137: Killed on the way back, the secret of heaven begins to emerge

Leaving the boundless sea of the Ancient Dragon Island, Xiao Chen and Feng Xian sped eastward, heading towards the Pill Tower Holy Domain.

Both traveled at full speed; Xiao Chen’s Three-Star Dou Zun spatial teleportation combined with Feng Xian’s Star Flying Sword made their speed incredibly fast, and within a few days, they had traversed more than half the journey, entering the peripheral region of the Central Territory’s core.

On this day, the two were flying over a mountain range called the Soul Burial Mountain Range.

This mountain range was treacherous, shrouded year-round in grey-black miasma, said to be the site of an ancient great battle, with countless bones buried beneath, making the yin energy extremely heavy, causing ordinary cultivators to detour.

“Brother Xiao, the miasma ahead is dense, and soul perception is obstructed; we need to be careful,” Feng Xian reminded, controlling his flying sword and vigilantly scanning the mist-shrouded mountains below.

Xiao Chen nodded slightly, his Heavenly Realm Soul Power spreading out like an invisible spider web; although disturbed by the miasma, it could still cover an area of several thousand zhang.

He faintly sensed that within this mountain range, several extremely subtle yet powerful auras seemed to be lurking, carrying a hint of familiar cold death qi.

“There’s an ambush,” Xiao Chen’s eyes narrowed, and he transmitted a message to Feng Xian, “Conceal our aura, slow down, and see what they intend to do.”

The two understood each other, pretending to be unaware, and slightly slowed their speed, like ordinary cultivators on a journey.

Just as they flew above the deepest canyon in the center of the mountain range, an anomaly suddenly occurred!

“Buzz—!”

The miasma below suddenly churned, and four pitch-black light pillars shot into the sky, instantly intertwining in mid-air to form a massive Netherworld Soul-Locking Great Array!

The array’s light barrier was like an inverted giant bowl, completely sealing off the space within ten thousand zhang!

Within the array, death qi permeated, and countless vengeful spirits shrieked, frantically assaulting people’s souls!

At the same time, four figures shrouded in dense death qi slowly rose from the four directions of the canyon, forming a encirclement, trapping Xiao Chen and Feng Xian in the center!

The leader was a gaunt, hollow-eyed old man, whose aura was as vast as the sea, having clearly reached the Mid Stage Five-Star Dou Zun!

The three beside him consisted of two Peak Four-Star Dou Zun and one Peak Three-Star Dou Zun!

The strength of this lineup far exceeded that of the Black Dragon Guard they had encountered outside Ancient Dragon Island earlier!

“Hehehe… Xiao Chen, you little bastard, it really is you! I didn’t expect you to come out of Ancient Dragon Island alive, and even break through to Three-Star Dou Zun? You truly surprise this Venerate!” The Mid Stage Five-Star Dou Zun old man let out a hoarse, cold laugh; it was none other than the Five Heavenly Venerable of the Soul Hall, who was stationed in the core region of the Central Territory!

His gaze locked onto Xiao Chen like a venomous snake, his killing intent undisguised.

“Five Heavenly Venerable of the Soul Hall?” Xiao Chen’s expression was calm, but his heart sank.

The opponent was clearly prepared, setting up a great array here to wait for them; they even knew about his breakthrough to Three-Star Dou Zun, the precision of their intelligence was alarming.

“To kill me, the Soul Hall is really willing to spend a fortune.”

“Hmph! You have repeatedly ruined major affairs of my Soul Hall, and you carry the secrets of the Xiao Clan’s inheritance and the dragon phoenix origin fruit; how can we allow you to live?” The Five Heavenly Venerable said coldly, “Today, this Soul Burial Mountain Range will be your burial ground! Form the array, Ten Thousand Souls Corroding Bones!”

At his command, the four Soul Hall Elders simultaneously formed hand seals, and the power of the Netherworld Soul-Locking Great Array surged!

Above the array’s light barrier, countless hideous vengeful spirits condensed into form, transforming into streaks of soul-corroding yin lightning and netherworld ghost fire, pouring down like a torrential rain!

Furthermore, an invisible soul-corroding force, omnipresent, drilled into the two’s sea of consciousness!

“Brother Xiao, be careful! This array specializes in attacking the soul!” Feng Xian’s expression changed drastically, his Star Sword Aura protecting his body, yet he felt his soul being pierced by ten thousand needles, the pain unbearable!

“Mere childish tricks!” Xiao Chen snorted coldly, his Heavenly Realm Soul Power fully erupting, and the Indestructible Soul Armor shone with golden light, completely blocking that soul-corroding force!

At the same time, with a thought, the star origin imprint between his eyebrows glowed faintly, and a pure Power of Starlight spread out, forming a Star Barrier around the two, isolating the soul-corroding yin lightning and netherworld ghost fire!

“Bang bang bang!”

The dense attacks landed on the Star Barrier, erupting in continuous loud bangs; the barrier fluctuated violently but remained exceptionally tough, not breaking!

“Hmm? Heavenly Realm Soul? And Power of Starlight?” A hint of surprise flashed in the Five Heavenly Venerable’s eyes, which then turned into deeper greed, “He truly possesses great treasures! It seems today, not only will I kill you, but I will also seize your fortune! Netherworld Ghost Hand, capture!”

His withered palm grabbed through the air, and a gigantic Netherworld Ghost Hand, entwined with countless vengeful spirits, tore through space, its five fingers like mountains, carrying the terrifying power to imprison space, directly grabbing towards the Star Barrier!

This grab’s power was already close to that of a Late Stage Five-Star Dou Zun!

Facing this deadly blow, Xiao Chen’s eyes were sharp; he knew he could no longer passively defend!

He had to take the initiative to break the array!

“Brother Feng, lend me a hand and attack the Peak Three-Star Dou Zun in the northeast corner! He is the relatively weakest link in the array!” As Xiao Chen transmitted the message, his figure shot up!

He did not directly confront the Five Heavenly Venerable’s ghost hand but instead pushed his speed to the extreme, using Illusory Spirit Steps combined with spatial distortion, his figure like a ghost, evading the ghost hand’s lock, and charging straight towards the Soul Hall Elder in the northeast corner!

“star furnace, Heaven Opening Axe Intent, merge!”

Xiao Chen roared, the star furnace in his Qi Sea operating frantically, and new Dou Qi surged out!

He cupped his hands in the air, and a dark-gold giant axe, condensed with Power of Starlight and Heaven Opening Axe Intent, instantly formed!

Above the giant axe, faint dragon phoenix phantoms hovered, which was his newfound power, initially fused with the dragon phoenix essence blood aura!

“Nine Axes of Heaven Opening—Pseudo-Heaven Opening, cleave!”

One axe cleaved out, no longer a silent thread, but a dark-gold axe-light that tore through the sky!

Wherever the axe-light passed, space was cut open like cloth, and the array’s light barrier twisted violently, emitting a groan of unbearable strain!

“Not good!” The Peak Three-Star Dou Zun in the northeast corner turned pale, frantically activating his death qi defense!

But Xiao Chen’s axe strike had a power that already surpassed that of an ordinary Four-Star Dou Zun!

How could he resist it?

“Pfft!”

The axe-light swept past, and the death qi defense shattered like foam!

That Soul Hall Elder didn’t even let out a scream before being cleaved in half by the axe-light, his soul scattered!

One axe, instant kill!

The array lost a corner, and the light barrier instantly dimmed, its power greatly reduced!

“You little beast! How dare you!” The Five Heavenly Venerable was both shocked and enraged, his Netherworld Ghost Hand changed direction, fiercely striking Xiao Chen’s back!

“Your opponent is me! Azure Dragon Splitting Sky Claw!” Feng Xian, who had been accumulating power, had spent many days with Senior Azure Pheasant and gained insights into dragon clan battle techniques; at this moment, he erupted with full power, his Power of Starlight mixed with a trace of dragon might, transforming into a massive Azure Dragon claw shadow, bravely meeting the Netherworld Ghost Hand!

“Boom!”

The claw shadow collided with the ghost hand; though Feng Xian was shaken, his blood and qi churning, and sent flying backward, he successfully bought Xiao Chen a moment of opportunity!

“Break!” Xiao Chen seized the chance, his figure moved again, the dark-gold giant axe sweeping across the army, cleaving towards the other two Peak Four-Star Dou Zun!

Those two Venerable Elders, having witnessed Xiao Chen’s ruthlessness, dared not meet him head-on and dodged one after another!

The array was once again impacted, teetering on the verge of collapse!

“Damn it! This Venerate will personally cut you down!” The Five Heavenly Venerable was completely enraged, his figure flickered, appearing before Xiao Chen as if teleporting, his withered claw directly aiming for Xiao Chen’s throat!

The claw wind was sharp, and five pitch-black cracks were torn in space!

“Good timing!” Xiao Chen’s eyes burned with battle intent; he neither dodged nor retreated, his dark-gold giant axe sweeping upwards, a rising slash, meeting the withered claw!

At the same time, he secretly activated the drop of dragon phoenix essence blood given by the Dragon Emperor!

“Buzz!”

The essence blood entered his body, and a primordial power instantly swept through him!

Xiao Chen’s physical strength surged, a faint golden-red glow appearing beneath his skin, his strength, speed, and defense all comprehensively improved!

The axe-light’s power increased further!

“Clang—!!!”

Axe and claw met, erupting in a huge clang of metal striking metal!

An energy storm exploded, clearing a large area of the surrounding miasma!

Xiao Chen’s body shook violently, retreating more than ten steps, his tiger mouth split open, bleeding profusely.

Yet, the Five Heavenly Venerable was also shaken back half a step, and a shallow white mark appeared on his withered claw!

Directly clashing with a Mid Stage Five-Star Dou Zun, he was slightly at a disadvantage, but not defeated!

“What?! Your physical body…” The Five Heavenly Venerable’s pupils contracted, his face filled with horror!

His full-power strike actually failed to take down a mere Three-Star Dou Zun?!

The opponent’s physical strength was comparable to that of a dragon clan member of the same rank!

“It seems the effect of the dragon phoenix essence blood is even better than expected,” Xiao Chen wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his eyes shining even brighter.

Although injured, his confidence greatly increased!

A Mid Stage Five-Star Dou Zun was not invincible!

“Attack together, kill him!” The Five Heavenly Venerable shrieked, pouncing forward simultaneously with the other two Peak Four-Star Dou Zun!

The combined power of the three masters was earth-shattering!

Xiao Chen and Feng Xian fought back-to-back, falling into a bitter battle!

But the array was broken, giving them room to maneuver!

Xiao Chen, relying on his powerful physical body, elusive spatial movement technique, and sharp axe intent, entangled with the Five Heavenly Venerable, holding his own despite being at a disadvantage!

Feng Xian, meanwhile, fully resisted the encirclement of the two Four-Star Dou Zun, constantly in peril!

As the fierce battle raged, no one noticed that on an inconspicuous mountain peak in the distance, a figure in white robes, with a blurred face, seemingly merged with heaven and earth, was quietly observing the battle.

He played with a black and white chess piece in his hand, a meaningful smile playing on his lips.

“Xiao Chen… Three-Star Dou Zun, Heavenly Realm Soul, dragon phoenix essence blood, Xiao Clan bloodline… an interesting variable.

This game of chess with the Soul Hall seems to be getting more and more interesting.” The white-robed man murmured, his fingertip lightly flicking, and the chess piece transformed into a barely perceptible streak of light, silently disappearing into the void.

“It seems it’s time… to make a move.”

His figure slowly dissipated, as if he had never appeared.

On the battlefield below, Xiao Chen narrowly dodged a killing blow from the Five Heavenly Venerable, then counter-attacked with an axe, forcing back a Four-Star Dou Zun.

The feeling of being watched in his heart grew clearer.

He vaguely felt that this ambush seemed more complicated than it appeared on the surface.

Beyond the Soul Hall, there seemed to be an invisible hand secretly orchestrating everything.

“Must escape quickly!” Xiao Chen’s eyes sharpened, and he made a decision.

He looked at Feng Xian and transmitted a message: “Brother Feng, prepare to break out!”

A bloody battle still continued.

And a greater mist had already descended.