Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan spat a mouthful of blood more than three feet away and dropped to one knee amid the ruins, his entire body drenched in blood.
But the fury churning in his chest was a hundred times more unbearable than his injuries.
Interest?
He, Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan, a dignified Titled Douluo of Spirit Hall—when had he ever fallen so low that he had to pay interest on Tang San's behalf?
"Let's go!"
The Golden Light Eagle folded its blue-and-gold feathers, its dark golden eyes sweeping over Chrysanthemum Douluo, who lay on the verge of death amid the ruins, before it let out a clear, piercing cry.
Er Ming folded away his Dark Gold Bone Wings. His enormous body slowly descended to the ground, Xiao Wu held securely on his shoulder.
"You..."
Damn it, they were just going to leave after showing off?
Chrysanthemum Douluo struggled to stand, but his bones felt as if they had fallen apart. He couldn't get up at all.
He watched helplessly as the three figures vanished into the night. The Golden Light Eagle had moved so fast, almost as if teleporting, that it hadn't even left behind a blur.
Silence returned to the ruins.
Moonlight fell coldly over the shattered bluestone tiles, bleaching the solitary Chrysanthemum Douluo deathly white.
He remained kneeling in the middle of the ruins, his bloodied fingers digging hard into the cracks between the broken stones.
Humiliation.
Utter humiliation.
Spirit Hall had stood for hundreds of years. Wherever a Titled Douluo went, weren't they revered by thousands?
Across the entire Douluo Continent, the combined might of seven Titled Douluo was enough to make even the two great empires wary.
Yet today, he, Yue Guan, had been slapped down like a dead dog by a Titan Giant Ape, and the beast had simply flapped its wings and left!
And who, when all was said and done, was responsible for this?
Tang San!
Chrysanthemum Douluo clenched his teeth until they ground together, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth onto the shattered bluestone tiles.
If Tang San hadn't exposed Xiao Wu's identity as a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast at the Soul Master Tournament, why would Spirit Hall have set its sights on that little rabbit?
If Tang San hadn't brought Xiao Wu to Spirit City, why would the Soul Beasts of Star Dou Forest have gone berserk and charged in?
If Tang San hadn't secretly schemed, repeatedly driving a wedge between them, why would that Titan Giant Ape have trampled Spirit Hall a second time?
"What a Tang San..."
Yue Guan's voice was so hoarse it seemed to scrape its way out from deep in his throat, one word at a time.
Today, he was going to call in reinforcements.
First, he'd beat those three damned bastards to death, then he'd smash Tang San to pieces!
If they didn't kill Tang San and restore their prestige, Spirit Hall would truly become a laughingstock, mocked by everyone on the continent!
Just as Yue Guan was grinding his teeth and plotting his revenge, a hurried, chaotic rush of footsteps suddenly came from deep within Spirit Hall.
"Lord Chrysanthemum Douluo!"
Bai Changhe's voice carried from afar, breathless with urgency.
The next moment, dozens of figures poured out from behind the ruins of a side hall.
The shadowy figure at the front moved with astonishing speed. Like a ghost melting into the night, he appeared before Chrysanthemum Douluo almost as soon as Yue Guan recognized him.
Ghost Douluo, Gui Mei.
Three Titled Douluo from the Worship Hall followed behind him. Each was an old man with graying hair, and each had nine Soul Rings circling beneath his feet.
Two of them had bandages wrapped around their arms. They were the two unlucky elders whom Er Ming had punched into the ground that morning. Though their injuries had yet to heal, Bai Changhe had dragged them straight out of secluded treatment.
Gui Mei's gaze fell on Yue Guan. He practically tumbled over to his side, his eyes—usually hidden in the shadow of his hood—filled with heartache and rage.
"Who did this? Who?"
Gui Mei's eyes reddened in an instant.
He and Yue Guan had worked together for decades, training side by side since they were young, advancing to Titled Douluo together, then jointly holding Spirit Hall's two great elder positions.
Their Martial Souls were a chrysanthemum and a ghost, one yin and one yang, their teamwork flawless.
Their Martial Soul Fusion Skill, the Polar Static Domain, was feared even by Titled Douluo above level ninety-five.
Their bond had long since sunk deep into their bones.
And now, his longtime partner had been beaten into this state.
"Was it that giant ape?" Killing intent surged in Gui Mei's eyes, threatening to spill over. "Was it that damned Titan Giant Ape?!"
"Ghost Elder, calm down!" Bai Changhe hurriedly stepped forward. "That giant ape is too strong, and your injuries haven't healed..."
Before he could finish, the sky overhead suddenly darkened.
There was no warning, not a sound.
It was as if someone had covered the entire sky with an enormous black cloth. The moonlight vanished in an instant.
Gui Mei jerked his head up.
A pair of Dark Gold Bone Wings blotted out the entire night sky.
Lightning coursed across their surfaces, and every wing bone radiated a terrifying aura of destruction.
As the bone wings beat slowly, the thunder of heaven and earth answered. Thick bolts of lightning burst through the clouds, bathing them in dazzling silver-white light.
The Titan Giant Ape again!
It hadn't left at all!
"Are you never going to stop?!"
Gui Mei roared, and all nine of his Soul Rings blazed to life at once.
Dark ghostly energy surged out of him like a tide, shrouding the ruins within dozens of yards in a frigid darkness.
His Seventh Soul Ring lit up—Ghost Douluo's true form!
In that instant, his body transformed into a translucent shadow, nearly blending into the night.
This was Ghost Douluo at his strongest. In this state, he was almost immune to all physical attacks.
That morning, Er Ming had severely injured him with a single punch because the thunderous power within Thunderlight Fist happened to counter his ghostly Martial Soul.
But now he knew that, and he wouldn't make the same mistake again.
However, Er Ming gave him no chance to use any fancy techniques.
The fist, larger than a house, was already crashing down.
Countless bolts of lightning fell at once from the heavens, each as thick as an arm, and poured into that fist.
The lightning on its knuckles burned brighter and brighter, like a meteor wrapped in thunder. It made every figure within hundreds of yards flicker between light and shadow.
Thunderlight Fist!
Gui Mei's pupils contracted sharply.
He knew all too well how powerful that punch was.
That morning, this very punch had smashed through his six layers of defensive Soul Skills. And now Yue Guan was right behind him.
Yue Guan was so badly injured he couldn't even stand. If he were caught in the shockwave of that punch, he'd die for sure.
"Yue Guan!"
Gui Mei made his choice almost instinctively and lunged toward Yue Guan.
His Soul Power and his shadow shared the same source.
As Ghost Douluo, he sensed shadows far better than ordinary people.
The moment he'd seen Yue Guan pinned in place by his shadow, he'd understood: the Golden Light Eagle had used some bizarre ability to pin Yue Guan's shadow down.
Gui Mei seized Yue Guan by the wrist. His ghostly true form became a streak of darkness and slipped straight into the shadow beneath Yue Guan.
At the critical moment, the shadow beneath Yue Guan's feet suddenly came free.
Dragging Yue Guan with him, Gui Mei turned into a blur and shot sideways.
The instant they left, Thunderlight Fist crashed down.
BOOM—!!!
Before you continue