176: Deep in the Nether Palace, facing the Soul Emperor

Deep within the Netherworld Hall, the aura of death was so thick it had almost turned into liquid ink, flowing sluggishly through a massive tunnel paved with countless skeletons. The air was bone-chillingly cold, as if space itself had frozen, permeated by an absolute stillness that made one's soul tremble. Only at the end of the tunnel, the Netherworld Blood Pool, ten thousand zhang tall and constructed entirely from dark demonic bones, pulsed with a terrifying energy fluctuation and Emperor's Might, like the slowly and heavily beating heart of a slumbering giant.

Xiao Chen's figure, like a chaotic meteor streaking through eternal night, ignored the countless wailing vengeful spirits and malevolent ghosts that lunged at him, as well as the Soul Hall's restrictions lurking in the shadows, and charged directly towards the blood pool! His Chaos Sacred Realm naturally expanded around him, a hundred-zhang world of light circulating, easily purifying and devouring all approaching death qi and attacks, leaving a temporary vacuum in its wake.

"Soul Heaven Emperor... your old den, I've arrived!" Xiao Chen's eyes were as sharp as blades, his soul perception pushed to its limit. He could clearly feel the terrifying will slumbering deep within the blood pool accelerating its awakening! A vast Emperor's Might, far surpassing that of his previous clone, locked onto him like an awakening primeval beast!

"Buzz—!"

Just as Xiao Chen approached within a thousand zhang of the blood pool, the void ahead suddenly warped! Nine Netherworld Bone Pillars, entwined with dark chains and inscribed with strange runes, appeared out of thin air, forming an intricate grand formation that enveloped an area of several thousand zhang! Within the formation, death qi surged, ten thousand souls bowed in worship, and an eerie power that twisted causality and altered fate spread out! It was precisely the ultimate defense jointly set up by the Soul Hall and the Heavenly Secret Pavilion—the Nine Nether Soul-Locking Fate Array!

"Xiao Chen! Stop!" In the center of the grand formation, a figure shrouded in a greyish-white mist of fate slowly condensed. Its aura was ethereal and unpredictable, yet it carried the majesty of one who controlled all living beings. It was a significant clone of the Pavilion Master Tianji (its strength comparable to a peak Sixth-Turn Dou Sheng)! Beside him stood two Soul Hall Elders whose auras had reached the late Fifth Revolution Dou Sheng stage, and dozens of Soul Hall Venerables!

"This array was personally set up by His Majesty Soul Heaven Emperor, and further enhanced by this seat's power of fate! Intruders will have their souls eternally locked and their fates severed!" The Pavilion Master Tianji's clone's voice was cold, devoid of any emotion.

"You think this broken array can stop me?" Xiao Chen sneered, his speed undiminished. He unleashed the Chaos Heaven Opening Fist with a powerful roar! Origin Qi flowed over the fist, and the will to open the heavens erupted, directly striking one of the central bone pillars of the grand formation!

"Stubborn fool! Fate reversal, karmic backlash!" The Pavilion Master Tianji's clone formed hand seals, and the grand formation glowed intensely! The fist light unleashed by Xiao Chen, just as it approached the bone pillar, suddenly twisted its trajectory, actually reversing direction and striking back at Xiao Chen himself with even greater ferocity! At the same time, countless invisible chains of fate extended from the void, coiling towards his soul origin!

"Petty tricks!" Xiao Chen's eyes sharpened, and the Chaos Sacred Realm suddenly expanded! The two-hundred-zhang world slammed into the Nine Nether Soul-Locking Fate Array!

"Rumble—!"

The two great domains furiously collided and eroded each other! Within the Chaos Sacred Realm, earth, water, fire, and wind roared, and the will to open the heavens forcefully suppressed the death qi and power of fate of the array! But the grand formation was also extremely tenacious, with ten thousand souls wailing, causality inverted, constantly twisting and weakening the power of the sacred realm!

"Form the Myriad Soul Devouring Emperor Array! Help the Pavilion Master!" The two Soul Hall Elders roared, forming hand seals simultaneously with dozens of Venerables! Vast death qi poured into the grand formation, and its power surged once more! Ethereal projections of the Netherworld Ghost Emperor, condensed from billions of vengeful souls, emerged and lunged towards the Chaos Sacred Realm!

"Troublesome!" Xiao Chen frowned slightly. This array, combining the Soul Hall's death qi and the Heavenly Secret Pavilion's power of fate, was indeed tricky. If he got entangled, it would be dangerous once Soul Heaven Emperor fully awakened!

"I must finish this quickly!" A resolute glint flashed in Xiao Chen's eyes. With a thought, the origin qi seed deep within his Qi Sea suddenly burst forth with dazzling light! A wisp of extremely pure Chaos Origin Qi was guided out and integrated into the core of the Chaos Sacred Realm!

"Origin Qi as the guide, sacred realm as the foundation! Chaos returns to the void, all laws cease to exist! Ultimate Profound Truth—Primordial... Return to Void!"

Xiao Chen roared, and the entire Chaos Sacred Realm suddenly contracted! It no longer expanded to suppress, but instead collapsed inwards! The two-hundred-zhang world rapidly shrunk, and within it, the earth, water, fire, wind, mountains, rivers, and all laws furiously converged inwards, finally condensing into a fist-sized Chaos Return-to-Void Point at the center of the sacred realm, emanating a terrifying aura that devoured everything and annihilated all laws!

"Annihilate!"

Xiao Chen pointed with two fingers, and the Chaos Return-to-Void Point, like a cosmic black hole, silently shot towards the core of the Nine Nether Soul-Locking Fate Array!

Wherever the Return-to-Void Point passed, space, time, death qi, power of fate... everything was forcefully devoured and annihilated! The incomparably sturdy Netherworld Bone Pillars, upon contact with the Return-to-Void Point, collapsed and disintegrated instantly like sandcastles meeting the tide! The myriad souls and ghost emperors within the array let out shrill screams, their forms twisting as they were dragged into the Return-to-Void Point, turning into nothingness!

"What?! What kind of power is this?!" The Pavilion Master Tianji's clone was horrified! He felt that his threads of fate connected to the array were being forcibly severed! The power contained within the Return-to-Void Point completely transcended his understanding of fate!

"Crack! Crack! Crack!"

The nine Netherworld Bone Pillars shattered one after another! The entire Nine Nether Soul-Locking Fate Array, under the absolute annihilation power of the Chaos Return-to-Void Point, completely collapsed!

"Pfft—!"

With the array broken, the Pavilion Master Tianji's clone suffered a violent backlash, his figure blurred, and his aura plummeted! The two Soul Hall Elders and dozens of Venerables screamed repeatedly, with the weaker ones directly having their souls scattered and destroyed!

"Die!"

Xiao Chen pressed his advantage, his figure like lightning, instantly appearing before the Pavilion Master Tianji's clone. The Chaos Heaven Opening Seal condensed, and he struck down with a palm! Within the palm print, the will to open the heavens suppressed all ages!

"Fate... Escape!" The Pavilion Master Tianji's clone gritted his teeth, burning his clone's origin to cast a life-saving secret technique, his figure transforming into countless fragments of fate, scattering and fleeing!

"Trying to run? Stay here!" Xiao Chen's eyes were cold, his Saint Realm soul power transforming into an invisible giant net, enveloping all directions! At the same time, the lingering power of the Chaos Return-to-Void Point swept across!

"Ah—!" Most of the fate fragments were devoured and annihilated by the Return-to-Void Point, with only a tiny wisp of the most core fate origin barely escaping into the depths of the void, disappearing.

The Pavilion Master Tianji's clone, severely wounded, fled!

As for the two Soul Hall Elders, Xiao Chen casually used two Chaos Finger Winds to shatter their souls, causing them to perish on the spot!

The enemies blocking his path were annihilated in an instant!

Xiao Chen did not stop, taking a step, he had already broken through the array's wreckage and arrived at the edge of the Netherworld Blood Pool!

The blood pool was as vast as a sea, with thick scarlet blood churning and boiling like magma. Countless powerful souls and ancient bloodlines wailed and struggled within it, being forcibly refined into pure energy that surged into the depths of the pool. A suffocating Emperor's Might was rapidly rising from the bottom of the pool!

"Soul Heaven Emperor! Get out!" Xiao Chen's voice was like thunder, and the Chaos Sacred Realm expanded again, pressing heavily towards the blood pool! He wanted to forcibly interrupt Soul Heaven Emperor's awakening process!

"Boom—!"

The blood pool violently vibrated! Deep within the pool, the terrifying slumbering will seemed to be thoroughly enraged!

"Ant... you... seek death!"

An ancient, hoarse voice, as if from the deepest reaches of the Nine Nethers, echoed throughout the entire Netherworld Hall like a death knell! The Emperor's Might contained within the voice caused space to collapse in large sections!

Immediately after, in the center of the blood pool, the blood parted as if by an invisible hand, and a blurry giant shadow, a thousand zhang tall and entirely condensed from the purest death qi, slowly rose from the bottom of the pool! The giant shadow's face was vaguely discernible, it was the likeness of Soul Heaven Emperor! His eyes were blood-red, burning with destructive madness and greed!

Although not in his complete form, this awakened will projection's aura already surpassed that of an ordinary Ninth-Turn Dou Sheng, touching upon the threshold of the supreme Emperor Realm!

Soul Heaven Emperor's main body will... had awakened!

"Xiao Chen... your bloodline... your Origin Qi... this Emperor... will take them!" Hun Tiandi's Projection let out a ferocious roar, and a gigantic Netherworld hand, covering the sky and sun, tore through the blood pool, carrying terrifying Emperor's Might that crushed all things and devoured the heavens, fiercely grasping towards Xiao Chen!

The power of this strike was more than ten times stronger than the previous clone's attack! It was already the true might of a Half-Emperor!

Facing this world-destroying strike, Xiao Chen's pupils constricted, feeling an unprecedented life-and-death crisis! But in his eyes, there was no fear, instead, an even more blazing fighting spirit erupted!

"Good! Let me see, you lingering old ghost, how much strength you truly possess!"

Xiao Chen roared, pushing the Chaos Sacred Realm to its limit. The origin qi seed vibrated wildly, pouring all its power, without reservation, into his fists!

"Chaos opens the heavens, Origin sacrifices all living beings! Ultimate... Heaven and Earth Creation!"

He unleashed both fists, fiercely meeting the sky-covering Netherworld Emperor's Hand!

A Fourth Revolution Dou Sheng, directly clashing with... the Half-Emperor Soul Heaven Emperor!

This ultimate showdown, which would determine the fate of the continent, finally... erupted in full force!