The Great Battle Begins

Seven days later, deep in the night, at the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

Fireflies danced across the sky, illuminating the pitch-black night as disciples of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect patrolled the perimeter with meticulous care.

Ling Chen stood atop the city walls of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, surveying the surroundings, a large bell positioned beside him.

His trembling hand gripped the Green Steel Sword, forged from condensed Martial Soul Origin; the moment his killing intent sense picked up a threat, Ling Chen would strike the bell with the sword to alert the sect disciples.

Over these seven days, disciples stationed outside had returned to the sect one after another, and the sect had made extensive deployments to protect Ling Chen.

Yet Ling Chen knew better than anyone that relying on others was inferior to relying on oneself; the iron law of Slaughter City held just as true here.

"They're here!"

As a signal flare soared into the distance and exploded into the shape of a brilliant Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, Ling Chen's Green Steel Sword slammed violently against the bell.

"Dong! Dong! Dong!"

The tolling was deafening. Ling Chen covered his ears and leaped off the wall, vanishing into the darkness outside.

Hearing the alarm, the disciples took their positions on the walls, Godly Zhuge Crossbows in hand, ready to strike.

"They really came!"

Chen Xin and Gu Rong soared into the sky, quickly spotting a sea of black-robed soul masters approaching the walls step by step.

"Attack!"

Chen Xin and Gu Rong seized the initiative. Before the black shadows could draw near, Ten Thousand Swords Return to Origin and a sky full of bone spikes rained down upon them as if they cost nothing.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

In just a fleeting moment, the vanguard of Martial Soul Hall was decimated, with nearly several thousand soul masters losing their lives.

"Damn it! How are their reactions so fast?"

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 hovering above the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

"Everyone, finish this quickly!"

Snake Lance Douluo hurled his snake lance with all his might, intending to breach the wall and let the soul masters behind him storm inside.

However, a bone dragon caught the flying lance in its jaws. With a slight exertion of force, the bone dragon crushed the weapon into fragments.

"Gu Rong! Do you truly think the two of you alone can defend the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect?"

Shadow Douluo and Bone Armor Douluo appeared behind Snake Lance Douluo, looking at Gu Rong and Chen Xin with mocking expressions.

"Martial Soul Hall is truly extravagant, dispatching four Title Douluo at once. It seems your ambitions are not small."

Ning Fengzhi stood on the wall, his Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda radiating a dazzling light, as if trying to ignite the dark night.

"Seventh Soul Skill—Martial Soul True Body!"

Since he had to face four Title Douluo simultaneously, Ning Fengzhi could not simply stand by and watch.

Several streams of light surged into the bodies of Chen Xin and Gu Rong, causing their attributes to stack exponentially.

"As expected of the strongest support-type sect among the Upper Three Sects. If His Holiness the Pope does not annihilate you, I fear he will never achieve his grand cause!"

As the words fell, Bone Armor Douluo and Shadow Douluo charged forward, attempting to pin down Gu Rong and Chen Xin.

This would allow Snake Lance Douluo to breach the wall, while Spirit Kite Douluo could rain down Fire Feather Meteor from the sky to devastate the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

The Godly Zhuge Crossbows on the walls fired incessantly, the rain of arrows instantly drowning the low-level soul masters of Martial Soul Hall.

While both sides were focused on a life-or-death struggle, one person was happily cleaning up the battlefield.

"More, give me more!"

Ling Chen looted and ran, occasionally delivering a finishing blow to those who weren't quite dead yet.

It had to be said, the quality of Martial Soul Hall's low-level soul masters was quite decent; basically, a level 21 Soul Grand Master provided 60 to 70 points of Martial Soul Origin.

Of course, a great battle had also begun over at the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.

Regrettably, Yu Yuanzhen had not adopted the suggestions in Yu Xiaogang's letter. In the eyes of the other elders, when had a mutated martial soul like Luo Sanpao ever been on equal footing with the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon?

The clan's own unyielding arrogance destined them to walk toward destruction this time.

Inside the Dragon Pillar Space, the Golden Dragon and White Dragon were busy beyond measure, while only the Black Dragon Pillar remained in slumber.

What could be done? Soul bones were such rare items that even Title Douluo could rarely assemble a full set.

"Sigh, poor Black Dragon!"

Ling Chen's Peerless Domain gradually expanded. Every soul master from Martial Soul Hall felt themselves suppressed by an inexplicable force, their total attributes dropping by 41%.

For every level Ling Chen gained, the upper limit of his Peerless Domain increased by 1%. By integrating killing intent into the domain, he could achieve a terrifying 82% reduction in enemy attributes and an 82% increase in his own.

In this state, Ling Chen could actually trade blows with the current Shrek Seven Devils. Of course, only trade blows.

At his current level, it would be a miracle if he didn't get beaten to a pulp.

An hour later, the Douluo on both sides remained in a stalemate. However, it was clear that Chen Xin was suppressing all four Title Douluo, while Gu Rong focused on preventing the soul masters below the Title Douluo rank from breaching the wall.

Outside the walls of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, a vast vacuum zone had been carved out by the fighting; the ground was littered with corpses, yet a small, dark shadow could be seen weaving through them.

Spirit Kite Douluo, high in the sky, quickly spotted Ling Chen looting the bodies, comparing his appearance to the portrait etched in her mind.

Although a year had passed and Ling Chen's features had changed slightly, Spirit Kite Douluo still recognized the child.

"Li Tianyi? To think he would be here. We should have guessed it sooner; with a sword-type martial soul, he ought to have taken this Sword Douluo as his master."

Chen Xin, hearing Spirit Kite speak his disciple's name and deduce their relationship, felt a jolt of alarm in his heart.

If Li Tianyi were to fall into their hands, the consequences would be unthinkable; they could even use him as leverage.

Just as Spirit Kite Douluo dove down, intending to seize Ling Chen, her movements stalled, and she performed an abrupt stop before flying back.

She had just brushed against a domain—a terrifyingly formidable domain! Even for a Title Douluo like her, stepping into it would cause all her attributes to drop by 41%.

"What is the matter, Spirit Kite Douluo? Are you actually afraid of a mere Bone Dragon Douluo?"

Snake Lance Douluo and Shadow Douluo were doing their best to stall Chen Xin, assuming Spirit Kite Douluo was afraid of losing to Gu Rong.

Spirit Kite Douluo watched Gu Rong with a wary expression, also believing he was the one behind it. Seeing their reactions, Gu Rong could not help but laugh out loud.

He had experienced Ling Chen's domain himself; innocent as he was, even he had been affected by Ling Chen's Peerless Domain while commentating on a tournament.

Right now, those fellows from Martial Soul Hall would never imagine that such a terrifying domain was controlled by Ling Chen.

"I say, you mangy chicken, it's one thing that you can't beat Chen Xin, but why are you afraid of me?"

"Shut your mouth! What kind of trickery have you used? Everything was clearly under our control; you shouldn't even have known about the Soul Hunting Plan!"

Spirit Kite Douluo was already flushed with rage; they had been fighting for a full hour, yet they still hadn't breached the sect's walls.

This was a significant blow to the face of Martial Soul Hall. With ten thousand soul masters deployed and four Title Douluo taking the field, they should have, by all logic, leveled the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

But as it stood...

Though the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had suffered casualties, compared to the losses of Martial Soul Hall, they were hardly worth mentioning.