45: Life and death

The earth groaned, rock layers cracked, and scorching earth fire poisonous miasma, like Vicious Beasts breaking free from their cages, spewed out from countless fissures, illuminating the underground of Demon Flame Valley in a crimson hue. Boulders crashed down with a rumble, and smoke mixed with the pungent smell of sulfur permeated the surroundings.

Lin Chen endured the tearing pain in his Meridians and the emptiness brought by the constant backlash of the Dark Shadow Soul Binding Art, transforming his body into the thickest shadows and dust, and escaped upwards along the violently shaking rock wall like a ghost. The chaotic screams, energy explosions, and the Earth Demon Old Ghost's roar of shock and anger from above became his best cover.

The closer he got to the surface, the more violent the chaotic energy flow became. Suddenly, a precarious mine tunnel on the side collapsed with a roar, and a scorching wave of fire rushed towards him! Lin Chen's pupils contracted, and just as he was about to desperately dodge, he suddenly noticed a strange spatial fluctuation vaguely coming from behind the collapsed area, along with a few suppressed shouts of shock and anger carrying the unique chilling aura of the Hall of Souls!

"Quick! Stabilize the spatial lock! Don't let that thing fully emerge!"

"Damn it! Why did this beast wake up completely at this time?! The plan is all messed up!"

"Don't worry about that! First, extract this 'earth core soul marrow' that just spewed out! We can't go back empty-handed to report to Elder Zun!"

Lin Chen's heart suddenly stirred, and he forcefully stopped his momentum, risking pressing his body tightly into a scorching rock crevice. The Dark Shadow Soul Binding Art was operated to its extreme, completely concealing all his aura, and his sharp gaze was cast towards the collapsed opening.

Behind the opening, there was actually the edge of a huge underground magma lake. At this moment, the lake surface was boiling, and giant pillars of magma shot up into the sky. And right by the lake, three black-robed figures were frantically manipulating a peculiar compass-like object covered in cracks. Silver-gray spatial power shot out from the compass, struggling to bind a gigantic python phantom, composed entirely of scorching magma and violent Soul energy, that had just emerged from the magma lake!

The giant python struggled madly, each swing causing the earth to shake and emitting a Soul-piercing roar! And in the boiling magma beneath the giant python, a viscous liquid, as thick as a baby's arm, displaying a dark-red glazed color, and exuding extremely pure fire-attribute energy and Soul fluctuations, was slowly being extracted by an invisible force, attempting to pull it towards the three black-robed figures!

Earth Core Fire Python (Soul Body)! earth core soul marrow!

Lin Chen understood instantly! These three were clearly from the Hall of Souls, stationed here to monitor and even take advantage of the situation! The complete riot of the Earth Core Fire Python and the appearance of the earth core soul marrow were probably all related to his activation of the yellow springs stele phantom and the swallowing of the tablet Jade Slip!

What a heaven-sent opportunity! The snipe and the clam are fighting!

Of the three black-robed figures, two were roughly of the Dou King level, and the leading one's aura had even reached the Dou Emperor level! But at this moment, most of their energy was focused on suppressing the rampaging Earth Core Fire Python's Soul and extracting the earth core soul marrow, leaving them no time for anything else. Moreover, they were all injured and their auras were chaotic, clearly victims of the recent upheaval.

Greedy flames flickered in Lin Chen's eyes. earth core soul marrow! This was a rare treasure of heaven and earth that nourished the Soul and tempered fire-attribute Dou Qi, and it had miraculous effects on the recovery of Soul bodies like Yao Chen's! If he could get his hands on it...

The risk was enormous! But the reward was equally astonishing! Moreover, this chaotic situation might create an opportunity!

A crazy plan instantly formed in his mind. He took a deep breath, suppressing the severe pain and weakness in his body, his gaze fixed on the slightly bulging Storage Pouch at the Dou Emperor leader's waist—the earth core soul marrow was most likely to be stored within it! At the same time, he noticed that the Dou Emperor, in order to fully control the compass, had a very subtle, periodic disturbance in his protective Dou Qi fluctuations!

The opportunity was in that instant!

He was like the most patient venomous snake, lurking in the shadows, calculating the rhythm of the disturbance's appearance. The charred wound on his back began to ooze blood again due to the tension, but he was completely unaware.

Now is the time!

When the Dou Emperor leader once again injected most of his Dou Qi into the compass, and the protective Dou Qi fluctuations dropped to their lowest point—

Lin Chen moved! He did not directly pounce on the Soul marrow or the black-robed figures, but instead, he gambled most of his not-yet-recovered Dark Shadow Dou Qi into his feet, slamming them against the scorching rock wall!

"Limitless Steps · Shadow Escape!"

His body transformed into a blurred dark shadow that almost distorted light, but his target was not anyone, but directly shot towards the side of the massive head of the wildly struggling Earth Core Fire Python Soul body! His speed was so fast that it left a brief afterimage in the air!

"Who?!"

The Dou Emperor leader was the first to notice, abruptly turning his head, both shocked and furious! But he was at a critical moment in suppressing the Fire Python and had no time to make an effective response! The other two Dou Kings were a beat slower!

Lin Chen's figure barely grazed past the scorching tail flames swept by the Earth Core Fire Python, the extreme high temperature almost scorching his hair! But he successfully released a trace of his aura, without reservation, in an instant, and skillfully integrated it into the violent and chaotic Soul fluctuations of the Earth Core Fire Python!

For a Soul body, this kind of external, sudden provocative aura, especially when it erupted from such a close distance, instantly ignited its already violent rage!

"Roar!!!"

The Earth Core Fire Python mistakenly thought that the few ants who had been restraining it had launched a new sneak attack, letting out a deafening Soul roar! Its massive body suddenly swung, abandoning some of its resistance to the compass, and an even more terrifying, almost substantial dark-red Soul shockwave, like a tsunami, furiously surged towards the three Hall of Souls powerhouses! The first to bear the brunt was the Dou Emperor leader!

"Bastard!!" The Dou Emperor leader was horrified, no longer caring about extracting the Soul marrow, he frantically blocked the compass in front of him, and his internal Dou Qi erupted without reservation, attempting to resist this enraged strike!

The other two Dou Kings also hastily met the attack!

Rumble—!!!

A terrifying energy collision erupted in the underground space! The magma lake surface was blasted with giant waves a hundred meters high! The compass emitted the sound of unbearable cracking, and the three Hall of Souls powerhouses simultaneously spat blood and flew backward, their auras instantly weakened by more than half!

And in this chaotic instant, when the energy turbulence and the sky-high magma rain generated by the explosion obscured all vision—

Lin Chen, who had been waiting for the opportunity, like a projectile whose trajectory had been calculated long ago, used the impact force of the explosion's airwave and the extreme utilization of shadows and energy turbulence by the Dark Shadow Soul Binding Art, his figure turned back at an incredible angle! His target was directly the Dou Emperor leader who had been blasted away, currently in a state where his old strength was exhausted and new strength had not yet emerged, and whose protective Dou Qi was at its weakest!

His right hand was as black as ink, his Shadow Erosion Dou Qi highly condensed, not for attack, but to directly seize the Storage Pouch at the opponent's waist! His left hand silently clutched the green Jade Slip (given by Yao Chen) in his Storage Ring, which contained a trace of Bone Chilling Flame power—this was his last trump card; if one strike failed, he would immediately crush it to call for help, and then flee for his life!

Fast! Fast! Fast!

Everything happened in a flash! When the Dou Emperor leader noticed the slight touch at his waist, Lin Chen's fingers had already touched the strap of the Storage Pouch!

"Little thief! How dare you!!!" The Dou Emperor leader's eyes were about to split, and he slapped out with a backhand. Although the Dou Qi condensed in haste was insufficient, it still carried immense power!

Lin Chen did not dodge or evade at all, instead, he used the force of the opponent's slap and pulled hard!

Rip!

The strap of the Storage Pouch was forcibly torn off! But at the same time, the Dou Emperor's enraged palm also solidly struck Lin Chen's shoulder!

Crack! A clear sound of bone breaking rang out!

"Pfft!" Lin Chen spewed blood, as if hit by a high-speed train, his body uncontrollably flew backward, but his hand tightly clutched the bulging Storage Pouch he had just acquired!

"Leave it to me!" Another Hall of Souls Dou King, who was a little closer, seeing this, endured his injuries and a cold Dou Qi ribbon whistled towards Lin Chen's neck!

Life and death hung by a thread! A hint of madness flashed in Lin Chen's eyes, and he was about to crush the Jade Slip in his left hand!

However, at this moment—

Another anomaly occurred!

Perhaps the Earth Core Fire Python's violent strike interfered with space, or perhaps the abnormal movement of the underground yellow springs stele caused an unknown impact, or perhaps the energy from Lin Chen's confrontation with the Dou Emperor was the last straw that broke the camel's back—the already cracked magma lake wall next to the three suddenly collapsed a large section, revealing a deeper, gigantic black hole exuding endless ancientness and a deathly silent aura!

The moment the black hole appeared, whether it was the enraged Earth Core Fire Python, the shocked and angry three from the Hall of Souls, or the heavily injured Lin Chen flying backward, their movements all suddenly paused!

An indescribable great terror, originating from the Soul's instinct, instantly gripped everyone's hearts!

Within that black hole, it was as if a pair of eyes, indifferent to all things and looking down on all living beings, slowly opened!

Immediately after, an invisible suction force, ten or even a hundred times more terrifying than the Earth Core Fire Python's Soul impact earlier, suddenly erupted from that black hole!

This time, it was no longer just targeting energy and Soul, but... devouring everything!

"No—!!!"

The Hall of Souls Dou King who was closest to the black hole and was rushing towards Lin Chen, only had time to let out a short, extremely shrill scream, and his entire body was as if caught by an invisible giant hand, instantly dragged into the bottomless black hole, without even a ripple appearing!

The Dou Emperor leader and the other Dou King's Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering, no longer cared about Lin Chen or the earth core soul marrow, burning their vital blood, they frantically fled in the direction away from the black hole!

The Earth Core Fire Python let out a terrified wail, its massive Soul body instantly retreated to the bottom of the magma lake, trembling!

And Lin Chen, heavily injured and flying backward, right at the edge of the suction, only felt an irresistible force firmly grasping him, wanting to drag him into that endless dark abyss!

He struggled desperately, operating the Dark Shadow Soul Binding Art to its limit, trying to transform into shadow again, but this time, the suction force was overwhelmingly powerful, even devouring shadows!

Seeing that he was about to be dragged into despair, a final ruthless glint flashed in Lin Chen's eyes. Instead of resisting the suction, he suddenly blasted his remaining Dou Qi downwards!

Bang!

The recoil caused his backward-flying speed to suddenly halt, and he precisely crashed into a narrow rock crevice that had newly cracked open due to the violent earthquake and extended upwards!

Almost the next second after his body disappeared into the crevice, the terrifying suction force receded like a tide, and the heart-palpitating black hole slowly disappeared behind the collapsing rocks, as if it had never appeared.

Only the bottomless new pit left in place, and the lingering, Soul-freezing terrifying pressure in the air, proved the terrifying moment that had just occurred.

"Cough... cough cough..." Lin Chen lay paralyzed in the narrow, dark rock crevice, countless bones broken, his shoulder blade completely shattered, and blood almost stained his entire body. Every breath brought with it bloody foam, and the feeling of impending death was clearer than ever before.

But his intact hand was clutching the bulging Storage Pouch tightly to his chest.

He risked snatching chestnuts from the fire, almost truly becoming the mantis eaten by the oriole!

After resting for a while, he barely swallowed a few Medicinal Pills, then tremblingly used his Soul Power to probe the Storage Pouch.

There weren't many things inside: some Hall of Souls tokens, scrolls, a few bottles of cold Medicinal Pills, and... a bottle made of special cold Jade. Inside the bottle, a dark-red glazed viscous liquid slowly flowed, exuding pure and majestic energy and Soul fluctuations.

earth core soul marrow! He got it!

Although the process was tragic enough to almost cost him his life, in the end... it was worth it!

He carefully put away the cold Jade bottle and then looked at the Hall of Souls scrolls, perhaps there was information about the Hall of Souls's plans among them...

Just then, the green Jade Slip (given by Xiao Yan) in his embrace suddenly vibrated slightly without any warning! Although faint, it was clearly discernible!

Lin Chen was stunned for a moment, then his expression drastically changed!

Had Yao Chen sensed something? Did he sense Lin Chen using the Dark Shadow Soul Binding Art to fight the Hall of Souls powerhouses just now? Or... did he sense the emergence of the earth core soul marrow? Or... the terrifying aura existing in that black hole?

Whichever it was, it meant...

He suddenly looked up at the still chaotic and noisy Demon Flame Valley above the rock crevice, a premonition of extreme ill omen flashing in his eyes.

A bigger storm, he feared, was coming!