A voice echoed, causing everyone to tremble.
The faint voice exuded boundless pressure, preventing them from even daring to breathe.
Among the crowd, only Ba Tian and Ye Cangtian were in a slightly better condition.
It was only then that Ba Tian looked at Ye Cangtian in surprise, as if understanding why the Lord of Darkness was interested in him.
Because the pressure in this voice originated from soul power, and Hong Mo and others could not resist it because their soul power was too weak.
Conversely, Ye Cangtian was not affected, which must be due to his powerful soul power.
With this thought, Ba Tian spoke, "You have all heard the voice of the Lord of Darkness. If you go, it will be a suicide mission. What is your name, young man? Do you dare to accompany me?"
"Replying to senior, this junior is one of the Earth-tier stewards of the Dark Association, Po Xiao."
Ye Cangtian introduced himself, then added, "It is my honor to fight alongside a Heaven-tier expert!"
"Good! Courageous!"
Ba Tian glanced at Ye Cangtian with approval, then said, "This journey might be a separation of life and death. I'll give you two minutes to say your goodbyes!"
Ye Cangtian nodded upon hearing this and then walked to Lan Yue's side.
Before Ye Cangtian could speak, Lan Yue said first, "I understand. I wish you success, and I will wait here for your good news!"
Hearing this, Ye Cangtian smiled slightly, responded softly, then his gaze swept over Zi Long before finally settling on Hong Mo, "If I die, I entrust Lan Yue to your care."
"As long as I am alive, no one can harm him."
Upon hearing this, Hong Mo nodded heavily and said earnestly.
After all, the other party was going to fight alongside his father for all of them, and Po Xiao's strength was low, making him the most likely to perish.
Therefore, Hong Mo would not refuse the other party's request at this moment.
"Thank you."
Ye Cangtian cupped his fists, then nodded to Ba Tian and was the first to step out of the central hall.
Seeing this, Ba Tian's gaze swept towards Hong Mo and he said, "I am deeply gratified to see you grow to this day. There is a hidden compartment beneath the white bone seat, containing my past collections.
If you manage to get out alive, take it with you!
Finally, do not dwell on me; live your own life!"
Facing the Lord of Darkness, Ba Tian did not have absolute certainty. He patted Hong Mo's shoulder heavily, spoke what he wanted to say, and then strode out of the central hall.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Facing Ba Tian's retreating back, Hong Mo immediately knelt down and kowtowed three times.
On the other side, after walking out of the central hall, Ba Tian flashed to Ye Cangtian's side.
"Po Xiao, I have something to ask of you. If you manage to get out alive, could you look after Hong Mo a little?"
Ba Tian glanced at him and said faintly.
He had already realized that Po Xiao was definitely a prodigy among the younger generation of the Dark Association.
If he could get out alive, his future would be infinitely bright, and taking over the Dark Association would not be impossible.
If Hong Mo could follow such a person in the future, his achievements would certainly be great. After all, as the saying goes, one person's success brings fortune to his associates.
Hmm?
Upon hearing this, Ye Cangtian's eyes showed confusion. After a moment of contemplation, he slowly said, "Senior, if I can leave, then you, with your greater strength, can surely do the same. Why do you need to ask me?"
Ba Tian looked at Ye Cangtian and sighed, "I have betrayed the Lord of Darkness. He will not allow me to live, not even in spirit form!"
Hearing this, Ye Cangtian nodded, as if understanding something.
If the Lord of Darkness had no means to restrain Ba Tian, why would Ba Tian have been enslaved for so many years?
Now that Ba Tian had betrayed him, it went without saying that he would use his life to carve out a bloody path for Hong Mo!
With this thought, Ye Cangtian took a deep look at Ba Tian, impressed by his selfless fatherly love.
Then, he said, "Senior, I can agree, but I had some conflicts with Hong Mo before, and I'm afraid he might not agree..."
"As long as you agree, that's enough. As for Hong Mo, tell him it's my wish, and I believe he will listen, or at least not oppose you..."
Saying this, Ba Tian gave a bitter smile and said, "Truly, as a man is about to die, he becomes verbose. Those are matters for later. Let's defeat the Lord of Darkness first! If we fail, nothing will have meaning!"
Ye Cangtian nodded upon hearing this, "Senior is right, but I believe we need goals to have motivation and determination!"
"You are right."
Ba Tian paused slightly, then understood Ye Cangtian's meaning.
After smiling, he said no more and led Ye Cangtian towards the main hall.
...
Main Hall.
When Ye Cangtian and Ba Tian arrived at the entrance of the main hall, the tightly shut doors instantly opened.
A ray of light shot inside, immediately revealing a portion of the main hall.
Although it was named the Dark Palace, the main hall was resplendent and magnificent, but it was filled with an eerie aura that sent chills down their spines.
Stepping into the main hall, the two immediately discovered the figure on the dragon throne.
He was clad in a dark dragon robe, his eyes filled with boundless pressure, as if he were a true emperor.
With a wave of his hand, the main hall doors immediately closed.
Only then did he glance at Ba Tian and slowly say, "Ba Tian, do you know what your choice today means?"
"Isn't it the scattering of my soul? How could I be afraid?"
Ba Tian glared fiercely at the Lord of Darkness, his eyes filled with unwavering resolve.
His life force had always been controlled by the Lord of Darkness, which was why he had been enslaved for years.
Now that he had betrayed the Lord of Darkness, his phantom ethereal body had begun to fade. However, relying on his Heaven-tier cultivation, he was slowing down the dissipation.
But this was not a long-term solution. Even with all his efforts to delay it, he would eventually head towards oblivion.
But for Hong Mo, he had no regrets!
"Truly foolish!"
"For the sake of so-called fatherly love, you gave up eternal life and power. You are too foolish!"
"Even more foolish is that your son clearly has the same opportunity for eternal life as you, yet you failed to persuade him and were instead swayed by him..."
Listening to Ba Tian's words, the Lord of Darkness responded with a cold laugh.
His gaze became particularly disdainful. In his opinion, those familial bonds and ideals were all nonsense, not worth mentioning compared to eternal life.
If life were gone, what would these be worth!
It was laughable that the other party couldn't see through this, as if he had dropped a watermelon to pick up a sesame seed!
"You will never understand!"
Ba Tian snorted coldly, then drew his weapon. A blood-red long sword appeared before him.
"Don't rush. We've been together for so long, we're quite familiar with each other. Why be in such a hurry to strike? You're not about to dissipate immediately!"
"I was very interested in him when I first met him. Why don't we chat for a while?"
Seeing Ba Tian's action, the Lord of Darkness smiled slightly and said.
Upon hearing this, Ba Tian's brows furrowed, but he ultimately put down his long sword for the time being, wanting to see what the Lord of Darkness's intentions were.
On the other side, the Lord of Darkness's gaze locked onto Ye Cangtian, examining him from head to toe.
In just an instant, Ye Cangtian felt as if he had been seen through, as if all his secrets were exposed.
"Po Xiao, you have finally arrived here. I have truly been waiting for you for a long time!"
Uh...
Ye Cangtian was instantly stunned. It wasn't strange that the other party knew his codename.
With the perverted perception of a Heaven-tier expert, detecting some conversations and learning his codename during the conversation was normal.
The key point was, what did the other party mean by waiting for him?
Sensing Po Xiao's confused gaze, the Lord of Darkness smiled slightly and slowly raised his hand, producing a seal as black as jade.
Upon seeing this, Ye Cangtian was greatly shaken.
Although this seal had some differences in appearance from the Imperial Dragon Seal he held, he could be sure that this seal was related to the Imperial Dragon Seal.
As expected, in the next moment, as a surge of spiritual energy was channeled into it, the seal as black as jade instantly flashed a phantom image, and three beams of light shot out from the seal.
One of these beams of light shot directly at him, which already explained everything.
"This..."
Ba Tian stared dumbfounded at the phantom image of the seal in the Lord of Darkness's hand.
From the moment the phantom image of the seal appeared, he felt a suppression on his soul.
What surprised him even more was that the beam of light emitted from the phantom image actually struck Po Xiao.
Could it be that Po Xiao had some secret?