"Beng'er!!" Xue Ye's eyes nearly split with rage as he let out an anguished wail. Xue Beng was his child, after all—one of the only two he had left! No matter how mischievous or spoiled he was, he couldn't just die like this.
Yet this was only the beginning.
Xiao Yu's gaze was as cold as ice that had endured for ten thousand years as it fixed on Xue Xing, who was slumped on the ground.
"Your turn."
Xue Xing looked up in terror and saw a wind blade, its edge wreathed in devastating crimson flames, rapidly growing larger in his field of vision!
He didn't even have time to react.
"Shhk—!"
The wind blade swept past, and a fountain of blood erupted!
Prince Xue Xing's well-kept head flew high into the air, his face frozen in an expression of utter terror and disbelief.
His headless body stood rigid for a moment before crumpling to the ground. Warm blood quickly stained the earth beneath him.
Xue Xing, prince of the Heaven Dou Empire, was dead!
In the space of a few short breaths, both an imperial prince and a royal heir had perished beneath Xiao Yu's judgment!
The entire Heaven Dou Imperial Palace sank into deathly silence.
Only the night wind's mournful wail and the faint sound of blood dripping from Yu Yi's claws onto the ground could be heard.
Everyone's expressions had frozen, fear, shock, bewilderment... a tangle of complicated emotions.
The four Soul Saints looked ashen and didn't dare even breathe too loudly.
They knew that the slightest rash move might bring utter destruction upon them.
Xiao Yu's gaze swept slowly over the people below, who were too frightened to make a sound, and the Soul Saints in the air, who dared not move. At last, it settled on Qian Renxue, who had hurried to the outskirts, her expression deeply conflicted and grim.
He knew this might make things difficult for Qian Renxue, but he wouldn't regret it. If he hadn't been strong enough back then, he would have been the one to die.
His mental voice spread calmly, ringing clearly in everyone's minds:
"Blood debts have been paid. Our karma is settled."
"I am Yu, of the Holy Wing King Clan—the leader of all winged beings beneath the heavens. If anyone dares to lay a hand on me or my kind again—"
His voice suddenly turned icy. The light of his ice-and-fire wings blazed, and a terrifying pressure swept out once more like a tsunami, leaving everyone almost unable to breathe. "No matter how strong they are, I will kill them! No matter how far away they flee, I will hunt them down!"
"Hah! What an arrogant boast!"
Xiao Yu's declaration—"No matter how strong they are, I will kill them! No matter how far away they flee, I will hunt them down!"—had barely faded.
A terrifying pressure utterly unlike his own—cold, overbearing, and filled with the stench of poison and decay—erupted from some shadowy corner deep within the palace like an invisible venomous python, tearing through the frozen air in an instant!
A streak of dark green light, wrapped in deadly poison, shot straight toward Xiao Yu in midair, just after he had folded his wings, as if he had let his guard down now that his declaration was over!
Poison Douluo, Dugu Bo!
He really was in Heaven Dou City! How could he sit by while the imperial experts were attacked, princes and heirs were slain, and the Heaven Dou Empire suffered such a humiliating blow to its prestige? What's more, Xue Xing was a close friend of his!
The sudden ambush was timed with vicious precision. It came just as Xiao Yu's voice fell and his pressure seemed to subside!
The attack was aimed straight at Xiao Yu's vitals. Dugu Bo clearly intended to kill him with a single strike and restore some face for Prince Xue Xing and the imperial family!
The crowd below erupted in terrified screams. Even the three surviving Soul Saints turned pale and instinctively retreated.
A Titled Douluo's furious strike was truly terrifying!
Yet Xiao Yu, hovering in the air, showed no surprise in his deep, abyssal eyes, where the stars of ice and fire shimmered. Instead, a cold, mocking look of understanding flickered through them.
"I've been waiting for you, old poisoner!"
His enormous body didn't even turn, as if he had eyes in the back of his head!
Just as the dark green poisonous light was about to hit him—
"Hum!"
The space within three inches of Xiao Yu's body seemed to freeze! A layer of pure water, formless yet incredibly resilient, appeared out of nowhere, forming a crystal-clear barrier that shielded him completely!
[Water Curtain Heaven Splendor]!
This was one of the new water-attribute abilities he had gained after absorbing the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Fruit. It had a natural, powerful ability to purify and defend against energy strikes, especially those involving poison!
Hiss—!!
The dark green light, carrying the deadly poison of Dugu Bo's ninth Soul Skill, [Jade Phosphorous Divine Light], slammed into the watery barrier!
The barrier didn't shatter, nor did the poison seep into his body as expected.
The terrifying poison, powerful enough to make even Titled Douluo wary, made a violent sizzling sound like hot oil poured onto snow the instant it touched the pure water curtain!
The barrier shuddered violently, its light flickering, but it withstood the fatal strike without being pierced!
"What?!" Dugu Bo, hidden in the shadows, drew his pupils tight. For the first time, disbelief and shock appeared on his aged face.
His Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor's poison had actually been blocked?! And purified by such pure water-attribute power?!
In the instant Dugu Bo's mind was shaken, Xiao Yu's counterattack was already upon him!
"After ambushing me, you think you can just leave? You're going to pay for that!"
Xiao Yu spun around. His enormous left wing swept out with a shrill whistle that tore through the air!
"Storm Eye!"
Rumble!
A terrifying vortex dozens of meters across formed instantly, centered on Xiao Yu!
Dugu Bo had just unleashed his ninth Soul Skill and was caught between the end of his strength and the renewal of his reserves. He was instantly sucked into the violent Storm Eye!
"Not good!" Dugu Bo's face changed. His Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor Martial Soul Avatar appeared at once, a gigantic dark green serpent coiling around him as he desperately resisted the terrifying pull and the ice-and-fire wind blades coming from every direction!
Tear! Tear!
Even protected by his Martial Soul Avatar, he couldn't escape the sharp wind blades infused with ice and fire. They carved deep gashes into the enormous phantom of the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor, scattering flecks of dark green Soul Power!
Bone-chilling cold and scorching heat assaulted him in turns. Already deeply poisoned, Dugu Bo felt his blood and energy roil, and his Soul Power briefly faltered!
"Ugh!" Dugu Bo grunted and forcibly unleashed his Soul Power. Dark green poisonous fog erupted from the serpent's mouth like a volcano, attempting to corrode and disperse the storm.
However, the core of the Storm Eye's suction was too powerful. The poisonous fog was sucked into its heart the instant it emerged, torn to shreds by the rapidly spinning wind blades and water vapor imbued with purifying power. It only dispersed even faster!
"Get lost!"
Xiao Yu barked coldly. His right wing followed close behind, sweeping out a massive [Vacuum Slash] with a crimson-flaming edge and an icy blue, crystalline core, like a blade that could split the heavens. It hacked toward Dugu Bo, who was struggling to hold on inside the storm!
Feeling the terrifying sharpness that could seriously wound him, Dugu Bo no longer dared hold anything back. A pained look flashed across his face as he abruptly struck his chest and spat out a mouthful of blood essence flecked with golden light!
"Jade Phosphorous True Body, escape!"
The dark green serpent phantom instantly solidified, then burst apart, transforming into a cloud of poisonous fog.
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