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**
Facing the three attackers rushing toward him, Lin Feng remained calm and composed. The Glazed Lotus Heart Flame surged rapidly from within his body.
With several swift movements of his palm, three enormous energy lions swiftly condensed and then roared toward Fang Yan and his companions.
"Boom!"
A series of dull explosions echoed across the sky.
Their strength now drastically reduced, the trio was completely unable to withstand Lin Feng's assault. The energy lions tore straight through their bodies.
When the violent wind generated by the explosions swept past, several more corpses lay where those three had just stood moments ago.
"Grand Elder!"
Fang Yan, as the Grand Elder, naturally attracted a lot of attention. The moment he was killed, nearby members of the Demon Flame Valley were immediately horrified and cried out in shock.
However, Lin Feng paid no heed to their reactions.
Gazing at the newly added bodies on the ground, a trace of delight flashed in his eyes.
Once he obtained the method for refining the Sky Demon Puppet, the corpses of these three would surely make for excellent materials in crafting powerful puppets.
"Clank, clank, clank!"
Just as Lin Feng was about to store the bodies, a sudden sound of metal chains rubbing echoed from all around the sky.
In the next instant, three black metal chains shot out from the void, piercing straight through the corpses of Fang Yan and the other two.
"Trying to steal from me?"
Recognizing the familiar black chains, Lin Feng let out a cold snort. He flicked his fingers, and the Glazed Lotus Heart Flame burst forth from his body.
The emerald-green flame silently cut through the sky and split into three streams, each striking one of the chains as they began retracting.
"Ssssss~"
The moment the Heavenly Flame touched the chains, thick white smoke erupted, spiraling upward.
Amid the continued sizzling sounds, the metal chains were quickly burned and severed in half.
At the same time, the space at the origin of the chains rippled and distorted like water.
Eleven shadowy figures, shrouded in dense black mist, appeared in that part of the sky without anyone noticing.
Within the mist, pairs of cold, dark red eyes flickered faintly, emotionless and eerie.
The sight was creepy at first glance—profoundly disturbing.
These shadowy figures within the black mist, aside from the leader, all had dark Dou Qi wings extended behind them.
The red eyes of the leader flickered slightly as he glanced at the severed chains on the ground.
However, he didn't seem the least bit angry that his Dou Technique had failed.
Instead, his gaze turned toward Lin Feng with growing interest.
From within the black mist came a chilling laugh: "Looks like this Protector is in luck today, running into so many powerful souls—jie jie jie…"
"People from the Hall of Souls, huh? So they still came after all."
Staring at the sudden appearance of the eerie man, Lin Feng sighed inwardly.
He had actually already sensed the opponent's presence through his powerful soul perception when the man first approached the area.
However, since he was busy dealing with Fang Yan and the others, he hadn't paid attention to the Hall of Souls Protector.
Now that the man had tried to snatch what was his—there was no choice but to act.
"Dou Zong?"
"Of the ten behind him, three are peak Dou Wang, the rest are Dou Huang… which force are they from?"
"…"
The sudden appearance of the Hall of Souls party quickly drew everyone's attention.
The battles in the surrounding area all paused simultaneously, and countless pairs of eyes, filled with confusion and shock, turned toward the black mist.
After a moment of stunned silence, the crowd began buzzing in discussion:
"Those people were part of the group that, after the Spirit Mountain City auction, attacked Jia Nan Academy together with the Black Alliance!"
Because the previous battle between the Black Alliance and Jia Nan Academy had become widely known, someone quickly recognized the identity of this Protector and shouted in shock:
"What? They're the mysterious powerhouses who nearly killed Elder Su Qian of the Inner Academy back then?!"
As the reputation of the Hall of Souls' past actions echoed across the sky, one gasp of shock after another rang out. Waves of cold air seemed to spread from the hearts of the stunned crowd.
While members of Demon Flame Valley and the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion were still crying out in disbelief, Lin Feng was already moving quickly.
With practiced ease, he removed the storage ring from the fingers of Fang Yan and the other two, storing them away.
Then, he directly stored all three corpses—along with their souls—into his own storage ring.
"You are… Protector Xuan?"
At this moment, Old Ground Demon Ghost had also temporarily stopped fighting against Little Doctor Fairy and Qing Lin.
Staring at the thick black mist, he said in a deep voice, "I didn't expect that in less than a year, Protector Xuan would break through from a Four-Star Dou Zong to a Six-Star Dou Zong… May I ask, what business does Protector Xuan have at my Demon Flame Valley today?"
The tone in which Old Ground Demon Ghost spoke was filled with deep wariness.
After all, he had no idea what kind of attitude Protector Xuan held in coming to this place.
So naturally, he was extremely cautious toward this group from the Hall of Souls.
Although he wasn't afraid to face the man one-on-one…
If this Protector Xuan had actually been invited here by Lin Feng as an ally, then things would become very troublesome.
"Swoosh~"
Just as he finished speaking, a sudden light sound came from the distant sky.
A gold and a silver figure abruptly appeared beside Protector Xuan in haste.
Judging by their rushed expressions, they had clearly been summoned urgently and didn't even bring along any other strong members of the Black Alliance.
"The Gold and Silver Elders? What are they doing here?"
When the crowd saw the new arrivals, they were thrown into another wave of shock and confusion.
These two veteran experts, renowned throughout the Black-Corner Region, were naturally familiar to everyone.
So the moment they appeared, they were immediately recognized by the crowd.
"Jie jie, Old Ground Demon Ghost," Protector Xuan let out a sinister chuckle and then spoke in a hoarse, tempting voice, "How about we join forces and wipe out these people from the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion? Their territory goes to you, and the souls go to me—how about it?"
As he spoke, his greedy gaze swept repeatedly over Lin Feng's figure.
Earlier, when he arrived and scanned the area, he had sensed Lin Feng's soul power—and it had startled him.
He could clearly tell that the young man's soul power was already on par with a mid seventh-tier alchemist.
Souls of this quality were extremely rare across the entire Northwestern Region.
Now that he had finally encountered one, there was no way he was letting it go.
Upon hearing Protector Xuan's proposal, Old Ground Demon Ghost's aged face stiffened for a moment.
Then, from deep within his heart, a surge of joy erupted. He immediately grinned and said:
"Since Protector Xuan wants to cooperate, this old man naturally has no objections."
With Protector Xuan, a Six-Star Dou Zong, joining forces with the Gold and Silver Elders—both early-stage Dou Zongs—taking down the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion, which only had two Dou Zongs, would be a simple task.
Meanwhile, the other Demon Flame Valley experts, upon hearing this exchange, were also filled with ecstatic joy.
The gloom caused earlier by the death of Grand Elder Fang Yan was instantly swept away!
With these three Dou Zong experts joining them, their side would now be able to easily crush the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion.
As soon as he received Old Ground Demon Ghost's agreement, the black mist surrounding Protector Xuan surged violently.
Clearly, his mood at this moment was also extremely good.
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