21: Yunlan changes suddenly, devouring the soul and seizing the source

On the peak of Yunlan Mountain, the square was filled with a Kill (solemn and murderous) atmosphere.

Xiao Yan held his xuan heavy ruler, its body burning with raging green flames, scorching the air until it distorted.

His gaze was as sharp as an eagle's, fixed on Nalan Yanran, who stood opposite him in a moon-white dress, her beautiful face etched with complex emotions.

Three years of grievances, to be settled today!

Lin Chen was hidden in the shadows at the edge of the square, his aura suppressed to the extreme, like a venomous snake in a rock crevice.

His pale face appeared even more sinister under the shifting light and shadow.

Beneath the cloth wrapped around his left wrist, the stinging pain of the Hall of Souls's brand seemed to echo the storm about to erupt on the mountaintop.

After losing the source core fragment, his power as a nine-star Dou Master was incredibly weak, and the Shadow Erosion Dou Qi flowed like a thin, poisonous stream through his parched Meridians.

But his gaze was fixed on the white-robed figure behind Nalan Yanran, seated on a high platform shrouded in mist—Yun Shan!

That hidden but mountain-like oppressive Dou Zong pressure made the Soul Erosion Guidance deep within Lin Chen's Soul tremble.

What made him even more alarmed was that deep within Yun Shan's seemingly calm and peaceful aura, his remaining Shadow Erosion Dou Qi, which was extremely sensitive to Soul and negative energy, caught a glimpse of an extremely subtle, yet utterly cold and dead… Hall of Souls aura!

“As expected… Yun Shan, this old dog, has long colluded with the Hall of Souls!” Lin Chen's heart was cold, confirming Yao Lao's previous speculation.

Protector Wu being able to intercept them so precisely in the Tagor Desert meant that the Cloud Mist Sect was his bridgehead in the Jia Ma Empire!

And Yun Shan's aura was subtly from the same Origin as Protector Wu's, clearly having received some secret technique augmentation from the Hall of Souls to Breakthrough to Dou Zong!

“Begin.” Yun Shan's indifferent voice, like a divine decree, echoed across the square.

Before his voice faded, Xiao Yan and Nalan Yanran's figures instantly vanished from their original spots!

“Boom!”

Green flames and deep green wind-attributed Dou Qi collided fiercely!

A violent energy shockwave instantly swept out!

Both were top Geniuses of the younger generation, and their first exchange was earth-shattering!

Flames scorched the sky, Sword Qi crisscrossed, and the battle was incredibly fierce.

On the high platform, Yun Shan watched the intense battle below with an expressionless face, but deep within his cloudy old eyes, a hint of undetectable greed and coldness flickered.

His gaze seemed to linger more on the leaping green abnormal flame on Xiao Yan's body.

Lin Chen held his breath, all his focus on his perception.

The Shadow Erosion Dou Qi was like the most precise detector, capturing every subtle fluctuation of energy on the square, especially the hidden Hall of Souls aura around Yun Shan!

He was waiting, waiting for an opportunity, an opportunity for Protector Wu to be alarmed, or for Yun Shan to expose a flaw!

Although his power was weak, the Shadow Erosion Dou Qi's special “scent” for Hall of Souls power and its faint devouring instinct were his only reliance!

The battle intensified.

Xiao Yan gradually gained the upper hand with the power of the abnormal flame and his formidable Battle Techniques.

Although Nalan Yanran resisted with all her might, her “Wind Extremity: Falling Kill” was astonishingly powerful, but in front of the Earth Rank Battle Technique “Flame Splitting Tsunami Ruler,” which had fused with the Green Lotus Core Flame, she was ultimately outmatched!

“Flame Splitting Tsunami Ruler!”

Xiao Yan roared, and the xuan heavy ruler, carrying a green flame wave that could burn mountains and boil seas, slashed fiercely towards Nalan Yanran like a giant blade splitting the heavens!

The victor seemed to be decided!

“Presumptuous!”

Just at this critical moment!

On the high platform, Yun Shan suddenly opened his eyes!

A terrifying pressure, vast as the sea, erupted with a roar!

The power of a Dou Zong expert was unleashed without reservation!

He flicked his sleeve, and a powerful stream of Dou Qi, solid as substance and carrying bone-chilling coldness, like a reversed Milky Way, struck Xiao Yan's Flame Splitting Tsunami Ruler from behind, arriving instantly!

“Boom—!!!”

A deafening explosion echoed through the sky!

Green flame waves and ice Dou Qi fiercely clashed and annihilated each other!

The terrifying shockwave tore huge ravines in the square's ground, and countless gravel (debris) flew in all directions like cannonballs!

Those with weaker strength were directly sent flying back, spitting blood!

Xiao Yan was hit as if by a heavy hammer, his body trembled violently, a trace of fresh blood overflow (overflowed) from the corner of his mouth, and he retreated dozens of steps before barely stabilizing himself!

He suddenly looked up, his eyes burning with rage: “Yun Shan! As the Sect Master of the Cloud Mist Sect, how dare you break the three-year agreement?!”

“Hmph!” Yun Shan slowly stood up, his white robe fluttering without wind, and the Dou Zong pressure pressed down on Xiao Yan like a tangible entity, “In this battle, Yanran has lost.

But Xiao Yan, you possess an abnormal flame, a strange Cultivation Technique, and you collude with people of unknown Origin (his gaze subtly swept over Lin Chen's hiding place).

Today, stay in the Cloud Mist Sect, and let this Sect Master properly investigate the matter!”

The dagger was revealed!

Yun Shan finally tore off his hypocritical mask!

What investigation?

It was clearly a coveting of the abnormal flame, and even more so, to eliminate hidden dangers for the Hall of Souls!

“Old dog! You seek death!” Xiao Yan laughed in extreme anger, and the Green Lotus Core Flame surged again!

Yao Lao's Soul Power instantly augmented him, and his aura climbed steadily, actually vaguely approaching the Dou Wang Realm!

“Stubborn and unyielding!” A cold light flashed in Yun Shan's eyes, revealing his full killing intent!

He stopped talking nonsense, his figure moved, appearing above Xiao Yan as if teleporting, and his withered palm struck down fiercely towards Xiao Yan!

Wherever his palm wind passed, space seemed to be frozen and collapsed!

A Dou Zong's strike, terrifying to such an extent!

“Teacher!” Xiao Yan roared in his heart, instantly handing over control of his body to Yao Lao!

“Xiao Yan, lend me your body!” Yao Lao's old but majestic voice rang out!

Xiao Yan's aura instantly surged to an incredible degree!

A vast aura, far surpassing Dou Wang, even vaguely touching Dou Huang, erupted with a roar!

The xuan heavy ruler in his hand glowed brightly, and on the ruler's body, the bone-white Bone Spirit Cold Flame and the green Green Lotus Core Flame actually began to… fuse!

“Buddha's Fury Fire Lotus?!” Yun Shan's pupils suddenly contracted, and for the first time, genuine horror appeared in his eyes!

He recognized the terrifying rudimentary Battle Technique, rumored to have been created by Venerable Yao!

The destructive energy contained within the fused flames made him feel a fatal threat!

“Old dog! Take this move!” “Xiao Yan” (actually Yao Lao) roared, and the fire lotus, woven from green and white flames, slowly rotating and emitting destructive fluctuations, was fiercely thrown towards Yun Shan!

Boom—!!!!

An indescribable explosion!

As if the sun had exploded on the peak of Yunlan Mountain!

Blinding light swallowed everything!

A terrifying energy storm, like an apocalyptic tide, instantly swept across the entire square!

Rocks shattered, buildings collapsed!

Countless Cloud Mist Sect Disciples were sent flying and annihilated like ants!

“Pfft!” Lin Chen, hidden in the shadows, was fiercely struck by this terrifying shockwave even from a distance!

He was hit as if by a heavy blow, suddenly spitting out a mouthful of fresh blood, his body, like a kite with a broken string, crashed into a broken stone pillar behind him, his vision darkening in waves!

But he endured the severe pain and dizziness, the Shadow Erosion Dou Qi fiercely protecting his heart Meridians, his eyes, however, erupted with an unprecedented brilliance!

It was now!

At the moment the Buddha's Fury Fire Lotus's destructive energy storm erupted, Yun Shan's disguise completely shattered as he tried to resist this fatal blow!

A thick, inseparable, cold, dead, and resentment-filled black Soul Power, like viscous ink, erupted from his body!

That was precisely the power augmented by the Hall of Souls's secret technique!

What made Lin Chen's Soul tremble even more was that a very subtle Soul lock chain mark, composed of pure Soul Power, flashed across Yun Shan's glabella and then disappeared!

The aura of that mark was from the same Origin as Protector Wu's, even more pure!

That was the crucial node Protector Wu used to control Yun Shan, transmit power, and possibly… serve as a temporary landing carrier!

At the core of the fire lotus explosion, Yun Shan let out a shrill, inhuman scream!

The Soul Power shield on his body shattered like paper under the destructive power of the fused abnormal flame!

Half of his body was instantly blown to bloody pulp, charred black!

His aura plummeted, clearly having suffered unimaginable severe injuries!

And just at that moment, when the energy storm raged and Soul fluctuations were chaotic to the extreme!

Lin Chen moved!

He gathered all his remaining Shadow Erosion Dou Qi, along with his deep-seated hatred and greed for Hall of Souls power, into a single point!

His figure, like a dark poisoned arrow merging into the light and shadow of the explosion, moved at a speed beyond limits, aiming directly at—Yun Shan's glabella, at the Soul lock chain mark that was about to dissipate!

“Shadow Erosion: Soul Devouring Origin!”

Lin Chen let out a silent roar in his heart!

He extended his right index finger, its tip condensing a point of deep, extreme, dark purple-black light that seemed to swallow light!

That was not a Battle Technique to attack the physical body, but the Shadow Erosion Dou Qi's most core devouring instinct, aimed at the Soul Origin, stemming from the will of annihilation!

“Chii—!”

At the moment Yun Shan was severely injured and on the verge of death, his Soul defense at its lowest, and Protector Wu's power transmission through the mark was forcefully interrupted by the Buddha's Fury Fire Lotus, causing a backlash!

Lin Chen's fingertip, like a venomous snake's fangs, precisely touched the Soul lock chain mark on Yun Shan's glabella that was about to disappear!

Om—!!!

A cold, vast, and endlessly resentful and unwilling Soul Origin energy, like a bursting flood, surged madly into his body through Lin Chen's fingertip!

“Ugh ah ah ah—!!!”

Yun Shan's eyes suddenly widened, filled with extreme pain and disbelief!

He felt his Soul Origin, along with the channel connecting him to Protector Wu, being fiercely torn and devoured by a brutal, domineering power with annihilating properties!

This pain far surpassed physical injuries!

At the same time, deep within the distant and unknown Hall of Souls, an extremely angry roar seemed to reverberate!

“Ant… how dare you… seize my Origin!!” Protector Wu's cold and resentful voice seemed to pierce through space, directly exploding deep within Lin Chen's and Yun Shan's Souls!

But in that voice, there was a hint of… weakness and alarm!

Lin Chen's body violently expanded like a balloon, and countless hideous black blood vessels appeared on the surface of his skin!

This forcibly devoured Dou Zong-level Soul Origin was too vast, too complex!

His Meridians, Dantian, and even his Soul were all emitting a mournful cry of being overwhelmed!

The Shadow Erosion Dou Qi operated with unprecedented frenzy, desperately devouring, refining, and annihilating the Impurities and fragments of Protector Wu's will within it!

Excruciating pain!

Soul-tearing pain!

But in this extreme pain, Lin Chen felt an unprecedented, vast sense of power rapidly growing within his body!

The dim Qi vortex phantom in his Dantian, like a long-parched land receiving sweet rain, rapidly solidified and grew at a visible speed!

The Realm barrier, on the verge of collapse, began to shake violently under the impact of this terrifying energy!

“You scoundrel! Stop it!” A cold, angry roar came from the horizon!

A graceful and noble moon-white figure, filled with anxiety and alarm, appeared above the chaotic square as if teleporting—it was Yun Yun, who had rushed over upon hearing the news!

She immediately saw Lin Chen, who was frantically devouring Yun Shan's Soul Origin!

However, just as Yun Yun, in a fit of anger, struck out, and a sharp Sword Qi was about to slash towards Lin Chen—

“Boom!”

Within Lin Chen's body, the terrifying Soul Origin energy that had been forcibly devoured and refined finally broke through the last shackles!

An aura several times stronger than before, mixed with cold Soul Power fluctuations and domineering Shadow Erosion Dou Qi, suddenly erupted from his body!

Dou Master! Two-star Dou Master!

The powerful energy shockwave even deflected Yun Yun's Sword Qi!

Lin Chen suddenly withdrew his finger, his body, using the recoil of the explosion, shot backward like a cannonball!

His face was as pale as paper, blood oozed from all seven orifices, and his body was covered in cracks from enduring power far beyond its limit, but his eyes glowed astonishingly, filled with the madness of surviving a disaster and… a hint of newfound power!

He looked down at the rapidly dissipating black Soul Power remaining on his fingertip, then glanced at the dying Yun Shan on the high platform, whose Soul Origin had been forcibly taken a large chunk, his eyes unfocused, and at the alarmed and furious Yun Yun in the air.

Without the slightest hesitation!

Lin Chen, using the instantaneous burst of power from his Breakthrough and the chaotic scene, his figure transformed into a distorted afterimage, instantly disappearing into the shadows of the collapsed building ruins at the edge of the square!

He left behind only a ruined square, the severely injured and dying Yun Shan, the alarmed Yun Yun, and Xiao Yan (Yao Lao), who had just stabilized himself from the impact of the fire lotus explosion and looked in the direction Lin Chen disappeared with an extremely solemn expression.

“Lin Chen… you…” Xiao Yan (Yao Lao) felt the cold Soul Power fluctuations and the aura of Shadow Erosion Dou Qi lingering in the air, and a stormy wave surged in his heart.

This guy actually forcibly devoured a portion of Yun Shan's (or rather, Protector Wu's) Soul Origin amidst the chaos of a Dou Zong battle?!

Such courage… such methods… he's simply a madman!

The sudden change at Yunlan, the dust had not yet settled.

And Lin Chen, this venomous snake who had snatched a bit of “scraps” in the storm, carrying severe injuries and newly acquired power from his Breakthrough, once again vanished into the deeper darkness.

Protector Wu's roar seemed to still echo deep within his Soul, and the next pursuit would surely be relentless!

But at least for now, he had regained a spark of power.