The black clouds covered the sun and lingered in the sky above the valley. The originally clear sky had turned dark almost instantaneously. The strange black fog seemed to be something where even sunlight had difficulty penetrating.

Countless numbers of sharp ear-piercing cries reverberated unceasingly within the valley. Dense spirits penetrated the black fog, appearing like evil ghosts that remained hidden during the night. Their blood-red eyes appeared exceptionally sinister within the dark environment.

“Everyone, be careful, these are spiritual bodies that are controlled by them!”

Xiao Yan’s expression sank slightly as he looked that the souls lingering in the sky. Finally he cried out in a deep voice.

Su Mei and the other experts were also shocked at this unexpected change. They immediately rushed to Xiao Yan’s side. Their eyes revealed a solemness as they looked at the dense-black cloud in the sky. The closely packed randomly dancing spirits caused their heads to feel numb.

“Tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk. In order to successfully capture you, this protector has put in sufficient capital. These are the souls successfully gathered by me after three full years. The formation that is created by them can be considered to be worthy of all of you...” Protector Xuan looked at the spreading black clouds from the mountain wall and sinisterly laughed.

Xiao Yan’s eyes narrowed as he looked at the black cloud that had spread across the sky. With his eyesight, he was naturally able to tell that this black fog hid many spirits. The density and number caused even him to gently inhale a breath of air. It looks like this Protector Xuan had really invested in this plan. This so-called Ten Thousand Soul Swallowing Formation required a large number of spirits. Back then, even in the Chu Yun Empire, that Protector Tie from the ‘Hall of Souls’ was far from able to meet the requirements of creating such a large formation.

“Hee hee, Xiao Yan, are you satisfied with the feast this time around? Once you fall to the hands of the ‘Hall of Souls,’ I will make a request for me to properly ‘take care’ of you!” Han Feng’s face was covered with a ferocity as he laughed loudly at Xiao Yan.

Xiao Yan glanced at him before his gaze returned to the spreading black cloud. This so-called ‘Ten Thousand Soul Swallowing Formation’ clearly possessed an incredible strength. It was likely somewhat troublesome to break...

“Blood Feed!”

The black fog around Protector Xuan on the mountain wall was slowly withdrawn. Finally, it transformed into a vague-black figure with a blurry appearance. With a flick of his finger, waves of bright-red fresh blood spat out and scattered into the black cloud.

Following the scattering of the fresh blood, threads of a strange dark-red color immediately rose within the black-colored fog. A countless number of sharp cries were emitted from within it. The spirits that were being mercilessly tortured started to churn and struggle within. A moment later, the black cloud suddenly paused. It was silent for an instant before many fierce blood-colored spirits scattered down like a storm. Their faces were filled with savage a bloodthirsty expression as they shot toward Xiao Yan’s group.

“Be careful!”

The sudden change caused Xiao Yan to be startled. He let out a deep cry as he clenched his fist. A jade-green flame pillar shot toward the sky. Any of the blood-colored spirits that were touched by the flame had their illusionary bodies incinerated. Sharp miserable cries repeatedly sounded.

The fire pillar swiftly swept over the place under Xiao Yan’s control. Its high temperature caused the violent blood spiritual body to withdraw a little. However, their numbers were really too frightening. Hence, there were still quite a number of them that shot forth with all their might and bit at Su Mei and the others.

“Bang!”

The strength of those experts who had been invited by Xiao Yan were naturally not weak. They had summoned Dou Qi to cover their bodies some time ago. Seeing that these spirits were pouncing over like a pack of wolves, their Dou Qi was immediately spat out from their bodies before violently hacking at these spirits.

The sharp blades within their Dou Qi had the strength to split a mountain. When the spirits made even the slightest contact with them, they were split apart. However, these spirits that were killed transformed into some grayish gas in the blink of an eye. They swiftly curled and rose up, finally entering the black cloud and causing the pressure that was transmitted from the cloud layer to become even denser...

“Dammit, the damage that Dou Qi inflicts on these spiritual bodies isn’t very great. Moreover, there is an endless number of these spiritual bodies. If this is to continue, we will sooner or later die of exhaustion!” The long lance in Xiao Li’s hand swiftly shook. Each time his silver lightning affinity Dou Qi moved, it would penetrate a spirit. However, dealing with a little spirit was basically insignificant when compared with the wolf pack like numbers behind. After killing dozens of spirits in this manner, he finally involuntarily gasped for breath and cried out to Xiao Yan.

The Little Fairy Doctor and Su Qian beside Xiao Yan did not move immediately. Instead, they were frowning as they looked at the dense-black cloud. With their eyesight, they were naturally able to discover that with an increasing number of spirits being killed, the strength contained within the cloud layer seemed to become stronger...

“This formation is somewhat unusual...” Xiao Yan flicked his five fingers. Five flames shot out from them and incinerated five spirits into nothingness. He looked at the five extremely faint grayish vapors that were rising when he knit his brows and softly spoke.

“The formidability of this formation is not the endless spiritual attacks. Actually, they are merely food. Each time a spirit is killed, a pure spiritual strength is absorbed by the black cloud. With the gathering of an increasing amount of spiritual strength, a fierce spirit that is agglomerated from the tens of thousands of brutal spirits will appear in the cloud layer. This fierce spirit will be connected with Protector Xuan’s spirit. In other words, this fierce spirit would be an avatar of Protector Xuan. Moreover, its strength would definitely not be weaker than him... Of course, if the avatar is destroyed, Protector Xuan would also suffer a serious backlash. If he is unable to endure it, he would at the very least fall to the Dou Huang class. Should things be more serious, his mind might be occupied by the fierce spirit and turn into a puppet that only knows how to kill.”

Su Qian’s eyes stared intently at the black cloud above his head. He continued in a deep voice, “Moreover, from what I know, each time one uses such a large formation, the number of spirits one exhausts is not small. Normally speaking, very few people from the ‘Hall of Souls’ would use such a formation. This is because if one is unable to obtain a reward equivalent to these spirits after using the formation, they would definitely suffer a serious punishment by the ‘Hall of Souls.’ That taste is worse than death...”

“Perhaps he thinks that the value of capturing me is sufficient to exhaust all these spirits...” Xiao Yan softly replied. A killing intent that had never existed before was revealed in his eyes.

Su Qian nodded slightly. He said, “If one wants to break this formation, one can only kill Protector Xuan, who is the commander of the formation. However, that fellow has long since hid himself under the black cloud. Additionally, there are a countless number of spirits covering him. It is going to be difficult to find him...”

“Does Elder Su mean that we can only kill him after waiting for the fierce spirit to successfully agglomerated?” The Little Fairy Doctor’s eyebrows were vertical as she spoke. If that fierce spirit were to be successfully formed, it was likely that the other party would have four elite Dou Zongs excluding Mo Tian Xing. Thus, their situation would not be a good one.

Su Qian bitterly laughed. After all, he only possessed a little knowledge about this Ten Thousand Soul Swallowing Formation...

Xiao Yan frowned. He, too, felt a headache. The tactics of the ‘Hall of Souls’ were indeed unorthodox. However, they caught one off guard each time they were used.

“Hee hee, little fellow, the Fallen Heart Flame is the nemesis of spirits. Ordinary spirits try to run from it as quickly as possible. You actually have a headache? The presence of two kinds of ‘Heavenly Flame’ in your body is indeed something that even the old me never expected. The ‘Heavenly Flame’s that is formed after the merger might be stronger than the Fallen Heart Flame in terms of strength. However, it is also this kind of merger that weakens a little of the unique spirit destroying effect of the Fallen Heart Flame. Have you not noticed that any spirit that was killed by this kind of flame by you would have a much fainter spiritual strength fleeing from it compared to the others? If you were to purely use the Fallen Heart Flame, these spirits... will be turned into nothingness. Not even a little of it will escape... Of course, you must remember to use the flame controlling skill of the ‘Five Ring Flame Expelling Technique’ when you control the Fallen Heart Flame. Otherwise, how would you be able to deal with so many spirits with your crude flame controlling method?” A soft, old voice suddenly sounded in Xiao Yan’s heart while he was deep in thought.

Xiao Yan’s finger involuntarily rubbed the snow-white ring on his finger when he heard this voice. A glow flickered in his eyes. Being the former owner of the Fallen Heart Flame, the understanding that Tian Huo zun-zhe had over it naturally far exceeded what Xiao Yan could compare with.

“Thank you elder Yao!”

TL: Tian Huo is more like a nickname. His surname is Yao.

Xiao Yan’s heart carried joy as he thanked Tian Huo zun-zhe. After which, a thought passed through his heart. The jade-green flame that was lingering around his body paled swiftly. The invisible Fallen Heart Flame replaced it...

Following the appearance of this invisible flame, the blood-colored spirits, charging over from all directions, without knowing what fear was actually revealed a thread of fear within their violent eyes...

“It is indeed effective...” A joy rose in Xiao Yan’s heart when he saw this. The seal on his hand suddenly changed and the invisible flame surged out of his body. Finally, it followed the change of his hand seal and formed a wolf-shaped fire spirit that was over a hundred feet large above his head.

After this wolf fire spirit took shape, the blood-colored spirits that spread across the sky suddenly formed an uneasy commotion. Their charging momentum was also no longer as fearless as it was earlier.

“Ao!”

The fire spirit faced the sky and let out a long wail. An invisible ripple spread from its mouth like soundwaves. All the spirits that were struck by this invisible flame began to tremble. After which, a ‘bang’ sound followed and they were transformed into nothingness. This time around, however, the destruction of the spirit did not form even the slightest spiritual strength...

Following this massacre of the wolf-shaped fire spirit, the people below, who had descended into a bitter struggle with the spirits, also felt the pressure on them being reduced. How could these spirits be a match for everyone after having lost the numerical advantage. They were completely killed off within a couple of hacks and slashed. Finally, the waves of grayish gas that had just been formed were swallowed by the enormous wolf-shaped fire spirit...