138: A bloody battle to break through, four-star Dou Zun!

Above the Soul Burial Mountain Range, although the Netherworld Locking Sky Great Array was already in tatters, the siege by the three Soul Hall experts was still like a torrential storm!

The Nether Ghost Claw of the Five Heavenly Venerable (Mid Stage Five-Star Dou Zun) appeared and disappeared erratically, its death qi corroding souls; two Peak Four-Star Dou Zun Soul Hall Elders, meanwhile, continuously launched tricky attacks from the flanks, their death qi chains and soul thorns entangling like venomous snakes!

Xiao Chen and Feng Xian stood back-to-back, struggling to hold on.

Xiao Chen, relying on his formidable physique, exquisite spatial movement techniques, and the Heaven Opening Axe Intent infused with dragon phoenix essence blood, directly confronted the Five Heavenly Venerable.

Though he repeatedly faced perilous situations, he always managed to exchange injuries for a chance at life at critical moments, forcing his opponent to retreat.

Feng Xian, on the other hand, fully unleashed his Stellar Sword Array, combined with the Dragon Clan combat techniques taught by Qing Zhi, barely fending off the fierce attacks of the two Four-Star Dou Zuns, but he was already stretched thin, with several new wounds on his body, blood staining his robes.

"Brother Xiao! This won't do! Their goal is to stall us, waiting for reinforcements!" Feng Xian anxiously transmitted his voice as he parried a death qi chain with a sword.

Xiao Chen's eyes were cold; how could he not know?

His Heavenly Realm Soul could clearly sense several powerful auras rapidly approaching from afar!

Once surrounded, death was certain!

"We must finish this quickly!" Xiao Chen's thoughts raced, a determined glint flashing in his eyes!

He bit the tip of his tongue fiercely, spitting a mouthful of essence blood onto his dark gold giant axe!

At the same time, he frantically activated the star origin imprint in his glabella and the remaining power of the dragon phoenix essence blood within his body!

"Burn essence blood, origin empowerment! Stars immortal, dragon phoenix possession!"

"Buzz—!"

Xiao Chen's body erupted with brilliant nine-colored divine light!

Within the light, golden dragon and colorful phoenix phantoms vaguely coiled and roared!

His aura instantly surged, infinitely approaching Four-Star Dou Zun!

His physical strength, Dou Qi power, and soul power all increased comprehensively!

On the dark gold giant axe, stars revolved, and dragons and phoenixes intertwined, emanating a terrifying power capable of splitting heaven and earth!

"Nine Axes of Heaven Opening—Pseudo-Heaven Opening, Ultimate Sublimation! One Axe Splits Heaven!"

He roared, gripping the axe with both hands, and fiercely unleashed his strongest axe strike towards the Five Heavenly Venerable directly in front of him!

This axe strike condensed all of his essence, qi, and spirit, integrating the three supreme artistic conceptions of stars, dragon phoenix, and Heaven Opening; it was the ultimate attack he could currently unleash!

As the axe light emerged, heaven and earth lost their color!

A chaotic axe qi, spanning the sky, tore through the void, causing space to collapse and all things to be annihilated in its wake!

Even the miasma of the Soul Burial Mountain Range was instantly purified!

"What?! This power..." The Five Heavenly Venerable's face drastically changed, sensing a fatal threat!

He frantically burned his death qi, forming hand seals to unleash a Soul Hall defensive forbidden art!

"Nine Nether Yellow Springs, Ten Thousand Souls Guard Body!"

The surging death qi transformed into a colossal netherworld vortex, within which ten thousand souls shrieked, forming an indestructible soul wall!

"Boom—!!!"

The chaotic axe qi violently struck the soul wall!

There was no loud bang, only a silent collision that seemed to come from the soul level!

The soul wall twisted violently, and ten thousand souls wailed and shattered!

After a few breaths of stalemate, the soul wall collapsed with a crash!

The axe qi's momentum slightly diminished, but it still carried an irresistible will, fiercely striking the Five Heavenly Venerable's crossed, blocking arms!

"Crack! Poof—!"

The sound of bones breaking was clearly audible!

The Five Heavenly Venerable let out a tragic shriek, his arms instantly twisted and deformed, and he was sent flying backward as if struck by a giant hammer, spitting blood wildly, his aura instantly weakening by more than half!

Though not dead, he was severely wounded!

"Five Heavenly Venerable!" The other two Peak Four-Star Dou Zuns were horrified, their attacks pausing!

"Now! Brother Feng, let's go!" Having succeeded with one strike, Xiao Chen had no intention of lingering in battle.

Suppressing the weakness from burning his essence blood, he grabbed the heavily injured Feng Xian, and his figure instantly merged into space, executing a long-distance spatial shuttle!

"Where do you think you're going!" The two Four-Star Dou Zuns reacted, roaring as they tore through space in pursuit!

But Xiao Chen's spatial shuttle speed, enhanced by burning his essence blood, was extremely fast, instantly widening the distance!

In a few flashes, Xiao Chen had already fled thousands of miles with Feng Xian, completely shaking off their pursuers.

He found a hidden mountain cave, set up a concealment barrier, and immediately sat down cross-legged, swallowing a handful of pills, fully recuperating.

Burning his essence blood and unleashing an ultimate attack had put an immense strain on him; he was now at his limit.

Feng Xian was also seriously injured, so he quickly took a healing pill and stood guard nearby.

Three days later, Xiao Chen slowly opened his eyes, a sharp glint contained within, his aura having recovered to a stable state, even more condensed and profound than before.

After this life-and-death battle and the tempering from burning his essence blood, his Peak Three-Star Dou Zun barrier had completely loosened, leaving him just a step away from breaking through to Four-Star Dou Zun!

"Brother Xiao, are you alright?" Feng Xian asked with concern, his own injuries also stable.

"I'm fine, it was a blessing in disguise, my cultivation has improved," Xiao Chen said, feeling the surging power within him, a slight curve appearing at the corner of his mouth.

He looked at Feng Xian, "Brother Feng, I am ashamed that you were injured because of me this time."

"Brother Xiao, you speak wrongly!" Feng Xian said sternly, "We fight side by side, there's no need to distinguish between us!

If not for your heroic efforts, we would have long been buried in the mountain range.

Through this battle, I also gained new insights into the fusion of the Stellar Sword Dao and Dragon Clan combat techniques, benefiting immensely."

Xiao Chen nodded, a warm feeling surging in his heart.

He took out the storage ring he had obtained from the Soul Hall Elder, tallied the spoils of war, and distributed some healing and soul-enhancing pills to Feng Xian.

At the same time, he also found several jade slips recording the recent movements of the Soul Hall.

As his soul power sank into the jade slips, Xiao Chen's expression gradually became solemn.

The information in the jade slips indicated that the Soul Hall's "Emperor Hunting Plan" had already entered its second phase!

The Soul Hall, in alliance with the Heavenly Nether Sect, Ice River Valley, and other forces, was frantically searching for descendants of the Eight Ancient Clans with their bloodlines throughout the Central Region, especially those from the Xiao Clan, Gu Clan, Yan Clan, and others!

At the same time, they were also secretly collecting information and treasures related to various ancient ruins containing Origin Qi!

What shocked Xiao Chen even more was that the Soul Hall seemed to have reached a deeper level of cooperation with the Heavenly Secret Pavilion; the Heavenly Secret Pavilion's intelligence network was fully serving the Soul Hall, causing many neutral forces to side with the Soul Hall Alliance!

"The Soul Hall's actions... are faster and more ruthless than we imagined!" Xiao Chen shared the intelligence with Feng Xian, saying in a deep voice, "They are trying to pull the rug out from under us, severing all potential forces that could threaten Hun Tiandi's achievement of 'Pseudo-Emperor'!"

Feng Xian's face also turned extremely grim: "It seems the Pill Tower and Starfall Pavilion will face even greater difficulties!

We must return to the Pill Tower as soon as possible and inform Senior Xuan Kongzi of the Ancient Dragon Island intelligence and the Soul Hall's latest movements!"

"Yes!" Xiao Chen nodded heavily.

He vaguely sensed that a massive storm, sweeping across the entire Central Region and even the entire Dou Qi Continent, was accelerating its brewing!

And he and the Pill Tower were already at the eye of the storm!

He no longer delayed, setting off again with Feng Xian.

This time, the two were even more cautious, fully concealing their tracks and bypassing areas where the Soul Hall might have set up ambushes.

Half a month later, the familiar outline of the Pill Tower Holy Domain finally appeared on the horizon.

However, as the two approached, they found the atmosphere around the Holy Domain's periphery unusually tense!

The number of patrolling Pill Tower disciples had greatly increased, each with a solemn expression, and the light of the great array protecting the tower was even more brilliant than before, subtly emanating a murderous aura.

"It seems the Pill Tower is already on high alert," Xiao Chen and Feng Xian exchanged glances, their hearts heavy.

They successfully passed the inspection and entered the Holy Domain, heading straight for the star tower.

At the top of the star tower, Xuan Kongzi's main body had already sensed their return and personally came out to greet them.

When he saw the faint, surging aura on Xiao Chen, close to Four-Star Dou Zun, and the lingering injuries on Feng Xian, a hint of surprise and worry flashed in his eyes.

"Chen'er, Feng Xian, you're finally back! How is the situation on Ancient Dragon Island? And you two..." Xuan Kongzi quickly asked.

Xiao Chen and Feng Xian reported in detail about their trip to Ancient Dragon Island, the appearance of the Dragon Emperor, the quelling of the rebellion, and the ambush by the Soul Hall's Five Heavenly Venerable on their return journey, and presented the intelligence jade slips obtained from the Soul Hall.

After listening, Xuan Kongzi's face became extremely solemn, and he remained silent for a long time.

He walked to the tower window with his hands behind his back, gazing at the distant, cloud-shrouded floating mountains, and said in a deep voice: "The dragon phoenix origin fruit... the Outer Realm Heavenly Demons' passage... the Soul Hall's 'Emperor Hunting Plan' second phase...

It seems the worst predictions are gradually becoming reality."

He turned, his sharp gaze fixed on Xiao Chen: "Chen'er, you have rendered great service on this trip to Ancient Dragon Island!

Not only did you assist the Dragon Emperor in quelling the rebellion, but you also brought back crucial intelligence!

However, you have also completely pushed yourself into the eye of the storm!

The Soul Hall's bounty on you has now been raised to a Heaven-tier mid-grade cultivation technique, an eighth-grade high-tier pill, and the real power position of a Soul Hall Vice Hall Master!

In the current Central Region, who knows how many desperate individuals are searching for your whereabouts!"

Xiao Chen's expression was calm: "This disciple had already anticipated it.

The Soul Hall and I are already irreconcilable."

"Good! Such courage!" Xuan Kongzi nodded in approval, then said solemnly, "Since that's the case, my Pill Tower will never retreat!

From today onwards, the Pill Tower enters its highest state of combat readiness!

All disciples outside are recalled, and the Heavenly Stellar Array is activated!

At the same time, I will unite with allies such as the Starfall Pavilion and Flower Sect to form a 'Anti-Alliance' to jointly confront the threat of the Soul Hall!"

He looked at Xiao Chen, his eyes filled with expectation: "Chen'er, your growth speed has exceeded everyone's expectations.

The current situation on the continent is precarious, and the future needs you young people to shoulder the heavy responsibility!

You should first go into seclusion in the star tower, stabilize your cultivation, and strive to break through to Four-Star Dou Zun as soon as possible!

When the time is right, there will be important tasks for you!"

"This disciple obeys!" Xiao Chen bowed in response.

He knew that peaceful cultivation time would likely not last much longer.

He had to quickly raise his strength to deal with the coming tumultuous waves!

In the following days, Xiao Chen once again entered seclusion on the top floor of the star tower.

He simultaneously digested the insights from his trip to Ancient Dragon Island and the residual energy of the dragon phoenix essence blood, while also striving to break through the bottleneck of Four-Star Dou Zun.

Outside, the situation was turbulent; friction between the Pill Tower and the Soul Hall Alliance continuously escalated, with small and medium-scale conflicts occurring frequently, and the entire Central Region felt like a storm was brewing.

What Xiao Chen didn't know was that just as he was in a critical moment of seclusion, attempting to break through to Four-Star Dou Zun, a more insidious and vicious scheme targeting him personally was quietly unfolding, secretly orchestrated by the Heavenly Secret Pavilion...

Inside the star tower, energy was swirling.

Xiao Chen sat cross-legged, his aura fluctuating like a tide.

The barrier of Peak Three-Star Dou Zun was already as thin as a cicada's wing.

"Break!"

He roared inwardly, and the star furnace in his Qi Sea rumbled into operation, the nascent Dou Qi like a bursting flood, fiercely crashing against that barrier!

"Crack!"

The barrier shattered in response!

An even more vast power surged into his limbs and bones!

Four-Star Dou Zun! Achieved!

Xiao Chen opened his eyes, his gaze shining brightly, sensing the earth-shattering changes within his body.

However, before he could rejoice, Xuan Kongzi's urgent telepathic message echoed in his mind:

"Chen'er, come out of seclusion! Urgent situation—Flower Sect is calling for help!

The Soul Hall and Heavenly Nether Sect have joined forces to launch a surprise attack on the Flower Sect's headquarters, Hundred Flowers Peak!

The Flower Sect is in grave danger!"