One's Own Bloodline

(This chapter doesn't need to be read. I'll rewrite it completely tomorrow. Two hundred words got swallowed from the previous chapter, and the new chapter got banned again—I nearly lost my attendance bonus. I was forced to use technology to scrape together a chapter. I'll update it shortly with a fully revised version, with more words. Don't worry.)

The first was none other than Qian Gu Dongfeng, the strongest expert of the current generation of the Coiling Dragon Qian Gu Clan—the foremost of the Soul Planning Hall's Nine Sacred Pillar Families.

As the core direct lineage of the Nine Sacred Pillars, the Qian Gu Clan was also the family that truly controlled the Spirit Pagoda from behind the scenes. They had inherited the Coiling Dragon lineage of the Soul Planning Hall's founding generation from twenty thousand years ago. Their foundations ran immeasurably deep, and for generations they had suppressed the continent's fate. Qian Gu Dongfeng wielded the divine artifact, the Coiling Dragon Staff. His cultivation had reached its pinnacle, his soul power as vast and weighty as primordial divine mountains, and his body had been tempered to the point where no technique could harm it. He was an Ultimate Douluo publicly acknowledged across the continent as unparalleled in both offense and defense.

The elderly man standing in the air opposite him wore a dark-gold robe patterned with scales. His body was as massive as a mountain, his back straight as an ancient desolate peak. A head of golden hair streamed wildly behind him, and his brows and eyes radiated domineering sharpness. Countless golden crocodile phantoms swirled around him, their savage aura soaring into the heavens.

He was the Golden Crocodile Ultimate Douluo, who had long withdrawn from the world and guarded the Soul Planning Hall's deep-sea forbidden zone.

The Golden Crocodile Clan was likewise an ancient bloodline among the Nine Sacred Pillars. For generations, they and the Coiling Dragon Qian Gu Clan had kept each other in check while acting as partners. One guarded the earth veins, the other the seas, protecting the Soul Planning Hall's secret realm for over twenty thousand years.

The two had known each other for a thousand years and fought countless times. They were rivals, but also close friends. Today, having heard that the ancestor had returned to the world and that the Angel God's oracle had spread throughout the nine clans, they had deliberately arrived early in the skies above the secret realm. Before Lin Xun reached the main hall, they would first engage in a pure clash between peak experts—using martial arts to pay tribute to their eternal ancestor, and to test the depths of each other's cultivation over the past century.

There was not a cloud for ten thousand miles. The sea breeze had been forcibly swept away by terrifying soul power, and heaven and earth fell into absolute stillness.

Qian Gu Dongfeng wore a blue-gray martial robe, its hems fluttering despite the lack of wind. His black hair fell to his shoulders, and his expression was calm and steady, without the slightest hint of sharpness. Yet he carried the imposing aura of a world being suppressed.

One hand rested behind his back while the other formed an empty grip before him. As soul power slowly surged, an ancient, unadorned long staff gradually emerged, dark gold from end to end and wrapped in layer upon layer of dragon patterns.

It was the divine artifact passed down by the Qian Gu Clan—the Coiling Dragon World-Suppressing Staff.

The staff was ancient and weighty, covered in weathered patterns left by time. Every pattern embodied the martial accumulation of a generation of ancestors. A faint earthly Dao aura and the fortune of the Coiling Dragon lingered around it. It did not radiate overwhelming might, yet it pressed the surrounding void into a slight collapse.

"It has been a hundred years, Brother Golden Crocodile. I trust you have been well."

Qian Gu Dongfeng's voice was calm and resonant, neither loud nor soft, yet it echoed across ten thousand miles of sea. "Today, our ancestor returns to this world. Let us meet through martial arts and have a spar. There is no need to hold back."

The Golden Crocodile Ultimate Douluo laughed heartily. His voice boomed like thunder through the sky, while blazing martial intent ignited in his eyes.

"Ha ha ha! Just what I wanted! Over a thousand years, you and I have fought to draws several times. Today, let us settle who is superior once more! A pure spar—stop at the right point. Do not damage the secret realm, and do not destroy the sea!"

The instant his words fell, nine incomparably brilliant black soul rings rose explosively around Golden Crocodile Douluo. Yellow, purple, black, red—the ultimate configuration. All nine rings shone at once as his rank-ninety-nine ultimate soul power spread out without restraint.

Golden crocodile phantoms erupted from his body. Hundreds upon thousands of enormous golden crocodile projections, both solid and illusory, coiled through the sky. Their fangs were bone-white, their scales gleamed brilliantly, and the tyrannical, primordial pressure of a savage beast swept in all directions.

Top-tier beast martial soul—Ancient Golden Crocodile King, fully unleashed!

Golden Crocodile Douluo lightly clenched his fists. Golden soul power condensed into tangible scale armor that covered his entire body, sending the strength of his physical body soaring to its peak. He specialized in tyrannical brute force and close-range suppression. His body's strength stood unmatched beneath the heavens, and none could rival him in close-quarters combat. Every strike contained supreme power capable of splitting mountains, severing seas, and suppressing heaven and earth.

On the other side, Qian Gu Dongfeng remained as calm as ever.

Facing the sky full of Golden Crocodile phantoms and their overwhelming savage might, he did not retreat in the slightest.

Nine soul rings lit up beneath his feet in sequence, black and red interwoven. Their light was restrained and heavy, lacking dazzling splendor but carrying boundless, enduring earth-dragon power.

The Coiling Dragon martial soul did not excel in slaughter. It excelled in suppression, defense, and breaking.

Suppress ten thousand foes, defend against ten thousand techniques, break ten thousand forces.

"Please."

Qian Gu Dongfeng raised his hand slightly, uttering a single word.

Bzzzz—!

The Coiling Dragon World-Suppressing Staff trembled softly. Its deep hum spread through the four seas and eight directions as the ancient dragon patterns lit up one after another. Dark-gold dragon power flowed along the staff, transforming into a solid Coiling Dragon phantom wrapped around it. It lay tamely coiled against the staff, poised to strike.

The next second, the two ultimate experts moved at the same time.

There was no earth-shattering opening move, no flashy buildup of soul skills.

When top experts sparred, the greatest Dao was simplicity itself.

Golden Crocodile Douluo abruptly vanished from his spot. His speed broke through the limits of space, crossing a thousand meters of sky in an instant. He activated no long-range soul skill, relying purely on physical brute force and the foundation of his martial soul. Golden soul power condensed around his right hand into a massive crocodile claw. Its talons tore through the air, carrying terrifying power capable of crushing mountains as it clawed directly at Qian Gu Dongfeng's face!

Close-quarters combat, tyrannical to the extreme!

This was the battle style in which the Ancient Golden Crocodile King excelled most—breaking skill with force and suppressing every opponent through absolute brute strength.

The air exploded beneath the claw, and the void collapsed layer after layer. The golden claw shadow filled the horizon for a thousand miles, sealing off every angle through which Qian Gu Dongfeng could evade.

Qian Gu Dongfeng's gaze narrowed slightly, but he remained neither startled nor flustered.

With a flick of his wrist, he swept the Coiling Dragon Staff horizontally through the air.

Bzz!

It was a plain, unadorned sweep, without explosive power or a surging eruption of soul force, yet it carried a boundless, weighty force of suppression.

First Soul Skill: Coiling Dragon Suppresses Mountains!

A heavy yellow light shone from the staff's dragon patterns as earth power bolstered it. The force of a thousand catties, ten thousand catties, and tens of millions of jun layered atop one another, firmly blocking before him.

Clang—!!

A heaven-shaking crash of metal erupted!

The golden crocodile claw slammed viciously against the Coiling Dragon Staff. Terrifying brute force burst forth in an instant, and circular shockwaves swept through the sky. The sea surface across ten thousand miles was instantly pressed into a colossal depression hundreds of meters deep. Seawater was violently forced away to both sides, exposing the dark seafloor of the deep ocean.

The clouds overhead were shattered outright, and fierce winds howled chaotically between heaven and earth.

Golden Crocodile Douluo's body paused slightly. His arm went numb, and a trace of admiration flashed through his eyes.

"What a stable foundation! After a hundred years of cultivation, your earthly Dao aura has grown even more profound!"

That claw strike was enough to shatter mountains and crush the bodies of ordinary Hyper Douluos. Yet when it landed on the Coiling Dragon Staff, it merely sent out a ripple, with seventy percent of its force steadily dissipated.

Qian Gu Dongfeng did not move in the slightest. The void beneath his feet was as steady as a boulder, and his aura did not fluctuate at all.

"Your crocodile power has grown more domineering as well."

Before his words had even faded, Qian Gu Dongfeng twisted his wrist, and the Coiling Dragon Staff swept upward!

Third Soul Skill: Coiling Dragon Breaks the Wilds!

Dark-gold dragon power erupted without warning. The staff's previously restrained momentum instantly turned incomparably fierce. The phantom coiling dragon lying dormant upon the staff abruptly raised its head, its roar shaking the wilderness. Carrying the piercing force to tear through space, the staff edge followed the force of the crocodile claw and broke through it in reverse, stabbing straight at Golden Crocodile Douluo's wrist tendons!

Hardness and softness in perfect harmony, breaking the attack by following its momentum!

Golden Crocodile Douluo had anticipated it. With a stomp of soul power beneath his feet, he flipped backward through the air. At the same time, his hands formed seals, and dozens of golden crocodile phantoms around him instantly closed in!

Fifth Soul Skill: Ten Thousand Crocodiles Devour the Sky!

The countless enormous golden crocodile phantoms opened their jaws in unison. Boundless golden soul power gathered into a colossal crocodile maw that blotted out the sky, snapping down viciously to seal off the entire airspace and forcibly trap the Coiling Dragon Staff's momentum.

Countless crocodile phantoms frantically collided with the force of the Coiling Dragon Staff. Brilliant explosions continuously erupted across the sky as golden and dark soul power intertwined and burst apart, their overlapping shockwaves sweeping across a thousand miles of sea.

The two moved at extreme speed. In midair, the two figures—one hard and one steady, one fierce and one heavy—crossed, collided, and dismantled each other's attacks without pause.

Golden Crocodile Douluo's every move was domineering and savage. His fists and claws flew, each strike a crushing force capable of shaking heaven and earth. The sound of golden scaled claws tearing through the air rang without end, while crocodile phantoms revolved ceaselessly overhead, offense and defense as one, without a single flaw.

Qian Gu Dongfeng's staff technique was steady and exquisite, advancing and retreating with perfect measure. He could withstand a tidal wave of attacks and break through tyrannical brute force. The Coiling Dragon Staff sometimes held the line horizontally, sometimes thrust straight forward, sometimes swept wide. Dragon power flowed freely as he diverted force, borrowed force, broke momentum, and counterattacked with masterful ease, bringing the weight and agility of the Coiling Dragon martial path to their peak.

In merely dozens of breaths, the two had already exchanged a hundred moves.

After a hundred moves, there was still no victor.

"Wonderful! Again!"

Golden Crocodile Douluo's fighting spirit surged completely out of control. He no longer held back as the golden soul power around his body swelled violently, and his ninth blood-red soul ring blazed brilliantly!

Ninth Soul Skill: Ancient Golden Crocodile World-Suppressing Seal!

Above the heavens, a gigantic phantom of a Golden Crocodile King several hundred zhang tall slowly condensed into form. Its scales reached the sky, its enormous claws covered the sea, and its ferocious eyes hung high like blazing suns. An ultimate, savage, tyrannical pressure utterly enveloped heaven and earth.

The waters throughout the Eastern Sea boiled and churned. Countless sea beasts beneath the deep sea lay trembling on the ocean floor, not daring to make the slightest movement.

This was Golden Crocodile Douluo's ultimate innate soul skill, a complete fusion of the strength of his ultimate physique and the origin of his martial soul. With a single strike, it could suppress mountains and rivers and overturn cities—a supreme attack beneath the pinnacle of the divine path.

Though this was merely a spar, he still gave it everything he had, holding nothing back.

The massive golden crocodile phantom slowly brought down its enormous claw. It was not fast, yet it carried an irresistible suppressive force. The entire airspace seemed frozen as gravity increased a hundredfold, crushing viciously down upon Qian Gu Dongfeng.

Qian Gu Dongfeng's expression turned solemn as he finally unleashed his full strength.

"Since you're enjoying yourself, Brother, I'll take this World-Suppressing Seal of yours!"

He gripped the Coiling Dragon Staff with both hands. All nine soul rings around him lit up at once, while the earth's spiritual energy and the power of dragon veins between heaven and earth gathered madly around him, flooding into the ancient staff.

The phantom coiling dragon on the staff expanded and rose without limit, transforming into a dark golden dragon as immense as the golden crocodile phantom. Its body wound around the power of ten thousand miles of earth veins, its dragon might heavy and boundless as it suppressed all forces.

Ninth Soul Skill: Eternal Coiling Dragon Suppresses Heaven and Earth!

One dragon and one crocodile, two martial soul true bodies hundreds of zhang tall, faced one another in the air.

The dragon was still; the crocodile was fierce. The dragon suppressed; the crocodile raged.

The next instant, the two ultimate techniques collided thunderously!

BOOM—!!!

An unprecedented roar tore through the sky, far surpassing every previous collision!

Golden crocodile power and dark-gold dragon power instantly annihilated, exploded, intertwined, and clashed.

A terrifying soul power storm rose across ten thousand miles of sky. Seawater was hurled a thousand zhang into the air, while the mist filling the heavens steamed into a sea of clouds. Heaven and earth changed color as wind and clouds rolled backward.

The terrifying shockwaves spread for a thousand miles, yet the two men tacitly confined them within the sparring airspace with their ultimate soul power. They did not affect the deep-sea secret realm, nor did they harm a single living creature, fully displaying the precise control of top-tier Limit Douluo.

At the center of the storm, the two upright figures each retreated dozens of zhang.

Golden Crocodile Douluo's breathing was slightly hurried, his hair drifting in the wind, his palms faintly numb. The fighting spirit in his eyes burned like fire.

"What an Eternal Coiling Dragon! Qian Gu Dongfeng, your martial path is only a hair's breadth away from truly entering the half-step divine realm!"

Qian Gu Dongfeng breathed lightly. The dragon patterns on his staff had dimmed somewhat, yet he still stood firm in the sky as he replied calmly.

"You're the same. Your Golden Crocodile true body has perfected its savage Dao essence even further. In close combat, its power has already come infinitely close to a divine physique."

The two stood facing each other as the martial soul phantoms filling the sky slowly receded and the violent soul power gradually calmed.

There had been no killing intent throughout, no viciousness—only a pure collision of ultimate martial paths, the highest form of sparring and mutual verification between Limit Douluo.

After a hundred-move struggle, a slight difference had finally emerged, yet there was no true winner or loser.

The Eternal Coiling Dragon emphasized defense, endurance, and steady suppression.

The Ancient Golden Crocodile emphasized dominance, explosive force, and fierce offense.

One defended while one attacked; one was steady while one was wild. They complemented one another and held each other in check through the ages.

Golden Crocodile Douluo withdrew all the golden radiance around him and laughed heartily.

"After a thousand years of exchanges, it's still a draw. Today, the Ancestor has returned to his rightful place, and we Nine Sacred Pillars have regained our core. In the future, Soul Planning Hall will surely revive its glory of ages past!"

Qian Gu Dongfeng nodded softly and put away the Coiling Dragon World-Suppressing Staff. His gaze turned toward the entrance of the deep-sea secret realm, his eyes filled with utmost reverence and anticipation.

"The Angel God's oracle has proclaimed it to the world: the Ancestor who founded the Soul Planning Nine Clans twenty thousand years ago and laid the foundation for all ages has returned. You and I cultivated bitterly for our entire lives, guarding the secret realm and preserving the bloodline. Today, we have finally waited for our former master's return."

"This spar was not only for us to verify each other's cultivation, but also to offer the opening tribute for the Ancestor's return."

Golden Crocodile Douluo nodded heavily, reining in all his ferocious battle intent. The domineering aura around him turned wholly solemn and reverent.

The two stood side by side in the air. One coiled like a dragon, suppressing the world; the other, a golden crocodile howling at the heavens. The two rank-ninety-nine Ultimate Douluos stood silently above the sea, awaiting the arrival of the Creation Ancestor—Lin Xun—who had slept for twenty thousand years and was returning to the world.

The sea breeze gradually stilled, and the clouds parted beneath a clear sky.

Across the vast Eastern Sea, all sound fell silent.

The two Ultimate Douluos stood waiting side by side, quietly awaiting the returnee from eternity.