153: Chapter 153 Winning Hearts and Minds! Blood Soul's Wrath!

Several days passed, and the area outside the main gate of the Soul Realm remained empty. Hun Qian changed the guard shifts on time every day, and the guards gradually shifted from their initial state of strict readiness to utter boredom. Never mind an army from the Flame Emperor Alliance; they hadn't even seen the shadow of a scout.

Xiao Zhan was locked in the Soul Realm dungeon, his three meals delivered on time daily. Aside from not being able to move around freely, he hadn't suffered any harsh treatment—Hun Tiandi had personally given orders that this man was only valuable while alive; if he died, it would actually let the Flame Emperor Alliance off too easily.

After waiting another two days, Hun Tiandi leaned back in his chair, casually setting the seemingly endless ancient book he was holding onto the desk. In a flat tone, he said to Hun Qian, "Since they dare not come, then let the entire continent know about this."

Consequently, the Hun Clan's secret agents poured out in full force. Within a few short days, news that Xiao Yan's father, Xiao Zhan, had been captured alive by Hun Muxiao, the daughter of the Hun Clan's young master, spread to every corner of the Central Plains.

From teahouses and taverns to sect grand halls, from the campfires of mercenary groups to the VIP rooms of auction houses, everyone was discussing the same thing—the father of the Flame Emperor Alliance leader, Xiao Yan, had been captured by the Hun Clan, yet the Flame Emperor Alliance didn't even dare to make a peep.

The news spread like wildfire, with all sorts of embellished versions flying everywhere. Some said Hun Muxiao was only eleven years old and had dragged Xiao Zhan from the Jia Ma Empire to the Soul Realm with one hand; others claimed Xiao Zhan was so scared when he was captured that his legs turned to jelly and he didn't even know how to resist; still others said the Flame Emperor Alliance had known the Hun Clan was coming for someone and had hidden Xiao Zhan in advance, only for a little girl to snatch him out of the ancestral home like a hawk catching a chick. The rumors became increasingly absurd and increasingly unpleasant.

In the main hall of the Starfall Pavilion, the atmosphere was as oppressive as the dead silence before a storm. Yao Chen sat in the main seat, an intelligence summary collected from the streets spread out before him; every single item was a jab at the backbone of the Flame Emperor Alliance.

Wind Idle stood by his side, his face livid, his fingers gripping the hilt of the sword at his waist so tightly his knuckles turned white. "The Hun Clan is engaging in psychological warfare. They are in no hurry to kill Xiao Zhan; they just want the whole world to watch the Flame Emperor Alliance become a laughingstock."

Yao Chen's voice was hoarse and weary, yet it still precisely struck at the heart of the problem. This move by the Hun Clan wasn't about killing; it was about crushing their spirit. They were tearing the dignity of the Flame Emperor Alliance piece by piece, throwing it on the ground to trample, and after trampling it, asking— "Aren't you the Flame Emperor Alliance? Where is your Flame Emperor?"

"Then what do we do? Just sit here and do nothing?" Wind Idle gritted his teeth, every word sounding as if it were squeezed out from between them. Yao Chen did not answer. He knew the Hun Clan was waiting for them to lose their composure.

With Xiao Yan absent, the Flame Emperor Alliance was like a lamb facing a tiger when confronted by the Soul Clan Alliance; charging in would only be throwing their lives away. But if they didn't charge, the morale of the Flame Emperor Alliance would disintegrate bit by bit under this silent humiliation. He had lived for hundreds of years, yet this was the first time he felt so powerless. He had promised Xiao Yan to protect this foundation for him, but now this foundation was being trampled upon in public in the most vicious way.

Tang Huo'er walked in from outside the hall, the cuffs of her crimson combat outfit still stained with sparks from her cultivation. She had been locking herself in the cultivation room for the past few days, desperately trying to break through, attempting to numb herself with cultivation, but after hearing the rumors outside, she finally couldn't hold back any longer.

She walked up to Yao Chen, her voice hoarse but carrying undisguised stubbornness, and said she would go to the Soul Realm—alone, not implicating the Flame Emperor Alliance. She was Xiao Yan's woman; saving her father-in-law was a matter of course, and even if the Hun Clan killed her, it would have nothing to do with the Flame Emperor Alliance. Yao Chen looked up at this stubborn girl, an indescribable bitterness welling up in his heart. He knew Tang Huo'er wasn't being impulsive, but rather heartbroken—heartbroken for Xiao Yan fighting desperately out there, heartbroken for his father being captured, and heartbroken for the Flame Emperor Alliance being mocked while they could do nothing. But he could not let her go.

Wind Idle slammed a fist into the stone pillar beside him, sending spiderweb-like cracks throughout the entire pillar. He said bitterly that it would be good if Xiao Yan were here. Yao Chen did not speak, merely casting his gaze toward the moonlight outside the window, half-hidden by clouds. Xiao Yan was in the Ancient Emperor Cave, and it was unknown when he would be able to emerge. Hun Feng was in the Myriad Soul Origin Pool, also unknown when he would emerge from seclusion. Both sides were racing against time; whoever stepped into the Emperor Realm first would be able to determine the fate of this continent. And before that, all they could do was wait—and endure this humiliation that had nowhere to be vented.

Meanwhile, in the Scripture Pavilion of the Soul Realm. Hun Muxiao stood before that massive bronze door on the top floor, which was several zhang high, looking up at the four ancient seal script characters carved on the lintel—Wan Fa Gui Zong (All Techniques Return to the Origin).

Hun Qian personally pushed open the door for her, a door that had reportedly not been opened to outsiders for hundreds of years; the roar of the door hinges turning echoed throughout the spacious top floor. Behind the door was an independent space shrouded by soul restrictions, with countless light orbs of various colors floating in mid-air. Each light orb was a scroll of a Heaven Rank Dou Skill, all of them top-tier techniques that the Hun Clan had scavenged from all over the continent over thousands of years.

Hun Muxiao stepped into this sea of light, her peach-blossom eyes reflecting countless leaping lights, as if she were browsing a treasure vault that belonged only to her. She walked and stopped, occasionally reaching out to touch those light orbs, occasionally tilting her head to examine the runes flowing within them. Hun Qian followed behind her, intending to introduce a few of the universally acknowledged most powerful Dou Techniques, but seeing her picky demeanor, he shut his mouth—this little ancestor had her own ideas since she was a child; the more others recommended something, the less she cared for it.

She wandered in the sea of light for more than half an hour, finally stopping before an orb of light emitting a faint blood-colored glow. The orb was not large, and its light was not as dazzling as the surrounding Heaven Rank high-grade Dou Skills, but the runes flowing within it carried a unique aura that made her bloodline resonate faintly.

She reached out with her fingertip to gently touch the light orb, and a blood-colored screen of light unfolded silently, with four ancient seal script characters appearing before her eyes—Blood Soul Heavenly Wrath. Heaven Rank intermediate-grade, a soul sonic wave Dou Technique exclusive to the Hun Clan. It uses bloodline power to trigger a soul screech, ignoring physical defenses and attacking the opponent's sea of consciousness directly. Cultivated to the peak, it can shatter the soul origin of a powerhouse of the same rank in a single thought, and it is a crushing, mass-killing weapon against opponents with lower cultivation levels than oneself.

After reading the introduction to the Dou Technique, Hun Muxiao's peach-blossom eyes suddenly lit up. She was just lacking a long-range attack method—the bone whip was strong, but it was a melee weapon after all, and it was easy to be at a disadvantage when encountering opponents who were fast or skilled in long-range attacks. Blood Soul Heavenly Wrath perfectly made up for this shortcoming, and it was a soul sonic wave Dou Technique exclusive to the Hun Clan, naturally compatible with the God-Grade Bloodline and blood-attribute Dou Qi within her body.

Without a word, she plucked the light orb and held it in her hands, turning and walking toward the door. Hun Qian followed behind, hurriedly saying that although this scroll of Blood Soul Heavenly Wrath was not Heaven Rank high-grade, its cultivation difficulty was immense, and among the generations of Hun Clan geniuses, those who could cultivate it to the peak could be counted on one's fingers. Hun Muxiao said without looking back that it was because they were stupid, and then she skipped down the stairs, clutching the Dou Technique scroll.

It was already evening when she returned to the East Courtyard. Hun Muxiao sat on a stone stool, spreading the newly acquired Dou Technique scroll out on her lap, gesturing in the void with her fingers while reading.

Yao Yao leaned over to take a look, a trace of surprise flashing in her peach-blossom eyes, saying that this was the Blood Soul Heavenly Wrath that even Elder Soul Yuan Tian hadn't been able to cultivate to the peak back in the day. Hun Muxiao said without raising her head that Grandpa Yuan Tian was old and his throat wasn't good, so it was normal that he couldn't cultivate it.

Medusa leaned on the soft couch, watching her daughter's earnest studious appearance, a faint smile appearing on the corners of her lips, and asked her when she would begin cultivation. Hun Muxiao closed the scroll, stood up, and stretched her limbs, her peach-blossom eyes flashing with an eager-to-try light, saying she would start tonight—once she mastered it, the next time there was a job to capture someone, she wouldn't even need her bone whip; she would just shout once and the opponents would all collapse.

Yao Yao smiled and rubbed her head, saying that she had better practice quickly and not wait until her father came out of seclusion without having mastered it yet. Hun Muxiao snorted, clutching the scroll, and walked toward the cultivation room. She wanted to master this Dou Technique before her father came out of seclusion, so she could give him a surprise then.