"Heavenly Dome Demon-Breaking Slash!"
Watching Ma Xiaotao charge toward him, Lin Xuanchen did not hesitate. He turned the Seven Kill Sword in his hand and unleashed a vicious slash at her!
Whoosh!
In an instant, a streak of sword light dozens of yards long, burning with emerald-green flames, burst from Lin Xuanchen's Seven Kill Sword. It tore through the air and hurtled toward Ma Xiaotao.
This strike was one of Lin Xuanchen's two self-created soul skills-Heavenly Dome Demon-Breaking Slash!
It was no ordinary sword energy, but a strike unleashed after compressing three kinds of energy: soul power, spiritual power, and life spirit flame.
Leaving aside the soul power and spiritual power, the life spirit flame it contained alone was enough to give Ma Xiaotao more than she could handle.
After all, life spirit flame was a heavenly flame, and one ranked fifth on the Heavenly Flame Ranking at that. It simply was not suited to attacking; that did not mean it had no offensive power.
However weak its flames might be, life spirit flame could still trounce the ultimate fire of the Douluo Continent. It was more than enough to deal with Ma Xiaotao's evil fire.
"Sixth soul skill, Phoenix Meteor Shower!"
Faced with an attack almost upon her, Ma Xiaotao, whose reason had been overwhelmed by evil fire, did not hesitate. She decisively unleashed her sixth soul skill.
In an instant, clusters of dark-red fireballs appeared in the sky. The moment they emerged, they rained down on Lin Xuanchen and Wang Dong'er, blotting out the sky.
"Heh." Lin Xuanchen merely sneered. He swept Wang Dong'er into his arms again, then activated Three Thousand Lightning Movement, easily dodging the falling fireballs.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The fireballs slammed into the ground, unleashing a series of deafening explosions.
Just after Ma Xiaotao finished unleashing her sixth soul skill, Lin Xuanchen's streak of sword light, burning with life spirit flame, reached her and slashed down through her shoulder.
Squelch!
There was no suspense whatsoever. The sword light Lin Xuanchen had unleashed sliced Ma Xiaotao's right arm clean off. A soul bone immediately fell free of it, and blood gushed from the stump.
"Aaaaargh!!!"
An utterly agonized scream tore from Ma Xiaotao's mouth. She collapsed to the ground and rolled back and forth in pain.
Clearly, having her arm severed by Lin Xuanchen had also restored some of Ma Xiaotao's reason.
"Lin... Lin Xuanchen... you... did you kill someone?" Watching the blood gush from Ma Xiaotao's severed shoulder, Wang Dong'er's beautiful pink-and-blue eyes contracted, and an irrepressible cry of horror escaped her red lips.
"Dong'er, don't worry about her. She won't die. Even if she does, she'll only be getting what she deserves!" Lin Xuanchen reassured Wang Dong'er, then cast a cold glance at Ma Xiaotao, who lay struggling in agony on the ground. He felt no guilt whatsoever.
"But..." Looking at Ma Xiaotao lying drenched in a pool of blood, Wang Dong'er still found it difficult to accept. Pampered since childhood, when had she ever witnessed such a bloody scene?
"Dong'er, no buts. Put yourself in that position. If I hadn't been here today, and you'd been all alone, what would have happened to you?" Lin Xuanchen looked at Wang Dong'er in his arms and shook his head helplessly.
Indeed, if Lin Xuanchen had not accompanied her to Sea God Lake today and she had been alone, there was no telling whether she would have survived.
Once Wang Dong'er understood this, a wave of lingering fear welled up within her. Then she felt deeply thankful that Lin Xuanchen had come with her today.
"I understand," Wang Dong'er answered quietly.
"Good. We're leaving now. Whether she lives or dies is none of our concern." After saying this to Wang Dong'er, Lin Xuanchen activated Three Thousand Lightning Movement again and sped away with her in his arms.
With Lin Xuanchen carrying Wang Dong'er away, Sea God Lake, which had been radiating terrifying fluctuations of soul power just moments earlier, fell quiet once more. Only Ma Xiaotao, drenched in a pool of blood, bore witness to the fierce battle that had just taken place.
A few minutes after Lin Xuanchen left with Wang Dong'er in his arms, more than a dozen figures flew from deep within Sea God Lake at astonishing speed. In just a few breaths, they reached the shore.
"Xiaotao!" Yan Shaozhe, who was leading them, immediately spotted Ma Xiaotao lying in a pool of blood. He darted to her side and roared in fury.
"Who?! Who did this?! They truly have chosen the road to death!" Yan Shaozhe swept his gaze over the scene and quickly discovered Ma Xiaotao's severed right arm, along with the soul bone that had fallen from it. His eyes instantly turned bloodshot, and he roared, panting like a bull.
"What happened? How did Xiaotao's right arm get cut off?" As Yan Shaozhe's shout rang out, an old man in white flashed to his side and cried out in shock.
Zhuang Yusen was also deeply shocked by the sight. After steadying his turbulent emotions slightly, he hurriedly summoned his martial soul.
At once, nine soul rings rose from beneath Zhuang Yusen's feet: yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black, black.
At the same time, an ancient tree radiating a rich aura of life appeared behind him.
"Eighth soul skill, Life Healing!"
Zhuang Yusen's gaze sharpened as he shouted in a low voice, and the eighth black soul ring around him suddenly blazed with light.
Immediately afterward, the ancient tree of life behind Zhuang Yusen released vitality so dense it was almost viscous. It condensed into a ring in the air and settled around Ma Xiaotao.
"Shaozhe, I've stabilized Xiaotao's injuries for now. Bring her soul bone and come back to Sea God Island with me. With the Golden Ancient Tree's power, we should be able to save her arm," Zhuang Yusen said slowly, his expression grave.
"All right!" Yan Shaozhe forcibly suppressed his fury and nodded firmly. He put Ma Xiaotao's fallen soul bone and severed arm into his Storage Soul Tool, then picked her up and flew toward the Sea God Pavilion.
Meanwhile, elsewhere, Lin Xuanchen activated his first soul skill, Blue Silver Simulation, while carrying Wang Dong'er, and soon ran back to the dormitory.
"Oh no. Could someone have discovered me?" Only after returning to Wang Dong'er's room did Lin Xuanchen belatedly mutter this, remembering that Shrek had a Limit Douluo!
"Little Chen, don't worry. The moment you attacked, I erased both your aura and this little girl's." Just as unease still lingered in Lin Xuanchen's heart, Electrolux's voice rang out in his Sea of Consciousness.
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