Chapter 821: Hostage

Chapter 821: Hostages

With that, he walked past Sun Bumin and directly toward the roaring battlefield behind them.

Sun Bumin's brows were tightly furrowed, veins bulging from his neck. His eyes followed Kongwang's retreating figure, but he made no move, not then, not ever.

Only when Kongwang and the souls had completely faded from view did Sun Bumin take a deep breath and slowly exhale.

"The Ghost God Dao has reappeared in the world... It seems chaos is about to erupt."

"I wonder if I'll still get my final bonus after all this... Will I have gone through all this trouble for nothing?" Sun Bumin murmured, feeling a pang of heartache.

Boom—!!

Thick smoke and a deafening roar once again erupted from the dilapidated district.

Not far behind Sun Bumin, Tu Tian, unable to hold back any longer, seized the opportunity to use his domain to obliterate a pursuing participant. But before he could catch his breath, three more figures darted out from the surroundings!

"Pu Xiachan!! Li Shengmen!! You'll both pay for this!" Unable to withstand the group's assault, Tu Tian roared through gritted teeth. Covered in blood, he was slammed to the ground by an attack.

In the darkness not far from the scene, three figures silently watched everything unfold.

"...He still holds a grudge," Li Shengmen sighed. "Once this competition ends, we'll likely be targeted by the Jiaolong Soldiers... What a hassle."

"It was always a free-for-all, so what if he knows?" Pu Xiachan snorted coldly. "Our Pu family isn't afraid of him!"

After a brief pause, both turned to look at Plum Blossom 7, who had remained silent.

Plum Blossom 7: ...

"Ahem, exactly! If you can't handle it, don't play. I, Jin Fugui, am not afraid of him either!" Plum Blossom 7 also played along, uttering a harsh remark to fit in with the "group."

Pu Xiachan turned back. "Li Shengmen, be careful not to overdo it... If Tu Tian actually dies at their hands, how will we use our privileges?"

"You're underestimating Tu Tian. That guy is a prodigy of the Power God Dao; he won't die that easily," Li Shengmen said nonchalantly. "Besides, there's less than half an hour until the final stage begins... It'll be quick."

"True..."

Pu Xiachan was about to say something more when she suddenly shivered, looking around in confusion. "Hey... Do you guys feel like it suddenly got cold around here?"

"Indeed, the temperature just dropped. Is it someone's domain?" Li Shengmen rubbed his hands.

Plum Blossom 7 pondered if he should also add a remark, but just then, his gaze landed on a distant street, and his brows instantly furrowed!

"What's that..."

"Who is that? Why do they seem to be floating... Are they a participant too?"

"Appearing here, they probably are, right? But their aura makes me feel very uncomfortable."

As the three spoke, the white-clad figure floated into the center of the chaotic battle. Hidden onlookers and participants pursuing Tu Tian alike all sensed his presence. He simply stood there abruptly, with no intention of avoiding the fight, like an irritating thorn.

"Is he here to help that guy? Another Jiaolong Soldier?" A thought crossed the mind of one of Tu Tian's pursuers. "Go hold him off quickly! We're almost done here!"

As he spoke, two participants immediately split off and charged towards Kongwang, their two domains simultaneously expanding!

Facing their combined assault, Kongwang showed no intention of moving. Only when both domains were about to envelop him, and the chilling glint of attack was almost upon him, did his closed eyes open a mere slit.

Flickering souls appeared around him, and pale chains, like a spiderweb, obscured the sky... Kongwang's fingertip twitched, and one of the souls visibly solidified, an aura of the Power God Dao surging forth!

Bang! Bang—!!

In the next instant, the two men's heads were ripped from their bodies by an immense force, like bottle caps flicked away!

Blood splattered across the sky. The two figures, so aggressive moments ago, were now headless corpses, falling lifelessly from the air...

Everyone was stunned. Those two were, at the very least, Fourth Tier. No participant in the old district could instantly kill them with a mere flick of a finger—not Fifth Tier, and most Sixth Tier couldn't either!

Even the participant pursuing Tu Tian stopped, staring in disbelief at the spectral white-clad figure...

"This person is incredibly strong!"

"How is this possible... Is there such a powerful prodigy in the Five Great Realms?"

"Look at those blurry white figures around him, some of them feel a bit familiar..."

"Souls? Are those souls?!"

Pu Xiachan and Li Shengmen frowned, watching the spectral white-clad figure, seemingly still unaware of the gravity of the situation. In contrast, Plum Blossom 7's face suddenly changed!

He instinctively took half a step back, his mind racing. At the same time, his gaze swept over several converging groups of people in the distance. In those crowds, some also met his gaze with uncertainty and alarm.

Kongwang paid no mind to the horrified stares. With a single hand sign, pale chains tethered the two headless corpses on the ground. Two blurry white figures were slowly pulled up by him, their appearances almost identical to the original bodies.

Soul Reaping?!

This is true Soul Reaping!!

At that moment, most participants present realized something was gravely wrong. After all, this competition was taking place within the Melee Nation, and this person could not only manifest souls but also reap them... That was their last hope for survival!

"Who exactly are you?!" a participant asked, his voice low.

The spectral white-clad figure's lowered eyelids slowly lifted. As his yin-yang eyes were revealed, the surrounding souls grew more solid. Dozens of Fourth and Fifth Tier auras overlapped, pouring into the white-clad figure. A terrifying, immense pressure swept out!

Boom—!!

A divine path extended from his body, yet it did not lead to the sky, but instead stretched deep into the earth... as if connecting to the underworld.

The chilling pressure weighed heavily on everyone's minds, like a mountain pressed upon their shoulders. Dust floating in the air was instantly crushed to the ground... Aside from a few Fifth Tier individuals, the other participants found it hard to resist this pressure, feeling their souls about to be shaken loose, their heads spinning.

"I am Kongwang." The spectral white-clad figure slowly rose from the army of souls, which had almost solidified into physical forms, like an icy declaration. He looked down at the pale-faced crowd below and spoke again,

"From now on, all living and dead in this old district... are my hostages."