Looking at the massive golden energy palm descending from the sky, Hun Tiandi, Void Swallowing Flame, Xiao Yan, and Xiao Zhan all had drastic changes in their expressions; they felt a fatal threat from it.
"As expected, the Emperor Grade Young Pill's combat power is incredibly strong." Hun Tiandi solemnly pointed a finger upwards.
The four no longer hindered each other, facing the Emperor Grade Young Pill's terrifying attack together.
However, even so, the four of them were sent flying backward, heavily crashing to the ground, creating four large craters.
Such a sudden turn of events startled the strong cultivators on both sides, causing their actions to slow down by a beat.
"Let's join forces to deal with him first," Hun Tiandi said in a deep voice.
"Alright," Xiao Zhan nodded.
"Myriad Soul Palm!"
"Void Devouring Finger!"
"Formless Tribulation!"
"Buddha's Fury Fire Lotus!"
The four simultaneously unleashed their strongest attacks; Void Swallowing Flame secretly activated the ancient jade, and the Emperor Grade Young Pill's counterattack suddenly paused, getting engulfed by the four's attacks.
The silver flames flashed and disappeared, and Xiao Yan instantly arrived at the heart of the explosion; the strongest impact had already passed, and he could completely withstand the remaining energy.
Hun Tiandi's expression changed: "Void!"
"I know!"
Void Swallowing Flame conjured the ancient jade, bit his tongue, and spat out a stream of black blood imbued with black flames, which shot onto the ancient jade. His hands swiftly changed, forming various seals.
The Tuoshe ancient emperor jade vibrated with a hum, and a soft light illuminated from the ancient jade, which then transformed into a colorful halo, swiftly flying towards the direction of the Emperor Grade Young Pill.
Within the still-unscattered fire cloud of the explosion, Xiao Yan endured the astonishing heat around him and struck the Emperor Grade Young Pill, which was at the end of its rope, with a palm.
The latter mustered its last bit of strength to counterattack, but this counterattack seemed somewhat weak, and he was sent flying backward by Xiao Yan's palm.
A hint of joy flashed in Xiao Yan's eyes as he was about to reap the fruits of victory, when suddenly, a colorful halo shot over and accurately enveloped the Emperor Grade Young Pill.
After being covered by the halo, the Emperor Grade Young Pill, without any resistance, transformed into a light mass the size of a human head, with a dragon-eye-sized pill vaguely visible in its center.
After the halo enveloped the light mass, it swiftly flew backward. Xiao Yan's expression changed, and he quickly pursued.
Void Swallowing Flame showed a hint of joy on his face as he saw the Emperor Grade Young Pill flying towards him.
Xiao Zhan snorted coldly and charged towards the halo, intending to intercept him before he returned to Void Swallowing Flame's side.
Just then, two nine-rank treasure pills suddenly shot towards Xiao Yan and Xiao Zhan, appearing in their path between them and the halo.
The nine-rank treasure pills suddenly exploded, and the force of the explosion caused their bodies to momentarily freeze.
With the Emperor Grade Young Pill almost in his grasp, Void Swallowing Flame's face showed excitement, but just then, Hun Tiandi suddenly appeared before him like lightning and grabbed the Emperor Grade Young Pill.
Void Swallowing Flame was startled, his smile vanished, and his expression was somewhat displeased.
A brilliant Fire Lotus descended from the sky; Xiao Yan, obstructed by the self-detonation of the nine-rank treasure pill, realized he couldn't seize the pill before Hun Tiandi, so he immediately changed his objective from snatching to attacking.
Hun Tiandi looked at the rapidly approaching Fire Lotus and did not immediately block it; instead, he swallowed the Emperor Grade Young Pill in one gulp.
Xiao Yan and Xiao Zhan's expressions darkened, looking extremely displeased.
The Fire Lotus exploded, and extreme light and heat erupted, soaring into the sky, engulfing Hun Tiandi in fire.
Void Swallowing Flame flew backward, his expression uncertain as he stared at the center of the explosion.
"Hahahaha… such an attack means nothing to me now." A burst of laughter emanated from the fire cloud, and Hun Tiandi was uncontrollably excited.
He hadn't felt this sensation of rapidly increasing power for a very long time.
Now, he clearly felt a certain special power filling his body, causing him to transform into a more perfect and powerful life form.
"In the end, I won."
Hun Tiandi slowly walked out of the fire cloud, his Dou Qi surging turbulently, and he was somewhat unable to control the rapidly increasing power.
"We cannot give him time to refine the pill, attack!"
Xiao Yan still did not give up.
Hun Tiandi "heh" a sound, and clapped both palms simultaneously towards Xiao Yan and Xiao Zhan.
The terrifying power directly repelled the attacks unleashed by Xiao Yan and Xiao Zhan, forcing the two of them to retreat a thousand feet.
"Now you are no match for me," Hun Tiandi said with a slightly arrogant smile.
"You probably don't feel so good right now either, are you not afraid of bursting yourself?" Xiao Yan said in a deep voice.
"That's my business," Hun Tiandi's smile slightly receded, his tone appearing nonchalant.
Void Swallowing Flame came to his side, black flames flickering in his eyes: "You were too reckless."
"I know what I'm doing."
"What now?"
"Retreat. If we continue fighting, even if I can kill them with the energy from the pill, I will probably explode and die myself." Hun Tiandi did not hide his predicament.
Xiao Yan and Xiao Zhan attacked again but were easily repelled by him alone.
Looking at the increasingly formidable Hun Tiandi, the two exchanged glances, seeing the bitterness in each other's eyes.
"Oh, it seems the Clan Leader won," Hun Zhang forced Xiao Yu back with a sword, a frivolous smile on his face.
"This time, your Xiao Clan has no chance of turning the tables, but there's no need to despair; your Xiao Clan is still useful, and the Clan Leader is very interested in the secrets of the Great Thousand World that you possess, so he won't exterminate you," Hun Zhang said softly.
"Tsk, the Little Scoundrel lost…"
Xiao Yu glanced at Hun Zhang, a fierce glint flashing in her eyes; she suddenly ignored him and charged towards Hun Tiandi.
Her body swelled up, as if she intended to self-detonate.
Hun Tiandi's expression changed; the self-detonation of an Eight-star Dou Saint, even for him now, would require careful handling.
He swiftly retreated, moving away from this source of danger.
"Stop, stop!" Xiao Yan also realized Xiao Yu's intention and shouted sharply.
"Stop her!" Xiao Zhan communicated with Clan Leader Amon, cutting off Xiao Yu's control over the Worm of Spirit in her body.
Without the cooperation of the Worm of Spirit, her self-detonation would be meaningless. Xiao Yu's body returned to normal, and her expression darkened:
"Clan Leader, let me go!"
"These madmen…" Hun Tiandi recalled Xiao Xuan's self-detonation from back then, looking at the Xiao Clan members with lingering fear. He noticed that several Elders of the Xiao Family had also gathered around, each seemingly having the same intention as Xiao Yu.
"There's no other way; we cannot pin our hopes on Hun Tiandi failing to break through to Dou Emperor," Xiao Yu said with a determined expression.
Xiao Zhan hesitated for a moment, then said in a deep voice: "If we must use this method, then it should be me who sets the example."
However, before he could act, a slightly cold voice sounded in his mind: "If you want to die, don't drag me along."
"Uh…" An awkward expression appeared on Xiao Zhan's face; he almost forgot that the Amon Clan Leader was inside him, not an ordinary Amon who could be sacrificed casually.
"Retreat!" Hun Tiandi lost his composure and sped out of the Ancient Emperor Cave at full speed.
His speed was very fast, and the Xiao Clan members couldn't catch up. Xiao Yan could rely on the characteristics of Space Flame to pursue, but if he was alone, there would be nothing he could do even if he caught up.
As Hun Tiandi departed, the other Soul Clan members also retreated one after another.
Xiao Ding, Xiao Li, Xiao Yu, and others gathered around Xiao Zhan, each with a heavy expression.
"Sigh, we were still one move short. I didn't expect the Soul Clan to still hide four Eight-star Dou Saint living dead. If not for them, the situation wouldn't have turned out like this," Xiao Zhan sighed.
Xiao Yan suddenly spoke:
"It's not time for despair yet. Looking at Hun Tiandi and the others, they clearly don't recognize Amon. Even the other Amon hasn't had contact with the Soul Clan yet… His stance is more inclined towards us.
"The Emperor Grade Young Pill and the ancient emperor statue were transformed by Amon into his own likeness, which shows that this cave had actually fallen under his control long ago.
"His leaving the Emperor Grade Young Pill indicates that he isn't worried about Hun Tiandi getting this pill, so he must have some contingency plan.
"Let's ask him what his thoughts are exactly."
Saying that, Xiao Yan closed his eyes and softly chanted:
"Shadow traversing myriad heavens;
"Black hand manipulating destiny;
"Hidden half of the Great Thousand World's ruler."
…When Xiao Yan chanted this line, a figure hidden in a spatial rift curved his lips into a smile.
Xiao Yan's voice continued: "I implore your gaze, please show yourself."
"I am here…" A gentle voice echoed between heaven and earth.
The phantom of a young man wearing a pointed soft hat, an ancient robe, and a monocle over his right eye, thus appeared in the void. The phantom quickly solidified, turning into the real Amon.
Xiao Yan's pupils contracted slightly; he himself could distort the space within the Ancient Emperor Cave using the characteristics of Space Flame, but even with all his might, he could only distort a small area, yet Amon could so easily shuttle through the solid space!
Even at his current cultivation level, Amon still gave him a feeling as unfathomable as a vast ocean.
Amon looked at Xiao Yan, pinching the monocle over his right eye, a smile on his lips: "It seems you failed my test."
"My apologies for disappointing you, Teacher," Xiao Yan slightly bowed his head.
Amon then shifted his gaze to Xiao Zhan:
"See? Your decision was a mistake. I did not change the original layout within the Ancient Emperor Cave. If you had proceeded according to your ideas, you would have ended in utter defeat."
Xiao Zhan knew these words were not meant for himself, but for the Amon Clan Leader within him.
A ray of starlight left Xiao Zhan, and amidst the shimmering light and shadow, it transformed into a young man identical to the Amon who had just appeared, but dressed in white.
The white Amon softly asked: "Have you broken through to Dou Emperor?"
"Yes," Amon nodded, without explaining too much.
He smiled and said, "I have already proven that my method is correct. Under my leadership, the Amon Clan can achieve better development."
The white Amon was silent for a moment, then nodded and said:
"Alright, I will completely transfer the authority of Clan Leader to you. However, the ancestors of the Xiao Clan have shown me kindness, so as long as it doesn't significantly impact the Amon Clan, you must maintain your alliance with them."
"Amon…" Xiao Zhan looked at the white Amon, with a hint of apology and gratitude in his eyes, "I'm sorry, and… thank you."
The white Amon smiled and nodded: "It's not your fault, you have done your best. It is also what I hoped to see, that an individual surpassing me could emerge from the Amon Clan."
Amon nodded: "I agree, after all, Xiao Yan is also my disciple… although he's a bit unpromising; I've helped so much, yet he still lost."
Xiao Yan felt even more ashamed.
The white Amon took a step forward, his figure becoming illusory, overlapping with Amon, and finally merging into one, indistinguishable from each other.