Douluo Dalu 2 – The Unrivaled Tang-Clan Chapter 173

Published at 11th of October 2023 11:25:06 AM

This was indeed a storage-type soul tool! It had to be the biggest storage-type soul tool there was! As he saw the sapphire, Huo Yuhao was both delighted and shocked.

He didn't expect his luck to be so good, he had actually obtained such a treasure! He could sense that this metallic man had some capabilities, even though it was only half-complete. Furthermore, there were many formation arrays in this metallic man. It wasn't beneficial just for him in his research of soul tools. He believed that he could match up to the top-ranked soul engineers in Illustrious Virtue Hall if he managed to completely understand this metallic man. Of course, he would still need a lot of time. But possessing this metallic man meant that he practically owned a soul tool encyclopedia from the Illustrious Virtue Hall.

He quickly put the storage-type soul tool away in his own storage-type soul tool before leaving.

He had no mood to think about the hundred-thousand year soul embryo at this moment. This metallic man was much more important than the hundred-thousand year soul embryo. He was only thinking of how he should leave this place.

After rushing out of the tunnel, Huo Yuhao took in a deep breath, and his heart started to beat faster and faster.

The booms outside seemed to have become softer. The battle between the two parties appeared to have dropped in intensity.

What should he do? Should he still take that tunnel? He had no choice. Even if he had to dig after entering the tunnel, he still had a slim chance. With the Ice Empress' Pincer and Darkgolden Terrorclaws, he was capable of digging another tunnel. If he managed to dig until he reached the rest of the tunnels in the underground base that the Body Sect members had gone into, he could escape.

Huo Yuhao sped up as he considered his options. He rushed towards the opening of the tunnel that he had entered earlier.

At this point, a black figure flashed past with an alarming speed.

“Who's there?” the other party shouted. An intense purplish light shone, and a frightening, suppressive force caused Huo Yuhao to nearly suffocate.

Two yellow, two purple, and four black soul rings appeared on the person's body. He was a Soul Douluo with a pair of thick arms. At this moment, his arms had already turned into a pair of large pincers.

“Shut up.” Huo Yuhao's voice was deep and frail. He also removed the veil from his face.

The other party was stunned upon seeing the old and frail face that Huo Yuhao had created for himself with his Imitation, and knelt down on one knee, “Greetings, sect master.”

Huo Yuhao was very nervous now. He knew that he had imitated the right person.

The other party's martial soul and dress revealed his identity as a warrior of the Body Sect. He was a Soul Douluo-ranked expert who possessed a Body Soul - his Arms were his Body Soul! How powerful was he? Did he dig the tunnel with his arms?

“Get your hands on it?” Huo Yuhao asked him.

“Yes, we did.” The Soul Douluo appeared very excited. He presented something to Huo Yuhao with both hands.

It was a white tray. There was a wooden ladle on it with hundreds of gemstones of all colors. A ball of white gas was trembling slightly on this wooden ladle.

Huo Yuhao had last seen this item at the Starlight Auctionplace. How could he forget this top-ranked finale item!? Although he didn't know how the other party got their hands on it, he was certain that it was a hundred-thousand year soul beast embryo. The Godsealing Altar was definitely real.

Huo Yuhao took in a deep breath and tried to calm down. He snatched the Godsealing Altar from the other party. He set it in front of him and took a good look at it before nodding and saying, “Not bad, you've contributed greatly this time. You'll be greatly rewarded when we return. Go on, leave quickly.”

As he spoke, he put the Godsealing Altar away in his own storage-type soul tool.

However, he immediately realized that he'd failed. His storage-type soul tool couldn't contain the Godsealing Altar. Huo Yuhao almost slapped himself. How could he forget this? If the classes of soul tools were too far apart, the storage-type soul tool wouldn't be able to contain a higher-class soul tool!

At this point, reverberating booms could be heard from the outside again. The man in black in front of Huo Yuhao stood up quickly, looking very shocked. He pointed his finger at Huo Yuhao and asked, “You, you're not the sect master?!”

Huo Yuhao furrowed his brow. “What gibberish are you spouting?”

The man in black turned fierce. “I sensed the sect master's aura on the outside. You're an imitation! Go and die!”

His right arm had already turned into a huge, purple fist as he spoke. He punched straight towards Huo Yuhao's chest. That instantaneous, explosive force caused the entire tunnel to distort slightly.

He used his other hand to reach towards the hundred-thousand year soul beast embryo.

When the other party claimed that he wasn't the sect master, Huo Yuhao knew that things had gone wrong. His abilities were far inferior to this Soul Douluo's. His life was in grave danger now that he had been discovered!

At this critical moment, Huo Yuhao displayed what he had learned from the Ultimate Soldier Plan. He did the only thing that was right.

A layer of scarlet-gold light surfaced on his body. It was the fifteen-second Invincible Barrier from the Hongchen's Blessing. His defensive strength increased threefold with this Invincible Barrier.

He also unleashed the Ice Empress' Armor, though the diamond crystals didn't release any glow under the disguise of his Imitation.

As he unleashed both his defensive capabilities, he used the hundred-thousand year soul embryo to receive the other party's frightening fist. However, the other party didn't seem to take any heed as he continued to reach his hand over.

A hundred-thousand year soul ring and soul bone were a treasure to every soul master. This Soul Douluo never expected that someone would allow this treasure to be damaged after obtaining it.

He reckoned that Huo Yuhao's cultivation must be of a certain standard, or Huo Yuhao wouldn't have dared to trick him. That's why he unleashed his entire strength with this punch. It was almost impossible to retract his fist.

However, the hundred-thousand year soul beast embryo was their main target! Whether it was the hundred million gold coin reward, the soul beast embryo itself, or the Class 9 Godsealing Altar that contained it, they were all valuable treasures. However, he was anxious because Huo Yuhao didn't seem to care.

His left hand reached for his right hand at this moment rather than grabbing towards Huo Yuhao.

The Body Sect had expended a lot of effort for this plan. They had spent almost two years on their advanced preparations. They had also done their own research on the Godsealing Altar.

The Godsealing Altar could seal life within it. However, the target must lose all ability to struggle before it could be sealed. Once the target was sealed, even a Titled Douluo couldn't break out. It was normally used to seal some powerful soul beasts that had lost their fighting strength, but it was used, if rarely, on soul masters.

However, the Godsealing Altar wasn't completely flawless. The seal was sustained by drawing from the trapped person's soul power. That's why it was very powerful internally, but was unable to exert any significant external defensive strength. A certain amount of force could cause this Class 9 soul tool to crack. That was why the Godsealing Altar was also known to be soft on the outside, but tough on the inside.

Huo Yuhao naturally had some understanding of the Godsealing Altar. That was why he made such a choice. After obtaining the huge experimental metallic man, he just wanted to leave this place safely. He wasn't that interested in the hundred- thousand year soul beast embryo, either. He couldn't absorb a hundred-thousand year soul ring with his current abilities. Furthermore, he didn't even know what this soul beast's type was! That was why he'd rather release this soul beast, which also happened to be the only way he could resist the other party's attack. Otherwise, even Hongchen's Blessing couldn't withstand the other party's attack, considering the gap in their cultivations.

Survival was his only goal now.

The Soul Douluo who was chosen to carry out this critical task was indeed very powerful. He still managed to achieve his goal even though he changed his move at the last moment. His left hand managed to grab hold of his right hand. His body stiffened up, and his right fist stopped right in front of the Godsealing Altar.

However, it had taken all of his energy to do this. After all, he had completely unleashed his right fist. He knew that Huo Yuhao would exploit this opportunity to attack him, but he was fairly confident of his own defensive strength. However, something unexpected happened.

Huo Yuhao attacked him, but he used the Godsealing Altar to attack him.

Huo Yuhao could sense where the other party's fist had stopped using his Spiritual Detection. He smashed the Godsealing Altar towards the other party's fist. He used all his strength this time, and the strength of the Ice Empress' Pincer was completely unleashed.

Bang!

Kach!

The Godsealing Altar was smashed against the Soul Douluo's clenched fist. A crack appeared on this dazzling Class 9 soul tool as a piercing, cracking sound echoed out.

“Bastard!” the Soul Douluo roared furiously. He wanted to snatch the Godsealing Altar back.

However, the temperature in the entire tunnel suddenly dropped. A streak of white gas drilled its way out of the crack on the Godsealing Altar.

Huo Yuhao let go of the Godsealing Altar and quickly retreated. The Soul Douluo opened his arms and grabbed towards that streak of white gas.

A woman's voice, sounding very aloof and furious, exclaimed, “Despicable humans! Go and die! All of you can go and die!”

In the next instant, both Huo Yuhao and the eight-ringed Soul Douluo saw everything turn white in front of them.

Huo Yuhao couldn't see the Soul Douluo, but he could tell that the Hongchen's Blessing's Invincible Barrier had stalled. His circulating soul power weakened, and a piercing, cracking sound shook the air in the next moment. A frightening chill surged towards him from every direction, and engulfed his body.

Huo Yuhao hadn't felt cold for a long time due to his Ultimate Ice. However, he was feeling chilly at this moment. His body and spirit were about to be frozen, and his body turned rigid.

At this point, a surprised voice sounded in Huo Yuhao's mind, “It's-it's actually her… How is this possible? How is this possible?”

A refreshing gust of air was released from the Ice Jade Empress' Scorpion's skeleton to tackle the chill. Huo Yuhao's frozen blood started to circulate normally once again. The Ultimate Ice continued to protect Huo Yuhao's body during this chill, and kept him from being completely frozen.

However, Huo Yuhao could sense that even the Ultimate Ice seemed inferior to the chill that was sweeping over him.

He had always thought that his Ultimate Ice brought about the most extreme chill, but this sudden change caused his understanding to be revised.

When he reopened his eyes, he was shocked by what he saw.

The entire tunnel had become narrower. There was now a layer of crystalline ice about a foot thick covering the inside of the tunnel. The Soul Douluo had been turned into an ice sculpture. He was motionless as he stood in front of Huo Yuhao. The Godsealing Altar was also frozen after it dropped to the ground.

The tunnel had turned completely dark now. The soul tools that were used to increase visibility had lost their effect. If not for Huo Yuhao's Spirit Eyes, he wouldn't be able to see anything.

“Ice Empress, what's going on? What did you mean just now?” The shocked voice he had heard had come from the Ice Empress.

The Ice Empress sounded very appalled. “That's-that's the aura of the Snow Empress!”

“Snow Empress!” Huo Yuhao's body jerked, and he almost lost his voice. “Are you saying that the hundred-thousand year soul beast embryo sealed within the Godsealing Altar belongs to the leader of the Three Heavenly Kings of the Extreme North, the Snow Empress, who also happens to be ranked third among the Ten Great Savage Beasts?”

“That's right. It's the Snow Empress' aura.” The Ice Empress sounded more certain now. “In the continent, only the Snow Empress possesses an aura even chillier than mine. That voice also belonged to the Snow Empress. I'm certain that it's the Snow Empress.”

Huo Yuhao couldn't believe it as he asked, “But, is that even possible? Isn't the Snow Empress' cultivation close to seven hundred thousand years? If a soul beast wants to turn into a human, it has to make a choice at the hundred thousand-year mark. Since the Snow Empress has already existed for seven hundred thousand years, how can she be reborn into a human? Could it be someone else from the same species?”

The Ice Empress replied, “It's impossible. The Snow Empress is special. She's an Icesky Snow Lady that was given life after receiving the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. How can a normal Snow Lady be more powerful than me? It's definitely the Snow Empress. Although I don't know how she did it, I'm certain that it's her.”

The Skydream Iceworm's voice sounded, “Whether it is or it isn't the Snow Empress, we have to leave this place quickly. This is not the time to consider it.”

Huo Yuhao was jolted to his senses. Yes! He wasn't out of danger yet!

He quickly walked towards the Soul Douluo. A cold light flashed in his eyes, and he said in a low voice, “I'm sorry.” As he spoke, he stretched out his right index finger, and his Darkgolden Terrorclaw pierced through the ice, puncturing the Soul Douluo's forehead.

There was still a possibility of revival after being frozen under extreme conditions. However, Huo Yuhao wouldn't survive if he remained here and was captured by Illustrious Virtue Hall. It might even reveal his tracks. It wasn't time for him to be merciful right now.

He bent over and picked up the damaged Godsealing Altar, putting it away in his storage-type soul tool. Although it was damaged, it was still a Class 9 soul tool! It was still extremely valuable in terms of research and materials.

The fighting noises outside abruptly became even louder. Huo Yuhao hesitated for a moment before returning to the previous tunnel.

The tunnel hadn't caved in, and Huo Yuhao used his Spiritual Detection to sense the changes in the soil above the tunnel. He quickly advanced, and soon arrived at the collapsed spot. He used his Spiritual Detection to check the situation above, and was greeted with a delightful surprise. From where he was, it was only three meters to the surface. The top was also covered by a steel board, helping to conceal the situation beneath it. Huo Yuhao unleashed his Ice Empress' Pincer decisively, and started to dig upwards. He quickly dug his way up to the board.

The metal board above made jerking noises, and Huo Yuhao leapt up and stuck his body to it.

The air here was extremely polluted, and the smell of stinking soil made it hard to breathe. His Spiritual Detection enabled him to locate a place to conceal himself as he moved along the steel board. His Darkgolden Terrorclaws tore it apart, and he silently made his way underneath a laboratory desk.

He was now quite close to the main hall of Illustrious Virtue Hall. After calming his breathing for a moment, he observed the situation in front of him carefully.

The entire underground base had already been reduced to a huge mess. Less than a fifth of the laboratory desks were in good condition. The losses Illustrious Virtue Hall had suffered couldn't just be measured in terms of money.

Jing Hongchen's expression was very pale. Streaks of red light were continually being released from his body.

Du Busi remained in mid-air. However, their targets were no longer each other. Rather, it was the swaying and flashing white figure in the air.

Streaks and streams of frozen white gas were being released from this figure. However, Du Busi and Jing Hongchen's dominant attacks prevented this white gas from spreading.

Besides Du Busi and Jing Hongchen, the rest of the people from both sides had stopped fighting at this point. They watched this fight between the three powerful parties as they clearly separated into two different sides.

Huo Yuhao managed to catch a clear glimpse of the white figure. It was a young girl that seemed to be only two or three years old. Her chubby body was covered in a snow-white, cotton skirt.

She roared viciously and tried to break out of the encirclement. Many people from the Body Sect and Illustrious Virtue Hall had already turned into ice sculptures, obviously her doing.

“Is that really the Snow Empress?” Huo Yuhao asked the Ice Empress.

The Ice Empress replied, “It should be. After the Snow Empress was reborn as a human, she should have turned into a human embryo. She must be trying to give up her rebirth and return to her original form. However, she doesn't seem to possess even a third of her normal strength. Otherwise, these humans wouldn't be able to stop her no matter how strong they were!”

Huo Yuhao furrowed his brow and said, “It's normal for her powers to fall after being trapped in the Godsealing Altar for so long. Furthermore, she has experienced a rebirth into a human.”

“No, I have to help her!” The Ice Empress' determination shocked Huo Yuhao.

Huo Yuhao hurriedly said, “Ice Empress, don't be reckless. The situation is very messy now. How can we help her?”

The Ice Empress replied, “The Snow Empress saved me before. Now that she's in trouble, I have to help her. Don't worry, I have my own way. I won't endanger you. Don't move. I'll communicate with her.”

The Ice Empress was slowly released, and the golden-red, four-hundred thousand year soul ring appeared on Huo Yuhao's body. Imitation concealed its light.

A huge image of the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion slowly surfaced on Huo Yuhao's back. If he stripped, this image would seem to be alive. The image moved slightly on his back, and a weird light shot out from the Ice Empress' crystal-yellow eyes. A streak of strange aura was also exuded.

-----

Du Busi was very depressed right now. He had never expected things to go this badly. They were fully prepared for this sneak attack, and had even practiced it countless times. It was supposed to be flawless. But who knew that the sealed hundred-thousand year soul beast embryo would escape, and be so powerful?

Neither the Body Sect or Illustrious Virtue Hall dared to use their most destructive weapons to attack. If the place collapsed, no one would survive.

But the soul beast embryo was too difficult to deal with. Its body temperature was too low. It was both Du Busi and Jing Hongchen's first time seeing something like this. Its Ultimate Ice managed to neutralize all their attacks. Even Du Busi's notoriously lethal poison couldn't penetrate the frozen gas.

In addition, Du Busi had to be wary of Jing Hongchen even when he dealt with the soul beast embryo. While the two of them seemed to be teaming up, the suspended battle would erupt again once the soul beast embryo appeared to be on the verge of caving in.

The Snow Empress' body was covered by a layer of frozen gas. This layer of frozen gas was in a ball shape with a diameter of two meters. However, this ball of frozen gas could even freeze light, and was the Snow Empress' best protection.

Du Busi reached out with his right hand, and formed a huge hand of dark-green light. This energy palm reached out for the Snow Empress. Jing Hongchen coordinated with him, and a long, frightening red rainbow appeared in the air. This rainbow whipped towards the Snow Empress. A two-pronged attack from front and back was unleashed against the Snow Empress.

The air in the underground base started to distort furiously. Slits started to appear in the air as the two of them unleashed their power to stop the Snow Empress.

They weren't entirely sure how the Snow Empress had managed to garner such power, but at this moment of crisis, the most crucial thing was to capture her first. The enmity between the two of them could wait until they had dealt with this hundred-thousand year soul beast.

The frozen ball of gas suddenly turned rigid. Initially, it was quite flexible, but it didn't manage to avoid Du Busi's huge hand of soul energy. The dark-green light engulfed and restrained the frozen ball of gas within it.

Jing Hongchen's scarlet rainbow also whipped the ball of gas, causing it to distort drastically. The ball of gas seemed to be critically damaged.

Du Busi was elated. He could sense that the ball of gas was not as cold as before, and it was also on the verge of collapsing. He suddenly shouted, “Retreat!” Since he had achieved his goal, it was imperative for him to leave quickly.

Jing Hongchen laughed coldly and gestured with his right hand. The soul engineers from Illustrious Virtue Hall immediately launched a ferocious attack against the Body Sect.

The rainbow that had struck the ball of gas disappeared. However, something small was now floating in mid-air, looking like a crystal ball. It was very smooth and bright, and had many holes in it. A magical scarlet-red light flashed up inside it at this point.

Ommmmmm! A deafening hum suddenly shook the air. Even Du Busi stiffened up when he heard this hum. Following this, a thin streak of red light shot out from the scarlet-red crystal ball. This red light engulfed the dark-green light that had restrained the ball of gas.

Du Busi's soul power was quickly dissipated by that ray of scarlet light. The Snow Empress was freed before Du Busi could drag her away.

Du Busi was enraged. Just as he was about to pull himself together, an indescribable sense of crisis suddenly swept over him.

At the Ultimate Douluo level, one was almost godly. An Ultimate Douluo was extremely perceptive, and even had the ability to predict the future.

Du Busi didn't hesitate, and quickly let go of the idea of taking the Snow Empress. His figure flashed, and he returned to the ground. A dark-green light supported his body and blocked off the attacks from the Illustrious Virtue Hall soul engineers. It also extended out to protect all the Body Sect members.

A desolate voice echoed throughout the entire place, overshadowing all other sounds.

In the air, the frozen ball of gas was still rigid as it was covered by the red light.

“Despicable humans. All of you will pay the price for hunting soul beasts one day. Even if I die, I won't fulfill your greed! All of you can go and die!”

When she reached the end of her words, the Snow Empress was already screeching. Her terrifying soul power undulations caused the air around her to distort violently.

“This is not good!” Jing Hongchen exclaimed, “Quickly, stop her!” As he shouted, he didn't conserve his powers any further. Multiple blurs of red light continued to appear in mid-air.

They turned into barriers of light that engulfed the frozen gas. The rest of the Illustrious Virtue Hall members imitated him and added even more layers of defensive barriers around the frozen gas.

The regretful Du Busi watched the frozen gas sphere. Under his command, the Body Sect members were quickly retreating into the underground holes that they had come from.

Ommmmm…!

Boom!

Tremors struck the entire place as terrifying explosive booms rang out. The Snow Empress unleashed her full power, turning into a frightening explosive force that swept the entire place.

If the magnitude of this explosion had to be described, Jing Hongchen was certain that it was as powerful as a legendary Class 10 explosive soul tool.

The layers of defensive barriers were completely destroyed by the explosion. The immense force blew the entire underground base apart.

Fortunately, there were many layers of powerful defensive barriers. More than twelve Class 9 soul tools greatly weakened the strength of the explosion. When the shockwave surged through the underground base, the underground base still did not collapse.

Countless cracks appeared within the underground base, however, and many sections of it were caving in. A cold aura filled the air, and everyone shivered from the biting chill.

What a powerful hundred-thousand year soul beast! Even after turning into a human embryo, she still possessed such frightening strength! How unfortunate that it didn't matter anymore. She had self-imploded, and not even a soul bone was left of her.

The Body Sect also suffered from the shockwave of the explosion. However, Du Busi bore the entire impact of the shockwave alone, spitting out dark-green blood as he warded it from his sect members.

The Body Sect consisted of only soul masters. They weren't like Illustrious Virtue Hall. There were many Class 9 soul engineers helping Jing Hongchen, but Du Busi used his own strength to bear the impact of the shockwave, which also alleviated the impact on the underground base.

The rest of the Body Sect managed to retreat, along with the corpses of their comrades, because Du Busi resisted the explosion for them.

Du Busi was a little indignant when he looked at Jing Hongchen. Jing Hongchen also spat out some blood at this point. As their gazes met, Du Busi revealed a mocking look in his eyes. He reached out his right hand and gave the other man a thumbs-down. He only left after swaying his thumb slightly.

“Chase them!” Jing Hongchen shouted, infuriated. He quickly turned into a streak of flowing light and pursued the Body Sect. The rest of the Illustrious Virtue Hall defenders also acted quickly.

---

Huo Yuhao had remained motionless underneath the laboratory desk the whole time. The impact of the shockwave was almost entirely resisted by the Illustrious Virtue Hall members. He wasn't struck by the shockwave to any real extent.

However, he couldn't move right now even if he wanted to. An extreme chill had entered his body through his back and circulated throughout his entire body. Almost every part of his body was on the brink of being frozen.

No one had seen a clear fluid descending from the sky when the Snow Empress caused the explosion. This liquid flowed onto Huo Yuhao's back and seeped into his body. The frightening explosive force had concealed everything.

The Ice Empress' Ultimate Ice immediately protected him from the cold as it seeped into Huo Yuhao's body. She even used her own strength to restrict that chill as it flowed below his navel region. This also relieved Huo Yuhao from the freezing pain.

The Ice Empress was anxious as she called out, “Snow Lady, Snow Lady, how are you?!”

A weak woman's voice replied, “Ice, why are you here? You're even in a human's body.” The Ice Empress' voice was resonating in Huo Yuhao's spiritual world.

Huo Yuhao felt weird at this point. “This must be the fourth one. Brother Skydream, Ice Empress, Elder Yi. Now there's the Snow Empress…”

The Ice Empress was anxious. “Don't ask so many questions right now. You're only left with this little origin power now. How is your condition? Can you recover?”

The Snow Empress said grievously, “If not for your call, I would have infused my origin power into that explosion. In that way, I could drag more down with me. Do you think I can recover? I don't even have my body now. This little bit of origin power will slowly dissipate.”

The Ice Empress asked anxiously, “Snow Lady, what happened? Why did you become a hundred-thousand year soul beast embryo? No wonder I had a familiar feeling when I saw that Godsealing Altar at the Starlight Auction house. You're the one that was sealed inside the altar.”

The Snow Empress sighed and said, “Aren't we in the same boat? If I'm not wrong, you only ran into a bottleneck in these recent few years. Before I chose rebirth as a human, I tried to find you and hoped to help you. But you'd already disappeared. Even those from your species didn't know where you'd gone.”

The Ice Empress laughed bitterly. “Even if you had helped me, I wouldn't have been able to pass that stage. I know myself well. When potential reaches its limit, external help won't be useful. That's why I chose this path.”

“Snow Empress, how are you? Do you still remember me?” Skydream Iceworm was a little awkward.

“Oh?” The Snow Empress was evidently stunned. “There's still a soul beast's aura here? Why are the two of you in a human's world? This aura is very familiar. It's a spiritual power that's tremendous, but not dangerous. What is it?” She evidently couldn't recall the Skydream Iceworm.

The Ice Empress snapped, “It's that fortunate Skydream Iceworm. It managed to advance in its sleep, and overcame bottleneck after bottleneck. Its cultivation even superseded mine.”

The Snow Empress perked up. “Oh, I remember. I remember that you chased after it before. Didn't you say that it went missing? Why're the two of you together now?”

Skydream chortled and said, “Snow Empress, you're right that we're together!”

“Scram and shut up!” the Ice Empress raged.

Chapter end