The dust settled.
Demon Bear Douluo was half-kneeling on the ground, his legs buried deep in the shattered stone slabs. Everything below his knees was completely covered by rubble.
His arms were still crossed in a defensive stance, but the calluses on them had been shattered to pieces, revealing the charred flesh beneath.
Blood seeped from his mouth, nostrils, and ears, dripping onto the ground before him with faint pattering sounds.
His breathing had grown extremely weak.
Ghost Leopard Douluo's face turned deathly pale. He hurried to Demon Bear Douluo's side and crouched down, placing a hand on his shoulder to probe his injuries with Soul Power.
But the moment his Soul Power touched Demon Bear Douluo, it was thrown back by a violent, unreasonable force.
The power of destruction rampaged through Demon Bear Douluo's body, ravaging his meridians, internal organs, and bones. Each bolt of lightning was a venomous snake, slithering through his body, biting and devouring.
"How are you?" Ghost Leopard Douluo's voice tightened.
Demon Bear Douluo's lips trembled twice. He managed a few indistinct syllables, then suddenly coughed up a large mouthful of black blood.
Fragments of his internal organs were mixed in with the blood. They hit the ground, giving off a nauseating, charred stench.
His eyes had lost focus, his pupils were unfixed, and his whole body was visibly wasting away.
There was only one thought in Ghost Leopard Douluo's mind: leave.
They had to leave.
Right away.
He helped Demon Bear Douluo up, draped his arm over his own shoulder, and gritted his teeth, preparing to carry him away.
"Leaving already?"
The voice came from above the corpse heap. It was quiet and hoarse, with a composure that made one's scalp prickle, like Death politely greeting someone before reaping them.
Ghost Leopard Douluo froze. He slowly turned around and looked at the child sitting atop the mound of corpses.
Luo Yun was still in the same pose as before, propping his chin up with one hand. The Moon Eclipse Sword was stuck in the pile of corpses beside him, and his scarlet eyes were fixed on Ghost Leopard Douluo.
But Ghost Leopard Douluo noticed that the sky behind Luo Yun had changed.
The mass of dark clouds had not dispersed. Purple-red lightning still churned inside the vortex, as if ready to strike again at any moment.
The last line of defense in Ghost Leopard Douluo's heart crumbled completely.
"P-please... spare me..."
Luo Yun rose from the corpse heap.
He pulled the Moon Eclipse Sword from the pile. Blood coated its blade, and purple-black lightning leaped through the crimson, crackling faintly.
He descended from the corpse heap one step at a time, his boots landing on the bodies with dull thuds.
He walked up to Ghost Leopard Douluo and stood before the Titled Douluo, who was several heads taller than him. Then he tilted his head back to look at him.
His scarlet eyes held no expression.
Luo Yun spoke softly, but every word pierced Ghost Leopard Douluo's ears like a nail.
"When you slaughtered the innocent people of Frost Ridge City, did you ever think of sparing them?"
Ghost Leopard Douluo's lips trembled. He couldn't speak.
"When you spread rumors that the soldiers of Frost Ridge City had colluded with Soul Beasts of the Far North, did you ever think this day would come?"
Ghost Leopard Douluo's legs began to shake. His kneecaps clicked and creaked.
"When you sent several Titled Douluo to surround my parents and drove them into a dead end..." Luo Yun paused.
"Did you ever think a day like this would come?"
Ghost Leopard Douluo opened his mouth, trying to say something.
Perhaps to beg for mercy, perhaps to explain, perhaps to curse.
But Luo Yun gave him no chance.
"Choose the right master in your next life."
Luo Yun raised his hand and pointed at the sky.
The purple-red lightning vortex in the sky grew violent once more, lightning churning madly through the dark clouds.
Then two bolts of lightning struck at the same time.
One crashed down on Ghost Leopard Douluo, the other on Demon Bear Douluo, who was already on the verge of death.
Purple-red light swallowed everything.
When the lightning faded, only two charred craters remained where Ghost Leopard Douluo and Demon Bear Douluo had stood.
A Titled Douluo had fallen.
Luo Yun lowered his hand, turned around, and headed north.
The Moon Eclipse Sword dissolved into specks of light in his hand, and the Divine Slaughter's Domain slowly withdrew into his body.
The moment Luo Yun walked out of Frost Ridge City's ruins, two voices rang out in his mind at once.
Destruction Nine Trials, Fourth Trial completed. Reward: Soul Power increased by three levels, one God-bestowed Soul Ring. Life Nine Trials, Fourth Trial completed. Reward: Soul Power increased by three levels, one God-bestowed Soul Ring.
As the voices faded, his Soul Power began to rise.
Thirty-six, thirty-seven, thirty-eight, thirty-nine, forty, forty-one, forty-two.
Six levels in a row.
Luo Yun clenched his fist. His scarlet eyes remained calm.
It wasn't enough. It was still far from enough.
He found a relatively intact ruin, sat cross-legged, and drew the two God-bestowed Soul Rings out of his Sea of Consciousness.
Half an hour later, a black Soul Ring had appeared beneath the Sun Corona Sword.
Purple, purple, black, black.
Another half hour passed, and a black Soul Ring appeared beneath the Moon Eclipse Sword as well.
Black, black.
Luo Yun stood up. His Soul Power had reached level forty-eight.
Just as he was about to leave, two voices rang out in his mind again.
Destruction Nine Trials, Fifth Trial: Go to the Far North and hunt or subdue one of the Three Great Heavenly Kings of the Far North. Reward: 20% affinity with the Origin of Destruction. Failure penalty—annihilation. Life Nine Trials, Fifth Trial: Go to the Far North and hunt or subdue one of the Three Great Heavenly Kings of the Far North. Reward: 20% affinity with the Source of Life. Failure penalty—annihilation.
Luo Yun froze.
This time, the Life Nine Trials were no longer subordinate to the Destruction Nine Trials. They were independent, parallel tasks. That meant he had to deal with two of them.
The Three Great Heavenly Kings of the Far North? He had read about them in the library. Each had lived for hundreds of thousands of years, and their strength far surpassed that of ordinary Titled Douluo.
They expected a six-year-old Soul Ancestor like him to hunt down such beings?
Luo Yun's mouth twitched. He cursed the two deities in his mind.
Then he continued north.
Douluo God Realm, the Tree of Life.
Life God King sat on a branch, her brows slightly furrowed as she gazed through the sea of clouds at the azure planet below.
Destruction God King sat beside her, one leg crossed over the other, the corners of his mouth slightly raised.
"Xiao Zi," Life God King began, a trace of helplessness in her voice. "Are you planning to turn this child into someone who knows nothing but killing?"
"How could I?" Destruction God King raised an eyebrow.
"How could you not?" Life God King turned to look at him. "He's only six years old, and you've already had him kill who knows how many people."
Destruction God King's smile faded a little, though the curve of his lips remained. "I've been keeping count. Four thousand seven hundred and thirty-nine."
Life God King's brows drew together even more tightly.
Watching her expression, Destruction God King shook his head.
"He won't," he said with certainty.
"From the very beginning, he wasn't doing it for the sake of killing, but..."
He paused. A complex glint flashed through his purple-red eyes.
"Protection."
Before you continue