An immense pressure swept down from mid-air.
It crashed down on Xiao Yan, who was standing on the ground, like an invisible mountain.
The oppressive aura was no longer the reserved, probing pressure of before; rather, it was the result of Old Ghost Liu unleashing his full power as a Dou Zong- level expert without reservation.
Visible ripples appeared in the air, spreading outwards in concentric circles from his body.
The space itself hummed subtly under this oppressive force, as if even the heavens and earth trembled in response to his rage.
Wherever the oppressive aura passed, the rubble in the ruins creaked and groaned.
Some smaller pebbles even crumbled into dust.
The existing cracks on the ground spread rapidly under this pressure, expanding outwards like a spider web.
Under the terrifying pressure of Dou Zong expert, Xiao Yan knelt on one knee amidst the ruins.
It wasn't that he didn't want to stand up, but rather that his body was no longer able to obey him.
The overwhelming pressure felt like an invisible giant hand pressing down on his shoulder.
He braced himself on the ground with one hand, while his other hand still gripped the spear tightly.
His aura was extremely disordered after the direct confrontation with Old Ghost Liu.
The Soul Power in the meridians was like muddy water, running wildly and no longer flowing in an orderly manner.
The rotation speed of the Soul Power vortex in his dantian slowed down significantly.
Each attempt to regroup his strength would aggravate the gruesome sword wound on his back.
He opened his mouth, his breath hot and short.
The Dou Zong made his move.
He easily and completely overturned the battle situation that he had painstakingly planned to improve.
Old Ghost Liu simply slapped down with one palm.
The advantage he had painstakingly built up vanished in an instant, like a sandcastle collapsing.
Is this the difference between Dou Zong and Dou Emperor?
When faced with someone who can overturn the chessboard, all strategies become a joke.
"Heh, but they only dare to bully the weak..."
Xiao Yan slightly raised his head and looked at Old Ghost Liu, who was standing in mid-air.
A mocking smile tugged at the corners of his mouth; his voice was hoarse and weak, yet carried an undisguised sarcasm.
His lips were dry, cracked, and white, and a few drops of blood seeped from the cracks as he spoke, making his smile look somewhat ferocious.
He said it so casually, as if he were talking to himself.
On the contrary, it stung Old Ghost Liu's nerves more than any angry curse.
A young man, half-kneeling on the ground, covered in blood, barely able to stand up.
She actually had the nerve to talk to him in that tone.
Xiao Yan felt a pang of regret.
His gaze passed over Old Ghost Liu's figure, and many thoughts raced through his mind.
His regret was not that he was going to die.
He regretted that he still had many things left to do.
That promise made so far away on the Douluo Continent, that person waiting for him to return—he will probably never see him again.
But admitting defeat has never been in his nature.
Whether it was facing the lofty Title Douluo Bibi Dong in the Douluo Continent.
Still facing Dou Zong powerhouse on this Dou Qi Continent.
He gritted his teeth and gripped the spear he was leaning on even tighter amidst the rubble.
Meanwhile, in the distant Black-Corner Region, within Black Rock City.
This city, situated on the edge of the Black-Corner Region, is no different from any other night.
A few scattered lights flickered in the night breeze on the street, and everything proceeded as usual.
However, in the courtyard where "Tang San" had been enshrined in retreat, the surrounding energy of heaven and earth was converging toward the center at an extremely strange speed.
Suddenly, an extremely terrifying fluctuation erupted in the quiet room.
"Boom!"
The loud bang exploded without warning, and a powerful aura instantly erupted from the courtyard.
A visible energy shockwave swept outwards from the courtyard, causing the courtyard walls to collapse.
The shockwave spread for dozens of feet before finally subsiding, leaving a trail of devastation in its wake.
The next moment, several auras roared up from the surroundings and converged on this place.
The first to arrive were several guards responsible for patrolling the area.
They were patrolling a street corner not far away when they were startled by the loud noise.
Then came more alarmed monks.
In the blink of an eye, the once quiet courtyard was filled with people.
" Elder Tang?"
Lu Bo's figure flashed out from the crowd and landed on the rooftop not far away.
Standing on the eaves, he looked at the completely collapsed house in front of him, his face showing an undisguised shock.
The smoke and dust had not yet cleared from the ruins.
What was once a quiet room is now just a deep, sunken pit.
A few wisps of lingering energy remained at the bottom of the pit.
The soil around the pit was scorched black by the high temperature, emitting a pungent, burnt smell.
He tentatively called out a few times into the ruins:
" Elder Tang? Are you inside?"
The sound echoed in the night sky, but received no response.
The only sounds in the ruins were the soft rustling of falling stones and the mournful whistling of the night wind as it blew through the broken walls.
Lu Bo's brows furrowed deeply.
How could Elder Tang, a genuine Dou Huang expert, suddenly disappear?
After hesitating for a moment, he gestured to his disciples to clear the area.
After confirming that it was safe around him, Lu Bo jumped down from the roof.
He Xiao Xin made his way deeper into the ruins with a few trusted men.
But when they stepped into the very center of the ruins, they found that there was no movement at all.
There was no attack as expected, no hidden traps, and not even any signs of a struggle.
Apart from the fact that the quiet room was blown open from the inside, everything else indicated that this incident was not caused by an external invasion.
What alarmed them most was that Elder Tang, who was supposed to be in seclusion here, had also disappeared.
A genuine Dou Huang expert.
And so, it vanished abruptly despite being under tight security.
This gave Lu Bo and his companions a bad feeling.
Black Rock City was already rife with open and covert power struggles.
The disappearance of a Dou Emperor retainer is a significant blow to both Black Rock City's defensive capabilities and the balance of power within the city.
"Lord Lu, this..."
The subordinate beside him lowered his voice, his face full of doubt and worry.
Lu Bo raised his hand to stop his subordinate from speaking, and said in a deep voice:
"Seal off this area; no one is allowed to approach."
Send people to investigate whether there are any suspicious individuals in the vicinity.
He paused, his gaze becoming serious.
"Furthermore, immediately send someone to Maple City to inform Alliance Leader Han of Elder Tang's disappearance."
The subordinate acknowledged and immediately turned to make the arrangements.
Lu Bo stood still, staring intently at the ruins before him, a sense of unease creeping into his heart.
As for the changes here, the root cause is naturally Xiao Yan.
In the stone forest, Xiao Yan knelt on one knee on the ruins.
He is now in a life-or-death crisis.
The pressure from Dou Zong is like a sharp blade hanging overhead, ready to fall at any moment.
Therefore, the Soul Division Martial Soul, which had been disguised as " Elder Tang " and living in seclusion in Black Rock City, was now in cultivation.
At this moment, Xiao Yan has summoned it back into his body.
The distance between Black Rock City and this stone forest is more than ten thousand miles.
But for Martial Soul, which is an energy entity without a physical form, distance has never been a problem.
At Xiao Yan's command, the Soul Division Martial Soul that had been sitting cross-legged in the quiet room of Black Rock City transformed into an invisible torrent and rushed straight towards Xiao Yan's main body.
The energy ripples released when the Clone Martial Soul dissipated were the culprit that turned the quiet room in Black Rock City into ruins.
Within the stone forest.
Xiao Yan reached into his robes with his left hand and a handful of pills appeared in his palm.
Without choosing or hesitating, he stuffed the handful of colorful pills into his mouth and swallowed them whole.
The pills melted upon entering his mouth, transforming into streams of medicinal power of varying nature that spread rapidly throughout his body.
The medicine's effects were violent and intense, surging and crashing through the meridians like magma pouring into the body.
Forcibly unleashing the energy hidden deep within the body.
Several medicinal forces intertwined, forming a chaotic and surging energy wave in his meridians.
This method of taking elixirs is extremely crude and puts a great burden on the meridians.
If things go wrong, the medicine could backfire and sever all his meridians, but Xiao Yan couldn't care less about that at the moment.
At the same time, a dark shadow quietly emerged from the shadows of the ruins beneath him.
The shadow was initially just a small, dark blob the size of a palm.
It looked particularly eerie under the moonlight, and then expanded and took shape at a speed visible to the naked eye, transforming into a human-shaped silhouette.
The humanoid figure was similar in build to Xiao Yan, and its entire body was as black as ink, making its facial features indistinct.
Like a silhouette cut from the deepest night, its surface shimmered with a faint, ethereal glow.
It stood silently beside Xiao Yan, without breathing, without a heartbeat, and without any of the physical signs a living person should have.
Yet it exuded a strange aura that was identical to Xiao Yan's, yet completely different.