253: Chapter 245 Zhu Kun is frightened by the Emperor-Slaying Formation

If he fled back to the Soul Realm, and Zhu Kun, Ling Yuan, and the others did not take the bait—refusing to enter the Soul Realm and instead choosing to surround it without attacking—then he would be trapped inside. With no reinforcements and no retreat, he would eventually be left waiting for his doom.

Thinking of this, Hun Tiandi immediately recalled the previous incident. Last time, he had specifically used himself as a pawn, intentionally exposing a flaw and wounding himself, all to lure Ling Yuan and Zhu Kun into the Soul Realm. Those two had already arrived at the entrance of the Soul Realm, just one step away from stepping inside, but in the end, they abruptly turned back and did not fall for his trap.

Hun Tiandi reached a decision in an instant. He chose the second option. If the person chasing him had been Gu Yuan, Hun Tiandi would definitely have taken a gamble. But Ling Yuan was too shrewd; Hun Tiandi dared not gamble. Hun Tiandi was a cautious man—so cautious that he would not take risks unless he was absolutely certain of success.

As long as the green hills remain, there is no need to worry about firewood! As long as he was alive, there would still be opportunities!

In the end, Hun Tiandi did not flee back to the Soul Realm but instead fled in the direction of the Northwest Continent. Zhu Kun led Ling Yuan in pursuit for a distance, and once they confirmed that Hun Tiandi had not returned to the Soul Realm, Ling Yuan stopped chasing.

He had never expected to kill Hun Tiandi anyway; confirming the direction of his escape was enough.

In this battle, he had directly wiped out all the high-level combat power of the Hun Clan, destroyed the foundation Hun Tiandi had accumulated over thousands of years, and reduced his opponent to a commander without an army.

Ling Yuan felt that this calculation had reached a level of perfection. Seeing even an ambitious hero like Hun Tiandi fall into his trap brought a great sense of accomplishment!

Next, he only needed to focus on his Breakthrough to Dou Di, and everything would be perfect!

Having won a great victory, Ling Yuan was in a great mood. In contrast, Zhu Kun, who was beside him, did not look pleased; his heart was full of reluctance. Because Hun Tiandi had escaped.

From Ling Yuan, Zhu Kun learned that Gu Yuan only had one piece of ancient jade, which belonged to the Gu Clan. The ancient jades of the Yan Clan and the Lei Clan must have been hidden.

It had already been like looking for a needle in a haystack to find two ancient jades on the continent, and now that Hun Tiandi had fled, he had taken the Hun Clan's ancient jade and the one that originally belonged to Gu Yuan.

This meant that they would now need to search for the Gu Clan, Yan Clan, Lei Clan, Xiao Clan, and Shi Clan—a total of five pieces of Tuoshe Ancient Emperor Jade. Who knew how long that would take!

Zhu Kun took out the Ling Clan's ancient jade and fiddled with it. This ancient jade looked unremarkable; no matter how he channeled his Dou Qi or exerted his power, there was no special reaction.

"Son-in-law, does your Dou Di Clan have any way to sense the location of the other ancient jades?"

After fiddling with it for a while, Zhu Kun couldn't see anything special about this Tuoshe Ancient Emperor Jade and could only pin his hopes on Ling Yuan.

Ling Yuan shook his head very decisively, shattering Zhu Kun's hope: "No. Before all eight pieces of the Tuoshe Ancient Emperor Jade are gathered, they are just ordinary fragments. They have no ability to sense each other and cannot be tracked at all."

"Then what way do you have to gather the ancient jades?"

Zhu Kun looked distressed. He had clearly wiped out all the Dou Di Clans, yet he couldn't obtain all the ancient jades. What kind of situation was this?

"Gu Yuan must have hidden the two ancient jades in a very remote corner, and Hun Tiandi will definitely do the same. It is almost impossible for us to find them."

Ling Yuan answered Zhu Kun in the most straightforward, direct, unevasive, objective, correct, systematic, truthful, concise, easy-to-understand, and non-suspenseful way.

Zhu Kun: "Then how are we going to achieve our Breakthrough to Dou Di?"

Ling Yuan didn't know how to answer this question, so he found a random excuse to avoid it.

"Don't think so much for now. Let's go to the Soul Realm and have a look. Perhaps Hun Tiandi was in a rush and didn't have time to take everything with him; the Hun Clan's ancient jade might still be left in the Soul Realm."

Regardless of anything else, Ling Yuan would not mention the fact that he possessed Source Qi. He would wait until he achieved his Breakthrough to Dou Di and then give Zhu Kun a surprise. It would only be a matter of a few years—just enough time for Zhu Kun to take a nap.

Zhu Kun had no other choice but to follow Ling Yuan's suggestion and try his luck at the Soul Realm. Not long after, Ling Yuan and Zhu Kun arrived outside the Soul Realm.

Zhu Kun wanted to go straight in, but was stopped by the cautious Ling Yuan. "Father, wait a moment. To be safe, I will let a Puppet go in and scout the path."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Kun looked indifferent and said casually, "The Hun Clan sent out all their elites this time, and all their Dou Sheng have died outside. Hun Tiandi has also fled in panic; what is there to be afraid of?"

Although he said that, he was relatively willing to listen to advice and let Ling Yuan use a Puppet to scout the path.

Ling Yuan felt that Zhu Kun was truly stubborn, relying on his strong Physical Body defense to fear nothing under the heavens. It wasn't just Zhu Kun; Zi Yan had this problem too, and even Ling Long and Ling Yao were showing signs of it at such a young age. Ling Yuan was truly impressed.

Ling Yuan seriously suspected that Zhu Kun had been imprisoned in the Tuoshe Ancient Emperor's Cave Abode because of his stubbornness. Why would the Tuoshe Ancient Emperor's Cave Abode need a gatekeeper? It was very likely that Zhu Kun had been too reckless, barging in or even kicking down the gate of the Immortal Cave, and was then chained up, forced to serve as a gatekeeper for thousands of years.

Of course, he would just keep these thoughts to himself; he still had to give his old father-in-law some Face.

Ling Yuan released several Puppets and controlled them to enter the interior of the Soul Realm in batches, conducting a comprehensive search of every area. Only after confirming that there was no one inside did Ling Yuan enter the Soul Realm with Zhu Kun.

Ling Yuan also specifically avoided the location of the Soul Realm entrance and opened a new path instead—a case of "if there is a gate, I won't walk through it, I'll climb over the wall."

Zhu Kun thought Ling Yuan was too timid, but when Ling Yuan led him, step by step, to the vicinity of the main entrance of the Soul Realm, Zhu Kun immediately shut his mouth.

At this moment, high above the entrance of the Soul Realm, a huge blood-colored giant blade was suspended. This was the core of the Emperor Slaying Array, the Emperor-level killing Formation inherited by the Hun Clan from an ancient Dou Di.

The giant blade was dark red throughout, its surface entwined with layers of blood-colored mist. As the mist surged, it constantly eroded the surrounding Void Realm. Every slight vibration caused the space of the entire world to tremble slightly, permeating a murderous aura originating from ancient times.

This Formation was a genuine Emperor-level Formation. In ancient times, it had once used this blood blade to kill a real Dou Di powerhouse, and it was the ultimate trump card that the Hun Clan had hidden for countless years.

Even though the Formation was not fully activated at this moment and was merely maintaining a basic standby state, the pressure it emitted covered the entire entrance of the Soul Realm.

As a Nine-Star Dou Sheng Peak powerhouse and a Void Ancient Dragon known for its defensive power, Zhu Kun's defense was the closest to that of a Dou Di. Yet, facing this silent blood-colored giant blade, his hair stood on end instinctively, and a feeling of extreme danger rose from the bottom of his heart.

His intuition told Zhu Kun that if this blood blade were to strike, even if he defended with all his might, at the very least, he would be severely injured!

Too terrifying. This guy Hun Tiandi had endured for a thousand years; his trump card was truly terrifying to the extreme. He had actually hidden such a big killing move in the Soul Realm that could threaten a Nine-Star Dou Sheng Peak powerhouse!

He instantly recalled the scene of chasing Hun Tiandi last time. At that time, he and Ling Yuan had pursued him all the way to the entrance of the Soul Realm, and they were just one step away from rushing in.

If it hadn't been for Ling Yuan stopping him at that time and reminding him of the hidden trap, with his temperament, he would definitely have rushed straight in. Once he had rushed into the Formation and been ambushed by Hun Tiandi activating the Emperor Slaying Array, the consequences would have been unimaginable, and there was a high probability that he would have fallen right here.

Hiss, thinking about it is terrifying. Thinking of this, Zhu Kun's back turned cold, and he couldn't help but gasp, feeling more and more fearful the more he thought about it.

"Son-in-law, how did you know there would be a trap inside back then?"

For a moment, Zhu Kun was even a bit impressed by Ling Yuan.

"I guessed."