Chapter 679

"Hehe, it's just a minor matter."

With a hum, a complete Tuoshe Ancient Emperor Jade floated before Hun Tian Di; he felt no joy at having gathered the Tuoshe Ancient Emperor Jade—what could now bring him joy was only becoming a Dou Emperor.

Xiao Yan looked at the floating Tuoshe Ancient Emperor Jade, at the ancient jade pendant obtained through countless deaths and rivers of blood, and could only sigh helplessly.

"When Xiao Xuan died in my hands a thousand years ago, I already knew the outcome; spending another thousand years was merely to heal and cultivate Alchemists."

After eliminating the Xiao Clan, Hun Tian Di ordered Hun Mie Sheng to establish the Soul Sovereign Temple, frantically collecting the Soul Bodies of Alchemists—this not only allowed Wu Xu Yan to break through to the Imperial Soul realm while hiding from Gu Yuan's consumption of the three clans, but also to search for potential Alchemist candidates.

Later, to counter the Soul Sovereign Temple's capture of Alchemists, the Dan Tower was founded; Hun Xu Zi was sent to infiltrate the Dan Tower to learn Pill Alchemy, leading to the present outcome.

All of this was manipulated by Hun Tian Di—there was never a single accident; everything unfolded exactly as he planned.

Such a result was entirely predictable.

Hun Tian Di put away the Tuoshe Ancient Emperor Jade and sized up Xiao Yan, his eyes slightly narrowing as he smiled: "Imperial Soul, Eight-Star Dou Saint Early Stage cultivation, and you possess multiple Strange Fires. Your current strength should match Yan Jin and Lei Ying, perhaps even surpass them."

Xiao Yan swallowed a Golden Pill and broke through to the Imperial realm, slightly enhancing his cultivation.

Xiao Yan already possessed an Imperial Soul, yet in his eyes, Hun Tian Di remained as unfathomable as the Shen Yuan.

At their current level, they are among the top few on the Dou Qi Continent; the entire Dou Qi Continent essentially lies in their hands.

Xiao Yan no longer needs to fight desperately for a single Earth-grade Dou Technique or Cultivation Method as he once did in his weakness; now, he can obtain any Dou Technique he wants—and yet, he finds nothing worth his interest.

Now Xiao Yan can be like Hun Xu Zi once was, utterly uninterested even in Bone Spirit Cold Fire.

A Pill that summons Nine Color Pill Thunder? Just trash.

For Hun Tian Di, Gu Yuan, Lei Ying, Yan Jin, and others, their Cultivation Methods are the pinnacle of the Dou Qi Continent—inheritances of Dou Emperor Families; their Dou Techniques are perfectly suited—so bridging ranks through differences in Cultivation Methods or Dou Techniques is utterly impossible.

The gap in cultivation is the most obvious gap; it is no longer possible to overcome ranks through powerful Dou Techniques as before.

Had Xiao Yan not possessed an Imperial Soul, while Lei Ying and Yan Jin remained at Heaven Realm Great Perfection, that half-rank gap would be an insurmountable abyss.

Xiao Yan certainly does not arrogantly believe he can defeat Hun Tian Di—even against Xiao Xuan in the Heavenly Tomb, Xiao Yan cannot claim a sure victory.

"You've gathered the Tuoshe Ancient Emperor Jade. You didn't come just to congratulate me on breaking through to the Imperial Soul, did you?" Xiao Yan spread his hands, yet remained relaxed before Hun Tian Di.

After all, Hun Tian Di now needs him; although the Imperial Grade Embryonic Pill could be bypassed by absorbing its Source Qi and performing a Blood Sacrifice on clan members for massive energy, it's still inferior.

But breaking through to Dou Emperor via Blood Sacrifice is unquestionably worse than doing so by consuming a complete Imperial Grade Pill.

Dou Emperors vary in strength; when Xiao Yan was in the Bodhi Ancient Tree, he witnessed an Emperor War—the Dou Emperor who left behind negative energy was killed by another Dou Emperor.

To Xiao Yan's surprise, Hun Tian Di actually nodded and said: "You are the First Alchemist of the Dou Qi Continent, the only Golden Core Grandmaster—even I have need of you. Is it strange for me to come and offer congratulations?"

Hearing Hun Tian Di's candid words, even Xiao Yan's eyes narrowed slightly—if he believed Hun Tian Di had come merely to congratulate him on breaking through to the Imperial Soul, his years of wandering the Dou Qi Continent would have been wasted.

"Enough. Get to the point. I have no interest in sipping tea and chatting with you." Xiao Yan's eyes flashed with sharpness: "To refine an Imperial Grade Pill, only I on the entire Dou Qi Continent have the qualifications to help you turn the Embryonic Pill into a complete one."

"Meaning no matter what, the Imperial Grade Embryonic Pill will end up in my hands—even if you eventually receive the finished Imperial Grade Pill, it will be handed to you from me. You must ensure I lack the power to contest it, correct?"

Xiao Yan's single sentence laid bare Hun Tian Di's inner thoughts.

Generally, Alchemists follow orders; Alchemists on the Dou Qi Continent value their word. But this matter is unpredictable.

That is an Imperial Grade Embryonic Pill—who can guarantee Xiao Yan won't tamper with it or succumb to greed?

Even if Hun Xu Zi assists in refining the Pill, Xiao Yan's Pill Alchemy surpasses Hun Xu Zi's; Hun Xu Zi may not detect Xiao Yan's tricks.

Given Hun Tian Di's cautious nature, he could never allow even the slightest "possibility" to threaten his plan.

Thus, Hun Tian Di came to test Xiao Yan's true strength, ensuring Xiao Yan would never have the power to contest the Imperial Grade Embryonic Pill. Hun Tian Di must guarantee his own strength is supreme on the Dou Qi Continent, with not the slightest deviation.

Having been seen through, Hun Tian Di showed no anger, still smiling, hands clasped behind his back: "I hear you've perfected the Soul Asura Soul Severance Art created by Hun Lao Gui—he had not completed it when he fought me."

"I'm curious—if during the struggle for Clan Leader, Hun Lao Gui's Soul realm had matched yours, and the Soul Asura Soul Severance Art had already been perfected, would the outcome have changed?"

Xiao Yan later learned that when Gu Yuan, Xiao Xuan, and others were still young and roaming the Dou Qi Continent, Hun Tian Di had carved a bloody path from within his clan to become Young Clan Leader.

Just like Hun Feng and Hun Yu—both are Young Clan Leaders; when the Clan Leader steps down, there is a bloody battle, and only the victor becomes Clan Leader of the Soul Sovereign.

Hearing this, Xiao Yan merely smiled: "No need to wonder—I promised Hun Lao Gui that if I perfected the Soul Asura Soul Severance Art, I would fulfill his wish."

BOOM!! As Xiao Yan finished speaking, a soul force surpassing heaven and earth triggered a Soul Storm; instantly, Emperor Might surged across the heavens. Xiao Yan's Soul Shadow hovered above his head, a solid, godlike figure overlooking all beings, wielding the cosmos—even Dou Saints must bow.

"Emperor Might! This is what an Emperor truly is!!"

Xiao Yan fully unleashed his soul force; every Soul Sovereign in the Yao Realm was horrified. Some screamed; those whose Soul Force hadn't even reached the Heaven Realm collapsed onto the ground in terror.

Even without targeting them, those whose Soul Force hadn't reached the Heaven Realm had no right to even lift their heads—they could only crawl and worship.

True Imperial Soul is not the false Imperial Soul achieved by reinforcing the Tribe Pattern Power.

After reaching Imperial Soul, Xiao Yan discovered the Soul Sovereign's Tribe Pattern Power had become completely useless—no effect whatsoever. Clearly, if Hun Tian Di ever breaks through to Dou Emperor, the Soul Sovereign's Dou Di Bloodline will not be reactivated—it will instead give birth to a new Dou Di Bloodline.

"My god! Imperial Soul! Is Xiao Yan going to fight the Clan Leader?!" Countless others turned pale with fear—under Imperial Soul, what did Dou Saint cultivation or Dou Emperor Bloodline matter?

At this moment, Hun Feng, Hun Mie Sheng, Yao Tian, and others all paled—they had no idea why Xiao Yan suddenly clashed with Hun Tian Di!

The terrifying Soul Storm drew the attention of the Four Demon Saints. Sensing Xiao Yan's power, they all swallowed hard. Though Xiao Yan's cultivation matched Gu Lie's, the Four Demon Saints were certain Gu Lie was no match for Xiao Yan.

Even with their immense strength, they dared not approach Xiao Yan even slightly—even all four together would be no match for him!

Sensing the terror of Xiao Yan's soul force, Hun Tian Di slowly closed his eyes, opened his arms, letting the soul storm that could tear apart the world sweep over his body, then licked his lips: "In terms of soul force control and creation, you may even surpass Gu Yuan and Wu Xu Yan."

Just as cultivators of the same level differ in combat power, so too do cultivators of the same soul realm differ.

Xiao Yan is an Alchemist; not only was his soul force naturally immense due to transmigration, but he constantly used his soul force to refine Pills. Practice makes perfect—he had been honing his soul force since childhood, and his understanding naturally differed.

With a hum, black mist surged from Hun Tian Di's body, followed by the clinking of Spiritual Energy Sealing Chains—his cultivation plummeted until it was suppressed to match Xiao Yan's: both now at Early Stage Eight-Star Dou Saint.

Seeing Hun Tian Di's calm demeanor, having suppressed his cultivation, Xiao Yan's eyes narrowed slightly, a knowing smile forming: "So confident suppressing your cultivation? I've never lost at the same level."

Xiao Yan understood Hun Tian Di's intent—he was testing Xiao Yan's strength, setting a baseline.

Hun Tian Di's baseline for Wu Xu Yan was Nine-Star Dou Saint Early Stage—not because he believed he couldn't defeat Wu Xu Yan at Nine-Star Dou Saint Peak, but because as long as Wu Xu Yan remained at Nine-Star Dou Saint Early Stage, Hun Tian Di was certain he could kill it no matter what.

This baseline gave Hun Tian Di confidence Wu Xu Yan would never betray him.

Just as Xiao Yan himself—if any opponent's strength was below Seven-Star Dou Saint, no matter who they were, Xiao Yan could instantly obliterate them with Buddha Fury Lotus—even if they possessed Imperial Soul or Divine Grade Bloodline, it made no difference; one strike, no escape.

Clearly, Hun Tian Di also possessed such a supreme killing technique.

As Hun Tian Di suppressed his cultivation, his soul force erupted—yet unlike Xiao Yan's Soul Asura, Hun Tian Di's soul force resembled a blood sea: crimson, raging, filling the sky.

The Soul Blood Sea occupied half the heavens; Hun Tian Di's eyes grew even more crimson. He stomped forward—and the blood sea churned violently, as if a Fierce Beast lurked within.

Boom!

As he took that step, all of heaven and earth trembled, and the vast blood sea churned wildly, transforming into a soul blood wave tens of thousands of zhang tall.

Beneath that towering wave of tens of thousands of zhang, Xiao Yan's figure was as tiny as an ant. But Xiao Yan had also cultivated the Imperial Soul Scripture, and possessed an extremely powerful Soul Dou Technique!

Just then, Xiao Yan raised his hand; the black shadow beneath his feet spread wildly, like ink poured into water, instantly staining the space black and turning it into an endless Abyss of Souls. Then, three beams of light emerged from within the depths.

Xiao Yan's Soul Force took the form of the Asura Giant Image with Three Heads and Six Arms. He had not only perfected the Asura Soul-Cutting Technique to its ultimate level, but his Soul Power had also reached the Imperial realm!

The Soul Shadow, already as solid as physical matter, was now wreathed in waves of Emperor Might, resembling a true demonic Asura god.

Sensing Xiao Yan's Asura Shadow, which had already surpassed Hun Lao Gui's, Hun Tian Di merely smiled faintly, waved his hand, and instantly a terrifying blood sea surged toward him. Facing Hun Tian Di's attack, Xiao Yan's gaze grew grave; he muttered to himself: "Was this the same feeling Grand Ancestor Xiao Xuan had?"

Facing the towering blood sea crashing down, Xiao Yan shifted his intent. The Asura Shadow with Three Heads and Six Arms had no weapon, no technique—its six hands pushed forward with overwhelming force.

After breaking into the Imperial Soul realm, this was the first true display of the Asura Soul-Cutting Technique's power—like Emperor Might descending into his body, a single surge of rage could annihilate heaven and earth, obliterate all existence. Facing Hun Tian Di's Soul Blood Sea, the six hands of the soul giant pushed forward—ordinary, unadorned pushes that swept away everything, clearing all winds and clouds!

With a thunderous boom, the ground shook violently, and cracks appeared one after another across the Yao Realm's Shan Mai. As metallic ringing sounds rang out, Void Swallowing Black Flame surged forth, forming chains of Black Flame that protected the entire Yao Realm—otherwise, the Yao Realm would have been destroyed by Xiao Yan and Hun Tian Di's "trial strikes"!

"So strong! Xiao Yan can actually fight the Clan Leader!"

"Another Xiao Xuan."

Hun Mie Sheng, witnessing the evenly matched battle, was stunned speechless. Everyone frantically activated defenses to avoid being caught in the residual waves.

Blocked in his assault, Hun Tian Di was not the least surprised. If Xiao Yan, having broken into the Imperial Soul realm, could be so easily subdued, he would doubt whether Xiao Yan could even help him refine the Imperial Grade Embryonic Pill.

"The Soul Technique invented by that Hun Lao Gui is indeed formidable—Blood Demon Corrosive Heart Lightning!"

Hun Tian Di suddenly pointed a finger. As his finger moved, a sea of blood clouds instantly appeared in the Sky. The blood clouds immediately writhed like a massive organ, then violently contracted inward!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

As the boundless blood clouds contracted, the Sky collapsed downward. Dark spatial fissures spread across the heavens at a terrifying speed. In the next instant, the blood clouds exploded outward, and countless blood lightning bolts, each as massive as mountains, rained down like a torrential storm, striking Xiao Yan below. Each bolt carried power sufficient to make even a High-Level Saint tremble in fear.

(End of Chapter)