BTTH: Death Letter From The Future

The stone chamber at the bottom of the lake.

A young man sat cross-legged in the center, his upper body bare, eyes closed as if asleep, with a barely audible whistling sound echoing through the chamber.

If the Pill King Gu He were present at this moment, he would be utterly shocked and would flee at the fastest speed possible.

Because that sound wasn't snoring; it was the whistling of soul power!

The intangible, formless soul energy had condensed into a long vine, exuding an eerie feeling of dread as it swayed, like a whip descending from the Nine Netherworlds—this was a form of crushing power on the soul level!

The Soul Star Vine!

A soul technique from the art of soul cultivation.

Chen Guan sat as still as a bell. With a shift of his thoughts, the several-meter-long Soul Star Vine rapidly changed, splitting into two thinner vines, then breaking apart again, turning from two to four, and so on until, in the blink of an eye, they became a 'bunch' of thin cords.

Like a weaver, Chen Guan meticulously braided and shaped the strands. Soon, the intimidating Soul Star Vine formed a web.

Even at this stage, Chen Guan did not stop. A green flame surged forth, attaching itself to the web, transforming it into a tangible net of fire.

Controlling the soul fire web to launch an attack, it eventually left a dense imprint on the stone chamber's ceiling.

His face slightly pale, Chen Guan opened his eyes, stood up, and examined the traces left by the Soul Star Vine and the soul fire web.

The former had greater power but was limited in its function.

The latter, although slightly weaker, was far more versatile, capable of both offense and defense, as well as binding the enemy's soul.

"Not bad."

Chen Guan's pale face broke into a bright smile, satisfied with the result.

He had been in seclusion in this stone chamber for more than a month!

Swallowing the heavenly flame and consolidating his rapidly increased strength had taken him nearly half a month.

The process surprised Chen Guan. Though he endured agony comparable to childbirth, the searing pain didn't threaten his life; he remained conscious throughout, maintaining control.

The reason, Chen Guan speculated, might be that his preparations far exceeded those of the original Xiao Yan during his heavenly flame consumption.

Although the Green Lotus Core Flame only ranked nineteenth on the Heavenly Flames List, its millennia-old accumulated energy was still immensely formidable.

After successfully absorbing it, his strength skyrocketed like a rocket, momentarily breaking through the Dou Spirit barrier.

However, untempered strength is unstable and detrimental to long-term development.

Thus, Chen Guan spent a significant amount of time solidifying his cultivation until his level fell back from Dou Spirit, finally eliminating the sense of instability.

For the following month, he refrained from cultivating Dou Qi further, opting to let things settle, waiting for the right moment to progress naturally.

He invested his time in practicing soul techniques.

This urgency stemmed from an incident.

During the process of absorbing the heavenly flame, Chen Guan sensed someone attacking the stone door outside. Although the assault was brief and quickly stopped, he clearly perceived the disturbance.

Anyone capable of shaking this stone chamber was at least at the Dou Emperor level.

Alternatively, it could have been a particularly gifted individual with methods capable of threatening a Dou Emperor!

In the Jia Ma Empire, such individuals could be counted on one hand.

The person outside was definitely not Jia Xingtian. Whether friend or foe was unclear, and although Chen Guan didn't know how they found this place, he was inclined to think they were more likely an enemy than an ally.

With that realization, he needed to be well-prepared before leaving. Relying solely on the Iron Puppet wasn't enough, so soul techniques became the most suitable choice.

After all, practicing Earth-level Dou Techniques in this chamber was impractical.

Moreover, even with Earth-level Dou Techniques, given his current strength, they might not pose a significant threat to anyone above Dou Emperor.

Soul techniques, however, were different—much harder to defend against.

With the puppet as a distraction and the combination of Soul Star Vine and the soul fire web, Chen Guan was confident that whoever was outside would not be able to harm him.

In fact, if everything went according to plan, he could potentially counter-attack or even capture the person.

At this moment, the roles of hunter and prey had reversed.

"It's time to head out."

After adjusting his state and regaining his composure, Chen Guan murmured to himself.

However, just then, an unexpected event occurred.

Chen Guan stopped in his tracks, his expression turning odd.

A long-lost Death letter had reappeared!

He recalled that the last letter had come quite a while ago.

With such a long interval, Chen Guan sometimes wondered whether these letters would ever appear again.

He hadn't expected it to arrive so abruptly today.

Putting aside his distracting thoughts, Chen Guan began to read the letter. He was curious to find out what flaw existed in his current plan. In his view, there shouldn't have been any oversight.

The person outside shouldn't have Dou Ancestor-level strength; otherwise, they could have forcibly broken into the stone chamber.

Unless, of course, it was a scheming Dou Ancestor disguising their strength.

The third posthumous letter didn't provide much information.

"Life is always full of ups and downs. After absorbing the Green Lotus Core Flame, I thought I had become a hidden dragon ready to soar, free to roam the seas and skies. Admittedly, I became a bit complacent."

"After leaving the stone chamber, I baited and lured out the hidden threat—it turned out to be the Queen of the Snake-People Tribe. It was surprising, yet it made sense upon reflection."

"I could guess what Medusa was planning, but I saw no benefit in negotiating with her. Helping her evolve would only aid the Jia Ma Empire's enemies. Though she needed a few years for the transformation, which was enough time for me to grow, I didn't want to invite trouble unnecessarily. Naturally, our talks fell apart, leading to a fierce battle."

"The Queen was indeed a formidable Dou emperor. Even though I used all my trump cards, it ended in mutual injury. Just as we tacitly agreed to cease fighting, the unluckiest event occurred."

"The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. Suddenly, a ghastly creature appeared. From its conversation with Medusa, I learned that this Soul Hall Protector was also severely wounded and hiding in the Magic Beast Mountain Range to recover. If not for the battle's intense energy fluctuations today, it wouldn't have been drawn out."

"Who would've thought, after so many years of caution, I'd die such a frustrating death in the end? Damn the Soul Hall, I curse it with all my heart!"

After reading the letter, Chen Guan's expression was complicated.

A wounded ghoul was hiding in the Magic Beast Mountain Range—this revelation was entirely unexpected, something no one could have foreseen.

This 'death' wasn't due to a lack of skill.

It was purely a matter of bad luck.

However, now that he was aware of this situation, his plan for baiting and ambushing had to be postponed.

Instead, a bolder idea was forming in Chen Guan's mind.

This Soul Hall Protector could be slain!

It wasn't about holding a grudge; it was simply about seeking justice for the countless suffering people on the Dou Qi Continent.

Yes, that's exactly it.

To protect the peace of the continent is our duty! We are the Starmen!

(End of Chapter)

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