Ma Hongjun opened his mouth and spat out a blazing stream of fire, which shot straight toward Luo Yun's face.
Wherever the flames passed, the air warped and twisted. The carpet on the floor was scorched at the edges, filling the hall with a foul, burnt stench.
The fire was astonishingly hot. Forget a six-year-old child—even an adult hit by it would have their skin burned off.
Someone in the lobby couldn't help crying out in alarm.
The receptionist covered her eyes, not daring to look.
Several guests turned their heads, unable to bear watching the little beggar get burned and writhe across the floor.
"That kid's done for."
The same thought flashed through everyone's mind.
But several seconds passed.
The scream they had imagined never came.
Everyone turned to look.
Luo Yun was still standing where he had been.
The Moon Eclipse Sword was held crosswise in front of him, its blade blocking all the flames.
The dark red fire split into two streams before the sword and flowed past either side of his body, not a single spark touching his clothes.
Ma Hongjun's mouth hung open as he continued spewing flames.
It had all been blocked?
A Soul Skill, blocked by a little brat without a Soul Ring, using a broken sword?
He instinctively increased his Soul Power output. The flames surged hotter and fiercer, and the air crackled as it burned.
Luo Yun didn't budge an inch.
The Moon Eclipse Sword remained held across him. No matter how fiercely the flames struck, it didn't even wobble.
The lobby fell completely silent.
Everyone was stunned.
The receptionist peeked through her fingers, then lowered her hands, her mouth forming a perfect O.
Dai Mubai's smile froze on his face. For the first time, shock appeared in his mismatched eyes.
He knew exactly how powerful Fatty's Phoenix Fire Line was.
Even he wouldn't dare take that move head-on.
Yet this little beggar, who didn't even have a Soul Ring, had blocked it with nothing but a sword.
Dai Mubai's expression darkened.
Luo Yun stood amid the flames, his face expressionless.
He could feel the Moon Eclipse Sword growing excited.
Since awakening this Martial Soul, Luo Yun had never used it.
But his instincts told him that this sword's power far surpassed Sun Corona!
Luo Yun's grip tightened slightly around the hilt.
He swung the sword!
The Moon Eclipse Sword shifted from a horizontal guard into a sweep. Its blade traced an arc through the air, sending a streak of purple-black sword energy flying from its edge. Wrapped in thunderous, destructive power, it hurtled toward Ma Hongjun.
Ma Hongjun's pupils contracted to pinpoints.
His Evil Fire was still pouring from his throat. He had no time to dodge.
The fear of death surged into his heart.
"Boss Dai, save me!!!"
Ma Hongjun cried out and instinctively squeezed his eyes shut.
The next second, an icy blue light flashed.
Luo Shang vanished from the sofa.
When he appeared again, he was standing in front of Ma Hongjun, Frost Cold Sword in hand, as nine Soul Rings rose beneath his feet.
Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black, red.
They revolved slowly around him, one after another, radiating the aura of a Titled Douluo.
The Frost Cold Sword met the Moon Eclipse Sword's energy.
There was no explosion.
The instant the purple-black sword energy touched the Frost Cold Sword,
icy blue frost spread across its length until it had become an icicle, suspended in midair.
Luo Shang turned his wrist. The icicle shattered into countless tiny shards of ice, which fell to the floor.
The lobby was a complete mess.
No one dared make the slightest sound.
Everyone remained frozen in the positions they had held a moment earlier.
They stared dumbly at the nine Soul Rings beneath Luo Shang's feet.
Especially the brilliant red Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring.
A Titled Douluo powerhouse!
The man who had been lying on the sofa was a Titled Douluo!
Dai Mubai's expression changed completely.
A Titled Douluo.
There were only a handful of Titled Douluos across the entire continent.
How could a powerhouse of this level appear in a little place like Suotuo City? And why was he staying in a hotel like this with a child?
That little beggar—no, that boy—was the son of a Titled Douluo.
And the things he had just said...
Luo Shang's brows drew together.
He looked at the shattered ice on the floor, then at the Moon Eclipse Sword in Luo Yun's hand. His gaze darkened.
The power behind that strike—
It had been enough to kill that little fatty.
If he hadn't intervened, a corpse would be lying on the floor right now.
"Xiaoyun." Luo Shang's voice was quiet, but unmistakably stern.
Luo Yun held the Moon Eclipse Sword, his fingers trembling slightly.
That destructive urge had kept affecting his mind.
He took a deep breath, forcing down the impulse, and looked up at Luo Shang.
"...I was wrong." His voice was very small, but earnest. "I couldn't control it."
Luo Yun lowered his eyes to his right hand, which had put away the Moon Eclipse Sword, his brows faintly furrowed.
This sword was completely different from Sun Corona.
Sun Corona felt warm and gentle to use, and put him at ease.
The Moon Eclipse was like... like a demon. One careless moment, and it would interfere with his mind.
Luo Shang glanced at him but said nothing. He turned and walked toward the sofa.
Behind him, Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun stood frozen in place.
Ma Hongjun's legs were shaking uncontrollably. Even his Evil Fire had been frightened away.
When that streak of purple-black sword energy had flown toward him, he had truly thought he was going to die.
That terror of death and the instinctive certainty—
Dai Mubai was hardly any better.
He looked fairly calm on the surface, but a closer look revealed that his body was trembling too.
A Titled Douluo.
And not an ordinary Titled Douluo, either.
This was a Titled Douluo who possessed a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring!
Even the royal family of the Star Luo Empire would have treated a powerhouse of this level with the utmost respect.
And just now, he had called a Super Douluo's son a "little beggar"?
Dai Mubai's throat tightened as he swallowed.
What he had done just now had been incredibly stupid.
Just then,
the hotel's front doors were pushed open from outside.
A bespectacled middle-aged man walked in.
He wore a dark robe and was lean, with a scholarly air about him. But his eyes, hidden behind his lenses, were sharp, and he clearly had seen plenty of the world.
He held a book in his hand and looked as though he had just returned from outside.
He raised his head, and the first thing he saw was the wrecked lobby.
Broken ice, overturned tables and chairs, and fragments from the chandelier that had fallen from the ceiling.
Then his gaze landed on Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun.
"Mubai? Hongjun?"
Flender frowned and hurried over. His gaze swept over them, and only after confirming they weren't injured did he relax slightly.
Then he turned his attention to Luo Shang.
Luo Shang had already stood up from the sofa and was tucking the room key into his coat.
His Soul Rings had disappeared, but the lingering aura of that Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring still sent a chill through the heart.
Flender's steps faltered.
He studied the man before him intently.
That was not the build of a pampered noble. It was the lean, hardened physique of someone who had spent years at war, living by the blade.
Before you continue