The Paladji Shield and a Year-Long Disappearance

"Going straight to your full form? I haven't even gotten started," Xiao Ran said confidently.

Xiao Ran stared at Noa's complete form before him, the corner of his mouth twitching.

Noa merely raised his right hand. Energy gathered around his fist, wrapped it in Trillion-Degree Flame, and erupted in a scorching blast!

"Hmph. Try this Soul Skill—Invincible Golden Body!"

A golden barrier instantly enveloped Xiao Ran and blocked the fiery blast.

"That's it?" Xiao Ran grinned inside the barrier. "Senior Noa, this clone of yours isn't hitting hard enough."

The moment he finished speaking, Xiao Ran flashed forward like blue lightning and engaged Noa at close range.

Noa clearly hadn't expected him to close in. His wings of light flared as he tried to pull away, but this was Houshan Ginga. Xiao Ran reached out and seized Noa's left wrist.

Noa dropped his left arm and caught Ginga's wrist in return. They slammed together in the void, sending a massive shockwave rippling outward. Even the stars trembled.

Ginga drove his knee toward Noa's abdomen. Noa raised his own to block it, then swung his right fist, wreathed in Trillion-Degree Flame, at Xiao Ran's face. Xiao Ran tilted his head aside. The searing gust swept past his Plasma Crystal, leaving a scorch mark on its surface.

Ginga yanked Noa's left wrist toward himself and drove his left elbow at the crack in Noa's chest.

"Elbow strike! Noa, you're not elbowing your way out of this one!"

Noa brought his other arm across his chest to block, but the impact still sent him sliding back several meters. He glanced down at the crack in his chest, his silver-red eyes flickering.

His wings of light flared. Instead of retreating, Noa charged straight at Xiao Ran, moving more than twice as fast as before.

Ginga didn't dodge. He met the charge with a punch. Noa slipped aside and struck at Xiao Ran's neck, but Ginga blocked it. They traded blows at close range in the void, fists and elbows flying. Noa's strikes were far heavier than before.

Noa suddenly changed tactics and swept his leg across. Ginga leaned back to evade it. Using the momentum, Noa withdrew ten meters, crossed his hands before his chest to gather energy, then thrust them forward. A seven-colored beam roared out!

It was Noa's supremely destructive beam, Lightning Noa.

Ginga retreated at almost the same instant. The Plasma Crystals across his body glowed blue as he crossed his hands before his chest, gathered power, then spread his arms horizontally. Energy converged.

"Ginga Special Light Bullet!"

An enormous wave of light shaped like a galaxy burst forward.

The seven-colored beam and the galaxy-shaped wave collided in the void.

The void cracked open. Again.

Noa flared his wings and poured in more power. The seven-colored beam widened, pushing the ball of energy toward Xiao Ran. In Houshan Ginga form, Xiao Ran channeled Soul Power into his Ginga Special Light Bullet. The blue beam thickened too, driving the ball back.

They clashed beams from ten meters apart. The ball spun wildly between them, its seven-colored and blue-white patterns cracking to expose a searing white core. The surrounding void warped under the heat of their energy, and the stars wheeled too quickly for their paths to be seen.

"Your clone isn't strong enough." Xiao Ran gritted his teeth. Ginga's divine power burst forth, blue light flooding into the Ginga Special Light Bullet. Their power fused into one.

The ball of energy was pushed back.

Xiao Ran took a forceful step forward. Noa stepped forward at almost the same time. Both pressed on, their beams crushing against each other as the ball wavered between them.

At last, Ginga thrust both arms forward. Noa did the same. The beams' points of origin were nearly touching, seven-colored light and blue-white starlight tangling at point-blank range. Trapped between their arms, the ball's surface patterns shattered completely.

Xiao Ran's arms were almost pressed against Noa's. The beams shot from their respective arms and writhed against each other mere inches from their skin.

Boom! The ball exploded, hurling them both away. This time their paths were almost symmetrical: Ginga tumbled right, Noa left. Each flew back more than ten meters through the void.

Ginga steadied himself and stood straight in the void.

Noa steadied himself across from him, but his waist remained slightly bent and his body leaned forward. His chest rose and fell unevenly.

After a long silence, Noa slowly straightened and looked up at Xiao Ran. There was recognition in his eyes, as though he had finally found an answer after waiting so long.

He gave a slight nod.

Then he waved a hand. A silver-white light shot from his chest into Xiao Ran's body. The warm, boundless power surged through every part of him.

Noa raised his other hand. Light appeared in his palm, revealing a silver bracelet: the Paladji Shield.

Noa sent it forward. The Paladji Shield became a streak of light and merged into Xiao Ran's left arm.

"Huh? The Paladji Shield? Senior Zero, I'll hold on to it for you!" Xiao Ran was overjoyed.

Noa's form began to dissolve faster. He gave Xiao Ran one last look, his eyes narrowing slightly as if he were smiling.

"Wait, Senior Noa! I still have questions for you."

Before Xiao Ran could get the words out, Noa had vanished.

The entire starry ruin began to tremble. The stars wheeled faster, and the star patterns on the stone pillars flashed wildly. The exit was closing.

Xiao Ran raced toward the wormhole. It contracted the instant he plunged through, and the starry expanse behind him collapsed with a roar.

One day in the heavens was a year on earth.

By the time Xiao Ran emerged, a full year had passed outside. Two years remained until the Continental Advanced Soul Master Elite Tournament.

The wasteland was deserted. Ghost Douluo was long gone. Xiao Ran sped toward Spirit Hall.

Dusk had fallen by the time Spirit Hall's gates came into view. Xiao Ran landed. The two guards at the entrance froze when they saw him. Then one went deathly pale, turned, and ran inside, shouting as he went.

"It's the Holy Son! The Holy Son is back!"

Xiao Ran frowned. "Is that much of a reaction really necessary?"

He had barely stepped through the doors when hurried footsteps sounded down the corridor. Several elders rushed out, and the moment they saw him, they looked as if they had seen a ghost.

"Xiao Ran? You're alive?"

"You didn't die?"

"It's been a year! You were in there for a year!"

Xiao Ran froze. "Wait. What did you say? A year?"

One elder said, "The stone door closed after you went in. Ghost Douluo waited seven days, but you never came out, so he returned to report it. His Holiness the Pope sent three groups to find you, but none could even get through the entrance. Everyone thought you'd died inside."

Xiao Ran's mind went blank. He turned and ran toward the Pope's Palace.

As he neared the Pope's Palace, he saw Hu Liena.

She stood on the stone steps outside, her whole body tense and her eyes dull. When Xiao Ran appeared, she went still, as though she didn't recognize him.

"Senior Sister."

Hu Liena's lips began to tremble. She stared at Xiao Ran for several seconds, and then her eyes reddened.

"You..."