"W-who won?"
Everyone held their breath, staring at the crimson clouds billowing apart within the light screen.
The others might not have known, but the many Titled Douluo present understood all too well!
That had been Tang Hao's strongest attack!
It wouldn't have been an exaggeration to call it the most powerful attack beneath the gods!
It wasn't just the people on the Heaven Dou Empire's side. Many members of the Spirit Hall Empire had also widened their eyes, their breathing nearly stopping as they stared unblinkingly at the light screen before them.
Only Chen Fan remained calm. He gave a disdainful smile. "With strength like that, you think you can compare to the Space Archon?"
"What a joke."
Sure enough!
As a light breeze swept past, the enormous mushroom cloud dispersed, revealing the figures within.
Tang Hao held the Clear Sky Hammer, which was a full three times larger than he was. Yet the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles had stopped it effortlessly with one hand, using a Deep Red Cube as a barrier.
Even—
At that moment, Tang Hao's arms were trembling as he tried to wrench himself free. But he seemed to have sunk into a mire, unable to pull away by even the slightest bit.
"Gasp!"
Rakshasa God Bibi Dong, Qian Renxue at her side, and the Titled Douluo of Spirit Hall all drew in sharp breaths when they saw this!
Bibi Dong most of all!
Even in her severely injured state, she could clearly feel that Tang Hao's attack, unleashed by detonating all nine rings, would have posed a tremendous threat to her.
And yet—
That very attack had been casually blocked with a bare hand?
How was that possible?
"Is this so-called Sustainer of Heavenly Principles really that terrifying?"
But—
Just as the crowd was reeling in astonishment—
The scene within the light screen changed.
"Thud!"
A muffled impact burst across the light screen.
There was no earth-shattering surge of energy, no terrifying shockwave that shattered the void.
The enormous Clear Sky Hammer, imbued with the power of nine detonated rings and possessing power that rivaled a god's, hung motionless in midair.
The only thing stopping it was a single dark red cube.
The Sustainer of Heavenly Principles held it aloft with one hand, her expression utterly cold. The dark red cube pressed against the hammerhead without developing so much as a hairline crack.
The veins in Tang Hao's arms bulged, and his muscles tore, leaking blood. He roared as he tried to force the hammer down, only to discover an irresistible force of devouring coming from within the cube.
"This is impossible!" Tang Hao's eyes nearly bulged from their sockets.
The Sustainer of Heavenly Principles didn't answer. She curled her five fingers and gave a light squeeze.
The dark red cube instantly came apart, turning into countless tiny red crystals that streamed up the hammer's handle.
"Crack—"
Dense fractures spread across the surface of the supposedly indestructible Clear Sky Hammer Martial Soul.
Tang Hao tried to let go and retreat, but his hands were glued to the hammer's handle. The red crystals crept up his arms, and everywhere they passed, his flesh, bones, and Soul Power were forcibly immobilized.
"Ah!"
His scream had barely begun when the red crystals covered his neck and face.
In a mere two seconds—
The Clear Sky Douluo, whose name had once shaken the Douluo Continent, was swiftly sealed inside a massive dark red rhomboid crystal. Not another trace of life could be sensed from him.
"This is our chance!"
At that moment—
Lumine and Aether, who had been watching from the sidelines, appeared behind the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles without anyone noticing. Each held a golden-glowing longsword and lunged at her.
The Sustainer of Heavenly Principles glanced to the side.
The void behind her collapsed across a vast area, and hundreds upon hundreds of dark red cubes surged out like a torrential rain, instantly sealing off every escape route for the twins.
The golden light quickly dimmed beneath the pressure of the red cubes.
Lumine and Aether were swallowed by the flood of cubes and likewise turned into two rhomboid crystals, which the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles took into her palm.
The battle was over.
It had lasted less than thirty seconds!
"This..."
On the battlefield at Jialing Pass, Douluo Continent—
Silence.
A deathly silence, where even a pin could be heard dropping.
Countless Spirit Masters looked up at the scene, every one of them wide-eyed and stunned, their mouths hanging open. "It's..."
"Over?"
The scene kept replaying in everyone's minds: the mighty Clear Sky Douluo, so utterly invincible in his arrogance, had been powerless to fight back and sealed on the spot by that Deep Red Cube...
That had been Tang Hao!
Tang Xiao and the five Clear Sky Sect elders nearly had their eyes pop out of their heads!
Wait!
That was their Clear Sky Sect's secret technique!
The Great Sumeru Hammer Ring Detonation, a technique only the Clear Sky Douluo of each generation was allowed to learn!
And just like that, it had been stopped so easily—and then he'd been killed in return?
Without even stirring up a single ripple?
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"
The Clear Sky Sect's Second Elder, who had always revered Tang Chen, looked utterly lost. It was as if every last bit of his faith had been stripped away. He murmured, "The Ring Detonation's true meaning was created by the old Sect Master!"
"How could this be? How could this..."
The Clear Sky Sect's Second Elder was of the same generation as Tang Xiao's father. The old Sect Master he spoke of could only be Tang Chen!
But—
The only answer to his words was the majestic voice of the Heavenly Dao!
[Participant Tang Hao has fallen!] [The Heaven Dou Empire has failed this mission.] [Failure penalty: The Soul Power Level of every Spirit Master belonging to the Heaven Dou Empire will drop by ten levels!] [However, given that this is the Douluo Continent's first participation in a Heavenly Dao mission, each empire will be granted a Newbie Protection Period reward, which can offset 90% of the penalty!]
The voice faded.
Throughout the Heaven Dou Empire's ranks, thousands upon thousands of Spirit Masters groaned in unison.
The Soul Power radiating from their bodies flickered violently before visibly dimming.
"My Soul Power! I just broke through to Soul Sage!"
"My level dropped! It really dropped!"
"How could this happen?"
Panic spread through the Heaven Dou Army.
Emperor Xue Beng's face turned deathly pale. A sweetness rose in his throat, and he spat out a huge mouthful of blood with a "wha," nearly tumbling off his horse!
The Heaven Dou Empire hadn't merely lost the fighting strength of a Titled Douluo. The entire empire's Spirit Masters had been made to pay the price!
Everyone's Soul Power had dropped by ten levels! Even with this so-called Newbie Protection Period reward offsetting the penalty, they had still genuinely lost one Soul Power Level!
Those around Soul Grandmaster rank might be fine, but for the Titled Douluo, even losing one Soul Power Level...
"No! I worked so hard to finally break through to Soul Emperor!"
But before Xue Beng could recover from his shock—
A pig-like shriek rang out from the Heaven Dou Empire's camp!
Listening closely—
Wasn't that the Heaven Dou Empire's Imperial Preceptor, Yu Xiaogang?!
Long ago, thanks to the Nine-Grade Spirit Mushroom Tang San had given him, Yu Xiaogang had finally broken free of the shackles of Level 29. By the time of the Heaven Dou Palace Coup, he had already reached Soul King rank, above Level 50.
Now, during the divine battle at Jialing Pass, his cultivation had surged forward in a single leap, bringing him to Level 60 and Soul Emperor rank!
Unfortunately, with the great battle imminent, he hadn't had time to hunt a Spirit Ring, so he had remained at Level 60.
But under this penalty—
Level 60 had instantly become Level 59!
Yu Xiaogang's heart had shattered!
"Failure penalties too?"
Over on the Spirit Hall Empire's side, they had heard the Heavenly Dao's voice as well.
Rakshasa God Bibi Dong's pupils contracted sharply, and Qianjun Douluo and Jiangmo Douluo beside her also looked unsettled.
As Titled Douluo—
They knew all too well how hard-won every Soul Power Level was, each one earned step by step through cultivation!
But now—
Everyone losing levels all at once? What a disaster!
"My goodness..."
Likewise—
Chen Fan drew in a sharp breath as he watched.
He had expected a penalty for failing the mission, but he'd assumed it would be something like a natural disaster—floods, tsunamis, that sort of thing—with a few Spirit Masters dying as a result.
But he hadn't expected—
The penalty actually applied to the entire faction!
And it seemed to target Spirit Masters specifically!
Which meant...
"So this means it's already too late for me to run..."
Earlier, Chen Fan had thought that if he got the chance, he'd definitely make a run for it. The Thirty-Six Stratagems, after all—the best course was to flee!
Unfortunately, Bibi Dong had kept such a close eye on him that he'd never had the chance.
And now that he'd finally gotten one, it seemed... he couldn't run after all!
He could flee, but his faction would still be the Spirit Hall Empire!
If some later mission came along and Bibi Dong, that idiot, really went to answer the call, wouldn't he get dragged down with her too?
"Your Majesty, we..."
Qianjun Douluo took a deep breath and had just begun to speak.
Suddenly—
The light in the sky dimmed, and the screen went black.
Immediately afterward, the majestic voice of the Heavenly Dao rang in everyone's hearts once more!
[Now, the Heavenly Dao announces the second mission.]
The instant he heard those words, Chen Fan jerked his head up toward the light screen!
The black screen had given way to a new image!
An immense green plain stretched as far as the eye could see. Giant windmills turned slowly in the breeze, and a magnificent city built on an island in the middle of a lake came into view.
Towering city walls, an ancient church, and a colossal statue of a god in the city center.
The Heavenly Dao's voice rang out in tandem, its unquestionable authority broadcasting information across the entire Douluo Continent:
[Teyvat Continent is divided into seven nations: Mondstadt, Liyue, Inazuma, Sumeru, Fontaine, Natlan, and Snezhnaya.] [Each is governed by one of the Seven Archons.] [In addition, there is an island in the sky, Celestia, governed by the Heavenly Principles and ruling over the Seven Archons.] [Mondstadt City is located in Mondstadt, one of the Seven Nations. It is the land favored by Barbatos, the God of Wind, and represents freedom and wind.] [Information update complete!] [Mission title: The Battle to Destroy a City—Defend Mondstadt City!] [Mission type: Individual mission.] [Mission objective: Defend Mondstadt City!] [Participation requirement: Soul Power Level 90 or higher!]
The mission had been issued so soon, without giving anyone a moment to catch their breath. Everyone was stunned.
"The second mission already?"
"No, couldn't they at least give us a cooldown period so everyone can catch their breath?"
"Why catch your breath? Only Titled Douluo can take part in this one. It has nothing to do with us!"
"Bullshit! If the mission fails, we'll all suffer for it!"
"Exactly! Have you forgotten how our Soul Power Levels just dropped?"
Most of the noisy chatter came from the low- and mid-ranking Spirit Masters.
The leaders of each nation, on the other hand, fell silent.
"Y-Your Majesty..."
On the Heaven Dou Empire's side—
Marshal Ge Long's voice trembled. "This... this mission, I'm afraid we..."
"Your Majesty, it seems only the Blue Consumption King is qualified to take on this mission!"
Prince Xue Xing spoke in a low voice. "The Heavenly Dao made it very clear: this is a nation governed by a god!"
"Moreover, this was a war of annihilation!"
"It might be no less terrifying than the previous battle against the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles..."
Xue Beng couldn't help looking toward the military camp. A healing-type Spirit Master came out and noticed his gaze, then immediately shook his head. "Your Majesty, the Blue Consumption King is still unconscious."
"I'm afraid he won't be able to fight..."
At those words, everyone's hearts sank to the bottom.
Apart from Tang San, the Sea God, Tang Hao had been the strongest individual combatant on the Heaven Dou Empire's side—and he was already dead.
Judging by what they knew, this country called "Mondstadt" also had a god on the same level as the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles!
And since this was called a defensive war, that meant their opponents would certainly have gods as well!
So...
They could only ask a god to step in!
But the problem was, Tang San was still unconscious. How were they supposed to fight?
"Your Majesty, I'm afraid we can't accept this mission!"
After wailing in despair, Yu Xiaogang had finally regained his composure with Liu Erlong and Flender's careful consolations. He said gravely, "Xiao San hasn't woken up yet, and we've already used up the protection from our 'Newbie Protection Period.' If we accept the mission and fail, the consequences will be unthinkable!"
"By my calculations, Yu Xiaogang, our odds of success if we force ourselves to fight are less than one percent!"
Are you freaking kidding me? Wasn't that just stating the obvious?!
Xue Beng's mouth twitched. He wanted to curse, but remembered that Yu Xiaogang was Tang San's teacher and ultimately swallowed the words. His gaze swept around the room.
However,
the Titled Douluo of the Heaven Dou Empire who met his gaze all instinctively took half a step back in unison. Some even looked up at the sky, as if counting the clouds.
They weren't fools, either.
From the Heavenly Dao's solemn voice, they'd already deduced a perfectly reasonable conclusion!
First, the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles possessed power on a par with a god.
Second, Mondstadt City was a nation protected by a god named the "God of Wind."
Third, now even a nation protected by a god was facing annihilation!
Therefore,
they concluded that the enemies attacking Mondstadt City had to be on the same level as the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles, who had just killed Tang Hao in an instant!
This was unquestionably a world-ending war on the level of the gods!
It might even be a divine war on the same scale as the Battle of the Two Gods at Jialing Pass!
They were only Titled Douluo. They were supposed to charge into a war between gods?
Why not think about what had happened to Sword Douluo Chen Xin and Bone Douluo Gu Rong?
Was this a joke?
They'd be walking straight into a slaughter!
They hadn't had their fill of life yet. Why would they rush to reincarnate?
Meanwhile,
thousands of miles away, in Star Luo Imperial City,
the Star Luo Emperor's expression was grave as he ordered, "Seal off the area around the Teleportation Gate! No Titled Douluo is to take even a single step inside!"
"Yes, sir!"
He'd seen the contents of the earlier projections, too, and had learned a little about the world within "Teyvat."
That was a world far beyond their reach!
"Your Majesty the Tsaritsa, please think carefully!"
Before Jialing Pass,
Qianjun Douluo watched Rakshasa God Bibi Dong's expression turn eager and said gravely, "Your strength is less than a tenth of what it once was. You can't fully wield a god's power. If you go alone and fall..."
At this, Bibi Dong's expression darkened until it looked as though water might drip from it.
"That's right, Your Majesty the Tsaritsa!"
Guibao Douluo, still wrapped in bandages and fresh from treatment without even having time to rest, also tried to dissuade her. "The Heavenly Dao made it quite clear just now that Mondstadt City is ruled by a god."
"And only a god could destroy a nation ruled by a god!"
"If you go in, you might even be besieged by two gods. Then..."
Bibi Dong's heart tightened.
That was right!
Even setting aside whether she was at full strength, she looked like an outsider from another world. It would be hard for them to trust her. They might even mistake her for an enemy and chop her down on the spot!
At that thought,
Rakshasa God Bibi Dong drew a deep breath and finally spat out two words: "We withdraw!"
At present,
the Spirit Hall Empire had already suffered heavy losses.
Its dozen or so Titled Douluo had dwindled until only a handful remained.
If they joined in, losing even one Titled Douluo would be a massive blow—not to mention the later punishment that would lower the Soul Power Level of every Spirit Master in the empire!
The three great empires all chose to retreat in unison.
No one dared look directly at the three Teleportation Gates glowing red.
Chen Fan also came back to his senses. Looking at the scene at Jialing Pass in the distance, he could guess what the three empires were thinking.
But...
"By all rights, if none of the three empires participate, this shouldn't end up as an unsold lot, should it?"
"Maybe... they'll randomly pick some lucky spectators?"
As soon as Chen Fan finished muttering, the Heavenly Dao's solemn voice rang out once more in everyone's hearts!
[Task issuance complete!] [If no one from any of the three great empires accepts the mission within 90 seconds of its issuance, the Heavenly Dao will randomly select one eligible Spirit Master from each empire and forcibly send them through the Teleportation Gate.]
At those words,
all the Titled Douluo on the continent felt as though they'd plunged into an icy abyss!
If they didn't volunteer, they'd be picked at random and forced to go?
That was as good as pressing a knife to everyone's throat!
"Random selection?!"
Naturally, the people on the Heaven Dou Empire's side were the first to pale with alarm!
After all,
of the three great empires, the Heaven Dou Empire had the most Titled Douluo!
Ah Yin, Tang Xiao, the five elders of the Clear Sky Sect, the Shrek Six Devils, Dugu Bo... (Tang San was a god, so he didn't count as a Titled Douluo.)
A full fourteen Titled Douluo!
By contrast, on the Spirit Hall Empire's side, only Qianjun Douluo, Jiangmo Douluo, Guibao Douluo, Tianfeng Douluo, and Chen Fan were still standing.
Only five Titled Douluo!
The Star Luo Empire had even fewer. In Douluo I, the Star Luo Empire hadn't even had a Titled Douluo appear, so it probably only had two or three at most.
Looked at that way, if the selection really was random, the Heaven Dou Empire had by far the highest chance of winning the draw!
"Your... Your Majesty, what should we do?"
The entire Heaven Dou Empire's side fell silent.
Marshal Ge Long clenched his fists. His voice trembling, he looked at Xue Beng, then glanced over the other Titled Douluo. His lips felt unbearably dry.
By contrast,
the Spirit Hall Empire wasn't worried in the slightest.
They had only five Titled Douluo at most, while the Heaven Dou Empire had a full fourteen!
There was no way they'd be so unlucky as to draw one of them, right?
So!
The ones most panicked of all were the Heaven Dou Empire's Titled Douluo!
"We'll leave it to fate."
Xue Beng closed his eyes, his heart aching.
He'd thought this Teleportation Gate would make him the greatest emperor in the history of the Heaven Dou Empire.
He'd never imagined it would nail him to the wall as an incompetent ruler!
What did it mean to be an incompetent emperor?
This was freaking it!
"If this Mondstadt City..."
Meanwhile,
in the rear of the Spirit Hall Empire,
Chen Fan's expression kept shifting.
Starting with the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles and the twins, he'd been able to confirm that this was the plot of a game he knew well!
If he remembered correctly,
the destruction of Mondstadt City was supposed to be one of the main quests... and the attackers were fewer than ten Hilichurls sneaking in to raid Mondstadt City!
With a lineup like that, the Knights of Favonius didn't even need to mobilize. Lord Diluc and Kaeya, the "True Monarch of Crossing the Sea," could deal with it together as a pair of good buddies!
This was a war of annihilation?
The Heavenly Dao was far too good at word games!
It used the grandest words to dress up the lamest newbie-village quest!
"That's the information gap. That's all this is."
Chen Fan drew a deep breath, forcing down the corners of his mouth as they tried to climb higher and higher.
The Douluo Continent's natives had been scared witless by Tang Hao's death. On top of that, the Heavenly Dao's misleading introduction had made them imagine a simple "clear out the mobs" quest as the "twilight of the gods."
Of course!
It was also possible that the Heavenly Dao was trying to mislead him!
If not for that mission to escort the twins, Chen Fan would have been inclined to believe that was the case!
But now...
"Damn it, let's do this!"
"Risk it all, and turn a bicycle into a motorbike!"
[Countdown: 30 seconds.]
Red numbers ticked across the sky.
Chen Fan's mind raced.
The situation was crystal clear:
Stay behind and run? Tang San was unconscious, but the protagonist's halo was still around. He could wake up at any moment. If he did, the Spirit Hall Empire was doomed, and as an elder of Spirit Hall, Chen Fan would definitely be held accountable. He could hide at the ends of the earth, but a god would still find him.
Wait for the random selection? If it didn't pick him, it might pick Qianjun and Jiangmo, and the Spirit Hall Empire would lose more national fortune and disband on the spot. If it picked him, he'd be forced into the mission with no preparation.
Accept the mission himself?
Go to the Teyvat Continent, beat up a few Hilichurls, and claim the Heavenly Dao's "god-tier rewards" and "increase in national fortune."
What was there to think about?!
The heavens were practically shoving a cheat right into his mouth!
[Countdown: 15 seconds.]
"Let's do this!"
Chen Fan's eyes narrowed. Soul Power surged around him as his body became a streak of light and shot straight toward the Teleportation Gate on the front line!
"Chen Fan?"
Rakshasa God Bibi Dong's eyes snapped open. She shouted, "What are you doing?!"
"Stop!"
Before you continue