The mantis stalks the cicada

The oppressive atmosphere after the auction ended permeated the skies above Black Emperor City.

This was the norm in the Black-Corner Region.

The fall of the auction hammer often signaled the beginning of another struggle.

As long as the fighting wasn't brought inside Black Emperor City, the Black Emperor Sect would turn a blind eye.

Inside the top-floor private booth, Shen Wen withdrew his gaze from the window and turned toward Mo Tianxing.

With a flick of his sleeve, two jade bottles and several slightly larger medicine bottles landed on the table.

"These are two zong ji pills and ten bottles of Break-Sect Pills," Shen Wen said calmly. "You will handle the subsequent operations yourself. The resources obtained will still be prioritized for exchange according to the previous list."

Mo Tianxing suppressed his excitement and solemnly took them. "Mo Tianxing will certainly not fail the Great Master's trust!"

Shen Wen said no more; with a slight movement of his body, he disappeared from the booth.

Upon leaving the Black Emperor Sect's great hall, the air outside was thick with tension.

Shen Wen stood in the shadows, his Soul perception spreading out like mercury spilling across the ground.

As expected, several powerful Dou Zong auras were sweeping out of the city from different directions, speeding toward the Desolate Mountain Range to the north.

One of the auras was bone-chillingly cold, majestic, and heavy, surprisingly reaching the level of a Seven-Star Dou Zong.

"Earth Demon Old Ghost... he really came in person," Shen Wen whispered to himself. This Old Ancestor behind the scenes of the Demon Flame Valley had practiced ice-attribute Dou Techniques and had been famous for many years, possessing a fearsome reputation in the Black-Corner Region.

What concerned Shen Wen even more were two other obscure and elusive auras, following closely behind Earth Demon Old Ghost like shadows.

That unique Soul fluctuation belonged precisely to the people from the Hall of Souls he had detected in the auction house earlier.

With a thought from Shen Wen, subtle ripples appeared in the space around him.

The power of the space ancestral talisman quietly enveloped him, completely hiding his figure within the Void Realm and concealing his aura into nothingness.

In the next moment, he had already followed from a distance like an invisible wind.

Deep within the Desolate Mountain Range, on an open rocky beach.

Earth Demon Old Ghost paused and slowly turned around. Dressed in a gray robe, with a gaunt face and sunken eyes, the cold light in his eyes at this moment was like ice picks, piercing toward the empty space behind him.

"You've followed this old man all the way, yet you still won't show yourselves?"

As his voice fell, two clouds of black mist seeped out from the distorted void, condensing into two figures shrouded in large Black Robed Men.

The black robes moved without wind, emitting a Soul pressure that was bone-chillingly cold.

"Earth Demon Old Ancestor, you truly live up to your reputation; your perception is indeed sharp," the voice of the Black Robed Man on the left was hoarse, like sandpaper rubbing together.

"Hand over the zong ji pill, and you may be spared from death," the Black Robed Man on the right was more direct, his tone indifferent as if he were speaking of a trivial matter.

Earth Demon Old Ghost laughed out of extreme anger. "What big talk! You rats who hide your heads and show your tails, you think you're worthy of targeting me? If you want the Medicinal Pills, trade your lives for them!"

He wasted no more words; his gaunt palm suddenly thrust out, and the cold air around him erupted with a bang!

"Thousand Illusory Profound Ice Spines!"

Countless ice spines, as thin as cow hair and crystal clear, condensed out of thin air. Dense and overwhelming, they shot toward the two Black Robed Men with sharp whistling sounds and extreme freezing air!

Wherever they passed, the air froze, leaving behind streaks of white ice marks.

At the same time, he joined his left fingers like a sword and slashed through the air.

"Ice Condensation Sword Art!"

A massive azure sword, several zhang long and entirely condensed from Profound Ice, suddenly took shape. The blade flowed with a cold light that could freeze the Soul, following the ice spines as it tore through the sky and hacked down fiercely!

With two great ice-attribute Dou Techniques released together, their power was earth-shaking. The profound cultivation of a Seven-Star Dou Zong was fully revealed, and the rocky beach was instantly transformed into a frozen Domain.

Facing such an offensive, the two Black Robed Men simultaneously let out disdainful snorts.

Without any visible movement from them, an invisible yet majestic Soul shockwave, like a raging sea's wild waves, erupted and spread outward with the two of them as the center!

The ice spines shooting through the sky, the moment they touched the Soul shockwave, seemed to hit an invisible bronze wall and exploded into ice powder.

The Profound Ice giant sword following behind also came to a sudden halt, spiderweb-like cracks spreading across the blade as its forward momentum was forcefully blocked.

"Soul Sonic Boom!" the Black Robed Man on the left shouted in a low voice.

"Soul-Sucking Threads!" the Black Robed Man on the right grasped at the air.

Buzz—!

An even sharper and more concentrated Soul shriek charged straight into Earth Demon Old Ghost's Sea of Consciousness, and at the same time...

Countless grey Soul threads, invisible to the naked eye, emerged from the void like venomous snakes with lives of their own, coiling toward Earth Demon Old Ghost's body and Soul.

Earth Demon Old Ghost's expression changed drastically.

He was horrified to find that the flow of his Qi had actually experienced a momentary stagnation.

Furthermore, his Soul felt needle-like stabs of pain and dizziness, and those cold Soul threads were pervasive, attempting to drill into his seven orifices and pores.

The Hall of Souls specialized in Soul attacks, making them impossible to guard against!

"Blood Cold Extreme Frozen Heaven!" Earth Demon Old Ghost roared hoarsely, risking Soul damage to activate his trump card technique.

With him as the center, a dark red extreme cold Domain suddenly opened up. The temperature within the Domain plummeted to an unimaginable degree, and even space seemed as if it were about to be frozen.

Those invisible Soul threads slowed down significantly within the Domain, becoming sluggish.

However, the Soul attacks of the two Black Robed Men were too eerie and overbearing.

Although Earth Demon Old Ghost's Domain was strong, it was difficult to completely block the shrieks and erosion that acted directly upon the Soul.

"Pfft!" Earth Demon Old Ghost suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, which froze into ice dregs as soon as it left his body.

His face was as pale as paper, his aura instantly withered, and his eyes were filled with shock, anger, and unwillingness.

Trauma to the Soul was far harder to bear than physical injuries.

"Hand over the zong ji pill, or else we will refine your Soul!" the Black Robed Man on the right said coldly, approaching step by step.

Earth Demon Old Ghost's face twitched, and a fierce struggle flashed in his eyes. Ultimately, his wariness of the Hall of Souls' eerie methods outweighed everything else.

He gritted his teeth and, with extreme reluctance, pulled out that Cold Jade Bottle.

Just as he was about to let go and the jade bottle was about to fly toward the Black Robed Man—

"This item... you'd better leave it behind."

A calm voice sounded in the ears of the three without any warning.

Immediately after, the space around the two Black Robed Men from the Hall of Souls became as indestructible as amber that had instantly solidified!

Their forward-charging figures suddenly froze, as if gripped tightly by an invisible giant hand, unable to move even a single finger.

The Soul power permeating outside was also firmly locked within a range of a foot around them, unable to extend even a fraction more.

Earth Demon Old Ghost's action of handing over the jade bottle froze in mid-air, and he looked up in astonishment.

Not far away, the void rippled like water, and a figure in black robes slowly stepped out, looking at them with a calm expression.

It was precisely Shen Wen.

Earth Demon Old Ghost's pupils shrank; he had actually failed to notice when this person had arrived!

The two Black Robed Men from the Hall of Souls were even more overwhelmed with shock.

They excelled at Soul perception and had extremely high skills in concealment and tracking, yet at this moment, they were completely locked down by Space Power without any warning. This method was simply inconceivable!

"You... who are you?!" the Black Robed Man on the left asked hoarsely, filled with shock and anger.