Divine Punishment

The air at the scene tightened abruptly.

Ei did not turn around, nor did she even lift her eyes to look at the few people beside her.

Her gaze remained lowered, resting on some unknown void, as if every sound and every existence in the surroundings had been annihilated, unable to stir even the slightest ripple in her deep, violet pupils.

Yet, a silent pressure had already spread like a rising tide.

The air seemed to solidify, only to be violently torn apart.

The arcs of electricity that had previously been lingering around Ei suddenly broke free from their constraints and surged toward the sky.

Almost the instant the humming of the arcs around her reached its peak, a dull and massive response echoed from the horizon.

A heavy leaden gray devoured the azure at a speed visible to the naked eye, and in a flash, the dome of the sky was completely blanketed by boundless dark clouds.

The attack Qian Qizhou had launched earlier relied on the residual energy Ei had left within his body, combined with his own strength, so its power was not significant.

But now, she was unleashing her authority herself; even if this were only a projection, it was far more terrifying than before.

One could tell from this anomaly alone: the dark clouds were so heavy they seemed ready to crush the mountains beneath them, and their vast range and depth far exceeded the phenomenon Qian Qizhou had previously displayed.

The clouds swirled frantically, forming an immensely massive vortex.

As for what gathered within that vortex, it was a heavenly might sufficient to make all things tremble.

Qian Daoliu could clearly feel the powerful energy surging and compressing within Ei's body, like thunderclouds gathering incessantly before a storm.

Qian Xunji suppressed the palpitations in his heart, moving his gaze from the sky to the unconscious Qian Qizhou, who was being supported by Ei.

His Adam's apple bobbed, and his voice carried a trace of imperceptible dryness: "Your Excellency's divine might is unfathomable. If you wish to take him, you may simply leave."

As his words fell, the surroundings plunged into a deathly silence, broken only by the dull roar of the rolling thunderclouds in the sky and that pressure which made breathing difficult.

Just as that oppressive silence was about to crush those present, Qian Daoliu slowly stepped forward.

The aura he had previously kept restrained suddenly climbed, and his vast, boundless golden soul power surged out like a tide, forming a solid barrier that barely managed to hold Ei's pressure at bay.

Ei did not look at Qian Daoliu, but instead glanced at Qian Xunji and spoke with indifference: "Since you gave him life but did not raise him, why bother with such pretenses?"

"He has his own choices; he does not need others to interfere."

The moment her words fell, her free hand lifted casually, and her slender fingers made a light sweeping motion toward Qian Xunji.

No incantations, no charging, not even any superfluous movements.

High above the dome, the center of that violent thundercloud vortex suddenly brightened to the extreme.

A purple pillar of lightning, thick enough to be suffocating, tore through the sky like divine retribution and struck straight down!

Its speed surpassed sound; almost the same moment her fingers swept, the destructive radiance had already neared Qian Xunji's position.

Qian Xunji's pupils shrank to pinpricks, and the shadow of death instantly enveloped him.

He roared, desperately releasing his martial soul; brilliant soul rings lit up frantically, and the phantom of an Angel hastily shielded him from the front.

Just as that destructive pillar of lightning was about to completely consume Qian Xunji, two sharp voices rang out simultaneously.

"Your Holiness!"

Chrysanthemum and Ghost Douluo flew over in a hurry, releasing their martial souls to help Qian Xunji block the strike.

However, in a mere instant, that pure, overwhelming might of heaven and earth descended.

"Pfft—!"

Chrysanthemum and Ghost Douluo spat out blood simultaneously and were sent flying backward faster than they had arrived, their bodies charred black as they slammed heavily into the ground, their fates unknown.

The ground where Qian Xunji had stood was now a patch of charred, melted earth, emitting acrid, blue smoke.

He himself had been blasted dozens of meters away, crashing heavily into the ruins.

His clothes were shredded, his skin charred and carbonized over a large area, and he reeked of a pungent, burnt odor. He looked like a piece of deadwood scorched by a raging fire, with only his faintly twitching body proving he was still alive.

Everything happened too quickly.

The several titled Douluo elders in the rear finally reacted from their extreme shock.

"Presumptuous!"

"Protect the Pope!"

Golden Crocodile Douluo roared, and the massive phantom of the Golden Crocodile King soared into the sky, while the other elders did not hesitate to push their own soul power to the limit.

Along with Qian Daoliu, who suppressed the shock in his heart and drove his massive soul power to its peak, all their strength gathered at this moment regardless of the cost.

However, they could only barely manage to condense a crumbling barrier of soul power beneath that peerless heavenly might.

"Rumble—!!!"

The lightning pillar slammed fiercely against the barrier.

An indescribable, deafening roar caused everyone's eardrums to rupture, and blood flowed from their ears.

The soul power barrier twisted violently, flickering unsteadily, and spiderweb-like cracks instantly covered its surface, as if it would collapse completely the next second.

Every titled Douluo supporting the barrier turned deathly pale, their bodies trembling violently; those with weaker cultivation even spat out blood, their soul rings dimming.

Combined, they had only barely managed to block the mere aftermath of that single strike...

Ei slowly lowered her hand, yet the arcs of electricity permeating her body and the thunderclouds roaring in the sky did not weaken in the slightest.

She finally raised her eyes, and those deep purple orbs swept over the people standing before her in battle-readiness for the first time; wherever her gaze fell, even Qian Daoliu felt his soul tremble.

To think these people could actually block my attack; it seems the strength this avatar projection can exert is truly limited.

However, it was not her place to pass judgment anyway; the end of the story should be written by the protagonist of the story himself.

She shifted her gaze away from Qian Daoliu and the others, letting it fall back upon the unconscious Qian Qizhou.

Even though he was wielding her power, he was merely a six-year-old child, and his body was far too fragile to withstand such an overload of energy.

If he were not treated properly soon...

Ei raised her hand casually and made a light swipe at the space in front of her.

"Rip!"

A deep purple rift appeared out of thin air. Without the slightest hesitation, she took Qian Qizhou and stepped into the fissure in a single stride.

Following that, the spatial rift began to close rapidly, and the lightning retracted as if it had never appeared at all.

Just as the rift was about to vanish completely, Guang Ling seemed to snap out of his daze and asked instinctively, "Where are you taking Little Zhou?!"

But clearly, he would receive no answer.

High above, the terrifying thunderclouds that had made it impossible to breathe dissipated quietly like a hallucination, revealing the original sky behind them, as if the world-destroying pressure from moments ago had been nothing more than a nightmare.

Golden Crocodile Douluo stared at the spot where the spatial rift had completely vanished and at the sky where the thunderclouds had cleared, letting out a heavy sigh only after a long while.

The surging soul power around him slowly receded, yet his body remained tense.

He turned to Qian Daoliu, whose expression was incredibly grave and whose eyes still held traces of shock, and asked with a complex look, "That person just now..."

That suffocating sense of oppression was something he had never even felt when facing the three Peerless Douluo at their peak.