Aurora!

Gu Sheng's surroundings twisted violently in an instant, torn open by a mysterious force.

His body blurred and turned translucent where he stood, like a reflection in water.

The next second, Qian Renxue's powerful Soul Power-laden strike came crashing down.

But she felt no impact against a solid target.

The golden palm wind passed straight through Gu Sheng's phantom without resistance, crashing into the obsidian floor behind him.

A deafening boom!

The hard ground was blasted into a deep crater, and rubble went flying.

A flicker of shock crossed Qian Renxue's exquisite face.

She whirled around and discovered, to her astonishment, that the absolute-lock ability of her Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul had completely failed!

It was as if the young man before her had suddenly evaporated from the world. She couldn't sense even the slightest trace of him.

"How is that possible?!"

Qian Renxue's thoughts churned wildly, sending shock waves through her mind.

She knew exactly how fast that strike had been and how firmly it had locked on. Even a Soul Saint of the same level would have found it hard to dodge so effortlessly.

Could this really be the ability of a Soul Grandmaster who had only just awakened his Martial Soul and was merely at level twenty?

It was absurd!

But as the Holy Maiden of Spirit Hall, Qian Renxue had exceptional combat instincts.

After a brief moment of astonishment, she quickly steadied herself.

"If I can't lock onto him, then I'll cover the area with sheer range and power!"

Qian Renxue thought to herself as the Six-Winged Angel phantom behind her burst into an even more dazzling radiance.

She took a deep breath and rapidly formed hand seals before her chest.

The golden holy flames drifting around her began to rush toward her palms, gathering and compressing at a frantic pace.

In the blink of an eye, an Angel Holy Sword wreathed in blazing holy flames took shape in her hands.

Blinding golden light flowed along its blade, and it radiated heat hot enough to melt anything.

Qian Renxue flicked her wrist, pointing the sword straight at Gu Sheng, who had just emerged from his Void state and solidified once more.

She held nothing back in this strike, unleashing a full seventy percent of her Soul Power.

Vast energy surged at the tip of the sword, burning tiny black cracks into the surrounding space.

Forget a Soul Grandmaster—even any opponent below the level of a Soul Ancestor would instantly lose all ability to fight beneath this might and be left with no choice but to surrender.

Facing the scorching gust that rushed toward him,

Gu Sheng stood his ground without retreating a single step.

His gaze sharpened, the burning Angel Holy Sword reflected in his pupils.

"My turn."

Gu Sheng quietly uttered three words.

The next moment, the Soul Power within him surged into motion without restraint.

The Holy Spectrum Puni Martial Soul slumbering within his body was like an ancient deity awakening, instantly unleashing a dazzling light too brilliant to look upon.

A sacred, boundless, supreme aura burst outward from Gu Sheng.

Seven mysterious halos appeared behind him, turning slowly as they let out a deafening hum.

The second black Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring shone brightly.

Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Skill: Aurora!

Gu Sheng slowly raised his right hand, aiming his palm at the onrushing Qian Renxue.

A colossal beam of light erupted from his palm.

Its radiance was utterly pure, almost transparent, yet it contained the purest sacred energy in the world.

The instant Aurora appeared, the energy of heaven and earth around them let out a groan under the strain.

Its overbearing, unmatched pressure made even the angelic golden light Qian Renxue took pride in tremble violently.

It was as if a subject had encountered their sovereign, instinctively wishing to submit!

In an instant, Aurora and the Angel Holy Sword wreathed in holy flames collided head-on in midair.

There was no earth-shattering explosion as one might have expected.

Nor was there a storm of wildly surging energy.

Under Aurora's utterly pure sacred radiance, Qian Renxue's Angel Holy Sword, infused with seventy percent of her Soul Power, was like snow beneath the blazing sun!

The holy flames burning along the blade went out instantly.

Then the entire broad sword began to melt and break apart, silently and without a trace.

It turned into flecks of golden light and scattered through the air.

Aurora's remaining force did not diminish. It pierced straight through Qian Renxue's Soul Power defenses, skimmed past her cheek, and shot toward the distant horizon.

Qian Renxue stood frozen in place.

Her charging body came to an abrupt halt, and her golden pupils contracted to the size of pinpoints.

This wasn't some clever trick.

This was an absolute, overwhelming victory in the level of energy itself!

Before Gu Sheng's Aurora, her Angel Soul Power hadn't even been qualified to resist. It had simply been erased!

That was a Soul Power gap of a full fifty levels!

Above the clouds.

A deathly silence fell.

Every Enshrined Elder watching had their eyes wide open. Gasps of shock rose one after another.

Golden Crocodile Douluo stood with his mouth hanging open, unable to say a word.

All their earlier contemptuous judgments about Gu Sheng had been overturned by that Aurora, crushed to pieces!

A level-twenty Soul Grandmaster had met a level-seventy-two Soul Saint's strike, backed by seventy percent of his Soul Power, head-on—and crushed it with overwhelming force.

Even if they searched every ancient text across the entire Douluo Continent, they would never find a second feat like this!

In the shadows in the distance, Bibi Dong was equally rooted to the spot.

Her fingers, clenched tightly around her staff, had turned pale with the force of her grip.

Her strange violet eyes were now filled with shock and disbelief.

She had never imagined that the young man who had dared to openly defy her in the great hall and stand up for Qian Renxue would truly possess such terrifying reserves of strength!

This was completely beyond her understanding.

"Unbelievable... truly unbelievable."

Qian Daoliu took a deep breath of the cold air high above, then slowly exhaled.

His gaze burned as he watched the young man below lower his hand.

At that moment, the Great Enshrined's estimation of the Holy Spectrum Puni Martial Soul soared once again.

Its potential was simply unfathomable!

Heaven bless Spirit Hall!

The stirring thought rose uncontrollably in Qian Daoliu's mind once more.

As long as this boy could grow up safely, sweeping across the continent would be nothing—he might even lead Spirit Hall to rule the Divine Realm!

Down below, the gale over the Martial Arts Arena gradually died away.

Qian Renxue slowly recovered from her immense shock.

The Six-Winged Angel phantom behind her folded in on itself, then dissolved into golden light and returned to her body.

Qian Renxue lifted her head and looked at Gu Sheng, who remained calm ten zhang away.

Her expression grew complicated.

There was astonishment and frustration, but more than anything, there was relief and profound gratitude.

At last, Qian Renxue fully understood.

The man standing by her side, daring to face the Pope's pressure and swearing to accompany her even unto death, was no burden who needed her to shelter him beneath her wings.

He had long since earned the right to stand shoulder to shoulder with her in battle and face every storm together.