While Jiang Yun and Zi Yan were wreaking havoc on the magical beasts in the Magical Beast Mountain Range, far away in the Black-Corner Region, Yun Yi suddenly opened his tightly shut eyes.
In front of him, the space suddenly twisted. The sealing array he had previously set up was easily broken as if it were nothing.
"You were the one who reported Yao Chen's information?"
A faint voice slowly emerged from the twisted space, and Old Mu Gu, clad in black robes, slowly stepped out from it.
The moment he appeared, an invisible fluctuation spread out, and Yun Yi felt a terrifying soul force sweep over him. This soul force was far superior to his own, conservatively estimated to have reached the middle stage of the Spiritual Realm, or even stronger.
"It seems this branch hall was broken by you." The surrounding situation was clearly presented in Old Mu Gu's mind, and he showed no concern for the destruction of the branch hall.
Sizing up Yun Yi, Old Mu Gu seemed to let out a faint chuckle. A cold glint, which seemed to cause the world's temperature to plummet, flashed across his eyes. "This Venerable is very curious, what audacity do you have to dare to play games with my Soul Palace?"
"Just with your petty Dou Wang? You don't know the immensity of heaven and earth!"
Sensing Old Mu Gu's killing intent, Yun Yi's gaze sharpened, looking directly at the other party. The latter's calm eyes were sharp enough to pierce through his soul.
"What if the message I sent wasn't false?"
"Oh~~~, you know Yao Chen's whereabouts?" Hearing Yun Yi's words, Old Mu Gu's eyes lit up, staring intently at Yun Yi: "Where is he?"
"May I ask which Venerable of the Soul Palace you are, senior?" Yun Yi didn't rush to answer Mu Gu's question, but instead asked with neither humility nor arrogance.
"Heh—, it seems you know my Soul Palace very well!" Looking at Yun Yi's demeanor, Mu Gu sneered, his eyes suddenly turning cold as he mocked: "Do you even have the qualifications to negotiate terms with this Venerable?"
"Ignorant brat, if I capture you, what won't this Venerable know?"
As his voice fell, Old Mu Gu waved his sleeve, and the space around Yun Yi suddenly twisted. An irresistible terrifying power seeped out from the space.
"Playing with space with me?"
A meaningful look flashed in Yun Yi's eyes. A silver light flickered on his foot, and the next moment, he broke through the spatial barrier set up by Old Mu Gu and appeared in front of Mu Gu.
"Dou Zun? Let me test how far I am from Dou Zun!"
As his voice fell, Yun Yi threw a full-force punch fiercely at Mu Gu.
"Presumptuous!"
Facing a mere Dou Wang, who was usually like an ant, Yun Yi actually dared to attack him proactively. Most importantly, he hadn't managed to restrain Yun Yi, which infuriated Mu Gu, his voice turning cold and sinister.
With a casual flick of his sleeve, a powerful Dou Qi rapidly condensed into a fiery spear. With a flick, it tore through the void, carrying a sharp force directly at Yun Yi.
Feeling the fierce wind from the tip of the spear, Yun Yi dared not be careless. His body trembled, and a dense spatial fluctuation appeared. His figure instantly vanished from its original spot.
"Slippery eel!"
Having failed again, Mu Gu's killing intent surged. He suddenly grabbed at a void behind him, and with a series of sharp hissing sounds, black threads emerged from his five fingers, quickly weaving into a giant net that enveloped the void where Yun Yi was.
At this moment, feeling the resistance in the surrounding space, black flames flickered in Yun Yi's eyes. A dark great halberd condensed in his palm, and he swung it out. Even against a Dou Zun's attack, he showed no fear.
"Boom—"
As the two collided, hissing sounds immediately erupted. Yun Yi, as a flame spirit, had an extremely high intrinsic quality to his main body, though his cultivation was a bit lacking. Mu Gu, as a Dou Zun, possessed Dou Qi far purer than Yun Yi's.
Now, as the two collided, they began to erode each other frantically.
"Break—"
Amidst the erosion, Yun Yi's eyes sharpened. Dark flames surged on the halberd, and then he swung it fiercely, tearing the deep fire net apart.
"Sky Swallowing Great Hand Seal!"
Tearing the fire net, Yun Yi retreated rapidly. As he retreated, dark flames slowly swirled on his palm, and a black speck appeared in Yun Yi's palm. If one looked closely, they would find it was a large seal.
As the black light emerged, a terrifying suction force erupted, causing the surrounding heaven and earth energy to riot. As the heaven and earth power was swallowed, the black light gradually expanded at this moment.
In an instant, the great seal took shape, and Yun Yi slammed his palm down!
Space almost instantly collapsed. A chillingly dark black great seal rapidly expanded from Yun Yi's palm, and a terrifying devouring force firmly restrained Old Mu Gu.
"This is?"
Looking at the descending dark great seal and feeling the familiar yet strange aura on it, Mu Gu was momentarily lost in thought.
"Damn it—"
While he was lost in thought, the black great seal rapidly descended towards Mu Gu. Feeling the stinging pain on his skin, Mu Gu snapped back to reality. Looking at the black great seal almost upon him, he was instantly furious.
"Netherworld Star Shattering Slash!"
A ferocious smile appeared on Old Mu Gu's face. Vast Dou Qi erupted from his palm, condensing into a ghost-head broadsword with purple-black flames. The flames dancing on the blade caused the surrounding space to become somewhat distorted.
Mu Gu held the broadsword, his gaze sinister as he looked at Yun Yi. This ant had repeatedly made him suffer setbacks. He vowed to cut off the opponent's head and use it as a pill container to vent his hatred!
"Die—"
Accompanying Old Mu Gu's low roar, he slashed down with his blade. The space in front of him instantly crumbled, and fragments of space appeared. The sharp blade light, with an incredibly domineering posture, easily cut through Yun Yi's 'Sky Swallowing Great Hand Seal' and transformed into lightning, shooting towards Yun Yi.
"Indeed, is the gap still too large?"
Facing the Dou Zun's attack, no fear appeared on Yun Yi's face, and he murmured in a low voice.
"Devouring Great Realm, devour the sky, devour the earth, devour all living beings!"
Raising his head again, looking at the approaching fierce attack, he chuckled softly, his hands rapidly forming a mysterious hand seal.
"Buzz—"
As his hand seals changed, the surrounding space suddenly hummed. When the terrifying blade light appeared within ten feet of Yun Yi, a dark flame black hole suddenly appeared out of nowhere in the void in front of him. As the black hole rotated, it directly swallowed the blade light whole.
"How is that possible?"
Witnessing this incredible scene, Mu Gu immediately shrieked. His dignified Dou Zun attack had actually been neutralized by a mere Dou Wang.
This was absolutely impossible!
"Pfft—"
Just as Mu Gu's thought arose, Yun Yi suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood. But strangely, as his blood flew out, it bizarrely transformed into tiny dark sparks, dissipating into the world.
The strength gap between a Dou Wang and a Dou Zun was too immense. Yun Yi couldn't have achieved this to such an extent. Mu Gu's underestimation and lack of understanding accounted for most of the factors, allowing Yun Yi to use the Holy Heavenly Demon Flame to accomplish this feat.
However, the sharp blade energy still disrupted Yun Yi's meridians, causing him severe injuries.
"Universe Reversal!"
Even injured, Yun Yi's eyes remained mysterious. Immediately, he extended his palm and gently twisted it.
A dark, eerie vortex appeared beside him. The next moment, a sharp blade energy shot into the sky, heading towards Mu Gu.
Snapping back to reality, Mu Gu's expression turned ugly as he slapped away the incoming blade light, his face showing a somewhat uncertain look as he stared at Yun Yi.
Yun Yi also watched Mu Gu with composure. At this moment, he was no longer shouting and killing, but had calmed down instead. Yun Yi saw various expressions on his face.
Doubt, surprise, confusion, unwillingness, and finally, all turned into fear!
Old Mu Gu said in a hoarse voice, "Who exactly are you?"
Hearing Old Mu Gu's words, Yun Yi knew that his plan had successfully taken its first step.
That's right, luring a Soul Palace Venerable was part of his plan!
As the largest organization on the Dou Qi Continent, how could Jiang Yun not have some ideas about the Soul Palace?
At this point in time, the Hun Clan, or rather Hun Tiandi, had already completed his final arrangements. He was about to initiate his emperor-ascension plan.
As one of the only three Nine-Star Dou Sheng peak powerhouses on the continent, Hun Tiandi had been preparing for his ultimate ascension to emperor for a thousand years. A thousand years ago, when facing the Xiao Clan, known as the first imperial clan, and Xiao Xuan, the continent's top powerhouse, he seized the opportunity and launched a decisive war of extermination.
Before this, two of the five supreme powerhouses on the continent had already fallen into the hands of his Hun Clan. Therefore, compared to Gu Yuan, Hun Tiandi was indeed a formidable figure; he was the most qualified to become emperor!
(PS: A thousand years ago, there were five Nine-Star Dou Sheng peak powerhouses on the continent: Hun Tiandi, Xiao Xuan, Gu Yuan, Ancestor Danta, and Blazing Flame Ancestor. The latter two had very good relations with Xiao Xuan. If one of them had appeared when the Xiao Clan was exterminated, Xiao Xuan would not have died. Since they did not appear, based on the bold deduction that Ancestor Danta died in the Hun Clan's plan, the Blazing Flame Ancestor also died at the hands of the Hun Clan.)
Now was a rare period of peace on the continent, but such peace among imperial clans was not good, at least not until Jiang Yun grew up. Hun Tiandi could not collect all the ancient jade.
Therefore, Yun Yi joining the Soul Palace was both for his better growth and to disrupt the Hun Clan's plans.
Now that the first step of the plan had succeeded, Yun Yi was gambling that the Soul Palace Venerable who came had met the Soul Palace Master and would begin to suspect his identity upon seeing the flame he used.
After all, his flame was too similar to the Nihility Devouring Flame. As for his identity being exposed, he had no worries. Not to mention that since ancient times, only the Nihility Devouring Flame and the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame had successfully condensed into spirit forms, and very few people knew about it.
Even if they knew, what then? Jiang Yun could afford the loss of a mere flame clone.
The Holy Heavenly Demon Flame, suppressed at the bottom of the tower, thought: "A piece of cake, a piece of cake!"
"What do you think?" Yun Yi looked at Mu Gu with disdain, a glance that almost made the other party break down and burn with rage.
However, thinking of the opponent's possible identity, Mu Gu took a deep breath and looked at Yun Yi ominously: "Brat, consider yourself lucky; you get to live a few more days!"
As his voice fell, Old Mu Gu's Dou Zun strength erupted. He extended five fingers, and five beams of light shot out from his fingertips. The light beams whistled, then transformed into a cage, trapping Yun Yi within it.
Yun Yi slowly sat down cross-legged, neither happy nor sad, not at all worried about his safety, and began to recover the Dou Qi within his body.
With an ugly expression, Mu Gu snorted coldly. The more Yun Yi displayed such an attitude, the more his heart sank. The opponent's confident demeanor seemed to confirm his suspicions.
How unlucky!
Muttering a curse, Mu Gu honestly took out a black token, probed it with his soul force, and respectfully waited.
After an unknown period, a powerful soul force suddenly descended, instantly sealing the entire space and firmly locking Mu Gu's entire body, completely immobilizing him.
Mu Gu, with a look of fear mixed with fanaticism, bowed and said, "Greetings, Lord Hun Huzi."
That's right, Hun Huzi. Soul Mie Sheng's Nihility Devouring Flame sub-flame was hidden too deeply; Mu Gu simply wasn't qualified to know about it. He had only coincidentally seen Hun Huzi refine pills once and received some guidance, knowing that the other party possessed this heavenly flame with devouring power.
As for whether it was the Nihility Devouring Flame, ranked second on the Heavenly Flame Ranking list, he dared not guess, nor dared he ask!
So, this time was also a fortunate coincidence. If it hadn't been Mu Gu who came, but another Soul Palace Venerable, Jiang Yun would probably have had to find another way, and this fire spirit body would certainly not have been saved.
"Hehe, it's you, isn't it? I remember you're Yao Chen's junior brother, Old Mu Gu, right?"
A black-robed figure, completely enveloped in black robes, slowly solidified before Mu Gu's eyes, curiously surveying the surroundings.
"Yes, I am Old Mu Gu. This junior was fortunate enough to receive guidance from Lord Hun Huzi back then!" Old Mu Gu said fawningly. This person was a Profound Pill Grandmaster! If he could receive further guidance from him, wouldn't breaking through his current realm be as easy as pie?
"Alright, get to the point!" Looking at Old Mu Gu's fawning appearance, a hint of disdain flashed in Hun Huzi's eyes.
He was an Eighth-Rank Alchemist a hundred years ago, and now it seems he hasn't made much progress, nor has his soul force broken through to the peak of the Spiritual Realm. With this level, he would be embarrassed to say he had guided him.
How could students from the same teacher have such a huge gap?
If it weren't for that Yao Chen being somewhat interesting, Hun Huzi wouldn't even know who Old Mu Gu was at this level!
"Yes!" Suddenly interrupted, Old Mu Gu dared not show any dissatisfaction and meticulously recounted Yun Yi's story.
Hun Huzi's expression grew increasingly ugly. A Dou Wang? What was that? Even if he had extraordinary talent, so what?
He, a Profound Pill Grandmaster, was busy all day. You, Mu Gu, urgently contacted me to come over just for such a trivial matter?
Just as Hun Huzi was about to erupt, Mu Gu said, "That young man also controls a flame with devouring power."
"Wait, what did you say?"
Hun Huzi frowned, coldly interrupting Old Mu Gu, and stared intently at Old Mu Gu as he asked.
"Uh—, there's a flame with devouring power!" Although a bit strange, Mu Gu still honestly repeated it.
"Take me to see him!"