52: Silent Soul Hunt

The night in the wasteland was dead silent and empty, with only the fierce north wind wailing like a vengeful spirit, never ceasing.

Moonlight was obscured by thick dark clouds; only the snow reflected a faint, pale light, illuminating four figures rapidly flying across the wilderness.

Li Ao was in the lead, moving like a ghost; each step he took on the snow left only a shallow depression, making almost no sound.

He did not push his speed to the limit; like an experienced hunter, he deliberately maintained a rhythm that allowed his pursuers to see hope, yet prevented them from ever closing the distance, leading them deeper away from Black Rock Town.

Behind him, three black-robed figures clung like leeches, chasing relentlessly.

The leader, a Two-Star Dou Huang deacon, was surrounded by gray-black mist; wherever he passed, even the ice and snow seemed to lose vitality and become dull.

His gaze was sinister, locked tightly onto the blue-robed figure ahead, and he felt both shock and rage.

Shocked that the opponent could evade his perception and spy on them, and destroy the warning core inside the inn with a single strike; raged that this person dared to challenge the prestige of the Hall of Souls!

"No matter who you are, today I will extract your Soul and refine you into a Soul slave!" The deacon's voice was hoarse, carrying bone-chilling coldness.

His speed suddenly increased.

With a sweep of his sleeve, two gray chains, condensed from pure Soul Power, shot out like venomous snakes, tearing through the air and wrapping around Li Ao's legs from the left and right, accompanied by sharp, mournful screeches.

An eerie power that corroded the Soul permeated the chains.

The other two Dou Ling-level Soul envoys also attacked simultaneously; one launched a mental shock, attempting to disrupt Li Ao's mind, while the other condensed several sinister ghost figures that lunged forward menacingly, uttering mind-disturbing murmurs.

Facing the three-pronged attack, Li Ao finally stopped.

He slowly turned around; his dark golden face appeared somewhat blurred in the faint light, but his pupils, like two burning silver-gray cold stars, coldly watched the incoming attacks.

He did not use the refined steel saber on his back; he simply raised his right hand, spread his five fingers, and clenched his fist in the Void Realm toward the howling Soul chains, mental shock, and ferocious ghost figures.

"Nirvana."

Uttering two words softly, it was as if his words commanded the Law.

Centered on his palm, an invisible force field suddenly spread out, seemingly capable of rendering all things into ultimate stillness!

The two gray chains, strong enough to capture a Dou Huang's Soul, instantly collapsed the moment they entered the force field, like flames thrown into nothingness.

The Soul Power within them was annihilated into the most Origin particles before even a mournful cry could be emitted, vanishing without a trace!

The invisible mental shock was like a clay ox entering the sea, failing to stir up even a ripple!

And those ferocious ghost figures were even more so, as if they had encountered a natural nemesis; amidst despairing shrieks, their forms twisted and faded, eventually dissolving completely into nothingness!

Everything happened in a flash!

The combined attack of the three Hall of Souls envoys was actually erased so easily...?

"Rule Power?! And it's... Annihilation Rule?!" The Two-Star Dou Huang deacon's pupils contracted sharply, and he cried out in horror.

His charging figure came to an abrupt halt, and for the first time, his face showed unbelievable terror!

He knew better than Yun Shan what this kind of Rule Power meant!

This was absolutely not a Domain that ordinary Dou Zong could touch!

"Who... who exactly are you?!" His voice carried a trace of barely noticeable tremor.

Li Ao did not answer.

His figure flickered, appearing as if by instantaneous movement in front of the Dou Ling Soul envoy who had launched the mental shock.

Under the envoy's horrified gaze, the dark golden palm easily pierced through his hastily condensed Soul defense like a sheet of thin paper, pressing onto his crown.

"Soul Search."

Two cold words were spat out.

Overbearing Soul Power, mixed with a hint of Nirvana intent, forcibly invaded the opponent's Sea of Consciousness!

"Ah—!" An incomparably mournful scream tore through the night sky.

The Dou Ling Soul envoy's body convulsed violently, black blood oozing from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth, as his Soul rapidly dissipated under the erosion of Nirvana Power.

Moments later, Li Ao released his hand; the Soul envoy slumped to the ground like mud, his life extinguished.

Meanwhile, Li Ao's mind had acquired some fragmented yet crucial information:

"Soul Burial Ravine... the ruins of the ancient sect 'Nether Sect'... spatial node... receiving the 'Branch Hall Venerable Envoy'..."

"The key... has three parts... one part is suspected to be hidden in the ancestral land of the Snake-People Clan in the Tagor Desert..."

"Protector Wu... has already gone to Tagor... targeting Queen Medusa and the relic key..."

Just as expected!

The Hall of Souls' goal is to open the spatial node in the Soul Burial Ravine to usher in a stronger existence!

And the relics in the Tagor Desert and the Snake-People Clan are also involved!

Medusa is truly in danger!

The moment Li Ao performed the Soul Search, a ruthless look flashed in the eyes of the Two-Star Dou Huang deacon.

He abandoned his companion without hesitation, transforming into a gray shadow and desperately fleeing in the opposite direction!

At the same time, he crushed a pitch-black Jade Slip, and a faint spatial fluctuation attempted to transmit a message outwards!

He knew that facing an opponent who controlled the Annihilation Rule, he had no chance of victory!

He had to send the message back!

"Trying to leave?"

Li Ao's cold gaze swept over.

He pointed his fingers like a blade and slashed through the air toward the back of the desperately fleeing deacon.

A faint silver-gray thread, almost merging with the darkness, silently traversed space, arriving later but striking first, instantly catching up to the deacon!

The deacon felt the aura of death behind him that froze his Soul, and he frantically mobilized all his Qi and Soul Power to set up a defense behind him!

However, it was useless!

As the silver-gray thread swept past, the layers of defense he had set up shattered one after another like bubbles in the sun!

The thread pierced through his back without obstruction, emerging from his chest!

The deacon's charging figure suddenly froze.

He lowered his head, looking at the hole in his chest that was clear from front to back, smooth as a mirror at the edges, and devoid of any blood.

His eyes were filled with extreme fear and bewilderment.

He could feel that his life force, along with his Soul, was being rapidly annihilated and reduced to nothingness by an invisible power.

"The Venerable Envoy... won't... spare..." He struggled to utter a few words before his body, like a weathered sand sculpture, silently turned into dust and scattered into the fierce cold wind.

The last Dou Ling Soul envoy was already scared to the point of Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering, and immediately turned to run.

Li Ao didn't even look; he backhanded a palm strike, and the powerful palm wind, mixed with a hint of Nirvana aura, instantly shattered the envoy into a mist of blood, following in his companions' footsteps.

In the blink of an eye, the three Hall of Souls envoys—two dead and one Soul searched—were completely wiped out.

Li Ao stood rooted to the spot, digesting the information obtained from the Soul Search, his eyes growing colder.

The Hall of Souls' plan was larger than he had imagined, and the threat facing Medusa far exceeded expectations.

The "Protector Wu" who went to the Tagor Desert was likely at least a high-level Dou Huang, or possibly even a Dou Zong!

He must head to the Tagor Desert as soon as possible!

But before that, the spatial node at the Soul Burial Ravine must be dealt with!

He absolutely cannot allow them to usher in the so-called "Branch Hall Venerable Envoy"!

His gaze turned toward the direction of the Soul Burial Ravine; the energy fluctuations emanating from there seemed more active.

According to the information obtained from the Soul Search, the calm period for the spatial turbulence was within the next day or two!

"I will cut off your hopes first!"

Li Ao moved, no longer returning to Black Rock Town, but speeding directly toward the Soul Burial Ravine.

Under the cover of night, his figure was like a meteor cutting through the darkness, carrying decisive killing intent, heading straight for that fatal place marked "no return."

At the same time, far away in Jia Ma Holy City.

Xiao Yan finished another day of arduous cultivation, standing in the courtyard and looking toward the direction of Yun Lan Mountain in the south, slowly clenching his hand.

Only ten days remained until the Three-Year Agreement!

Meanwhile, deep within the Tagor Desert, in front of the entrance to an ancient ruin hidden beneath distorted space, Queen Medusa held a seven-colored snake-shaped longsword, a trace of blood spilling from the corner of her mouth.

Her seven-colored gaze coldly watched the figure ahead, shrouded in thick black mist and emitting a suffocating aura—the Hall of Souls' Protector Wu!

The storm had simultaneously erupted everywhere!

Li Ao's choice would directly influence the direction of this massive vortex sweeping across multiple regions!