Bai Yuan watched the three figures pouncing from different directions, his pupils narrowing slightly.
The yellow and purple Soul Rings beneath Golden Crocodile Douluo's feet lit up at once, and his golden scales gleamed with a metallic luster.
He raised his right arm. His hand, already transformed into a claw, abruptly swelled in size, and five dark golden arcs tore through the air, blanketing Bai Yuan's position.
First Soul Skill—Golden Crocodile Sky-Ripping Claw.
His right arm transformed into a dark golden crocodile claw, swinging out five metallic arcs as though tearing space apart, each carrying scorching heat.
At the same instant, the second purple Soul Ring beneath Mighty Lion Douluo's feet lit up. His entire body became a mass of burning flames as he charged head-on with savage, violent force.
It was his second soul skill, a powerful offensive technique that carried immense explosive and impact force.
Azure Luan Douluo did not charge forward. He remained where he was as the phantom of blue-green wings spread behind him, his smoky blue eyes narrowing slightly.
The purple Soul Ring beneath his feet flashed, and an invisible sound wave compressed toward Bai Yuan from all directions.
Third Soul Skill—Doomsday Wind Sphere.
Azure Luan Douluo excelled at using wind elements and sound waves for attack and control. This skill formed a vacuum around the target, restricting movement.
Bai Yuan moved.
He did not retreat. He cut in diagonally.
Golden Crocodile's arcs grazed past his left shoulder, Mighty Lion's flames howled past less than half a foot from his right side, and Azure Luan's sound wave exploded behind him.
The three attacks converged on one point at the same moment, but he had already vanished from it.
"What?"
Mighty Lion Douluo's flames struck nothing. His massive body carried him two steps forward before he steadied himself.
He whipped around, staring in disbelief at the child standing at the edge of the battlefield. A three-sided pincer attack, and they had still been too slow?
"Such speed?"
Golden Crocodile Douluo said nothing, but his golden vertical pupils narrowed slightly.
He had seen something in Bai Yuan's evasive trajectory.
It was not a speed boost granted by a Soul Skill, nor was it the explosive movement of an agility-type Soul Master. It was something more fundamental, like an innate reaction speed.
Azure Luan Douluo frowned slightly.
The Worldbearing Coreflame sensed the three auras rushing in from different directions.
The dominance of the Golden Crocodile King, the ethereal nature of Azure Luan, and the violence of the Blazing Lion.
Three utterly different powers stirred a certain resonance deep within it.
It began to shine.
Bai Yuan had not activated it. The Core Flame itself was pulsing, as if answering some ancient call.
Golden light poured from his palm, not in the form of flames.
Instead, it was a more condensed, almost tangible stream of light that spread up his arm and throughout his body.
Bai Yuan felt something taking shape within him.
It was not a Martial Soul, nor was it Soul Power, but something more fundamental, a power etched deep within his Eidolon.
A light cone.
That radiance condensed within him into some manifested existence.
It had no physical form, yet it undeniably existed, like an invisible key opening some tightly shut door within him.
Several words surfaced in Bai Yuan's consciousness, clear as though carved into his soul:
Thus Burns the Dawn.
The light cone's enhancement flooded his entire body at that moment, and he clearly felt it branding itself into his flesh.
Base speed increased by 12%.
Ignore 18% of target defense.
Damage dealt increased by 12%.
Bai Yuan's pupils widened slightly.
This was...
This was the power of the new Star Cone the Core Flame had bestowed upon Bai Yuan.
He had no time to think, because the three had already attacked again.
Mighty Lion Douluo's flames arrived first, his Second Soul Ring lighting up.
His second soul skill was a powerful offensive technique with immense explosive and impact force. His entire body became a burning meteor, crashing straight toward Bai Yuan.
Golden Crocodile Douluo followed immediately after. His First Soul Ring and Second Soul Ring flashed at once as his golden claws tore through the air, and the ground beneath his feet split amid violent tremors.
Azure Luan Douluo stood behind them. His Third Soul Ring flashed, and an invisible vacuum barrier compressed toward Bai Yuan from all directions.
The three-sided attack sealed off every path of retreat.
Bai Yuan moved.
This time, even he was startled.
It was not fast. It was faster.
His figure practically vanished from where he stood. Mighty Lion Douluo's flames smashed into the spot he had just occupied, blasting out a scorched crater;
Golden Crocodile Douluo's claws tore through nothing but an afterimage;
Azure Luan Douluo's sound wave exploded behind him without even touching the corner of his clothes.
"What?!"
Mighty Lion Douluo's flames struck nothing. His massive body carried him two steps forward before he steadied himself.
He abruptly turned around, staring in disbelief at the child who was already standing at the edge of the battlefield.
"How did he get even faster?!"
Bai Yuan did not answer.
His gaze had already locked onto Azure Luan Douluo.
Eliminate the control-type backliner first.
That was the most basic common sense in any battle.
Azure Luan Douluo's wind sphere control was too troublesome. If he was not dealt with first, this battle could not be fought.
His figure vanished again.
This time, he was so fast that he did not even leave behind an afterimage.
Azure Luan Douluo's smoky blue eyes suddenly contracted.
The instant Bai Yuan disappeared, he had already made an evasive move.
Wind elements surged beneath his feet, shifting his body several feet to the left.
At that distance, he was confident he could evade any attack.
Bai Yuan's sword arrived.
Dawnmaker thrust out from the void, its tip aimed directly at Azure Luan Douluo's throat.
Azure Luan Douluo dodged. His body slid along the sword's edge, the thin cicada-wing blade passing less than an inch from his throat.
"Too slow." Azure Luan Douluo's lips curved upward slightly.
Then he saw that Bai Yuan's lips were curving upward as well.
Sword light exploded.
The instant Dawnmaker's thrust missed, its blade shuddered violently. The silver-white sharpness once concentrated at its tip burst outward in every direction like fireworks.
It was not sword qi, nor was it Soul Power, but a purer, more fundamental force of sharpness.
Ignore 18% of target defense.
Azure Luan Douluo's protective Soul Power was ripped apart layer by layer before that spreading sword light, as fragile as paper.
"So fast—"
The sword light swallowed him.
When the light faded, Azure Luan Douluo's body had already become specks of light, dispersing into the air.
Bai Yuan stood amid those motes, Dawnmaker angled toward the ground, lingering sharpness still clinging to its blade.
Mighty Lion Douluo froze in place.
Golden Crocodile Douluo's golden vertical pupils abruptly constricted.
"What?" Even Mighty Lion Douluo's voice had changed pitch.
"One sword and... what kind of Soul Skill was that?"
Bai Yuan took a deep breath, sensing the power within him rise once more.
Another one.
The Eidolon's enhancement had risen by another notch.
He slowly turned around, pointing Dawnmaker at the two remaining opponents. The curve of his lips grew wider and wider.
"You're next."
The remaining two exchanged a glance.
Golden Crocodile Douluo nodded slightly, and the two moved almost simultaneously.
It was an all-out pincer attack.
Golden Crocodile Douluo's First and Second Soul Rings flared brilliantly at the same time. His golden scales shone with blinding light, and his clawed hands tore through the air as they slashed down diagonally from the left.
Mighty Lion Douluo lunged in from the right, the flames all over his body condensing to the extreme. He became a burning meteor, crushing forward head-on with the momentum to destroy everything.
They attacked from both sides, sealing off every angle of evasion.
Bai Yuan's pupils narrowed.
He pushed off the ground, leaning to the left and barely dodging Golden Crocodile Douluo's claw, which could have torn steel apart.
The claw swept past his clothes, scattering several scraps of fabric.
But Mighty Lion Douluo's fist had already reached him, its blazing flames scorching his cheeks with pain.
He could not dodge it.
Bai Yuan gritted his teeth, gripping Dawnmaker tightly in his right hand while his left hand instinctively pressed against the blade.
The Power of Destruction erupted from the depths of the Core Flame.
It was not Soul Power, nor was it sword qi, but a more fundamental, more primal force.
Golden light exploded across the blade and collided with Mighty Lion Douluo's flames, producing a deafening roar!
Boom!
Bai Yuan was blasted backward by the shockwave. He flipped twice in midair, then landed on one knee and skidded several meters before stabilizing himself.
One corner of his clothes had been scorched black. His palm was numb, and his chest ached with suffocating pain.
But he had endured it.
That Power of Destruction had offset most of Mighty Lion Douluo's fiery impact.
Though the remaining shockwave was still fierce, it was no longer enough to inflict fatal damage on him.
"Whew..." Bai Yuan panted heavily, fine beads of sweat appearing on his forehead. "That was close... almost got me."
Mighty Lion Douluo was stunned.
Even suppressed to the strength of three rings, that punch should have been enough to heavily injure a Soul Master of the same level.
Yet this child had taken it head-on and only been forced back a few steps?
Golden Crocodile Douluo narrowed his golden vertical pupils slightly, a grave scrutiny flashing through his eyes.
Bai Yuan did not give them time to keep thinking.
He rose to his feet, tightened his grip on Dawnmaker, and took a deep breath.
The Eidolon's enhancement was pushed to its limit at that moment.
Thus Burns the Dawn.
Speed, set to maximum.
His figure vanished from where he stood.
It was not merely fast. He was so fast that he could not even leave an afterimage behind. Golden Crocodile Douluo only saw a blur before a silver-white sword light cut in from his blind spot.
He instinctively raised his claws to block, but the sword light changed direction the instant he defended, bypassing his guard and plunging into his chest.
Golden Crocodile Douluo lowered his head to glance at the sword mark on his chest. His lips moved, and then his body turned into specks of light and dispersed.
At the same instant, Mighty Lion Douluo felt a chill at the back of his neck.
He had not even seen when Bai Yuan had reached his back.
The second sword pierced through the protection of his flames from behind and stabbed straight through his heart.
Mighty Lion Douluo opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but no words came out.
He looked down at the sword tip protruding from his chest. His body began to break apart from the edges, turning into countless motes of light that scattered into the air.
Two swords.
Gone.
Those motes of light drifted around him.
He raised his head and called toward the depths of the sky, "Elder Han, any more?"
The Illusion Space returned to calm.
Han Tianyi's voice came from the void, carrying a rare hint of amusement.
"That's enough. If you keep fighting, you'll tear my Illusion Space apart."
Bai Yuan grinned and sheathed his sword.
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