205: Golden Crow Obsidian, Soul Palace Appears

Since the agreement had been reached, the next step was the exchange.

Yan Jin acted decisively; with a sweep of his sleeve, a crimson light flashed, and a strange metal—roughly the size of a fist, entirely golden-red, and seemingly containing liquid sun flowing within—hovered before him.

The moment this object appeared, the light across the entire Fire Crow Ridge seemed to brighten several times over.

A pure, vast, supremely Yang and rigid aura permeated the area. Unlike the fierce, contained heat of the earth core fire lotus, it was more like a confined miniature sun, emitting endless light and heat!

Even the "Silent Spirit Sealing Barrier" set up by Li Ao rippled slightly, seemingly struggling to completely isolate this immense Yang force.

It was the solar essence gold!

Li Ao could clearly feel a faint, eager hum emanating from the dormant "silent ruin" within his body.

This piece of solar essence gold was precisely the supremely Yang object it urgently needed to transform into its complete form and balance the Death Qi of annihilation!

"The solar essence gold is here," Yan Jin said, his gaze sweeping over Li Ao. "Where are your fire lotus and Medicinal Pill?"

Li Ao did not hesitate and signaled Medusa.

Medusa took out the cold jade casket but did not open it completely, only lifting the lid a crack, allowing the dense fire lotus aura and a hint of the Bone Chilling Flame's icy essence to leak out again.

After confirmation, she immediately closed it.

Simultaneously, Li Ao tossed a white jade bottle toward Yan Jin, which contained three dragon-eye sized "nine yin yellow springs pill" radiating cold, Yin Qi.

Yan Jin's Soul Power swept over the jade bottle, confirming the quality of the Medicinal Pill, and a hint of satisfaction flashed in his eyes.

He reached out and grabbed the items in the air; the cold jade casket and the jade bottle flew into his hand.

Meanwhile, the piece of solar essence gold slowly flew toward Li Ao.

The transaction was about to be successfully completed.

However, just before the solar essence gold was about to fall into Li Ao's hands—

A sudden change occurred!

"Jie jie jie... solar essence gold, earth core fire lotus, both are good things! Why rush the transaction? Why not... leave them all for this Protector!"

A sinister, strange laugh, like the cry of a night owl, rang out without warning from the Void Realm!

The voice was erratic, seeming to come from all directions!

Immediately following, the space between Li Ao and the solar essence gold twisted violently like water ripples, and a pitch-black spatial rift suddenly tore open!

A withered, ghostly hand, wrapped in dense black mist, shot out of the rift like lightning, reaching straight for the solar essence gold suspended in mid-air!

Its speed was astonishing, and the timing was so cunningly precise that it was clear the attacker had been lurking for a long time, waiting for the exact moment the transaction was complete and both parties were most relaxed!

"Hall of Souls rat, how dare you act so recklessly!" Yan Jin was furious.

He hadn't expected someone from the Hall of Souls to dare attempt a snatch right under his nose!

His reaction was instantaneous.

He pointed his fingers like a blade, and a crimson line of fire, condensed to the extreme and seemingly capable of burning through space, struck the ghostly hand, arriving before it could retreat.

However, the ghostly hand seemed to have anticipated this.

Its wrist twisted strangely, and instead of dodging, its five fingers splayed open, and a black talisman seal engraved with a ferocious ghost face suddenly lit up in its palm!

"Ten Thousand Souls Devour!"

The talisman seal burst open, transforming into a spinning black vortex from which countless mournful, wailing Soul phantoms poured out, forcibly devouring and wearing down Yan Jin's fierce line of fire!

Although the vortex also collapsed afterward, the ghostly hand seized the opportunity, and its fingertips already touched the edge of the solar essence gold!

The solar essence gold was moments away from changing hands!

It was at this critical moment—

Li Ao, who had been standing still, had a burst of cold light in his eyes!

This was the moment he had been waiting for!

"I've been guarding against you all along!"

He coldly shouted in his mind, and the "Silent Spirit Sealing Barrier" he had been maintaining suddenly reversed!

The gray-gold force field, originally used for isolation and confinement, instantly transformed into an incomparably violent force of repulsion and annihilation, erupting explosively with him and the solar essence gold at its center!

"Boom—!"

The invisible annihilation shockwave spread out in a ring!

The ghostly hand, which was about to succeed, bore the brunt of the attack!

The protective black mist wrapped around it instantly melted away like ice and snow under the scorching sun upon contact with the annihilation shockwave, emitting a "hissing" sound!

Furthermore, the withered fingers quickly turned gray and shriveled as if they had been dipped in strong acid!

"Ah! What kind of power is this?!"

A roar of shock and fury came from the spatial rift.

The ghostly hand, as if scalded, violently retracted back into the spatial rift!

As for the piece of solar essence gold, pushed by this powerful repulsive force, it accelerated toward Li Ao, who caught it steadily and instantly put it into his storage ring!

All of this happened in a flash of lightning!

From the sneak attack by the Soul Hall Protector, to Yan Jin's interception, and finally to Li Ao activating the Silent Spirit Sealing Barrier's counter-reversal, it was only a matter of seconds!

It wasn't until Li Ao put away the solar essence gold that the aftershock of Yan Jin's furious attack completely smoothed out the twisted space, but the Soul Hall Protector had already escaped using the spatial rift, leaving only a faint, cold aura and a resentful snort echoing in the air.

Huo Yi and Huo Ying only fully reacted at this moment, startled and enraged, their bodies engulfed in rising flames as they vigilantly scanned their surroundings.

Yan Jin's expression was terribly grim.

As a dignified Dou Venerate, he had nearly allowed a Hall of Souls scoundrel to snatch the traded items right under his nose—this was an utter humiliation!

He looked at Li Ao with complicated eyes.

The strange power that had erupted moments ago made even him feel a trace of fear.

That was definitely not a common Dou Qi attribute; it was filled with absolute Death Qi and the concept of finality, and it was able to so effectively suppress the Hall of Souls' foul Soul power.

This youth truly hides astonishing trump cards!

"Thank you, Elder, for intervening." Li Ao acted as if nothing had happened, giving Yan Jin a slight bow with a calm tone.

While his words seemed like thanks, they actually implied that without Yan Jin's distracting attack just now, he might not have been able to repel the Soul Hall Protector so easily.

Yan Jin took a deep breath, suppressing the anger and surprise in his heart, and said in a deep voice, "The Hall of Souls is growing increasingly rampant! This place is not safe to linger in. Take care of yourselves!"

Since the transaction was complete, he did not wish to stay any longer.

He needed to immediately return to the Yan Clan to report today's events, especially concerning Li Ao's strange power and the Hall of Souls' audacity in provoking them deep within the Hundred Thousand Volcanoes.

"Let's go!" Yan Jin waved his sleeve, enveloping Huo Yi and Huo Ying, and the three transformed into crimson streams of light, soaring into the sky and vanishing into the horizon in an instant.

They came quickly and left just as fast.

Fire Crow Ridge returned to calm, leaving only Li Ao and Medusa, along with the heat and a trace of chilliness that had not yet completely dissipated from the air.

Medusa walked up to Li Ao, her purple eyes looking in the direction the Hall of Souls individual had fled.

She said coldly, "The one who attacked just now was at least a Peak Three-Star Dou Zong Soul Hall Protector, skilled in spatial concealment.

If you hadn't been prepared, he might truly have succeeded."

Li Ao nodded, feeling the piece of solar essence gold radiating warm Yang Qi inside his storage ring, and a smile of relief finally curved his lips.

"Risk and opportunity coexist.

Now, the final main piece of the puzzle for reforging the 'silent ruin' has finally been obtained."

His gaze swept the surroundings, and after carefully probing with his Soul Power and confirming there were no further anomalies, he said to Medusa, "We should leave too.

Let's find a safe place.

First, I'll let you initially refine this 'Golden Crow Sunstone' (an alternate name for solar essence gold), and I also need to make some preparations for the final weapon forging."

The energy contained within the solar essence gold is supremely Yang and rigid.

Although Medusa's Seven-Colored Sky Swallowing Python Bloodline is powerful, direct contact could still affect her, requiring a special method for initial refinement before it can be safely carried and used.

The two stopped delaying, chose a direction opposite to the Yan Clan's departure route, and quickly left Fire Crow Ridge.

Although this trip to the southwest was full of twists and turns, the ultimate goal had been achieved.

Next, they would search for a perfect location to fuse these hard-won divine materials into one furnace, forging the true Blade of Annihilation—the black saber "silent ruin"!