Hong Xiao stood at the other end of the Arena. His thirty-foot-tall body trembled slightly, the purple patterns across it flashing wildly. He had already burned through more than seventy percent of his bloodline power.
He gritted his teeth. The two flames in his scarlet eyes burned at their fiercest, yet a grin still tugged at his lips.
"Not bad... not bad... you can fight better than I thought!"
He spoke one word at a time, forcing each through clenched teeth.
He suddenly yanked his right arm back, wrenching the crimson chain out of the mass of light by sheer force.
A thick layer of ice coated the chain. He gave it a hard shake, shattering the ice and sending shards spraying like rain.
"But did you think that was the end?"
Hong Xiao drove the chain into the Arena floor. It burrowed underground like an enraged dragon.
The next instant, the ground beneath Ling Juehan exploded. The crimson chain burst up from below, wrapped around the great bell's opening, and locked it fast.
Hong Xiao seized the other end of the chain with both hands and heaved, ripping the great bell from Ling Juehan's control.
Ling Juehan's expression finally changed. He reached out with his right hand to summon the bell back, but Hong Xiao had already hurled it toward the edge of the Arena.
The great bell struck the barrier with a deep, thunderous boom.
Then it shrank to the size of a fist and rolled across the Arena floor, the ice-blue light on its surface dimmed almost to nothing.
Ling Juehan had lost his bell.
Hong Xiao stood at the center of the Arena, his thirty-foot-tall body covered in countless wounds.
Dark red blood flowed from them, hissing as it dripped onto the Arena floor.
He breathed