123: Netherworld Ghost Emperor, Secret Key to Ancestral Land

Deep within Soul Severing Canyon, the Netherworld Ghost Emperor's phantom stood towering, filling the sky with overwhelming death qi! His hollow eyes were like two black holes, devouring all light, and his icy gaze locked onto Xiao Chen, making his soul feel frozen!

The pressure of a Dou Sheng-level existence, as if the entire world had pressed down, was suffocating!

"It's over... it's the forbidden existence of the Yun Shen Mountain Range!" Feng Xian's face was ashen; in front of such an being, he couldn't even muster the thought of resistance.

Xiao Chen's pupils constricted, his heart pounded, but his eyes remained exceptionally calm. He knew that panic would only lead to a quicker death! His Heavenly Realm Soul frantically operated, analyzing the desperate situation before him.

Though the Netherworld Ghost Emperor was powerful, he didn't seem to be a physical entity; he was more like a startled remnant soul or a guardian spirit of a formation! Moreover, his aura originated from the same death qi as the Soul Hall, yet it was even more ancient and pure!

"Could it be... this Ghost Emperor is related to the Soul Hall? Or even a relic left by the ancient Soul Clan?" A thought flashed through Xiao Chen's mind like lightning.

Just then, the Netherworld Ghost Emperor slowly raised a giant hand, condensed from pure death qi, and gently pressed it down towards Xiao Chen and Feng Xian! The movement seemed slow, yet it sealed off all space, leaving them nowhere to escape!

Before the giant hand even arrived, the destructive death qi had already caused the canyon walls to crack and space to distort!

"I'll risk it all!" A hint of madness flashed in Xiao Chen's eyes! He abruptly pushed the heavily injured Feng Xian behind a relatively safe giant rock, while simultaneously unleashing all the power within his body without reservation!

His Heavenly Realm Soul, Dou Zun Dou Qi, Xiao Clan bloodline, heaven burning furnace, and even the sliver of Star Soul Power he had just comprehended, all poured into his glabella!

"clan mark... open!"

Buzz—!

At Xiao Chen's glabella, the faint golden xiao clan tribal mark suddenly erupted with unprecedented brilliant light! Within the light, ancient battle songs seemed to resonate, and a primal, majestic, and unyielding battle intent soared into the sky, clashing head-on with the Netherworld Ghost Emperor's death qi!

"Roar!"

The Netherworld Ghost Emperor's giant hand paused slightly, and an extremely subtle fluctuation actually flickered in his hollow eyes—a look of surprise and apprehension, as if he had encountered a natural enemy! His destructive palm actually stopped in mid-air!

"It's effective!" Xiao Chen was ecstatic! Indeed! The Xiao Clan bloodline had a restraining effect on such undead beings! Moreover, the Ghost Emperor's reaction seemed to confirm his connection to the ancient Soul Clan!

Seizing this opportunity, Xiao Chen fully activated the clan mark with his soul power, while also releasing the aura of the mark related to the Xiao Clan Ancestral Land, which he had obtained from the Heavenly Secret Ancient City's legacy!

"Buzz!"

The clan mark's light grew even brighter, and the ancestral land mark seemed to respond to a certain summons, automatically flying out from Xiao Chen's Sea of Consciousness, transforming into an ancient, dark-golden key phantom that hovered above Xiao Chen's head!

The key was covered in profound runes, emitting an ancient vitality that was of the same origin as the Netherworld Ghost Emperor but diametrically opposite!

"This is... the ancestral land secret key?!" Xiao Chen was both surprised and delighted!

The moment this secret key phantom appeared, the Netherworld Ghost Emperor's phantom trembled violently! His massive body began to become unstable, his hollow eyes fixed on the secret key, emitting a silent roar mixed with fear, anger, and a hint of... yearning!

The death qi around his body surged wildly, but he no longer attacked Xiao Chen; instead, he began to contract and condense inwards!

"He... he's absorbing the death qi in the canyon?" Feng Xian, hiding behind the rock, watched dumbfounded.

Xiao Chen also noticed the anomaly. The Netherworld Ghost Emperor wasn't trying to attack them; instead, under the stimulation of the ancestral land secret key, some kind of transformation was occurring! He seemed to be... reviving or transforming?

"Roar—!"

The Ghost Emperor let out an earth-shattering roar, his massive phantom abruptly contracted, turning into a stream of dark-golden light condensed to the extreme, and instantly merged into the ancestral land secret key phantom above Xiao Chen's head!

The secret key phantom trembled violently, radiating brilliant light, and the runes on it flowed ceaselessly as if alive! A pure and ancient energy fed back, surging into Xiao Chen's body! This energy was neither Dou Qi nor soul power, but a more fundamental life source energy, as if it could nourish all living things!

Xiao Chen only felt comfortable all over; his previous consumption was instantly replenished, and even his cultivation and soul realm had improved! Even more miraculously, he felt that his connection with the ancestral land ruins deep within the Yun Shen Mountain Range had become clearer and closer! It was as if an invisible map was imprinted deep within his soul!

"What... what exactly is going on?" Feng Xian struggled to get up, looking at Xiao Chen in disbelief.

Xiao Chen slowly descended, retracting the ancestral land secret key phantom (which had re-merged into his Sea of Consciousness), his eyes filled with shock and realization. He looked towards the depths of the canyon and said in a deep voice, "This Netherworld Ghost Emperor is probably not just a simple forbidden existence, but a trial or a key trigger guarding the entrance to the Xiao Clan Ancestral Land!

Only those with the direct bloodline of the Xiao Clan, and who activate the ancestral land mark under specific conditions, can trigger him and transform him into the true energy to open the ancestral land!"

Feng Xian listened dumbfounded: "You mean... you just now... subdued that Dou Sheng-level Ghost Emperor?"

"Not subdued, but... activated the key." Xiao Chen shook his head, his heart still filled with lingering fear. If he hadn't possessed the bloodline and the mark, he and Feng Xian would have been annihilated by that palm strike.

"Too... too incredible!" Feng Xian swallowed hard, his gaze towards Xiao Chen filled with reverence. This Brother Xiao's secrets and fortuitous encounters were simply unfathomable!

Just then, several shrill screams and energy explosions came from the other end of the canyon. It was the three Soul Hall Heavenly Venerables! They seemed to have tried to escape in the chaos but triggered the remaining spatial traps and death qi storms in the canyon, instantly being swallowed without a trace of their bodies!

Xiao Chen glanced coldly in that direction. The Soul Hall's pursuit was temporarily over. But a greater challenge lay within the ancestral land.

"Brother Feng, how are your injuries?" Xiao Chen looked at Feng Xian.

Feng Xian took a pill, adjusted his breathing for a moment, and his complexion improved greatly: "No major problem. Brother Xiao, next..."

"The ancestral land entrance is ahead." Xiao Chen's gaze firmly looked towards the deepest part of the canyon, "Brother Feng, the road ahead will probably be even more dangerous. You..."

"Brother Xiao, no need to say more!" Feng Xian said resolutely, "Since we've come, how can we give up halfway? Although my strength is insufficient, I am by no means a coward! I wish to advance and retreat with Brother Xiao!"

Xiao Chen looked deeply at Feng Xian, then nodded: "Good! Then let's go to this Xiao Clan Ancestral Land and see what's inside!"

The two rested briefly, then set off towards the depths of the canyon. The deeper they went, the thinner the death qi became, replaced by an ancient and peaceful aura. The end of the canyon was not a mountain wall, but a distorted spatial light curtain! On the light curtain, dark-golden runes flowed, originating from the same source as the ancestral land secret key!

"This is it!" Xiao Chen sensed the secret key's pulsation in his Sea of Consciousness, took a deep breath, and injected his soul power into the secret key phantom.

"Buzz!"

The secret key phantom reappeared, emitting a golden light that poured into the spatial light curtain. The light curtain rippled like water, revealing a spatial passage just wide enough for one person to pass through! Inside the passage, starlight twinkled, as if leading to another world.

"Let's go!"

Xiao Chen and Feng Xian exchanged a glance, then stepped into the passage side by side without hesitation!

As their figures disappeared, the spatial passage slowly closed. Soul Severing Canyon returned to its deathly silence, as if nothing had ever happened.

However, deep within the distant main hall of the Soul Hall, on a dark altar, a soul jade slip representing the three Heavenly Venerables quietly shattered.

Soul Heaven Emperor (a projection) sitting on the altar slowly opened his eyes, death qi surging within them, and a cold arc formed at the corner of his mouth.

"Xiao Clan brat... to be able to trigger the ancestral land's seal... interesting. It seems the plan needs to be moved up..."

He waved his sleeve, and an order spread throughout the Soul Hall:

"Activate the 'Emperor Hunting Plan'! Target... Yun Shen Mountain Range, Xiao Clan Ancestral Land!"

A world-shattering storm, centered around the ancient Xiao Clan Ancestral Land and sweeping across the entire continent, was about to be completely ignited by Xiao Chen's entry! And within the ancestral land, waiting for Xiao Chen, would be even more astonishing secrets and... crises!