Long Xingyu's fighting spirit surged.
In an instant, he charged straight at his target, sword in hand.
Brilliant light swept away the poisonous miasma swirling around him, leaving him completely unharmed.
The sacred light attribute naturally countered poison. That was all the more true for Long Xingyu, whose strength far surpassed Dugu Bo's.
When the Holy Sword clashed with the Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor, one strike shattered the Martial Soul Avatar. The latter spat out a mouthful of blood, his eyes wide with shock.
"Top-grade Sword Martial Soul?"
Dugu Bo still hadn't figured out what was happening.
Long Xingyu's words from moments earlier surfaced in his mind.
Before attacking, the other man had mentioned "His Majesty." Could he be a powerful figure from the Star Luo Empire?
But what did he mean by "this world's way of fighting"? Dugu Bo couldn't understand, and he had no time to think about it.
In the blink of an eye, Long Xingyu launched another attack.
Dugu Bo excelled at fighting groups and was renowned for his powerful poison.
One-on-one combat was already his weakness, and the sacred light attribute countered him. Now he couldn't fight back at all.
Long Xingyu didn't even use the Divine Throne. He swung another powerful sword strike, and golden light tore through the air toward Dugu Bo.
"Medusa's Gaze!"
With no other choice, Dugu Bo used his trump card.
A faint green light shone from his Head Soul Bone. The Martial Soul Avatar that had just shattered once again gathered into a new phantom.
According to his plan, if this move hit, the mysterious middle-aged man before him would be slowed for at least several seconds.
Then he could either try to turn the tables or flee at once, keeping the initiative in his own hands and avoiding being completely at the other's mercy.
But Dugu Bo was clearly overestimating himself. Before the green ray could reach him, Long Xingyu seemed to sense it coming, and brilliant radiance blossomed from within him.
The phantom of the Divine Throne of Apocalypse and Slaughter appeared, enveloping him. It effortlessly dissolved the incoming energy, and Medusa's Gaze had no effect.
"How is that possible?!"
Dugu Bo's pupils contracted.
The corner of his mouth twitched, betraying a barely perceptible tremor.
He never would have imagined that he couldn't win in a head-on fight, and that even a sneak attack would fail completely.
While he stood frozen in shock, the spiritual energy unleashed by the Holy Sword struck him squarely in the chest.
The impact sent him flying backward. He crashed hard toward the ground below, carving a long fissure across the earth before landing limp and breathless, his aura weak and fading.
"You should be grateful His Majesty ordered me to take you alive."
Long Xingyu descended from the sky, his expression cold and solemn.
He took out a pair of shackles and swiftly bound all four of Dugu Bo's limbs, leaving no room for trouble.
These tools, derived from the technology of the ancient elves and used to seal spiritual energy, should be able to seal Soul Power too, right?
Lin Feng had made a point of familiarizing the people of the Holy Demon Federation with the cultivation system of the Douluo World, which centered on Martial Souls. Long Xingyu wasn't unfamiliar with it.
Without stopping, he raised a hand and gathered spiritual energy, which solidified around Dugu Bo like a cocoon. Then he hoisted him up and flew toward the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, rejoining his companions in the blink of an eye.
Dugu Bo was secretly alarmed.
What kind of bizarre technique was that?
During the fight, the imposing man before him hadn't revealed his Soul Ring Configuration.
Now he had produced a miraculous tool that didn't look like a Soul Bone at all. Dugu Bo was increasingly certain that something was very wrong.
The one thing he could be grateful for was that they didn't seem to intend to kill him?
Just then, Dugu Bo felt himself go weightless.
With a dull boom, Long Xingyu tossed him down from midair, and he landed precisely in front of the curtain.
Only then did he notice the six young men and women standing near the spring of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
Their auras were restrained, making it hard to discern their exact cultivation levels, but their extraordinary bearing suggested that they were far from weak.
Six peerless young talents?
And the powerful man who had defeated him!
Where had this group come from? The more Dugu Bo looked, the more unbelievable it seemed.
Forget the Star Luo Empire—even Spirit Hall probably couldn't gather so many geniuses!
"You are... Dugu Bo?"
A dignified voice interrupted his thoughts, curiosity coloring its tone.
Dugu Bo looked up in surprise and saw Lin Feng seated on a throne within the curtain.
Before he could react, the young man on the other side of the image, whose mere presence commanded respect, smiled in a way that left Dugu Bo baffled.
"Good. It's you. Now I can rest easy..."
Outside the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, Sunset Forest.
Dugu Yan's face was deathly pale as she gazed into the distance.
She had seen the flashes of light from the battle vanish almost as soon as they appeared, yet her grandfather still hadn't returned.
A powerful sense of unease surged in her heart, but she wasn't foolish enough to rush over and investigate. Instead, she turned and fled without hesitation.
If even her grandfather couldn't deal with this powerful opponent, there was no point in going herself. She'd be better off reporting the situation to the imperial family.
In a frantic hurry, she rushed back to Heaven Dou Royal Academy.
Thanks to her status as Poison Douluo's granddaughter, she passed through without obstruction.
Soon, she reached the academy's three senior administrators: the Soul Douluo Meng Shenji, Bai Baoshan, and Zhi Lin.
"Yanyan, weren't you going back with Senior Dugu to recover? Why have you suddenly come back?"
Meng Shenji asked with a smile.
Only after he spoke did he notice that something was terribly wrong with the girl's expression.
Dugu Yan didn't dare waste time. She took a deep breath, forced herself to stay calm, and recounted what had happened in Sunset Forest.
The three administrators' expressions grew grave. They exchanged glances and furrowed their brows, realizing how serious the situation was.
"Are you saying Senior Dugu may have met with disaster?"
"Only someone of the same rank could threaten a Titled Douluo!"
"Could it be Spirit Hall? I heard Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan once had a feud with him. Could it be...?"
The three administrators' expressions darkened.
They knew this was beyond their ability to handle.
Whether or not the one who fought Poison Douluo belonged to Spirit Hall, they were only level eighty. They had no right to get involved.
After offering Dugu Yan a few words of comfort, Meng Shenji left on his own and went straight to see Emperor Xue Ye, asking how they should handle the matter.
"What? Something happened to Poison Douluo?"
Emperor Xue Ye sat on his throne, his face full of anxiety.
The Heaven Dou Imperial Family had no Titled Douluo of its own. Poison Douluo was the only one they had to bolster their ranks.
How could he not be worried to learn that Dugu Bo's fate was unknown and that he might have been defeated by someone of equal rank?
"Qinghe, take my token and invite Sect Master Ning at once!"
After a brief moment of thought, Emperor Xue Ye looked toward the crown prince nearby.
Though he appeared to be Xue Qinghe, he was actually Qian Renxue, Bibi Dong's daughter, disguised and working undercover in the Heaven Dou Imperial Family.
At the news, her shock was even greater. Others might not know the truth, but she knew it well.
Ever since the empire-overthrow plan began, Spirit Hall hadn't caused trouble within Heaven Dou territory for a very long time, and it certainly wouldn't have acted without informing her.
In other words, the one who had defeated or even killed Dugu Bo could be neither Ghost and Chrysanthemum Douluo nor any of the worshippers.
On the Douluo Continent, few Titled Douluo belonged to forces other than Spirit Hall. Qian Renxue couldn't think of who might have done it either.
"Father, I'll take care of it at once."
Qian Renxue came to her senses and bowed respectfully, putting on an act.
She left the hall and walked straight out of the palace, heading for the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect under the identity of "Xue Qinghe."
On the way, however, she secretly summoned the two Titled Douluo bodyguards Spirit Hall had sent her: Pufferfish and Snake Lance.
"Something's wrong here! We have to find out what happened!"
"Elder Pufferfish, you're better at stealth and concealment."
"After I've met Ning Fengzhi, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect will surely get involved. Follow them secretly then, and bring back the truth..."
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