Approaching the End, Old Tang, Lend Me Your Head

The domineering voice, brimming with absolute confidence, left Long Xiaoyao somewhat dazed.

He vaguely saw an old acquaintance from his youth, equally high-spirited and full of vigor.

No—even the peerlessly magnificent Dragon God Douluo had not been as wantonly flamboyant as the man before him.

The Flame Emperor?

Recalling Xiao Yan's previous assault, Long Xiaoyao's left arm still burned painfully.

Feeling several Holy Spirit Cult members being killed by the aftershock, Long Xiaoyao's heart sank.

It seemed there would be no peaceful resolution today.

The other man's flames countered the two of them too severely. Zhongli Wu, at Rank 98, would be little more than a sacrifice. Even though Long Xiaoyao was a Dark Saint Dragon and possessed considerable resistance to all manner of elemental attacks, the darkness attribute was thoroughly restrained.

That was no ordinary Ultimate Fire. It was Ultimate Fire so vast and majestic that it resembled a great sun, illuminating and shattering all darkness.

And both of them possessed dark evil spirit attributes.

If they were both Ultimate attributes, they might have been able to counter one another. But unfortunately, without a fortuitous opportunity, even another hundred years might not allow him to reach the Ultimate level.

His thoughts raced, but it took only an instant for all nine of Long Xiaoyao's soul rings to light up.

The other party's killing intent was utterly undisguised. He intended to destroy the Holy Spirit Cult, so a battle between them was inevitable.

"Since there is nothing to discuss, then let our fists speak!" Long Xiaoyao's gaze turned cold, and his body vanished in an instant. In his place emerged a colossal black dragon that blotted out the sky!

Ye Xishui said nothing. Surging bloodlight enveloped her as she concealed herself beneath Long Xiaoyao's form.

Zhongli Wu hid even farther back, waiting for an opportunity.

"Roar!!!"

Accompanied by a long dragon's roar, the Dark Saint Dragon swept its enormous tail. A Divine Dragon Tail Sweep expanded with the wind, growing hundreds of meters long in an instant as it cleaved toward Xiao Yan.

"Good!"

Xiao Yan's eyes lit up. This was exactly the caliber of opponent he wanted!

His Dharma Body was only one step away from becoming corporeal!

Drawing upon the power of heaven and earth, Xiao Yan formed hand seals with both hands. In an instant, his body expanded to a hundred zhang.

Myriad Flames Body!

With a swing of both arms, he unleashed thousands of fist shadows—Thousand Strikes in an Instant! Empowered by the might of heaven and earth, every fist shadow became a meteor-like flaming punch that descended upon Long Xiaoyao.

The punches had long since left the sound barrier behind. By the time countless flaming fists shone like a peacock spreading its tail, the sound had yet to arrive.

It was as though they had crossed the barriers of space. The instant Xiao Yan threw his punches, brilliant firelight bloomed across Long Xiaoyao's body, and the Divine Dragon Tail Sweep had already been swallowed beneath the flaming fists.

Boom, boom, boom!

Violent explosions resounded in every direction. Smoke and dust billowed, the air twisted, and black spatial cracks wriggled like little snakes.

In a corner unnoticed by everyone, Zhongli Wu's eyes bulged.

Looking down slightly, he saw a giant hand formed from flames piercing straight through his chest.

Without making a sound, the Rank 98 Super Douluo was casually killed by Xiao Yan like a stray dog by the roadside.

Under Long Xiaoyao's cover, Ye Xishui's face frosted over. Raising one hand toward the sky, she summoned an enormous Blood Soul Demon Puppet behind her. She barely managed to snatch a wisp of Zhongli Wu's remnant soul from beneath Xiao Yan's Samadhi Fire, swallowed it in one gulp, and caused the bloodlight around her to surge explosively.

She raised both hands. The Blood Soul Demon Puppet behind her immediately blazed with bloodlight, and beams of intense crimson light erupted into the sky, transforming into massive vengeful spirits that rushed in all directions. Each spirit was the size of a person, and the moment it flew out, it expanded with the wind. In an instant, the battlefield in the sky was saturated with blood qi.

Ye Xishui threw back her head and howled. Bloodlight flared in her eyes, and in an instant, her long hair completely turned blood-red. The Blood Soul Demon Puppet behind her suddenly poured into her body and fused with her.

At once, Ye Xishui's body doubled in size. Her crystalline scarlet form made her seem as though she had been sculpted from ruby. Terrifying blood qi churned and boiled outward like waves, blooming in all directions.

A point of bloodlight rapidly spread through the sky. In the blink of an eye, the heavens had transformed into a sea of blood, while Ye Xishui's aura rose steadily.

"Boundless Blood Sea!"

"You overestimate yourself."

Xiao Yan sneered.

Long Xiaoyao was one thing. In his youth, he had possessed at least some heroic spirit. Even after being a lapdog for so many years, he still retained a few bottom lines.

But Ye Xishui...

Where had this old dog gotten the courage to charge at him, Xiao Yan?

Seeing the black-red aura around her, imperceptible to the naked eye and resembling karmic sin, Xiao Yan's smile grew colder. Forget whether she was hired by the will of this plane—even if she were not, he would still kill her!

His eyes widened, and firelight shot from them like tangible substance.

In an instant, the twelve blood wraiths formed by raising millions of resentful souls like poisonous insects vanished into smoke.

An incomparably powerful will immobilized Ye Xishui's body as though it were tangible. Immediately afterward, Xiao Yan threw a punch.

Firelight spread in the direction of his fist, as though a new world had unfolded, firmly trapping Ye Xishui at its center.

Wherever the flames passed, they carved a path through the sea of blood, as though an eraser had wiped a blank stretch across it and caused it to evaporate into nothingness.

A wondrous sight appeared in the sky. A straight road of flames seemed to tear apart space, opening a world formed entirely from fire within it.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Xiao Yan's body flickered repeatedly as he struck out five paths of fire from different directions, leaving no room to react. The new world tore open a gap within the old one, and in but a moment, Ye Xishui was already inside the Endless Flame Domain.

From the outside, five straight roads of flame shredded the sea of blood and firmly pinned Ye Xishui at their intersection.

"Roar!!!" Ignoring his injuries, Long Xiaoyao let out a resonant roar and charged over again. Xiao Yan did not even turn his head. He waved his left hand forward, paused briefly in the air, then swiftly pressed it down.

He merely sneered at Ye Xishui, whose eyes were wide open, and shouted coldly.

"Vermin like you—how dare you look directly at me?"

Boom—

A giant flaming hand large enough to cover the sky reappeared at the horizon. Carrying overwhelming force, it pressed Long Xiaoyao into its palm as though grabbing a chick. Flames crawled across Long Xiaoyao's body, sealing him tightly, before the hand slowly, almost unbearably slowly, descended toward the earth below.

Though it appeared exceedingly slow, in only an instant, Xiao Yan's giant hand had slammed Long Xiaoyao into the mountain range a thousand miles away.

Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!!!

The earth trembled madly, and mountains were ground into nothingness. Yet the terrifying shockwaves did not spread outward. Instead, they were absorbed into another dimension by a ring of Flame Domain that appeared around the perimeter.

Xiao Yan could now open a Flame Domain in any corner at will with a mere thought. The laws within it could be wielded as he pleased, manipulated freely through everything he had learned, while allowing him to deepen his understanding through that control.

In moments, the giant hand vanished. In its place stood an immense mountain range condensed from flames, firmly suppressing Long Xiaoyao within it.

After pressing Long Xiaoyao beneath the flaming mountain, Xiao Yan temporarily set him aside and ignored him. Yet this action terrified someone in the forest beside that mountain range.

The Evil Eye Tyrant Ruler awoke from seclusion, his face filled with shock and confusion.

Where had the neighboring mountains gone? Why had they become an enormous mountain of fire?

And why was there the aura of a Limit Douluo inside it? Who could seal a Limit Douluo there?

But just as he was about to flee, the Evil Eye Tyrant Ruler discovered that, at some point, the entire Evil Demon Forest had already been wrapped in flames. Even touching the fire surrounding the forest with his spiritual power would reduce it to nothing instantly. He could even feel the entire world rejecting them.

Evil Emperor: "!!?"

Had the day finally come for them to be purged as illegal interlopers?

Xiao Yan did not care what the Evil Emperor thought. He was merely an invasive species. Once matters here were settled, Xiao Yan could deal with him casually.

The urgent matter was deciding how Ye Xishui should die.

However, at that moment, Xiao Yan raised an eyebrow and looked down. At some unknown point, several beast-king soul engineer legions had assembled part of their forces.

The Rank 9 soul engineers he had not killed earlier landed within the formation, and in the blink of an eye, a sky-piercing white beam blasted toward him.

In the direction of the imperial palace, Xiao Yan saw through layer upon layer of barriers a young man sitting in a wheelchair.

Xu Tianran, who had yet to ascend the throne.

"I have not even settled accounts with you, yet you made the first move." Xiao Yan chuckled, with no intention of defending himself.

Xu Tianran and those who colluded with the Holy Spirit Cult were on Xiao Yan's kill list, though only those who colluded with Evil Soul Masters and acted against human decency.

Pure white pillars of light several meters wide rose one after another. Eight beams, each carrying a destructive aura, rapidly merged into one and blasted toward Xiao Yan.

At the same time, four Rank 9 soul engineers charged forward, each carrying a Rank 9 Fixed Soul Missile and prepared to sacrifice themselves.

In the distance, Xu Tianran frowned deeply. Everything had happened too suddenly. In his haste, he could only deploy some of the contingencies he had prepared for Ye Xishui against Xiao Yan in advance.

Boom!!!

The pure white pillar of light was like a signal flare. The moment it lit up, countless soul tool attacks in every color blasted toward Xiao Yan from all around.

They engulfed the Rank 9 soul engineers launching the self-destruct attack as well.

As the beam struck, violent explosions erupted across Xiao Yan's hundred-zhang flaming body.

Unending explosions and terrifying energy ripples spread wildly in every direction. However, they were locked at the center by Rank 9 soul tools activated at the cost of two Rank 9 soul engineers' lives. A golden shield suffused with nine-colored radiance enveloped the aerial battlefield like a gigantic eggshell, artfully leaving Ye Xishui outside its protection.

This shield contained technology similar to the Invincible Shield, along with numerous other soul tool formations. Beyond isolating the aftershocks, it reflected every burst of energy within, causing a second detonation against Xiao Yan.

Mushroom clouds exploded one after another within the shield, with shockwaves following in successive waves.

After the strongest reflected shockwaves ended, Xu Tianran viciously swung his hand. Several figures flashed behind him, and another Rank 9 soul engineer shot into the sky.

He directly detonated the shield's main body in the air, making the entire space seem as though it were about to collapse inward.

At the same time, terrifying shockwaves blasted down toward the ground.

Smoke and dust filled the air, and the shockwaves even disrupted the surveillance soul tools.

Xu Tianran clenched his lips tightly as he stared up at the sky with wide eyes.

The reason for detonating the shield, besides inflicting another blow, was to give Ye Xishui time to gather power.

He could no longer worry about raising a tiger that would bring disaster. Xiao Yan's actions showed that he would spare no Evil Soul Master. Xu Tianran naturally could not continue to endure in silence. To survive, he decisively chose to reveal himself in advance.

They were merely civilians. If they had to be sacrificed, then so be it. An army was raised for a thousand days to be used at one critical moment. Had the empire not used countless secret techniques to cultivate so many weak soul engineers precisely for a time like this?

No matter how weak they were, their soul power and souls could still be harvested! Although the Rank 10 soul tool, the Death God Tower, was still only half-finished, this wave of dead souls might be enough to complete it.

Staring upward without blinking, cold sweat formed on Xu Tianran's forehead. Yet when he saw Xiao Yan's figure vanish from the sky, leaving behind only crimson spatial turbulence, a smile immediately appeared on his face.

"Vermin like you, what exactly are you hoping for?"

A playful voice sounded beside his ear. Xu Tianran's body stiffened abruptly. Trembling, he turned his head and discovered that Xiao Yan had somehow come to his side, one large hand resting on the wheelchair, his smile exceptionally kind.

"Y-you... are you human or a ghost?!"

Glancing at Xu Tianran, who seemed so frightened that he was about to regain sensation in his lower body just to lose control of it, Xiao Yan curled his lips and shook his head.

When it came to explosions, he, Xiao Yan, was an ancestor among ancestors.

His signature ultimate move was detonating Heavenly Flames. Trying to use explosions against him?

"Heh, even when I gave you a chance, you proved useless! I opened up my defenses and let you attack freely, yet you could not even extinguish a single spark."

Soul tools from Douluo II truly were a trap of the era.

Although this wave of attacks had not included a completed Death God Tower, Xiao Yan had roughly experienced what level of power it possessed.

Like Madara, he had experienced the supreme mystery of soul tools. Xiao Yan's verdict was simple: a complete trap of the era.

They could not even threaten Di Tian, which meant soul tools were completely useless against top-tier combatants.

Let alone against him.

As long as Xiao Yan still had a single breath left, he might not be invincible in every battle, but he certainly would not be defeated or destroyed.

Unless someone could instantly use overwhelming damage to erase every flame through which Xiao Yan existed in this world, it would be meaningless.

And in this world, one would need to erase the very path of fire itself to kill Xiao Yan. Otherwise, the flame would never cease.

Not only did such energy attacks fail to harm Xiao Yan, they even allowed him to use the external assault to accelerate the corporealization of his Dharma Body.

At that moment, Xu Tianran finally recovered from his terror. Reason gained the upper hand, and suppressing his body's instincts, he looked at Xiao Yan.

"You seem to pride yourself on being righteous, but people have also died by your hand..."

Xu Tianran had intended to use the civilians killed in the previous explosions to morally condemn Xiao Yan.

However, he stopped halfway through.

Xiao Yan merely snapped his fingers, and flames condensed into a mirror before him.

It replayed the true situation of the explosions in slow motion.

He had spread a thin membrane of flame between heaven and earth, invisible to the naked eye. Nothing could pass through it, and he had completely absorbed the shockwaves.

He had even taken the opportunity to add another dish to his meal.

Xu Tianran froze on the spot, no longer even harboring the thought of making another desperate move.

"If you have nothing left to say, then die." Xiao Yan shrugged. His body dispersed into fire, and he did not spare a glance for Xu Tianran, who had not even left ashes behind.

Instead, he returned to the high sky before Ye Xishui.

Without hesitation, Xiao Yan clenched his five fingers. In an instant, the Endless Flame Domain collapsed inward madly. The flames condensed into substance and directly detonated!

Within Xiao Yan's senses, a figure that had been pursuing him ever since the Star Dou Great Forest was rapidly flying toward this place.

He had been thinking that when he swept through the Evil Demon Forest later, he would bring the Three-Eyed Golden Lion along and have a good final talk with her, comparing who was truly favored by fate.

Yet Xiao Yan suddenly sensed that something was wrong and turned toward Ye Xishui.

Her life-flame had not dissipated!

Whoosh—

A pale blue curtain of water appeared before Ye Xishui at some unknown point.

A blue-haired man carrying a Golden Trident stepped out from it.

"Who are you?! Why are you interfering with Douluo's grand course!" A trace of surprise flashed through Tang San's eyes, though his expression remained stern and righteous.

"Hehehe, Old Tang, lend me your head for a moment. I need it to settle my account."

Xiao Yan could not be bothered to answer Tang San. His smile was dazzling.

The cancer of this world had finally arrived.