One Dead, Four Wounded: Chen Xin's Thoughts

"Buzz!"

Qin Shiyuan yanked with his left hand, and the longsword erupted from its sheath amid a sky full of golden light.

In that fleeting instant, a golden Sword Qi filled with boundless killing intent suddenly surged forth from the tip of the newly drawn blade.

It seemed to come from the horizon, initially no more than a tiny speck of golden light.

Yet as it rapidly drew closer, it gradually expanded. In the blink of an eye, it had spread across a range of hundreds of meters.

This sword strike, condensed with immeasurable energy, finally displayed its rightful edge at this moment.

In an instant, the all-encompassing white mist was slashed away without a trace.

The scene within the white mist was finally exposed before everyone's eyes.

"The white mist is finally gone... Wait! Wh-what is that?!"

The hundreds-of-meters-long golden Sword Qi entered their sight, and in an instant, the entire crowd stood frozen in shock.

"Th-that's Sword Qi! It was unleashed by Tower Master Qin!"

"Spirit Hall? Weren't they supposed to protect Tower Master Qin? Why have the assassins disappeared while they started fighting each other instead?"

"Tower Master Qin broke through to Eight Rings? But... can a Soul Douluo really unleash an attack like this?"

This incomparably terrifying Sword Qi directly shook all of Spirit City, as well as every soul master within it.

With a single sword strike, the winds and clouds for miles around changed, while mountains and rivers trembled.

The aura carried by the Sword Qi was like mountains and seas, like gales and monstrous waves, as though it would devour all things in its path.

The surrounding air was ignited by the whistling Sword Qi, instantly becoming unbearably scorching.

It was a devastating force capable of destroying everything, so powerful that it left people unable to even muster the thought of resisting.

Wherever it passed, all things turned to ash!

"Th-the power of this attack... We can't stop it! Quick! Get out of the way..."

As Bibi Dong watched the golden radiance draw near, panic appeared in her eyes for the first time.

She could clearly sense that this sword strike was even stronger than the hammer blow Tang Hao had used to repel all seven of them earlier.

Such an attack could not be confronted head-on!

But how could Qin Shiyuan's all-out sword strike be avoided merely because they wished to avoid it?

In an instant, the golden light contained within that immense Sword Qi suddenly flared brilliantly.

For a time, the five people's fleeing steps seemed to sink into a swamp, and their movements became exceptionally sluggish.

"Damn it! There's no time!"

Left with no choice, Bibi Dong gritted her teeth and decisively turned around.

At the same time, her Fifth Soul Skill and ninth red Spirit Ring suddenly lit up.

"Death Spider Emperor, Fifth Soul Skill—Thousand Blade Ten Thousand Shields!"

"Death Spider Emperor, Ninth Spirit Ability—Immortal Body!"

The moment her Spirit Rings lit up, a dark purple vortex rapidly appeared beneath Bibi Dong's feet.

Countless steel legs of the Death Spider Emperor surged out from it, gathering before her to form an impregnable giant shield.

But that was not all. As the second Hundred Thousand Year Spirit Ring lit up, the Ninth Spirit Ability activated.

Behind the giant shield, Bibi Dong's body suddenly became incomparably illusory.

It was as though she had transformed into incorporeal energy—powerful and ethereal.

The might of a Hundred Thousand Year Spirit Ability went without saying.

In this form, unless she suffered an attack at the level of a true god, it would be absolutely impossible to kill her.

This move was Bibi Dong's ultimate life-saving ability.

Even when facing Tang Hao's hammer blow earlier, she had been nowhere near desperate enough to use it.

Yet now, the warning in her heart told her—

Without this move, she... would truly die beneath the sword of a mere Eight-ringed Soul Douluo!

"Rumble!"

The Sword Qi finally arrived, rolling forward and crushing everything in its path.

With an aura that could pulverize all things, it crashed head-on into the five people who, like ants, foolishly tried to stop a chariot with their arms.

"Bang!"

In less than two seconds, the giant shield before Bibi Dong instantly shattered.

The sharp Spider Lances were as fragile as tofu at this moment.

The Sword Qi concealed within the golden radiance tore them into thousands upon thousands of tiny fragments.

"So powerful!"

Bibi Dong's expression instantly turned ashen. She was not afraid of this strike, but what about the other four Spirit Hall elders beside her?

No one understood her subordinates' capabilities better than she did. The odds of these worthless fools surviving this attack were minuscule!

After this sword strike, even if the remaining four did not die, they would be half-crippled.

Losing four Titled Douluo-level pawns at once was something Bibi Dong did not even dare imagine, much less accept.

"Get behind me, all of you! Use every defensive Spirit Ability you have!"

"Martial Soul Avatar, Death Spider Emperor!"

Bibi Dong clenched her pearly teeth. She would rather suffer some injuries herself than lose what little fighting strength Spirit Hall still possessed.

"Fourth Soul Skill, Thorn Spider Armor!"

"Fifth Soul Skill, Thousand Blade Ten Thousand Shields!"

After activating her Martial Soul Avatar, the defensive strength of Bibi Dong's defense-type Soul Skills rose several levels at once.

Yet the giant shield that formed before her only lasted three breaths longer than before.

With another "bang," the giant shield shattered again without any suspense.

Clad in bone armor, Bibi Dong immediately released Soul Power around her body to contend against it.

The other four elders finally unleashed every life-saving Soul Skill they could use as well.

Although Qin Shiyuan's Sword Qi had already been weakened twice by Bibi Dong,

to such a colossal force, that little obstruction was hardly worth mentioning.

It had lost only twenty to thirty percent of its power, while its remaining might was still terrifying.

The golden radiance descended. In that instant, the entire continent seemed to be enveloped by this Sword Qi.

Endless golden light pierced the heavens, soaring into the sky with an unstoppable aura.

Silence!

The entirety of Spirit City seemed to fall into deathly silence at once.

Every sound and every movement came to a halt at that moment.

Only the rumbling of the golden Sword Qi echoed through the air...

No one knew how much time passed before the dust lingering in the air dispersed.

At the center of the battlefield, only one figure remained standing—Bibi Dong.

Yet at this moment, Bibi Dong no longer possessed even a trace of the Pope's dignity.

The crown that represented her power and status had been blasted away to who knew where.

Her beautiful hair hung loose and disheveled. Her throat suddenly sweetened, and she unexpectedly spat out a mouthful of blood.

Without even stopping to regulate her breathing, Bibi Dong immediately looked behind her.

What she saw instantly made her expression turn utterly livid.

The four elders were in far more miserable condition than their Pope.

Ghost Leopard Douluo, a level 93 agility-attack type, no longer had any breath left.

Because his defense had been weak to begin with, only half of his body remained.

The other three were not much better.

Aside from Magic Bear Douluo, whose stronger physique allowed him to remain conscious, the other two had already fallen unconscious from grievous injuries.

Most horrifyingly, there was nothing left beneath their right sleeves.

On the other battlefield some distance away, Sword Douluo Chen Xin had stopped wielding his Seven Kill Sword in that pretentious manner at some unknown point.

As if possessed, he stared fixedly at the lingering aftermath of Qin Shiyuan's sword strike, his eyes full of shock.

Gradually, the shock in his expression turned into admiration... then fervor...

After an unknown amount of time, a cracking sound suddenly came from within his chest.

The shackle that had bound his heart for decades seemed to develop countless fine cracks at this moment...

Another cry from the Seven Kill Sword awakened Chen Xin. This time, as he looked at Qin Shiyuan, his gaze gradually became firm...