Qian Daoliu swept his radiant six wings and sped low through the air, spreading his vast, boundless divine spiritual power to search every direction.
All around him, clouds and mist churned in the gloom. Towering ancient trees stood with their dead branches tangled together, and not a blade of grass grew in the forest. Thick, icy black death energy filled the air, seeping into the surrounding spiritual energy, thread by thread.
The entire mountain range brimmed with evil, its chill sinking to the bone. Yet even after searching with every ounce of his spiritual power, he couldn't find the slightest trace of an Evil Soul Master. The place was bizarre beyond belief.
"What a strange place! Even with my divine spiritual power, I can't investigate what's inside!"
Qian Daoliu muttered to himself.
Bo Saixi drifted over to his side. She searched with the spiritual power of a Limit Douluo, but came up empty-handed as well.
Frowning, Bo Saixi said to Qian Daoliu, "Qian Daoliu, why don't we leave first? For some reason, I have a bad feeling."
At her words, Qian Daoliu frowned. He looked down at the valley, then at Bo Saixi beside him, and finally nodded. "All right!"
As he spoke, Qian Daoliu prepared to lead Bo Saixi away.
Just then, a figure dressed in pure white burst through the air and blocked their path.
Her white robes were as pristine as snow, her face shadowed and sinister. A faint aura of death swirled around her, and her gaze was cold enough to pierce bone.
She fixed them with a murderous stare and shouted, "Qian Daoliu, at last, my careful arrangements and bait have paid off—you took the hook! Now die!"
"Zhongli Wu, fire the Death God's Light!"
"Yes!"
Qian Daoliu focused on the woman, and his heart jolted. It was Ye Xishui—the very person he had killed with his own hands that day! Now, light and death intertwined around her, her aura strange and unfathomable, utterly unlike before.
On a distant mountaintop, a dazzling black light flared. A towering black beam thundered toward Qian Daoliu and the others.
A terrifying sense of impending death closed in around them. Qian Daoliu immediately tried to take Bo Saixi and teleport away.
But Ye Xishui's form abruptly changed. She became a streak of light, coalescing into a Radiant Phoenix with a body woven from black and white. She shouted, "Seventh Soul Skill—Phoenix True Body!"
"Domain: Phoenix Burning Heaven Domain!"
"Ninth Soul Skill—Heaven Swallowing Earth Devouring!"
The terrifying flames of her domain combined with the devouring force, sweeping across the area and locking onto Qian Daoliu and Bo Saixi. Their bodies stiffened, unable to move even an inch.
Qian Daoliu was furious and horrified. No! This woman wants to take Xixi and me down with her!
With no other choice, he immediately unleashed his "Seventh Soul Skill—Angel True Body," followed by the Angel Domain and "Ninth Soul Skill—Breath of the Angel."
Bo Saixi likewise used her "Seventh Soul Skill—Sea God True Body," releasing the Sea God Domain and "Ninth Soul Skill—Sea God Imprisonment!"
They tried to withstand Ye Xishui's Phoenix Domain and her ninth Soul Skill, "Heaven Swallowing Earth Devouring!"
But that brief delay was all it took. The black beam had already reached them.
At this critical moment, Ye Xishui gave Qian Daoliu a chilling smile. "Die, Qian Daoliu! Go join my Long Xiaoyao in the grave!"
The next instant, Ye Xishui activated another Soul Skill: "Ninth Soul Skill—Undying True Body!" Her entire body turned insubstantial.
The beam pierced straight through her phantom form and rushed toward Qian Daoliu and Bo Saixi. A surge of danger washed over Qian Daoliu. He tried to take Bo Saixi and flee, only to find himself firmly pinned down by Ye Xishui's ninth Soul Skill, "Heaven Swallowing Earth Devouring." The Death God's beam was almost upon them.
Qian Daoliu had just begun to spread his wings around Bo Saixi to shield her from the terrifying beam.
But Bo Saixi moved before he could. At the last possible moment, she rushed in front of him, spreading her arms to take the full force of the blow for him.
Qian Daoliu tried to stop her, but it was too late. He watched as the Death God's beam swallowed Bo Saixi's body. "No!" Then it came rushing toward him.
At the instant Qian Daoliu let out his anguished roar, a blinding golden light flared around Bo Saixi. It was none other than the Level 9 Defensive Soul Tool Kong Deming had given her.
Ye Xishui, whose body had turned intangible, was also shocked and furious. "A Level 9 Defensive Soul Tool!"
"Damn it!"
"Then let's see whether my Death God's Light is stronger or your Level 9 Defensive Soul Tool is!"
Ye Xishui roared in a frenzy, her face contorted.
The moment Bo Saixi's Level 9 Defensive Soul Tool touched the Death God's beam, her Sea God Domain and the Soul Tool began desperately resisting its terrifying force. Qian Daoliu watched as the beam drove Bo Saixi diagonally toward him.
Then Qian Daoliu's own Level 9 Defensive Soul Tool lit up.
Watching from the side, Ye Xishui gritted her teeth in fury. "Another Level 9 Defensive Soul Tool!"
Ye Xishui watched as the Death God's beam sent Qian Daoliu and Bo Saixi hurtling diagonally toward the depths of the canyon. In the end, the beam shattered both Qian Daoliu's and her own defenses. The two of them were exposed to its full force.
"Crackle, crackle, crackle!"
Qian Daoliu felt a violent force ravaging his body. Every bone and sinew throbbed with unbearable pain. His clothes tore apart, and golden blood spilled from his body as his divine form suffered grievous wounds. The tremendous impact knocked him off balance. His mind thundered, and his consciousness rapidly blurred and faded.
Unable to sustain his Angel True Body, he let his six wings droop, their light fading. His body fell out of control, plunging hard toward the shadowy valley below. In his final moments before losing consciousness, all he could manage was a hoarse, broken whisper, repeating over and over, "Xixi! Xixi!"
The towering Death God's beam vanished, and the black mist of death slowly settled.
Ye Xishui's form gradually solidified. Her frenzied battle stance faded, and the intertwined auras of life and death around her disappeared.
She gazed at the valley where Qian Daoliu and Bo Saixi had fallen. Two trails of tears rolled down her cool cheeks, and her anguished cry rang through the mountains and forests. "Xiaoyao, I've avenged you! Just wait. Once I've finished my revenge, I'll come down and join you!"
When she had finished speaking, she flashed away to a towering peak in the distance.
A colossal Soul Tool stood atop the mountain, its entire body solemn and black, its pressure overwhelming. Looking closely, one could see countless vengeful souls howling within. This was Ye Xishui's proudest creation, forged with half a lifetime of effort—the Death God Soul Guidance Device, the first Level 10 Soul Tool on the Douluo Continent.
Beside her, a man in black twitched his mouth and couldn't help complaining. "Mother, it took three massacred cities to gather all that energy, and it's gone in a single shot. Was it worth it?"
"And are you really certain that one Death God Strike could kill two Limit Douluo powerhouses?"
Ye Xishui's expression was cold. She knew full well that her Death God Strike couldn't kill Qian Daoliu and Bo Saixi outright. That was why she had chosen this mysterious canyon: generation after generation of Holy Spirit Cult members had entered it, and none had ever returned.
Ye Xishui pulled herself from her thoughts and said coldly to the man in black, "Zhongli Wu, mind your own business. Do I need you to teach me how to act?"
"If you don't want to be the cult leader anymore, I can find someone else!"
Then Ye Xishui flashed away, vanishing from where she stood.
At her words, Zhongli Wu shuddered.
By then, Qian Daoliu and Bo Saixi had fallen all the way to the bottom of the valley, their fates unknown!
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