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**
Staring at the eerie green sea of fire slowly rolling back and retracting toward Xian'er.
"Retreat!"
The two remaining Hall of Souls Dou Zun exchanged a quick glance, then began to stealthily approach each other.
Just then, the face of one Hall of Souls Elder suddenly changed, as a terrifying gale erupted behind him.
Clang!
Before he could even react, the robe on his back tore apart, and several chains condensed from black mist shot out violently. The crisp sound of metal clashing resounded through this otherwise quiet space.
Boom!
Although the black chains managed to block the strike, the force of the blow still sent the Hall of Souls Elder staggering back three steps before he could steady himself.
His expression turned cold as he twisted his head, only to see a golden figure standing where he had been moments before.
"Hmph!"
The Hall of Souls Elder's gaze swept across and quickly landed on Xiao Yan standing behind the Sky Demon Puppet. He let out a cold snort, unwilling to tangle, and immediately turned to leave.
"Trying to run? Block him!" Xiao Yan cast him a cold glance and shouted.
Boom!
The moment his voice fell, the Sky Demon Puppet stomped heavily in the void. With a muffled thud, its body flashed like lightning, appearing right in front of the fleeing Hall of Souls Elder. Its golden fist swung out, wrapped in a terrifying gale, smashing straight toward his head.
Seeing the collapsing space before that fist, the Hall of Souls Elder's face grew grim. He dared not be careless and had no choice but to meet it head-on.
Boom!
As the two clashed in an instant, Xiao Yan flicked his hand, and the Heavy Xuan Ruler appeared in his grip, circling restlessly as if eager to strike.
"This kind of opportunity doesn't come often, I have to kill the remaining two Dou Zun, let Hall of Souls feel the pain," Xiao Yan narrowed his eyes and thought.
Losing four Dou Zun all at once, including Mu Gu, a Tier 8 alchemist, even Hall of Souls would feel the hurt, wouldn't they? Weakening Hall of Souls's strength would also be a big help for rescuing Yao Lao in the future.
So naturally, Xiao Yan wasn't about to let this chance to strike a drowning dog slip away.
Elsewhere, Qiu Ling was also fighting fiercely, his vast Dou Qi furiously bombarding his opponent. The Hall of Souls Elder, who already wanted to retreat, was left crying bitterly under the assault.
"Qiu Ling, you're crazy!"
"Hehe, want to run? My Pill Tower isn't a place where your Hall of Souls can come and go as you please!" Qiu Ling sneered. As he spoke, he didn't forget to shout toward Cao Ying and Song Qing, "Cao Ying, Song Qing, block those two spies!"
"Yes." Cao Ying and Song Qing responded.
Without hesitation, they immediately struck out, intercepting the two Hall of Souls alchemists who had snuck into the top ten of this Pill Gathering.
These two alchemists were at high-level Dou Zong strength, and had each refined a high Tier 7 and peak Tier 7 pill, earning them spots in the top ten.
Now that they knew they were Hall of Souls infiltrators, Qiu Ling naturally wasn't going to let them leave. Two alchemists above high Tier 7—losing them would make even Hall of Souls ache for a long time.
Meanwhile, after putting away the corpse that had been burned beyond recognition by the Ghostly Poison Flame, Xian'er moved and flew quickly toward Xiao Yan.
Seeing Xian'er approaching, the Hall of Souls Elder fighting the Sky Demon Puppet immediately panicked in terror. He didn't have the courage to face the burning of the Ghostly Poison Flame.
Boom!
So, gritting his teeth, he chose to go all out, clashing head-on with the Sky Demon Puppet, forcing it back. He suppressed the surging blood in his chest, then turned and rushed quickly toward Qiu Ling's side.
However—
Flame Splitting Tsunami!
With a cold shout, a massive ruler-blade of four-colored flame, stretching over ten zhang, struck down just as the Hall of Souls Elder turned, carrying with it a blazing gale and slamming fiercely toward him.
"Want to leave? Stay here!"
"Damn it!"
The Hall of Souls Elder ground his teeth, suppressing the urge to turn back.
With ruthless determination, the black mist around him surged, and he actually chose to take the strike head-on. As the violent explosion of energy echoed, he grunted in pain, but instead of stopping, he used the impact to push his speed even faster in his escape.
In the blink of an eye, he had already reached Qiu Ling's side, helping him block a strike before shouting loudly, "Retreat, now!"
The Hall of Souls Elder who had been fighting Qiu Ling nodded. Without hesitation, he pulled a silver jade slip from his storage ring and crushed it.
Buzz~
As the silver jade slip shattered, a vast surge of spatial power erupted, and a pitch-black space crack appeared.
Immediately, the two Hall of Souls Elders struck together to force Qiu Ling back, then shot straight toward the spatial rift.
At that moment, Xian'er arrived from behind. From afar, her gray-white eyes locked onto the fleeing Hall of Souls Elders. Lifting her jade-like hand, she pressed it through the air with a palm strike.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Her palm slammed into the void, and as the space shattered inch by inch, two invisible palm imprints filled with terrifying spatial force pierced through the void and landed squarely on the two Hall of Souls Elders' backs.
Pfft!
The sound of bones shattering rang out as two sprays of crimson blood, mixed with fragments of broken organs, spewed from their mouths. Under the crushing force, both men were flung headfirst into the spatial rift and disappeared.
Swoosh!
Beside them, Xiao Yan rushed over with the Sky Demon Puppet. Seeing this, he said bitterly, "Damn it, in the end, they still managed to escape."
Qiu Ling shook his head helplessly. "They were both mid-level Dou Zun, and with space jade slips on them, if they were determined to escape, it's hard for us to stop them."
Then he chuckled. "But Miss Xian'er's strike just now heavily injured them. Recovering won't be so easy."
"Mm." Xiao Yan nodded.
For mid-level Dou Zun with such injuries, even Tier 7 healing pills wouldn't be enough. To recover quickly without lasting damage, only eight-tier healing pills would do. And even if Hall of Souls had such pills, they certainly weren't common like cabbages.
Xian'er looked at the dissipating spatial rift and said flatly, "They've been poisoned by me. There is no antidote. Unless they immediately abandon their physical bodies and escape with only their souls, they won't live."
"Uh." Hearing this, both Qiu Ling and Xiao Yan froze, their hearts turning cold. Good heavens… from that far away, with just one palm across the void, not only did she injure them heavily, but she poisoned them too?
"Haha, well done, Miss Xian'er. When it comes to Hall of Souls, there's no need to show mercy." Qiu Ling quickly reacted, stroking his beard with a hearty laugh. Then, turning around, he shot toward Cao Ying's side. "I'll deal with those two little rats first."
Soon after, Qiu Ling subdued the two Tier 7 alchemists alive, carrying one in each hand as he flew back with the group.
He stopped beside Xian'er and Xiao Yan, all of them fixing their eyes ahead. There, in the void, a massive dragon coiled, its eyes tightly shut.
In front of the dragon floated a small black figure, also with eyes closed, quietly suspended in the air. Man and dragon hung motionless in the void, locked in a strange stillness.
If not for the faint traces of vitality still emanating from their bodies, one would think they had suddenly lost their lives.
"They're engaged in a soul battle." Qiu Ling frowned, exhaling lightly, his face filled with concern.
The others' expressions also turned grave. Soul battles could only be undertaken once one's soul strength had reached a certain level. And they were extremely dangerous, since the fight took place within one party's spiritual sea. One careless mistake could cause irreparable damage to the soul.
There could even be lingering aftereffects that left the soul weak, which was why even truly strong souls rarely dared to engage in a soul battle lightly.
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