205: A shocking change in the ancient pagoda, a puppet of fate.

Inside Ten Thousand Bones City, shouts of killing, explosions, and screams intertwined, the air thick with a suffocating scent of blood.

Three hundred Dragon Guards moved as if through an uninhabited land, efficiently and ruthlessly eliminating the remaining Soul Hall forces in the city.

Meanwhile, Xiao Chen stood alone before the black ancient pagoda that emanated an ominous aura.

The ancient pagoda was not tall, only nine stories, cast entirely from a strange, dark, and lusterless metal.

Its body was covered in twisted, writhing runes of fate, making it starkly out of place among the surrounding bone-stacked buildings.

Inside the pagoda, it was eerily silent, as if empty, but Xiao Chen's Saint Realm Soul could clearly sense a cold, viscous, spiderweb-like power of fate emanating from within, silently attempting to entangle his soul and probe his past and future.

"Hiding your head and showing your tail," Xiao Chen snorted coldly, chaotic energy flowing naturally around him, easily dispersing the invisible threads of fate.

He pointed his fingers like a blade and lightly swiped at the heavy metal pagoda door.

"Chh—"

A faint spatial crack flashed, and the pagoda door, strong enough to withstand a Dou Venerate's full attack, was neatly sliced open like tofu and collapsed with a crash.

The scene inside the pagoda was suddenly revealed.

It was not dark as imagined, but rather vast and empty.

The top of the pagoda seemed to have been directly ripped open by some force, revealing the dim sky.

In the center of the pagoda, there were no tables, chairs, or artifacts, only nine thick black stone pillars arranged in a profound formation.

Atop each stone pillar sat a figure.

These figures were not living beings!

They wore various outfits, some were human powerhouses, some were transformed magical beasts, and there were even elders of the Elf race!

But at this moment, their faces were ashen, their eyes hollow, and their bodies were entangled with dense threads of fate, fixed to the stone pillars like marionettes!

Their life force had long been severed, but their souls were forcibly imprisoned within their bodies, transformed into pure soul power and fate energy, which continuously flowed through those threads into a small altar at the base of the stone pillars!

Above the altar, a fist-sized, dark red, pulsating tumor-like object floated, emitting an evil death aura originating from the same source as the burial emperor blood curtain!

On the surface of the tumor, vaguely visible were contorted human faces struggling!

"Fate puppets! Soul power extraction!" Xiao Chen's pupils constricted slightly, a cold killing intent flashing in his eyes!

The Heavenly Secret Pavilion was so malicious, refining captured powerhouses from all sides into puppets that provided energy!

And this tumor was clearly a concentrated form of countless soul power and death energy... the prototype of a small burial emperor coffin!

Or rather, it was... a part of a much larger component!

"Tsk tsk tsk... As expected of Saint Xiao, your insight... is indeed sharp," a sinister voice suddenly echoed from the shadows within the pagoda.

A figure shrouded in a grey robe slowly emerged.

His aura was erratic, having also reached the Sixth Revolution Dou Saint level, but more prominently, there was an unsettling fluctuation of fate.

It was none other than the Fate Emissary dispatched by the Heavenly Secret Pavilion to this place—Puppet Shadow!

"So many powerful souls, refining this 'Heart of the Coffin,' it cost this lord... no small amount of effort," Puppet Shadow let out a hoarse laugh, as if admiring a work of art.

"It's a pity... you came a bit too early.

If you had come a few days later, once it was fully formed, perhaps... it could have given you a surprise."

"Now, it can still give you... a surprise!" Puppet Shadow's tone suddenly sharpened!

He abruptly formed a hand seal!

"Ten Thousand Puppets... Towards the Coffin! Explode!"

"Buzz—!!!"

The dark red tumor on the altar suddenly erupted with dazzling blood-red light!

The fate puppets on the nine stone pillars simultaneously let out silent screams, their bodies visibly shriveling at an alarming rate!

All the extracted soul power and energy were, at this moment, furiously injected into the tumor!

The tumor rapidly expanded, emitting an unstable fluctuation that threatened to destroy the world!

Clearly, seeing Xiao Chen's unstoppable momentum, this Puppet Shadow intended to... detonate this Heart of the Coffin, and... perish together with him!

"Want to self-destruct? Did you ask me first?" Xiao Chen's eyes turned cold, his reaction incredibly swift!

He had already anticipated that the opponent might have such a move!

"Chaos Domain! Space-time... Imprisonment!"

The five-hundred-zhang Chaos Sacred Realm instantly expanded, completely... enveloping the entire interior space of the ancient pagoda!

The power of the world rumbled, and the flow of time within the pagoda... abruptly... slowed down by a hundredfold!

The process of the Soon exploding tumor's energy expansion seemed to be put on slow motion, becoming... extremely sluggish!

"Heaven and Earth... Reverse!" Xiao Chen shouted again, his hands clasped as if embracing something, and the laws within the Chaos Sacred Realm changed accordingly!

The extracted soul power and energy actually... flowed back, re-infusing into the nine puppets that were on the verge of complete annihilation!

At the same time, a powerful stripping force acted upon the threads of fate between the tumor and the puppets!

"Crack... crack..."

Countless threads of fate... snapped one by one!

"No—! How could you... control fate?! Reverse causality?!" Puppet Shadow shrieked in horror, his greatest reliance, before Xiao Chen's Chaos Domain, was actually... so vulnerable!

"Deprive!" Xiao Chen pointed a finger, and a beam of chaotic light shot into the slowly expanding tumor!

The tumor trembled violently, its vast accumulated death energy and soul power forcibly stripped and purified, transforming into pure energy, which was instead... absorbed and devoured by the Chaos Sacred Realm!

Within a few breaths, the Heart of the Coffin, which could have flattened an area a hundred li square, was completely... dissolved into nothingness by Xiao Chen's overwhelmingly powerful methods!

Only a dull, lifeless core remained, which Xiao Chen drew into his hand.

"Puff—!" With his secret art broken, Puppet Shadow suffered a severe backlash, spitting out blood, his aura instantly weakening!

"You... you..." He looked at Xiao Chen in terror, as if looking at an unconquerable demon god!

"There's more than just this one Heavenly Secret Pavilion stronghold, isn't there?" Xiao Chen toyed with the lifeless core in his hand, his cold gaze falling on Puppet Shadow, "Tell me, and I'll give you a quick death."

"Never!" A hint of madness flashed in Puppet Shadow's eyes, "My master... will avenge me!"

He bit his tongue sharply, about to self-destruct his soul!

"Soul Search!" How could Xiao Chen let him succeed?

His Saint Realm Soul power transformed into an invisible giant hand, instantly... invading Puppet Shadow's sea of consciousness!

"Ah—!!!" A shrill soul scream echoed within the pagoda!

A moment later, Xiao Chen casually turned Puppet Shadow's body, which had already scattered its soul, into ashes.

His expression, however, grew even more solemn.

From Puppet Shadow's memories, he learned that there were actually eight other similar ancient pagodas across the continent!

They were located in eight other important Soul Hall strongholds!

These ancient pagodas were all performing the same soul power extraction, refining other components of the burial emperor coffin!

And all the components would eventually gather at a place called "Guixu Land" for... the final assembly!

However, the specific location of Guixu Land was unknown even to Puppet Shadow; only the Pavilion Master Tianji... could open it!

"Eight ancient pagodas... Guixu Land..." A cold light flickered in Xiao Chen's eyes.

"I must... quickly... destroy all the ancient pagodas and prevent the burial emperor coffin from forming!"

His figure flickered, disappearing from the ancient pagoda.

The next moment, he appeared above Ten Thousand Bones City.

The battle in the city was nearing its end.

"Dragon Guards, heed my command!

Leave some personnel to clear the battlefield, the rest... follow me... immediately to... the next stronghold!"

Xiao Chen's voice was cold and urgent.

Time was becoming... increasingly... pressing!

The fate of the continent was accelerating towards an increasingly dark abyss!