Mighty Lion Douluo Challenges, Zhang Fei Accepts the Battle!

(Ning Rongrong portrait)

"First... so powerful... so young... and so handsome..."

Ning Rongrong bit her lower lip, her eyes gleaming with determination as her little hands clenched tightly into fists.

"No! I have to win him over! Tonight... tonight, I must find a way to win over Master!

If I become Master's wife... wouldn't that make me the companion of the continent's strongest...?"

The beautiful fantasy made her cheeks flush even deeper, and her breathing quickened.

Beside her, Zhu Zhuqing was likewise plunged into immense shock.

She thought more deeply than Ning Rongrong did.

Lin Jiang's strength had completely exceeded her imagination.

So this was the towering, insurmountable peak they wished to join.

"Creation God Legacy... first on the Soul Master Ranking..."

Zhu Zhuqing repeated softly. A trace of confusion flickered in her cool eyes, but it was swiftly replaced by an even deeper resolve.

No matter how powerful Master was, this was her only chance to escape her fate.

But...

Ning Rongrong's bold "speculations" from earlier, along with the vague words she had overheard that night, surfaced uncontrollably in her mind.

Could it be... that special "cultivation method" Rongrong mentioned was the real reason Master and his powerful subordinates were so strong?

Her cheeks reddened slightly as well, and her heartbeat inexplicably accelerated.

If that really was the case... to become stronger, to take control of my own fate... I...

Just as the golden radiance gradually faded and everyone's hearts wavered—

"Boom!"

A heavy stomp, like a massive drum being struck, violently shattered the unsettling silence!

At the front of Spirit Hall's camp, that burly figure seemingly forged from blazing flames took a heavy step forward!

The specially reinforced ground, hard enough to withstand clashes between Titled Douluo,

was stamped with fine spiderweb cracks beneath his foot. Scorching air waves burst outward from under his feet, sweeping up gusts of searing wind.

It was none other than the Fourth Elder, Mighty Lion Douluo!

His beard and hair bristled, his crimson hair blazing like fire. In his huge, bell-like eyes burned unyielding battle intent and a nearly fanatical ferocity.

He stared fixedly at the still calm and composed Lin Jiang in the distance, his voice exploding like thunder across the arena:

"The Heavenly Ranking is the Heavenly Ranking! The arena is the arena!"

"Since your King's Hall dared to set up this arena and establish the rule that the one with lower Soul Power must fight, don't blame Spirit Hall for following the rules!"

He abruptly raised his pillar-thick arm and pointed at the center of the arena. His voice rose even higher, filled with unquestionable arrogance:

"Today, I will seize a Divine Artifact for Spirit Hall on this arena!"

"Hall Master Lin! Send someone out to fight!"

His roar rolled forth like the bellow of a Blazing Lion, instantly jolting many people awake from their shock and fear over the Heavenly Ranking.

That was right! No matter how high the Heavenly Ranking was, it was determined by the Heavenly Dao. But this arena before them was a real battlefield!

The rules King's Hall had set themselves were their greatest weakness!

Mighty Lion Douluo, Level 97!

King's Hall had to send out an opponent at Level 96 or below!

The absolute difference in Soul Power Level was a chasm that no strange ability could fully bridge!

Countless gazes once again focused on Lin Jiang, filled with tension, anticipation, schadenfreude, or deep concern.

Upon hearing this, the calm smile on Lin Jiang's face did not change in the slightest.

He neither looked at the aggressive Mighty Lion Douluo nor paid any attention to the varied gazes around him.

He merely turned his head slightly toward the still-open gates of King's Hall, deep as the maw of some colossal beast, and casually called out:

"Yide."

His voice was not loud, yet it clearly carried across the entire venue.

"Hahaha! This Zhang has been waiting for a long time!"

What answered him was wild laughter, like rolling thunder streaking through the sky, brimming with bold and heroic spirit!

"Boom!"

A burly figure as black as ink, wreathed in dark crimson baleful currents,

shot out from the shadows within the gates like a launched meteor and crashed heavily onto the arena!

The newcomer had a leopard's head, round eyes, a swallow's jaw, and tiger-like beard. He wore simple black chainmail that nonetheless exuded an endless primordial savagery.

The exposed muscles of his arms coiled like dragons, filled with explosive power.

Most striking of all was the weapon in his hand—a lance eighteen feet long, its spearhead curved like a venomous snake flicking out its tongue, its entire body pitch-black.

Only along its edge flowed a thread of chilling light that made hearts tremble. It was the Eighteen-Foot Snake Lance!

The moment he appeared, his unruly, wild, tyrannical aura crashed fiercely against Mighty Lion Douluo's scorching savagery.

It was as though invisible sparks were crackling and exploding in the air!

Si Kong Zhen's voice boomed like thunder as he announced at just the right moment, opening the curtain on this battle destined to be brutal:

"This is King's Hall's Level 95 Assault Type Titled Douluo, bearing the title 'Tiger Soul'—Zhang Fei, Zhang Yide!"

"Level 95?!"

"Two whole levels below Mighty Lion Douluo?!"

"King's Hall... actually sent a Level 95 to face the Level 97 Lion Elder?!"

The crowd below instantly erupted into an uproar!

Though they knew King's Hall would send someone with lower Soul Power, a two-level gap at the Peak Douluo level was nearly an uncrossable gulf!

What was more, Mighty Lion Douluo was a fierce warrior renowned for his berserk strength and ferocious attacks!

"Hahahaha! What a joke! An absolute joke!"

Mighty Lion Douluo froze for a moment, then burst into deafening laughter.

His laughter was filled with undisguised contempt and the smugness of certain victory.

"Level 95 against Level 97? Hall Master Lin, does your King's Hall have no one left?

Or do you think this Lion's fists aren't hard enough, so you're offering me a Divine Artifact to warm my hands?!"

Faced with Mighty Lion Douluo's mockery, Zhang Fei not only did not get angry, but instead grinned broadly, revealing a mouthful of stark white teeth.

Ferocious light flashed from his round eyes. He casually swung the Eighteen-Foot Snake Lance, its tip pointing directly at Mighty Lion Douluo's nose, his voice resounding like a great bell:

"You're nothing but a marked target waiting to be beheaded, yet you dare bark wildly here?!"

"Taking your head amid a million troops would be as easy as reaching into a bag for something!"

"What did you say?! You're courting death!"

Mighty Lion Douluo had never suffered such humiliation, especially from someone whose Soul Power was far below his own. He immediately flew into a rage as crimson blazing Soul Power erupted around him like a volcanic explosion!

"Martial Soul Avatar! Blazing Lion!"

Amid his roar, a terrifying lion phantom ten zhang tall, formed entirely of raging dark crimson flames, rose fiercely behind him!

Its mane danced madly like flames, its claws tore at the void, and the scorching heat caused even the barrier around the arena to distort slightly!

That destructive aura turned the faces of many watching Soul Saints and Soul Douluo pale, forcing them to retreat again and again.

"Good! Let this Sick Cat see what the real thing looks like!"

Zhang Fei roared, utterly fearless and even brimming with the eager excitement of a hunter who had found worthy prey.

"Seventh Soul Skill! Eighteen-Foot Snake Lance True Body!"

"Roar—!"

The Eighteen-Foot Snake Lance in his hand blazed with Dark Light and instantly expanded, transforming into a primordial giant lance that seemed capable of piercing the heavens!