Ants!

The Nine-Nether Slaughter God's Domain descended.

The purple-black light was no longer a faint ripple. It surged like a tangible tide, swallowing the entire open-air Martial Arts Arena in an instant.

Light was devoured with overwhelming force, plunging the whole area into darkness.

The oppressive force, steeped in death and savage in its intensity, clamped down on the flow of space around them.

Even the dust on the ground was pinned down by that power, unable to rise at all.

Yan, standing at the heart of the domain, felt as if two towering mountains had suddenly come crashing down on his shoulders.

He heard his bones creaking under the crushing weight, and even his breathing fell completely out of rhythm.

The dark-red flames blazing around him were instantly suppressed by the purple-black radiance, flickering like a candle in the wind, on the verge of going out.

The flames were forcibly compressed to a mere inch from his skin.

"What kind of demonic nonsense is this?!"

Yan roared, driving the Soul Power of a one-ring Battle Soul Master through his body with all his might, trying to break free of the terrifying restraint by brute force.

The bright yellow Hundred-Year Soul Ring blazed, its light flickering violently.

He stamped hard on the bluestone tiles and used the recoil to launch himself into the air.

The intense heat of his flames scorched the surrounding air, crackling as waves of heat rolled outward.

Yan clenched his flaming right fist, his muscles bulging, and swung it viciously at Lin Yuan's face.

He was sure that even an adult Hundred-Year Soul Beast with hide as tough as leather would have its bones shattered and tendons torn by this punch.

From Yan's perspective, he had unleashed the fastest speed and greatest strength of his entire life.

But in Lin Yuan's eyes, it was all utterly laughable.

Under the suppression of the Nine-Nether Slaughter God's Domain, Yan's movements had slowed down countless times over.

Lin Yuan could see everything with pinpoint precision: the flow of the air, the path of Yan's Soul Power, even the slightest contraction of every pore on his face.

"..."

Lin Yuan watched Yan's fist. To him, its trajectory looked like an old man's slow-motion movement.

He had no intention of using his Martial Soul.

Lin Yuan kept his hands behind his back, his expression utterly calm. He simply took a casual half-step to the left.

Yan's fist, trailing a wave of searing air, passed by Lin Yuan's clothes and struck empty space. It didn't even singe a thread.

With his blow missing, Yan's body pitched forward uncontrollably from the momentum, leaving him wide open.

Lin Yuan raised his right leg, without a trace of flashy Soul Power.

He relied solely on the terrifying physical strength tempered by the Nine-Nether Ao Bloodline.

His foot struck the side of Yan's knee, quick and clean.

Crack!

A dull crunch of displaced bone rang out as the tremendous force shot through Yan's entire right leg.

The force swept through him, utterly destroying his point of leverage.

The sudden, violent pain drained all strength from Yan in an instant.

He let out a scream of agony. His right leg gave way completely, and he dropped heavily to his knees on the hard bluestone tiles.

The tremendous impact cracked the ground in a fine web of spiderweb-like fractures.

Shards of stone flew into the nearby pillars.

Yan clutched his knee, drenched in sweat, his features twisted in pain. He couldn't get back up for a long time.

"How is this possible..."

Xie Yue, standing behind them, watched his heart pound wildly.

Cold sweat slid down from his temples.

He hadn't even seen how Lin Yuan dodged, let alone how he'd put power into that kick.

In a single exchange, Yan—who had already gained a Hundred-Year Soul Ring and grown much stronger—had been brought to his knees just like that.

"Yan!"

Xie Yue shouted, a ruthless glint in his eyes.

He didn't retreat. Instead, he poured his Soul Power into the Moon Blades clenched in his hands.

The two sharp Moon Blades erupted with dazzling silver-white light.

As the light flashed, the blades sliced through the air with a shrill whistle.

The Hundred-Year Soul Ring beneath his feet spun wildly, and Xie Yue became a streak of silver light.

He leapt into the air and lunged at Lin Yuan from the side.

This was a true combat killing move. He held nothing back, aiming to strike down his opponent in one blow.

Lin Yuan turned his head and watched the shining blades grow larger in his field of vision.

He didn't even blink, and made no move to dodge.

Lin Yuan merely straightened his back slightly and released a tightly controlled sliver of the Nine-Nether Ao Bloodline's aura suppressed within him.

Even a mere trace of aura from this apex Ferocious Beast of the Shrouding the Heavens world was more than a Soul Master from Douluo Continent could withstand.

An utterly savage pressure surged along the purple-black ripples of the domain and slammed into Xie Yue's mind.

Xie Yue's charging body jolted. His eyes flew wide, and his pupils contracted violently.

In his perception, Lin Yuan was no longer a six-year-old boy with black hair.

He was a world-ending beast awakened from the ancient depths of hell, its head reaching the heavens and its feet treading the Nine Nether.

The beast stared at this tiny ant with a cold gaze powerful enough to crush the sky.

The terrifying aura, capable of destroying heaven and earth and devouring all things, seized Xie Yue's heart like an invisible giant hand.

Xie Yue froze in midair. The Moon Blade he had raised could no longer descend even an inch.

His body felt as if it had been set in concrete. Apart from his eyelids trembling wildly with fear, he couldn't move a single finger.

Looking at Xie Yue frozen in front of him, Lin Yuan simply raised his right hand.

He needed no Soul Ring skill, nor any flashy technique.

He clenched his fist, and it cut through the air with a low whoosh.

Without any flourish, Lin Yuan punched Xie Yue squarely in the chest.

Bang!

The muffled impact rang through the Martial Arts Arena.

Xie Yue's rigid body flew backward like a kite with its strings cut, all resistance vanishing in an instant.

His feet left the ground, and his body traced a long arc through the air.

The punch was so powerful that Xie Yue flew dozens of meters backward.

He smashed through two thick wooden railings at the edge of the arena before crashing heavily to the ground.

Wood splinters flew everywhere.

The Moon Blade slipped from his hand and clattered onto the ground.

Xie Yue clutched his chest and retched in pain.

His internal organs churned, and for a long time he couldn't catch his breath.

"!!!"

Hu Liena, at the edge of the arena, was utterly dumbfounded.

She clapped both hands over her mouth, unable to even gasp.

Her eyes were wide as saucers.

Just two moves.

He hadn't even released his Martial Soul, much less used a trace of Soul Power.

Two one-ring Battle Soul Masters with Hundred-Year Soul Rings had been beaten without the slightest chance to fight back, as fragile as three-year-olds.

But Yan and Xie Yue were, after all, members of the Golden Generation, whom Spirit Hall had spared no effort to cultivate. Their innate pride couldn't be crushed so easily.

Yan, still kneeling on the ground, gritted his teeth and endured the piercing pain in his knee.

He braced both hands against the ground and staggered back to his feet.