Chiyan's Spirit Armor

Inside the council hall, the scorching heatwave acted like an invisible beast, instantly thinning the air until even the light seemed to warp under the extreme temperature. The black basalt floor tiles, heated unevenly, emitted a series of sharp, bean-popping cracks, while a stifling and terrifying pressure weighed down upon everyone present.

Chiyan stood in the center of the hall, her fiery long hair dancing wildly amidst the violent fluctuations of soul power. Listening to Zhu Ganglie's blustering, hollow threats, a cruel and disdainful sneer curled her lips.

"Stall me? With those scraps outside who treat shards of iron like treasures? Or with you, this long-in-the-tooth house cat?"

As the words fell, the Red Lotus Karma Fire surrounding Chiyan collapsed inward, forming a massive crimson cocoon several meters in diameter that encased her completely. This was no ordinary flame, but fire elemental energy compressed to its absolute limit. Immediately after, the fiery cocoon exploded with a roar, sending raging torrents of flame lashing out in all directions, instantly reducing the precious ironwood furniture in the Zhu Residence council hall to fine powder.

As the firelight receded, Chiyan's appearance had undergone a heaven-shaking transformation—

Fire Dragon Spirit Armor form.

Her long hair had turned into flowing liquid magma, with golden sparks leaping at the tips of her strands, carving dazzling trails through the dark hall. The dark golden dragon horns on her forehead had become crystal clear, with ancient dragon god-runes pulsing within them like a heartbeat. A form-fitting suit of armor, constructed entirely from crimson dragon scales, tightly wrapped her sultry curves, with dragon crystals shimmering like rubies at her pauldrons and chest plate.

The skirt of the spirit armor was woven from translucent fire-silk, trailing across the floor like a stream of magma as she moved, burning a charred trench into the black stone wherever it touched. Behind her, nine crimson ribbons of light, condensed from pure soul power, unfurled like phoenix wings, radiating a sacred yet violent aura of war. At this moment, Chiyan looked more like a Fire Dragon Goddess returned from an ancient battlefield.

"Since your Zhu Family enjoys the game of using numbers to bully the few and the strong to oppress the weak, then today, this lady will let you mortals experience what true despair feels like."

Chiyan swung her right hand horizontally, her five fingers slightly splayed as if grasping the rhythm of the space itself.

"Red Lotus Karma Fire: Burning Heaven Prison!"

BOOM—!

A terrifying ring of dark red fire erupted from the council hall, spreading outward in a circle to engulf the entire Zhu Residence. The flames were not a brilliant, bright hue, but a thick, blood-like dark red. The fire surged into the sky, forming a ring-shaped wall three meters thick and over a hundred meters high, completely isolating the interior of the Zhu Residence fortress from the outside world.

The three thousand elite guards attempting to charge in with heavy crossbows were blown away by the sudden, destructive heat. The steel-forged bolts fired into the wall of fire didn't even penetrate the waves of flame before melting into droplets of molten iron. The garrison outside could only watch helplessly as their commander's residence was swallowed by this hellish sea of fire; even experts at the Soul Emperor level would have their hair and beards scorched by the radiation of that extreme fire if they dared to approach. Beyond despair, there was nothing they could do.

"Gu Yue, Na'er, go guard the edge of the barrier. Don't let any experts enter and interfere with the battle." Gu Tian helped Zhu Zhuqing up, his gaze cold as he looked toward the father and daughter of the Zhu Family.

"Understood, Young Master." Gu Yue's expression was indifferent. She waved her right hand through the void, and ice, wind, and earth elements instantly condensed in her palm. She exchanged a glance with Na'er, and the two vanished from their spots, reappearing a second later at the four corners of the estate. Gu Yue continuously unleashed cyan wind blades and deep yellow gravity barriers, coordinating with Na'er's unpredictable spatial folding to completely seal off every unstable node in the fire wall.

Inside the council hall, isolated from the outside world, a deathly, terrifying atmosphere took hold.

"Resistance? What are you going to use to resist?" Chiyan took a step forward, the extreme fire pressure bearing down heavily with her movement. Zhu Ganglie felt his legs go weak; his Hell Spirit Cat Martial Soul felt as if it were about to kneel before the pressure of a true dragon.

"I'll stall this madwoman! Zhuyun, move! Go kill that brat! As long as we capture him, we still have a chance!" Zhu Ganglie had completely lost the nerve to face Chiyan head-on. Cold sweat poured down his forehead like rain as he frantically channeled all his soul power, attempting to create a sliver of an opening for his daughter.

A flash of ruthlessness crossed Zhu Zhuyun's eyes. As a level 28 Soul Grand Master, she was indeed a standout among her peers, and she knew well that Zhu Zhuqing had only reached level ten a few days ago, not even having obtained her first soul ring. In her deep-seated perception, Gu Tian looked to be about the same age as Zhu Zhuqing; even if his cultivation were high, he could at most be a Soul Master who had just passed level ten.

"Martial Soul Possession! Hell Spirit Cat!"

Zhu Zhuyun let out a sharp cry, her body instantly becoming lithe and slender. Three-inch-long pitch-black claws unsheathed from her fingers, and two bright yellow century-old soul rings pulsed in alternation beneath her feet.

"Little bastard, die!" Zhu Zhuyun's figure turned into a dark streak of light, lunging straight for Gu Tian's throat with a shrill whistle that tore through the air.

Gu Tian watched the rapidly approaching shadow, a mocking smirk playing on his lips.

"ROAR—!"

A low, desolate dragon roar, carrying supreme majesty, seemed to traverse ten thousand years of time, vibrating and echoing through the council hall. As the Nine-Colored Divine Light swirled, a phantom of the Dragon God flickered behind Gu Tian, and the previously silent hall was instantly whipped into a gale. Following this, a deep purple soul ring, radiating a noble, mysterious, and ominous sense of oppression, rose steadily from beneath Gu Tian's feet, right before Zhu Zhuyun's shrinking pupils.

"Pur... Purple?! The first soul ring is actually purple?!"

Zhu Zhuyun's lunging figure froze mid-air. This sight, which completely shattered the ten-thousand-year common knowledge of the Douluo Continent and transcended the limits of the soul master world, left her mind blank for an instant, causing her lethal attack to suffer a fatal opening due to her extreme shock.

"Surprised? The more surprising parts are yet to come."

Gu Tian twisted the ball of his foot against the ground, his body launching like a fully drawn crossbow. Relying on the terrifying physical augmentation provided by the Fire Dragon King Right Arm Bone, he swung his right arm.

"BANG!"

A muffled thud. Gu Tian's speed was pushed to the limit. Zhu Zhuyun only had time to raise her right claw to block her chest before Gu Tian was already upon her. He tilted his body slightly, avoiding the cat claws with a textbook-perfect agile displacement, then shifted his weight, sinking his center of gravity as he channeled power from his waist and hips.

"WHOOSH—"

The force of the blow tore through the heatwaves in the hall. Gu Tian's left leg swept out like a heavy iron pillar, trailing a sharp arc of light.

It was an incredibly precise and domineering left hook kick. Gu Tian's sole slammed into Zhu Zhuyun's ribs. Zhu Zhuyun felt a mountain-toppling force surge into her body; her level 28 Soul Grand Master protective soul power was as fragile as thin paper before that brute strength. Accompanied by the crisp sound of cracking bones, Zhu Zhuyun screamed as she was sent spinning horizontally through the air several times, like a heavy sack of sand.

Gu Tian's gaze was cold, giving his opponent no chance to catch her breath. He bent his knees slightly and leaped up before Zhu Zhuyun could hit the ground. He closed his right hand into a palm, dragon patterns flickering faintly on his palm, and pushed forward with force, striking Zhu Zhuyun squarely in the chest.

"BOOM!"

Zhu Zhuyun spat out a mouthful of blood, her body struck as if by lightning. She flew backward like a kite with a broken string for over ten meters, slamming heavily into the thick ironwood table in front of Zhu Ganglie. The heavy table, capable of withstanding ten thousand catties of force, shattered into pieces instantly, wood chips flying everywhere.

"Cough, cough... You... what kind of monster are you..." Zhu Zhuyun struggled to curl up in the ruins, her right hand clutching her collapsed ribs. The arrogance in her eyes had long since vanished, replaced by deep, lingering terror.

She had thought this was a cat-and-mouse game with victory already in her grasp, but she never expected that before this boy, she—a level 28 genius who could look down on her peers—would be unable to withstand even a single complete combat technique.

Gu Tian slowly retracted his left leg, tapped his toe on the ground, and looked down at the father and daughter of the Zhu Family, who were now like stray dogs. His voice was as cold as a blade:

"Zhu Family, besides bullying the weak and relying on your status to oppress others, is there really not a single... skill you possess that is worthy of my attention?"