104: A shocking change occurred at the altar; the remnant soul of the ancient serpent...

The battle instantly entered a white-hot phase!

Medusa fought alone against more than ten Hall of Souls guards, among whom were Peak Dou Huangs and even low-star Dou Zongs.

Although she was only a Soul Body, her seven-colored Soul Light had a natural suppressive effect on the Netherworld Power. As her jade hand swept out, seven-colored light blades crisscrossed, slicing and purifying the various incoming Soul Skills.

At the same time, runes flashed on her brow, and an ancient coercion originating from the depths of her Bloodline permeated the area, suppressing the energy circulation within the bodies of the Hall of Souls guards, tying their hands and feet. For a time, she alone managed to firmly pin them down!

As for Li Ao, he was like a human Tyrannosaurus Dragon, charging directly toward the three low-star Dou Zong guards blocking him!

“Get lost!”

He roared, neither dodging nor avoiding, and directly blasted out his fist covered in a bronze luster! The power of the third stage of the *Black Iron Hegemon Body* erupted without reservation, and the air emitted a piercing sonic boom wherever the punch passed!

“Bang! Bang! Bang!”

Three muffled loud noises occurred almost simultaneously! The Netherworld Dou Qi shields of the three low-star Dou Zong guards shattered like paper, followed immediately by their chests, which instantly collapsed under Li Ao's unmatched, brutal punch force, their bones completely pulverized!

The three were thrown backward like broken sacks before they could even scream, crashing into the distant stone wall, turning into three piles of flesh and blood with no signs of life!

Instant kill!

Pure Physical Body power was terrifying to this extent!

This scene terrified the remaining Hall of Souls guards who were entangled with Medusa!

Only then did they realize that this seemingly young man in blue robes possessed such horrifying close-combat fighting ability!

Li Ao didn't even look at the three corpses, suddenly accelerating his pace, his target directed straight at the blood essence demon fruit above the altar!

“Junior! How dare you!”

The eyes of the Six-Star Dou Zong Elder presiding over the altar were splitting with rage! Seeing Li Ao about to reach the blood essence demon fruit, he no longer cared about the risk of the altar's backlash, fiercely bit the tip of his tongue, and spat a mouthful of essence blood onto the bone staff!

“Netherworld Ghost Hand, Capture the Soul and Seize the Spirit!”

His free left hand fiercely clawed at Li Ao through the air! A giant ghost hand, entirely condensed from pure Netherworld Power and covered in bizarre runes, instantly appeared above Li Ao's head, its five fingers spread wide. It descended, carrying the terrifying power to confine space and capture the Soul!

Before the ghost hand even arrived, the chilling and dead silence emanating from it already caused Li Ao's Soul to feel a stinging pain!

This was a Six-Star Dou Zong's strike fueled by rage, its might far surpassing that of the previous guards!

Li Ao's eyes narrowed, knowing he couldn't take it head-on. His body abruptly paused, shifting from extreme motion to extreme stillness. The Qi and fighting spirit within him surged wildly, and he held his fingers like a knife. The wisp of grayish Return to Stillness Qi at his fingertip condensed at an unprecedented speed!

“Annihilation, Breaking the Law!”

He pointed his joined fingers upward, fiercely striking the descending Netherworld Ghost Hand!

A subtle, silver-gray thread, which seemed capable of severing rules and annihilating all Laws, went Heaven-Defyingly upward, colliding with the massive Netherworld Ghost Hand!

There was no earth-shattering explosion, only a heart-palpitating sense of desolation, as if all things had come to an end, spreading outwards!

The core runic structure and energy flow of the mighty Netherworld Ghost Hand instantly disintegrated and vanished at an unprecedented speed the moment it touched the silver-gray thread, as if it had been cast into an ultimate furnace of nothingness!

The gigantic ghost hand turned into nothingness inch by inch, starting from the fingertips, as if it had never existed!

“The Power of Law?! You can actually control the Law to such an extent?!” The Six-Star Dou Zong Elder let out a shriek of terror and disbelief, his eyes filled with shock!

The Power of Law was a Domain that only Dou Venerate experts could begin to deeply interact with. How could a mere Dou Zong youth master it so profoundly?! Moreover, it was a terrifying Law he had never heard of, yet it severely restrained Netherworld Power!

Just in this instant when his mind was distracted—

“Crack!”

Because he forcibly diverted his attention to attack, a subtle disturbance appeared in the operation of the altar! The black chains wrapped around the blood essence demon fruit dimmed, and their power to confine the fruit suddenly weakened!

Now!

Li Ao's eyes flashed brightly, the Thunder Sound Steps roared again, and his body appeared above the altar as if teleporting. His large hand, covered in a bronze luster, reached directly for the pulsating blood essence demon fruit!

“No!!!” The Hall of Souls Elder let out a desperate roar.

However, just as Li Ao's fingers were about to touch the blood essence demon fruit—

An unexpected change occurred!

The massive snake bone altar seemed to have its hidden characteristics completely activated due to the recent disturbance and the violent fluctuation of the blood essence demon fruit's power!

“Buzz—!!!”

Above the altar, all the pale snake bones simultaneously erupted with dazzling netherlight! The carved serpentine runes seemed to come alive, swimming frantically!

The spatial vortex at the center of the altar suddenly expanded and twisted, and an intent far older, more tyrannical, and more terrifying than before, like a Vicious Beast that had slept for countless ages, descended with a crash!

This intent was filled with chaos, slaughter, and endless greed, seemingly wanting to devour all vitality!

“Hiss—!!”

A sharp, ear-splitting hiss, which did not travel through the air but echoed directly in the depths of everyone's Soul, suddenly emanated from the spatial vortex!

Accompanying the hiss, a massive, indistinct phantom of a nine-headed snake suddenly extended a portion of its body from the vortex!

The phantom was neither a physical entity nor a Soul Body; it was more like a combination of residual ancient will and energy! Its eighteen snake pupils opened simultaneously, containing only pure chaos and hunger!

“It's... it's the Nine-Headed Celestial Snake Remnant Soul from ancient times! The altar actually summoned something like this?!” The Hall of Souls Elder was so scared that his Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering; he clearly hadn't anticipated this kind of unexpected event!

This altar was originally discovered by the Hall of Souls by chance. They intended to use its power to connect to a secret realm, but they never expected it would lure out the remnant thought of such an ancient Vicious Beast!

The moment the Nine-Headed Snake Remnant Soul appeared, its eighteen snake pupils instantly locked onto the closest targets that contained immense vitality and Soul Power—Li Ao, and the blood essence demon fruit he was about to collect!

To it, both were supreme and delicious supplements!

“Hiss!”

One of the snake heads suddenly opened its massive maw, not to devour, but to spew out a gray-black beam of light containing the aura of extreme decay and decline, shooting straight toward Li Ao!

Wherever the beam passed, even space seemed to lose its color and turn gray and withered!

This attack did not contain Netherworld Power, but the Law of Decay, which was older and closer to the Origin of the world! Its power far exceeded the Netherworld Ghost Hand of the Six-Star Dou Zong Elder!

The hair on Li Ao's body stood on end as he sensed an unprecedented death crisis! He had no doubt that if he were hit by this beam, even with the formidable strength of his Bronze Battle Body, his vitality would instantly decay, turning him into withered bones!

He wanted to dodge, but his figure was firmly locked down by the terrifying will of the Nine-Headed Snake Remnant Soul. It was like sinking into a swamp, making movement extremely difficult!

Seeing the Decay Beam about to swallow him—

“Be careful!”

A seven-colored stream of light moved horizontally at a speed beyond thought, blocking Li Ao's path! It was Medusa!

Ignoring the attacks of the Hall of Souls guards behind her, she forcibly mobilized all her Soul Power. The seven-colored runes on her brow lit up like fire, and her hands traced a perfect arc in front of her, condensing into an incredibly solid seven-colored Soul shield!

“Boom—!!!”

The Decay Beam violently struck the seven-colored shield!

There was no loud crash, only a strange, grating sound, as if all things were rapidly aging and collapsing!

The seven-colored shield trembled violently, its light visibly dimming at a speed perceptible to the naked eye. Fine cracks, resembling the erosion of time, even appeared on its surface!

Medusa's Soul Body shook violently, and her face instantly became slightly transparent; she had clearly sustained immense pressure and damage!

But in the end, she blocked the fatal blow!

“Your Majesty!” Li Ao's eyes were splitting with rage, and an unspeakable shock and fury surged in his heart!

Seizing this opportunity, he abruptly grabbed the blood essence demon fruit that was within reach, fiercely tore it off, and placed it into his storage ring!

“Go!”

Without hesitation, he wrapped his arm around Medusa's now somewhat illusory waist (though a Soul Body lacks substance, it retains form). Pushing the Thunder Sound Steps and the power of the *Black Iron Hegemon Body* to the extreme, he transformed into a stream of bronze and seven-colored light, fleeing desperately toward the outside of the valley!

Seeing its "food" snatched away, the Nine-Headed Snake Remnant Soul let out an even more violent and furious hiss. Its remaining eight heads simultaneously lifted, brewing an even more terrifying attack!

Meanwhile, the Hall of Souls Elder recovered from his shock. Watching the fleeing pair and the rampaging ancient snake Remnant Soul, his expression shifted constantly. Finally, gritting his teeth, he ignored the altar, taking the remaining guards and fleeing frantically in another direction.

Inside the valley, only the flickering snake bone altar remained, along with the enraged Nine-Headed Celestial Snake Remnant Soul, which was gradually struggling free from the spatial vortex...

Li Ao held Medusa, pushing his speed to the limit. He had only one thought: Get out of here! They must leave as quickly as possible!

Medusa leaned against his chest, the light of her Soul Body flickering erratically. Taking the full force of the Decay Beam just now had caused her immense depletion and damage.

She raised her eyes slightly, looking at Li Ao's taut jawline. A complex, hard-to-read expression flashed in her purple eyes before she slowly closed them, focusing all her strength on stabilizing her nearly collapsing Soul.

The trip to the Savage Ancient Domain had achieved its objective, but the danger involved far exceeded expectations!