1182: Chapter 1182: The Underworld

Marshal Hei Yan suddenly turned, his Nether Soul-Splitting Claws crossed in front of him for protection as he slashed down fiercely toward the Void Realm to his left!

Ten pitch-black tear marks, like the claws of a fierce beast, tore ten deep rifts in space. Violent energy gushed out from the rifts, enough to tear any expert below the fifth rank to pieces.

However—

The claw marks passed through the Void Realm, hitting nothing.

"Something's wrong!"

Warning signs flared in Marshal Hei Yan's heart, and he suddenly looked up—

Baili Ziyuan had appeared ten meters above his head at some unknown point, hanging upside down in the Void Realm. His white hair fell like a waterfall, and those grayish-white eyes looked down at him, like a god of death looking down at a Soul about to be harvested.

That black scythe was held in his hands with a reverse grip, blade pointing down. The gray light on the edge erupted at this moment, transforming into a highly condensed grayish-white blade of light that slashed straight down toward Marshal Hei Yan's crown!

"Soul Slash—Soul Split!"

The moment the scythe fell, Marshal Hei Yan felt his Divine Soul as if grabbed by an invisible giant hand. An irresistible tearing sensation came from the depths of his Soul, as if this strike wasn't cutting his physical body, but his Soul's Origin!

This was the terrifying aspect of Soul Dao experts—their attacks often struck the Soul directly!

"Nether Protection!"

Marshal Hei Yan roared, and the faint light at his brow suddenly exploded, turning into a layer of pitch-black light film that shrouded his entire head and upper body.

This was a defensive measure he condensed from the slaughterous will accumulated over a thousand years of battle and his Divine Soul power, specifically designed to counter Soul Dao attacks!

"Clang—!"

The scythe struck the black light film, emitting a long hum like the striking of chime bells. The sound didn't travel through the air but exploded directly on the Soul level!

Within a radius of several thousand meters, all surviving Human Race experts felt their heads grow heavy, as if struck on the crown by a heavy hammer.

And Marshal Hei Yan, bearing the brunt of it, felt his Divine Soul as if thrown into a giant bell, shaken precariously by the humming as his consciousness blurred for a split second—

This was the exact moment Baili Ziyuan was waiting for!

His figure disappeared again, and when he reappeared, he was already behind Marshal Hei Yan.

The scythe swept horizontally, aimed straight for Marshal Hei Yan's nape!

That was his true objective—to draw Marshal Hei Yan's attention with the Soul-Splitting Slash, force him to condense a Divine Soul defense, and then use the Soul vibration from the collision between the scythe and the light film to create an opening and deliver a killing blow!

However—

Marshal Hei Yan was, after all, a Late Stage fifth-rank expert who had fought in the sea of stars for a thousand years; his combat experience was even more terrifying than Baili Ziyuan imagined.

Just as the scythe was about to touch his nape, the nether undying armor on Marshal Hei Yan's body suddenly erupted with blinding nether light. Countless fine runes lit up on the surface of the armor, forming a tangible energy shield that stubbornly withstood the strike!

"Boom—!"

The collision between the scythe and the nether undying armor triggered a violent energy explosion, the wild shockwave sending both of them flying.

Baili Ziyuan tumbled several times in the Void Realm before the energy wings behind him snapped open, stabilizing himself as a trace of blood leaked from the corner of his mouth.

Marshal Hei Yan was knocked back nearly a hundred meters. After stabilizing himself, he looked down at the armor at his nape—there was an additional deep slash mark. Though it hadn't completely broken through, it had already damaged the inner structure of the armor.

"Quite the Soul Dao expert, quite the Dragon Lord."

Marshal Hei Yan looked up, the killing intent in his eyes reaching its peak, but at the same time, his gaze toward Baili Ziyuan also held a hint of genuine seriousness.

"To be able to damage my, Marshal Hei Yan's, nether undying armor with the strength of the Early Stage of the fifth rank... you are not simple."

Baili Ziyuan wiped the blood from his mouth, those grayish-white pupils remaining as calm as water without any ripples.

"Early Stage?"

He shook his head slightly, his voice still hollow. "Marshal Hei is mistaken."

He raised the scythe, the tip pointing at Marshal Hei Yan, as the two pairs of energy wings behind him flapped slowly. The distortion of the two ghost faces grew larger, as if trying to break free from the wings' constraints.

"I never said I was at the Early Stage of the fifth rank."

The moment he finished speaking, the Aura on his body suddenly shifted!

The originally obscure and immeasurable Soul fluctuations, like an abyss, gushed out like a volcano at this moment! That was not the Aura a Middle Stage fifth-rank should possess, but rather—

The Middle Stage of the fifth rank!

Marshal Hei Yan's pupils shrank suddenly.

"Middle Stage of the fifth rank?! You can actually still hide your strength?"

Before he could finish, Baili Ziyuan had already struck again.

This time, he didn't choose a close-quarters surprise attack but stood in place, raising the scythe high with the tip pointing toward the firmament.

That pitch-black scythe seemed to come alive at this moment.

The gray mist wrapped around the handle suddenly expanded, turning into countless gray mist threads like tentacles that spread in all directions, covering the entire Void Realm for a thousand meters.

And the gray light at the scythe's edge erupted with unprecedented brilliance—it was a Soul-shuddering gray that existed between existence and nothingness, as if the concept of death itself had been materialized.

"Soul Domain—Nether Soil!"

Baili Ziyuan's voice was like a sentence, echoing in the Void Realm.

In an instant, with him as the center, the space within a thousand meters underwent an earth-shattering change!

The originally chaotic battlefield, filled with energy turbulence and spatial fragments, was forcibly reshaped at this moment by an invisible power.

On the ground, grayish-white sand like bone ash appeared; in the sky, illusory, constantly twisting figures and remnant Souls drifted; in the air, a suffocating, bone-chilling Aura of death permeated.

Within this "Nether Soil," the Souls of all living beings felt an unprecedented sense of oppression—as if countless invisible ghost hands reached out from the ground, trying to strip their Souls from their bodies and drag them into the abyss!

Even the Human Race experts in the distance felt waves of palpitations and discomfort, retreating one after another with gritted teeth, not daring to approach that area.

And Marshal Hei Yan, at the center of the "Nether Soil," bore a pressure a hundred times greater!

His Divine Soul was like being thrown into a boundless dead sea, surrounded on all sides by cold, viscous, and highly corrosive death power that constantly tried to penetrate his Divine Soul defense and stir up all the negative emotions deep within his heart: fear, regret, and anger.

Even worse, the illusory remnant Souls and twisted figures in this "Nether Soil" began to swarm toward him, emitting silent roars and wails like countless vengeful spirits seeking his life!

"A mere Soul Domain dares to be so insolent before this Marshal!"

Marshal Hei Yan roared, his hands forming a strange seal before him as a tangible wave of pitch-black air erupted from his body, instantly scattering the swarming remnant Souls!

But after the remnant Souls were scattered, they did not disappear, instead turning into more gray mist and reintegrating into the "Nether Soil," before condensing and swarming once more!

Endless and inexhaustible!