Battle Through the Heavens

“I accept.”

A glint flashed across the eyes of the Hall of Souls’ chief after Xiao Yan uttered those words. He did not open his mouth, but everyone could sense the sudden increase in pressure.

A storm was imminent.

“It is time to end our conflict…”

The many years of waiting had finally resulted in this situation. However, Xiao Yan’s mind remained peaceful. He had once been a youth who had worked hard with final aim of defeating the Mist Cloud Sect in the Jia Ma Empire, but then the Hall of Souls had appeared out of nowhere. They captured his father and destroyed his clan. They had even nearly ended the Xiao clan’s bloodline. This hatred could never be reconciled. Since that time, the somewhat tender youth understood in his heart that his future path would be filled with difficulty, but he had chosen to continue advancing without hesitation because there were some things that could not be left undone even if they were extremely difficult…

From a certain point of view, the Hall of Souls had played a great part in allowing Xiao Yan to reach this stage today. They had given Xiao Yan a potent motivation…

“Hed hee, how bold…” Old Man Hun Mo beside the chief of the Hall of Souls glanced at Xiao Yan with a dark and cold expression as he strangely laughed.

Xiao Yan glanced at him indifferently. He quickly looked back at the chief of the Hall of Souls and asked, “May I know how we will proceed with this challenge?”

“There will be three rounds with the winner being the party that wins two of the matches. Each of us will send out three people to engage in an all out fight!” The chief of the Hall of Souls explained in a low voice. “Of course, if you wish for everyone from the Hall of Souls and the Sky Mansion Alliance to fight, this chief will not not object. My Hall of Souls has stood in the Central Plains for many years. If you really think that by you can fight us by randomly gathering some factions to form an alliance, you are really a little too naive…”

“Your words do carry some weight since you have the support of the Hun clan.” Xiao Yan smiled and shook his head. He immediately said, “If we were to engage in a large scale battle, even if my Sky Mansion Alliance ended up being annihilated, your Hun clan would definitely suffer some serious damage. It seems that the Hun clan is unwilling to suffer such losses…”

This decisive battle invitation clearly indicated that the Hall of Souls did not intend to engage in a large scale war. Hence, they had arranged this fight between the highest level experts. Although their battle would not be very large, they were representing their respective camps. If they were to lose, they would be weaker than the other party in the future regardless of what they could do.

“You are allowed to select the first two individuals.” The chief of the Hall of Souls informed him in a faint voice.

“Winning two out of three rounds, huh. Allowing others to have what they want is a good virtue.” Xiao Yan slightly smiled as he opened his mouth to reply. This Hun clan was unwilling to let the Hall of Souls suffer losses amounting to eighty or ninety percent of its strength. He was also unwilling to completely lose the Sky Mansion Alliance. The alliance was all he could rely on to fight the Hun clan. It had only gained such an achievement after being managed with great difficulty. How could he simply lose it?

Although the words of the Hall of Souls’ chief might be unpleasant, they were indeed the truth. The current Sky Mansion Alliance was able to fight the Hall of Souls, but the alliance would definitely suffer irreparable losses if it really wanted to completely destroy the Hall of Souls.

“It looks like you are also unable to bear the losses from an all out war.” The chief of the Hall of Souls lifted a brow and spoke with a deeper meaning after hearing Xiao Yan’s response.

“Show me the people who will fight…” Xiao Yan smiled and requested.

“Hee hee, this is the greatest provocation my Hun clan has received during these years…” Old Man Hun Mo darkly laughed. He immediately took a step forward. “Young fellow from the Xiao clan, include me as one of the three.”

After Old Man Hun Mo stepped forward, an individual with sharp senses would discover that this large mountain was gently trembling. A dragon-like sonic wave escaped from beneath Old Man Hun Mo’s feet. It broke through the large rock within the mountain’s body in a wild fashion. After which, it roared and rushed toward Xiao Yan.

“Bang!”

The moment the hidden force resembling a huge dragon broke free from the ground, a human figure stepped in front of Xiao Yan. A foot coincidentally landed on the ground where the hidden force was located. The hard ground immediately sank by half a foot. That hidden force was shattered by that figure.

“The Hun clan is still as underhanded as ever…” Xiao Chen was expressionless as he glanced at Old Man Hun Mo and slowly made a comment.

“Blood Axe Xiao Chen!”

Old Man Hun Mo’s face was dark and cold. Both of his eyes were like poisonous snakes. He stared at Xiao Chen while he uttered each word with a pause.

“You ants aren’t worthy mentioning the name of the clan head!” Xiao Chen appeared just like a slowly waking fierce wolf. A faint murderous intent seeped out of his body a little at a time.

The chief of the Hall of Souls and Old Man Hun Mo frowned. They did not dare to slight Xiao Chen even a little within his heart, especially since the chief had fallen to a disadvantage while fighting Xiao Chen within the demonic flame realm. The chief had become relatively miserable then. Now that they had met again, he naturally felt a great fear within his heart.

“Ha ha, you are indeed worthy of being Blood Axe Xiao Chen. You are still this strong despite having not appeared for so many years. Although Xiao Xuan was extremely well-known, he ultimately could not avoid death. Your Xiao clan is destined to be only a short blooming flower.” An elderly figure holding a walking stick, who had been standing beside the chief of the Hall of Souls and Old Man Hun Mo, slowly appeared in front of everyone in a ghost-like fashion without warning while the two were frowning.

Xiao Yan’s eyes focused the moment that elderly figure appeared. His expression was grave as he studied the figure. The appearance of this person did not even cause space itself to fluctuate, as though he had been standing in that spot from the beginning.

“The strength of this person is really terrifying!”

Xiao Yan and the rest beside him exchanged glances with each other. They were able to see some shock in each others faces.

“Hun Qian Mo!”

Xiao Chen’s eyes bore into the elderly person holding a walking stick. This elderly person was so skinny that he appeared to only be made of bones. His shriveled face wore a smile, which caused one to feel uneasy. Those eyes were not as turbid as an ordinary old man. Instead, they contained a strange brightness. Under that pair of eyes, it seemed that even his soul was emitting a piercing pain.

The hearts of Xiao Yan’s group shook after hearing Xiao Chen utter this name with a pause. The Hun clan had indeed dispatched this old fellow.

“Hun Qian Mo… gosh, he is still alive? The Hun clan has even dispatched him. Looks like they are determined to seriously injure the Sky Mansion Alliance…” Elders with great experience were not scarce around the mountain. Some of the somewhat younger experts might not have heard of the name Hun Qian Mo, but these elderly individuals were clearly aware of just how frightening this old fellow was.

“Trash who once begged for mercy before the hands of the clan head actually dares to show itself?” Xiao Chen inhaled a deep breath. He suppressed the surging murderous intent within his heart and snarled with an expressionless face.

Hun Qian Mo’s shriveled face trembled slightly. His eyes, which contained a strange luster, slowly swept over Xiao Chen and Xiao Yan. His hoarse voice was like bones rubbing against each other. “Regardless of how powerful he is, he will not be able to avoid death. The winner is king. Currently, the Hun clan still stands at the peak of this continent, but what about the Xiao clan? The Xiao clan, which was once renowned throughout this continent, only lives on as a small group. They are on their last leg beneath the eyes of our Hun clan. It must be said that this is truly a tragedy…”

“Bang!”

A dark and stern expression surged onto Xiao Chen’s face. His body flashed and appeared in front of Hun Qian Mo. A hand of his flew through empty air and a huge blood-colored axe materialized. It was quickly accompanied by a sharp wind that appeared like a thunderbolt as it cut through the sky and violently swung toward Hun Qian Mo.

“Xiao Chen, even though you have been lucky enough to survive until now, the current you is no longer that Blood Axe Xiao Chen from back then!” Hun Qian Mo’s extremely shriveled face revealed a hostile expression when he sense Xiao Chen’s swift attack. His bone-like hand was clenched into a fist. After which, it was thrown toward the huge blood-colored axe.

“Clang!”

The wind formed from this terrifying collision caused a couple of the Hall of Souls elite Dou Shengs to swiftly withdraw with a change in expression. Only the chief of the Hall of Souls and Old Man Hun Mo were able to stand their ground.

“Bam bam!”

The axe ruthlessly hacked at Hun Qian Mo’s fist. An extremely terrifying retaliatory force caused Xiao Chen to stagger back by over ten steps. His expressions became a little dark and gloomy as he glared at Hun Qian Mo. He had been trapped in the demonic flame illusion for thousands of years. His training results would naturally be inferior to Hun Qian Mo’s ordinary training, causing him to feel dissatisfied. Back then, this Hun Qian Mo would only be able to turn around and flee with a terrified expression after seeing him.

“Xiao Chen, this elderly self has already said that everything has already changed. The current you is no match for me.” Hun Qian Mo glanced at the many faint blood imprints on his fist, but he simply ignored them and spoke in a faint voice. He immediately glanced towards Xiao Yan and licked his tongue. “You have the scent of Xiao Xuan in your body. It seems that you have really obtained his inheritance in the Heavenly Tomb…”

Xiao Yan’s expression was calm. The strength of this old man who would not die was likely around that of a six star Dou Sheng. He was stronger than everyone present. The Hall of Souls had indeed come prepared.

“Xiao Yan, the Hall of Soul has already selected its competitors. It is your turn…”

The chief of the Hall of Souls indifferently glanced at Xiao Yan. He took a step forward, implying that the third person was him.

A chill surged within Xiao Yan’s eyes after seeing their opponents. It seemed that the big battle today would be intense. He should be able to deal with the chief of the Hall of Souls in one of the three battles. Old Man Hun Mo would be left to ancestor Xiao Chen, but the only big problem was Hun Qian Mo…

“Ugh… leave that old man who will not die to me…”

A small figure quietly appeared beside Xiao Yan while this thought was flashing through Xiao Yan’s heart. That youthful appearance naturally belonged to the Pill Tower’s Ancestor. The ancestor Xiao Yan had met in the demonic flame realm back then…