53: The roar of Burial Soul Valley

The Soul Burial Ravine was a gigantic chasm located at the border between the Jia Ma Empire and the Izumo Empire.

Even before approaching, one could feel a chaotic, heart-palpitating energy field.

The air was filled with visible gray-black currents of Qi, the product of turbulent spatial power mixed with lingering, deathly Yin Qi. Ordinary Great Dou Masters would suffer Qi and blood decay and lose their minds if they stayed here too long.

The two sides of the abyss were steep black rock walls, sharp as if cut by a knife. Looking down, it was bottomless, with only howling Yin winds and occasional spatial rifts flashing by, powerful enough to tear a Dou King expert into shreds.

At this moment, on a relatively "gentle" section of the cliff face near the Jia Ma Empire side of the Soul Burial Ravine, three black-robed Hall of Souls envoys were busy surrounding a temporary, eerie altar constructed from countless pale skeletons and black runes.

In the center of the altar, a dark-purple crystal, constantly twisting and emitting intense spatial fluctuations, was suspended.

"Hurry! The calm period is about to arrive! We must activate the 'Space-Guiding Stone' and stabilize the node at the moment the spatial turbulence is weakest!" A Hall Envoy whose aura had reached the Peak of the nine-star Dou Spirit level urged sharply. He was the leader of the remaining three people present.

The other two Dou Spirits did not dare to delay, frantically injecting their own cold Dou Qi into the altar.

The black runes on the bone altar lit up one by one, emitting an ominous glow that resonated with the dark-purple "Space-Guiding Stone" in the center, attempting to forcibly open a stable passage amidst the violent spatial turbulence.

They did not notice that a figure, silent and steady as a boulder, was standing on a protruding black giant rock three hundred meters above them.

Li Ao overlooked the sickening bone altar below and the dark-purple crystal that was stirring spatial fluctuations, his gaze icy.

According to the information obtained through Soul searching, this was the key item the Hall of Souls used to locate and stabilize the spatial node.

"Using the skeletons of living beings as a base, and defiled Souls as a guide... The Hall of Souls truly consists entirely of scum that should be annihilated."

He did not hesitate in the slightest, not even giving the three people below any time to react.

He clenched his right hand, and the dark steel long saber on his back let out a low hum, automatically falling into his grasp.

Dark gold Qi and blood power intertwined with the silver-gray Annihilation Rule flowed across the saber body.

A terrifying profound meaning—one of severing all things and returning everything to ultimate nothingness—began to condense. The surrounding violent spatial turbulence and deathly Yin Qi seemed to retreat slightly in fear upon sensing this profound meaning.

He gripped the saber with both hands and raised it above his head. All his power, will, and comprehension of rules were poured into this single strike.

The saber's edge was aimed not at the three Hall Envoys, but at the bone altar they were activating beneath their feet, and—the Space-Guiding Stone—in the center of the altar!

"Overlord Saber—Return to Nothingness!"

A low shout, like the declaration of the God of Death!

The long saber slashed down!

There was no earth-shattering saber aura, nor was there a piercing shriek that tore space.

There was only a pitch-black fissure—condensed to the extreme, as if it had swallowed light and sound!

Like a straight line of ink, it extended from the blade's edge, ignoring spatial distance, and instantly descended upon the bone altar!

The three Hall Envoys didn't even have time to make any defensive or evasive movements, feeling only their Souls instantly freezing, their consciousness swallowed by boundless darkness and dead silence!

The instant the pitch-black fissure made contact with the altar—

"Buzz...!!"

The black runes that had lit up on the altar instantly dimmed and shattered, like candles being blown out!

The countless pale skeletons that made up the altar silently turned into dust, as if they had endured the erosion of millions of years!

The dark-purple "Space-Guiding Stone," which emitted intense spatial fluctuations, was completely annihilated within the pitch-black fissure without even a struggle, as if it had never existed in this world!

The entire altar, along with the three Hall Envoys, was erased by that mark of Return to Nothingness, leaving no trace, as if wiped from a piece of paper by an eraser.

Only a smooth, mirror-like, bottomless circular pit remained in its place, its edges still carrying faint, heart-palpitating traces of Annihilation Qi.

One strike! The altar was destroyed, the Space-Guiding Stone annihilated, and the three Dou Spirit Hall Envoys... were reduced to ashes!

However, the moment the altar was destroyed, an unexpected change occurred!

"Rumble—!!!"

Having lost the weak balancing power of the Space-Guiding Stone, the already violent spatial turbulence deep within the Soul Burial Ravine seemed utterly enraged, letting out an earth-shattering roar!

Countless thick spatial rifts, like black lightning, frantically darted, spread, and collided within the abyss!

The entire Soul Burial Ravine shook violently, and massive rocks rolled down the cliffsides, only to be twisted into nothingness by the chaotic spatial power before they could even reach the depths.

A suction force ten or even a hundred times more terrifying than before emanated from the bottom of the abyss, seemingly intent on swallowing everything!

Li Ao stood on the giant rock, his figure unmoving amidst the violent energy storm.

His blue robes flapped noisily, and his dark gold skin flowed with radiance, resisting all incoming spatial fragments and deathly Yin Qi.

He looked coldly at the doomsday-like scene below, sensing the spatial power that had completely lost control and gone berserk due to the destruction of the node.

The Hall of Souls wanted to stabilize the node to receive powerful experts? Now, this place would only become a more perilous dead zone that even Dou Zongs would not dare to easily step into!

At least until the spatial turbulence naturally subsided, their plan was completely ruined.

The objective had been achieved.

He no longer lingered. Turning around, he took one step, and his figure appeared several hundred meters away.

After a few flashes, he was far from the edge of the Soul Burial Ravine, which roared like a giant beast.

It was time to head to the Tagor Desert!

He took out the map gifted by the Mittel Family, fixing his gaze on the direction of the Tagor Desert.

He then touched the sub-talisman in his embrace, which still emitted a faint fluctuation, indicating that Medusa was still struggling in a fierce battle.

"Protector Wu... I hope your Soul can withstand the taste of 'Annihilation'."

The next moment, his Qi and blood roared around him, and the Thunder Sound Steps burst forth with full power, transforming him into a dark-gold streak of light tearing through the sky, speeding toward the Tagor Desert in the south of the Empire!

His speed was far greater than when he arrived, leaving a lingering sonic boom cloud in the air!

Barely a stick of incense after Li Ao left, the space above the Soul Burial Ravine twisted, and a figure shrouded in dense black mist, whose aura was several times stronger than the previous deacon, suddenly appeared.

As he looked at the completely out-of-control spatial turbulence below, which resembled a meat grinder, and the aura of the utterly vanished altar and Space-Guiding Stone, the black mist violently churned as he let out a roar of extreme fury:

"Who is it?! Who dares to ruin my Hall of Souls' great plan!!!"

The roar echoed in the Soul Burial Ravine but was drowned out by the even more violent spatial rumbling.

At the same time, in the back mountain of the Cloud Mist Sect in the Jia Ma Holy City.

Yun Shan, who was in secluded cultivation, suddenly opened his eyes, a trace of shock and doubt flashing across his dark pupils.

"The direction of the Soul Burial Ravine... What a terrifying energy burst... And a trace of... that disgusting Annihilation Qi... Was it him?! He didn't die, and he even ran there to destroy the Hall of Souls' arrangements?"

Yun Shan's expression constantly shifted before finally settling into one of gloom.

"Send word to Yun'er. The Three-Year Agreement is imminent, and the entire Sect must be on high alert! At the same time, notify our hidden agents in Tagor to closely monitor the movements in the desert, especially... the whereabouts of Medusa and that Li Ao!"

The attention of multiple parties, due to Li Ao's earth-shattering saber strike, once again focused on the vast and scorching desert in the south.

The Tagor Desert was about to become the next eye of the storm!

And Li Ao, rushing toward that place, Medusa, who was desperately holding on, and the mysterious Protector Wu, were about to face a fateful collision!