"Boy, come quietly back to Spirit Hall with me!" Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan stretched out a sharp claw gleaming with golden light, grinning savagely as he reached straight for Tang San's throat.
Before his attack could touch Tang San, an aged yet imposing figure barred his way.
Bone Douluo Gu Rong!
"Chrysanthemum Guan, you want to touch Tang San? Ask me if I agree first!" Gu Rong barked coldly and threw a punch. An eerie light that warped space enveloped his fist as it smashed toward Yue Guan's chest.
Chrysanthemum Douluo's expression changed. He had to withdraw the hand reaching for Tang San and block Gu Rong's attack instead.
Just as he blocked Gu Rong, Ghost Douluo's insubstantial figure darted out from the flank like a phantom, heading straight for Xiao Wu.
Two fiercely sharp gusts from Clear Sky Hammers struck simultaneously from either side.
They came from the two level-92 Titled Douluo elders of the Clear Sky Sect whom Tang Xiao had brought.
Although the two elders were merely ordinary Titled Douluo, Ning Fengzhi's support had raised their fighting strength far beyond what it once was.
The two Clear Sky Hammers, one on the left and one on the right, sealed off every route of attack available to Ghost Douluo.
"Get out of my way!" Ghost Douluo roared, forced to retreat for the moment to evade the elders' combined attack.
Seizing this opening, Ning Fengzhi, who had remained at the rear overseeing the battle, finally moved.
He raised his right hand. In his palm, the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda erupted with dazzling nine-colored divine light.
"Nine Treasures Turn Into Glazed Glass! Nine Treasures True Body!"
The Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda swelled into a nine-colored pagoda over ten meters tall.
Ning Fengzhi stood within the pagoda's true body, his bearing solemn and majestic.
The eight soul rings beneath his feet flashed wildly.
The most heart-stopping of them, the scarlet Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring, blazed with incomparable blood-colored divine light.
"First Soul Skill: Strength Amplification!
Second Soul Skill: Agility Amplification!
Third Soul Skill: Soul Power Amplification!
Fourth Soul Skill: Defense Amplification!
Fifth Soul Skill: Attack Amplification!
Sixth Soul Skill: Attribute Amplification!
Eighth Soul Skill: Nine Treasures Divine Light!"
With every soul skill Ning Fengzhi called out, nine-colored divine light shot from the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda's true body behind him, sinking precisely into every allied Titled Douluo on the battlefield.
Strength, speed, soul power, defense, attack, attributes...
Layer upon layer of terrifying enhancements stacked together, multiplying Sword Douluo, Bone Douluo, Tang Xiao, and Tang Hao's fighting strength severalfold in an instant.
Not only that, Ning Fengzhi's eighth soul skill, "Nine Treasures Divine Light," also carried an extraordinarily heaven-defying domain effect.
Within the Nine Treasures Divine Light Domain, all allied Soul Masters received additional enhancements to their strength, while enemy Soul Masters suffered agonizing suppression.
"Kill!"
Sword Douluo struck first.
He stamped his foot, and the Seven Kill Sword in his hand abruptly turned blood-red. Towering killing intent erupted from his body as though it had taken physical form.
"Seven Kill Sword True Body! Eighth Soul Skill-Ten Thousand Swords Return to the Origin!"
In an instant, the Seven Kill Sword transformed into countless blood-red sword shadows that blotted out the sky and sun, pouring down on Light Feather Douluo like a torrential rain.
Light Feather Douluo's expression changed drastically. He hurriedly drew his bow and loosed countless ice-crystal arrows to intercept them.
But with Ning Fengzhi's multiple enhancements, Sword Douluo's attack power had now reached a level that made even Light Feather Douluo tremble.
The blood-red sword shadows filling the sky tore unstoppably through every ice-crystal arrow, finally converging into a pillar-thick beam of destructive sword light that slashed into Light Feather Douluo.
"Aaagh!" Light Feather Douluo screamed, clutching a wound that gushed blood as he staggered backward, his face as pale as paper.
"Fifth Brother!" The two Reverends, Qian Jun and Jiang Mo, were so horrified at the sight that their eyes nearly split.
Tang Hao suddenly threw his head back and let out a long howl, a nearly crazed light flashing in his eyes.
"You bastards from Spirit Hall! You drove Ah Yin to her death back then. Today, I'll settle every debt, old and new!"
The first and second soul rings beneath his feet, both yellow Hundred-Year Soul Rings, actually exploded simultaneously!
"Ring Detonation!"
The energy released by the two exploding soul rings surged into Tang Hao's Clear Sky Hammer.
Tang Hao's aura climbed at an unbelievable speed.
"You're insane!" Demon Subduing Douluo cried in terror. He had never expected Clear Sky Douluo to be this reckless!
"Die!" Tang Hao roared.
There was no fancy technique in this hammer blow, only pure destructive force.
The brothers Qian Jun and Jiang Mo hurriedly raised their Coiling Dragon Staffs and unleashed soul skills to block it together.
After an earth-shaking crash, Qian Jun and Jiang Mo were sent flying, blood spilling from their mouths.
Their bodies plowed two furrows through the ground.
Seeing the situation turn against them, Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo were about to join forces and unleash their Martial Soul Fusion Skill, "Two Extremes Stillness Domain," whose might shook the continent.
But their fusion had only just begun when Bone Douluo Gu Rong grinned savagely. A force that warped space struck precisely where their soul power met, forcibly interrupting their fusion.
"Still trying to use a Martial Soul Fusion Skill? Did you ask my permission?" Gu Rong laughed.
With their joint effort broken, Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo momentarily faltered.
An elder of the Clear Sky Sect seized the opportunity, raised his Clear Sky Hammer high, and unleashed his sixth soul skill, Chaotic Cloak Hammer, smashing it viciously into Ghost Douluo's back before he could dodge.
"Pfft!"
Ghost Douluo spat out a mouthful of blood. Had Chrysanthemum Douluo not reacted quickly and pulled him away, that blow might have taken half his life.
In little more than a dozen breaths, the battle had undergone an earth-shattering change.
With Ning Fengzhi's heaven-defying Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda supporting them, the six Titled Douluo of the Upper Three Sects unleashed fighting strength far beyond their own limits.
They forcibly drove Spirit Hall's five Titled Douluo into a disadvantage.
Light Feather Douluo, Qian Jun Douluo, Demon Subduing Douluo, Chrysanthemum Douluo, and Ghost Douluo all suffered injuries of varying severity and retreated together in disarray.
They warily watched the members of the Upper Three Sects gradually close in.
Demon Subduing Douluo clutched his chest, his expression grim. "Fifth Brother, Sixth Brother, with that fellow Ning Fengzhi's Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda supporting them, their strength has multiplied several times over. If we keep fighting, we're no match for them."
Ghost Douluo also spoke in a trembling voice. "Reverends, as long as the green mountains remain, there's no fear of running out of firewood. Today's situation is against us. Should we... retreat for now?"
Holding the Clear Sky Hammer in one hand, Tang Hao strode out from the crowd, his entire body bathed in blood.
Towering hatred and killing intent flashed in his eyes as he stared at Spirit Hall's five members, his voice icy:
"You want to leave? Leave your lives behind!"
Just as Tang Hao prepared to attack again-
An evil aura swept wildly toward them from afar.
Everyone felt terror and trembling rise from the depths of their souls.
A slender figure brimming with sinister allure came striding through the air from the distant horizon.
It was the former Pope, the Rakshasa God's successor-Bibi Dong!
"Your Holiness!"
The previously bedraggled Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo saw who had arrived, and wild delight blazed in their eyes.
Although the Worship Hall had already stripped Bibi Dong of her position as Pope, in their hearts, this unfathomable woman still commanded their allegiance.
Meanwhile, the three Reverends, Guang Ling, Qian Jun, and Jiang Mo, stiffened, wariness in their eyes. "Bibi Dong..."
They had witnessed this woman's terror on the Firmament.
On the Upper Three Sects' side, the atmosphere plunged into an ice cavern.
The smile froze on Ning Fengzhi's face. Under this pressure, the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda suspended in midair began trembling violently, its light dimming.
Sword Douluo, Bone Douluo, Tang Xiao, and even Tang Hao, who had seemed so invincible moments before, all paled as though facing a formidable enemy.
Their joy and despair alike stemmed from the Firmament's review, which had long since exposed Bibi Dong's trump cards.
Twin Martial Souls, soul power as high as level 98, and the Semi-Divine Artifact in her hand, the Evil Spider Demon Scythe, with its execution and Armor-Piercing effects.
She had overpowered the level-98 Golden Crocodile Douluo and had even fought the level-99 Peerless Douluo Qian Daoliu, losing narrowly by only a single move.
Even everyone present combined might not be a match for her alone.
Bibi Dong's cold, violet-glimmering eyes swept indifferently over the gathering, a sneer curling her lips.
"Oh? Both the Upper Three Sects and the Worship Hall are here. How lively."
With that, her gaze locked onto Xiao Wu hiding behind the crowd, undisguised greed and killing intent in her eyes.
"Those who stand in my way die."
Bibi Dong gave a cold shout. Without moving from her spot, she merely swung the Evil Spider Demon Scythe casually.
A purplish-black crescent blade of light several dozen feet long tore through space, hurtling straight toward Tang Hao.
Having just used Ring Detonation, Tang Hao, whose old injuries had already flared up, had no time to dodge. He could only grit his teeth and raise his Clear Sky Hammer to block it head-on.
Boom!
Tang Hao shuddered as though struck by lightning, spat out a mouthful of blood, and crashed heavily through the courtyard wall behind him, his fate unknown.
With just one move, she had grievously wounded Clear Sky Douluo.
With Tang Hao no longer blocking her way, Bibi Dong's figure became a purple afterimage.
In a flicker of violet light, she had already passed Tang San, whose eyes nearly split, and appeared before Xiao Wu.
"Xiao Wu!" Tang San screamed in terror.
It was all too late.
Bibi Dong reached out with her pale, slender hand and seized Xiao Wu's delicate neck.
"A Hundred-Thousand-Year Soft Bone Rabbit..." Excitement shone in Bibi Dong's eyes. "I'll be taking your Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring and soul bone."
"Let her go!!!"
Seeing his beloved captured, Tang San descended into madness.
His eyes turned blood-red, his hands became the color of black jade, and mechanisms clattered wildly as countless hidden weapons coated in deadly poison poured toward Bibi Dong.
Faced with a rain of hidden weapons capable of instantly killing a Soul King, Bibi Dong did not even spare it a glance.
A dense purplish-black soul power barrier automatically appeared around her. The sharp hidden weapons corroded into a skyful of iron filings upon touching it and scattered on the wind.
"An ant's struggle."
Bibi Dong snorted coldly and casually pressed down with her free left hand.
Tang San felt his shoulders sink, and every bone in his body cracked explosively beneath the unbearable burden.
His entire body was crushed flat against the ground, smashing a deep, human-shaped pit into the hard stone paving.
Blood spilled from Tang San's mouth and nose, but he gritted his teeth, dug all ten fingers into the earth, and forcibly resisted the pressure, raising his blood-covered, hideously contorted face little by little.
I promised Xiao Wu I would protect her for my entire life and never let her suffer any harm.
Tang San stared at Bibi Dong standing high above him and let out a beastlike roar:
"Let Xiao Wu go... If you want to touch her... you'll have to step over my corpse first!!!"
Before you continue