Chrysanthemum Douluo blinked, unable to believe what he had just glimpsed.
Wasn't this supposed to be near Spirit City? How had he ended up on the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest?!
Before he could figure out what had happened, an utterly terrifying presence rushed toward him, making every hair on his body stand on end!
Without thinking further, he swiftly condensed the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum into a golden film of light that enveloped his entire body. The next second, the golden film collided with the distorted sphere of light.
The explosive impact erupted from the point of collision. An entire layer of rubble and soil was ripped from the ground, while swathes of surrounding trees snapped at the waist or were uprooted, sending dust flying across the sky.
Amid the blast, Chrysanthemum Douluo tumbled freely like a tattered kite before crashing heavily into the ground, leaving a crater.
The Mountain-Cleaving Sword was dissolving into specks of golden light and returning to the Gate of Babylon. Jing Shanshan was deeply dissatisfied with the result it had just produced.
The Mountain-Cleaving Sword appeared to cut through everything in its path with its enormous blade and keen edge, but Jing Shanshan knew very well that this Martial Soul did not cut with its edge alone.
This Martial Soul contained the concept of the "horizon"-the principle of "the absolute separation of heaven and earth."
Anything could be treated as heaven and earth and absolutely separated! In other words, cut apart.
In theory, it could cut through anything, even certain intangible things.
In practice, the effect seemed rather mediocre.
Did that mean his current stats were still too low, leaving his "invincible" mechanic getting outright crushed by raw stats?
Jing Shanshan brought his thoughts back to reality and looked at the blood-covered Chrysanthemum Douluo. Part of his consciousness entered the Gate of Babylon to rummage around, and a few ideas soon flashed through his mind.
Chrysanthemum Douluo now looked like a motionless corpse, though a closer look revealed the faint rise and fall of his chest.
Golden ripples spread around Chrysanthemum Douluo. An ivory-white scepter radiated a gentle green light and entered his body upon touching him.
Chrysanthemum Douluo's tightly furrowed brows, which had betrayed his pain, slowly relaxed.
The fighting had already begun on the other side of the battlefield.
Under the powerful gravity, the dust that had been flying through the air fell back to the ground.
At the center of the heightened gravity, the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger seemed largely unaffected. It shook its head uncomfortably, shaking the dust from its fur.
It clearly looked much better than Chrysanthemum Douluo, with only its fur somewhat disheveled. Its sinister red eyes swept its surroundings, fixing on the Titan Giant Ape and the Sky Azure Bull Python.
Soon, the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's gaze landed on Jing Shanshan. In that instant, the greed in its eyes was utterly undisguised. A low growl rose from its throat, its restrained sound enough to make anyone's hair stand on end.
The Sky Azure Bull Python struck first. Raising its enormous bull's head, it fired a deep-blue pillar of light from its mouth, blanketing the area around the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger with a slowing effect.
The Dark Demon Evil God Tiger swiftly escaped the pillar's range, and the spike on its tail abruptly stabbed toward the Titan Giant Ape, which had already reached its side.
Having fought the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger many times, the Titan Giant Ape knew the power of this strike very well. Rather than take it head-on, it hurriedly twisted aside to dodge.
At the same time, the Titan Giant Ape swung its right hand, unleashing the Titan Sky Shatter it had already prepared.
A distorted sphere of light several times more terrifying than the previous one tore through the air, hurtling straight toward the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's forehead with terrifying menace.
Before the distorted sphere arrived, the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger spat out several black-and-red blades of light in succession, intercepting it precisely and detonating it early.
The explosion's shock wave swept wildly in every direction. Gray light seeped from the surface of the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's body, and it leaped along with the force of the blast, swiftly putting distance between itself and the Titan Giant Ape.
The moment it steadied itself, a deep-blue ring of light enveloped it, and the gray light on its body began flickering erratically.
The Sky Azure Bull Python had seized the right moment to strike.
Almost at the same instant, a ring of dusky light rapidly spread outward from the tiger.
Against the Sky Azure Bull Python's domain, the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger chose the most direct response.
A domain against a domain.
The Titan Giant Ape also gave a low roar, and its earthen-yellow Gravity Domain burst outward.
The three differently colored domains collided across the ground, exuding a chilling presence.
Before long, the dusky domain began shrinking, losing ground steadily in the clash.
In this three-way domain clash, the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's domain soon fell into a disadvantage, just as expected.
During this brief stalemate, the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger had already made its decision.
The undisguised greed in its eyes when it had looked at Jing Shanshan earlier, along with the restrained growl in its throat, had made it seem as though it would never stop until it devoured him.
The next second, it abruptly turned around and pushed off with all four paws. Taking advantage of the last brief moment before its domain was completely defeated, it decisively fled toward the outskirts.
"Don't run if you've got the guts!"
The Titan Giant Ape flew into a rage, trying to stop the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger alongside the Sky Azure Bull Python.
But they had failed to hold the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger through so many encounters, let alone this time!
The furious Titan Giant Ape looked down at the shackle clamped around one of its thick legs. Its black face flushed somewhat with anger as it tore the shackle apart.
"What the hell was that? It actually suppressed my Soul Power for a moment!"
The Sky Azure Bull Python also swiftly broke free of the shackle around its tail and looked toward Jing Shanshan.
By now, Jing Shanshan was nowhere to be seen.
The Sky Azure Bull Python did not even know when Jing Shanshan had left, as though the human had vanished into thin air.
"Big brother, are we still chasing it?"
The Titan Giant Ape's voice boomed beside the Sky Azure Bull Python, looking ready to pursue the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger at full speed the moment its big brother gave the word.
"No. The Dark Demon Evil God Tiger is already excellent at escaping. With the brief delay just now, I'm afraid chasing it would only be a waste of effort."
The enormous bull's head shook from side to side before looking once more toward where Jing Shanshan had been.
Seeing the Sky Azure Bull Python look at the same spot again, the Titan Giant Ape's curiosity drew away some of its anger, and it asked in confusion.
"Big brother, what's so interesting over there?"
"You remember that human child from just now, don't you?"
The Titan Giant Ape nodded. After all, someone who dared to watch the excitement near a Titled Douluo's battlefield with only rank-sixteen Soul Power would probably be hard to forget for some time.
"Those shackles were probably that child's doing."
"What? That child? Why would he let that annoying black cat escape?"
As for the seemingly absurd notion that a rank-sixteen Soul Master had briefly suppressed it, a being with the strength of a Titled Douluo-
Since its big brother had said so, it had to be right, and there had to be a reason!
Somewhere on the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest, the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger ran more and more slowly. When it turned to look behind it, it actually found that the two Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts were not chasing close behind.
That truly caught the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger by surprise!
It did not dwell on it. Despite looking uninjured, it had actually already consumed nearly ninety percent of its Soul Power!
It urgently needed a little snack to recover.
Those slow-moving, plentiful Rock-Breathing Tortoises were its best choice.
Suddenly, the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger stiffened and raised its head to look ahead.
Not far away, a faint smile lingered at the corner of Jing Shanshan's mouth as he spoke softly.
"Don't rest. The third round is about to begin!"