Broken stones fell through the dust-filled air, pelting the valley with a dense patter of muffled thuds.
Several low peaks, snapped in half by the impact, collapsed. From the rubble, a bloodstained figure in black staggered through the dust.
Long Xiaoyao was in a wretched state.
His right arm bent at a grotesque angle, splintered bone protruding through his black robe. Dark red blood dripped steadily from his fingertips. A large section of his chest had caved in, and every breath came with the rasp of ruptured organs.
Yet the Limit Douluo, renowned for a century, did not spare his injuries a glance.
"Xishui!"
Long Xiaoyao let out a hoarse cry and stumbled toward another heap of ruins nearby.
With his uninjured left arm, he carefully gathered Ye Xishui from beneath the rubble and held her against him.
The moment he touched her, the color drained from his blood-smeared face.
Ye Xishui's body was frighteningly hot. Veins bulged beneath her pale skin, while two opposing lights—black-red and brilliant gold—rampaged through her meridians.
Back in the auction house's private box, the Light Phoenix summoned by the "Light Purification Record" had cracked Ye Xishui's Soul Core. Only a remnant of will had kept its fragile balance from collapsing.
Then the aftershock of Xiao Yan's void-shattering punch had struck her full-on, smashing the last line of defense inside her.
Freed from restraint, the sacred light clashed savagely with the source of her Blood Soul Demon Puppet within her narrow meridians.
Under the furious onslaught of those two powers, her meridians swelled. Tiny beads of blood seeped through her skin, and her meridians looked ready to burst apart.
"Hold on! Xishui, I'll suppress it for you!"
Panic seized Long Xiaoyao. Ignoring the turmoil raging through his injured body, he forced Dark Soul Power from