Seven days later, late at night, at the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
Fireflies danced across the sky, lighting up the pitch-black night as disciples of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect patrolled carefully outside the sect.
Ling Chen stood atop the sect's walls, surveying the surroundings. A large bell stood beside him.
His trembling hand gripped the Green Steel Sword, condensed from his Martial Soul Origin. The moment his Killing Intent Perception detected someone, Ling Chen would strike the bell with the sword to alert the sect's disciples.
Over these seven days, disciples who had been away from the sect had returned one after another, and the sect had made many preparations to protect Ling Chen.
But Ling Chen knew that relying on himself was better than relying on others. That ironclad rule of Slaughter City held true here as well.
"They're here!"
As a signal flare soared into the distance and burst into a dazzling Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, Ling Chen struck the bell hard with the Green Steel Sword.
"Dong! Dong! Dong!"
The bell's peals shook the heavens. Ling Chen covered his ears, leaped down from the wall, jumped outside the sect, and hid in the darkness.
The disciples who heard the bell hurried onto the walls with their Godly Zhuge Crossbows, ready to fire.
"They really came!"
Chen Xin and Gu Rong shot into the sky. Before long, they spotted a mass of black-robed Soul Masters advancing step by step toward the walls, not far away.
"Attack!"
Chen Xin and Gu Rong struck first. Before the shadows could draw near, Myriad Swords Return to Origin and a storm of bone spikes rained down on them as if they cost nothing.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
In mere moments, a huge swath of Spirit Hall's vanguard had been wiped out. Nearly several thousand Soul Masters perished there.
"Damn it! How did they react so quickly?"
Spirit Kite Douluo unfurled her flaming wings, dodging the bone spikes and flying swords hurtling toward her.
At the same time, Snake Lance Douluo, leading the charge, spotted Chen Xin and Gu Rong in the sky above the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
"Everyone, finish this quickly!"
Snake Lance Douluo hurled the Snake Lance in his hand, trying to breach the wall and let the Soul Masters behind him charge inside.
But a Bone Dragon clamped its jaws around the incoming Snake Lance. The Bone Dragon applied a little pressure, and the lance was crushed to pieces.
"Gu Rong! Do you think the two of you alone can protect the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect?"
Shadow Douluo and Bone Armor Douluo came up behind Snake Lance Douluo, looking at Gu Rong and Chen Xin with mocking smiles.
"Spirit Hall, what a grand show of force. You've sent four Titled Douluos at once. It seems your ambitions really are great."
Ning Fengzhi stood atop the wall. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda in his hand radiated dazzling light, as if to illuminate the pitch-black night.
"Seventh Soul Skill—Martial Soul Avatar!"
Since they were facing four Titled Douluos at once, Ning Fengzhi couldn't simply stand by and watch.
Several streams of light entered Chen Xin and Gu Rong, causing their attributes to begin multiplying exponentially.
"As expected of the strongest support-type sect among the Upper Three Sects. If His Holiness the Pope doesn't destroy you, his great undertaking will be difficult to achieve!"
As soon as the words fell, Bone Armor Douluo and Shadow Douluo charged forward, hoping to tie down Gu Rong and Chen Xin first.
That would let Snake Lance Douluo breach the wall, while Spirit Kite Douluo could rain down Fire Feather Meteor from the sky and wreak havoc on the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"
The Godly Zhuge Crossbows on the walls fired arrow after arrow. A downpour of arrows instantly swallowed up the low-ranked Soul Masters charging for Spirit Hall.
While both sides focused all their attention on fighting to the death, one person was cheerfully looting the battlefield.
"Bring me more! Bring me more!"
Ling Chen grabbed what he could and ran. If any of them weren't quite dead yet, he finished them off.
Spirit Hall's low-ranked Soul Masters were pretty decent, he had to admit. A Soul Grandmaster at level 21 usually had around 60 to 70 points of Martial Soul Origin.
Of course, the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan had also entered a fierce battle.
Unfortunately, Yu Yuanzhen hadn't taken Yu Xiaogang's advice in his letter. In the eyes of the other elders, how could a Mutated Martial Soul like Luo Sanpao ever stand alongside the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon as an equal?
The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon's own haughty pride had doomed them to destruction this time.
Inside Dragon Pillar Space, the Golden Dragon and White Dragon were busier than ever, while the Black Dragon Pillar remained asleep.
What could they do? Soul Bones were so rare that even a Titled Douluo might not be able to gather a full set.
"Alas, poor Black Dragon!"
Ling Chen's Peerless Domain gradually spread. The Spirit Hall Soul Masters all felt themselves being suppressed by some mysterious force, their attributes dropping to 41%.
With each level Ling Chen gained, the upper limit of his Peerless Domain increased by 1%. By merging his killing intent into the domain, he could bring about a terrifying 82% reduction to all enemy attributes, along with an 82% boost to his own.
In this state, Ling Chen could take on the current Shrek Seven Devils. Of course, he could only put up a fight.
At his current level, not getting beaten to a pulp would be good enough.
An hour later, the Titled Douluos on both sides were still locked in a stalemate. But it was clear that Chen Xin was suppressing all four enemy Titled Douluos, while Gu Rong was preventing the Soul Masters below their rank from breaking through the walls.
A huge empty zone had been carved out beyond the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's walls. Corpses littered the ground, yet a small black figure could be seen darting among them.
Spirit Kite Douluo in the sky soon spotted Ling Chen looting the bodies. She compared him to the image in her mind.
Although a year had passed and Ling Chen's appearance had changed somewhat, Spirit Kite Douluo still recognized him.
"Li Tianyi? He's actually here. We should have thought of it sooner. With a Sword Martial Soul, he should have become this Sword Douluo's disciple."
Hearing Spirit Kite mention his disciple's name and deducing their relationship, Chen Xin couldn't help but feel alarmed.
If Li Tianyi fell into their hands, the consequences would be unthinkable. They might even use him as leverage.
Just as Spirit Kite Douluo flew down to capture Ling Chen, she halted, executed an abrupt stop, and flew back.
She had just touched a domain—a terrifying one! Even she, a Titled Douluo, would suffer a 41% decrease to all her attributes if she stepped into it.
"What's wrong, Spirit Kite Douluo? Don't tell me you're afraid of a Bone Dragon Douluo?"
Snake Lance Douluo and Shadow Douluo did their best to keep Chen Xin occupied. They thought Spirit Kite Douluo was afraid she couldn't beat Gu Rong.
Spirit Kite Douluo watched Gu Rong warily, believing he was behind it. Seeing their expressions, Gu Rong couldn't help laughing.
He had experienced Ling Chen's domain himself. Even when he'd innocently been commentating on a tournament match, Ling Chen's Peerless Domain had affected him.
Now, those people from Spirit Hall had no idea that Ling Chen was the one in control of such a terrifying domain.
"Hey, you chicken, fine, you can't beat Chen Xin, but why are you afraid of me too?"
"Shut up! What trick did you use? Everything was clearly under our control. You didn't even know about the Soul Hunting Plan!"
Spirit Kite Douluo was already furious with embarrassment. They had been fighting for a full hour, and still hadn't breached the sect's walls.
This was a serious blow to Spirit Hall's reputation. They had mobilized ten thousand Soul Masters and sent four Titled Douluos into battle. By rights, they should have trampled the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
But now...
The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had suffered casualties, but compared with Spirit Hall's losses, they were practically negligible.
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