"Burning Heaven Sun Palm!"
Even when facing Hu Tiandi, Gu Yuan showed no signs of hesitation. He gathered the power of heaven and earth and transformed it into a massive golden flame palm.
The two peak nine-star Dou Saints clashed violently. The resulting shockwave shattered the void within a hundred miles and threw the energy of heaven and earth into chaos.
If a weak Dou Saint had been at the center of their battle, they would have been crushed into pieces by that immense energy.
Considering the current situation on the Dou Qi Continent, Hu Tiandi ultimately did not engage in a life-and-death battle with Gu Yuan.
This battle ended with the failure of Hu Tiandi's scheme.
"Brother Gu Yuan, both the Hun Clan and our side have lost four Dou Saints."
After Hu Tiandi left, Yan Jin came to report the situation with a somewhat grim expression.
Among the five fallen Dou Saints, one was from the Yan Clan — a four-star Dou Saint whose soul realm had reached the Heavenly Realm.
For Ancient Clans, every Dou Saint was an extremely precious existence, especially a four-star Dou Saint with a profound soul realm.
"Since the Hun Clan also paid the same price, I believe this loss is within an acceptable range." Countless lightning bolts gathered beside Yan Jin and transformed into Lei Ying's figure. "Furthermore, our young friend Xiao Ting has once again given us a surprise. He suppressed an eight-star Dou Saint of the Hun Clan, killed a five-star Dou Saint, captured the entire Heavenly Demon Phoenix Clan, and brought the Nine Serene Deep Ground Python Tribe into the Soul Extinction Alliance."
"Moreover, the three Hun Clan Dou Saints he defeated in the Black-Corner Region of the Northwestern Continent are working in our favor."
Overall, what Lei Ying said was correct.
However, Yan Jin felt something was off and said irritably, "Of course you think it's fine since no one from your Lei Clan died."
Gu Yuan slightly narrowed his eyes and thought for a moment before asking, "Brother Yan, what is the names of the Dou Saints on our side?"
Yan Jin immediately answered. Besides the four-star Dou Saint from their Yan Clan, there was Yao Wang Gui, a four-star Dou Saint from the Yao Clan, and one two-star Dou Saint each from the Ling Clan and the Gu Clan.
After receiving the answer, Gu Yuan felt something was wrong. "These five Dou Saints all seem to have Heavenly Realm souls, don't they?"
Most Dou Saint experts possessed Spiritual Realm souls. Only a very small number of extremely talented or high-level Dou Saints had Heavenly Realm souls.
"Not bad." Yan Jin couldn't help but nod. Then he suddenly realized something. "I was wondering what felt off. All the fallen Dou Saints had Heavenly Realm souls. Is this just a coincidence?"
"Isn't this a coincidence? Could it be that the Hun Clan did this on purpose?" Lei Ying sensed a conspiracy and voiced his suspicion.
"If we count the number of fallen Dou Ancestor and Dou Emperor level experts, we'll know," Gu Yuan's expression turned somewhat grim. He immediately used his God-realm soul force to send telepathic messages to the leaders of each force, instructing them to count the number of casualties and report back.
Not long after, messages were delivered to Gu Yuan and the others.
"As expected, whether they were Dou Venerables or Dou Ancestors, those who died all had profound soul realms or high-level bloodlines!"
Yan Jin immediately realized something was wrong. Yao Dan, the clan leader of the Yao Clan, seemed to have recalled something. While lamenting the death of the Punishment Elder of his clan, he said, "Earlier, a six-star Dou Saint of the Hun Clan engaged in a life-and-death battle with Elder Shennong. If the ancestor of the Pill Tower hadn't intervened at the last moment, they might have both perished."
"This is no coincidence. It's the Hun Clan's scheme. What exactly are they planning?!" Lightning erupted from Lei Ying's body, showing that he was not calm.
"If I'm not mistaken, they are gathering the nutrients needed for the Nihility Devouring Flame to break through to nine-star Dou Saint and God-realm soul," Fairy Huo Ling made her judgment. "The Hun Clan Dou Saints who perished together with us probably sacrificed themselves voluntarily."
"The Hun Clan must have used some method to collect the bloodline power and soul force of all the deceased!"
Fairy Huo Ling had thought of this because she herself had once been the owner of the Red Lotus Karmic Flame.
When she fought against an eight-star Dou Saint of the Hun Clan, she had keenly sensed that something was wrong with him.
A fighting style that spared no effort and fought to the death.
It seemed her guess was correct!
"Absorbing bloodline power and soul force?"
Gu Yuan closed his eyes and used all of his God-realm soul force to perceive his surroundings.
Having gained a clear understanding, he quickly discovered that there were twenty-four special spatial nodes in the western region of Central Plains. These nodes were faintly connected to each other and linked to the void, absorbing energy in an invisible manner.
"Those twenty-four Earth Demon Halls are the Hall of Souls!" Gu Yuan opened his eyes and spoke of what he had discovered.
Everyone's expressions immediately turned grim. Fairy Huo Ling suddenly realized, "Hu Tiandi knew that the Devouring Spirit Eliminating Life Formation could not be used, so he took the risk of directly using the twenty-four Earth Demon Halls to form an array, devouring and absorbing the bloodline power and soul force of those who fell on the battlefield!"
In other words, when the battlefield was set in the western region of Central Plains, they had fallen into the Hun Clan's trap.
The Hun Clan had no fear of death at all. To them, death was merely self-sacrifice to provide nourishment for the Nihility Devouring Flame — a necessary sacrifice for the Hun Clan's grand plan.
The members of the Soul Extinction Alliance — Dou Saints, Dou Ancestors, and Dou Emperors — who were forced to their deaths by the powerful members of the Hun Clan had also become sources of nourishment.
The Hun Clan had done all of this to use these two powerful individuals to support the Nihility Devouring Flame and turn him into a nine-star Dou Saint and God-realm expert.
At that point, the Nihility Devouring Flame alone would be able to withstand many eight-star Dou Saints.
"This is still an open conspiracy," Shi Bao Kong said with a solemn expression. "Even if we know these facts, we cannot stop fighting the Hun Clan. The longer the situation drags on, the more advantageous it will be for the Hun Clan. Before the Nihility Devouring Flame breaks through, we must stop him."
"However, as long as the war continues, the corpses of fallen cultivators will become nourishment to strengthen the Nihility Devouring Flame."
This put them in a vicious cycle and created a very uncomfortable situation for the Soul Extinction Alliance.
"Destroy the twenty-four Earth Demon Halls of the Hall of Souls." Lei Ying transformed into lightning and soared high into the sky. "No matter how many sacrifices are needed, as long as we destroy the twenty-four Earth Demon Halls, at least from now on, no one will become nourishment for the Nihility Devouring Flame."
Since the Hun Clan was using an open strategy, they had no choice but to confront them head-on and gamble that they would ultimately win!
…
Meanwhile, in the soul realm.
Hu Tiandi arrived in a small, endlessly dark world and said quietly, "Nihility, Gu Yuan and the others have noticed. What else do you need?"
"Hehehe, the bloodline energy and soul energy needed for the breakthrough are sufficient."
A strange laugh came from all directions. "The more people die next, the faster the breakthrough will be. Even without any more sacrifices, I can complete the breakthrough within a year."
Xiao Ting had ruined the Hun Clan's plan.
However, Nihility had reached a God-realm soul ten years earlier than originally expected.
Personally, Xiao Ting was someone who had indirectly helped him.
Furthermore, the fact that the Devouring Spirit Eliminating Life Formation had been removed meant that even if Hu Tiandi could open Ancient Emperor Tou She's cave and obtain a God-level embryo pill with his help, he would not be able to advance his pill and break through to the Dou God level in a short period of time.
This gave him countless opportunities to seize the inheritance of Ancient Emperor Tou She!
Hehehe!
Xiao Ting was truly a lucky star.
…