Battle Through the Heavens: Xiao Yan, who was kidnapped to another world

"The baptism at the Zhu Family's Netherworld Pool".

"The Netherworld Pool?" Xiao Yan feigned surprise.

"Hmm? Judging from your expression, you seem to know about that Netherworld Pool?"

Yao Sheng's voice held a hint of surprise, which he quickly suppressed. "What good does it do to know? Your life is going to end here anyway!"

Yao Sheng slammed his foot down on the ground, charging towards Xiao Yan like a giant beast.

'It's this type again...'

Xiao Yan's lips twitched slightly. He had only wanted to rely on his fists and feet to fight a Great Dou Master in close combat and test the results of his efforts over the past two years. However, Yao Sheng had also turned into a heavily armored enemy, and his idea of ​​close combat was completely shattered.

'But, is that Netherworld Pool... something similar to the Yin-Yang Pool?'

After learning that the Zhu family woman who lost the competition would disappear, Xiao Yan considered that there might be a place to perpetuate the Yin Tiger's attributes. Judging from the name alone, it should be this Netherworld Pool. The only problem is—

Why are outsiders allowed in?

Xiao Yan hastily drew his Xuan Heavy Ruler and blocked the slash from Yao Sheng's giant sword.

Chapter 67 The Netherworld Pool

Bang!

As the Xuan Heavy Ruler blocked the giant sword, Xiao Yan punched Yao Sheng's armor. Almost the instant his fist left the armor, his hidden energy exploded out.

After a muffled thud, Yao Sheng paused slightly, then took dozens of steps back, his heavy feet leaving a long trail of deep footprints on the ground.

'Completely alright?'

Xiao Yan was somewhat surprised. Although he had held back a lot of his strength, to withstand that punch completely, he should have coughed up blood a couple of times, right?

"This kid does have some skills."

A solemn expression appeared on Yao Sheng's face. He slowly exhaled, and his third spirit ring lit up. A layer of black halo appeared on Yao Sheng's armor. Judging from the ominous aura, it seemed to be from the same source as the black current brought by his fourth spirit ring.

"Is this also a change brought to you by the Netherworld Pool?" Xiao Yan glanced at the Xuan Heavy Ruler. Sure enough, the place where it had come into contact with the greatsword in Yao Sheng's hand was now covered with black electricity, and this black electricity seemed to want to invade as much of the area as possible.

"That's right, the aura of the netherworld, it's disgusting, isn't it?"

Yao Sheng grinned maliciously, "Netherworld Pool, Netherworld Pool... You don't actually think that 'Netherworld' just means 'Netherworld Cat,' do you?"

What are you trying to say?

Yao Sheng clearly wanted to stall for time, which suited Xiao Yan's intentions perfectly. So, while pretending to struggle against the black current, he asked a question.

"The underworld, that's where the dead reside!"

Although he had sent a message to the current Grand Duke of Youming from the beginning, Yao Sheng, as the Grand Duke of Youming's "eunuch," still wanted to take down Xiao Yan before he arrived.

With his feet slamming into the ground again, Yao Sheng charged toward Xiao Yan at an even faster speed than before, the wind pressure generated by the giant sword extinguishing the lit candlestick.

The darkness had no effect on Xiao Yan. With a calm expression, he felt the wind pressure coming towards him and slightly raised the Xuanzhong Ruler in his hand.

when!

The sound of metal clashing against metal rang out. Xiao Yan sensed that compared to the previous sword strike, Yao Sheng's second sword strike was noticeably heavier and more vicious.

Feeling the Netherworld energy spreading from the giant sword in Yao Sheng's hand to the Xuan Heavy Ruler, Xiao Yan's expression remained unchanged. He then slammed his fist, imbued with Dou Qi, into Yao Sheng's throat.

Bang!

A muffled sound rang out, and even in the darkness, Xiao Yan could clearly see a huge hole appear in Yao Sheng's throat in that instant.

"it's useless……"

Although his voice was noticeably slurred, Yao Sheng, despite having a huge hole in his throat, still managed to utter the sentence completely—

"I already said, the underworld is the place where the dead reside!"

Yao Sheng released the greatsword he was holding, and his left hand transformed into a ghostly claw, viciously grabbing at Xiao Yan's face.

Although he could withstand the attack head-on, he was here to test his combat skills. So, Xiao Yan lightly slashed the ground with his toes, dodging the ghostly claw, and then, like a ghost, circled behind Yao Sheng.

Then, with a powerful kick, he slammed his right foot into Yao Sheng's right leg.

click!

A crisp sound rang out, and even without using his spiritual power to sense it, Xiao Yan understood that Yao Sheng's right leg was broken.

"Ouch, that hurts, kid!"

Yao Sheng's voice still slurred, and as he turned around, he swung his greatsword at Xiao Yan with his right hand.

What exactly are you?

Taking a few steps back to dodge the giant sword, Xiao Yan looked at Yao Sheng with some surprise and uncertainty—

When Xiao Yan couldn't resist using his mental power to check Yao Sheng's physical condition, he discovered that Yao Sheng had a large hole in his chest, and half of his heart was missing. However, because of the full-coverage armor, the situation inside was completely invisible to the naked eye.

"Didn't I already say it? The netherworld, the dead, do I really have to say it all outright?"

Despite his right leg being broken, Yao Sheng seemed unaffected, slowly straightening his body and sneering.

"You...are you dead?"

Xiao Yan was momentarily at a loss for words: "So, to avoid being killed by me, you chose to kill yourself first? Is that a choice a human being could make?"

“Of course you can interpret it that way,” Yao Sheng grinned maliciously. “To avoid being killed by you, I became this inhuman, ghost-like creature… It’s all thanks to you!”

As he continued, Yao Sheng suddenly roared, startling Xiao Yan, who thought he had some powerful move he hadn't yet unleashed.

However, after the roar, Yao Sheng seemed to have lost all his strength. His martial spirit possession was dispelled, and he collapsed to the ground, powerless.

Xiao Yan stared in astonishment at the fallen 'corpse,' suddenly at a loss for words—

If Yao Sheng had simply lay down and pretended to be dead after taking his first punch, Yao Sheng, who hadn't immediately used his mental power, might have been fooled. But now…

Xiao Yan silently stared at the lifeless 'corpse' lying on the ground.

In the dimly lit room, apart from the black blood still flowing from the 'corpse', there was no other sound.

After waiting for more than ten minutes, just as Xiao Yan frowned and was about to go outside to say a few words to the Soul Douluo who had been waiting for a long time, the eyes that occasionally glanced at Yao Sheng's 'corpse' showed a slight fluctuation—

Yao Sheng's lifeless body twitched almost imperceptibly, and after a moment, his tightly closed eyes slowly opened, and the hole in his throat gradually healed.

"hiss……"

After cautiously surveying his surroundings and deeming it safe, Yao Sheng slowly sat up. Looking at the bloody hole in his chest, he couldn't help but gasp, his eyes filled with venomous resentment. "Damn it… if I hadn't pledged allegiance to the Underworld Duke beforehand and become his accomplice, I would have truly been finished this time…"

"A 'changgui'? Does that mean 'to act as an accomplice to a tiger'?"

A faint voice suddenly rang out in the room.

The sudden sound made Yao Sheng freeze, his expression change drastically, and he turned his head sharply.

Xiao Yan, who was standing in the shadows, slowly stepped out, making himself visible to Yao Sheng.

"Impossible! The Grand Duke of the Underworld has clearly arrived long ago!"

Seeing that Xiao Yan hadn't changed at all, Yao Sheng cried out in shock.

“That’s right, he arrived a long time ago. The moment you fell, he was already standing outside, waiting,” Xiao Yan laughed, his palm gently reaching out, and purple-gold flames slowly rose up.

"However, you will never have the chance to see him again."

With a slight smile and a wave of his hand, purple-gold flames floated out from Xiao Yan's hand, engulfing Yao Sheng in a flash. In the blink of an eye, before Yao Sheng could utter another word, he was quickly burned into a pile of ashes.

From that moment on, Yao Sheng, the border count of the Star Luo Empire, was completely dead and disappeared forever from this continent.

Chapter 68 The Grand Duke of the Underworld

With a wave of his hand, Xiao Yan cleaned up the ashes on the ground, clapped his hands, leisurely pushed open the door, and walked out.

Outside, the middle-aged man with black hair and a white robe watched as Xiao Yan walked out of the house, turned around, closed the door again, and finally turned to face him directly.

"You're Xiao Yan?"

“That’s right, didn’t His Excellency the Duke already know from the beginning?” Xiao Yan replied lazily. “And His Excellency the Duke doesn’t seem surprised that I was able to kill Yao Sheng?”

"Two years ago, Yao Sheng traveled from the border to the capital. After living there for more than a year, he finally made up his mind and sent his visiting card," said Zhu Guohu, the current Grand Duke of the Underworld, whose soul power level was as high as level 83.

So, you only became a so-called "Chang Gui" a few months ago? But I was in the Star Dou Great Forest for the past few months!

Xiao Yan frowned slightly. He didn't quite understand what had happened to make Yao Sheng choose to become a ghost.

"Eight months ago, a divine decree was issued from the Hall of Spirits. You must already know about it, right?" Zhu Guohu asked calmly.

Ten years old, black robe, giant ruler, flames

Because it was so precise, Xiao Yan remembered the words spoken by the cardinal very clearly. The only problem was—

"Why are you so sure that person is me?"

The words "giant ruler" and "ten years old" are easy to understand, since Xiao Yan's martial soul was reported as the Xuan Heavy Ruler. Combined with the sensitive age of ten, Yao Sheng would naturally think of Xiao Yan. However, the black robe and flames were clearly unrelated to Xiao Yan at the very beginning.

“Before today, no one could be sure that you were the person the oracle of the angel was looking for,” Zhu Guohu explained cooperatively. “In fact, if you hadn’t used fire when you destroyed the body just now, I still wouldn’t have been able to confirm your identity.”

"Confirm my identity?"

“Back when Yao Sheng entered Xingluo City, I had already placed the reasons for his escape from Shanchui City in my study. Wang Cheng, Zhang San, Zhuang Jieqi, and Xiao Yan—these names also came into my view at that time.”

"However, I quickly forgot about such a trivial matter," the Grand Duke of the Underworld said slowly.

"Until later, I learned about those four keywords from the Spirit Hall's spies, and one day I saw Yao Sheng recklessly squandering his wealth on the street..."

“At that time, I finally thought of your name. Of course, only the two points that fit were ten years old and the giant ruler,” the Duke of the Underworld shrugged. “But Yao Sheng didn’t know the true contents of the oracle.”

"So, you used some underhanded methods to let Yao Sheng know the words 'ten years old' and 'giant ruler,' and kept putting pressure on him, making him mistakenly believe that I was the person the Spirit Hall was looking for?" Xiao Yan understood.

“The one exerting pressure was not me, but my good elder brother,” Zhu Guohu said with a smile. “As a subject, I simply reported these two matters.”

Good brother?

Subject?

Xiao Yan was stunned for a moment, then realized, "You were the last prince who didn't awaken the White Tiger Martial Soul?"

“That’s right, the last unlucky guy was me,” Zhu Guohu nodded with a smile. “Under the constant pressure from my elder brother, Yao Sheng finally accepted the reward of entering the Netherworld Pool and became a pawn to lure you here.”

"Why are you so sure I'll come?" Xiao Yan asked curiously. If he hadn't recently heard about Yang Hu and Yin Hu from Zhu Zhuqing, he would have dealt with Yao Sheng before leaving this continent.

"Whether they come or not is not important. What is important is that yet another Soul Emperor has become the empire's accomplice," Zhu Guohu said nonchalantly. "The operation of the Netherworld Pool relies on one accomplice after another sacrificing everything."