Before the corpses even hit the ground—
Swish—!
A spatial gate suddenly yawned open beneath them, silently swallowing the bodies into an extradimensional void.
At that moment, Chen Junting's head emerged from the floor.
He cautiously extended his spiritual perception—only for it to bounce back, blocked by an invisible barrier.
Just then, a soul-force transmission echoed from within the spatial gate below:
"Lao Chen, still can't probe the inside?"
Chen Junting waved dismissively—but his eyes never left the chamber door. If not for the uncertainty of whether a Level 90+ evil soul master lurked within, they would've just teleported straight in.
After all, once a soul cultivator reached Level 90, they began to touch upon spatial laws. Even if not proficient, they could still sense spatial ripples. Direct teleportation would be dangerously reckless—there might even be evil soul masters lying in wait.
"Get ready," Chen Junting said softly. "I'll test it with my domain."
An invisible killing intent surged forward.
…
Inside a dimly lit secret chamber, a lone figure sat motionless—facing two trembling subordinates. To any ordinary observer, the scene would seem absurd.
Because the one seated was unmistakably… a male infant.
Yet the voice that emerged was ancient, gravelly—and deeply unsettling:
"I ask you again—how goes the mission?"
"Fourth Elder, we… aah—!"
The moment the silver-trimmed white-robed man began to speak, a blood-jade-like palm lashed out like a whip, hurling him across the room. He crashed to the floor, writhing in agony.
"Stammering like a fool—you clearly failed!"
"Then what use are you?!"
The words had barely left the infant's lips when the white-robed man went still. Within three breaths, his entire body melted into foul pus and blood, which flowed cleanly across the pristine floor—then vanished entirely as it was absorbed into the infant's body.
The second man trembled even harder. A comrade of years—gone in an instant.
"Great Holy Spirit… it's your turn to speak."
"I dare not! I dare not!" the man cried, kowtowing frantically. He wouldn't dare call himself a "Holy Spirit" before this elder!
"What nonsense is this? I'm asking you a question!" the infant snarled, voice dripping with menace. "Two years! Don't tell me you've learned nothing. The Sect Master may not care—but your incompetence has shamed me before my peers!"
"Hm…?"
Suddenly, the infant slowly lifted his head.
"Guests have arrived."
For the "Great Holy Spirit," those words were a lifeline. In less than a second, he activated his martial soul—
"Elder, leave this to me!"
—but before the words fully left his mouth, a soul-powered flying sword shot through the corridor!
A blur streaked past his neck like a winter wind—and then, a headless corpse collapsed to the floor.
Whose corpse?
…Oh. Mine.
His severed head hit the ground, staining the clean tiles crimson.
But within moments, a crimson soul force enveloped the corpse—again reducing it to pus and blood in under three breaths.
Now the floor was clean once more.
"Even in death… nothing is wasted."
Cloaked in black robes, the infant rose slowly into the air. As the foul blood flowed into him, he turned his gaze forward.
"Heh heh heh…"
"Two years… and intruders return."
Chen Junting and Gu Tianchen stepped coldly into the chamber, eyes burning with killing intent.
Chen Junting flicked his wrist—array inscriptions flared to life.
The infant struck instantly. From his tiny frame erupted the overwhelming aura of a Title Douluo. His black robes billowed without wind, and all surrounding furniture shattered under the pressure—save for a single statue at the rear, which remained untouched.
Screeee—!
A piercing shriek tore through the chamber. Wailing ghosts surged from every corner, blood-red phantoms swarming toward the arrays. Simultaneously, the infant thrust a palm forward—intent on annihilating the two intruders in one blow.
Swish! Swish! Swish—!
Bone spikes erupted from the floor, forming a Bone Prison around the infant's attack. But against a Title Douluo–level evil soul masters, even this defense wouldn't last.
Immediately, Gu Tianchen activated his soul bone skill—Invincible Barrier.
But instead of shielding themselves, he wrapped the infant in the barrier—buying Chen Junting crucial seconds.
As the array seals fused with the floor, the formation completed.
Seeing this, Gu Tianchen swiftly retracted his skill.
"Keh keh keh—impressive defense," the infant sneered. "But these little tricks won't save you from death!"
Two purple, six black, and one red—his terrifying soul ring configuration, coupled with malevolent energy, made his presence utterly monstrous.
Yet Chen Junting and Gu Tianchen remained utterly calm—staring at him with eerie composure, leaving the evil soul masters baffled.
"You two… aren't afraid?"
In response, Chen Junting spoke flatly:
"Do you even know what array I just laid down?"
"It's meant to…"
Before he finished, a gray hexagram materialized behind the infant—followed by the opening of a Undead Demiplane Gate.
"…muffle sound."
ROOOAARRR—!
A thunderous dragon's roar shook the small chamber.
Chen Junting's sixth soul ring flared. A violet wraith shot forth—vanishing into the gate.
The next second, a monstrous skeletal dragon emerged from the portal, wreathed in flickering violet-black soulfire. Terror radiated from its Domineering Bone Dragon form.
"Bone Dragon?!"
Under the dragon's hollow, blazing gaze, the evil soul master's heart plummeted into chaos. Fear—absolute fear—gripped him. For on this Bone Dragon, he sensed power comparable to the Grand Worship!
And that… was a Limit Douluo!
Paralyzed with terror, he screamed and turned to flee—but the Domineering Bone Dragon gave him no chance. Its soulfire pulsed once, and destruction energy engulfed the infant.
The infant's ninth soul ring flared instantly!
In a heartbeat, the chamber flooded with blood-red light. Space twisted—opening a crimson gate from which tides of blood ghosts surged toward the dragon.
ROOOAARRR—!
The dragon's roar became physical shockwaves. Nearby blood ghosts either shattered on impact or dissolved into nothing under the dragon's annihilating aura.
And before a near-Limit powerhouse, a mere Blood Infant had no hope of escape.
The dragon's jaws snapped open—gigantic, serrated teeth lunging straight for the Title Douluo.
The infant activated a Grade-9 defensive soul-engineered device—but against raw destruction energy and the dragon's overwhelming might, it lasted only moments.
Crack—!
Fissures spiderwebbed across its surface.
The next instant—
"Little one… come quietly with this lord~"
The jaws clamped shut. The evil soul master, eyes filled with seven parts terror and three parts despair, was crushed in the dragon's maw.
Under Chen Junting's precise control, the dragon channeled destruction energy directly into the infant—stripping his cultivation entirely. Though his body remained that of a baby, his face aged rapidly before their eyes, his aura withering to that of a worthless cripple.
"You… you dare cripple this Lord?!"
Ignoring the infant's venomous shriek, the Domineering Bone Dragon dragged him back into the Undead Demiplane.
With the evil soul master temporarily dealt with, Chen Junting turned to erase all traces. With a few deft taps, the sound-muffling array dissolved into drifting motes of light.
Gu Tianchen stepped forward. The moment Chen Junting turned, he found his friend staring at him with a strangely suspicious look.
It was… unsettling.
"Old Gu, what's with that face?"
"Nothing. Just… you've been hiding real deep."
He jerked his chin toward where the Bone Dragon's skull had appeared, voice laced with disbelief: "If I'm not mistaken, that's the skeleton we found in the Sword Mountain Secret Realm, right? You turned it into your personal enforcer?"
Chen Junting raised an eyebrow. "Want to know how?"
He began tracing another hexagram in the air.
"Forget it," Gu Tianchen waved him off, unbothered. "Just making an observation. But…" His expression turned serious. "Old Chen—you should be careful. With moves like that, even evil soul masters might refuse to believe you're not one of them."
"Don't worry," Chen Junting nodded, understanding.
His attention then shifted to the Holy Emperor statue.
"Sure enough… it's gathering faith energy."
Inside his spiritual sea, Electrolux's voice echoed.
Chen Junting tapped his fingers, recalling the stolen corpse of Bibi Dong in the Hall of Offerings—his expression darkened.
"Master… do you think someone's trying to ascend through faith?"
Electrolux drew Chen Junting's consciousness into the spiritual sea. His ancient, profound eyes shimmered with wisdom.
After a long pause, he said:
"As I've told you before, faith energy has many uses—far beyond just godhood."
Chen Junting frowned slightly—he understood the implication.
"So you mean… this 'Holy Emperor'…"
"Not necessarily," Electrolux interrupted gently. "It could be the evil soul masters of the Holy Spirit Sect. Perhaps they're collecting faith energy… for another purpose entirely."
Before Chen Junting could press further—
"I don't know for certain," Electrolux admitted, stroking his white beard. "But you cannot assume all cases are the same. Moreover, this statue merely stores faith energy—radically different from methods that gather it directly into the body."
"I see…"
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