Yue Guan's Contempt

Bai Changhe had never run so fast in his life.

The Wings of Holy Light left two blazing white streaks behind him, bleaching the shattered walls and ruins along the way until they were white as paper.

The Soul Power within him poured out like floodwaters through a breached dam, every second squeezing the last potential from his aged body.

Bai Changhe didn't even have the courage to look back. He feared that if he turned around, he would see that giant ape's palm blotting out the sky, coming down on him.

He would never forget the terror of that palm!

The full defense of a seventy-third-level Soul Saint had been as fragile as soaked rice paper before it. If the Wings of Holy Light hadn't carried him through the gap between its fingers at the last moment, he would probably have been reduced to a heap of mush by now.

He had to find Chrysanthemum Douluo and beg for help!

Even more bizarre was that girl.

That little girl, who looked no older than fifteen or sixteen, had actually plunged nearly a hundred Soul Masters into an illusion where they slaughtered one another in an instant.

An ability on such a massive scale looked very much like a domain.

Someone in their forties who could control a domain?

Bai Changhe had lived for over sixty years and had never heard of such a thing!

At last, Bai Changhe sped past the final stretch of ruins, and the still-intact side halls of the Spirit Hall appeared ahead.

He gritted his teeth. The Holy Light surged, hurling the few surviving low-ranking Soul Masters into the side hall's pillars.

Then, with the last of his strength, he threw back his head and let out a shrill scream:

"Chrysanthemum Douluo, save me!!!"

Deep within the Spirit Hall, in a still-intact side hall.

Yue Guan sat cross-legged on a cushion, faint chrysanthemum fragrance swirling around him as nine Soul Rings slowly revolved at his feet.

In the battle that day, he hadn't taken Titan Giant Ape's Thunderlight Fist head-on like Gui Mei had, so among the several Titled Douluo, his injuries were the lightest.

But that didn't mean he wasn't seething with humiliation.

The Spirit Hall was the supreme place beneath heaven, with the Pope holding court there. Yet a group of Soul Beasts had rampaged through it in full view of the Soul Masters across the continent.

The dome had been torn off, the main hall reduced to ruins, and the Titled Douluo offerings had been pounded into the ground, one punch apiece.

And he, Yue Guan, the mighty Chrysanthemum Douluo, hadn't even had the courage to fight that Titan Giant Ape.

He couldn't swallow this humiliation.

As a Titled Douluo, he had his pride.

The Spirit Hall had stood on the continent for hundreds of years. When had it ever suffered such disgrace?

He was just wondering where he could go to restore his reputation when a shrill cry for help came from outside the hall.

Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan snapped open his eyes.

A flash of long-repressed savagery passed through his delicate eyes. The nine Soul Rings around him suddenly hummed, and a vast pressure of Soul Power swept in all directions like a storm.

Did someone really think the Spirit Hall was an easy target?

Soul Beasts had just trampled it flat that morning, and now someone had come to cause trouble again at night.

He'd been itching for somewhere to vent his anger!

"Which insignificant wretch dares to cause trouble in my Spirit Hall?!"

Yue Guan roared. The chrysanthemum fragrance around him suddenly thickened a hundredfold, and he transformed into a streak of light, smashing through the side hall's window lattice as he shot toward the sound.

Nine Soul Rings revolved and hummed around him, the full pressure of a Titled Douluo spreading without restraint.

When Bai Changhe saw that familiar streak of light hurtling toward him, he didn't feel relieved. Instead, he was so frantic he nearly spat up blood on the spot.

"Chrysanthemum Douluo! Don't go by yourself!" He waved both arms desperately, his voice hoarse from shouting. "It's..."

Yue Guan's figure didn't slow at all in midair. He let out a sinister chuckle.

"Who is it? Surely it can't be Tang Hao?"

"So what if it's Tang Hao?" The Chrysanthemum Douluo's gaze grew even more vicious, and his orchid fingers curled slightly inside his sleeve.

"During the day, he rampaged through my Spirit Hall because the Soul Beasts were there, and we had to protect the Spirit Hall as well.

"Now he's badly wounded. Do you really think I'd fear a crippled Clear Sky Douluo?"

Chrysanthemum Douluo's speed only increased. Titled Douluo-level Soul Power burst beneath his feet, sending out rings of shockwaves. He streaked through the night like a chrysanthemum-colored meteor, racing toward the entrance of the hall.

A trace of excitement even stirred in his heart.

If he could capture Tang Hao, the name of Yue Guan would once again resound across the entire continent.

Those fools who mocked him for doing nothing but raising his orchid fingers would shut their mouths tight!

At last, Bai Changhe managed to shout out the rest of his warning, his voice already breaking into a sob:

"It's those Soul Beasts from this morning!!!"

Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan abruptly stopped in midair.

"???"

Why the hell hadn't you said so sooner?!

At the same time, three figures appeared at the edge of his vision.

At the front stood a girl dressed in pink and white.

She stood beneath the moonlight, a faint golden glow encircling her. Behind her, the shadowy outlines of a full moon and a silver-white osmanthus tree shone together.

Beside the girl stood a giant eagle covered from head to toe in interwoven blue-green and gold feathers. Its dark golden eyes were full of mockery, and it looked unbearably smug.

Behind the girl, the ground—which had appeared flat—suddenly bulged upward.

Beneath the moonlight, a pair of arms as sturdy as mountains slowly emerged from the earth.

Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan's pupils contracted to pinpricks.

"!!!"

He tried to stop on instinct, but he had charged too hard. Once a Titled Douluo's speed had been unleashed at full force, the resulting momentum was beyond measure.

By the time he managed to brake, he had already entered the area beneath the moonlight.

Then he saw the girl raise one fair hand and gently curl her fingers into a fist.

Laurel Domain.

A cold spiritual force surged toward him from every direction like a rising tide. It pierced the Soul Power barrier around his body and burrowed straight into the depths of his mind.

Yue Guan's vision blurred.

The ruins beneath his feet suddenly became an endless sea of flowers. Every flower was a chrysanthemum, and every petal shimmered with a strange silver light beneath the moon.

Then the chrysanthemum petals began to fall, one by one. They spun upward into the sky, transforming into countless moon-white blades.

Every blade pointed straight at him.

"An illusion!"

Yue Guan grunted. The spiritual power of a Titled Douluo erupted from him, forcibly driving the cold spiritual force from his mind.

The sea of flowers vanished, the blades of light shattered, and the scene before him became the ruins of the Spirit Hall once more.

He had been trapped for less than half a breath.

But that half-breath had been enough.

As Yue Guan's mind cleared, he suddenly noticed a golden feather less than three feet above his head, gliding silently past.

Then...

It landed at his feet.

Yue Guan froze for a moment, then realized there was nothing wrong with his body.

His hands and feet could move, and the Soul Power throughout his body flowed freely.

In other words, that Golden Light Eagle's attack had simply missed?

"Hahaha, that's all you've got?"