Just at this moment, dots suddenly appeared in the sky ahead of the vast Wu Yue Sect army. They multiplied and grew larger, clearly tunneling lights hurtling toward this place.

The number of tunneling lights was astonishing, densely covering the sky in the blink of an eye, a force of twenty to thirty thousand strong.

For a moment, the sky was obscured!

"What's going on? Was the intelligence wrong?" the people of the Wu Yue Sect exclaimed in alarm.

The intelligence had said the allied army was divided into three groups, but now they had clearly joined forces and were charging over magnificently.

"All men, heed my command, maintain formation, and retreat steadily!" Xi Zheng shouted loudly, leading the Xi Family cultivators backward.

The enemy situation was severely inconsistent with the intelligence. Facing so many enemies, the Xi Family would suffer too many casualties if they resisted head-on.

Ni Mu and the Evil Eye Venerable, seeing that something was amiss, hurriedly led their troops to fly directly toward the front of the Wu Yue Sect's army to support Xi Zheng.

The tunneling lights of the Cloud Desolate Alliance moved extremely fast. Ni Mu and the Evil Eye Venerable had just reached the front and hadn't yet stabilized their position when countless tunneling lights descended upon them.

Dense Magic Treasures and spells rained down, striking the heads of the Wu Yue Sect's three groups of cultivators.

Xi Zheng inwardly cursed the incompetence of the spy he had sent out, and hurriedly summoned a large yellow flag embroidered with several Yellow Cloud patterns.

Thick Yellow Clouds emerged out of thin air, covering a vicinity of several hundred feet.

Nascent Soul cultivators like Xi Dongliu and Xi Lin also rushed to the forefront, unfolding their defenses to protect the younger generation behind them.

About a hundred streaks of treasure light struck the Yellow Clouds. Xi Zheng tensed his body, ready to withstand the impact.

However, the Yellow Clouds merely trembled slightly, far less intense than expected.

The other members of the Xi Family also showed expressions of surprise, experiencing the same situation on their side. Most of the incoming attacks shattered like bubbles upon touching their defenses.

"These Cloud Desolate Alliance cultivators, most of them are illusions!" Xi Zheng's eyes flashed with a layer of luminescence as he urgently shouted.

Upon hearing this, the Nascent Soul cultivators of the Xi Family then realized the truth.

No wonder so many cultivators suddenly appeared out of nowhere; they were fake.

But how could such realistic illusions deceive their Divine Sense?

Just at this moment, vast patches of dazzling white light emerged from the void on both sides, and from within numerous tunneling lights sprouted, their numbers no less than those coming from the front. This chapter is part of the collection on *.

The three streams of tunneling lights, like broken dam floods, directly charged into the armies led by Xi Zheng, Ni Mu, and the Evil Eye Venerable!

The already perturbed three groups of the Wu Yue Sect's army, some of whom were already fearful, saw their morale plummet further despite Xi Zheng exposing the trickery of the Cloud Desolate Alliance.

The three groups were thrown into disarray, appearing on the brink of complete collapse.

Atop the black hall deep within the Wu Yue Sect, a figure flickered. The Nine Yin Venerable abruptly appeared and, without saying a word, raised his hand and pinched out a spell.

Dense purple runes immediately emerged, flickering on and off on the surface beneath the black hall, appearing mysteriously exceptional.

As the Nine Yin Venerable lifted both hands, several spells flashed and disappeared into various parts of the hall.

The black hall trembled, suddenly emitting unceasing hums as countless large runes surged out from everywhere, exploding and transforming into rolling Black Mist. Within moments, a sea of black fog formed, engulfing the Nine Yin Venerable, whose figure appeared intermittently within the fog.

Changing the spell with his hands, the Nine Yin Venerable opened his mouth and spewed out a mouthful of Essence Blood. It gathered in front of him into an egg-sized blood mass that spun silently, then noiselessly shattered into a puff of Blood Mist blending into the surrounding fog.

The originally pitch-black sea of fog surged with Blood Light and started contracting around the Nine Yin Venerable as the center, becoming denser and soon solidifying into a black sphere about a yard in size.

No sooner had the black sphere formed than it shot out towards the battlefield. It quickly positioned itself above both armies.

"Not good!" In a location among the Cloud Desolate Alliance forces, Tianyinzi muttered under his breath.

But before he could react, with a "boom," the black sphere erupted into a deafening explosion, and rolling Black Mist instantly obscured the sky. Like black clouds, it engulfed the three groups from the Wu Yue Sect as well as the Cloud Desolate Alliance's cultivators.

Almost without time to react, everyone felt darkness before their eyes, falling into a black haze where they couldn't see the person next to them, nor could they distinguish north, south, east, or west.

"An illusion technique..." Seeing this, Tianyinzi quickly pulled out a Golden Giant Bell Magic Treasure. He activated his Mana and injected his Divine Sense into it.

Dong...

Huge sound waves spread out, containing not only immense Mana but also powerful Divine Soul Power. Wherever the sound waves passed, the black clouds quickly thinned.

At the same time, other Nascent Soul cultivators also exhibited their Divine Skills, attempting to dispel the black cloud illusion.

Although the black cloud illusion had an extremely wide range of attack, its power was not strong. It was soon completely dispersed, and everyone regained their senses.

The cultivators from both sides mingled closely, many standing less than three feet apart.

Without anyone instructing them, a thunderous cry of battle erupted, and the cultivators from both sides clashed furiously, numerous shards of flesh and blood raining down.

In such a disorganized melee devoid of tactics, neither the Cloud Desolate Alliance nor the Wu Yue Sect could accept it. While commanding the battle, they also ordered their respective cultivators to form formations and stabilize their positions for combat.

However, the two parties were completely locked in deadly combat, the situation entirely chaotic, making it difficult to separate. Piercing cries of the dying echoed continuously, and cultivators from both sides rapidly perished.

Far away, the Nine Yin Venerable not only did not help, but looked on at the scene with a smile.

The black palace beneath the Nine Yin Venerable now lay on the ground, emitting streams of black mist from the black walls. These merged onto the ground, extending underneath the battlefield.

The Divine Souls of the fallen cultivators, originally drifting about, now all flew downwards, merging into the dark mist beneath the ground, gathering towards the black palace.

Just at this moment, barely visible black ripples suddenly appeared underground, also extending from afar.

Underground at a distance from the battlefield, Silver Kong and the clone of Xi Ying, transformed into the White Bone Venerable, hid in this place.

The clone of Xi Ying raised a black kettle, the very Soul Suppressing Kettle, its dense black light engulfing this underground space.

The Soul Suppressing Pearl rapidly spun, stirring the black light within the space into a huge vortex and emitting black ripples outward, exerting a pulling force.

This was another Divine Skill of the Soul Suppressing Kettle besides Refining Souls, called Gathering Yin and Soul Collection, capable of collecting scattered Divine Souls over a large area.

The soul collection effect of the black ripples was clearly superior to that of the black palace, with the majority of Divine Souls being drawn in, flying into the Soul Suppressing Kettle which quickly filled up from being empty.

"Coming here to collect Divine Souls turned out to be the right choice," murmured the clone of Xi Ying.

"Hehe, congratulations to the master, this time you really reaped the rewards without effort," laughed Silver Kong Tree Demon.

"It's a mix of joy and worry. I've already activated the Soul Suppressing Kettle; I'll leave it to you to operate it from now. If there's any danger, immediately flee with it, without any hesitation," instructed the clone of Xi Ying as she dispersed the spell from her hands to Silver Kong Tree Demon.

Without the spell, the black light around the Soul Suppressing Kettle dimmed, and the speed of the black vortex's rotation also began to slow.

"Master, why is this?" Silver Kong Tree Demon hurriedly took over, stabilizing the situation of the Soul Suppressing Kettle.

"Just in case," said the clone of Xi Ying expressionlessly.

The clone of Xi Ying had just sensed another force collecting Divine Souls, coming from deep within the Wu Yue Sect army. If she guessed correctly, this was done by the Wu Yue God.

The clone of Xi Ying recited the mnemonic, her body swiftly becoming invisible, utilizing the Void Transformation Technique.

She flew upward, soon reaching the ground, looking towards the direction of the battlefield.

The cultivators of the Wu Yue Sect and the Cloud Desolate Alliance were still in a chaotic battle, with heavy losses on both sides.

The Xi Family was at the heart of the battlefield, with more fallen individuals than the armies led by Ni Mu and the Evil Eye Venerable.

The clone of Xi Ying's lips were tightly pressed, her face showing a complex expression.

However, she bit her lip and looked away.

Her father was stubborn by nature; he would not change his mind and leave the perilous Wu Yue Sect unless he experienced profound pain.

The Divine Souls scattered on the battlefield were being collected in large numbers, and Wu Yue God soon noticed the anomaly.

However, he was currently performing a secret technique to heal himself, and his Divine Soul could not travel too far from the black palace.

"Someone is stealing souls, probably at this location; the aura is somewhat familiar… Go and retrieve their soul-collecting Magic Treasure for me!" Wu Yue God's voice resounded in the Sea of Consciousness of the Nine Yin Venerable.

Taken aback by the words, the Nine Yin Venerable looked in the direction indicated by Wu Yue God, his figure blurring and vanishing.

The clone of Xi Ying kept a close watch on the battlefield while sensing the Divine Souls within the Soul Suppressing Kettle, which quickly numbered in the hundreds.

Although mostly these were weak Divine Souls from Qi Refinement Realm and Foundation Establishment Cultivators, with few from Core Formation Cultivators, small amounts added up. Fully refining them would significantly increase her Soul Power.

"Gathering so many Divine Souls should be nearly sufficient…" the clone of Xi Ying thought to herself.

Just at that moment, a chilling coldness surged in her heart, as if she was being targeted by an ancient beast, causing all the hairs on her body to stand on end; she somersaulted and flew to the side.

Several black lines brushed past her back, slicing her clothes into several slits.

The Nine Yin Venerable had appeared behind her at some unknown time, his face showing a look of astonishment.

"White Bone? No, you're not White Bone, merely using her Mana and Divine Soul. Such a strange method; who are you really?" the Nine Yin Venerable scrutinized the clone of Xi Ying, asking.

Without any hesitation, the clone of Xi Ying dived into the ground, flying in the opposite direction of where Silver Kong was located in the underground space.

"Quite the intelligent one, but do you think you can escape by burrowing into the ground?" the Nine Yin Venerable smirked coldly, his figure blurring as he vanished from the spot.

The clone of Xi Ying quickly dove deeper into the ground, groaning as she spat out a mouthful of blood.

Although she had not been hit by those black beams, the bizarre force within them had penetrated her body. Even the Blood Puppet Armor could not defend against it, severely injuring her internal organs and damaging her Divine Soul.

Fortunately, this White Bone Venerable was manifested from Blood Puppet Armor, not a genuine flesh-and-blood body; otherwise, she would have already fallen and been unable to get up.

The clone of Xi Ying activated the Blood Puppet Armor to heal her injuries, meanwhile taking out a Green Spirit Communication Talisman, quickly speaking a few words before she crushed it without any hesitation.