Battle Against Zhongli Ren

Zhongli Ren's entire body shook. His composure and amusement vanished in an instant, replaced by overwhelming shock and terror.

We've been exposed.

He knows our objective!

He knows about the Holy Spirit Cult!

He knows about the Sect Master and the Grand Consecrator!

He even knows who I am?!

In an instant, countless thoughts exploded in Zhongli Ren's mind.

These were secrets known only to the vast majority of the cult's followers. How could he know them so clearly?

What method had he used?!

Zhongli Ren nearly fell into chaos, and that was precisely the effect Ye Chenxing wanted.

At this moment, his mind had lost its defenses.

And what awaited him was Ye Chenxing's first soul skill.

His first soul ring lit up.

"Deprivation of Fate!"

The power of laws descended like invisible shackles, piercing through space and landing directly on Zhongli Ren. He immediately sensed that strange, indescribable weakness. He hurriedly activated his soul power, trying to drive it out, but it was useless.

Knowing he could not resolve the strange technique this brat had inflicted on him anytime soon, he quickly stopped thinking about it. He had only one thought now.

Only by capturing the brat before him and learning everything about him could he put his mind at ease.

For this operation, he had not brought the eighth-grade soul tool he was most proficient with. The beast souls he had stored over many years had also been left in the cult, because using those things would make it far too easy to expose his identity. Although he served as Zhongli Wu's housekeeper within the cult and held no official position in the Holy Spirit Cult—colloquially speaking, he was off the books.

But one day, the three of them would step into the spotlight, so they had chosen to conceal themselves as much as possible.

Besides, even without using his Martial Soul, dealing with a two-ring Great Spirit Master posed no danger at all.

Even if he stood there and let his opponent attack, the other party would not be able to break through his physical defenses. Without another thought, he moved like lightning and reached out to grab Ye Chenxing.

He had to take him alive. That was also the order the cult leader had given him. Ultimate Light was poison to evil soul masters, but it was also the finest sacrifice.

If they could sacrifice this newly awakened wielder of Ultimate Light, perhaps the cult leader could break through to rank ninety-nine and become a Limit Douluo. Then, they would no longer have to endure the Sun Moon Empire's restraints everywhere, nor would they have to watch Shrek's expressions.

Yet he suddenly discovered in shock that he could not approach Ye Chenxing at all.

A dazzling golden barrier abruptly unfolded around Ye Chenxing like divine grace bestowed by a god. Countless ancient runes flowed across its surface, each one radiating a suffocating pressure. It was sacred, solemn, and inviolable power.

Zhongli Ren was forcibly halted, his body feeling as if it had been filled with lead, unable to advance even half a step.

"Th-this... this is...!"

The Angel Domain descended!

Zhongli Ren's hoarse cry exploded through the frozen air. "This—this is an innate domain! The innate domain of Ultimate Light!"

Ultimate Light inherently suppressed evil and darkness, while the Angel Domain pushed that suppression to its utmost limit. Every wisp of holy light that fell upon him was like the fiercest poison, wildly consuming and purifying the evil soul power within his body.

"This is bad!"

No one had told him that Ultimate Light could be this terrifying.

Ye Chenxing did not waste words. He knew that if he wanted to defeat his opponent, he had to go all out. There was no one else here, so he no longer needed to maintain the Angel soul bone's disguise skill.

He slowly raised a hand, palm facing the sky. A pale golden halo enveloped his body as six illusory, snow-white wings slowly unfurled from his back, making him appear like a god descended into the mortal world. This was also the first time he had revealed this form before an outsider.

Six-Winged Angel! Possession!

Along with his own light and flames, a sacred aura erupted.

Seeing this, Zhongli Ren looked as though he had seen a ghost and shrieked:

"You, you are—the Six-Winged Angel?!"

"You aren't some Sun Martial Soul at all! You deceived everyone!"

Ultimate Light and the Six-Winged Angel were fundamentally different concepts to evil soul masters. If Ultimate Light was potent poison, then the Six-Winged Angel was a ninth-grade Fixed Soul Guidance Cannon shell aimed at them, already counting down to detonation.

"You're right." Ye Chenxing smiled. "So you have to die here today."

Before his words had faded, angelic flames and holy light had already woven into a torrent, sweeping toward Zhongli Ren with overwhelming force.

Holy Light Illumination!

The golden heatwave burned every blade of grass and tree in its path into ash. A violent impact exploded through the dense forest, uprooting trees within dozens of meters and hurling them through the air. Fragments crackled overhead, wrapped in sparks.

The Six-Winged Angel's Ultimate Fire and Ultimate Light, accompanied by sacred power, blasted into Zhongli Ren without reservation.

Boom!

Zhongli Ren took the full force of the attack, yet Ye Chenxing's expression darkened slightly.

Amid the smoke and dust, Zhongli Ren still stood. His black robe had been burned full of holes, and the exposed skin beneath was covered in bloody burn marks. The left half of his mask had shattered, revealing half of an aged face twisted with shock and fury.

Ye Chenxing sighed. Even after inflicting Deprivation of Fate upon him, stripping away all his defenses, and continuously weakening his evil soul power with the Angel Domain... was it still not enough?

Sure enough, a Soul Douluo would not be defeated so easily.

Zhongli Ren raised a hand and wiped the blood from his cheek. His sinister eyes locked onto the white-haired youth before him. For that instant just now, he truly had panicked—when the Six-Winged Angel reappeared in the world, it was nothing less than a bolt from the blue for him, the entire Holy Spirit Cult, and every evil soul master in the world.

He suddenly bared his teeth in a hoarse, crazed laugh. "Angel, you truly opened my eyes. To possess such power with only two rings... if you had five rings today—no, even four—I might truly have been in danger of losing my life. But!"

The black soul power around his body surged violently. He summoned the Ghostshadow Leopard Emperor's natal beast soul. At this point, he no longer dared to underestimate Ye Chenxing in the slightest, forcefully pushing back the surrounding golden holy light by several inches. The Angel Domain's restraint creaked against his body, but it could no longer hold him in place.

"You are still far too weak." Zhongli Ren's voice grew increasingly savage. With a kick of his foot, he tore through the domain like lightning and pounced toward Ye Chenxing. "A genius whose talent has not yet come to fruition is nothing! So what if you suppress me? A Great Spirit Master will never defeat a Soul Douluo!"

But in the blink of an eye—

A figure had somehow appeared silently beside Ye Chenxing.

She was a tall woman, her golden hair cascading like a snowy waterfall, her body surrounded by the same sacred aura as Ye Chenxing. She stood quietly within the golden light, as though she had been there from the very beginning, only allowing mortals to glimpse her now.

"Are you all right, Chenxing? Do you need me to use my full strength?"

"I'm fine, Sister Xue. We... should try that move."

As the words fell, their gazes met.

Without any unnecessary words, Ye Chenxing and Qian Renxue raised their hands at the same time, their palms facing one another.

In an instant, Zhongli Ren's pupils contracted to pinpoints.

Before he could even think about how the woman had appeared, something even more terrifying unfolded before his eyes.

Their bodies began to glow. The six snow-white wings behind each of them suddenly spread wide.

As light and shadows intertwined, their two figures completely vanished, replaced by a brand-new figure.

"Th-this—this—this is—"

Zhongli Ren trembled from head to toe. It was as though an invisible hand had clamped around his throat, and only after a long while did he force several words through clenched teeth—words that terrified him out of his wits.

"This is a Martial Soul Fusion Skill!!!"