Blood pooled into winding streams across the ground, reflecting everyone's taut faces.
Qian Fan's palm was slick with cold sweat around the Heavenly Demon Star-Breaking Sword, and nine Soul Rings pulsed restlessly behind him.
Xu Fangyuan's starlight Light Curtain suddenly rippled, like a tranquil lake struck by a massive boulder. His expression changed sharply. "My Mental Power... is being devoured!"
Before he finished speaking, Chrysanthemum Douluo's screams cut off abruptly.
His body hung in midair like a marionette, his spine twisted grotesquely into a bow. His dangling hair exposed the back of his neck-where mysterious Runes identical to those on the gate had appeared, writhing like living creatures as they drained his life force.
Ghost Douluo's pupils contracted sharply, and a broken murmur escaped his throat. "Yue Guan... your Martial Soul..."
Only then did Qian Fan notice that the chrysanthemum Martial Soul phantom behind Chrysanthemum Douluo had mutated completely. Its once-golden petals had turned ink-black, and a miniature projection of the Ancient City had condensed within its center. Whenever a petal unfurled, dark red fluid could be seen seeping through cracks in the city walls.
Zhang Xin suddenly barked, "That's a great Dao anchor! His Martial Soul has been corrupted by the Ancient City's rules!"
The gate shuddered with a thunderous boom, its Runes blazing as brightly as the scorching sun. The towering figure finally crossed the threshold. The skin exposed beneath his black robe was a rocky gray-blue, and pitch-black chains wound around his fingers-the very Chain of Death that had descended from the sky earlier.
He raised his hand and waved lightly. The Runes on Chrysanthemum Douluo's body suddenly erupted with blinding golden light. His entire body became a streak of radiance that was sucked into the black-robed man's palm, transforming into a Soul Crystal flickering with chrysanthemum