Benares

The killing intent in Leng Yulai's eyes surged. "I have lived in her shadow my entire life. In talent, status, reputation—she has always surpassed me in every way."

"Now that she has finally taken in an unparalleled genius, I will personally destroy him. Killing you will be the best revenge against her."

"Today, not only will you die, but I will take your head and throw it before that woman. I want to see her proud mask shatter with my own eyes. I want to watch her suffer unbearable pain!"

As her words fell, she raised a hand and swept it forward. Ink-black phoenix shadows surged forth, blotting out the sky as they swept toward Xiling with terrifying power capable of destroying everything.

Ultimate darkness, ultimate coldness, ultimate despair.

Before this terrifying attack, enough to instantly erase a Soul Douluo, Xiling's white hair began to stir despite the absence of wind.

His azure eyes remained clear and icy, devoid of even the slightest fear. Instead, he became ever calmer.

Looking at the phantom Dark Phoenix rushing toward him, Xiling parted his thin lips. "Come forth, Benares."

The instant those words fell, space violently trembled!

Brilliant ice-blue and silver-white radiance suddenly tore through the darkness like a blazing sun ripping apart the night. Vast dragon might swept across the battlefield, forcibly suppressing Leng Yulai's Dark Phoenix pressure!

A colossal dragon covered entirely in ice-blue, luminous white scales emerged boldly from a spatial rift.

Its four eyes were as cold as frost stars, its massive head held high. Icy mist and leaping lightning coiled around its body, while its enormous wings spread wide, blotting out the sky and casting down a heavy shadow.

Roar—!!

A dragon's roar that shook the heavens resounded across heaven and earth. The sound waves rippled outward in layers, directly dispersing the remaining force of the black flames rushing toward them.

Benares coldly regarded the black phoenix phantom with its dragon eyes. Its enormous wings swept forward, unleashing intertwined ice and lightning elemental power that met Leng Yulai's attack head-on.

Boom—!!

A thunderous explosion shook the sky as terrifying energy shockwaves spread wildly outward. Layer after layer of earth was blasted into the air, while every blade of grass and tree was reduced to dust.

The Dark Phoenix attack, powerful enough to instantly kill a Soul Douluo, was completely halted by Benares with a mere block of its dragon body before shattering into specks of black light and vanishing.

Leng Yulai's expression abruptly changed. As she looked at the mighty dragon in midair, disbelief, shock, and fear appeared in her eyes for the first time.

"A soul beast! A soul beast comparable to a Limit Douluo! And a Dragon Clan one at that! But how is this possible?"

She could not understand it. How could a mere Soul Elder possess such a thing?!

Then, as though she had suddenly remembered something, she stared fixedly at Benares and cried out, "You're the dragon that appeared in Eastsea City three years ago!"

At those words, Xiling's gaze flickered, as though he understood something. So the commotion from his Martial Soul awakening three years ago had been that great? Still, none of that mattered now.

He looked at Leng Yulai as three violet-gold Soul Rings appeared around him. One Soul Ring lit up. "Third Soul Skill, Shifting Places, Changing Scenery!"

The moment the Soul Skill activated, the entire space suddenly twisted. Invisible spatial power, like a giant hand of heaven and earth, instantly enveloped Xiling, Benares, and Leng Yulai, who had yet to recover from her shock.

There was no earth-shaking sound, only a flash of blinding white light. The two humans and one dragon, who had just been in the forest outside the city, were forcibly transferred the next instant!

The surrounding scenery changed in an instant. The clamor of the forest vanished, replaced by a deserted wilderness of rolling yellow sand.

A wild wind howled past, carrying grains of sand. As far as the eye could see, there was not the slightest trace of human habitation. Heaven and earth stretched wide, and all was barren.

Caught off guard, Leng Yulai felt the world spin around her. The space around her seemed to have been completely crushed and reconstructed. By the time she reacted, she was already in an unfamiliar place, her face turning ashen.

"A spatial transfer Soul Skill?! You can actually carry out large-scale forced spatial relocation!"

She stared fixedly at Xiling. The shock in her heart was beyond words. A spatial Soul Skill that could ignore the gap in cultivation and forcibly transfer an entire battlefield was simply unheard of!

Fighting in Eastsea City would inevitably implicate innocent people, and that was not something Xiling wanted to see. He might not have been a good person, but he absolutely could not do something that would harm the innocent.

His third Soul Skill, Shifting Places, Changing Scenery, was like Xu Xiaoyan's Absolute Validity—a rule-type ability capable of forcibly transferring everyone in a battlefield to another location.

The Soul Power consumed by the transfer did not depend on strength, but on the number of people.

Ignoring Leng Yulai's grim expression, Xiling walked to Benares's side and gently stroked its dragon head. "Go, Benares."

Benares let out a long roar, causing the yellow sands of the wasteland to churn violently through the air.

Its ice-blue dragon eyes locked firmly onto Leng Yulai ahead. Ice and lightning elements around its body erupted into a frenzy, with biting cold and violent lightning intertwining into a massive energy storm that swept across the wilderness.

Leng Yulai forcibly suppressed the turbulent shock in her heart. Nine Soul Rings rose one after another as the Soul Power of a rank ninety-seven Super Douluo erupted without reservation.

"Three-Word Battle Armor, equip!"

Black streams of light surged from her body, and pitch-black Battle Armor with a metallic sheen instantly covered her entire body. Phoenix patterns were engraved across the armor, phoenix-wing ornaments extended from both sides of her helmet, and a pair of black phoenix Battle Armor wings unfolded behind her.

With the Battle Armor's enhancement, her aura surged again. She raised a hand and immediately unleashed her eighth Soul Skill.

Black phoenix Soul Power condensed into a giant slash dozens of meters long, carrying an aura of darkness that annihilated everything as it swept toward Benares.

The full-force strike of a rank ninety-seven Super Douluo possessed power enough to destroy heaven and earth.

In midair, Benares's dragon eyes turned cold as it immediately unleashed Thunder Dragon Form!

The icy mist around its body dispersed, and its scales shifted into dark purple and electric blue. Violent lightning wrapped around its dragon body, its attacks carrying a paralyzing effect. With a beat of its wings, it used Close-In Dash, turning into an arc of lightning that evaded the slash while its claws, filled with thunderous force, viciously swatted at Leng Yulai.

Leng Yulai snorted coldly and abruptly retreated. At the same time, she activated her seventh Soul Skill, Dark Phoenix True Body. A massive Dark Phoenix phantom appeared behind her and merged with her body as she met Benares's claws head-on.

Boom!

Thunder collided with dark evil flames. Leng Yulai was blasted back again and again, while Benares used the momentum to soar into the air. Its dragon maw opened wide, unleashing Thunder Breath. Three massive spheres of lightning shot out, exploding in midair as a widespread thunderstorm swept downward.

"Dark Phoenix Plume!"

Countless black phoenix feathers condensed at Leng Yulai's fingertips and shot out like a torrential downpour. As they shattered the lightning spheres, she drew out a shuttle-shaped crystal with her other hand. It was entirely silver, with what seemed to be a vortex swirling at its center.

The instant the crystal appeared, spatial power surged forth, only to be suppressed by an inexplicable force.

Before Leng Yulai could react to what had happened.

"Roar!"

Benares let out a roar and immediately switched to Ice Dragon Form. Ice crystals covered its entire body, its attacks carrying a freezing effect. Its dragon wings swept fiercely, raising a frost tornado, while countless ice spikes burst from the ground and sealed off every path of retreat for Leng Yulai.

Ultimate cold swept in every direction, freezing all the yellow sand on the ground. Leng Yulai activated her Three-Word Battle Armor to defend with all her strength, but the frost tornado still covered the armor's surface in ice and slowed her movements.

Benares seized the opportunity and spiraled into the sky. Ice and lightning elements fused around its body before gathering in its mouth, and a massive sphere of combined ice and lightning elements came crashing down.

Leng Yulai's face turned deathly pale. Her ninth Soul Skill, Dark Annihilation, erupted at full power. Black phoenix flames transformed into a sea of fire reaching the sky, attempting to block the fatal strike.

Yet the instant the ice-lightning elemental sphere struck the ground, it triggered a devastating explosion over a vast area. Frost and lightning completely devoured the sea of dark flames.

The terrifying shockwave sent Leng Yulai, together with her Three-Word Battle Armor, flying violently. She crashed heavily onto the frozen ground, blood spraying wildly from her mouth. Cracks covered the surface of her Battle Armor, and she was already severely injured!