98: Chapter Silence, Mist, and Ancient War Souls

The deeper they ventured into the Abandoned Graveyard, the more eerie and dead silent the environment became. The massive skeletons were no longer scattered randomly; instead, they were piled up in twisted, struggling postures, as if they had undergone unimaginable agony in their final moments. On the fragments of broken weapons, the residual Law fluctuations grew increasingly violent and unstable, occasionally triggering small-scale Energy Detonations.

The air was no longer filled with simple resentment, but a deeper aura of "dead silence" that seemed capable of freezing the Soul. This aura was somewhat similar to the Concept of "Wither" in Liu Qingtian's Wither and Flourish Dao, but it was purer, more absolute, and filled with the finality of the apocalypse.

The Eye of Delusion Breaking above Liu Qingtian's head turned slightly. In his grayscale vision, he could see countless minuscule particles of dead silence energy drifting in the air, resembling black snowflakes. These particles seemed harmless, but if inhaled or contaminated by them in large amounts, they would continuously erode life force and extinguish sentience.

He had to constantly circulate the Qi of Life and Death to form a thin Rotational Barrier on his body surface, isolating the dead silence particles and converting the Death Qi within them into a weak trace of life force to replenish himself. For him, this was both a consumption and a tempering of his Wither and Flourish Dao.

Wang Gou seemed well-adapted to this environment. He even reached out curiously to catch a few "black snowflakes," watching them slowly dissipate in his palm, muttering, "This place is truly dead, even the resentment Qi has frozen into dross."

As they went deeper, the sense of summons Liu Qingtian felt through the star key and the Eye of Delusion Breaking became clearer. The target was right ahead, within the dense, impenetrable Dead Silence Mist, which resembled a black curtain.

Approaching the edge of the mist, the heart-pounding sensation intensified. The vision of the Eye of Delusion Breaking was also greatly restricted here, only able to penetrate a very shallow layer of the mist. Deep within the mist, something enormous seemed to be hidden, emitting a disturbing pressure.

"brother, there's something in this mist. It doesn't feel very friendly." Wang Gou put away his playful expression, showing a rare trace of solemnity.

Liu Qingtian's tree soul remained calm, analyzing carefully. The space within the mist was extremely fragile, covered in spiderweb-like Spatial Cracks, making forced entry highly risky. Moreover, the strength of the entity emitting the pressure likely far surpassed the Golden Body Realm, reaching at least the Profound Void Realm, or even higher!

Forcing their way in was clearly unwise.

He pondered for a moment, then cautiously attempted to send a wisp of Divine Sense, mixed with a trace of the star key's Stellar Fluctuation, into the mist. It was like dropping a pebble into a lake, hoping to provoke a reaction from the entity inside or gather more information.

However, soon after the Divine Sense entered the mist, it was instantly assimilated and dissolved by the dense dead silence aura, like a clay ox sinking into the sea! Not even a trace of feedback returned!

Just as Liu Qingtian prepared to withdraw his Divine Sense and think of another way, a sudden change occurred!

The silent mist, as if disturbed by this weak wisp of Divine Sense, suddenly churned violently! A cold, savage thought, filled with endless resentment and murderous intent, surged out from the depths of the mist like a tide, instantly locking onto Liu Qingtian and Wang Gou!

"Trespassing... the Land of the Emperors Fall... disturbing... the Emperor's Rest... die!"

A fragmented but ancient thought, containing supreme majesty and terrifying murderous intent, exploded directly in the depths of their Souls!

Boom!

The mist split to both sides, and an incomparably massive phantom slowly stepped out from within!

That was a giant Battle Soul, clad in tattered Bronze Armor and wielding a broken great halberd! The Battle Soul's body was composed of dead silence Qi and resentment condensed to the extreme. Its eyes burned with a Faint Blue Soul Fire, and the pressure it emitted twisted the surrounding Void Realm! Its strength had clearly reached the Profound Void Realm Middle Stage!

This Ancient Battle Soul seemed to be the guardian of this "Land of the Emperors Fall"!

After appearing, the Battle Soul wasted no words. It raised its enormous foot, condensed from dead silence Qi, and stomped fiercely toward the location of Liu Qingtian and Wang Gou! Before the giant foot even arrived, the terrifying pressure and the Law of Dead Silence had completely sealed the space around the two, as if intending to crush them and the ground beneath their feet into powder!

"A Profound Void Realm Battle Soul!" Wang Gou cried out strangely. His figure instantly became like transparent foam, seemingly intending to slip away using his innate talent, but the Battle Soul's pressure faintly locked onto the Concept of his "existence," severely diminishing his stealth effect!

Liu Qingtian's tree soul also tensed up, feeling an unprecedented threat of death! Facing a Profound Void Realm existence, all his methods seemed pale and ineffective! Wither and Flourish Poison Domain? It probably couldn't even break through the opponent's protective Death Qi! Gui Xu Finger? The range was too small, and the power might not be enough!

The only hope left was... He unhesitatingly communicated with the burying netherworld in his Sea of Consciousness!

"Lend me power! All of it!"

In this life-or-death moment, Liu Qingtian no longer cared about the debt. He frantically mobilized his Divine Thought, pleading for the power of this mysterious great halberd!

Buzz!!!

The purple-black great halberd trembled violently. A wave of the Power of Annihilation, far more majestic and colder than when he previously borrowed it to tear space, surged into Liu Qingtian's body like a breached flood! The cost was a visible drop in his cultivation, falling directly back to the Kāishān Realm Mid-stage. A tearing pain came from his tree soul—the consequence of his Origin being forcibly extracted!

But the power he exchanged for was terrifying!

Liu Qingtian's thousands of willow branches were instantly dyed a deep purple-black. The terrifying Annihilation Dao Rhyme spread out, even pushing away the surrounding dense dead silence aura! He felt as if he had transformed into the Incarnation of Annihilation, possessing the authority to govern the end.

He faced the descending giant foot, condensing all his power and unyielding will. He poured all the Power of Annihilation into one main willow branch, transforming it into a Phantom of a Purple-Black Battle Halberd that tore through the heavens, rising Heaven-Defyingly!

"burying netherworld—Slash!"

Boom!!!

The Phantom of a Purple-Black Battle Halberd violently collided with the dead silence giant foot!

There was no earth-shattering explosion, only a more terrifying annihilation at the Law level! At the center of the collision, space, light, energy, and even "existence" itself silently turned into nothingness! A massive, black hole-like area suddenly appeared, frantically devouring everything around it!

The Profound Void Realm Battle Soul let out a roar of shock and fury. Its giant foot, condensed from dead silence Qi, began to disintegrate and dissipate inch by inch during the confrontation with the Power of Annihilation! The Soul fire in its eyes leaped wildly, filled with disbelief!

Using the heaven-shaking blow of the burying netherworld, Liu Qingtian forcibly tore through the Battle Soul's pressure blockade. He grabbed Wang Gou, who had been shaken until his Qi and blood churned and his figure was revealed, and transformed into a purple-black streak of light, rushing desperately toward the deepest part of the mist, the direction where the sense of summons was strongest!

He knew this single blow could not truly wound a Profound Void Realm Battle Soul; it could only buy a brief moment of respite! He had to seize this opportunity to find the star disk fragment or another path to survival!

"Roar! Those who profane the Emperor's Rest... shall be executed!"

Behind him, the Battle Soul's more savage roar and the terrifying fluctuations of its pursuit followed!

The escape began again! And this time, the opponent was a Profound Void Battle Soul, far surpassing the Golden Body Realm!