37: Chapter 37 Soul Devouring Hall

The corrugated iron roof of the abandoned factory clattered under the night wind, its rusted steel bars exposed like the bleached ribs of a giant beast.

Zhang Wen stood on the oil-stained concrete floor, his gaze locked firmly on his parents in the corner—they were tied to a rusted iron frame by wind ropes created by Xue Yuan's void-splitting blade. His mother's forehead was pressed against the iron frame, blood seeping out, while his father was struggling to break free, his wrists turning red from the constriction of the wind ropes.

"Xue Yuan, let's settle the score between us somewhere else." Zhang Wen's voice was low but carried an unquestionable firmness. Fine blue-purple lightning flickered around his body; the Nine Heavens Tribulation Thunder was Awakening. A faint smell of ozone permeated the air, and even the floating dust was scorched black by the lightning.

Xue Yuan leaned against a rusted machine tool, playing with a foot-long cyan short blade in his left hand. Wind-type spiritual power swirled at his fingertips, blowing the rust on the machine's surface into powder. "Somewhere else?" He sneered, then suddenly raised his hand, and a Wind Blade flew past the ear of Zhang Wen's mother, slicing off a lock of white hair. "When you stole all the spotlight from me in front of the entire school on the day of Awakening, why didn't you suggest going somewhere else?"

His mother shuddered in fear, and his father roared, "Let them go! If you have the guts, come at me!"

"Dad!" Zhang Wen interrupted sharply, his peripheral vision catching the severely corroded load-bearing pillar behind his parents—the place was filled with loose steel frames and exposed wires. Once he and Xue Yuan fought with full force, let alone the aftermath of the Indestructible Thunder Body's defense, the power of Xue Yuan's void-splitting blade alone could cause the entire factory to collapse.

"The structure here is unstable." Zhang Wen stepped forward, the cement floor under his feet instantly cracking into spiderwebs from the Lightning Radiance. "If we are to decide the victor, and decide life and death, I will accompany you. But we must go outside to fight—there is an abandoned open space outside the factory, enough for us to display our skills." He paused, his voice as cold as ice. "If you insist on fighting here and hurt them, I guarantee I will make you die even uglier than this factory."

Xue Yuan narrowed his eyes, and the void-splitting blade suddenly surged to three feet in length, its cyan edge almost piercing the air: "You think I'll believe your nonsense? Once we're outside, will you still fight me obediently?"

"My parents are still in your hands; can I run?" Zhang Wen slowly raised his hand, and the divine resonance piercing thunder spear appeared in his palm out of thin air, the thunder patterns on the spear body swimming like living creatures. "I'll give you two choices: either release them now, and we'll have a fair fight outside; or, I'll activate the Nine Heavens Tribulation Thunder now. Even if this factory collapses, I'll endure it with my Indestructible Thunder Body and cripple you first."

The lightning around his body became suddenly intense, and a pale purple light film emerged from beneath his skin—the Indestructible Thunder Body was ready to go. Xue Yuan looked at that layer of light film, which could withstand high-level spiritual power impacts, and then glanced at the precarious roof, a flash of hesitation crossing his eyes. He wanted to defeat and humiliate Zhang Wen, not die together in the ruins.

"Fine," Xue Yuan gritted his teeth, the wind ropes suddenly tightening slightly. "I'll trust you this once. But if you dare to play any tricks—"

"No need for nonsense." Zhang Wen interrupted him, his gaze falling on his parents, his voice softening slightly. "Dad, Mom, don't be afraid, I'll be back soon."

After speaking, he turned and walked toward the factory gate, the divine resonance piercing thunder spear dragging a trail of sparks on the ground. Xue Yuan snorted coldly, waved his hand to lift his parents with Wind Blades, and followed.

Just as he stepped out of the factory gate, Zhang Wen suddenly turned around, the spear tip pointing directly at Xue Yuan: "Now, no one is in the way."

Xue Yuan placed his parents behind a solid boulder in the distance and protected them with a wind wall, then turned around, the void-splitting blade transforming into a two-zhang long cyan light blade in his hand: "Zhang Wen, today I'll let you see my re-cultivated Void-Splitting: Shadow Breaking!"

"Perfect." Zhang Wen's fist condensed with dazzling Lightning Radiance.

Before the words faded, the fist wind filled with the aura of lightning suddenly expanded, covering the entire open space.

The cyan blade light collided with the purple Lightning Radiance with a boom, shaking the distant factory's iron roof until it completely collapsed, while the two old people behind the boulder were only slightly affected by the air waves—this was exactly what Zhang Wen wanted, to use an unreserved fight to ensure their safety.

Seeing that several probes were lightly resolved by Zhang Wen, the impatience in Xue Yuan's eyes finally overwhelmed his forbearance. He stepped forward half a step, and the void-splitting blade suddenly boiled, the cyan light around him surging like a wildfire, his robes flapping loudly from the wind-type spiritual power: "Void-Splitting—Flash!"

Before the shout faded, a cyan Wind Blade, condensed into substance, broke through the air. The edge of the Wind Blade was shimmering with distorted spatial ripples, tearing the air apart wherever it passed, and even the gravel on the ground was rolled into powder; it was clearly a killing move that had condensed most of his spiritual power.

Zhang Wen stood still, not even bothering to lift his arm. With a light twist of his wrist, the divine resonance piercing thunder spear tip flickered slightly, and the purple thunder patterns spread half an inch along the spear tip, just in time to collide with that Wind Blade.

"Chi la—"

After the crisp sound, the cyan Wind Blade actually hit like thin ice on a red-hot soldering iron, instantly shattering into countless fine wind foams, not even blowing Zhang Wen's sleeves.

Xue Yuan's pupils shrank, and his hand holding the void-splitting blade trembled violently: "Impossible!" He shouted involuntarily, his voice filled with unbelievable panic. "This move 'Flash', even someone at the Peak of the Initial Blooming Realm would have to go all out to take it, you... how could you block it so easily, could it be... ?!"

A cold arc curled at the corner of Zhang Wen's mouth. He flicked his finger lightly on the spear body, and as the spear hummed, a spiritual power pressure far more majestic than before suddenly erupted.

That pressure was like angry waves hitting the shore, carrying the unique domineering aura of the Nine Heavens Tribulation Thunder, making the surrounding air seem to solidify into lead blocks.

"You thought only you were progressing?" His voice was wrapped in lightning, carrying undisguised sarcasm. "Xue Yuan, while you were trapped in the Bottleneck of the Initial Blooming Realm, I had already stepped into the Forming Realm—your void-splitting blade is not enough for me now."

Xue Yuan was forced to retreat repeatedly by that pressure, his feet leaving two deep grooves on the ground. He looked at the thunder patterns circulating around Zhang Wen and suddenly remembered that on the day of Awakening, this man was also like this, shattering all his pride with a crushing victory.

"No... impossible! I am the strongest!" Xue Yuan roared violently, his voice like iron ground by sandpaper, carrying a manic sharpness.

Before the words faded, a disgusting black Qi suddenly gushed out of his pores, instantly devouring the cyan light completely. Countless fine phantoms churned in the black Qi, as if thousands of painful Souls were struggling and roaring within it. The evil aura spread rapidly like ink dripping into clear water, and even the air became sticky and foul-smelling.

Zhang Wen felt a chill in his heart and instinctively retreated three zhang, holding the divine resonance piercing thunder spear across his chest, the thunder patterns on the spear body flashing violently due to vigilance.

He watched as Xue Yuan's skin turned cyan-black at a speed visible to the naked eye, the whites of his eyes completely swallowed by black Qi, leaving only two scarlet pupils. His brows instantly knitted into a knot—this was definitely not an aura that the void-splitting blade should have; it was wickedly appalling.

Just then, a cold mechanical voice suddenly sounded in his mind:

[Warning! Detected strong aura of Soul Devouring Hall cultists, energy Rank: Dangerous. Please, host, eliminate the target immediately to prevent it from causing a wider range of Soul pollution.]

"Soul Devouring Hall?" Zhang Wen's heart was shaken, his hand gripping the spear tightened. "What the hell is that?"

[Soul Devouring Hall is a cross-domain evil organization. Its members enhance their strength by sacrificing living creatures and devouring Souls. Wherever they go, living things are devastated, and Souls are refined into soul fiend to nourish themselves.] The System's voice carried no emotion. [The target has already undergone Fusion with an Elementary soul fiend, and their strength has been temporarily raised to the Shaping Realm Mid-stage, but their Soul is being rapidly eroded.]

Zhang Wen's gaze toward Xue Yuan instantly became bone-chillingly cold. No wonder this guy's aura became so weird; it turned out he had defected to such evil ways! The lightning around his body suddenly surged, and the defense of the Indestructible Thunder Body was raised to the extreme: "Xue Yuan, to win, you even sold your Soul to evil?"

Xue Yuan (or rather, the one eroded by the soul fiend) did not answer, just grinned, revealing a weird smile. On his cyan-black palm, the cyan light of the void-splitting blade and the black Qi intertwined into a twisted spiral: "Kill... kill you... I will be the strongest..."