Bai Lu hadn't expected that while she was reprimanding her younger brother, Yun Xiao would butt in again.
Feeling a bit annoyed, she was surprised when Bai Ao clapped his hands and said, "Great! These people all look down on you—you should prove them wrong!"
"Lil Ao!" Bai Lu was absolutely furious. What kind of fool was he?
"What, afraid to bet?" With Yun Xiao backing him, Bai Ao's courage grew.
Bai Lu, Gusu Yan, the Bloodvine Young Master and others looked at Yun Xiao with calm indifference.
Gusu Yan suddenly said, "Bound by the pledge, it's hard for us to break away. But the pledge alone doesn't fully distance us. Adding a wager gives us another angle."
"You really think he can win? That's an Anima Immortal," Bai Lu said seriously.
"Not really." Gusu Yan glanced helplessly at Bai Ao. "If he loses, Lil Ao will behave. If he wins, we'll have another excuse. We don't lose either way, do we?"
At these words, these young leaders of various Empyrean Emperor Sects fell silent.
They exchanged glances.
Bai Lu understood Gusu Yan's logic. Without looking at Bai Ao, she said directly to Yun Xiao, "Fine, we'll bet with you! If you can win, we'll be impressed!"
"Deal," Yun Xiao smiled.
Aside from Bai Lu, none had seen Yun Xiao in action; they only knew he was good at running.
Of course, his encounter with the Young Dragon Consort was a different matter—not worth counting.
Now that the wager was set, these 250 pledge-makers seemed more involved; their gazes turned scrutinizing.
These looks weren't swords, but they felt like a mountain pressing against his back.
In front of him, the gazes of the disciples from the Ancestral Land and Nine Yin Soul Sea were the real sharp blades!
All were mocking and harboring hatred toward Yun Xiao.
Swords ahead, mountains behind!
In between were the caring and worried eyes of Feng Yao and Wan Ji's seven daughters—the only warmth he felt.
Of course, Yun Xiao knew that the Three Divas were watching him.
Every decision he made resonated in their hearts.
Even more eyes were on him in the Million Starlight Palace!
▬ι══????✧⚰
Back in the MIllion Starlight Palace, the Ancestral Land and Nine Yin Soul Sea had replaced the Southern Divine Dragon Realm, becoming the main opponents against the Extreme Yin Celestial Realm.
This was something the spectators could never have imagined.
Who would've thought that two harmonious sides would turn against each other like this?
At the very least, those chiefly responsible—Empyrean Emperor Mu and the Great Dream Lord—both looked displeased.
Whispers swirled all around; among the powerhouses of the Heavenly Deity Alliance, who didn't know the intentions of those two sects?
The younger generation had acted too hastily, exposing everything. To be honest, it was quite embarrassing.
If not for Yun Xiao, this would have been a perfect alliance. The Ancestral Land could have seized the Extreme Yin Star and then shielded it against the Southern Divine Dragon Realm—who could have objected?
The Ice Cloud Valkyrie Queen, representing the Extreme Yin Celestial Realm, remained the focal point.
She exchanged a distant glance with the Great Dream Lord.
"Hypocrites are more disgusting than true villains," the Ice Cloud Valkyrie Queen thought. She suddenly let out a soft laugh and said calmly, "These youngsters are truly immature."
Empyrean Emperor Mu seized the opportunity and smiled warmly. "Indeed, it was meant to be a good thing. We shouldn't have drawn swords against each other."
"No, I meant your children are the ones being immature," the Ice Cloud Valkyrie Queen replied.
Empyrean Emperor Mu paused, momentarily taken aback.
"No need to say more." The Great Dream Lord cast a cold glance at the Ice Cloud Valkyrie Queen. "She knows in her heart that when the Harmony Divine Palace falls off a cliff, no one will save them. The more she speaks, the more it reveals her inner despair."
In terms of cultivation level, Meng Huan, being young, wasn't yet the top in the Grand Assembly Arena. But in terms of talent, he was among the elite.
His true stage to shine would be 10 or 20 years from now; this was just a stunning debut.
Even so, the young prodigy burst onto the scene, making elders from other sects envious.
The Great Dream Lord basked in the praises, a playful smile on her face.
Meng Huan was radiant with glory. This was truly a dreamlike life. He didn't keep the audience waiting.
Standing among the nine Great Dream Yin Spirits, his eyes—dark and stormy like the depths of the sea—locked onto Yun Xiao.
"Be my dog..." He sneered.
Under his command, the eerie and chilling Great Dream Yin Spirits moved in the Nine Palaces Formation, closing in on Yun Xiao from all directions.
In an instant, heaven and earth transformed.
"Nine Yin Dreamscape!"
A gasp rose from the crowd, fear struck by Meng Huan's technique.
The Great Dream Yin Spirits encircled Yun Xiao, weaving an illusionary realm together.
A dream descended upon him.
Before Yun Xiao's eyes, the vast Grand Assembly Arena morphed into an infernal abyss. Ghostly wails and howls echoed around him; countless vengeful souls shrieked, surging toward him like a tsunami. A deadly nightmare.
Among those spirits, a pair of extremely sinister eyes appeared, magnified a thousandfold, gazing down upon Yun Xiao with mockery and indifference.
In that moment, Yun Xiao was swallowed by the Nine Yin Dreamscape, as if his breath had ceased; he seemed lost in the nightmare, his soul adrift.
"This is the terror of an Anima Immortal—something a lowly bastard like you can't comprehend," Meng Huan laughed.
But then, a voice like a great bell echoed in his ears.
"In front of my Buddha's Treasure Spirit, you dare call yourself an Anima Immortal?"
Meng Huan was stunned, a chill running down his spine. He looked up to see the world around him filled with endless golden light. The infernal abyss and evil spirits evaporated, dying with wretched screams.
He stood upon an incomparably massive gold-and-black lotus, rotating slowly. Each petal was engraved densely with colossal patterns of dragons and elephants. The golden light emanating from these patterns incinerated everything, causing Meng Huan's magnified eyes to sting; tears and blood gushed forth.
"You are truly an Anima Immortal..." Meng Huan's heart trembled wildly.
Above the heavens, a pair of golden eyes—tens of thousands of times larger than ordinary eyes—gazed down upon him.
"Your move isn't bad; it's mine now," Yun Xiao said, golden lotuses blooming within his pupils.
"What!? Impossible!" Meng Huan's heart trembled.
He was pulled into Yun Xiao's Nine Yin Dreamscape by the Buddha's Treasure Spirit, screaming in heart-wrenching agony, struggling, suffering, and despairing.
"No, no!" Only Meng Huan and Yun Xiao knew how miserable, desperate, regretful, and terrified he was.
Time in the Nine Yin Dreamscape flowed differently; perhaps only a moment passed outside, but he might have wept and suffered for ten years within.
From the outside, this Anima Immortal duel seemed almost simplistic. First, Meng Huan manifested nine spirits, forming a domain that enveloped Yun Xiao.
Then, Yun Xiao countered with his own spirit, casting a similar golden domain over Meng Huan. The two were slightly different, but the principle seemed the same.
In the next instant, Meng Huan's whole body trembled, emitting a heartrending scream condensed from ten years of agony. Anyone who heard that sound felt their skin crawl, not knowing what horrors he had endured.
With that scream, the golden light dissipated. In the starry sky, Meng Huan's eyes were ashen, his face bearing endless fear and nightmares; like a lifeless husk, he died on the spot. Only his mother could truly understand how tragically he had perished.
This was the Nine Yin Dreamscape!
At that moment, the entire world stood still; no one could even blink. Everything had happened so quickly.
In the frozen world, the young man in white stepped forward, grabbed Meng Huan's neck, and brought his hollow eyes up to his own.
"Your Nine Souls Seed of Creation isn't bad," Yun Xiao said calmly. "It's mine now."
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