181: The King Returns, Slaying the Half-Emperor

Deep within the Chaos Sea, spatial turbulence was like boiling, raging waves. The violent energy storms were enough to easily tear apart ordinary Dou Venerates. A figure in a green robe, surrounded by chaotic airflow, his aura almost blending with the environment, was traversing through it at an incredible speed. It was Xiao Chen, reborn from Nirvana and with his Saint Body reforged!

After advancing to the Fourth Revolution Dou Sheng Peak, his control over spatial laws reached an extremely subtle level. Without the need for a star shuttle, he could easily distort space and perform long-distance spatial jumps using only his Saint Power. Each step he took could span hundreds of thousands of miles of void, reaching extreme speeds! The Chaos Sacred Realm around him naturally formed an invisible domain, easily repelling or assimilating the incoming spatial storms and chaotic turbulence, making it feel like walking on flat ground.

"Though the Chaos Sea is vast, with my current speed, if I travel at full power, it shouldn't take too long to return to the Central Region." Xiao Chen's soul power spread out like a spider web, covering a million-mile radius, precisely avoiding particularly dangerous energy whirlpools and sleeping ancient chaotic beasts. He was eager to return, worried about the safety of the Anti-Alliance. The flow of time within the ancestral land was different from the outside world; although he had successfully achieved Nirvana, several years had passed outside, and he wondered how his teacher and Flame Heart were faring.

However, the depths of the Chaos Sea were fraught with danger, far from as simple as imagined. After flying for about several days, an extremely strange area suddenly appeared ahead. The chaotic airflow there was no longer violent; instead, it presented a dead, viscous state, and its color had turned a dark, dull grey-black. When his soul power probed into it, it was like a clay ox entering the sea, his perception severely weakened, and a chilling sensation that eroded the soul also emanated from it.

"This is... the Extinction Dead Zone?" Xiao Chen frowned slightly. The ancestor inheritance mentioned that in certain areas of the Chaos Sea, due to ancient wars or special laws, absolute dead zones where all things returned to stillness would form. Time was stagnant and space was solidified within them, and even Dou Saints who fell in would find it difficult to escape, eventually being assimilated and annihilated.

"Taking a detour would consume too much time..." Xiao Chen pondered for a moment, a look of determination flashing in his eyes. "This is a good opportunity to test the limits of the Fourth Revolution Dou Sheng Peak!"

Instead of retreating, he accelerated to his maximum speed and charged directly into the Extinction Dead Zone!

Upon entering the Dead Zone, it was as if stepping into another world! All sounds and energy fluctuations from the outside world instantly vanished, leaving only eternal stillness! Space became sticky like glue, and an invisible force of extinction law pressed in from all directions, attempting to solidify his Saint Power and freeze his soul!

"Hmph! Chaos Heaven Opening Fist, all laws are inviolable!" Xiao Chen roared, and the Chaos Sacred Realm fully unfurled! The two-hundred-zhang world burst forth with light, and within it, the four fundamental laws of earth, water, fire, and wind, in their nascent forms, operated on their own, evolving purity and turbidity, forcibly carving out a vibrant pure land within the dead domain! The power of extinction crashed against the Saint Realm's barrier, emitting hissing sounds of erosion, yet it struggled to advance even an inch!

Xiao Chen's speed remained undiminished, like a sharp sword, tearing through the viscous space and forcefully passing through! Wherever he went, the dead grey darkness was dispelled by the light of chaos, leaving a temporary energy channel!

However, deep within the Dead Zone, an even more terrifying presence seemed to have been disturbed! An extinction will, comparable to a Five-Turn Dou Saint Peak, like an awakened primordial fierce beast, locked onto Xiao Chen!

"Intruder... die..." A cold, hollow, emotionless thought directly impacted Xiao Chen's soul!

Immediately after, in the grey void ahead, countless grey tentacles condensed from the extinction law swarmed towards him like venomous pythons, each containing terrifying power that could annihilate life!

"A creature of extinction law? How rare!" A hint of surprise flashed in Xiao Chen's eyes, but he showed no fear. He pointed his fingers like a sword, and the chaotic airflow at his fingertips was highly compressed, transforming into a murky grey Heaven Opening Sword Qi!

"Void Breaking!"

The sword qi slashed out, silently, yet it contained the supreme artistic conception of severing laws and breaking illusions! The moment the grey tentacles made contact with the sword qi, their internal structure was forcibly disintegrated, turning into the most primordial extinction energy, which was then swallowed and refined by the Chaos Sacred Realm!

"Roar!" The extinction will let out an angry roar, and more tentacles, as well as attacks like extinction lightning spears and withering storms, came pouring down like a deluge!

Xiao Chen's figure was like lightning, weaving through the attacks, his sword qi crisscrossing, and his fist prints shattering the heavens! He treated this passage as a form of tempering, constantly familiarizing himself with the power of the Fourth Revolution Dou Sheng Peak, and integrating the Chaos Heaven Opening intent with various Dou Techniques, doubling their power!

The fierce battle lasted for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, and Xiao Chen finally forced his way through the core area of the Extinction Dead Zone! The extinction will seemed to have some reservations and did not pursue him relentlessly.

Bursting out of the Dead Zone and seeing the violent yet vibrant chaotic airflow again, Xiao Chen slightly relaxed. After this battle, his control over his own power became more refined and natural, and the Chaos Sacred Realm also became more stable.

He dared not delay and continued to rush at full speed. After another month or so, he finally sensed the familiar spatial coordinates of the Central Region!

"I'm here!" Xiao Chen's spirit was invigorated. He tore through space and stepped out!

However, when he saw the scene before him, his heart instantly sank to rock bottom!

This was not the Pill Tower Holy Domain, but a ruin on the border of the Central Region, where scorched earth stretched for thousands of miles and smoke billowed into the sky! The once prosperous cities had turned into rubble, mountains were leveled, and the air was filled with a strong smell of blood and lingering death qi! Countless tattered Anti-Alliance banners wailed in the wind, and across the land, corpses were scattered everywhere, including humans, magical beasts, and fragments of Soul Hall puppets! Clearly, this place had just experienced an extremely tragic battle! Moreover, judging from the residual energy, the combatants were extremely powerful, with at least several high-level Dou Saints participating! The Anti-Alliance seemed to be at an absolute disadvantage!

"The Anti-Alliance is in trouble!" A ominous premonition surged in Xiao Chen's heart, and he immediately tore through space, rushing frantically towards the direction of the Pill Tower Holy Domain!

With each spatial jump, he saw more scars of war! The mountain gates of many Anti-Alliance affiliated forces were destroyed, and the cultivators he encountered along the way were all filled with panic and hurried on their way. Xiao Chen grabbed a fleeing Dou Zong cultivator to inquire, and the news he received sent him plummeting into an ice cave!

"It's over! It's all over! The Soul Hall army, allied with the Heavenly Nether Sect and Ice River Valley, suddenly launched a general offensive several months ago! The Soul Burial Mountain Range defense line has been breached! His Majesty Emperor Yan is gravely wounded and on the verge of death! The Dragon Emperor Projection has been scattered! Xuan Kongzi, the Tower Master, was forced to activate the Heavenly Stellar Array to defend the Pill Tower! The mountain gates of Flower Sect and Sound Valley have been broken, and their sect masters are missing! The Anti-Alliance... is about to collapse! It is said... it is said that Soul Heaven Emperor's true body... is about to fully awaken!" The cultivator said with a face full of fear.

"Soul Heaven Emperor's true body is awakening?!" Xiao Chen's pupils constricted! This was even worse than the worst situation he had imagined!

"What about the Heavenly Secret Pavilion?" Xiao Chen asked urgently.

"The Heavenly Secret Pavilion... the web of destiny of the Heavenly Secret Pavilion covered the entire Central Region, our communications and deployments were completely interfered with, we fought individually, and were defeated one by one! And... and there are rumors that the Pavilion Master Tianji... seems... to have defected to Soul Heaven Emperor!"

"Bastard!" Xiao Chen's eyes blazed with fury! He hadn't expected that during his period of slumber, the situation would have deteriorated to such an extent! The Soul Hall and the Heavenly Secret Pavilion, they intended to annihilate the Anti-Alliance in one fell swoop! And with Soul Heaven Emperor's true body about to awaken, once he succeeded, the continent would be doomed forever!

"Teacher! Flame Heart! You must hold on!" Xiao Chen pushed his speed to the limit, the space around him constantly twisting and collapsing, transforming into a chaotic meteor tearing through the sky, heading towards the Pill Tower Holy Domain!

He had to get there as soon as possible! Every moment of delay increased the danger of the Anti-Alliance's demise!

Meanwhile, outside the Pill Tower Holy Domain, dark clouds pressed down, threatening to crush the city!

The Soul Hall army, covering the sky and sun, had surrounded the Holy Domain, making it impenetrable! A Netherworld Erosion Heaven Array, larger and with a denser death qi than any previous one, was frantically attacking the Pill Tower's Heavenly Stellar Array! The array's light barrier violently fluctuated, cracks spreading, seemingly about to collapse! Outside the array, millions of Soul Hall cultivators, puppets, and demonic creatures surged like a tide, impacting the array's light barrier, their battle cries shaking the heavens and earth!

Inside the array, the Pill Tower Holy Domain was already in ruins. Countless palaces had collapsed, and the plaza was crowded with wounded and desperate cultivators. At the top of the star tower, Xuan Kongzi's face was ashen, his aura weak, and his chest was charred black, clearly severely injured, yet he still desperately supported the core array eye of the Heavenly Stellar Array. Beside him, Flame Emperor lay on the ground, unconscious, his aura as faint as a thread, wrapped in bandages containing life essence, but black qi continuously seeped out. Venerable Feng, Flower Without Shadow, Wonderful Sound Emissary, and others were all covered in blood, riddled with wounds, yet they gritted their teeth and held fast to their respective array eye positions. Flame Heart's face was pale, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth, but she stubbornly stood beside Xuan Kongzi, continuously injecting her flame Dou Technique into the array, her beautiful eyes filled with despair and defiance!

"Xuan Kongzi! Don't resist any longer! Hand over Xiao Chen's remnant soul (they thought Xiao Chen was dead, and only his remnant soul might be collected by the Pill Tower), disband the Anti-Alliance, and your Pill Tower might be allowed to preserve a trace of its legacy! Otherwise, today will be the day you all turn to dust!" Outside the Great Array, Soul Destruction Heaven (the new Vice Hall Master of the Soul Hall, with a cultivation level of late Fifth Turn Dou Saint) stood upon a Netherworld Bone Dragon, his voice like the chilling wind of the Nine Netherworlds, resounding throughout heaven and earth. Beside him stood two black-robed elders of the Soul Hall, whose aura had clearly reached the early Sixth Revolution Dou Saint stage, along with dozens of Soul Hall Dou Saints! Further away, the faint illusion of the destiny chessboard from the Heavenly Secret Pavilion flickered, manipulating the fortune of the battle!

"Dream on!" Xuan Kongzi's mouth was bleeding, but his eyes were incredibly firm. "The Pill Tower only has souls that die in battle, not people who surrender! If you want to break the array, you'll have to step over my corpse!"

"Stubborn fool! Then... be utterly annihilated! Netherworld Erosion Heaven, Ten Thousand Souls Return as One! Break... for this Hall!" Soul Destruction Heaven roared furiously, forming seals simultaneously with the two black-robed elders. The power of the Netherworld Erosion Heaven Array surged, and a destructive death ray, condensed from billions of vengeful souls, like a world-ending spear, fiercely blasted towards the weakest point of the Heavenly Stellar Array!

"It's over..." Despair appeared on the faces of everyone within the array. This attack absolutely couldn't be stopped! Xuan Kongzi's eyes flashed with determination, preparing to self-detonate his soul and perish with the array! Flame Heart cried out in anguish: "Teacher! No!"

Just at this critical moment!

"Buzz—!!!"

A chaotic pillar of light, spanning heaven and earth, like a divine punishment that split open the sky, tore through the void from an extreme distance without warning. It arrived later but struck first, precisely hitting the center of that destructive death ray!

"Rumble—!!!!!!"

An indescribably terrifying explosion swept forth! The Netherworld Erosion Heaven Array violently vibrated, and the destructive death ray shattered inch by inch! The aftershocks of the explosion sent the surrounding Soul Hall army reeling, men and horses alike! Even Soul Destruction Heaven and the two black-robed elders were shaken, their blood and qi churning!

"What?!"

"Who is it?!"

The Soul Hall powerhouses paled in shock, and Soul Destruction Heaven's pupils contracted sharply!

Under everyone's incredulous gazes, a figure in a green robe, wreathed in chaotic currents, with disheveled black hair and eyes as cold as ancient ice, slowly stepped out from the center of the explosion, standing high above the Pill Tower Holy Domain! The vast Saintly Might emanating from him suffocated the entire battlefield!

"Those who move against my Anti-Alliance... die!"

Xiao Chen's gaze, like two heaven-opening sharp swords, instantly locked onto Soul Destruction Heaven and the two black-robed elders! The terrifying aura of a Peak Fourth Revolution Dou Saint swept across the heavens and earth, like an awakened primeval beast!

"Xiao... Xiao Chen?! You... you're not dead?! And... your strength..." Soul Destruction Heaven shrieked as if he had seen a ghost! He clearly felt that the pressure emanating from Xiao Chen at this moment was many times stronger than described in the intelligence! It was a qualitative leap!

"Chen'er! (Saint Xiao!)" Inside the array, Xuan Kongzi, Flame Heart, and others were first stunned, then erupted into earth-shattering cheers! In the midst of despair, the dawn of hope suddenly arrived! Flame Heart even wept tears of joy, almost collapsing to the ground.

Xiao Chen... had returned! And in a kingly, incomparably powerful manner!

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible! You were clearly annihilated, body and soul!" Soul Destruction Heaven roared in disbelief.

"Hmph! Do you really think you mere specters could kill me?" Xiao Chen sneered, his gaze sweeping over the tragic battlefield below and his wounded comrades. The killing intent in his eyes surged. "Today, I shall use your blood to mourn the heroic souls who died for my Anti-Alliance!"

"Arrogant! Even if you're not dead, you're merely a Fourth-Turn Dou Sheng! This Hall Master wants to see what capabilities you possess! Two Netherworld Elders! Attack with me and crush him!" Soul Destruction Heaven forcefully suppressed the fear in his heart and shouted sharply.

"Yes!" The two black-robed elders, both early Sixth Revolution Dou Saint, responded in unison. Their auras instantly merged! The Netherworld Erosion Heaven Array's light intensified again, and billions of vengeful souls howled and converged, transforming into three colossal Netherworld Ghost Emperor phantoms that blotted out the sky! The aura of each phantom was comparable to a Five-Turn Dou Saint Peak! The three Ghost Emperors simultaneously extended their gigantic Netherworld claws, tearing through the firmament, carrying terrifying death qi that corroded souls and annihilated life, fiercely grabbing at Xiao Chen from three different directions!

Facing this world-destroying attack, Xiao Chen's eyes were cold, and he advanced instead of retreating!

"Chaos Sacred Realm, open!"

He let out a low roar, and the two-hundred-zhang Chaos Sacred Realm unfolded with a rumble! It was no longer a simple domain, but a true world, the embryonic form of a world! Within it, mountains solidified, rivers surged, and earth, water, fire, and wind operated on their own! The power of the world, like an invisible colossal mountain, fiercely pressed down on the three Netherworld Ghost Emperor phantoms!

"Crack! Crack! Crack!"

The Netherworld Ghost Emperor phantoms groaned under the suppression of the world's power, their movements instantly slowing! The death qi contained within them was rapidly purified and assimilated by the chaotic qi within the Sacred Realm!

"Shatter!" Xiao Chen pointed his fingers like a sword, and the Chaos Heaven Opening Fist swept out! Where the sword qi passed, space tore and laws collapsed! The three Ghost Emperor phantoms were easily cut down like paper, transforming into a sky full of death qi, which was completely devoured by the Chaos Sacred Realm!

With a casual flick, he resolved the killing situation!

"What?! Domain transforming into a world?! The power of the world?! How is this possible?!" Soul Destruction Heaven and the Two Netherworld Elders paled in shock! The transformation of a domain into a world was a supreme realm that only high-level Dou Saints could touch! How could Xiao Chen, merely a Fourth-Turn Dou Sheng, achieve this?!

"It's my turn!" Xiao Chen's eyes turned cold, and his figure instantly vanished! The next moment, he appeared like a ghost before one of the black-robed elders (one of the Two Netherworld Elders)!

"Not good!" The black-robed elder was terrified, frantically activating death qi to form a Netherworld Bone Shield in front of him!

"Chaos Heaven Opening Fist!"

Xiao Chen threw a simple, direct punch! On the fist's edge, chaotic currents condensed into the phantom of a heaven-opening axe blade, ignoring spatial distance and directly imprinting itself on the bone shield!

"Boom—!!!"

A dull, thunderous roar! The Netherworld Bone Shield, which was capable of withstanding the attacks of a Sixth Revolution Dou Saint, failed to hold for even a breath before exploding with a bang! The force of the punch continued unabated, fiercely striking the black-robed elder's chest!

"Pfft—!"

The black-robed elder's protective death qi shattered like paper, his chest instantly caved in, and blood mixed with fragments of internal organs spurted out! His eyes were filled with extreme fear and disbelief, his body flying backward like a kite with a broken string, his aura like a flickering candle in the wind, instantly weakening to the extreme!

One punch! Severely wounding a Sixth Revolution Dou Saint!

"Second Brother!" The other black-robed elder's eyes were about to split, and he roared as he pounced, his Netherworld Yellow Spring Finger pointing at Xiao Chen's back!

Xiao Chen didn't even turn his head, merely pointing a finger back! The light of stars and chaotic qi intertwined at his fingertip!

"Star Annihilation Finger!"

"Hiss!"

The finger winds collided! The black-robed elder's Netherworld Yellow Spring Finger Ray melted instantly like ice meeting the sun! Xiao Chen's finger wind, however, was unstoppable, directly piercing through his finger bone, and the residual force even blasted his entire arm into a bloody mist!

"Ah—!" The black-robed elder let out a tragic shriek and staggered backward!

In a flash of lightning, two Sixth Revolution Dou Saints, one severely injured, one crippled!

Soul Destruction Heaven was utterly terrified! He finally understood that the Xiao Chen before him had completely grown into a monster he couldn't comprehend! His strength was definitely comparable to a Seven-Turn Dou Saint!

"Escape! I must escape!" Soul Destruction Heaven no longer had any will to fight, turning to tear open space and flee!

"Trying to leave now? Too late!" Xiao Chen's cold voice was like a declaration from the god of death! His figure moved again, space folded, and he instantly blocked Soul Destruction Heaven's path! The Chaos Sacred Realm fully unfurled, completely sealing off tens of thousands of feet of surrounding void!

"Xiao Chen! How dare you kill me?! His Majesty Emperor Hun Tiandi will never let you go!" Soul Destruction Heaven roared, his voice outwardly fierce but inwardly weak.

"Hun Tiandi? He'll soon be joining you." Xiao Chen's eyes were indifferent. In his palm, chaotic currents wildly converged, forming a colossal chaotic seal that seemed capable of suppressing all the heavens and myriad realms!

"Chaos... Heaven Opening Seal!"

The great seal descended, laws solidified, and time and space froze! Soul Destruction Heaven struggled desperately, unleashing several life-saving treasures, but before the supreme seal intent that opened worlds and established the cosmos, all resistance was futile!

"No—!!!" Amidst Soul Destruction Heaven's desperate roars, the colossal chaotic seal crashed down! His body, along with his soul, was completely crushed, purified, and turned into nothingness!

The Vice Hall Master of the Soul Hall, Soul Destruction Heaven, had fallen!

The remaining severely wounded black-robed elder, seeing the dire situation, burned his essence blood, transforming into a streak of blood-light, and frantically fled deep into the Netherworld Erosion Heaven Array, using the power of the array to make a desperate escape.

With the commander fallen and the elders fleeing, the morale of the Soul Hall army instantly collapsed, falling into disarray!

"Anti-Alliance members! Follow me... kill!" Xiao Chen stood in the void, his voice like thunder!

"Kill—!!!"

The long-accumulated Anti-Alliance army erupted in earth-shattering roars, surging out from the Heavenly Stellar Array like a breaking flood, chasing after the retreating Soul Hall army! The situation was instantly reversed!

Xiao Chen returned, turning the tide of battle by himself! His gaze swept over the excited crowd below, finally resting on Flame Heart's tear-streaked face, and he said softly, "I'm back."

Immediately, his gaze sharpened as he looked towards the Soul Burial Mountain Range. He could feel a heart-palpitating Emperor's might rapidly escalating there!

"Hun Tiandi... your death is nigh!"