Chapter 367: Conclusion

"Boom—"

After a deafening roar that shook the heavens and earth, a pitch-black hole ten thousand zhang in diameter suddenly appeared in the firmament. Violent spatial turbulence tore at the edges of the void, while the power of the world caused the hole to slowly heal.

"Pfft!"

Xiao Han shook his body. The thick Profound Ice encasing him was now covered in spiderweb-like cracks. As he moved, it instantly shattered into a sky full of glittering fragments that scattered downward. Afterward, Xiao Han's face flushed red, and he immediately spat out a mouthful of blood. He stumbled twice in the void before steadying himself.

"Hun Tiandi, that madman!" Beside Xiao Han, the purple-gold scales covering Zhu Kun's body had lost their former luster and imposing aura. He was drenched in blood, and the sight of his torn flesh made him look utterly miserable; the wariness in his eyes had yet to fade.

"He actually self-destructed!"

It had to be said that Hun Tiandi still possessed some capability when pushed into a desperate state. He had managed to hang on by a thread and fought the four of them, who were not yet accustomed to working together, to a standstill for an entire hour.

If not for his life force being completely exhausted in the end, Xiao Han and the others truly would not have been able to take him down. In the end, Hun Tiandi even gave them a big "surprise"—the grandest fireworks display in a thousand years!

"Fortunately, the others were further away."

"Otherwise..."

Gu Yuan, whose clothes were tattered and whose aura was fluctuating, looked relieved. One had to know that the vast majority of their forces had come this time; if they had been caught in the blast of Hun Tiandi's self-destruction and killed, it would have been too late for regrets.

"You actually have nothing wrong with you?" Xiao Han caught sight of a familiar figure out of the corner of his eye and could not help but exclaim in astonishment. His shout drew everyone's gaze, and they all looked over with curiosity.

"Who said I don't?" Huang Jingtian rolled his eyes and pointed to the palm-sized wound under his ribs that was rapidly healing. "Isn't this it?"

"Oh." Huang Jingtian looked down again and said indifferently, "It's gone now."

"This shockwave actually broke my Golden Body; isn't that enough?" he said in surprise.

His nonchalant expression formed a sharp contrast with the miserable state of Xiao Han and the others.

Xiao Han exchanged glances with Zhu Kun and Gu Yuan, then looked back at him with murderous intent once more.

Sure enough, in terms of pure defensive power, even a Nine-Tier Peak Magical Beast like Zhu Kun could not compare to Huang Jingtian, who had unleashed the Barbarian King Golden Body.

It was not that the former was no match for the latter, but the situation was special; a self-destruction was a wide-range attack that was difficult to evade, leaving one no choice but to use defensive measures to take the hit head-on.

If it were truly a life-and-death battle, it would be easy for Zhu Kun to deal with the Nine-Star Initial Stage Huang Jingtian!

But knowing was one thing; seeing themselves in such a wretched state while someone else was as casual as if they had just visited an auction house was simply...

"Hiss!"

Huang Jingtian's hair suddenly stood on end—killing intent, intense killing intent!

"Are you sure Hun Tiandi is dead?" Xiao Xuan's questioning voice drifted over.

Behind him followed a group of lingeringly fearful Dou Sheng from the allied forces. It was precisely under Xiao Xuan's protection that this group had remained unscathed; otherwise, even at a distance of ten thousand zhang from the center of the battlefield, they would have certainly lost twenty to thirty percent of their combat power.

"You must know that with Hun Tiandi's meticulous nature, it is impossible for him not to have left behind any contingency plans." Xiao Xuan narrowed his eyes and said in a serious tone.

At this, the four of them were startled for a moment, then shook their heads in unison and said with certainty:

"Impossible. Burning his own life to fight us for an hour, and even the final self-destruction—none of these were illusions."

"Anyone who has experienced these would have absolutely no way to survive."

Even the relatively cautious Xiao Han agreed with this point. Unless Hun Tiandi was no longer human, he would definitely be dead beyond any doubt after those two events.

Xiao Xuan thought for a moment. "That is true."

Even he had not played such a dangerous game back then; the self-destruction alone had nearly caused his soul to scatter. If he hadn't entered the Heavenly Tomb and been lucky enough to have an outstanding descendant to help him, his fate afterward would certainly not have been good.

Not to mention that his old rival had irreversibly burned his soul; a Hun Tiandi with no corpse left behind would have no chance of entering the Heavenly Tomb.

"I must have been overthinking it."

"How should we deal with those people from the Soul Clan?" Xiao Xuan changed the subject, his gaze fixed on the few remaining Soul Clan experts—all survivors of the self-destruction's shockwave.

After witnessing Xuwu Swallowing Flame being captured and Hun Tiandi dying by self-destruction, the latter had completely lost their backbone. They offered no resistance and allowed the allied forces to capture them. The few rare hardliners among them were unable to stir up any trouble under the combined efforts of Xiao Xuan and several Eight-Star Dou Sheng, and they were sent to their deaths on the spot.

"Let's just clean them up, then find the location of the Soul World and wipe out the Soul Clan in one fell swoop."

Everyone was in complete agreement. Not to mention the despicable things the Soul Clan had done, letting them go would be intolerable to heaven and earth.

Furthermore, after this battle, the Soul Clan and the major factions had formed a blood feud. Striking while they were down to prevent future trouble was the correct course of action.

"Someone will arrange these things later."

"But we cannot just finish off Xuwu Swallowing Flame like this; that would be a waste of a heavenly treasure!" Xiao Xuan smiled and extended his hand. A mass of pitch-black flame hovered quietly in his palm. Although it was motionless, the space around it distorted slightly under the flame's heat, and all light was absorbed as it approached.

Anyone could easily feel the destructive power within it.

"I have completely erased the intelligence of Xuwu Swallowing Flame. Our Xiao Clan wants half of this origin, no problem, right?" Xiao Xuan said calmly.

Zhu Kun and the others naturally had no objections. Xuwu Swallowing Flame had been dealt with entirely by Xiao Xuan alone; even if he had kept it all for himself, they would have had nothing to say. Sharing half with them now was for the sake of smooth cooperation in the future.

Furthermore, a Xuwu Swallowing Flame that had reached the level of a Nine-Star Dou Sheng and possessed an Emperor Realm Soul was a rarity in the history of Exotic Fire.

Even if the three of them only received one-sixth of the Xuwu Swallowing Flame's origin, it would still be comparable to the top five Exotic Fires. Such a distribution was already quite generous.

After finishing the division of Xuwu Swallowing Flame, it was finally time for the main course.

"Now, take out the Ancient Jade. There is still a tough nut to crack in the Ancient Emperor Cave Mansion!"

As his voice fell, everyone's gaze landed squarely on Xiao Han. The latter raised an eyebrow and retorted:

"While I understand your excitement."

"But..."

Xiao Han changed his tone.

"Are you sure we are a match for that Emperor Grade Pill right now?"

Following Xiao Han's gesture, the others also reacted. They looked down at their own unkempt appearances, assessed the situation, and immediately understood.

An Emperor Grade Pill was not a soft persimmon that could be easily squeezed. Even a Ninth-Grade Profound Pill had the strength of a Two or Three-Star Dou Sheng, let alone this Emperor Grade Embryonic Pill, which was two levels higher and bore the word "Imperial."

Although Gu Yuan and the others did not know the opponent's exact strength, after ten thousand years, it would be at least Nine-Star, and it was fighting on its home turf, waiting for them to tire themselves out.

Looking at themselves, Xiao Han, Zhu Kun, and Gu Yuan—three of the five main combatants—were all injured. Even the unscathed Xiao Xuan and Huang Jingtian had consumed a great deal of energy, and their auras had dropped significantly compared to their peak.

With the strength of the main members reduced by more than half, rashly entering would inevitably carry the risk of capsizing in the gutter.

So...

"Correct!"

"It was us old fellows who were rash." Zhu Kun laughed heartily, his tone laced with a hint of self-mockery, "The Ancient Emperor Cave Mansion and the Tuoshe Ancient God Jade are right here; they aren't going to run away, are they!"

"Let us recover for a moment before entering the cave mansion."

The others all wore expressions of agreement; none left, instead immediately taking out Medicinal Pills, swallowing them, and sitting cross-legged on the ground, causing several beams of light to rise instantly across the plaza.

"Stand guard!"

The others were not idle either; under the command of the two strongest, Lei Ying and Yan Jin, they immediately dispersed, sealing off the space for a thousand miles in every direction so tightly that not even a breeze could pass through. Should anyone lacking eyes dare to approach, they would surely suffer a thunderous strike from this strongest force on the continent.