"Oh! Are you looking down on this old man?"
Yao Lao let out a cold laugh. It was clear from his voice that he was not happy. As the esteemed Yao Venerable, he had dominated the Dou Qi continent for hundreds of years. Even in the top-tier Hall of Souls in the Central Plains, only their Venerable-level figures were qualified to deal with him.
But after being betrayed by Han Feng many years ago, he was now like a tiger fallen into a muddy pit, and a small Dou Ancestor was looking down on him.
"Yao Chen, Yao Venerable, if you were still the renowned Venerable of the continent back then, a small fry like me wouldn't be worthy of tying your shoes. But you're dead."
Protector Wu gave a sinister smile, and the black mist surging from his body grew even more powerful. "The current you is nothing more than a soul body, at most, at the level of a Dou Ancestor. And my Hall of Souls is best at dealing with soul bodies.
I might not be able to defeat you alone, but there are three of us!"
"Protector Wu, you seem a bit arrogant."
Yun Shan, for once, took the initiative to speak. This was mainly because Protector Wu's tone was not pleasing at all, and he had been enduring these people from the Hall of Souls for quite some time.
"Hehe, Yun Shan, you barely broke through with the help of my Hall of Souls. Did you really think that a freebie would be that easy to use?"
Protector Xuan let out a sinister laugh and said grimly, "Among the three of you, this Jia Xingtian is even weaker than you. Only Medusa has some potential, but she just finished dealing with Xie Biyan. What strength does she have left to fight us?"
"Yao Lao, we've dragged this on for so long. These guys should be ready, right?"
Yan Qingshan suddenly spoke at this moment, looking at Yao Chen. Yao Chen let out a soft laugh, and the expressions of the three protectors immediately changed. They quickly and cautiously checked their surroundings for any anomalies, but after a thorough scan, they found nothing.
"No need to look. If it were that easy to find a flaw in this, what would be the point of me having the title of Yao Venerable?"
Yao Lao chuckled. He suddenly formed a series of hand seals and activated the Bone Chilling Flame. A massive amount of soul energy poured out, and his powerful aura, comparable to a peak Dou Ancestor, directly enveloped the three protectors.
"Yao Chen, you've actually fully recovered your soul body? How is that possible?"
The three protectors were all shocked. Generally speaking, a Dou Venerate-level soul body could at most possess the strength of a Dou Ancestor, but there was a huge gap between Dou Ancestors, especially after five-star Dou Ancestor.
A one-star Dou Venerate's soul body could at most display the strength of a one- or two-star Dou Ancestor. By this logic, only someone like Yao Lao, who was close to becoming a Half-Saint in his lifetime, could reach the peak Dou Ancestor realm as a soul body.
But back when he was betrayed by Han Feng, Yao Lao was besieged by the Hall of Souls. Although his soul body escaped, his soul was severely injured. He had been found by the Hall of Souls many times over the years and had not recovered much strength, so how could his soul body have recovered so quickly?
Protector Wu originally thought that Yao Lao's battle strength would be at most that of a two- or three-star Dou Ancestor, which would be troublesome but manageable. But he had never expected that Yao Lao's strength would have recovered this much.
"Yao Chen, do you think that by fully recovering your soul body you're a match for us? We protectors of the Hall of Souls are experts at dealing with soul bodies."
Protector Wu roared. Strange black mist surged out from his body, and it quickly condensed into dark clouds in the sky. Even the sunlight was unable to penetrate, and the valley instantly became gloomy.
Protector Wu's move was so powerful that it blocked out the sky, and his skills were not to be underestimated. He was indeed a Protector of the Earth rank from the Hall of Souls. Amidst the black clouds, the three protectors mysteriously disappeared, but their horrifying, strange laughs came from all directions from time to time.
"These three guys are truly bizarre."
Yun Shan and Jia Xingtian's expressions changed. They had thought that after breaking through to Dou Ancestor, they would be considered experts on the continent, but they hadn't expected these protectors of the Hall of Souls to be so troublesome and difficult to deal with. They felt as though they couldn't even get a punch in.
A sinister, strange wind silently swept past. Yao Lao, whose entire body was covered in a dense, sinister white flame, his pupils suddenly constricted. He then turned and fiercely punched the empty space behind him.
As Yao Lao's punch moved, the surging soul energy around his body moved with it. A fist force stirred up a shockwave in this part of the space, carrying with it an incomparably powerful gust of wind, directly forcing the three strange phantom figures out of the black mist.
The three black figures mysteriously appeared and worked together to clash with Yao Lao's fist force. The ripples of energy, like a physical entity, spread out in all directions, causing a series of muffled sounds like thunder in the sky.
Yao Lao's figure mysteriously vanished. Then, thunder rumbled in the thick black mist, and figures flashed. Every time a figure appeared, a thunderous explosion would erupt from the clash of extremely powerful forces. The three black figures barely managed to parry, looking very disheveled.
The black clouds rolled in the sky.
Occasionally, when a surge of energy passed through, the thick black cloud layer would split open, allowing a beam of sunlight to pour in. However, at this moment, even the sunlight felt completely devoid of warmth.
In the sky, lightning flashed. The black clouds were torn apart by the terrifying energy fluctuations, and sunlight poured in. Under the light, a gigantic fist of sinister white flame burned away most of the black mist, and the three black figures flashed out in a disheveled state.
"Yao Chen, you old man really have some tricks up your sleeve, but my Hall of Souls isn't…"
The black robes of the three protectors of the Hall of Souls were all somewhat tattered. Protector Xuan, who was next to Protector Wu, was a little frustrated. He wanted to take out his soul bag and pull out a trump card to buff their battle strength, but this move was stopped by Protector Wu.
Protector Wu said in a cold voice, "Yao Chen, you are indeed powerful, but since you have revealed yourself today, don't think you'll have a peaceful life from now on. And you, Yun Shan, the Hall of Souls will not let this matter go. Let's go!"
Protector Wu was very decisive. He was about to leave with Protector Xuan and Protector Tie. The other two protectors wanted to keep fighting, but in terms of rank, they were only Human-rank Protectors, while Protector Wu was an Earth-rank Protector. Since their boss had made a decision, they couldn't object.
"Did I say you could leave? After fighting for so long, that stuff on you should be ready. Today, you're all staying here!"
Yao Lao's words were calm. The three protectors felt a sense of unease, but they didn't know where it came from. As they became extremely vigilant, they suddenly felt that something was not right.
The black mist around them seemed to be mixed with some deep purple mist. It was just that there was very little of it before, and its color was close to that of the black mist, so they hadn't noticed.
"Ah… my head, what is this thing…"
The chains on Protector Tie's body suddenly drilled into a purple cloud in the black mist. As he quickly pulled them back, he couldn't help but shriek in panic, clearly in great pain.
"Hehe…"
Yao Lao chuckled. "The primal poison of the Woeful Poison Body. This is a poison that even a soul body cannot withstand. Even if the dosage here isn't enough to kill you, you've all been exposed to it for so long, so how much of it have you touched?
"I mixed in a special medicinal powder earlier that suppressed your sensitivity to it and its activity, so it didn't activate. Now, this poisonous mist has completely mixed into the black mist where you live. Now that it's activated, the poison is incurable. You won't be able to handle it."
"Ah—"
"Ah ah ah…"
After Protector Tie, Protector Xuan and Protector Wu also let out screams of agony. The Woeful Poison Body was the most peculiar and powerful poison in the world of Battle Through the Heavens. Once it erupted, an entire region would become devoid of life, and even soul bodies wouldn't be able to survive. Naturally, it was harmful to souls.
"Let's split up and go! We must get the message out!"
Protector Wu roared, then quickly flew off in another direction, preparing to escape. Protector Tie and Protector Xuan also didn't hesitate. The black mist immediately split into three, and the three of them quickly left in three different directions.
A gigantic seven-colored energy, like a cloud, condensed in the sky and then slowly spread out. Where it spread, the space was like a calm lake with a huge stone thrown into it, creating a great storm and also releasing visible energy ripples.
Just as Protector Tie was about to escape, he was hit squarely by Medusa's fierce attack. The seven-colored energy quickly spread out, like a cloud, but with fluctuations within the seven-colored light. A black figure then flashed out in a disheveled state.
As soon as this black figure appeared, it fled towards the northern sky as if its life depended on it. With its disheveled appearance, it no longer had any of its previous imposing aura. This protector of the Hall of Souls was now in a state worse than a dog.
Queen Medusa, who was next to Yan Qingshan, let out a cold laugh. Her figure moved, and she transformed into a seven-colored beam of light that shot out. In just a few flashes, she appeared directly in front of Protector Tie.
When Protector Tie saw Medusa, he quickly slowed down and said in a fierce but cowardly voice, "I am a person from the Hall of Souls. If you kill me, the Hall of Souls will definitely not let you go."
"Don't worry! I don't plan on killing you. I'm just going to capture you. Usually, you're the ones capturing others. Now, it's just a change of luck."
In Protector Xuan's direction, Yan Qingshan commanded Yun Shan and Jia Xingtian to work together to surround him. Although they were no match for Protector Xuan, they could still beat up a dog that had fallen into the water.
Protector Xuan didn't even have time to use the thousands of ghosts in his soul bag before Yun Shan and Jia Xingtian tore away all the things on him. Yan Qingshan's Azure Dragon Qi then completely locked him down, and he had no power to resist at all.
Just as Protector Xuan was being dealt with, Medusa completely and seriously injured Protector Tie. She extended her slender hand, and a massive amount of seven-colored energy surged out, enveloping Protector Tie like an energy shield.
The seven-colored energy acted as a shackle, locking Protector Tie within it. No matter how he struggled, he couldn't break through the energy barrier, only letting out roars of a trapped beast.
Protector Xuan and Protector Tie were successively dealt with. Protector Wu was personally watched over by Yao Lao, who had been monitoring them for quite some time, so he had come fully prepared. In the end, this strongest guy was also completely locked down and brought back.
"You three insects, you never expected this day, did you?"
With the three protectors of the Hall of Souls all captured, a hint of satisfaction and resentment flashed in Yao Lao's eyes. If the Hall of Souls had not helped that beast Han Feng back then, he would not have ended up in his current situation.