Chapter 594: Chapter 594: Who Could Have Imagined

Word Count: 3,045 Words

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"Old Ten, this is your first time in the Man Hall. Submitting soul bodies here is different from the other Hall of Souls branches. Have someone lead you there."

"Hm? What’s different?" Xiao Yan was startled. This really was his first visit, so he genuinely had not known there was such a difference.

Sixth Tianzun slowly explained, "In essence, the Man Hall is the main hall above all the Hall of Souls branches and the Disha Halls. The soul bodies from the twenty-four Disha Halls and every branch hall are sealed and transmitted through the Soul Paths of their respective Soul Offering Altars, then sent into the Soul Pool here."

"That is why the Man Hall does not have a Soul Offering Altar of its own. If you wish to hand in soul bodies, you must personally go to the Soul Pool."

"Jie Jie Jie, I only hope you won’t be frightened when the time comes."

Xiao Yan frowned slightly, but after a moment of thought, it did make sense. The Heaven Hall was empty, a place used to monitor the Xiao Realm, its symbolism greater than its practical purpose. The Earth Hall was responsible for overall coordination. By contrast, the Man Hall was where the Tianzun and Protectors came and went most frequently.

Xiao Yan nodded, then called out in a deep voice, "Zhai Xing, lead the way."

Old Ghost Zhai Xing, who had originally been sitting cross-legged atop a Soul Chain, instantly sprang to his feet the moment Xiao Yan’s voice rang out. He slipped out from the void, bent low at the waist, lowered his head, and rubbed his hands together in an obsequious, fly-like manner. "Yes, Tenth Tianzun. This small one is greatly honored."

Xiao Yan glanced at Old Ghost Zhai Xing. This fellow was one of the few people who knew his true identity. He gave a light nod. "Lead the way."

"Yes, yes, yes. Tenth Tianzun, this way."

Right now, Zhai Xing wanted nothing more than to be the Tenth Tianzun’s dog!

After all, Zhai Xing knew that the Tenth Tianzun was Xiao Yan. He also paid closer attention than anyone to how vast the Yan Alliance had become and exactly how far Xiao Yan’s strength had grown.

There was no clear proof that Xiao Yan had already reached the Dou Saint realm. Battles at that level were still far beyond his reach. Whether it was the Ancient Void Dragon Tribe or the Nine Serene Deep Ground Python Tribe, both were super clans he did not dare touch at all.

But! That didn’t stop him from filling in the blanks himself!

Zhai Xing was not stupid. The Yan Alliance could now practically rival the entire Hall of Souls and the Pill Tower. Could Xiao Yan, the initiator of the Yan Alliance Pact, possibly be weak?

Moreover, Zhai Xing, this devoted ’fanboy,’ had already come to worship Xiao Yan like a god. He could be said to be an unwavering believer. Other people might not believe that Xiao Yan could obtain the Bodhisattva Heart, but he believed it one hundred percent.

Although Xiao Yan had denied Xue He, Xue He had asked whether he had reached the Half-Saint realm. If Xiao Yan was already a true Dou Saint, then of course he was not a Half-Saint!

’Dou Saint! Absolutely no mistake. He must have reached the Dou Saint realm!’ Zhai Xing clenched both fists, his eyes streaked with blood, even his breathing growing somewhat hurried.

Third Tianzun and Second Tianzun were merely Half-Saints. Only the First Tianzun had reached the Dou Saint realm. Did that not mean Xiao Yan was, at the very least, a super expert who could contend with First Tianzun?!

Xiao Yan had just ordered him to lead the way! Did anyone think just anyone could lead the way for a Dou Saint?!

He could!

This was appreciation!

"Where are First Tianzun and the others?" Xiao Yan looked at Zhai Xing, who was bowing and scraping as he led the way in front, and asked slowly.

"Reporting to Tenth Tianzun, Third Tianzun Gui Ming, Second Tianzun Gu You, and First Tianzun Ming Jin have all reached the Saint level. Therefore, they no longer cultivate on the Soul Chains, but go directly into the Soul Pool to absorb the purest soul essence." Zhai Xing replied with extreme respect, not daring to conceal the slightest thing.

Xiao Yan nodded and followed Zhai Xing deep into the Man Hall. Sure enough, the Man Hall did not have a Soul Offering Altar. In the place where a Soul Offering Altar would normally stand, there was instead a stairway leading downward, a passage that descended into the underground levels of the Man Hall.

"Tenth Tianzun, the Soul Pool is on the lowest level of the Man Hall," Zhai Xing said.

By the time Xiao Yan reached the depths of the Man Hall, he had already discovered an extremely powerful fluctuation of Spiritual Strength below. In a certain sense, the entire Man Hall existed to suppress and seal whatever lay beneath. Those Soul Chains were merely one part of the seal.

Xiao Yan walked all the way down. A sudden sense of familiarity rose within him, somewhat like the feeling he had experienced back when he entered the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower at Jia Nan Academy.

The difference was that the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower had been scorching hot, while this place was not only devoid of heat, it carried wave after wave of sinister chill. The farther down he went, the denser that coldness born from negative energy became.

’It feels somewhat similar to the soul essence I obtained back then.’ Xiao Yan had once acquired a Soul Light Cluster. It was entirely because of that soul light cluster that he had managed to break through.

When Xiao Yan arrived at the lowest level of the Man Hall, even his eyes involuntarily narrowed. No wonder Sixth Tianzun had told him not to be frightened.

What lay before him was a complete portrait of hell!

Countless soul bodies were bound by innumerable black chains. These black Soul Chains were like rows of sharp wooden stakes, piercing through the soul bodies, hanging them in midair, and extracting the soul essence within them.

There were not only humans here, but also a considerable number of strange creatures and magical beasts. However, the majority were still human cultivators, because human Spiritual Strength was the strongest, far stronger than that of magical beasts.

They were densely packed beyond counting, enough to make one’s scalp turn numb. It was an extremely ghastly sight.

This was the true Hall of Souls, a place that treated all things as straw dogs. Whether they were soul bodies left behind by experts from ancient times, alchemists, dead souls who had fallen in battle, or magical beasts, all of them were nothing more than materials for the Soul Chains to strip of soul essence.

There was no distinction between noble and lowly, high and low.

Miserable howls poured into Xiao Yan’s ears. These wails did not come only from the souls on the Soul Chains. The entire underground space echoed with waves of anguished cries, like the shrill screams of wronged ghosts.

Negative energy.

No one knew how many years the Man Hall had existed, nor how many soul bodies the Hall of Souls had collected. The unwillingness, fury, and resentment those soul bodies carried before death had transformed into an invisible negative emotion. The entire space was filled with this kind of negative feeling.

’No wonder the stronger the people in the Hall of Souls are, the stranger their temperaments become. If they absorb this kind of soul essence to cultivate, it would be odd if they weren’t corroded by negative emotions.’ Xiao Yan shook his head. This was the same as what had happened with the Bodhisattva Ancient Tree back then.

The Soul Chains only extracted the purest soul essence from the soul bodies, but such an extraction would inevitably contain more or less negative emotion. Once one absorbed too much of it, one’s temperament would undergo a drastic change.

Xiao Yan slowly looked toward the huge pit in the very center. Deep within that pit floated a light cluster roughly five feet in size. The light cluster was transparent, and countless pitch-black chains were connected to its outer surface.

This Soul Light Cluster was soul essence. The soul essence Xiao Yan had obtained back then had only been the size of a fist. This one was vastly larger, by who knew how many times. There was no telling how many soul bodies’ soul essence had been absorbed to form it.

"Old Ten? Have you come to submit soul bodies?" An old man sitting cross-legged near the gigantic light cluster, in the midst of absorbing soul essence, slowly opened his eyes. This person was none other than the Hall of Souls’ First Tianzun, Ming Jin.

Second Tianzun and Third Tianzun sat on either side of Ming Jin. The moment they saw Xiao Yan, their eyes could not help shrinking, their eyelids twitching slightly, because all of them knew Xiao Yan’s true identity.

This was especially true for Second Tianzun Gu You. Two years ago, within the Bodhisattva Ancient Tree, Xiao Yan had killed the Hun Clan’s Divine Grade bloodline right in front of him without showing the slightest mercy! Moreover, after Xiao Yan killed that Divine Grade bloodline, the Hun Clan had not voiced a single objection!

Becoming one of the Ten Tianzuns gave one the qualifications to join the Hun Clan, and those who reached the Half-Saint level naturally became Elders of the Hun Clan.

Therefore, after Xiao Yan killed Hun Yu, Gu You, as an Elder, naturally had to report the matter to the Hun Clan’s Council of Elders. Originally, he had thought the Hun Clan would surround and hunt Xiao Yan down, or at the very least punish him in some way. Perhaps they would demand Hun Yu’s soul body back and resurrect him.

In the end, absolutely nothing happened!

It was as though the entire Hun Clan had silently accepted Hun Yu’s death. Forget punishing Xiao Yan. The whole matter sank like a stone into the sea!

It was truly terrifying when one thought about it carefully!

Hun Yu had possessed a Divine Grade bloodline. He had been a powerful contender for the position of Young Clan Leader. The entire Hun Clan only had two Divine Grade bloodlines, and standing behind him were many super experts who far surpassed even the Hall of Souls Hall Chief.

Yet in the end, still nothing happened!

This could only mean one thing: Xiao Yan’s standing within the Hun Clan was extremely high. High enough that even after killing a Divine Grade bloodline, he could remain completely unharmed!

Gu You had also been among the first to learn that Xiao Yan had obtained the Bodhisattva Heart. Others might not know whether Xiao Yan had reached the Dou Saint realm, but how could he be unaware? He himself was still only a high-level Half-Saint, still an unknown distance away from becoming a true Dou Saint.

If the opportunity arose, Gu You would unquestionably be willing to sell his life for Xiao Yan in exchange for a single Bodhisattva Pill.

"It’s not just to hand in soul bodies," Xiao Yan said calmly. "I also need some soul essence to break through, so I’ve come to draw some out."

He swept his hand through the air, and countless soul bodies poured from the Soul Command Token at his waist.

"Ahhh! I’ll fight you to the death!!"

"This is the Hall of Souls!!"

"Don’t kill me! I’m willing to do anything, just let me go!"

In an instant, countless incomparably powerful soul bodies filled the space. Although their Spiritual States were not especially high, they had been Dou Saints while alive. Their soul essence naturally contained a trace of Dou Saint-level power, making it a great tonic for Half-Saints.

"These are elite experts from the Nine Serene Deep Ground Python Tribe and the Heaven Demon Phoenix Tribe!"

"You two are Kun Huang and Ying Huang!!" Gu You and Gui Ming abruptly stood up, exclaiming in shock. Those were genuine Dou Saints. One had been a late 1-star Dou Saint, while the other had been an intermediate 1-star Dou Saint!

Forget killing them. Even if First Tianzun Ming Jin personally attacked, it was uncertain whether he could defeat the two of them. Yet now, they were dead, reduced to soul bodies, and had fallen into Xiao Yan’s hands!

Although Xiao Yan’s Yellow Spring Divine Anger had blasted Kun Huang and Ying Huang into blood mist, how could the soul bodies of Dou Saints be destroyed so easily? There was no way Xiao Yan would waste them. After the battle, he had naturally used the Soul Command Token to collect their souls.

"The Heaven Demon Phoenix Tribe’s Young Clan Leader, Jiu Feng, and the Profound Sky Sect’s Deputy Sect Leader... why are all of them in your hands?" Ming Jin’s reaction was somewhat different. Because he did not know Xiao Yan’s true identity, what shocked him was why the soul bodies of these people had ended up with the Tenth Tianzun!

As the First Tianzun, he naturally knew many things. The Nine Serene Deep Ground Python Tribe and the Profound Sky Sect having been destroyed by the Yan Alliance was no secret. Nor was it a secret that Jiu Feng and the Profound Sky Sect’s Deputy Sect Leader had disappeared in the Ancient Wasteland Region.

However, all of these people’s soul bodies appearing together within the Tenth Tianzun’s Soul Command Token was a matter worth thinking about.

"Yan Tianzun... you are the Yan Alliance’s Xiao Yan?!"

Ming Jin’s old eyes widened. These three great factions all had countless connections to the Yan Alliance, especially the Profound Sky Sect and the Nine Serene Deep Ground Python Tribe.

The former had been destroyed by the Yan Alliance. Its Sect Leader, its elders, and even the high-level Half-Saint Old Demon Tian Ming had all been killed. As for the Yellow Springs Mountain Range, authority over it was now firmly held by the Snake-People Tribe.

As long as the First Tianzun thought about it even slightly, it was not difficult to guess the truth.

The Tenth Tianzun was Xiao Yan!

"Xiao Yan! I’ll fight you!!" Jiu Feng’s soul body suddenly surged with frantic fluctuations, as if he intended to self-destruct.

Xiao Yan merely smiled faintly and waved his hand. A clattering sound rang out as countless Soul Chains shot out from every direction. With several muffled puffs, the chains pierced through the void and impaled Jiu Feng’s soul body.

A special black mist energy instantly sealed every last bit of Jiu Feng’s strength and began extracting his soul essence.

Xiao Yan turned his gaze toward Kun Huang and the others. Before they had any chance to flee, Soul Chains flew out one after another, piercing through every soul body and sealing them in place.

Xiao Yan had never been merciful or soft-hearted toward his enemies. With a sweep of his sleeve, the soul bodies of these super experts whose names had once shaken the Dou Qi Continent were all hung up, their soul essence being drawn out without pause.

"Xiao Yan! I won’t let you off even as a ghost!"

"Xiao Yan, spare me! I’ll serve you like an ox or a horse!"

Begging and threats rang out in waves, but Xiao Yan only smiled indifferently and ignored them all. If he had been the one to lose back then, his fate would definitely not have been much better than theirs.

Ming Jin’s eyes could not help shrinking as he watched Xiao Yan deal with his enemies without the slightest mercy. He could already sense the threat Xiao Yan posed.

"Good. Good. What a Xiao Yan. What a Tenth Tianzun." Ming Jin slowly stood. The might of an intermediate 2-star Dou Saint gradually rose from within his body. "Who could have imagined that the Xiao Clan’s Little Clan Leader, the Pill Tower’s Pill Gathering Champion Xiao Yan, would also be the Hall of Souls’ most mysterious Tenth Tianzun?"

Second Tianzun Gu You and Third Tianzun Gui Ming exchanged a glance and hurriedly withdrew. This was a struggle for authority within the Hall of Souls!

The authority held by the First Tianzun was extremely great. He did not even need to personally capture soul bodies and could simply sit back and enjoy the results. At the First Tianzun’s level, aside from cultivating, he usually forged soul jade slips and guarded members of the Hun Clan during their training when necessary.

The First Tianzun was an old-guard Elder of the Hun Clan!

Xiao Yan’s expression did not change as he watched Ming Jin’s aura slowly climb. He lifted a hand and wiped it across his face, revealing his original appearance. Since everyone already knew, there was no need for him to continue pretending.

"Intermediate 2-star Dou Saint... you still won’t do. You’re not even as good as that Feng Huang." Xiao Yan gently pointed a finger at Ming Jin, and a condensed Dou Qi fluctuation descended with a rumble.

Xiao Yan didn’t even bother using a Dou Technique. He merely launched the simplest Dou Qi attack. Did he need a Dou Technique to deal with an old fellow at the intermediate 2-star Dou Saint?

"Late 2-star Dou Saint!" Terror filled Ming Jin’s eyes. He had guessed that Xiao Yan was definitely a Dou Saint, and had even dared to estimate that Xiao Yan might be an initial 2-star Dou Saint.

He had never imagined that Xiao Yan had already reached the late stage!

"Life Soul Heaven Shield!" Ming Jin roared and instantly unleashed a Tian Class defensive Dou Technique. A strange defensive barrier wrapped around his entire body.

Thud!

Xiao Yan’s finger strike hammered into the shield. The next second, a tremendous force that made Ming Jin’s expression fill with horror surged over him. There was a sharp crack as the Dou Technique shattered, and the remaining strength struck Ming Jin’s body.

Without using a Dou Technique, Xiao Yan had defeated the Hall of Souls’ First Tianzun in a single blow!