224: Conquer and return

"Unless, Senior Brother is willing to open his Divine Soul and accept this Seal," Xiao Zhuo's voice was like the chilling wind from the Nine Hells, "to become my most loyal subordinate. If so, I will naturally take you out of this desperate place, and even... help you recover."

"Soul Locking Seal?!" Cao Yunqing's pupils suddenly constricted to pinpricks, utterly horrified!

As the Second Holy Son of the Blood Palace, how could he not recognize this terrifying Divine Ability of the Sacred Soul Sect from a hundred thousand years ago?

"Impossible! Blood Sea! You wish!" Cao Yunqing's eyes were bloodshot, and he roared hoarsely, struggling to gather his magic power to resist.

However, his weakened body felt completely hollowed out, unable to even stir a faint ripple of magic power. He could only watch in despair as the deadly flower bud slowly rotated in Xiao Zhuo's palm, emitting an allure and threat that made his Divine Soul tremble.

"It's not up to you!" Xiao Zhuo's eyes sharpened, no longer showing any hesitation!

Taking advantage of the moment Cao Yunqing's mind was severely shaken and his Divine Soul was extremely weak and shattered, he flicked his finger!

Whoosh!

The mandara flower bud, condensed with Xiao Zhuo's powerful Soul Power, transformed into a pink streak of light, ignoring Cao Yunqing's minuscule resistance, and instantly submerged into his glabella!

"Ugh ah—!!!"

A bloodcurdling shriek, not sounding human, suddenly erupted from Cao Yunqing's throat!

His entire body seemed to be gripped and twisted by an invisible giant hand, thrashing and rolling frantically at the bottom of the cold coffin!

Veins bulged on his forehead, his eyeballs almost popped out of their sockets, every muscle in his body was spasming, in extreme pain!

The Soul Locking Seal invaded his Sea of Consciousness, instantly merging into the core of his Divine Soul.

The power that penetrated the deepest part of his Soul brutally altered and reshaped his cognition!

Xiao Zhuo watched the figure writhing and wailing in pain within the bronze coffin with an expressionless face, his gaze as cold as ten-thousand-year-old profound ice.

He felt no sympathy for Cao Yunqing; although the other party had provoked him, he harbored no good intentions towards him either, so controlling him carried no burden.

After a full half an hour, Xiao Zhuo clearly perceived that a link had been established between their Divine Souls.

Surging thoughts of pain, malice, despair, and unwillingness, like a raging tide, were all suppressed and erased by the irresistible power of the Soul Locking Seal!

In the end, only reverence and submission, deeply imprinted in the lowest layer of his Divine Soul and ingrained in his bones, remained.

The wailing gradually became hoarse and faint.

Cao Yunqing, as if all his bones had been removed, completely collapsed at the bottom of the coffin, his eyes vacant and unfocused, only rough and intermittent gasps remaining, sweat soaking his tattered clothes.

His gaze towards Xiao Zhuo now held only pure respect and adoration.

Xiao Zhuo nodded slightly in satisfaction, reaching out to grasp the air. A gentle force lifted the limp Cao Yunqing out of the cold bronze coffin.

"Very good," Xiao Zhuo's voice was exceptionally clear in the dead silent boundary realm, carrying an undeniable authority, "Cao Yunqing. You are still you! Our relationship must not be revealed in the slightest! Do you understand?"

"Yes... Master... subordinate... understands!" Cao Yunqing could not move, but he still responded with difficulty.

A smile appeared on Xiao Zhuo's face. He glanced at the floating, broken bronze coffin and no longer paid it any attention.

Subduing Cao Yunqing, though an unexpected pleasant surprise, this child, capable of becoming a Saint of the Blood Palace, possessed talent and brilliance that surpassed all others in the Blood Demon Realm. Given time, he might well become a valuable asset.

More importantly, bringing him back to the Blood Demon Realm would undoubtedly help him share the immense pressure from the destruction of the Myriad Ages Evergreen Realm!

Just as Xiao Zhuo was examining Cao Yunqing's injuries and pondering his next move,

the silent silver-white petal mark on the back of his hand lit up without warning!

Xiao Zhuo's spirit suddenly invigorated, and a scorching light burst forth from his eyes: "Hong Ning!"

As Xiao Zhuo's Divine Sense touched the mark on the back of his hand, the silver-white petal suddenly bloomed with a soft yet clear radiance that pierced through the dead silence and darkness!

The light, like mercury spilling, instantly dispelled the gloomy Chaos within several zhang, forming a hazy light domain.

In the center of the light domain, a phantom yet incredibly clear graceful figure slowly condensed.

It was still the blood-red silk dress, still that exquisitely beautiful but indifferent face, devoid of any worldly Aura—it was Hong Ning!

She seemed to have existed in that light since time immemorial; the violent and chaotic Chaos energy around her was as docile as flowing water, automatically calming down.

Her empty silver eyes shifted slightly, her gaze falling on Xiao Zhuo, her voice calm and unruffled, yet clearly resounding deep within his and Cao Yunqing's Divine Souls: "What do you seek me for?"

Xiao Zhuo's heart settled, he suppressed his excitement and bowed: "Junior humbly requests Senior to act and guide us both back to the Blood Demon Realm!"

Hong Ning's gaze seemed to penetrate the endless boundary realm, and she nodded slightly: "Permissible."

There were no superfluous movements, not even many fluctuations of immortal power.

The silver-white light domain enveloping Xiao Zhuo and Cao Yunqing suddenly contracted and elongated, transforming into an extremely thin but incredibly tough silver thread. One end connected to Hong Ning's phantom, while the other end remotely pierced towards a certain point in the boundary realm!

"Go!"

Following Hong Ning's indifferent voice, Xiao Zhuo felt an irresistible gentle force envelop his entire body. The scene before his eyes instantly transformed into a kaleidoscopic tunnel of flowing light. Countless remnants of dead boundary realms and fragments of Shattered Realm (Cultivation Class) stars rapidly receded beside him, at a speed too fast for his Divine Sense to capture.

The heavily injured Cao Yunqing was supported by a force, experiencing this terrifying speed of traversal with utter shock.

He didn't know how long it had been; it felt like only an instant, yet also like countless years had passed.

The chaotic darkness ahead was suddenly replaced by a dazzling crimson!

That crimson was not light, but an boundless, surging and boiling sea of blood, covering an unimaginably vast boundary realm—the Blood Demon Realm!

However, just outside the Blood Demon Realm's boundary membrane, which was composed of endless blood-red light, the scene made Xiao Zhuo's pupils constrict.

A massive boundary realm, permeated with a clear, hazy Dao charm and radiance, was suspended near the Blood Demon Realm. Countless Cultivators were fiercely battling between the two boundary realms, space shattered inch by inch, and Law currents raged like billions of wild Dragons.

The sounds of battle, explosions, and the roar of Divine Abilities colliding could be faintly perceived even from a distant, incredibly tragic!

This was precisely the protracted boundary realm war between the Blood Demon Realm and the Dao Yi Realm! Further away, another boundary realm was also very close to the Blood Demon Realm. The two boundary realms enveloped the Blood Demon Realm, forming a pincer movement.

Just as the silver thread, formed by Hong Ning, was about to touch the Blood Demon Realm's boundary membrane!

"Who dares to trespass on the battlefield?!"

A furious roar, like a thunderclap from the Nine Heavens, exploded! A figure, enveloped in dense azure light, with an Aura as deep as an abyss, suddenly tore through the battlefield from the direction of the Dao Yi Realm, traversing the Void Realm!

His oppressive power had clearly reached the Mahayana Peak, evidently a giant of a boundary realm overseeing a region!

His gaze was like lightning, instantly locking onto the peculiar silver thread and the two individuals within it, who clearly carried the Aura of the Blood Demon Realm.

"Stay!" The azure light giant raised his hand and grabbed, condensing a hundred-zhang azure giant hand that covered the Void Realm, containing powerful immortal power (Mahayana Realm had already transformed some immortal power) to seal space, and fiercely grabbed towards the silver thread!

"Noisy."

Hong Ning's phantom didn't even turn her head; she merely flicked her fingertip, which was connected to the silver thread, very casually towards the azure giant hand.

Buzz!

There was no earth-shattering explosion, no dazzling energy impact.

The azure giant hand, powerful enough to shatter stars and make ordinary Mahayana Cultivators change color, along with the azure light giant whose Aura was monstrous, seemed to be wiped away from a painting by an invisible giant hand. They instantly transformed into the finest primordial particles, silently dissipating into the chaotic Qi flow.

Mahayana Peak? Merely a speck of dust with a flick of a sleeve.

The silver thread continued without pause, treating the fierce boundary realm war as nothing. It easily penetrated the Blood Demon Realm's incredibly thick blood-colored boundary membrane, carrying Xiao Zhuo and Cao Yunqing, and disappeared within it.