"Madman!"
Nan Feng wanted to force an attack and finish him off, but the next second, a strange red glow suddenly lit up across the Great Elder's body.
Whoosh!
The Great Elder's figure crossed a thousand meters in an instant, appearing right in front of Nan Feng!
Nan Feng: "??!"
What the hell!? A point-blank self-destruct?!
"Sect Master! Run!!!"
The Great Elder turned around and let out the final roar of his life at Tang Xiao:
"Protect the Clear Sky Sect's bloodline!! Go!!!"
Before his words had even faded—
RUMBLE------!!!!!!
How terrifying was the self-destruction of a Peak Soul Douluo, burning up his entire life, Soul Power, and soul?!
In that instant, heaven and earth fell silent.
A gigantic mushroom cloud rose into the sky, and the terrifying shock wave tore apart the surrounding Gray Mist Domain, blasting a huge hole through that deathly still space!
"Pfft—!!"
Bibi Dong (Nan Feng), at the very center of the explosion, was protected by the Dual Emperor Fusion Skill, but even so, the terrifying blast at such close range sent her blood and Qi roiling. She was hurled thousands of meters away and slammed hard into a mountain!
"His Holiness the Pope!!!"
Chrysanthemum and Ghost were aghast.
Qian Xunji had only been dead for a few days. If the new Pope died here too, the two of them might as well not return to Spirit Hall and go smash their heads against a block of tofu!
The two no longer cared about anything else and raced frantically toward the place where Bibi Dong had fallen.
"Great Elder!!!"
Tang Xiao looked at the empty center of the explosion, where not even a scrap of bone remained. His eyes instantly reddened, and he let out a heart-wrenching howl of grief.
But he knew there was no time to hesitate.
"Go!!"
Tang Xiao forced down his grief, spun around, and swung the Clear Sky Hammer in his hand, brimming with fury, straight at Demon Bear Douluo, who was standing below with a bewildered look on his face.
"Get out of my way!!"
Boom!
Demon Bear Douluo was sent flying backward, coughing up blood from that blow packed with grief and rage. How could he possibly dare to block them now?
"Retreat!! Everyone, retreat!!"
Tang Xiao's voice was hoarse and urgent. He knew full well that the Great Elder had traded his life for this chance to escape—and for the Clear Sky Sect's last hope of survival.
The gruesome deaths of the Fifth Elder and Sixth Elder were still fresh in everyone's minds. Bibi Dong in that state was practically an invincible god of death!
She'd been blasted away, but who knew if she was dead?
They had to run!
"Retreat! Hurry!"
Tai Tan was also stricken with grief, but he knew this wasn't the time to play the hero. The Great Elder had even self-destructed; if they stayed, they'd only be throwing their lives away.
The Clear Sky Sect's few remaining elders and disciples, along with the remnants of the Strength Clan, seized the chaos and fled madly toward the northern mountains like stray dogs.
Meanwhile, on Spirit Hall's side—
With Bibi Dong blasted away and her fate unknown, Chrysanthemum and Ghost Douluo rushing off to save their master, and Demon Bear Douluo dazed by Tang Xiao's furious hammer blow, the Spirit Hall army was left without a leader. It fell into complete disarray, unable to organize any effective pursuit. All they could do was watch the Clear Sky Sect's remnants disappear into the distance.
Several thousand meters away, amid the ruins of the forest—
A huge sphere of dark energy lay quietly among the rubble, like a giant egg from the abyss.
Crack—
At a soft click, a fissure appeared across the surface of the dark sphere. It then slowly peeled away like an eggshell, dissolving into the air.
Bibi Dong stepped out.
She brushed nonexistent dust off her Purple Gold Battle Armor. Apart from her slightly disheveled hair and the pallor of her face from Soul Power depletion, she was completely unharmed!
"Madmen. What a bunch of madmen."
In the Sea of Consciousness, Nan Feng rubbed his aching head and cursed, "Are all the people from the Clear Sky Sect packing gunpowder in their skulls? Do they think they're hand grenades? They just go and blow themselves up?"
"If this Emperor hadn't been quick-witted and pulled all our Soul Power back at the last second to make that Dual Emperor Egg, blocking that old geezer's point-blank ultimate..."
"We wouldn't have been taken out by that old geezer, but if we'd tanked that blast head-on, with how high our attack and low our defense were just now, we wouldn't be able to fight anyone for ten days or half a month."
"Dual Emperor Egg?"
Bibi Dong had been feeling a little relieved to have survived, but at the name, the vein at her temple instantly began to twitch.
"Nan Feng, is there something wrong with your taste in names?"
"The earlier Samsara Death Realm wasn't too bad. A little chuuni, but still imposing. But what in the world was Dongfeng Break? And now this... Dual Emperor Egg?"
"Could you stop naming things so carelessly?"
"Tsk, you don't know how to appreciate it," Nan Feng retorted with righteous indignation. "What's wrong with Dongfeng Break? Bibi Dong and Nan Feng—put them together and you get Dongfeng. And to show how much I care about you, and how high your standing in the family is, I even put your name first! Aren't you touched?"
"As for the Dual Emperor Egg..."
Nan Feng pointed at the gray shell that had just vanished. "That thing was round, and the two of us Spider Emperors made it. What else should we call it? The Primal Thunderbolt Invincible Shield?"
Bibi Dong: "..."
She suddenly felt that discussing taste with this old spider was an insult to her own aesthetic sense.
Just then—
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Two figures rushed over with the wind at their backs. It was Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo, their faces anxious and their foreheads slick with cold sweat.
"Your Holiness!!"
"Your Holiness, are you all right?!"
They shouted as they ran over, clutching several bottles of emergency pills.
In their minds, after taking a point-blank self-destruct from a Peak Soul Douluo, even if Bibi Dong was at level ninety-seven, she'd have to lose a layer of skin even if she didn't die.
However—
When they reached her and saw Bibi Dong standing there perfectly fine, with barely a tear in her clothes, both of them slammed to a halt, their eyes nearly popping out of their heads.
"Uh..."
Chrysanthemum Douluo stood with his mouth open, the bottle of Ten-Thousand Year Ginseng King Pill he'd meant to use to save her life frozen in midair. For a moment, he had no idea whether to offer it or put it away.
"Th-this..."
Ghost Douluo looked equally as if he'd seen a ghost, sizing Bibi Dong up from head to toe.
"Your Holiness, you... you're all right?"
"What? Were you hoping I wouldn't be?"
Bibi Dong glanced at them. Though her body was weak from Soul Power depletion, her lofty, commanding aura was even more pronounced.
"Of course not! Of course not!"
Chrysanthemum and Ghost quickly bowed their heads, but shock still churned in their hearts like a storm-tossed sea.
That had been a point-blank self-destruct from a Peak Soul Douluo!
At that level of power, the two of them would have gone down with the old geezer!
"All right, quit standing there gaping at me."
Bibi Dong waved her hand impatiently. "After I was blasted away, what happened on your side? What about the Clear Sky Sect?"
"R-right, Your Holiness."
Yue Guan swallowed and answered cautiously, "They escaped. Things were too chaotic just now. Demon Bear seemed to have been stunned by a hammer blow from Tang Xiao, and we were rushing to find you, so..."
"They escaped?"
Bibi Dong narrowed her eyes, then let out a cold laugh. "That's fine too."
"Huh?" Chrysanthemum and Ghost were both taken aback.
"If they all died here, who would carry that fear back with them?" Bibi Dong said calmly.
"Sometimes, the fear of being alive is more useful than death."
Spirit Hall, Worship Hall.
"What did you say?!"
A roar of shock echoed through the empty hall. Golden Crocodile Douluo shot to his feet. His usually placid eyes were now wide as bells as he glared at the Red Cardinal who had come to report.
"Say that again?!"
"Second Worship..."
The Red Cardinal knelt on the ground, trembling all over. It wasn't just fear; the news was so shocking that even he could barely believe it himself:
"Good news from the front... His Holiness the Pope... has won a great victory!"
"His Holiness not only took down the Speed Clan overnight, but also predicted the Clear Sky Sect's movements and personally led the main force on a forced march to intercept Tang Xiao's reinforcements at the Strength Clan's stronghold!"
"In this battle... His Holiness faced Sky-Howling Douluo Tang Xiao and the Clear Sky Sect's seven Peak Soul Douluo elders all by herself!"
"The result..."
The Red Cardinal swallowed and spoke in a trembling voice:
"The Clear Sky Battle Formation was broken! The Fifth Elder and Sixth Elder fell on the spot! The Great Elder was forced to... self-destruct to cover Tang Xiao's retreat!"
"And His Holiness..."
"After taking the Great Elder's self-destruction head-on, she was completely unharmed!!"
"..."
Golden Crocodile Douluo stood frozen, his expression as if someone had just slapped him hard across the face. Disbelief and shock mingled with a burning sting.
According to his plan, Bibi Dong should have been running into trouble at the Speed Clan's stronghold, or been under attack by the Clear Sky Sect's main force and forced to beg the Worship Hall for help.
How had it turned into a one-sided massacre?!
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"
Golden Crocodile Douluo simply couldn't accept it.
"I know those seven old fogeys from the Clear Sky Sect. They may not be Titled Douluo, but every one of them is made of iron, especially with that Clear Sky Battle Formation, which can attack and defend as one. Add Tang Xiao to the mix..."
"Even if I'd gone there myself, I'd have been caught in a stalemate against that lineup. With Bibi Dong's strength, how could she possibly..."
He knew the Clear Sky Sect's Great Elder. The man was from the same generation as him. Though his Soul Power had stopped at level eighty-nine, his mastery of the Clear Sky Hammer had long since reached the peak. Even most Titled Douluo could do nothing to him.
A man like that, burning up his life and soul in a point-blank self-destruct, could unleash power that surpassed the Ninth Soul Skill of most Titled Douluo. It was enough to threaten even a Peak Douluo above level ninety-six.
Bibi Dong might have level ninety-seven Soul Power, but she had raised it quickly by adding high-year Soul Rings. She had the Soul Power realm, but not the corresponding strength!
To put it bluntly, she was nothing but a flashy paper tiger!
And this had been the Clear Sky Battle Formation!
He wouldn't have been surprised if Bibi Dong had beaten Tang Xiao one-on-one, nor if she'd instantly killed those Soul Douluo elders one-on-one. But that was assuming one-on-one duels!
A one-on-one duel and a group fight were two different things!
In a one-on-one fight, she could use her full strength without reservation. Against multiple opponents, she'd inevitably have to split her focus and hold back, just in case.
Facing the Clear Sky Battle Formation, built around Tang Xiao, Bibi Dong would be lucky to bring even half of her strength to bear. How could she have achieved such a crushing victory?
What's more, Bibi Dong was a typical Attack-and-Control System Soul Master, not a defensive powerhouse like him. How could she possibly take a Peak Soul Douluo's point-blank self-destruct head-on and emerge unscathed?
"Something's wrong. There must be something wrong with this battle report!"
"Send word to Demon Bear! Have him report everything that happened at the time, without leaving out a single detail!"