Back when he faced the Level 99 Qian Yuchen, he had barely lasted fifty-odd exchanges, even with enhancements.
That crushing defeat only deepened his yearning for the realm of a Limit Douluo.
This time, he was determined to claim the last of the void netherstone. He believed its energy would be enough to help him become a Limit Douluo.
The others knew only the basic secret. They did not know that Soul Masters with a spatial attribute had priority when drawing out the energy of void netherstone.
Marquis Kongwen was the highest-level spatial expert among all those powerhouses. Once the void marrow appeared, he was confident he could absorb all of it before anyone else.
With that, he would break through to become a Level 99 Limit Douluo!
Now, the assembled Titled Douluos eyed the Thorn Dragon Group like hungry tigers, ready to slaughter every last one.
In the end, they charged at the Thorn Dragon Group together. The younger Thorn Dragons were killed without any chance to resist, while the two beast kings were covered in wounds under the attacks of so many powerhouses.
Driven into a corner, the oldest Thorn Dragon beast king resonated with the largest piece of void netherstone!
The hill-sized void netherstone cast out several streams of energy, which sank into the heads of the surviving Thorn Dragons.
Before long, the remaining Thorn Dragons' strength soared. The two beast kings leading them even approached the two-hundred-thousand-year mark.
Yet their soaring strength did not turn the tide.
The brutal battle ultimately ended with the deaths of four Titled Douluos and the annihilation of the entire Thorn Dragon clan.
The two remaining beast kings were in dire condition as well. The female had been cleaved through more than half her body by a blade, while the male had lost an arm to the Seven Kill Sword.
Hundred-thousand-year soul beasts already possessed the intelligence of adult humans. Seeing their clan wiped out and their mates gravely wounded, the two beasts' eyes held a human sorrow.
Even if they survived, their grievous injuries would leave them unable to weather the coming two-hundred-thousand-year heavenly tribulation.
At last, the two beast kings looked at each other, seemingly recognizing the resolve in each other's eyes.
The female beast king detonated herself outright. The Titled Douluos scattered to evade the blast, which threw the surrounding space into chaos.
With no one able to spare him any attention, the male beast king immediately activated his spatial origin, making it resonate with the void marrow inside the void netherstone.
Marquis Kongwen, who had been lurking like an opportunist, realized what the beast king intended and immediately rushed forward to stop him. He tried to draw out the void marrow himself, but the resonating void marrow was beyond his reach.
Flung back by the spatial force, Marquis Kongwen abandoned all concealment and frantically tried to interrupt the resonance!
When the energy stirred up by the resonance reached its threshold, this beast king detonated himself as well!
The first beast king's self-detonation had already weakened the surrounding space. The second beast king's detonation, fueled by the void marrow, was even more terrifying.
The combined destruction reached even the level of a god. The fragile space was torn open, and a spatial storm swept in!
The Titled Douluos could not escape. They were swept away by the spatial storm, and before long, they died without even a place to bury their remains.
The spatial storm lasted half a week before finally ending. Of all the powerhouses who had come, only Marquis Kongwen remained.
By then, Marquis Kongwen was a wretched sight, his long hair disheveled and his body covered in cuts left by spatial forces.
He knelt on the ground, clutching the stump of his severed arm.
The spatial storm had shattered his Soul Skill shield outright. Not only had it cost him an arm, but spatial power was also rampaging through his body.
He briefly stabilized his wounds, then hurriedly flew toward the void netherstone. Seeing its shattered fragments scattered across the ground, Marquis Kongwen searched through them like a madman for void marrow.
Unfortunately, not a single mass of void marrow remained. He threw back his head and let out a crazed howl. His chance to become a Limit Douluo was gone, and he had not only lost an arm but also suffered grievous injuries.
When the beast kings detonated themselves, his strength would originally have allowed him to teleport to safety. But upon seeing the void marrow appear, he had failed to resist its temptation and was ultimately injured by the spatial storm.
His only consolation was that the left arm he had lost had never absorbed a Soul Bone.
After being scoured by the spatial storm, the void netherstone no longer possessed its original effects. It could now be considered only a spatial material.
What Marquis Kongwen did not know was that, with his evolved innate talent, becoming a Limit Douluo in his lifetime might not have been beyond him.
Unfortunately, one crushing defeat had clouded his judgment and brought him to this end.
Now, his grievous injuries had utterly severed his path to that ultimate realm!
The remaining powerhouses across the entire Douluo Continent, including Qian Yuchen, who stood guard at Spirit Hall, all sensed the intense spatial fluctuations.
Qian Yuchen spread his angel wings and flew over in a streak of light. The horrific devastation in the Soul Hunting Forest left him momentarily stunned!
Finding Marquis Kongwen in such a wretched state on the ground, he immediately descended and helped dispel the spatial energy within him.
With the help of his immense Level 99 Soul Power, most of the spatial power was expelled from the marquis's body, and his condition finally stabilized.
Even then, Marquis Kongwen remained so weak that any Soul Douluo could have killed him with ease.
"But Qian Yuchen not only refrained from killing him, he even saved him. This was not merely because his Angel Martial Soul disdained taking advantage of another's peril, but also because he cherished a worthy rival!"
In that era, Qian Yuchen alone held the entire Soul Master World beneath his might. Across the whole Douluo Continent, only Marquis Kongwen and the ancestor of the Star Crown Sect could exchange even a few blows with him.
Perhaps, across the entire Douluo Continent, Qian Yuchen hoped for Marquis Kongwen to become a Limit Douluo even more fervently than the marquis himself did.
He had always longed for an evenly matched opponent!
Before long, the remaining powerhouses arrived as well. Seeing Marquis Kongwen's miserable condition, they wanted to know what had happened and where the powerhouses who had accompanied him had gone.
Upon hearing their questions, Marquis Kongwen offered no explanation. He said only, "They're all dead!"
The various factions pressed him together. Qian Yuchen wanted to know as well, since Spirit Hall had sent more Titled Douluos than any other faction.
But Marquis Kongwen looked utterly broken in mind and spirit, and in the end, the Heaven Dou Empire took him home.
Only after Marquis Kongwen had fully recovered did he recount everything that had happened. The various factions refused to believe him and forced him to swear an oath in Spirit City before they finally accepted the outcome.
So many funerals for Titled Douluos were held on the Douluo Continent that year that the entire land seemed tinged with the white of mourning.
Another twenty years passed, with the Star Luo Empire and Heaven Dou continuing their war. Xu Xing, the Level 98 ancestor of the Star Crown Sect, was nearing the end of his life. Seeking one last gamble, the Star Luo Empire joined forces with the Star Crown Sect to ambush Marquis Kongwen.
They seized Marquis Kongwen's children and threatened him, demanding a fight to the death at the Star Crown Sect.
Marquis Kongwen had spent the first half of his life cultivating, and the latter half with his spirit broken. He had only two children, and to preserve his lineage, he had no choice but to accept the challenge.
Thus, they jointly asked Qian Yuchen to act as guarantor: once Marquis Kongwen accepted the challenge, his children had to be released.
When Marquis Kongwen fought at the Star Crown Sect, the Star Crown ancestor still could not defeat him, even with his spirit broken.
But as the battle continued into the night, the Star Crown ancestor drew upon the power of the stars and joined forces with two Titled Douluos from his sect, determined to slay Marquis Kongwen.
The starry sky sealed off space, leaving Marquis Kongwen no time to escape. In the end, he and the ancestor both detonated themselves, perishing together.
After this battle, the Star Crown Sect was gravely weakened as well and could only withdraw from the world!
Later, the Heaven Dou Empire developed the outskirts of the Soul Hunting Forest into the three cities that stood there today.
One thing worth mentioning was that Marquis Kongwen's children did not die in the Star Luo Empire, but in the Heaven Dou Empire.
The secret of the void netherstone had already drawn the Imperial Family's suspicion toward Marquis Kongwen. After his death, his prestige overshadowed even the emperor's.
Naturally, the Imperial Family did not want a second Marquis Kongwen to appear.
And so, the inheritance of Marquis Kongwen's Martial Soul came to an end!