"Pfft..." Black blood, the ichor of Death, also erupted from Han Xin's left shoulder. He had never imagined that Ye Xiu, enduring the piercing pain, would charge right up to him and cleave down with his scythe, striking his shoulder. This was the gravest injury he had ever sustained.

"I did it! Heh heh." Ye Xiu lay buried against Han Xin's chest, looking back at the trail of ghastly black blood staining the length of the longsword beneath him. Yet, his face held only a smile. What Han Xin found even more unbelievable was that Ye Xiu had managed to clutch the hilt of the sword embedded in his chest with one hand. The meaning was clear: You stabbed me through, and I will hack you down—until death parts us.

"Damn it, let go!" Han Xin struggled to break free from Ye Xiu's scythe grip, but whether it was his body or the longsword in his hand, Ye Xiu held him fast. With no other recourse, he could only curse, "A creature of my caliber expects me to drag you to the grave? I have countless great deeds yet to accomplish; the Death God lineage needs me to rally its strength!"

Ye Xiu found Han Xin’s near-manic reaction amusing. He lifted his head to look at Han Xin. "My level doesn't come with the side effect of soul energy decay. You’re different. See the black mist swirling around you? Is that the Swift Soul you’ve stored within your body?"

Han Xin certainly understood the gravity of his situation, but understanding changed nothing. At this moment, he thought of his Soul Soldier Talisman. "Fine. If you insist on dying, I won't stop you. The Ancient Divine Beasts will claim your life! Kill him for me."

Damn it, Ye Xiu inwardly cursed the sudden turn of events. He had calculated everything, believing mutual destruction was the only card that held any real threat over Han Xin. Now, as the Chiwen above the Nine Heavens roared with flames, encircling him, and the towering blue skeletons beneath the earth glared with utmost malice, was this where his journey ended?

"Master, quickly absorb his Swift Soul!" At the critical juncture, Su Su finally spoke. A storm rose again around the jade ring, coalescing into an immense vortex.

Han Xin had been smugly confident. He never expected that the Swift Soul emanating from his body would be entirely drawn into Ye Xiu’s jade ring. He gasped in horror. "You’ve reached the Yin Devouring realm? How is this possible… Ah…"

Due to the severe wound inflicted by the Death God Scythe, Han Xin’s Swift Soul loss was critical. Coupled with the jade ring's suction power, a full third of Han Xin’s Swift Soul poured into Ye Xiu’s body, and the rate only accelerated!

"Kill him fast, kill him fast!" The Soul Soldier Talisman grew brighter and flashed more intensely as Han Xin summoned it. Just as all the divine beasts and monstrous entities were about to close in on Ye Xiu, the entire world suddenly fell silent.

The riverbank of Gàixia vanished. The sound of flowing water ceased. This was not a deep forest cliff, nor was it a battlefield; it was a realm of azure nothingness.

"My Lord of the Underworld, what is wrong!" At this moment, a familiar female voice descended from above. She wore a flowing black gown, possessed a graceful figure, and had fair skin. A lotus-shaped ornament adorned her waist. She slowly descended beside the wounded Han Xin and gently brushed away the remnants of the scythe. "My Lord, you will be alright…"

"Hong Ling? No! Mo Xi!" Ye Xiu was utterly stunned. As Han Xin was drawn away by Mo Xi, he himself sank to his knees in the void. What was happening? Why was Mo Xi by Han Xin’s side? How could she be in the late Qin Dynasty era?

"Ji Jiang, you have arrived." Han Xin weakly drew the woman close. Due to the drain of soul energy, his former arrogance had dissolved. "With you and the Soul Soldier Talisman, I will surely restore the Death God lineage."

"Ji Jiang? Wasn't she called Mo Xi? Or perhaps Hong Ling!" Ye Xiu cried out alone, but the two figures before him seemed entirely oblivious, as if the space of the late Qin period had never existed for him. "What is this? Didn't Mo Xi call me the Underworld Lord back then? Why is Han Xin also the Underworld Lord!"

Ji Jiang, with a tender expression, supported Han Xin and walked toward the void. As they moved, she comforted him, "The rise of the Death God lineage is not a matter of a day or two. What you need now is to continue being the great General you are. Our enemies are not ordinary people; all actions must be conducted in the shadows."

Han Xin’s ferocity had vanished, and he nodded with a gentle smile. "You are right, Ji Jiang. I almost let momentary impulse jeopardize the grand plan."

"Hey! Hey!" Ye Xiu gritted his teeth against his wounds and shouted after them, but the pair ahead acted as if they couldn't hear him. After Han Xin and Ji Jiang disappeared into the void, a brilliant white light struck Ye Xiu forcefully. He felt as though someone had shoved him, and in a dizzying flash, he tumbled back down the steps, returning to the room where the Big Dipper stone tablets resided.

"Su Su, what was that just now? What happened?" Ye Xiu frantically touched his wounds. Although the bodies of Death Gods healed quickly from external trauma, this injury was inflicted by one of his own kind. He needed the pain to confirm he wasn't hallucinating.

Su Su transformed into purple smoke, coiling around the wound on Ye Xiu's chest to treat him. Even she was perplexed by the preceding events. "Master, you were indeed wounded by that Death God named Han Xin. I am also unclear as to why he suddenly ceased his attack."

"Did you not see the woman who appeared later?" Ye Xiu asked, feeling deeply confused.

"A woman? No, I didn't see anyone! As soon as you absorbed Han Xin’s Swift Soul, we were both ejected from that space. There was absolutely no woman," Su Su replied, affectionately stroking Ye Xiu's forehead with a smile. "Perhaps you were too severely injured, Master. A little rest will set you right."

"Buzz…" Suddenly, the entire room was filled with a continuous humming sound. Ye Xiu recognized the noise as originating from the stone tablets. He focused his gaze and saw that an elliptical indentation had begun to glow with white light patterns. The patterns extended slightly toward the surrounding indentations before halting.

"So, I really do have to visit all seven light gates to uncover the secret of the Soul Soldier Talisman!" Ye Xiu sighed and sat down. He hadn't expected his very first stop to involve the legendary Han Xin—the famed General of history, who, ironically, belonged to the same Flame-element Death God lineage as himself.

Su Su used her power to hasten the healing of Ye Xiu’s wounds. Ye Xiu felt an unprecedented fatigue settling over him after this battle. He remained seated, intending to wait and observe the experiences of Old Liu and Huang Le'er. Heaven only knew what kind of dragon was trapped in this Confined Dragon Doom Land.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" Old Liu stepped into the ball of light. Upon entry, he found himself in absolute darkness. He fumbled for the flashlight in his pouch, trying to turn it on, but his high-tech gear was completely useless here. Suddenly, a cold, tingling sensation crept up his back, as if something were slithering across his skin.