Leng Lingling Turned Pale with Fright

They had gravely wounded Qian Renxue and frightened off Mighty Lion Douluo.

Everything was unfolding in Gao Yang and Ning Rongrong's favor.

By the time they flew above Yellow Dragon Mountain, the tension in their brows had eased a little.

Next, they had to rescue Ning Fengzhi and Jian Chen.

Afraid that the Super Douluo sent to reinforce the Imperial City might return, they had not even taken the time to restore their Soul Power.

"Tens of thousands of troops, hundreds of Soul Masters above level fifty, and an unknown number of Enshrined Elders from Spirit Hall." Gao Yang narrowed his eyes and took in every guard around Yellow Dragon Mountain. "Qian Renxue really thinks highly of us."

Ning Rongrong's expression went still. The moment she entered Yellow Dragon Mountain, she felt a powerful spiritual force lock onto her.

There was no doubt about it: the two of them had been completely exposed!

"I knew it was a ploy to lure the tiger away from the mountain! Gao Yang, surrender!"

A voice exploded like thunder out of a clear sky. The instant the Seventh Enshrined Elder of Spirit Hall spotted them, he revealed his Martial Soul.

Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black, black.

Nine Soul Rings hovered silently around the Coiling Dragon Staff.

The next moment, he lit up three Soul Rings in one breath.

He shot toward Gao Yang and Ning Rongrong in midair like a cannonball.

"Nine Treasures Turn Into Glazed Glass, first: strength..."

Ning Rongrong reacted quickly, sending several boosts into Gao Yang in an instant.

"Xiao Tian, hold him off!"

Gao Yang plunged from the sky. Ignoring Demon Subduing Douluo's attack, he headed straight for the lone building atop Yellow Dragon Mountain.

"Roar!"

Gao Yang hurled Xiao Tian at Demon Subduing Douluo, and the tiger's small body swelled in the wind.

The next instant, man and tiger collided with a crash!

"You think a mere Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast can stop me?!"

Demon Subduing Douluo flew into a rage. He had long known Gao Yang had a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast at his side, but he had thought little of it.

At Level 95, he was not necessarily outmatched by a mere Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast!

Yet Demon Subduing Douluo had still underestimated the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger.

Boom!

Demon Subduing Douluo had charged in fast, but he was driven back even faster.

His full-force strike hit Xiao Tian without so much as making a ripple.

Xiao Tian's answering swipe, however, left five bloody furrows across his body.

"Roar!!"

Xiao Tian burned with fighting spirit. To the tiger, the Douluo before it looked particularly delicious!

If it could devour him as well as the Light Feather Douluo it had consumed earlier, the accumulated energy would surely be enough to break through the two-hundred-thousand-year threshold!

Demon Subduing Douluo saw Gao Yang land and lead Ning Rongrong toward the Soul Masters and soldiers.

He knew this had become a contest of speed.

Would he finish off the Black Tiger first, or would Gao Yang cut through the troops and Soul Masters?

Knowing time was short, Demon Subduing Douluo wasted no words.

"Seventh Soul Skill: Tool Soul True Body!"

"Ninth Soul Skill: Salvation of All Beings!"

He poured Soul Power into his Soul Rings without regard for the cost. The next moment, his presence changed abruptly.

With a devastating Soul Skill behind it, he smashed the Coiling Dragon Staff at Xiao Tian once more.

Facing the attack, Xiao Tian roared. A fierce current of gray air burst from the Evil God Hook, normally used to attack, and wrapped around its body!

Evil God's Protection!

This was one of the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's innate abilities. It could instantly protect its body with the Evil God's aura.

Its defensive power could even rival Xiao Wu's invincible close-range defense. Though its limit was somewhat lower than absolute defense, it lasted much longer and did not restrict its movements.

Neither side had tested the other from the start.

They had gone all out!

Seeing Xiao Tian successfully tie down Demon Subduing Douluo, Gao Yang dared not waste a moment. He pulled Ning Rongrong toward the building.

With spiritual power far beyond others of his level, he could sense Ning Fengzhi's and Sword Douluo's faint auras!

"I am Gao Yang! Anyone who stands in my way dies!!!"

Faced with an endless stream of soldiers and Soul Masters, Gao Yang had no patience for words. He unleashed his Sixth Soul Skill!

Hundred Rivers flow east to the sea—today they journey west!

Bolstered by Ning Rongrong, Gao Yang summoned over a thousand Flying Swords with that single skill.

At a thought, he swept two fingers forward.

The Flying Swords swept through like a plague of locusts, mercilessly cutting down every living thing that dared block Gao Yang's path!

Soul Masters and ordinary soldiers alike

fell in rows like wheat at the autumn harvest.

In an instant, wails shook Yellow Dragon Mountain, and blood flowed everywhere.

Yet the soldiers and Soul Masters acted as though they did not fear death. As one wave fell, the next took its place!

Even if all they could do was delay Gao Yang by a single second!

These Soul Masters and soldiers were Heaven Dou's elite, secretly trained for years by Xue Ye to serve one day as his trump card against Spirit Hall!

Even an ordinary soldier picked at random was one in ten thousand, let alone a Soul Master!

Their fighting ability and loyalty to the imperial family were beyond reproach.

Unfortunately, once Qian Renxue's scheme to seize the throne succeeded, all of Xue Ye's years of effort had become her wedding clothes.

There was no pity or guilt in Gao Yang's eyes, only ice.

He knew these Soul Masters and soldiers were merely following orders.

Used well, they could surely have become a force against Spirit Hall in the future.

Yet he showed no mercy. The more he killed, the faster and more ruthlessly he struck!

Even when he spotted members of the clans that had surrendered from the Tang Sect among them.

You have your hardships, your helplessness, your reasons you had no choice, your reasons to survive.

But none of that has anything to do with me, Gao Yang!

I kill you for one reason alone: you stand in my way!

Gao Yang's sword had never been a sword of mercy.

By the time Gao Yang escorted Ning Rongrong to the building's entrance, a mountain of corpses lay in a sea of blood behind him.

Every ambush Qian Renxue had set, everything Xue Ye had labored for over the years—

Gao Yang had slaughtered it all in just ten breaths.

That was how terrifying a top Soul Master could be on the battlefield.

Without someone of equal strength to oppose him, a top Soul Master was an army unto himself!

Boom!

The Seven Kill Sword flashed coldly, and the building's stone doors collapsed.

Gao Yang thrust out his palm, releasing a burst of Soul Power.

When the dust cleared, Gao Yang's and Ning Rongrong's pupils contracted.

Ning Fengzhi and Sword Douluo had been tortured beyond recognition. Three Soul Masters stood beside them.

One had a swan, one a short blade, and one a pink bra.

The three were sworn brothers. They were not especially capable fighters, but they had countless ways to torture a person.

That was precisely why Qian Renxue had chosen them to torment Ning Fengzhi and Sword Douluo.

How pitiful that a former sect master and a Titled Douluo had fallen so far, suffering daily humiliation at the hands of three low-level Soul Masters...

Gao Yang also saw an old acquaintance: Ye Lingling, the current head of the Ye Family and the continent's last inheritor of the Nine Heart Begonia Martial Soul.

"Dad! Grandpa Jian!!"

The sight of her loved ones, whom she had longed to see day and night, reduced to such a state sent tears streaming down Ning Rongrong's face.

Nearly beside herself, she rushed toward Ning Fengzhi and Sword Douluo.

"The defenses have fallen?"

"So soon!"

"Where's Senior Demon Subduing?"

The three low-level Soul Masters had been ordered to kill Ning Fengzhi and Sword Douluo the moment anyone entered the prison!

They exchanged glances, and the Soul Master wielding the broken-blade Martial Soul raised his weapon to kill Ning Fengzhi.

But they were a step too slow!

Slice!

With the muffled sound of blades tearing through flesh, all three heads rolled to Ye Lingling's feet.

The sight drained every trace of color from her face.

Yet the begonia in her hand continued to release a green glow over Ning Fengzhi and Sword Douluo.

"Rongrong... Gao Yang... why were you two so foolish...?"

Ning Fengzhi weakly raised his head. He hung in chains, and both his eyes had been blinded.

But he had heard a familiar voice.

Even without seeing her, he could imagine how bitterly his beloved daughter was crying.

"Dad, Grandpa Jian, Rongrong's here to save you! Rongrong will take you away!!"

Seeing that Ning Rongrong could not break the iron cuffs around Ning Fengzhi's and Sword Douluo's wrists, Gao Yang sent out a streak of Sword Qi.

"Sect Master, Third Grandpa, Gao Yang came too late!"

Gao Yang moved in a flash, bracing Jian Chen against his back.

Ning Rongrong lifted Ning Fengzhi onto hers.

"Foolish children... this is a trap... you shouldn't have come..."

Jian Chen's voice came in halting fragments. His eyes had been gouged out too, leaving two ghastly, bloody sockets.

His voice held both disappointment and relief...

"Gao Yang, kill... Uncle Jian and me... take Rongrong... and run!"

Ning Fengzhi's voice was weak, but it still carried authority.

"Sect Master, none of us has to die!" Gao Yang said evenly. "The ones who should die are those who humiliated you."

With that, Gao Yang's killing intent surged. He was about to send out a streak of Sword Qi and end Ye Lingling's life.

To his surprise, Ning Fengzhi managed to raise a hand to stop him despite his frailty.

"Gao Yang, the Nine Heart Begonia is a miracle among Martial Souls. If you kill Miss Lingling, there will never be another Nine Heart Begonia in this world."

"Yes. Lingling was only following orders. Besides, without her, the Sect Master and I wouldn't have survived this long," Jian Chen said. "Yangyang, spare her."

Under the weight of his killing intent, Ye Lingling collapsed to the floor, her beautiful face drained of color. A wet patch had already spread beneath her.

Too frightened to speak, she nodded, then shook her head.

Through her sobs, no one could tell what she was trying to say.

"All right."

Unwilling to waste time, Gao Yang let the matter drop.

His Sword Control could not carry all four of them at once. He exchanged a glance with Ning Rongrong, and each took someone on their back before racing outside.

"Dad, Grandpa Jian, hold on!"

Taking over from Ye Lingling, Ning Rongrong poured her enhanced support into Ning Fengzhi and Sword Douluo without regard for the cost.

Yet she could still feel the life draining rapidly from both her loved ones!

Outside the prison, Demon Subduing Douluo and the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger were still fighting.

Their colliding Soul Power burst again and again like thunder on level ground.

"Xiao Tian!" Gao Yang roared.

The Dark Demon Evil God Tiger had grown up beside him since it was small. They had long since come to understand each other without words.

"Roar!!"

Xiao Tian unleashed three attacks in rapid succession, forcing Demon Subduing Douluo back.

Then its massive body rushed toward Gao Yang. Gao Yang pulled Ning Rongrong with him, and they leaped onto Xiao Tian's broad back.

With only a few leaps and dodges, Xiao Tian carried the four of them into the forest and vanished...

"Damn it..."

Demon Subduing Douluo was about to give chase when blood surged up his throat. He spat out a mouthful, then immediately sat cross-legged to tend his injuries.

Where had that Black Tiger come from?!

He cursed himself for not reading more. Without knowing what he was facing, he had suffered dearly in the fight!

Just as Demon Subduing Douluo suppressed his injuries and prepared to pursue Gao Yang's group, three familiar auras descended from the sky.

"Young Mistress, Fourth Brother, Sixth Brother!" Demon Subduing Douluo looked embarrassed when he saw them.

"Grandpa Seven, they got away?!"

Qian Renxue was sharp. One look at the scene and Demon Subduing Douluo's expression told her roughly what had happened.

"Young Mistress, I... I failed you..." Demon Subduing Douluo's face burned with shame.

"It doesn't matter. Even if they got away, Ning Fengzhi and Sword Douluo won't survive! That woman's poison is potent, after all!" Qian Renxue drew a deep breath, forced down her anger, and took a porcelain bottle from her robes.

She opened the bottle, and a tiny, brilliantly colored spider crawled out.

"Death Spider Emperor?" The Enshrined Elders recognized at a glance that it was a Soul Beast less than a hundred years old.

"Yes. That woman gave it to me," Qian Renxue said calmly. "With this little thing, Ning Fengzhi and the others will have nowhere to hide, even at the ends of the earth!"

"Excellent! Young Mistress, what are we waiting for?" Demon Subduing Douluo rejoiced. "Fourth Brother, Sixth Brother, let's go after them!"

"Wait, Grandpa Seven. Gao Yang has too many hidden cards!" Qian Renxue had regained her composure. "You and Grandpa Four should recover from your injuries first. We can pursue them once you've healed!"

"Fourth Brother is injured? How was Fourth Brother injured? How could Fourth Brother get injured?!"

Demon Subduing Douluo's three questions in a row made Mighty Lion Douluo's old face flush...