Chapter 1291: The Soul Heaven Emperor's Disappearance and the Appearance of the Living Dead

In the sky, Wu Nie Tun Yan's eyes flickered with a hint of killing intent as he gazed at the ferocious energy pillars and sea of fire that surged from all directions after the two clans' experts had formed a formation under the leadership of the Ancient Clan's Three Immortals and Yan Jin.

At the same time, the many Soul Clan experts behind him seemed to have received an order, immediately mobilizing their inner battle qi; amidst the rolling black clouds, they unleashed a jet-black chain.

"Clatter!"

The next moment, from within the black clouds where the Soul Clan experts stood, came countless clattering sounds of chains rubbing together.

Then, countless black chains shot out from the black mist, swiftly weaving across the sky into a heavenly net.

On those chains, surging black mist revealed grotesque faces that continually emitted shrill wails.

Moreover, strands of black flame, from somewhere unknown, ignited upon the great net woven from the chains.

While emitting a terrifying devouring power, it continually plundered the energy of heaven and earth to strengthen itself.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Just as the black net finished forming, the attacks of the Ancient and Flame clans arrived with a boom.

In an instant, the heavens and earth within a radius of thousands of li trembled violently under the terrifying clash of the two sides.

Below, the originally lush and verdant plain cracked open with countless abyss-like huge fissures, destroying the beautiful scenery completely.

However, when the terrifying energy storm in the sky gradually subsided, the Soul Clan experts' jointly formed chain of fire net did not collapse.

This clearly shows that, with the aid of Wu Nie Tun Yan, the Soul Clan's grand formation successfully resisted the attacks from the Ancient and Flame clans.

"This Soul Heaven Emperor truly has deep schemes!"

Gazing at the chain of fire net that, though extremely thin under their attacks, remained intact, the experts of the two clans instantly felt it was extremely troublesome.

The strength hidden by the Soul Clan is truly terrifying!

However, the experts of the two clans led by Yan Jin and the Ancient Clan's Three Immortals would not simply let the Soul Clan carry out their plan smoothly.

Therefore, after that previous attack was blocked, Yan Jin immediately turned his head toward the distant Ancient Clan's Three Immortals and Black Nirvana King, sending a mental message: "Scatter, we'll attack separately, so Wu Nie Tun Yan can't handle both at once!"

"Good."

Upon hearing that, the four experienced fighters quickly nodded, agreeing with the earlier suggestion.

After all, these battle‑savvy individuals understood that the enemy could block their attacks solely because of Wu Nie Tun Yan's presence.

Otherwise, with the remaining three Soul Clan Seven‑Star Dou Sheng plus the other Dou Sheng, either the Ancient or Flame clan alone could crush the opposition.

While speaking, Yan Jin, the Black Nirvana King of the Ancient Clan, and the Three Immortals immediately flew off to the left and right sides of the Soul Clan's position.

At the same time, the experts of the Flame and Ancient clans, as if of one mind, all followed their respective leaders in flight.

"Ancient Emperor's Mirror!"

The next moment, those Ancient Clan experts led by the Black Nirvana King and the Three Immortals had their faces flush red, and their angry shouts echoed throughout heaven and earth.

At the same time, the enormous Ancient Mirror they maintained also began to radiate variegated light upon its surface.

Next, those variegated energies converged into a point, flashing with blinding light at the mirror's center.

Then these lights transformed into an energy pillar that shot violently from the mirror's surface, heading straight for the Soul Clan and company!

"Burning Heaven Great Law, Myriad Flame Bell!"

When the Ancient Clan made their move, Yan Jin and the other Flame Clan experts also let out a cold shout.

In an instant, towering flames surged from everyone's bodies; dozens of flames gathered in the sky into a rolling sea of fire, which, as it continually twisted, ultimately transformed into a magnificent fire bell tens of thousands of zhang tall.

The bell then, in the blink of an eye, flew above Wu Nie Tun Yan and company, and then came crashing down upon the Soul Clan experts below.

"To stretch me thin, hum, you're quite clever!"

Seeing the flame bell descending from the sky and the variegated light pillar almost reaching his face, Wu Nie Tun Yan's expression grew solemn as he let out a cold snort.

As the enemy had anticipated, with his support the Soul Clan's formation was indeed impregnable.

But unfortunately, he is only one person and cannot condense two defenses capable of blocking such powerful attacks.

After all, the energy unleashed by either the Flame or Ancient Clan's grand formation is something even an eight‑star peak Dou Sheng cannot withstand.

And in that fleeting moment, Wu Nie Tun Yan naturally could not come up with any good countermeasure.

Therefore, even though he was unwilling, he could only shout to the Soul Clan experts: "The Ancient Clan's attack is faster; I'll hold it off, while on the Flame Clan's side, you must withstand it yourselves!"

As soon as his words fell, Wu Nie Tun Yan immediately left the formation, and as he darted forward, he reached out with a big hand to seize the light pillar condensed by the Ancient Clan experts.

"Hiss!"

The light pillar collided with his big hand, but the expected huge roar did not occur.

On the contrary, the Ancient Clan's energy pillar, under Wu Nie Tun Yan's devouring power, was gradually devoured.

"Yes!"

Seeing this, the Soul Clan Dou Sheng also knew the situation allowed no time for thought, so they could only hurriedly comply.

Meanwhile, as they spoke, dense black mist surged forth like a flood from within the bodies of the Soul Clan experts.

Finally, as the great chain net collapsed, a massive black seal tens of thousands of zhang in size suddenly appeared in the noon sky.

That huge shadow directly turned the plain beneath the black seal into something like night, with not a trace of sunlight.

"Seal of Destruction!"

The black seal in the sky trembled, and suddenly from within the black mist came a fierce shout that seemed to shake heaven and earth.

Immediately afterward, the black seal surged upward with a thunderous roar, colliding with the magnificent fire bell plummeting from the high heavens.

"Clang!"

The two collided violently, and in an instant, resonant bell tones echoed continuously throughout a radius of a thousand li.

As for the onlookers on the periphery, some Dou Sheng who were nearby felt their blood and battle qi surge uncontrollably.

Upon noticing this, the people, besides being shocked, hurriedly retreated even farther.

"Crack!"

However, just as those peripheral onlookers retreated, the black seal that had violently struck the great bell suddenly emitted a cracking sound.

At the same time, numerous cracks like spiderwebs rapidly spread across the black seal.

"Damn!"

Feeling the massive force continuously transmitted by the formation, those Soul Clan strongmen couldn't help but feel waves of panic in their hearts.

Although they outnumbered the Flame Clan by a large margin, the heavy losses from the Yao Clan battle caused their high‑rank Dou Saints to drop by four at once, and the mid‑ and low‑rank Dou Saints fell by more than ten.

Now, facing the Flame Clan's great formation empowered by Flame Ash and an Eight‑Star Peak Dou Saint, everyone couldn't help but feel outmatched.

"Ha!"

The Flame Clan strongmen, seeing their advantage, needed no further words from Flame Ash; they all roared a booming "Ha!" and then slammed the massive flaming bell down with full force.

"Boom!"

With the previous force, the next moment the massive black seal formed by the Soul Clan Dou Saints shattered instantly, turning into countless fragments that rained down with a clattering roar.

"Hmm."

At the same time, the many Soul Clan Dou Saints that made up the formation each let out an uncontrolled hum, their bodies flipping hundreds of zhang backward before they could barely regain control.

As for the Soul Clan formation, at this moment it also lost all effect due to its members scattering everywhere.

From afar, the Flame Clan and others, seeing the enemy formation broken, instantly redirected the much dimmer formation toward the area where the most Soul Clan strongmen had gathered after dispersing.

"Kill them!"

Then, the numerous Flame Clan strongmen immediately let out loud shouts and charged forward.

After all, for a scattered target, the unwieldy formation was clearly no longer suitable.

"Quick, keep up! The Soul Clan now has total advantage; let's help the Flame Clan strongmen kill those bastards!"

From a distance, Yao Chen, protecting Xiao Zhan San and his son, saw the scene and immediately shouted at the nearly twenty Heavenly Capital Alliance strongmen behind him.

"Obeying the Alliance leader's command!"

Facing the situation of beating a downed dog, the Heavenly Capital Alliance strongmen instantly let out excited roars and charged forward.

After all, if they didn't contribute to this great advantage and later split the loot from the Soul Clan strongmen, they wouldn't have the nerve to ask the Gu and Flame clans for anything.

"Up, kill them!"

Seeing this, the Soul Clan strongmen were momentarily flustered, but then, recalling their backup, they immediately snarled and lunged at the Flame Clan strongmen.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The next moment, dozens of Dou Saints and Half‑Saints clashed violently in the vast sky of the Eastern Region, countless high‑rank combat techniques bombarding each other, making the heavens and earth dark.

The wildly soaring brilliant battle aura and the crazily spreading shockwaves obscured the sky for thousands of miles around.

However, in this battle the Soul Clan fell into an absolute disadvantage.

Because one of the sole Four Demon Saints, together with two Seven‑Star Dou Saints and several Six‑Star Dou Saints such as Hun Qianmo, had to act together to block the Eight‑Star Peak Flame Ash.

Yet, without their protection, the mid‑ and low‑rank Soul Clan Dou Saints, when facing the Seven‑Star Peak Fire Spirit Elder, were forced to retreat step by step, utterly unable to fight back.

The onlookers on the outskirts, hearing the terrifying battle aftershocks from afar, dared not linger, hastily retreated a great distance, then stared in horror at the distant battlefield.

There, those empty combat techniques could easily kill people like us.

As for the continent's dragon‑like Dou Saint strongmen who appear head but not tail, on that battlefield they were occasionally slain outright, their limp bodies falling from the sky.

At this moment they finally understood the difference between their ordinary forces and the ancient families.

Usually, the lofty Dou Saint strongmen in their families or sects are just consumables here.

As for the Half‑Saints of the Heavenly Capital Alliance, they have no rights at all; they dare not join the front lines, only forming teams to occasionally ambush a lone One‑Star Dou Saint holding the enemy.

Regarding higher‑star‑ranked strongmen, unless led by another Dou Saint, they wouldn't even dare to touch them.

While those people were fighting chaotically, Gu Yuan on another battlefield suddenly stepped into the void, his body instantly soaring toward the distant clouds.

"Soul Dou Emperor, this time, let the two of us settle the outcome!"

At the same time, a fierce shout rang out, echoing across the region for tens of thousands of miles.

"Hehe, what's there to be afraid of."

Seeing this, the Soul Dou Emperor gave a faint smile, shifted his form, and instantly appeared about a thousand zhang behind Gu Yuan.

Because he knew in his heart that both he and Gu Yuan were the highest combat power on each side.

The two of them should best keep each other in check.

Otherwise, aside from a few, everyone else in both camps would have been killed by the aftershocks of their battle.

"It seems this time both sides have ignited true fire."

Watching the battle, Lin Feng reached out to stroke his chin, pondering aloud.

Without hesitation, he smiled and shook his head.

"Now the Soul Dou Emperor has gathered eight Tuo‑She Gu Emperor Jade; not even the Gu or Flame clans, even I am desperate!"

As he spoke, a flash of urgency crossed Lin Feng's eyes. It seemed his plan now had to be accelerated.

But thinking that the materials to repair Pingnan Pass hadn't been fully found, Lin Feng felt very helpless.

"Alas, it seems now I must first practice dual cultivation with my concubines, then absorb the Dou Emperor bloodline I've gathered to attempt a Nine‑Star ascension. Afterwards, I'll seize that Nine‑Grade Golden Core, refine and ingest it. That way, even against the Soul Dou Emperor and Gu Yuan, I should have self‑preservation power."

As he spoke, his eyes instantly hardened.

After all, he certainly didn't want to watch others ascend to Dou Emperor with his eyes open, while he only licked the opponent to survive.

"Soul Dou Emperor, it seems this time my Gu clan has won!"

A thousand li away from the battlefield, Gu Yuan wielded massive soul power, sensing his side rapidly gaining the upper hand, a smile tugging at his mouth.

Wu Nie Tun Yan was temporarily held back by his clan's Dou Saint formation, while the Flame Clan and the Heavenly Capital Alliance, facing only three Seven‑Star Dou Saints of the Soul Clan, held absolute advantage.

After all, the Soul Clan's Six‑ and Seven‑Star Dou Saints were used to block Flame Ash.

The other One‑ to Five‑Star Dou Saints, under the Seven‑Star Peak Fire Spirit Elder's lead, charged recklessly on the battlefield; no one could stand against the team led by the Seven‑Star Peak Dou Saint.

"Hehe, perhaps."

Please… you… bookmark Book 69.

Hearing that, the Soul Dou Emperor gave a faint smile and brushed it off with a murmur.

He immediately stood with his hands behind his back, his face showing no trace of anger as he said: 'It seems your confidence comes from having calculated that you could temporarily hold me and the Void, then quickly kill the other Fighting Saints of my clan, and then join forces to break the Void and me one by one.'

As he spoke, the wariness in the Soul Heaven Emperor's eyes also dissipated a bit.

He also thought that Gu Yuan's confidence this time came from some eight-star to nine-star Fighting Saints joining the Gu Clan's ranks that he was unaware of.

But now it seems there is no such thing.

"Hehe, my trump cards are certainly not just these!"

Upon hearing this, Gu Yuan suddenly gave a strange smile, baring his teeth as he looked at the old opponent across from him.

"What."

Seeing the former's abnormal expression, the Soul Heaven Emperor's eyes instantly welled up with a bad feeling.

However, before he could finish speaking, Gu Yuan opposite him suddenly formed hand seals, and then a pitch-black space channel suddenly appeared behind the Soul Heaven Emperor.

At the same time, Gu Yuan's figure shot forward, and he jabbed a finger fiercely at the utterly astonished Soul Heaven Emperor.

Finally, under Gu Yuan's all-out strike like an assault, the Soul Heaven Emperor was forced back uncontrollably for a distance.

"Whoosh!"

Immediately after, the space channel behind him flashed with light, instantly sending the Soul Heaven Emperor who had entered its range away.

And in the next moment, Gu Yuan also fiercely rushed into the space channel, likewise disappearing from this world.

"Swoosh!"

After the two disappeared, the temporary space channel subsequently flashed a wisp of light with a swoosh, and then vanished completely.

As for the space distorted by the space channel, it returned to its original state in the blink of an eye.

It was as if the space channel before had never appeared.

"Huh?"

And at the moment the Soul Heaven Emperor and Gu Yuan disappeared, Wu Nie Tun Yan, who was commanding the great formation led by the Gu Clan's Black Nirvana King and Three Immortals and was being shaken to the brink of collapse in the distance, suddenly turned his head with a puzzled look and gazed toward the far horizon.

Immediately after, invisible tiny flames swiftly shot out from his body, eventually covering an extremely far distance around him.

Because in his perception, the auras of the Soul Heaven Emperor and Gu Yuan suddenly disappeared one after another in an extremely short interval.

Such a strange occurrence, Wu Nie Tun Yan naturally dared not be careless.

However, no matter how he sensed, the auras of the Soul Heaven Emperor and Gu Yuan could no longer be detected at all.

It was as if they had vanished from this continent!

"I still need him to obtain the inheritance of the Tuoshe Ancient Emperor; the Soul Heaven Emperor must not come to harm, so it seems I'll have to use them."

Thinking that he still needed the Soul Heaven Emperor's strong assistance, Wu Nie Tun Yan immediately decided to go to the place where they had disappeared to examine the situation closely.

And while speaking, Wu Nie Tun Yan immediately sent out several messages.

"Buzz!"

Accompanying the sending of those messages, a strange humming sound suddenly rang out across the vast battlefield.

At the same time, waves of yin-cold aura rapidly spread out.

Furthermore, as those yin-cold auras spread, the humming sound also became increasingly urgent.

"What is going on?"

Sensing something amiss, Yan Jin, the Flame Spirit Elder, the Black Nirvana King, and the Three Immortals of the Gu Clan all unconsciously looked up toward the sky.

Amidst this eerie humming and yin-cold aura, their hearts were quickly filled with a surging, intense unease.

Meanwhile, the other Fighting Saints of the three major forces, upon sensing that their leaders were off, instantly felt that something was wrong.

Thus, the strong warriors of the three major forces hastily repelled their opponents, then cautiously looked around in all directions, fearing a sneak attack.

As for the Soul Clan's strong warriors, they seemed to have understood something, and all retreated with a sinister grin in unison.

"Boom!"

But just as the strong warriors of the three major forces were cautiously looking around, several streams of extremely sinister aura suddenly surged forth.

At the same time, the strong warriors of the three major forces, while struggling to resist this momentum under these changes, all fled in horror to stand beside their companions, lest they be picked off individually.

"Bang! Bang!"

However, just as they were taking action, four black rectangular objects suddenly emerged from the void.

And these four rectangular objects happened to be positioned at the four southeast, northwest, and northeast directions of this sky, encircling the strong warriors of the Gu and Yan clans as well as the three major forces of the Heaven's Treasury Alliance.

Those rectangular objects shot out from the black mist instantly drew the gaze of everyone present.

"That thing, is it a coffin?"

However, after seeing the true appearance of those objects, everyone inside and outside the venue was simultaneously shocked.

Because those objects turned out to be three pitch-black metal coffins!

At the same time, with the appearance of those three coffins, an extremely chilling cold aura continuously seeped out from them, causing everyone present to break out in goosebumps.

Even Yan Jin and the Black Nirvana King, facing this strange scene, felt their scalps go numb.

"Clang! Clang!"

The next moment, the lids of the four black coffins were suddenly flung away by a tremendous force.

Immediately after, four gaunt figures resembling skeletons slowly stepped out of the metal coffins.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

And as those few appeared, four waves of terrifying aura, each stronger than an early eight-star Fighting Saint Black Nirvana King, surged across the heavens.

This caused the allied forces of the three major forces to undergo a sudden change in expression!

"Hun Yuan Tian? Hun Sheng Tian? Hun Yao? How could you old ghosts possibly still be alive?!"

After seeing clearly the four figures, the pupils of Yan Jin and Hei Nie Wang suddenly contracted; then, with faces full of shock, they sternly questioned the four.

Because the seniority of these four within the Soul Clan, if spoken of frankly, is even higher than that of the current Soul Clan Chief, the Soul Heavenly Emperor, by a generation.

But the problem is, these four old fogeys had already perished in that great war a thousand years ago with the Xiao Clan.

Today, why can we still appear again unharmed?!

However, soon the well‑versed Yan Jin, his face flushed and throat thick, roared, "No, you four aren't living people, you're living dead!"

"Living dead?"

Hearing the roar, the Fire Spirit Elder, Hei Nie King, and the three Immortals of the Ancient Clan fell into thought.

Yet quickly they each retrieved information about living dead from their memories.

Living dead, to put it simply, are beings like puppets.

However, creating a living dead requires a peculiar method that fuses the lingering soul of a dead person with its corpse, restoring it to a half‑revived state.

Thus, a living dead retains its pre‑death memories and consciousness, and can still cultivate and use combat techniques.

So compared with puppets, they are far more advanced.

Yet the revival conditions are extremely stringent, consuming huge resources, and the success rate is rather low.

Because of the high cost and low success, and the strict requirements for the secret method, the ancient powers of the Dou Qi Continent rarely attempt it.

Now, it is clear that the Soul Clan used some unknown method to turn four already‑dead Soul Clan elites into living dead.

In that case, these four can once again serve the Soul Clan.

"Has the Soul Heaven Emperor been scheming for so many years, and this is the hidden high‑level power of the Soul Clan besides removing the early‑stage Nine‑Star Wu Nie Tun Yan?"

Sensing the overwhelming aura from the east, south, west and north, Yan Jin couldn't help a bitter smile.

The four Eight-Star Dou Saints, even the weakest Hun Yuan Tian, all possess Eight-Star Mid‑Stage Dou Saint level.

As for the other three, they have even entered the Eight-Star Late Stage.

Compared with him, the Flame Clan Clan Leader, they are only a hair weaker!

This terrifying strength could tilt the balance of the war to an unrestricted shift against the Soul Clan.

"You four, together with them, slaughter these people; just now the Soul Heaven Emperor's aura vanished, I will go check the situation."

After the four living dead appeared, Wu Nie Tun Yan impatiently addressed them.

After all, without the Soul Heaven Emperor, he wouldn't dare open Place: Gu Di Dong Fu.

Therefore, the Soul Heaven Emperor must be alive, and whole.

"What?"

At those words, the four whose faces were furrowed like old bark immediately changed complexion, their gazes sweeping the surroundings.

Upon realizing their clan leader's aura was absent, one of them urgently asked, "Wu Nie, what's happening, why has the clan leader disappeared?"

"How would I know? It must be Gu Yuan's method. I'll go investigate, you handle killing these people!"

Hearing the question, Wu Nie Tun Yan flicked his sleeve with a cold expression.

Given his standing in the Soul Clan, no one can speak to him that way.

One of the living dead stepped forward, "Wu Nie, the elder is a bit impatient; don't be angry. Finding the clan leader is urgent. With just the few of us we can't guarantee handling Gu Yuan. Leave this to us; as for you, go find the clan leader first, we all depend on him."

"You'd better eliminate these pesky ants in one go; as for the Soul Heaven Emperor's side, leave it to me."

Hearing that, Wu Nie Tun Yan coldly muttered, then vanished in a flash.

However, while the others were speaking, Yan Jin and Hei Nie King, having already reacted, quietly summoned the strongest within their clan, all targeting the weakest, only Eight-Star Mid‑Stage Dou Saint Hun Yuan Tian. (End of chapter)