Time passed swiftly, and before he knew it, more than half a month had gone by. Xiao Feng had finally arrived at the entrance to the second layer.
Given his strength, Xiao Feng would have entered the second layer of the Heavenly Tomb long ago if not for the burden of Gu Xun'er.
However, he had spent a lot of time in the first layer capturing soul entities.
Of course, his efforts had been well worth it.
Now, the number of Dou Venerate-level soul entities in the Hueco Mundo had exceeded 5,000, and more than 500 of them had been transformed into Arrancar, allowing them to freely enter and exit the Hueco Mundo.
It was no exaggeration to say that with these 500 Dou Venerate-level Arrancar under his command, Xiao Feng could easily sweep through the Northwestern Continent, as long as there were no Dou Saint powerhouses guarding it.
At this point, almost all the soul entities in the first layer of the Heavenly Tomb had been captured by his shadow clones. The remaining ones that had slipped through the cracks weren't worth the effort, so he didn't bother searching for them and directly proceeded to the second layer.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The moment Xiao Feng passed through the spatial passage leading to the second layer, several roaming soul entities at the entrance detected him and launched ranged attacks without hesitation.
Without a change in expression, Xiao Feng raised both hands and formed a faint purple barrier in front of him. Using hisPreta Path ability, he absorbed all the incoming attacks.
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"
Before the soul entities could attack again, several black chains shot out from Xiao Feng's shadow, moving at lightning speed to bind them in place and drag them into the Hueco Mundo.
"Not bad."
After sealing away the four attacking soul entities, Xiao Feng nodded in satisfaction.
The soul entities in the first layer were also at the Dou Venerate level, but most of them were only at the one-star or two-star Dou Venerate stage.
Among the 5,000 soul entities he had subdued earlier, those at the five-star or six-star Dou Venerate level numbered fewer than fifty.
However, the four soul entities that had just attacked him were already around the five-star Dou Venerate level. It was evident that the soul entities in the second layer were far stronger than those in the first.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Xiao Feng swiftly formed hand seals and summoned several hundred shadow clones to assist in capturing soul entities.
Since the strongest soul entities in the second layer were comparable to nine-star Dou Venerates, there were times when his clones alone couldn't handle them.
Whenever a shadow clone encountered an entity it couldn't defeat, it would immediately summon Xiao Feng's main body to personally subdue it.
While the soul entities in the second layer were much stronger, their numbers were significantly lower.
Altogether, there were only a few hundred in the entire second layer. With the help of his clones, Xiao Feng captured almost all of them in under two days.
He didn't waste time looking for the remaining stragglers and headed straight for the entrance to the third layer.
When Xiao Feng arrived, he saw that the energy barrier at the entrance had condensed into a solid form, appearing like a multicolored crystal.
He immediately recognized it as an energy crystal secreted by the Ancient Devourer Insects, so he remained cautious. Without hesitation, he summoned the Nine Serene Wind Flame to encase himself before stepping into the melting energy crystal.
The Ancient Devourer Insects were tiny magical beasts, roughly the size of ants, but they were endless in number. They could devour almost anything, including energy-based attacks, and continuously secreted energy crystals that even Dou Venerates struggled to destroy.
Fortunately, they couldn't devour Heavenly Flames. Otherwise, even a peak Dou Venerate would have a hard time making it through this crystal passage.
"Sizzle... Sizzle..."
The terrifying heat of the Nine Serene Wind Flame incinerated any Ancient Devourer Insects that dared to approach, reducing them to ashes.
However, compared to the entire insect swarm, the ones burned to death were merely a drop in the ocean.
As Xiao Feng ventured deeper into the passage, the insects rapidly repaired the tunnel he had melted with the Nine Serene Wind Flame.
It took over an hour for Xiao Feng to finally break through the nearly indestructible crystal passage and arrive at the third layer of the Heavenly Tomb.
The Third Layer of the Heavenly Tomb
The space was vast, stretching endlessly in all directions. Dense energy filled the surroundings, continuously surging into Xiao Feng's body.
Although this energy wasn't as pure as directly absorbing energy cores, its concentration was dozens of times higher than in the outside world, making cultivation far more efficient.
Xiao Feng scanned the surroundings but did not act recklessly. Instead, he split off several dozen shadow clones and sent them in different directions to explore the depths of the third layer.
The tomb of Xiao Xuan was located in the deepest part of the Heavenly Tomb. The soul entities there were incredibly powerful—not only were there many at the peak Dou Venerate level, but even Half-Saint and Dou Saint-level soul entities existed.
With Xiao Feng's current strength, he could at most fight a Half-Saint-level soul entity. If he encountered a Dou Saint-level entity, his only option would be to flee.
Thus, he had no intention of taking unnecessary risks. He planned to let his clones scout ahead. As soon as one of them found Xiao Xuan's tomb, he could instantly teleport there.
If Xiao Xuan was willing to move to the Hueco Mundo, Xiao Feng would essentially gain free rein within the Heavenly Tomb. He might even have the opportunity to learn the Heaven-rank Dou Technique—Ghost Possession!
Before his death, Xiao Xuan had been a late-stage Nine-Star Dou Saint, an absolute powerhouse. Even in his current soul state, his strength had significantly diminished, but he could still easily defeat an Eight-Star Dou Saint.
In the current Dou Qi Continent, fewer than five people could defeat Xiao Xuan's soul.
While waiting for his clones to reach Xiao Xuan's tomb, Xiao Feng simply sat cross-legged and began cultivating the Dragon God Art.
Before long, one of his clones sent back a message—not about finding Xiao Xuan's tomb, but about encountering a Half-Saint-level soul entity and being instantly obliterated.
Even Xiao Feng's main body had to summon the Immortal Dharma Body to unleash Half-Saint-level combat power, let alone a clone with only a fraction of his strength.
Over the next few hours, more than ten of his clones were destroyed by powerful soul entities while traversing the third layer.
The strongest of these soul entities had already reached the high-tier Half-Saint level, and even Xiao Feng himself might not be a match for it.
(End of Chapter)