Yu Xiaogang had publicly slandered Lin Qiu, crossing her most forbidden line.
He didn't deserve any less than to lose that arm.
Let it be the final lesson for this self-important man.
On the high platform, Lin Qiu still stood with his hands behind his back.
He stood atop a Golden Lotus, his white robes pristine as snow. Facing the bloody scene before him, he didn't even furrow his brow.
His calm wasn't an act. It was a disregard that came from deep in his bones.
It was as though, in his eyes, neither Yu Xiaogang with his severed arm nor the Titled Douluo filling the venue was anything but an ant among the countless masses.
Only now did the guests around them recover from their shock. Their whispers spread like a rising tide.
"That's Hu Liena..."
Someone lowered their voice, their gaze lingering on the enchanting young woman. "She's the leading figure of the Spirit Hall Golden Generation. She's barely over twenty and already a Soul King. She's a true heaven-blessed genius!"
"Exactly. Someone so dazzling is actually willing to serve as His Highness the Holy Son's executioner?"
"Did you see how respectfully she acted just now? She practically considers herself his handmaiden!"
"This is terrifying... How powerful must this newly appointed Holy Son be to inspire such unwavering devotion in Hu Liena?"
The way everyone looked at Lin Qiu changed.
They no longer merely scrutinized him. Now their eyes held deep apprehension and reverence.
Just then,
a violent aura erupted from the seats of the Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.
Crackle!
Blue-violet lightning burst through the air, like silver snakes thrashing wildly.
Yu Yuanzhen slowly rose to his feet.
The clan leader of the Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan wore a face so dark it seemed water might drip from it.
He stared at Yu Xiaogang, sprawled on the ground like a dead dog. A flash of pain crossed his eyes, but anger soon overwhelmed it.
Yu Xiaogang might be useless, and he might have been expelled from the clan, but the blood flowing through his veins was still that of the Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan!
Even when beating a dog, one had to consider its master.
Spirit Hall had severed Yu Xiaogang's arm in front of all the heroes under heaven. They hadn't just slapped Yu Xiaogang in the face—they had struck the Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan with a resounding slap as well!
"Spirit Hall, you've gone too far."
Yu Yuanzhen's voice was low, rolling with thunder. Its force made the eardrums of many people with weak Soul Power ache.
"Xiaogang may have done a thousand things wrong, but he's not for some junior to punish as he pleases."
He took one step forward, and the stone slabs beneath his feet instantly cracked apart.
Terrifying Soul Power pressure swept through the venue like a tsunami. Nine Soul Rings slowly rose around him—two yellow, two purple, and five black. The light of the optimal Soul Ring configuration stung everyone's eyes.
"If you don't give us an explanation today, how can the Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan ever hold its head high in the Soul Master World again?"
Yu Yuanzhen had been bottling up his anger for some time.
Spirit Hall was now too powerful, and its actions were growing ever more reckless.
If they dared to sever Yu Xiaogang's arm today, would they wipe out his entire clan tomorrow?
He had to make an example of them!
He had to show the world that the Upper Three Sects stood together, and that even against Spirit Hall, they weren't soft persimmons for anyone to squeeze!
Before his words had even faded, Yu Yuanzhen shot forward.
"If Your Holiness the Pope won't discipline him, then this old man will teach this ignorant junior a lesson in your place!"
Boom!
A massive Thunder Dragon Claw coalesced out of thin air, carrying the force to destroy the heavens and the earth as it lunged for Lin Qiu atop the high platform.
The strike was as fast as lightning.
He hadn't used his full strength, but it was still a furious blow from a level ninety-five Super Douluo of the Power Attack System. Even an ordinary Soul Douluo would be gravely wounded by this claw.
The crowd erupted in an uproar.
No one had expected Yu Yuanzhen to actually dare attack in front of the Pope Palace!
And to attack the newly appointed Holy Son!
But no one dared speak up to stop him. They even held their breath.
This was a clash between Titled Douluo. The slightest shockwave could leave them dead without a place to be buried.
Yu Xiaogang, lying on the ground, suddenly saw a wild, delighted gleam in his ashen eyes.
His father had made his move!
Though his father had expelled him from the clan, he was still protecting him at the crucial moment!
"Ha ha ha..."
He laughed madly inside, his venomous gaze fixed on Lin Qiu.
You little bastard, you're finished!
This is a Titled Douluo!
So what if you're the Holy Son? In the face of absolute power, your little tricks are nothing!
I want to watch you get torn apart by lightning!
I want to see your arm broken too, and watch you crawl on the ground like a dog, begging for mercy!
And yet,
in the face of the Thunder Dragon Claw, powerful enough to shatter mountains, Lin Qiu remained where he was.
He didn't even raise an eyelid. Instead, a playful smile tugged at the corner of his mouth, as if the deadly attack before him were nothing more than a clumsy parlor trick.
Just as the Thunder Dragon Claw was about to touch the hem of Lin Qiu's robe,
a fair, jade-like hand suddenly appeared in midair.
There was no dazzling Soul Skill radiance.
No earth-shaking noise.
It simply swept through the air.
"Disperse."
A cool voice rang out.
The menacing Thunder Dragon Claw melted away in an instant, like snow beneath the scorching sun, dissolving into specks of blue light that vanished into the air.
At some point, Bibi Dong had appeared in front of Lin Qiu.
She held a scepter in her hand, her purple gown fluttering in the breeze. Her entire presence radiated the imposing majesty of an empress who looked down upon all beneath heaven.
"Yu Yuanzhen."
Bibi Dong lowered her eyes slightly, her tone so even that it gave no hint of her feelings. "To attack my Holy Son in my presence—are you trying to die?"
Those final four words were spoken lightly, yet they struck Yu Yuanzhen's heart like a heavy hammer.
Yu Yuanzhen's pupils contracted.
That attack had only been a probe, but he was a level ninety-five Titled Douluo of the Power Attack System, with offensive power that ranked among the best at his level.
And Bibi Dong had dispelled it so easily?
"Hmph!"
Yu Yuanzhen was alarmed, but the arrow was already on the string; he had no choice but to release it.
If Bibi Dong scared him off with a single sentence in front of so many people, where would he put his dignity?
"Then this old man will see what Your Holiness the Pope can do!"
Roar—!!!
An impassioned dragon's roar rang through the clouds.
Yu Yuanzhen stopped holding back, and his Seventh Soul Ring suddenly blazed.
Martial Soul Avatar!
His body expanded in an instant, transforming into a hundred-meter-long Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon. Lightning coiled around him as his dragon might surged forth, bathing the entire square outside the Pope Palace in blue-violet light.
"Thunderbolt Strike!"
The transformed Yu Yuanzhen roared as countless bolts of lightning, each as thick as a barrel, rained down from the sky like the end of the world, all crashing toward Bibi Dong.
Facing this world-destroying attack, Bibi Dong only sneered.
"Even a firefly dares to rival the brilliance of the sun."
She lightly tapped the ground with her scepter.
Hum!
A ring of dark-purple light instantly spread outward from her.
The lightning, moments before raging wildly, came to a bizarre halt the instant it touched the purple glow.
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