175: Deep into the tiger's den, the trap of fate

On the periphery of the Soul Burial Mountain Range, the space was a dead, grayish-black, like a piece of cloth soaked in ink.

The dense, unyielding Netherworld Death Qi, mixed with the Heavenly Secret Pavilion's unique Fate Mist, formed a thick, viscous energy barrier, completely sealing off the core area of the entire mountain range.

An ordinary Dou Zun approaching would instantly have their soul corroded and their mind twisted, becoming a walking corpse.

Even a low-tier Dou Sheng would find it difficult to stay here for long.

Xiao Chen's figure, like a ghost merged with shadows, appeared silently at the edge of the barrier.

Chaos Qi flowed naturally around him, distinctly separate from the surrounding violent death qi, yet strangely coexisting harmoniously.

After advancing to Fourth Revolution Dou Sheng and his soul entering the Saint Realm, his control over energy had reached a masterful level.

Although the Chaos Sacred Realm had not fully expanded, it had already formed an invisible domain force field outside his body, easily repelling or assimilating the encroaching death qi and power of fate.

"What a strange barrier... How can death qi and the power of fate merge so perfectly? The methods of the Heavenly Secret Pavilion are indeed inconceivable."

Xiao Chen's Heavenly Realm Soul (Saint Realm) power, like the most precise tendrils, cautiously probed into the barrier.

He immediately felt a cold, viscous, eerie power, as if it could pry into people's hearts and alter memories, trying to entangle him.

"Hmph!" Xiao Chen's mind stirred slightly, and a hint of Origin Qi essence and the intent of Chaos Heaven Opening Fist subtly emanated from his soul power.

The power of fate attempting to probe recoiled as if struck by lightning, as if it had met its nemesis.

The barrier rippled slightly but did not trigger an alarm.

"It seems the Pavilion Master Tianji did not expect me to grasp the method to counter the power of fate so quickly."

Xiao Chen sneered inwardly, his figure flickered, and he passed through the barrier like a swimming fish, entering the core area of the Soul Burial Mountain Range.

Upon entering, the scenery changed dramatically!

It was no longer a simple mountain range, but a Netherworld Ghost Domain that had been forcibly transformed!

The sky was eternally blood-red, the earth was cracked, flowing with viscous black blood, and countless incomplete vengeful spirits wandered like walking corpses, emitting silent wails.

The air was filled with a nauseating smell of blood and a dense aura of soul fragments.

Further away, the majestic Netherworld Hall stood like a crouching giant beast, exuding a terrifying emperor's might!

"Hun Tiandi's (Soul Heaven Emperor) aura... it's even more solidified than last time!

He is waking up faster!"

Xiao Chen's eyes were grave, his soul perception fully spread out, avoiding the wandering vengeful spirits and the patrolling Soul Emissaries in the shadows, as he stealthily moved towards the Netherworld Hall.

He had to find out what the Soul Hall and the Heavenly Secret Pavilion were plotting.

The closer he got to the Netherworld Hall, the more bizarre the surrounding spatial structure became.

Overlapping phantoms would appear from time to time, as if he was in different time segments; at other times, he would feel a strong causal pull, as if every step was changing some predetermined fate.

Clearly, the Heavenly Secret Pavilion had set up an extremely clever Fate Illusion Array here!

"Petty tricks!" The origin qi seed in Xiao Chen's soul vibrated slightly, emitting a supreme artistic conception that disregarded karma and transcended reincarnation.

Wherever he passed, the illusory causal lines broke and dissipated, and the phantoms shattered like bubbles.

The Heavenly Secret Pavilion's illusion array had significantly less effect on him.

However, just as he was about to approach an observation tower made of piled bones on the outskirts of the Netherworld Hall, an anomaly suddenly occurred!

"Buzz—!"

The ground beneath his feet suddenly lit up with countless intricate black and white runes!

These runes were not for attack, but instantly constructed a small Fate Barrier, enveloping Xiao Chen!

Inside the barrier, the flow of time suddenly changed; an instant outside felt like several days inside!

Even more terrifying, the barrier began to frantically extract Xiao Chen's luck and life essence!

"A trap! A fate trap specifically targeting me!" Xiao Chen's heart tightened!

This Pavilion Master Tianji was indeed cunning and far-sighted!

He had long anticipated Xiao Chen's possible arrival and set up a special trap targeting his newly acquired abilities!

This barrier did not rely on energy intensity to trap enemies, but rather distorted time and space, accelerating decay!

"Chaos Sacred Realm, stabilize!" Xiao Chen low-shouted, and the hundred-zhang Chaos Sacred Realm instantly unfolded, forcefully tearing open the distorted time and space within the barrier!

Within the sacred realm, earth, water, fire, and wind operated stably, and the origin qi seed emitted a soft light, resisting the rate of loss of luck and life essence.

But even so, he could still feel his lifespan slowly but steadily draining away!

At this rate, he would die of exhaustion within half an hour!

Moreover, the existence of the barrier had probably already alerted the powerhouses within the Netherworld Hall!

"I must break open the barrier as quickly as possible!" Xiao Chen's eyes were cold, and his soul power frantically scanned the barrier's structure.

This barrier was intertwined with the laws of fate and the laws of space-time, making it incredibly complex; forcibly breaking it would cause a severe backlash!

"Fate... space-time..." A flash of inspiration struck Xiao Chen's mind, and he recalled the supreme descriptions in the ancestor inheritance about transcending the river of fate and leaping beyond the three realms!

He needed a power that transcended both fate and space-time!

"I've got it! Origin Qi as the guide, my will as the blade!

Sever the shackles, transcend this realm!

Chaos... Return to Nothingness... Slash!"

Xiao Chen was enlightened, perfectly merging his soul power, Chaos Saint power, and that wisp of Origin Qi essence, transforming them into an invisible, intangible blade of will that seemed capable of severing all restraints.

It did not attack the barrier's energy, but directly slashed at the karmic link and space-time anchor points between himself and the barrier!

"Crack—!"

A crisp sound that only the soul could perceive!

Xiao Chen felt his body lighten, and the rapidly draining lifespan instantly returned to normal!

The surrounding barrier, as if having lost its target, quickly dimmed and finally dissipated silently!

Self-severing fate, transcending space-time!

He had broken out of the predicament again!

However, just as the barrier dissipated!

"Chirp! Chirp! Chirp!"

Three bone-chillingly dark bone spikes, as fast as lightning and silent, tore through the void from three extremely tricky angles, aiming directly for Xiao Chen's back, glabella, and Qi Sea!

The bone spikes were entwined with dense Netherworld Death Qi and bizarre curses that corroded the soul!

The timing of the attack was ruthless and precise, at the exact moment Xiao Chen broke open the barrier and his mind was slightly relaxed!

An ambush!

There was a second killing move!

And the attackers were extremely powerful!

The power of each bone spike was comparable to a full-force attack from a Fifth Revolution Dou Sheng!

"I've been waiting for you!" Xiao Chen, however, seemed to have anticipated it, his eyes flashing with cold light!

He did not dodge or evade, his body twisting slightly like an illusion!

"Puff! Puff! Puff!"

The three bone spikes accurately pierced through his body!

But it was as if they had passed through air, not a single drop of blood splattered!

"Afterimage?!" From the void, three uncertain low growls emanated!

The next moment, Xiao Chen's true body appeared like a ghost in a certain spot in the void on the left, unleashing the Chaos Heaven Opening Fist without any fancy moves!

"You hidden cowards, get out here!"

"Boom!"

Where the punch force passed, space exploded!

A figure shrouded in a black robe with a sinister aura was forcefully blasted out of the void in a sorry state, spitting blood.

It was the Soul Hall's black-robed elder who had fled earlier!

He had been lurking here all along!

Almost simultaneously, on Xiao Chen's left and right sides, the other two figures whose attacks had missed also appeared!

One was illusory, like a shadow, a Shadow Killer from the Heavenly Secret Pavilion (peak Fourth Revolution Dou Sheng)!

The other held a bone staff, surrounded by cursing runes, a Curse Master from the Heavenly Secret Pavilion (late Fourth Revolution Dou Sheng)!

Three powerhouses, ambushing him together!

"Xiao Chen! You really came!

This place today will be your burial ground!" The black-robed elder wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his eyes filled with venom.

"Fate dictates, you are bound to die!" The Shadow Killer's voice was ethereal, and his figure once again merged into the shadows.

"Curse Kill... Myriad Souls Devour Heart!" The Curse Master waved his bone staff, and countless malevolent curses transformed into invisible venomous snakes, swarming towards him!

"Just the three of you wastes?" Xiao Chen sneered, and the Chaos Sacred Realm erupted with full power!

The two-hundred-zhang world shone with dazzling light, its phantom mountains and rivers solidified, and its rivers surged and roared!

The power of the world pressed down with a rumble!

"Suppress!"

"Puff!"

The Shadow Killer, having just emerged from the shadows, was instantly enveloped by the power of the world, his figure freezing as if a fly caught in amber!

The Curse Master's cursed venomous snakes collided with the sacred realm's barrier, emitting hissing sounds but unable to penetrate, instead being rapidly purified by the Chaos Qi!

Only the black-robed elder, relying on his Fifth Revolution Dou Sheng cultivation, barely resisted the world's suppression, but his movements were greatly slowed!

"Die!"

Xiao Chen, not letting up, moved like lightning, instantly appearing before the black-robed elder.

He pointed his fingers like a sword, the Chaos Qi at his fingertip highly compressed, unleashing a finger wind that pierced through space, aiming at his glabella!

"Netherworld Body Protection!" The black-robed elder was horrified, desperately activating his death qi!

"Crack!"

Where the finger wind passed, the protective death qi was like paper, and his glabella was instantly pierced through!

His soul was annihilated!

Another Fifth Revolution Dou Sheng, instantly killed!

"Escape!" The Shadow Killer and the Curse Master were terrified, turning to flee!

"Trying to leave now? Too late!" Xiao Chen's eyes were cold, his hands clasped together, and the Chaos Sacred Realm rapidly contracted, transforming into a Chaos Cage covering ten thousand feet, trapping the two firmly!

"Chaos... Refine!"

Within the cage, earth, water, fire, and wind churned wildly, transforming into a chaotic torrent that obliterated everything!

The Shadow Killer and the Curse Master let out bloodcurdling screams, their bodies and souls rapidly dissolving in the torrent!

In just a few breaths, the two Fourth Revolution Dou Sheng from the Heavenly Secret Pavilion were completely refined, turning into pure energy absorbed by the Chaos Sacred Realm!

Clean and decisive, a thunderous kill!

Xiao Chen stood with his hands behind his back, his aura as stable as ever, as if he had just casually swatted a few flies.

His gaze was cold as he looked into the depths of the Netherworld Hall.

He could feel an even more terrifying gaze there, watching him coldly.

"Soul Heaven Emperor... Pavilion Master Tianji... I've accepted your welcoming gift.

Next, it's my turn... to pay a visit!"

Before his voice faded, he took a step, transforming into a chaotic stream of light that tore through the blood-red curtain, boldly rushing towards the Netherworld Hall that exuded overwhelming imperial might!

He would brave this true den of dragons and tigers to the very end today!