Chapter 603: Ren Dian

Of course, Xiao Yan didn't intend to challenge a Dou Emperor—he merely needed at least a means of self-preservation.

Yet Xiao Yan wasn't worried about Hun Tian Di becoming an Emperor, for as an observer, he understood that becoming an Emperor wasn't necessarily a good thing.

"I just don't get why that guy Hun Tian Di is so obsessed with becoming an Emperor," Xiao Yan muttered. If he achieved his obsession, wouldn't he just be left with emptiness?

Of course, no matter how much Xiao Yan thought about it, it was useless. Although the old ancestor of Dan Tower claimed he could sway the situation on the Dou Qi Continent, in reality, Hun Tian Di, at Nine Star Peak, was nearly invincible—only Gu Yuan could stand against him.

And

One day later, Zangshi Shan Mai.

Zangshi Shan Mai lay at the core junction of Zhongzhou Xiyu and Nan Yu. Due to its terrain, this place was saturated with heavy yin energy, which was further mixed with thick corpse qi, because within a radius of thousands of li, nearly every household buried their dead here. Thus, Zangshi Shan Mai was a strange mountain range composed entirely of graves—normally, it was nearly devoid of human presence; no one willingly stayed in such a ghostly place.

A mountain range equivalent to the mass graveyards of the Dou Qi Continent.

And here was where the Soul Hall's Ren Dian was located.

Normally, the three halls of the Soul Hall—Tian Gang, Di Dian, and Ren Dian—were respectively governed by the Hall Master Hun Mie Sheng, Deputy Hall Master Hun Zhu, and the Great Heavenly Venerable Ming Jin. But because of Xiao Yan's transaction with Hun Tian Di, the Tian Dian, originally positioned above the Xiao Realm to monitor whether the Xiao Realm had any hidden methods rekindling, was taken back by Xiao Yan!

This resulted in Hun Mie Sheng now governing Di Dian, while Deputy Hall Master Hun Zhu and Great Heavenly Venerable Ming Jin jointly governed Ren Dian.

Therefore, if one judged by who controlled Tian Dian—who then became the Soul Hall's Hall Master—in reality, Xiao Yan, the Ten Heavenly Venerable, was the secret Soul Hall Hall Master!

Of course, the Soul Hall valued strength, not who controlled Tian Dian, so Xiao Yan's official status remained Ten Heavenly Venerable—and naturally, Ren Dian was his workplace.

At this moment, Xiao Yan, who had arrived outside Zangshi Shan Mai, was here to clock in.

He, as the Ten Heavenly Venerable, hadn't submitted any Soul Bodies in a while; his Soul Token held many Soul Bodies. For example, some powerful figures from the Nine Underworld Dark Python Clan, Jiu Feng's, and the Deputy Sect Master of Tianming Sect—all resided within Xiao Yan's Soul Token.

Most importantly, he had obtained the Pill Formula—it was time for him to reap the rewards.

Less than a hundred days remained until the Demon Fire's emergence. Xiao Yan, long ago at Two-Star Saint Late Stage, intended to use the Soul Hall's resources to break through to Three-Star Dou Saint!

"I think this is my first time ever coming to Ren Dian," Xiao Yan sighed wryly. He'd been promoted to Ten Heavenly Venerable for four years and had never once clocked in—this was serious absenteeism.

Whoosh—the Xiao Yan pulled out his "work uniform" from his storage ring, donned it, fastened his "employee badge" at his waist, raised both hands to grasp the edges of his hood, and slowly pulled it down; his eyes flashed with sharpness.

The Ten Heavenly Venerable has arrived!

Xiao Yan stepped into Zangshi Shan Mai; a spiritual energy wave swept over him—this place had a sensing barrier set by a Dou Saint; anyone entering would be detected.

Hum—the Soul Token emitted a spiritual energy pulse; the Space Lock opened like an automatic door, revealing the other side of Zangshi Shan Mai—a little world hidden among countless corpses.

Xiao Yan slowly walked into the slightly twisted space; the first thing to meet his eyes was a vast expanse of black earth, occasionally exposing patches of bone-white—clearly broken Hai Shi, radiating eerie coldness.

At the center of this vast domain stood a massive black hall, silent and still, like an ancient Fierce Beast crouched upon the ground; a chilling, terrifying aura slowly spread, permeating this sealed space.

Within the black hall, countless thick black chains extended deep into the earth; upon each chain swirled a mass of black mist, vaguely taking human form. The chains occasionally glowed, their light flowing into the mist, making the mist denser.

The entire area was unnaturally silent, an eerie atmosphere enveloping it, inducing a chilling sense of dread.

Each Soul Hall had a different style—the Hall built by Qinghai Venerable lay within an ocean trench; the Soul Hall Xiao Yan first encountered atop Yun Lan Sect had since been remade by Xiao Li into a beautiful misty fairyland, and that black hall was no longer eerie at all.

Naturally, for this dread-inducing hall, standing like a Hall of the King of Hell among ten thousand corpses, Xiao Yan was utterly accustomed.

Hua! The silence lasted for who knew how long—suddenly, a dozen black mists rose from the chains, contracting into a dozen cold-faced figures. They exchanged glances, then moved as one, converging together.

"Let's go. We've absorbed some spiritual essence and exhausted our Soul Points—it's time for us to deploy on missions." One figure, clearly their leader, spoke in a hoarse voice.

"Yeah, I hope this time we bring back enough Soul Bodies."

"Jiejiejie, if only a big battle would break out—it'd be easy to pick up plenty of Soul Bodies."

"You could always start one yourself," the leader chuckled darkly, slowly nodding. He waved his hand; the dozen figures dissolved into black mist and shot like lightning beyond this space.

Just as the group rushed toward the exit, Xiao Yan entered from outside. They glanced down at their Soul Tokens, eyes instantly widening in shock. The moment they recognized Xiao Yan's identity, all of them dropped from midair and knelt on one knee in terror.

"Hail the Ten Heavenly Venerable!!"

At this moment, sweat poured from their foreheads like raindrops. In the Soul Hall, countless Heavenly Venerables had strange tempers—some forbade anyone to stand taller than themselves; anyone who dared rise before them could be killed!

These few had just floated up! Got arrogant!

Of course, Xiao Yan wasn't one of those capricious, murderous types—he said nothing, simply walked through them. They were nothing but lackeys; only their leader was a Dou Zun, the rest were High-Level Dou Zong.

After Xiao Yan had walked away for several minutes, the Soul Hall Venerables and Tian Ji Protectors finally exhaled, trembling as they exchanged glances.

"It was the Ten Heavenly Venerable!"

"My god, hasn't the Ten Heavenly Venerable appeared in Ren Dian since the Soul Hall ceremony four years ago?"

"The Ten Heavenly Venerable—originally, the Soul Hall had only Nine Heavenly Venerables. Rumor says the Hall Master specially granted him the title 'Ten,' and even the Fourth Heavenly Venerable Xue He fears him. Maybe next time, he'll replace the Fourth Heavenly Venerable."

"Do you think he could enter the top three?"

"Impossible. The top three Heavenly Venerables are Sage-level—how could he rise so fast?"

"True."

At this moment, Xiao Yan wasn't in a hurry—he strolled calmly through Ren Dian. As he passed, every Soul Hall Guardian and Venerable entering or exiting knelt on the ground, respectfully greeting the Soul Hall's most mysterious Ten Heavenly Venerable!

Xiao Yan gave no special response to these bowing figures—he couldn't appear too kind within the Soul Hall.

"Ten Heavenly Venerable!" *2

Two familiar exclamations came from afar. Xiao Yan looked up slowly to see two figures—one black, one white—staring at him in shock before the black hall. Naturally, they were the Black and White Heavenly Venerables he had once defeated.

"Black and White—you two haven't improved much. Four years later, you've only reached Seven Star Dou Zun." Xiao Yan instantly assessed their cultivation realm—raised from Six Star Peak Dou Zun to Seven Star.

If Mo Yu were still at Seven Star Peak Dou Zun, perhaps Black and White together could defeat him. But now, Xiao Yan had no interest in such petty squabbles among Dou Zun.

Hearing Xiao Yan accurately name their cultivation levels, Black and White Heavenly Venerables both trembled internally, exchanging glances filled with terror. They understood: over these four years, Xiao Yan's strength had grown immensely!

Yet they could never have imagined how wildly his power had surged—he had now outpaced them beyond any possibility of catching sight of his shadow.

"Welcome, Ten Heavenly Venerable!" *2

Although Black and White Heavenly Venerables resented how Xiao Yan shattered their dream of joining the Soul Sovereign, and though their statuses were nearly equal, they now realized Xiao Yan's true power was far beyond their ability to challenge.

"Open the door."

"Yes, Ten Heavenly Venerable!" *2

As soon as Xiao Yan spoke, Black and White Heavenly Venerables, like gatekeepers, simultaneously opened the great doors of Ren Dian—one on the left, one on the right. In truth, they were nothing more than gatekeepers to the Ten Heavenly Venerables—mere minor figures.

Xiao Yan merely offered a faint smile, paid them no further attention, and stepped forward with his right foot into Ren Dian's doorway—his dark figure vanished within.

After Xiao Yan entered Ren Dian, Black and White Heavenly Venerables both exhaled in relief.

His strength seems much stronger than before.

He's probably no longer a match for Blood River.

He hasn't come to the Human Hall in four years—I wonder what he wants this time.

I don't know, but I have a feeling he isn't here just to hand over a Soul Body.

When has he ever appeared calmly?

For a moment, both the Black and White Heavenly Sovereigns smiled bitterly—whether the current Ten Heavenly Sovereigns or the former Heavenly Venerable of Yan and Yan Guardian, wherever he appeared, chaos always followed.

This guy stirs up more turmoil on the Dou Qi Continent than the Soul Hall itself.

As Xiao Yan entered the Human Hall, a strange laugh echoed from above.

"Hehehe, Old Ten, it's been four years."

Xiao Yan slowly looked up and saw over a dozen thick black Hun Chains stretching across the ceiling, connecting deep into the Soul Hall's underground, with strands of Spiritual Soul essence flowing along the chains toward their ends.

Several shadowy figures sat cross-legged atop the Hun Chains, absorbing the Spiritual Soul essence to cultivate—and the one who had just spoken was one of those shadows.

"Prison Ground. Four years have passed, and your Cultivation Realm hasn't improved much." Xiao Yan slowly removed his Hood, revealing the face of Hun Yu Cun, and gazed at the Eight Heavenly Sovereign, Qiu Di, who was cultivating at the far edge.

Four years ago, Qiu Di's Cultivation Realm was already Eight Star Peak Dou Zun; now, it was still Eight Star Peak Dou Zun—but stronger than before, and with another one or two months of cultivation, he should break through to Nine Star.

Don't underestimate Qiu Di for taking four years to advance from Eight Star Peak to Nine Star—this speed is already very fast for a Dou Zun, and it's thanks entirely to the Soul Hall's Spiritual Soul essence; otherwise, his progress would've been even slower.

After all, not everyone can be like Hai Bodong and the Heavenly Flame Venerable, who followed Xiao Yan into the Ruins of the Sage Emperor and the Bodhi Ancient Tree to share in the bounty, and received pills refined by Xiao Yan to boost their strength. For an ordinary Dou Zun, advancing one star in ten years is already cause for celebration.

Besides Eight Heavenly Sovereign Qiu Di, the others cultivating on the Hun Chains were Seven Heavenly Sovereign Yin Rong, Six Heavenly Sovereign Lei Mo, Five Heavenly Sovereign Ya Zi, and Four Heavenly Sovereign Blood River—all of them Nine-Star Dou Zun, except Blood River, who was First-Transformation Peak Dou Zun. If they never gain another great opportunity in this lifetime, they'll likely remain forever at the Dou Zun level, with little chance of breaking into Semi-Sage.

"Hehehe, Old Ten, you're still as arrogant as ever—I find such men quite pleasing." Seven Heavenly Sovereign Yin Rong revealed a disfigured face, licking her lips as she leered at Xiao Yan. Though scarred, her bone structure clearly showed she had once been a great beauty.

Four Heavenly Sovereign Blood River narrowed his eyes; even without Xiao Yan using the Soul Robe's power to mask his aura, he still couldn't discern Xiao Yan's true strength.

"Have you reached Semi-Sage?" Blood River asked, his voice tinged with uncertainty.

Hearing Blood River's words, all the Heavenly Sovereigns in the hall drew in a sharp breath, their eyes contracting in shock as they stared at Xiao Yan.

No way!

"How is this possible? Four years ago he was only a Three-Star Dou Zun!"

Watching his "colleagues" stare in utter astonishment, Xiao Yan merely smiled and slowly shook his head. "No."

Hearing Xiao Yan deny it, Blood River and the others exhaled in relief, chastising themselves for overthinking.

Of course not—how could he possibly be Semi-Sage?

"Old Ten, why are you here in the Human Hall this time?" Five Heavenly Sovereign Ya Zi narrowed his eyes slightly. Though no one here truly understood Xiao Yan, from the mysterious Ten Heavenly Sovereign's behavior and habits, it was clear he was the type who never showed up without a purpose.

Not appearing for four or five years, then suddenly showing up—it can't be simple.

Xiao Yan picked up his Soul Token from his waist and waved it. "What else would a Heavenly Sovereign of the Soul Hall come here for, if not to hand over a Soul Body?"

Hearing that the Ten Heavenly Sovereign had come to hand over a Soul Body, everyone looked at each other. Though this was perfectly normal, everyone felt that for someone so abnormal, even a normal act was itself abnormal!

(End of Chapter)