Chen Xin gripped the hilt with both hands and raised it high.
"Seven Kill True Body!"
Brilliant golden light burst from his body, engulfing him completely.
He merged with the Seven Kill Sword Intent.
A colossal Seven Kill Sword, dozens of zhang long, hovered in midair, radiating an overbearing sharpness capable of cutting through anything.
Ning Fengzhi lifted his head, eyes wide as he stared at the giant sword in the sky. He cried out in shock.
"He actually used his Martial Soul Avatar!"
Once someone reached the level of a Super Douluo, activating their Martial Soul Avatar meant they were prepared to fight to the death.
The giant sword in midair rang with a deafening hum.
Chen Xin unleashed his most powerful Soul Skill.
"Ten Thousand Swords Return to Origin!"
As his thunderous shout rang out, strange phenomena suddenly appeared in the sky.
Countless sword auras materialized from thin air, blotting out the sunlight.
A rain of countless sharp swords, carrying the power to destroy heaven and earth, plunged down in a furious torrent.
The entire mountain where the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect stood trembled beneath the terrifying pressure of the sword rain.
But at that very moment,
a dazzling Soul Ring slowly rose from Tang Yu's body.
Its light was neither yellow, nor purple, nor black.
It was a deep, blinding crimson.
The instant Ning Rongrong saw the Soul Ring light up, she froze, her eyes wide with disbelief.
Her voice trembled so badly she could barely speak.
"A r-red Soul Ring?"
"A Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring!"
Ning Fengzhi's mouth fell open as a dry, gasping sound escaped his throat.
His usually composed face was now overtaken by shock.
"H-how could this be..."
"It's actually a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring!"
On the entire Douluo Continent, the powerful figures who possessed Hundred Thousand Year Soul Rings could be counted on one hand. Each of them was an old monster who had lived for decades.
Even Chen Xin, transformed into a giant sword, felt his pupils contract violently.
An intense sense of mortal danger seized him.
But Ten Thousand Swords Return to Origin had already been unleashed. Like an arrow loosed from its bow, it could not be held back, and there was no room to retreat.
The raging sword rain was only a few meters from Tang Yu's head.
Tang Yu stood where he was and summoned his Soul Ring.
His gaze was cold as he murmured inwardly,
Forest of Eternal Treasures.
The instant those four words fell,
an incomprehensible power burst out from Tang Yu and spread in every direction.
The power spread at astonishing speed, without a sound.
In no time, it encompassed the entire world around them, along with everyone nearby.
Gu Rong was the closest and reacted first.
His eyes flew wide with terror.
He could clearly feel the energy in his Bone Dragon Void-Nether Array rapidly dwindling.
The once-sturdy black bone pillars began to turn ashen and brittle, like dry bones weathered for a thousand years.
"What's happening?!"
Gu Rong frantically circulated the Soul Power within him, only to find that the Soul Power he sent into the array vanished without a trace, like a stream of mud swallowed by the sea.
At the same time,
the imposing Ten Thousand Swords Return to Origin in the sky suffered a devastating blow.
The boundless sword auras shattered all at once without making so much as a sound.
The rain of swords turned into flecks of light and vanished in midair.
Chen Xin, transformed into a giant sword, was even more shocked.
He could feel that every bit of power he had unleashed was being absorbed.
At the same time, a dense black aura rose from the surrounding world, enclosing all the space around them.
Forest of Eternal Treasures—a rule-type Soul Skill, an absolute domain.
It could absorb all energy within its bounds.
Life, Soul Power, everything!
Enemies below the god level had no way to resist inside this domain.
Amid the swirling black mist,
Tang Yu raised his head slightly and looked straight at Chen Xin in midair.
The instant their gazes met,
Chen Xin shuddered as if struck by lightning.
He was forcibly knocked out of his Martial Soul Avatar form and returned to normal.
Then, to his horror, he discovered that the Soul Power throughout his body was rapidly dissipating!
Chen Xin felt his very soul shudder, as if a raging sea had risen inside him.
The Soul Power that had once obeyed him like an extension of his limbs had completely slipped from his control, pouring out through every pore.
He could feel with absolute clarity that the strength he had cultivated over many years was vanishing at a terrifying rate.
His meridians emptied in an instant, and even the source of his power deep within his dantian began to waver.
The sensation of his strength being ripped away out of thin air sent a chill down the back of this battle-hardened sword master.
Gu Rong, standing off to one side, fared even worse. His face had already gone paper-white.
"I can't hold on!"
Gu Rong shouted, the veins on his forehead bulging as his thin hands frantically formed seals in front of him.
He tried to steady the enormous array, which was on the verge of collapse.
Several sharp cracks rang out in midair, like porcelain shattering.
The Bone Dragon Void-Nether Array, the formation he had always been so proud of, was covered in dense cracks across the surface of its thick black bone pillars.
"BOOM!!!"
Then, amid a thunderous roar, the entire array collapsed, turning into a rain of gray-white bone dust that drifted down.
Gu Rong was struck by the backlash from the array's destruction.
It felt as if a heavy hammer had slammed into his chest, and he staggered backward more than a dozen steps.
A mouthful of bright red blood sprayed from his lips, staining the front of his clothes.
His thick, sturdy bone armor vanished in an instant, and he dropped to one knee, utterly spent.
Ning Fengzhi and his daughter, who were some distance from the center of the battle, were hardly faring any better.
"..."
Though Ning Rongrong was not directly in the center of the domain, she still found it hard to breathe.
The little girl's arms and legs felt weak, and the Soul Power in her body was spilling away against her will.
Even her Martial Soul, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, had grown dim. The terror of having her power forcibly stripped away made her tremble all over.
"How is this possible?!"
Ning Fengzhi's expression shook with shock as he stared at the distorted space ahead.
His knuckles had turned white from gripping his scepter so tightly.
Was this the Soul Skill unique to a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring?
It was simply too terrifying. This kind of ability had already exceeded his understanding of Soul Masters.
As far as he knew, this was not a power that humans could wield.
It was more like the kind of power only the gods of legend—those lofty beings who ruled over all things in the world—could use to stand against their foes.
At the heart of the storm, Chen Xin bit through his tongue, using the pain to force himself to steady his mind.
His expression was grave, filled with a murderous intent unlike anything he had shown before.
He knew as clearly as if he were looking into a mirror that if he let the force continue draining him, he would suffer a crushing defeat today.
Before the power could drain him dry, he had to make one final, desperate stand.
As one of the finest swordsmen in the world, he still held on to the composure and calm befitting a strong warrior.
Chen Xin slowly raised the Seven Kill Sword, its light now faint, and pointed its tip toward the sky.
He still had one final strike left: the pinnacle attack that embodied a lifetime of swordsmanship!
He stood ramrod straight as the Soul Power remaining in his body began to burn fiercely.
His once-faltering aura began to surge madly, as if it would break through the nine heavens.
The ink-black Eighth Soul Ring beneath his feet suddenly blazed to life, releasing a radiance brighter than ever.