"An ant trying to stop a chariot!"
"Ninth Soul Skill, Angelic Glory!"
Qian Xunji clasped his hands together in the sky. The angel phantom behind him gathered vast golden light and fired a gigantic beam of destruction.
A pair of red-and-blue wings condensed from Soul Power suddenly sprouted from Bai Fan's back. He shot into the sky and collided with Qian Xunji's Soul Skill.
Five lotus flowers spun before Bai Fan, radiating an unparalleled aura.
The lotus flowers collided with Angelic Glory, and neither side gained the upper hand.
"Break for me!" Qian Xunji shouted, increasing his Soul Power output.
The golden Angelic Light slowly began to suppress Bai Fan.
Inside the Worship Hall, Qian Daoliu stroked his beard, looking somewhat disappointed.
"Child, if only your talent were a little stronger!"
Qian Xunji, wings spread behind his back, sneered. "In a moment, I'll personally smash every bone in your body."
"Is that so? I'm afraid you won't live to see that moment."
The mask on Bai Fan's face suddenly shattered, revealing a face covered in sword scars. He flashed an unrestrained grin, and his twitching face, paired with those scars, made him look exceptionally savage.
"Explode!"
Bai Fan's first five Soul Rings instantly exploded. Pure Soul Power energy surged into his body, and in that instant, he broke through the barrier of a Titled Douluo.
Unlike the Clear Sky Sect's Ring Detonation, Bai Fan's method was completely self-destructive. His Soul Rings would never recover. This was his all-or-nothing gamble.
Soul Masters across Douluo Continent regarded their Soul Rings as their greatest trump card, forgetting that they themselves were the foundation of everything.
The reason the Clear Sky Sect possessed the secret technique of Ring Detonation was because it had been refined through the experience of generation after generation.
Detonating Soul Rings was not difficult. What was difficult was restoring them afterward.
The force generated the instant the Soul Rings exploded directly forced back Qian Xunji's Angelic Glory.
Qian Xunji revealed a stunned expression. In that instant of hesitation, Bai Fan swiftly closed in on him.
Four lotus flowers—white, red, gold, and green—attached themselves to Qian Xunji's back.
The World-Destroying White Lotus exuded icy killing intent, continuously damaging Qian Xunji.
The Faith Red Lotus burned Qian Xunji's consciousness with searing power of faith.
The Radiant World Golden Lotus's power of creation restricted Qian Xunji's Soul Power circulation.
As for the World-Nurturing Green Lotus, it continuously devoured Qian Xunji's life force.
"You annoying flies, get the hell away from me!"
The four lotus flowers clung to Qian Xunji's body like maggots on bone, making him extremely irritable.
Bai Fan ignored the enraged Qian Xunji. The Mystic Azure Lotus gathered in his palm, while two streams of red-and-blue liquid flowed within it.
Under Bai Fan's control of Soul Power, the two streams rapidly rotated, forming the pattern of a yin-yang fish within the azure lotus.
"Qian Xunji, I will repay every humiliation from that day in full right now."
The azure lotus shot toward the furious Qian Xunji at extreme speed. The Yin-Yang Azure Lotus entered through Qian Xunji's back and pierced into his heart.
The furious Qian Xunji only felt a twisting pain in his chest. Then his entire body went limp, he lost control over his Soul Power, and he rapidly fell.
He crashed into the ground, creating a massive crater.
As the dust dispersed, the scene within the crater was revealed.
Bai Fan stepped on Qian Xunji's head, looking down at him like a god.
"I, Bai Fan, always keep my word. Today, I will return the torment Dong'er suffered from you twofold!"
Pinned beneath Bai Fan's foot, Qian Xunji coughed up blood and spoke with difficulty.
"Cough, cough... So what if you won? I'm the Pope of Spirit Hall. If you kill me, I guarantee you won't leave Spirit Hall alive."
Even at the brink of collapse, Qian Xunji still insisted on making threats.
"If you've got the guts, kill me. Trash will always be trash." Qian Xunji continued provoking Bai Fan, his expression crazed.
The tremendous sense of disparity and humiliation had driven him mad.
The moment Qian Daoliu saw Qian Xunji being humiliated, he dispatched Golden Crocodile Douluo to rescue him.
Within the crater, Bai Fan lowered his head and whispered into Qian Xunji's ear.
"Who told you I planned to leave Spirit Hall alive?"
Qian Xunji's pupils contracted. Terror appeared on his once arrogant, frenzied face.
"Let me go. I can guarantee that you'll leave Spirit Hall safely."
Few people could remain calm when facing death, much less a reckless Pope like Qian Xunji.
The higher one's position, the more one feared death.
"Weren't you acting so arrogant just now? Why do you look like this now? Looks like you're still afraid of dying!"
Bai Fan mocked the pitifully begging Qian Xunji without the slightest trace of mercy.
"Remember this. The one killing you is Bai Fan, not that trash Yu Xiaogang!"
Qian Xunji was still wondering who Bai Fan was when intense pain swept through his mind. His body began to rot from the inside out.
"No, don't kill me!"
Qian Xunji's eyes widened as his entire body convulsed nonstop.
The Yin-Yang Azure Lotus within him exploded at his heart. Yin-yang power corroded his internal organs, while the ultimate Ice-Fire Power ravaged his body without restraint.
"Seventh Soul Skill, Golden Crocodile True Form!"
A massive golden crocodile knocked Bai Fan away. Golden Crocodile Douluo saw Qian Xunji's miserable state, and Qian Xunji, whose entire body had rotted, had now completely lost all signs of life.
"No, my son!" Qian Daoliu, who had been seated high within the Worship Hall, roared upon seeing Qian Xunji's corpse.
The aura of a Limit Douluo surged into the sky, and heaven and earth changed color.
Golden Crocodile Douluo, closest to Bai Fan, trembled all over.
"I'll kill you!"
No one had expected Bai Fan to truly dare kill Qian Xunji, and Golden Crocodile was enraged.
The Golden Crocodile King's tail relentlessly lashed at Bai Fan.
Now that Bai Fan had lost the support of his Soul Power, the aura of a Titled Douluo he had possessed moments ago directly fell to the level of a Soul Douluo.
Bai Fan only defended himself. There was calculation in his expression, as though he were waiting for something.
Under Golden Crocodile Douluo's continuous attacks, Bai Fan's body became increasingly battered. The World-Nurturing Green Lotus's healing could no longer keep up with his injuries.
Golden Crocodile charged again and again, shattering every bone in Bai Fan's limbs. Bai Fan no longer had the strength to resist.
Bai Fan lay quietly on the ground as Qian Daoliu slowly walked toward him, his aged face filled with unmelting gloom.
"Almost there. Come a little closer."
Bai Fan muttered unclearly.
"Rescue the boss! Brothers of the Republic Empire, charge with me!"
A loud, soaring voice rang out, followed by a dense mass of soldiers.
Obvious panic appeared on Bai Fan's formerly composed face.
Da Niu, having activated Heavenly Law, Earthly Form, kicked open the gates of Spirit City. Warriors wielding Gatlings fired wildly.
Ever since the Republic Empire had conquered the Haagendas Kingdom, it had relied on the region's abundant mineral resources and worked with numerous blacksmiths to develop Gatlings.
"Boss, we're here to save you!"
Da Niu shouted, announcing his arrival.
Bai Fan gathered every last shred of strength and shouted, "Get out! Get the hell back!"
Then a sense of helplessness arose in Bai Fan's heart. All of this had appeared in his dream.
In the dream, Da Niu had sacrificed himself to save him, though Da Niu had only been an ordinary man back then.
He had done everything he could to prevent the dream from replaying. Why had things still reached this point? Unwilling to accept it, Bai Fan slammed his fist heavily into the ground.
Just as expected, the soldiers of the Republic Empire were surrounded and slaughtered by Spirit Hall's Soul Master legion.
In the span of only a few breaths, the Republic Empire lost several hundred men.
Republic Empire soldiers continued pouring in, using their lives to wear down Spirit Hall's Soul Masters.
"An interesting army. Too bad you chose the wrong master. Since you want to die, I'll grant your wish."
"Golden Crocodile, go kill them all! Leave no one alive! It's time to show them the fist of our Spirit Hall!"
Before you continue