"This is the final round of the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament."
"There are no eyes on blades. Life and death are up to fate."
"If someone can't match my skill and gets tossed around a little, does that mean I've hurt your lover?"
Gu Sheng lowered his hand, looked straight at Tang San, and spoke each word deliberately.
"So that's how it is in this world. As long as things don't go your way, Tang San, or someone dares to slight the Shrek Seven Devils, they've committed a crime against Heaven."
"The justice you talk about is nothing more than the world revolving around you."
"What a joke."
Gu Sheng hadn't lowered his voice.
The tens of thousands of spectators in the stands heard every word clearly.
Many of them whispered among themselves and nodded again and again.
Quite a few people had heard about what happened on the streets of Heaven Dou City. Now that Gu Sheng had exposed it before everyone, the Shrek Team's reputation instantly plummeted.
Tang San's face turned livid.
He couldn't hear a word Gu Sheng said. In his heart, anyone who hurt Xiao Wu deserved to die!
"Preposterous!"
Tang San roared and raised the Clear Sky Hammer high above his head.
He poured his Soul Power into it in a frenzied torrent. The hammer, originally only as big as a water vat, swelled with the wind.
In the blink of an eye, the Clear Sky Hammer had become a gigantic warhammer as large as a house.
Dark golden light shot into the sky, illuminating the entire arena like broad daylight.
The terrifying pressure poured down, making many of the weaker spectators outside the arena struggle to breathe.
The entire arena held its breath.
Everyone could feel the destructive force contained in that strike.
In the highest seats of Spirit Hall.
Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan's expression darkened the instant he saw the enormous Clear Sky Hammer.
"Your Holiness!"
Yue Guan strode forward and clasped his hands, his voice laced with urgency and murderous intent.
"That boy has actually mastered the Weapon Soul Avatar!"
"That remnant of the Clear Sky Sect will only become a menace if we let him live. Gu Sheng has fought several battles in a row, and may not be able to withstand this strike."
"Please allow me to step in and eliminate Tang San!"
Ghost Douluo Gui Mei, who stood on the other side, also appeared without a sound. Black mist coiled around him, radiating a bone-chilling cold.
"Your Holiness, Yue Guan is right."
Gui Mei's voice drifted eerily, yet his words were firm.
"The boy has extraordinary talent, and he bears deep hostility toward Spirit Hall. If we don't eliminate him today, he will become a grave threat in the future!"
The two Titled Douluo pleaded to fight at the same time, their killing intent fixed on Tang San below.
Yet Bibi Dong remained seated in the papal chair and gave no order to attack.
Her fingers gently rubbed the scepter in her hand.
This was Spirit City, but it was also the venue for the finals of the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament.
Tens of thousands of spectators sat in the stands, alongside representatives from the great sects and empires.
If Spirit Hall's elders killed a contestant in the middle of the competition, the reputation Spirit Hall had built over so many years would be destroyed.
More importantly—
The Shrek Team represented the Heaven Dou Empire. They were the Heaven Dou Empire's champion team.
Killing one of the Heaven Dou Empire's contestants in front of Emperor Xue Ye would be tantamount to declaring war on the spot.
Although Spirit Hall had secretly amassed immense strength, the Soul Hunting Operation was still in preparation. They weren't ready for an all-out war with the two great empires.
"Stand down."
Bibi Dong uttered two cold words.
"But..." Yue Guan tried to argue.
"I said stand down. Don't you understand?" Bibi Dong's gaze swept over Yue Guan. The pressure in it brooked no argument, and Yue Guan fell silent at once, obediently returning to his place.
Bibi Dong turned her attention back to the arena.
She wanted to see just how far this boy, whom Qian Daoliu had designated a matter of the highest secrecy, could go.
In the center of the arena.
The veins bulged on Tang San's arms as he raised the house-sized Clear Sky Hammer to its highest point.
Locked on!
His mental power sealed off every escape route Gu Sheng had.
"Die!"
Tang San let out a thunderous roar. With immense force, he swung the enormous Clear Sky Hammer down toward Gu Sheng's head.
A series of sonic booms burst through the air beneath the hammer's blow.
A black-and-gold storm took shape in an instant.
Tang San had put every ounce of his resolve to kill into that strike. There was no holding back.
Gu Sheng stood where he was, making no attempt to dodge.
Or rather, he had never intended to.
The violent gusts whipped his hair about, and the pressure that could destroy heaven and earth made his bones creak in protest.
The shadow of death engulfed him completely.
At the instant the Clear Sky Hammer was less than three feet from his head—
Gu Sheng felt it.
That pure, undisguised killing intent, strong enough to take a life.
This was the very opportunity he had been waiting for.
The Second Seal within his body lit up at the moment it sensed that killing intent and brush with death.
A dazzling golden light burst from Gu Sheng's chest without warning.
It blazed so brilliantly that it even eclipsed the dark golden glow of the Clear Sky Hammer.
Then—
A towering, sacred phantom slowly emerged behind Gu Sheng.
It was the phantom of Holy Spectrum Puni.
Eight brilliant golden wings flickered into view behind it, radiating a supreme, divine aura.
The instant the wings appeared, the surrounding gale was smoothed away by a gentle yet irresistible force.
Tang San's pupils widened, but he could no longer pull back.
The Clear Sky Hammer came crashing down with unstoppable force.
The dark golden hammer shadow collided head-on with the golden pillar of light erupting from Gu Sheng.
"Boom!"
A deafening explosion burst over Spirit City.
The blinding light robbed everyone of their sight in an instant, forcing them to shut their eyes on instinct.
Then came a terrifying shock wave, as if the apocalypse had arrived.
The defensive barrier around the arena, set up through the combined efforts of dozens of Soul Emperors, began to shake violently as soon as the shock wave struck it.
Crack after crack spread across the barrier like a web.
The teeth-grating sound of shattering rang without pause.
"Oh no!"
On the upper viewing platform, the Cardinal in charge of security blanched.
"Everyone, reinforce the barrier at once!"
Dozens of Spirit Hall's high-ranking Soul Masters immediately rushed forward and poured their Soul Power into the barrier.
But it only slowed the collapse a little.
The energy unleashed by the collision was simply too immense, already beyond the limits of an ordinary Soul King—or even a Soul Emperor.
"Crack!"
With a sharp snap, the arena's barrier shattered.
Fragments of violent energy, sharp as blades, shot indiscriminately toward the stands.
If that energy spread unchecked, the ordinary spectators in the stands would suffer terrible casualties.
At that critical moment—
Several figures in the VIP seats moved at once.
Sword Douluo Chen Xin gave a cold snort. The Seven Kill Sword shot into the sky, and its fierce sword energy formed a massive net that tore apart the shock wave on the Heaven Dou Empire's side.
Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo also sprang into action.
The petals of the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum whirled through the air, forming an unbreakable floral shield, while Ghost Douluo released a vast cloud of black mist to forcibly swallow the energy spreading toward Spirit Hall.
The Titled Douluo present joined forces and finally stopped the terrifying shock wave before it could reach the innocent spectators.
At the center of the arena, dense golden light and swirling dust still shrouded everything.
From Gu Sheng's perspective, all the noise of the outside world seemed to vanish.
He could clearly feel the shackles that had always bound his power trembling violently.
As the Clear Sky Hammer's terrifying, murderous force continued to press down—
Crack.
A shattering sound that only he could hear rang out deep within his soul.
The seal had broken.
A sense of unprecedented ease spread through his entire body. His Soul Power, long stalled and unable to advance, surged wildly through him like an enraged dragon freed from its chains.
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