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"I entered these mountains seeking opportunity, discovered the Spirit Hall, and thus killed my way in. I did not expect to encounter Elder Yao among these souls," Qian Renhan explained. His hand brushed the iron chain, and an eerie chill surged through his palm, filling him with a strange, exhilarating thrill. He asked, "What are these chains? Why does their Dou Qi feel so much like mine?"
Yao Chen surveyed the chains binding his limbs. "These are Soulbinding Chains, specifically designed to suppress souls. The Spirit Hall's guardian elders use materials like these to capture wandering souls. Their Dou Qi belongs to the same school. Since the Spirit Hall hunts down soul bodies across the entire continent, I mistook you for one of them when we first met."
" Impressive."
Qian Renhan's Dou Qi surged outward. He absorbed all of the chilling Dou Qi suffused throughout the Spirit Hall's chains. As he drained their energy, the chains' luster slowly faded. Yao Chen could clearly feel their grip on his soul weakening.
As the bonds weakened further, Yao Chen struggled. Only then did he notice, far above Qian Renhan's back, a figure standing atop the remaining chains—an elderly man in a gray-white robe, smiling down at them.
With a flash, the old man lunged through space like a fired cannonball, aiming his clawed hand at the back of Qian Renhan's heart.
"Star-Extinguisher Old Fiend—watch out, young friend!"
Before Yao Chen could finish, the clawed hand, shrouded in swirling black mist and grotesquely doubled in size, closed to within an inch of Qian Renhan's spine. The old man's smug expression froze, then twisted into horror as he tried to compress space with Dou Zun-level might.
In an instant, Star-Extinguisher Old Fiend met the same fate as the other Spirit Hall guardians: he exploded into a cloud of blood mist.
Yao Chen's face went slack as he watched. Here before him was a Spirit Hall Heaven-Rank Elder, instantly killed by Qian Renhan's aura. Just a few years ago, this young man's Dou Qi had been hollow, his Dou Techniques sparse—he couldn't even match a three-star Dou Zun. Now, he could casually one-shot a five-star Dou Zun. And he hadn't even realized how it happened.
Qian Renhan showed no change in expression at Star-Extinguisher Old Fiend's demise. With one hand, he continued siphoning energy from the Soulbinding Chains. With the other, he drew in Star-Extinguisher's soul. Within seconds, he pulverized the old fiend's spirit sea, refining a pure core of soul energy that he then channeled into Yao Chen's body.
As the soul energy poured in, Yao Chen's once-thin, almost transparent form began to coalesce. His aura, which had wilted into that of a twilight-aged elder, gradually reverted to the lofty, immortal-temple temperament he once bore.
Yao Chen offered a faint smile. "Young friend, your power truly surpasses that of the Spirit Hall itself. In just a few short years, your progress has been astonishing."
In that moment, Yao Chen was genuinely grateful for the karmic bond he had formed with Qian Renhan all those years ago.
When the influx of soul energy ceased, Qian Renhan looked at Yao Chen thoughtfully. "Your spiritual power is at the peak of the Soul Realm. As an eighth-grade, peak Pill Refining Master, your soul energy should far exceed this level—so why has it been reduced to this?"
Yao Chen sighed. "Because the Spirit Hall used these chains to strip away my primordial soul Qi. As a result, my soul realm has been forcibly cast down. Without a treasure capable of restoring my original soul Qi, I might be stuck at this level for the rest of my life."
" Clang… clang… clang."
The Soulbinding Chains trembled as Qian Renhan continued draining their energy. They gradually reverted into ordinary iron chains. Within the Spirit Hall, scores of luminous spheres—once trapped by the bindings—shuddered and then shattered free.
Yao Chen shook loose his own chains and flexed his limbs. He watched those spheres fly out of the Spirit Hall toward the vast Dou Qi Continent. He murmured, "Go free… everyone, go."
But as the first sphere passed the Hall's threshold and shot into the boundless expanse, "Bang! Bang! Bang!" rang out. It crashed into an unseen spatial barrier, producing crisp echoes before rebounding. The spheres hovered, halted midair as if against an invisible wall.
Afterward
Yao Chen's brows knitted in concern. "There's yet another expert here."
"This is the spatial barrier I set," Qian Renhan replied calmly.
"Young friend, why—?" Yao Chen began, but as he recalled how Qian Renhan had handled Star-Extinguisher Old Fiend's soul, a terrible thought sprang to his mind.
Qian Renhan remained impassive. "Of course, I need these souls as nourishment to increase my strength. Elder Yao, you once helped me, so out of respect, I can spare one of your old comrades—only once."
" You… young friend, don't you think this is too cruel? They still might be revived," Yao Chen protested angrily. He did not consider himself a paragon of virtue, but he could not stand by while so many souls were devoured as mere fodder. What Qian Renhan was doing was no different from what the Spirit Hall did.
Qian Renhan shook his head. "Survival of the fittest—that is the Dou Qi Continent, isn't it? Elder Yao, as a renowned alchemist, you know better than anyone: any pill of sixth grade or above possesses its own spirit; a ninth-grade pill can assume human form with one's consciousness. Yet you devour those resources to climb higher. How is what I do any different?"
Yao Chen bristled. "Pills and cultivators' souls are not the same thing!"
Arguing was not Qian Renhan's forte. "I don't want to debate this. You'd better decide quickly—otherwise, I will devour all these souls."
Hearing that, Yao Chen regarded him for a long moment. Finally, swallowing his pride, he pointed to a few of the higher-ranking souls and pleaded that Qian Renhan spare them.
Qian Renhan, who never forgot a debt, did not concern himself with whether Yao Chen truly knew these souls. He released the chosen few.
Then, Qian Renhan sat cross-legged, opening his mouth to devour every soul in the Spirit Hall. As he absorbed their essence, his Dou Qi soared.
Watching Qian Renhan's rapid ascent in power, Yao Chen realized what Zhu Kun had long ago suspected: Qian Renhan's character was cold and ruthless.
After devouring every resource in the Spirit Hall, Qian Renhan's strength increased marginally—but he was still far from a late three-star Dou Sheng. Rising to his feet, he focused his gaze on the hall's floor. With his right hand, he condensed Dou Qi and struck a massive black fist imprint onto the ground. The entire hall trembled as a hundred-meter-deep pit yawned open beneath them, as if it had been excavated long ago.
A surge of frigid air burst upward from the chasm. Qian Renhan leaped down immediately.
Though Yao Chen felt a lingering resentment over Qian Renhan's earlier actions, he was curious about what lay hidden beneath the Spirit Hall. He followed suit and jumped in.
A hundred meters down lay a cavernous chamber—nearly hollowing out half the mountain. At its center stood a colossal altar over a thousand meters in radius. Eight towering stone pillars, each hundreds of meters tall, encircled the altar. Strange, ominous runes were carved deep into their surfaces.
Merely the altar's chilling aura was enough to send a shiver down Yao Chen's spine, despite his peak Soul-Realm cultivation.
After studying the runes, Yao Chen's blood ran cold. His voice trembled as he said, "This… this is… the Soul-Devouring Absolute Death Formation!"
(End of Chapter)