Chapter 0295: I Won’t Let You Down

“Retreat?” Huang Long sneered coldly upon seeing KunKunNier -> Kun Nier and Makohsin order a retreat.
It was already too late!
Once inside the Twelve Heavenly Fiend Formation, only higher gods or mid-tier gods who had mastered the six primordial forces could retreat.
Huang Long clenched his hands, and the Twelve Ancestral Witches roared again, launching soul attacks!
At the same time, the spirit of the Qunxian Pavilion— the Five-Clawed Golden Dragon—attacked as well.
“Divine Fiend Dragon Wave!”
A wave of energy erupted, taking the form of a dragon that lunged at KunKunNier -> Kun Nier and the others with bared fangs and claws.
The surge of energy illuminated the sky and earth, visible for tens of thousands of miles.
Then, Huang Long waved his hands, creating ten versions of himself to block KunKunNier -> Kun Nier and his group.
KunKunNier -> Kun Nier and his companions dodged the attacks of the Twelve Ancestral Witches, scattered the attacks of the Five-Clawed Golden Dragon, and then had to deal with the ten Huang Long avatars. They were in a flurry, forced to retreat step by step back to the center of the formation, despair evident on their faces.
Although the strength of Huang Long’s ten avatars was not as great as his original form, it was still very close—comparable to that of an ordinary mid-tier god. Though they couldn’t kill KunKunNier -> Kun Nier and the others, they could easily keep them occupied.
At this moment, after dealing with Hamidun, the seventeen members of the Xiber group turned around and joined the attack.
With their addition, KunKunNier -> Kun Nier and his group became even more flustered, falling into a desperate situation just like Hamidun before, on the verge of collapse.
In the end, KunKunNier -> Kun Nier and Makohsin had no choice but to summon their divine avatars.
Each of them had two major divine avatars, along with three divine bodies like Hamidun, which barely allowed them to withstand the attacks of Huang Long’s ten avatars and the seventeen Xiber members.
Yet, escaping was difficult!
Huang Long wasn’t idle either. He continued to operate the formation, unleashing soul attacks from the Twelve Ancestral Witches, while also activating the Qunxian Pavilion to gather the remaining Ice Guards from Ice Jade Peak, as well as the lower-tier gods from Iron Blood Peak and Goddess Peak.
In total, there were over eight hundred lower-tier gods!
After subjugating these beings with their divine consciousness imprints, Taiyi Peak could gain some additional strength.
After dealing with the lower-tier gods from Ice Jade Peak, Iron Blood Peak, and Goddess Peak, Huang Long turned to look at KunKunNier -> Kun Nier and his group. Without taking action himself, he stood aside with Bog and the others.
Occasionally, he would channel his magic to send another minor soul attack from the Twelve Ancestral Witches!

Although it was just a minor soul attack, it was a terrifying nightmare for KunKunNier -> Kun Nier and the others! Markohsin had soul-defense artifacts, so the soul attacks of the Twelve Ancestral Witches had little effect on her, but KunKunNier -> Kun Nier’s group was different—each attack shook their minds, leaving them dizzy. At that moment, the attacks from the Ten Avatars of the Yellow Dragon and the Seventeen Xihe struck like persistent plagues. Several times, KunKunNier -> Kun Nier and his group were nearly hit by Xihe and the others. Even so, it was enough to overwhelm them. KunKunNier -> Kun Nier and his group roared in fury. Half an hour passed. In that half hour, KunKunNier -> Kun Nier and his group had changed drastically; most of them were injured and had already unleashed their divine essences. Two hours later, their once brilliant divine essences dimmed, a sign of dwindling divine power. Yet, in horror, they realized that the divine power of the Seventeen Xihe seemed endless. Finally, they discovered the reason lay with the Yellow Dragon. Whenever the divine power of the Seventeen Xihe weakened, the Yellow Dragon would wave his hand, infusing spiritual energy into their bodies invisibly. Only after careful observation did KunKunNier -> Kun Nier and the others uncover this secret. Did this mean the Seventeen Xihe could never run out of divine power?! After discovering this, KunKunNier -> Kun Nier and his group completely gave up any hope of escape. “Elder, we really didn’t intend to oppose you. Please spare us and let us live!” Finally, one mid-tier god from the Iron Blood Peak pleaded for mercy. With one person speaking, the other mid-tier gods from the Iron Blood Peak and the Goddess Peak also began to plead for mercy, vowing to serve the Yellow Dragon. KunKunNier -> Kun Nier and Markohsin’s already grim expressions grew even darker. Their subordinates were swearing allegiance to someone else right in front of them—this was outright betrayal! Filled with rage, they knew they couldn’t even protect themselves, let alone punish their subordinates. Hearing the pleas of the six mid-tier gods from the Iron Blood Peak and the Goddess Peak, the Yellow Dragon said calmly, “You want to serve me?” “Yes, yes, Elder!” The six mid-tier gods from the Iron Blood Peak and the Goddess Peak were overjoyed at the Yellow Dragon’s response and nodded eagerly. “My current strength at the Taiyi Peak isn’t great, but since you’ve pledged allegiance to me, it’s not impossible!” the Yellow Dragon said slowly, then added, “However…” Hearing his agreement, the six mid-tier gods hoped up and asked urgently, “Elder, however what?”

“But how do I know if you’ll betray me in the future?” As he spoke, Huang Long glanced intentionally or unintentionally at the Seventeen Heber. If not controlled by divine imprint seals, those Seventeen Heber might indeed betray him someday, but now, Huang Long wasn’t worried about it. The Seventeen Heber, surrounding KunKunNier -> Kun Nier and Markohin, felt Huang Long’s gaze and were shocked. They attacked KunKunNier -> Kun Nier and Markohin even harder to prove their loyalty. Seeing this, Huang Long smiled inwardly. “Elders, we are utterly loyal!” “If we betray you, we’ll meet a terrible end!” … The six of them took further oaths, their faces full of unwavering loyalty. “Alright, as long as I plant soul leeches in your minds, I won’t worry about you betraying me!” Huang Long interrupted them and continued, “Release the defenses of your mental souls!” The six’s expressions changed. Soul leeches! The Seventeen Heber also trembled. Only then did KunKunNier -> Kun Nier and Markohin understand why the Heber from the Six Peaks of Black Iron had defected from the Ice Jade Peaks to serve this dark-haired youth. It was because of soul leeches! Undoubtedly, this dark-haired youth was using soul leeches to control them. “What? You don’t want to?” Huang Long raised his voice, his expression cold, his eyes flashing like sharp swords. The six from the Iron Blood Peaks and the Goddess Peaks paled at his cold demeanor. Eventually, gritting their teeth, they agreed to let Huang Long plant the soul leeches. A moment later, Huang Long implanted divine imprint seals in their minds one after another. “Don’t get any illusions. If you don’t believe it, I can let you experience the power of these soul leeches!” Huang Long said coldly, observing their expressions. Their faces turned pale as they hurriedly begged for mercy. Soul leeches weren’t something to be experimented with casually. In the Netherworld, a ninth-level Nether King was once afflicted by an enemy’s soul leech. Unable to bear the pain and unwilling to submit, he self-destructed. This story was widely spread in the Netherworld, remaining intact for billions of years. Over time, the terror associated with soul leeches grew among the Netherworld’s powerful beings. It was even said that unless the Supreme God intervened, the soul leeches could not be removed—though this was just a rumor, and whether the Supreme God could do so was unknown. Seeing their terrified reactions, Huang Long sneered silently, said nothing more, and turned his attention to KunKunNier -> Kun Nier and Markohin. Now, only two were left.

The two lost six of their mid-tier divine subordinates. Faced with the attacks from the Yellow Dragon’s ten avatars and Xi He and others, their situation became even more precarious. Before long, their divine avatars were destroyed one after another.
“P-please, our elders, spare us! We’re willing to serve you!” Near death, KunKunNier -> Kun Nier’s main body turned pale as he hesitantly begged the Yellow Dragon, repeating the words his subordinates had used before. Yet after saying them, his face turned slightly red.
Markohin also pleaded for mercy, her words similar to KunKunNier -> Kun Nier’s. She realized her mistake for failing to recognize her elders.
The six members of the Iron Blood Peak and the Goddess Peak looked at their leaders finally begging their master, feeling disdain in their hearts!
It turned out both of them were just death-fearing! Even worse than them, as they clung to their pride and ended up with their divine avatars destroyed and their strength greatly diminished.
With their divine avatars destroyed, they could no longer cultivate further.
“Oh, you’re also willing to serve me?” The Yellow Dragon showed interest.
“Yes, master!” Seeing the Yellow Dragon speak, KunKunNier -> Kun Nier felt delighted and even started calling him master. Markohin was stunned, and eventually, she hesitantly followed KunKunNier -> Kun Nier in addressing the Yellow Dragon as master.
“Master?” The Yellow Dragon frowned. “Did I say I wanted you to serve me?”
KunKunNier -> Kun Nier and Markohin were shocked, and all traces of joy vanished from their faces.
At that moment, the Yellow Dragon retracted his ten avatars, vanished in a flash, and then two sword beams flashed by. Soon after, the Yellow Dragon appeared behind the two.
With a cold expression, the Yellow Dragon said, “I said I wouldn’t disappoint you!”
Markohin widened her eyes in disbelief as she watched her own divine body. Under her gaze, it exploded. Meanwhile, KunKunNier -> Kun Nier’s body did the same. After a burst of light, they exploded and disappeared.
The Netherworld lost two more people. In this bloody, violent realm of constant warfare, death seemed to have become a symbol.
The Yellow Dragon glanced at the spot where Markohin and KunKunNier -> Kun Nier had disappeared. If not for the heavy loss of divine power due to the attacks from Xi He and others, killing them would have taken more effort.
Looking at a gray object several times smaller than armor, resembling inner armor, the Yellow Dragon waved his hands and drew it into his palm. Upon closer inspection, it was the mid-tier divine artifact for soul defense.
With Markohin dead, this mid-tier divine artifact for soul defense became ownerless.
In the Netherworld, among all divine artifacts, flying artifacts were the most precious. After those, came the divine artifacts for soul defense.

A top-tier flying artifact costs 100 billion, while a mid-tier one is around 10 billion. As for this mid-tier soul-defense artifact, its value is at least 60 to 70 billion! After putting it into the Five Pits Divine Cauldron, Huang Long turned to Bog, Heber, and the others and slowly said, “Clean up the loot!” The Ice Jade Peak, Iron Blood Peak, and Goddess Peak—two thousand divine-level warriors fell, along with numerous divine essences and artifacts!