge skull head, which rushed toward the giant flame hand.
Boom —
A terrifying explosion sounded. Jiang Yun's figure moved. His feet trodding on profound footwork, his entire body appeared before Guardian Xuan's eyes as if walking on thin air. His fist, wrapped in white flame, struck fiercely toward the other.
This was the Earth Class low-level movement technique Jiang Yun had cultivated — Flying Swan Step. Jiang Yun had added spatial power to it, increasing its speed even further. Over short distances, it could achieve a teleportation-like effect.
Guardian Xuan's pupils contracted. Then, amidst the thick black fog, thunder rumbled as figures flashed. Each time a figure appeared, it erupted with thunderous explosion sounds due to the extremely powerful collision of forces. A black shadow barely parried, looking utterly disheveled.
The terrifying energy shredded the black fog. A huge white hand chopped out, annihilating all the black fog. A black shadow emerged in utter dishevelment.
At this moment, the black fog surrounding Guardian Xuan had become quite thin. His aura was weak to a very low degree. Clearly, the consecutive battles, combined with the techniques he had used to escape, had left him severely wounded.
Looking at the group watching him like tigers, Guardian Xuan's heart trembled. For the first time, a feeling of fear arose in him. He said in a harsh voice, putting on a brave front.
"I am a member of the Soul Hall. If you kill me, the Soul Hall will never let you off."
"The principle of eliminating the roots — you Soul Hall people know it better than anyone, do you not?"
Looking with some mockery at Guardian Xuan, who could not escape his fate, Wu Tianlang said with a cold smile.
Seeing that the group did not intend to let him go, Guardian Xuan roared in anger. Then, black fog rapidly surged out from within his body. His figure suddenly turned. Using the black fog as cover, he quickly fled toward another sky.
Clearly, he was making a last desperate gamble.
"Can you escape?"
Looking with mocking eyes at the fleeing Guardian Xuan, Jiang Yun shook his head. The next moment, three figures quickly chased after him. After a barrage of attacks...
Guardian Xuan was bound up like a rice dumpling. No matter how he struggled, he could not break free. He could only issue angry, trapped-beast-like roars from within.
"Jiang Yun, he is yours." Wu Tianlang carried him to Jiang Yun's side, looking at Guardian Xuan struggling inside.
"You have worked hard." Jiang Yun chuckled lightly. He raised his hand, and a flame chain shot out from his palm. With a clench of his hand, the chain fell onto the other.
"Ah —"
A hissing sound rang out. Guardian Xuan's mouth issued shrill cries.
As the flame energy eroded, the black fog on Guardian Xuan's body grew thinner and thinner, finally completely dissipating, revealing his true appearance.
"This guy is... a soul body?"
Looking at the somewhat illusory, almost transparent soul body, Elder Huo said hesitantly.
Even Elder Huo, an alchemist, was so shocked, let alone Su Qian and the others.
"This old man remembers that although a person with strong soul power can survive death by relying on their physical body, they will inevitably suffer severe damage, and their strength will be greatly reduced. A Dou Zong-level soul body... how powerful must he have been in life?"
After thinking for a moment, Su Qian spoke hesitantly. The facts before him were simply hard to accept. This Soul Hall strong expert, who could match the Dou Zong rank, was also a soul body?
"The Spirit Realm." At this moment, Elder Huo suddenly spoke. The group's attention was immediately drawn. They watched as he continued, "With this old man's current soul power, he definitely could not achieve this. This old man is certain that even a seventh-grade alchemist's soul power could not achieve this. Only an alchemy grandmaster — an eighth-grade alchemist — would need soul power of the Spirit Realm to do this."
"The Spirit Realm —" Su Qian and the others exclaimed in surprise. Truly, these things were far beyond them. If a Soul Hall guardian in life had possessed the power of the Spirit Realm soul, then... the more they thought, the more terrifying it became.
"Alright, let us not make wild guesses here. I can confidently say that in life, he absolutely did not reach the Spirit Realm soul. The Soul Hall, as a top-tier force that has stood on the continent for many years, having some special methods is not surprising."
Seeing Su Qian and the others frightening themselves, Jiang Yun had to explain.
Sure enough, as soon as Jiang Yun spoke, the group immediately relaxed. Yes, if every Soul Hall member had such a terrifying origin, then no one else could compete.
They might as well surrender.
Looking at Guardian Xuan, who was about to turn into nothingness, Jiang Yun waved his hand. He then took a jade bottle from his ring. A suction force stuffed Guardian Xuan's soul into the bottle. He even kindly sealed the mouth of the bottle with a ring of flame.
"Let us go. We have wasted quite some time. I am sure they are all getting anxious." Seeing that Jiang Yun had finished dealing with matters, Su Qian spoke.
The group nodded at this. They no longer hesitated. Each stepping on thin air, they rushed toward the distance.
However, two pairs of Dou Qi wings among them were somewhat conspicuous.
Black-Corner Region, a certain dense forest.
Su Qian and the others finally arrived. Seeing Su Qian and the group, smiles appeared on the grave faces of the many elders waiting on the spot.
Qin Xuan, who was at the front, stepped forward, cupped his hands, and smiled. "Grand Elder, you have finally come. If you had not come soon, we would have gone to find you."
"We are five Dou Zongs. What is there to worry about?" Seeing this, Su Qian gave the other a glare without waiting for a response.
Qin Xuan was somewhat speechless. Su Qian's expression changed. He said seriously, "Is everyone here?"
"Seventy percent of the Dou Huang elders from the Inner Academy and Outer Academy have come. After all, Jiang Yun's rewards are quite generous." Qin Xuan cupped his hands and spoke seriously. At the end, he even made faces at Jiang Yun.
He was one of the beneficiaries. He had taken an Emperor Pill and luckily advanced two stars.
Thus, he was particularly polite to Jiang Yun. Not just him — all the Jia Nan Academy elders who had received pills from Jiang Yun gave him a thumbs-up. Everyone who used Jiang Yun's pills said they were good.
Seeing this, Jiang Yun returned a smile to him. Su Qian's expression stiffened. "Stop your nonsense. The sect masters and elders of Maple City, the Blood Wolf Gang, the Black Emperor Sect, the Mo Yan Valley, and the Eight Fan Gates are all dead. This time, we will only attack these few forces. Within twenty years, no force should be able to threaten the Jia Nan Academy."
"Yes."
"This time, the five of us Dou Zongs will lead the way. Each will take two Dou Huang elders to act. The rest will stay ready to support."
"Yes."
"Wait!" Just then, Jiang Yun spoke up at the right moment. Meeting everyone's puzzled gazes, Jiang Yun said, "Maple City, due to Han Feng's rapid development this past year, has quite a few strong experts. One team would not be safe. Two teams should go together. As for the Mo Yan Valley — its sect master and three great elders are already dead. Zi Yan and I will handle it."
After thinking carefully, Su Qian agreed to Jiang Yun's plan. Jiang Yun's strength was obvious to all. Coupled with Zi Yan, even a Dou Zong could not stop them.
Having arranged everything, the group had no objections. This was a high-level game. How could they lose?