Pressing the Advantage, Fleeing in Defeat with an Arm Severed

Qiu Qianchi's shrill cry of "Retreat!" rang like a funeral bell in the hearts of every Qiu Family expert. The panic and despair in that shout completely shattered their last shred of fighting spirit.

A defeated army truly collapsed like a mountain!

Already shaken to the core by Qiu Tianxie's instantaneous death, the Qiu Family members no longer cared about formations or coordination. Like startled birds, they desperately circulated their Soul Power, their Soul Rings flashing wildly in every color, seeking only to escape this battlefield that had become a living hell as quickly as possible, fleeing in all directions.

"Trying to leave now? Have you asked my spear?"

Li Yunming's voice was icy to the bone, as though it carried the chill of the Nine Netherworlds. His towering figure remained motionless in the night sky, yet the Sky-Piercing Divine Spear in his hand erupted with a platinum radiance brighter than the moon. There were no elaborate tricks—just an incomparably simple thrust. Man and spear became one, transforming into a bolt of white lightning that tore through the night as it shot straight toward the fleeing Qiu Qianchi. Wherever the spear's force reached, the Purification Holy Light seemed to form an invisible domain, making the space around Qiu Qianchi thick and stagnant as his escape speed suddenly slowed.

Qiu Qianchi felt his soul leave his body, and for the first time, an expression of near despair appeared on his aged face. He could clearly sense the killing intent contained within that spear light behind him—cold, pure, and locked onto every trace of his aura. "No—!" He let out an unwilling roar. At the brink of life and death, his instinct for survival overwhelmed everything else. A flash of madness and heartache crossed his eyes as he fiercely bit through his tongue and spat a mouthful of blood essence containing his origin power onto the damaged bone staff floating before him.

The bone staff shook violently as its black radiance suddenly surged. Countless phantom souls struggled and wailed as they were forcibly drawn out and gathered around the staff. "Block it for me!" Qiu Qianchi roared. The bone staff martial soul that had accompanied him for more than a century actually flew straight toward the tip of the Sky-Piercing Divine Spear and detonated without hesitation!

Boom!!!

An explosion far more violent than any previous collision erupted. Black resentment and platinum holy light clashed and annihilated one another frantically, forming a chaotic energy storm. The bone staff was reduced completely to dust, but the immense impact produced by that desperate self-destruction finally obstructed the seemingly all-piercing spear force for one insignificant instant.

In that fleeting flash, Qiu Qianchi displayed the ruthlessness and decisiveness of a Limit Douluo. His body twisted sideways in an almost unnatural posture, forcibly shifting most of himself away from the strongest point of the spear's trajectory.

Splat!

Blood burst forth! Accompanied by the teeth-grinding sound of bone and flesh tearing apart, Qiu Qianchi ultimately failed to evade it completely. That unmatched spear light swept past him, severing his entire left arm cleanly from the shoulder. The wound was smooth as a mirror, then immediately scorched by the lingering Purification Holy Light with a sizzling sound. Little blood sprayed out; instead, the wound was charred black.

"Urghhh—!" A heart-rending scream tore from Qiu Qianchi's throat. His face instantly turned as pale as paper. The agony of his severed arm and the backlash from the destruction of his martial soul caused his aura to plummet, and he nearly fell from the air. Yet he did not dare linger for even a moment. Forcibly gathering a breath of Soul Power, he clamped his right hand tightly over the wound. Borrowing the combined force of the explosion and his severed arm, he transformed into a miserable streak of blood-red light. At the cost of burning his life origin, his speed surged as he shot desperately into the distant darkness, vanishing after only a few flashes.

Li Yunming hovered where he was, divine spear in hand, his brows slightly furrowed. He did not pursue deeply. A Limit Douluo determined to flee at any cost would be extremely difficult to keep behind. Even if he succeeded, he would inevitably pay a considerable price himself. The family had only just stabilized and still needed him to stand guard; it was not the time to take risks.

"Do not pursue a desperate enemy. Clean up the remaining foes!" Li Yunming's steady voice rang across the battlefield, carrying unquestionable authority.

That command was like a stone cast into water, stirring even greater ripples. The fury and killing intent the Li Family had suppressed for so long finally erupted completely!

"Trying to run? Leave your life behind to honor the heroic spirits of my clan!" Li Yuanhui's eyes were bloodshot as he answered first. His Sky Phoenix Halberd pointed at Qiu Lie, whose father's tragic death had shattered his composure and who was now staggering away in flight. Qiu Lie had already been severely wounded by him earlier, his back scorched black and his speed greatly reduced. Now, he was even more lost and disoriented.

"I'll do it!" A figure moved even faster—it was Snake Lance Douluo Li She Long. His body flickered like a ghost, and the Snake Lance in his hand traced a strange arc. Like a venomous snake striking from its hole, it precisely avoided the wind blades Qiu Lie hastily threw out. With a soft pfft, the icy spear tip pierced through the back of his head and emerged from his face!

Qiu Lie's forward charge abruptly froze. The madness and grief in his eyes instantly congealed into deathly gray. His corpse fell weakly toward the ground, landing upon the same stretch of earth as his father, Qiu Tianxie.

"Lie'er!!" The other level 94 Darksteel Shield Douluo, who had been entangled with Chen Jianjun and trying to provide aid, saw this and let out a roar of grief and rage. His mind shook violently, and a fatal gap appeared in his defense.

"You dare lose focus while fighting me?" Chen Jianjun's gaze was as cold as ten-thousand-year ice. The Seven Kill Sword in his hand let out a clear sword cry. "Seventh Soul Skill, Seven Slaughters True Body! Ninth Soul Skill, One Sword Across Worlds!"

Without hesitation, he unleashed his strongest single-target soul skill once more! Man and sword merged as one, becoming a blood-red line stretching across the heavens. That ultimate killing intent made heaven and earth lose their color. The Darksteel Shield Douluo's face changed drastically as he desperately raised his damaged giant shield before himself, black light flowing across its surface.

Clang—crack!

First came the deafening clash of metal, followed immediately by the crisp sound of the shield shattering completely. The blood-red sword force mercilessly pierced through the fragments and swept across his neck. He widened his eyes and clutched his throat with both hands, yet could not stop the blood from gushing out like a spring. At last, filled with endless unwillingness, he fell toward the earth.

"Not one of you will leave intact!" Li Tianwu let out a long cry as the Emperor Sword Domain fully unfolded. Brilliant golden light enveloped Qiu Wanjun, his level 98 opponent who had already suffered severe injuries. Qiu Wanjun had previously been wounded by the Emperor Sword, the injury on his chest deep enough to expose bone. Under the domain's suppression, he now struggled to take even a single step.

"Emperor Sword, Judgment!" Li Tianwu formed a sword gesture with two fingers and pointed through the air. A golden sword light condensed to the extreme, as though carrying the will of an emperor's judgment, ignored the layers of defense formed by Qiu Wanjun's swinging battle axe and struck directly at his dantian sea of qi!

Pfft! Qiu Wanjun spat out a mouthful of blood, but used the opportunity to flee into the distance.

Elsewhere, the level 95 Lava Colossal Fist Douluo whose arm Chen Jianjun had severed was in an even more miserable state. Blood streamed from his missing arm, greatly slowing him and turning him into a living target. Like a rampaging rhinoceros, Li Tiancheng charged forward as his ninth Soul Ring shone brilliantly. "Ninth Soul Skill, Rampaging Rhinoceros Sky-Splitting Crash!" He lunged with his entire body, and a massive rhinoceros phantom slammed viciously into the lava shield his opponent had hastily condensed.

Boom! The shield shattered. Nangong Yi followed close behind, his Dragon-Patterned Long Spear striking like a venomous dragon emerging from its lair. A flash of dark-golden spear light pierced precisely through the opponent's heart.

"Urgh..." The light in this level 95 Super Douluo's eyes rapidly faded as his corpse fell.

The remaining Qiu Family Titled Douluo—such as the level 97 Douluo who wielded the Shadow Twin Daggers, along with two other level 92 Titled Douluo—saw that the situation was hopeless and that the elders were falling one after another. They were already terrified out of their wits. No longer caring about anything else, they each used secret techniques that consumed their origin power, either spitting blood essence to accelerate or activating life-saving Soul Tools. They transformed into several streaks of different-colored but equally panicked light, enduring the attacks chasing them from behind as they broke through the Li Family's encirclement, battered and covered in wounds, before disappearing into the vast night.

Li Yuanhui still wanted to give chase, but Li Yunming raised a hand to stop him. "Patriarch, enough. Clearing the battlefield, treating the wounded, and strengthening the city's defenses are more important."

Li Yuanhui took a deep breath, suppressing the surging blood and killing intent within him, then nodded heavily. "All right. Clear the battlefield!"

The night sky gradually returned to calm at last. Only the lingering stench of blood, the flames burning everywhere, and the ruined residence silently told of the brutality of the great battle that had just taken place.

The Li Family members began descending slowly. Every face bore exhaustion, but even more than that, there was the exhilaration of surviving disaster and the satisfaction of avenging a great hatred. The clansmen voluntarily began clearing the battlefield, gathering the bodies of fallen family members, and treating the wounded. Every gaze was exceptionally resolute.

Li Yunming, Li Yuanhui, Chen Jianjun, Li Tianwu, and the other core leaders hovered in the air, silently watching below. There was little joy on their faces, only solemnity that could not be dispelled.

In this battle, the Qiu Family's ten Titled Douluo had launched a night raid on the Li Family in Heavenly Phoenix City. The final result was nothing short of a crushing defeat:

Three had fallen: level 93 Qiu Tianxie, killed by Nangong Yi's sneak attack; level 94 Qiu Lie, finished off by Li She Long; and the level 95 Lava Colossal Fist Douluo, jointly killed by Li Tiancheng and Nangong Yi. The level 94 Darksteel Shield Douluo had also died.

Four had been severely wounded: the level 99 First Elder Qiu Qianchi, whose martial soul was destroyed, who lost an arm, and whose origin was damaged; level 98 Qiu Wanjun; and two level 94 Titled Douluo who had been severely wounded during the breakout by the aftermath of Li Yunming's spear light and the combined attacks of the other elders.

Three had suffered light injuries: the successfully escaped Shadow Douluo, level 97, and the other two level 92 Titled Douluo, all of whom had only minor wounds.

As for the Li Family, relying on Li Yunming, their stabilizing pillar, along with numerous hidden and newly affiliated experts and the entire clan's determination to fight to the death, they had withstood this sudden calamity at the cost of several dozen low- and mid-level clansmen. They had won a brilliant victory powerful enough to shake the entire continent!

However, everyone understood that this was only the beginning. After suffering such an unprecedented crushing defeat, the Qiu Family's retaliation would surely come like a raging storm, even more brutal than before. That God Rank ancestor of the Qiu Family, who had always remained behind the scenes like a Sword of Damocles hanging above their heads... would he still stand by and do nothing next time?

The clouds of war had not dispersed. Instead, they hung even more heavily over Heavenly Phoenix City.