Battle Through the Heavens: The Rock King Emperor's Leisurely Wanderings in the Mortal World

Chapter 68 Soul Emperor

Dark purple flames condensed into thorny branches in the void, stitching the dome and the ground together to form a claustrophobic prison.

The stone wall is covered with honeycomb-like holes, and deep inside each hole lies a cocoon shaped like a silkworm pupa. Underneath the translucent membrane, scarlet veins flow, like the slowly contracting organs of a dying beast.

A gelatinous undercurrent seeps from cracks in the ground, and silver veins appear on the obsidian surface whenever the flames lick across it.

These moving patterns sometimes intertwined to form beast eyes, and sometimes shattered into scales, eventually disappearing into the suddenly rising fire serpent.

Where the stalagmite hangs upside down, clusters of ice-crystal-like crystals dangle, refracting purple light that casts lifelike shadows on the ground. Those twisted, tentacle-like shadows always dissipate into mist just before touching the rock wall.

Three circular fire altars floated deep within the space, their eerie flames faintly revealing the outlines of half-melted skeletons.

The outermost fire altar was covered with black glass, and inside were sealed thousands of crimson insect eggs. The surface of the eggshells showed painful human face patterns as the flames flickered.

At the bottom of the central fire pit, there was a dark liquid. Whenever the flames surged, bubbles the size of a baby's palm would rise from the liquid, and when they burst, they would make a crisp sound like bones dislocating.

The air was filled with the mixed scent of sulfur and rotting herbs, but it always turned into a needle-like chill just before it touched the nose.

Fungal umbrella-shaped crystals grow in the crevices of the rock wall, and a bright green liquid drips continuously from under the umbrella, etching grooves of varying depths into the ground.

These winding patterns all lead to the abyss rift in the center of the space, where frost-like dark energy crystals condense at the edges, occasionally bursting out with blue-purple lightning.

Where is this?

A refined yet sinister atmosphere permeated the surroundings, instantly putting Zhongli's nerves on edge as he began to carefully search the area.

"Ew~~~ Master, what's that strange smell?"

Little Fairy Doctor frowned and pinched her little nose with a hint of disdain. Following the direction Little Fairy Doctor pointed, Zhong Li finally saw the third person in this space.

Dark purple flames licked across the jagged rock face, casting the man's hunched figure into a distorted, ghostly form. The stalagmite dome, oozing dark green venom, exploded with a foul-smelling sulfurous fumes at his feet with every drop. Thirteen bone-corroding chains pierced his collarbone and sank deep into the rock face, their movements with each breath causing the scabs to peel away from his wounds.

The earth's ley lines solidified and coursed around him, sometimes transforming into a skeleton biting his neck, sometimes into a venomous spider crawling into his hollow eye sockets. The core of dark flame hovered between the charred lines of his palm, emitting eerie light; each time the flames surged, the entire cave echoed with the howls of countless vengeful spirits. Thick, black blood seeped from the cracks in the rock, winding along the chains into ancient incantations, scorching and emitting a foul stench the moment it touched the skin.

His throat churned with shattered organs, yet he forced back the foul blood that rose to his lips. Below the stone platform lay seven skeletons, each with half a blade of crimson fire embedded in its skull—the remains of the Soul Clan elders who had mistakenly entered the barrier a few days prior. The dark flames suddenly trembled violently, reflecting a savage grin that stretched from his lips to his ears. His charred fingers dug deep into the stone, leaving five phosphorescent, bloody streaks.

The poisonous dew that had condensed on the damp rock wall suddenly flowed back, carrying fragments of dark flames that seeped into his cracked brow. The entire space began to spasm and contract, stalagmites collapsing and striking his back with a dull thud, yet he straightened his spine amidst the excruciating pain, letting three of the bone-corroding chains snap, splintering white bone fragments. A dark crimson sea of ​​fire exploded, revealing the churning hell within his crazed eyes.

Organs may shatter, yet be reborn amidst the pain; bones may break, yet be reconnected.

The man was in the deepest abyss of pain. He slowly opened his lips. His voice was initially hoarse and rough, as if he had experienced many hardships, but then it gradually became younger and more energetic.

"There's someone like this who could track me all the way here... You... were you sent by Gu Yuan to kill me?"

"My name is Zhongli. I have no idea who this Gu Yuan you speak of is. I have stumbled upon this place by chance. If I have caused any disturbance, I hope you will forgive me."

Zhongli bowed slightly, clasping his hands in a gesture of respect.

"Oh? The Zhong surname? There doesn't seem to be a Dou Di family with the Zhong surname on this Dou Qi Continent. Could you be a descendant of a Dou Di family that has hidden from the world?" The man's lips slowly curved into a smile, and he let out a clear laugh like a young boy as he asked.

"Uh... I am merely a three-star Dou Huang, and I am not a descendant of the reclusive Dou Di family that you mentioned."

"Hahaha, a Dou Huang... That's a level I haven't heard of in a long time. But you actually managed to penetrate three layers of spatial barriers and enter my secluded retreat, and you even call yourself a Dou Huang? Do you think I'm easy to fool, like a fool?"

Upon hearing this, Little Fairy Doctor looked up at Zhongli with great curiosity.

In her heart, becoming a Douhuang powerhouse is the goal she is currently striving for and dreaming of.

But the words of the unfamiliar man whose appearance was gradually becoming younger once again aroused Little Fairy Doctor's curiosity about her mysterious master.

The man's long black robe hung down like a congealed waterfall of blood, with dark gold patterns meandering into skeleton-like totems at the hem, each fold seemingly imprisoning a thousand dying wails.

His skin had a bluish-gray hue, as if it had been scorched for a thousand years by flames, with a dark purple tinged with red. Cracks crawled from his neck to his cheekbones, like the cracks in ancient porcelain that had been forcibly glued together, and wisps of dark red mist seeped out.

His silver hair fell to his waist but had no luster, as if it absorbed all the light that shone on him. Twelve hollowed-out bone bells floated at the ends of his hair, making a muffled sound like the throat of a drowning person when they collided.

His brow bone was sharp as a cliff, and his heterochromatic eyes were embedded in the shadows—his left eye was a bottomless abyss of pure black vortex, while his right eye burned with a crimson lotus-shaped flame. Two completely opposite auras of destruction tore a small spatial crack in the middle of his nose.

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Zhong Li smiled slightly, but did not respond.

His recent investigation had given him a clear understanding of the strength of the person before him.

Even if all the fighting spirit Zhongli had encountered so far were combined, it would still be less than one-thousandth of the power of the person before him.

This person is arguably the strongest he has ever seen in the Dou Qi Continent. His strength even makes Zhong Li wonder if he is still in the Dou Qi Continent at this moment.

The two gazed at each other silently. Zhongli gently placed his hand on Xiaoyixian's sorrowful palm. Without a sound, a barrier from the earth's core, hundreds of times harder than imagined, gradually condensed in his hand and finally delicately enveloped Xiaoyixian's body.

"You are very strong, stronger than anyone I have ever met." Zhong Li broke the silence first.

"Although your battle qi is only at the Dou Huang level, I can clearly sense that it is still continuously rising and increasing... Dou Huang four stars... six stars... nine stars... Dou Zong one star... eight stars... five-stage nine-star Dou Zun... half-saint..."

"I still don't know your name?"

"The patriarch of the Soul Clan... Soul Emperor."

……

(End of this chapter)