"As long as we capture Xue Ye alive and hold him hostage, the Heaven Dou Empire will still be ours for the taking. Follow me and fight your way through!"
Qian Renxue recklessly drove the remaining Soul Power in her body, unleashing her Angel Domain as she tried to force a bloody path through the vast army to the raised platform.
Reality, however, was brutally cruel.
Titled Douluo were certainly powerful, but they were still human, and the Soul Power within their bodies was finite.
Faced with a regular army like the Heaven Dou Empire's, which disregarded casualties, even Titled Douluo felt powerless.
Xue Ye had far too many guards around him-not only the most elite Royal Knights, but also large numbers of high-ranking Soul Masters.
Every step Qian Renxue and the other two advanced cost them enormous amounts of Soul Power to clear away those soldiers who fought without fear of death.
"Young mistress, we can't delay any longer!" Porcupinefish Douluo, drenched in blood, shouted a warning.
"If Xue Ye keeps using his army to fight a war of attrition, we'll exhaust our Soul Power and be worn to death right here. As long as the green mountains remain, there will always be firewood!"
Qian Renxue's hand trembled around the Angel Holy Sword. Looking at the seemingly endless enemy soldiers ahead, she felt despair well up within her.
Were these ten years of my youth and painstaking effort going to flow away down the river just like this?
Rumble-!
The sky above the imperial city abruptly changed.
Two terrifying waves of pressure forcibly tore apart the night sky, which had been lit red by the flames.
"Who dares harm Spirit Hall's young mistress?!" A clear, piercing cry rang through the clouds.
Immediately afterward, a gigantic azure divine bird with a wingspan exceeding a hundred meters took shape among the clouds.
A raging hurricane mingled with bone-piercing winds.
"Third Soul Skill: Azure Luan Storm!"
Whoosh-!
A Frost Storm swept across the land.
Those heavily armored, indestructible Royal Knights were instantly frozen into ice sculptures before that absolute power, then shattered in the gale into ice fragments that filled the sky.
An earth-shaking roar from a frenzied lion exploded from the other side of the horizon.
A golden fireball as dazzling as the blazing sun fell like a meteor, smashing into the Heaven Dou army's dense formation.
The earth trembled, and a massive mushroom cloud rose into the air.
Scorching golden flames devoured the surroundings. Over a hundred soldiers were vaporized by the terrifying heat before they could scream.
The flames dispersed, revealing a burly old man whose beard and hair bristled like a frenzied lion's, standing proudly beside an old man in azure feathered robes with a cold, stern bearing.
They were precisely the reinforcements Qian Daoliu had urgently dispatched from the Worship Hall after noticing the Firmament's revelation-the Third Offering, Azure Luan Douluo, and the Fourth Enshrined, Mighty Lion Douluo!
Two Peak Douluo whose levels reached 97.
Their arrival shattered the balance of the battlefield.
For an ordinary army, level-97 Peak Douluo were an attack from a higher dimension.
The Heaven Dou army's indestructible formation crumbled like earth and shattered tiles beneath the two Consecrated Elders' attacks.
"Third Grandpa! Fourth Grandpa!" Seeing who had arrived, Qian Renxue finally relaxed her taut nerves, her expression filled with delighted surprise.
Azure Luan Douluo flashed to Qian Renxue's side, lifting her with gentle Soul Power:
"You've had a fright, young mistress. The Great Enshrined has ordered that, since the plan has been exposed, we must not force it. We will escort you back to Spirit City immediately."
In the distance, golden flames burned all over Mighty Lion Douluo's body, and killing intent flashed in his eyes:
"Hmph! If the Great Enshrined hadn't warned us that slaughtering indiscriminately inside the imperial city would harm too many innocent civilians, provoke the Heaven Dou Empire into a desperate counterattack, and ruin Spirit Hall's reputation, I'd go twist that old emperor's head off right now."
Although Mighty Lion Douluo had a fiery temper, he knew what mattered.
If two level-97 Peak Douluo unleashed their ninth Soul Skills within the densely populated imperial city, the Heaven Dou Imperial City would likely become a land of death.
Spirit Hall could not bear the infamy of such a citywide massacre.
"Go!"
Azure Luan Douluo did not drag his feet. With him in front and Mighty Lion Douluo behind, they guarded Qian Renxue, Snake Lance, and Pufferfish, tore through the Heaven Dou army's defensive line, and departed without hindrance.
On the raised platform, supported by the guards surrounding him in layer upon layer, Xue Ye stared as those four Titled Douluo took Qian Renxue away unharmed.
Then he looked at the mutilated corpses strewn across the ground and the partially destroyed imperial palace.
He recalled how his "good son" Xue Qinghe, into whom he had poured his heart and soul and whom he had raised as his successor, had actually been an undercover agent sent by Spirit Hall...
Unprecedented humiliation, rage, and lingering fear ate away at Xue Ye's heart.
"Spirit Hall... Qian Renxue... Pfft-!"
Xue Ye spat out a great mouthful of black blood, fell stiffly backward, and lost consciousness completely.
The next day.
A line of large words appeared in the center of the Firmament: [Next in the showcase: the disciple of the continent's finest master-Shui Bing'er.]
Shui Bing'er's waterfall of long, ice-blue hair fluttered in the breeze.
Following closely behind her master, Ye Wuchen, and her grandmaster, Snow Empress, she stepped into the core region of the Star Dou Great Forest and heard the Firmament's grand, majestic voice.
As her name resounded across the continent, delight that she could not conceal surfaced on Shui Bing'er's cool, aloof face.
She had never expected that, after the sect master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and Spirit Hall's young mistress, she would be the Firmament's next subject.
"Bing'er, well done."
Watching his disciple's excitement, Ye Wuchen looked gratified. He gently ruffled Shui Bing'er's hair, happy for her.
Snow Empress also turned around, a gentle smile blossoming on her breathtakingly beautiful face like a snow lotus blooming on an iceberg:
"It isn't just Bing'er who has done us proud. The Firmament also called her the disciple of the 'finest master.' Wuchen, it seems that in the Firmament's judgment, you are the finest master on the entire continent."
Ye Wuchen smiled modestly. "Master, my teaching methods may be useful, but what matters more is Bing'er's exceptional talent and diligent cultivation."
"Besides... isn't it because you taught me, Master, that I've achieved what I have today and could raise a disciple like Bing'er? If we're really talking about the finest master, it should be you."
Di Tian and Bi Ji, who were guiding them from the side, could not help smiling at the warm scene of the three generations enjoying one another's company and exchanging praise.
"All right, you three, stop flattering one another here." Di Tian stepped forward.
His broad palm landed on Ye Wuchen's shoulder, his gaze approving. "You really are something, kid. Earning the Firmament's assessment as the 'finest master' is proof enough of your ability. Let's go. The showcase hasn't officially begun yet, so we'll meet the lord first."
Led by Di Tian and Bi Ji, the group continued toward the deepest reaches of the Star Dou Great Forest.
Before long, a lake like an earthly paradise appeared before them.
The water was clear to the bottom and radiated a rich aura of life.
This was the very heart of the Star Dou Great Forest-the Lake of Life.
Di Tian brought Snow Empress, Ye Wuchen, and Shui Bing'er to the shore and respectfully reported toward the depths at the lake's center:
"My lord, I have brought Snow Empress, ruler of the Far North, and her disciple, Ye Wuchen. They have come hoping to form an alliance with us. As a gesture of sincerity, they have stated their need for high-age Soul Bones and a piece of gold of life."
As Di Tian's words fell, ripples spread across the tranquil Lake of Life.
Silver light shot into the sky.
The phantom of an enormous, majestic silver dragon flickered within the light.
Immediately afterward, the silver dragon's luminous silhouette swiftly contracted, transforming into an exquisitely beautiful human figure.
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