Bibi Dong
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The morning bell at Jialing Pass tolls at 3:45 AM.
Nan Feng stood atop the city wall, his Peng Eye gleaming with golden light, the multicolored spectrum of his Treasure-Appraising Spirit Light covering an area of three thousand paces. On the plains beyond the pass, the Spiritual Power points of the Spirit Hall's vanguard camp spread out densely, like a giant dark red spider web. Tuoba Lie's Holy Dragon Legion had been encamped three hundred miles outside the pass for three days, remaining motionless. Nan Feng knew what they were waiting for.
On the morning of the third day, the answer came.
A jet-black pillar of Soul Power shot into the sky from the center of the Spirit Hall camp, tearing a huge hole in the morning clouds. The Soul Power fluctuations contained in the pillar caused the entire Jialing Pass city wall to tremble slightly, and the Soul Tool Turret on the city wall emitted a piercing hum. The Soul Power circuits on the cannons lit up on their own under the pressure of the pillar, as if they had been forcibly activated by some higher-level power.
Nan Feng's pupils contracted sharply. His Treasure-Appraising Spirit Light captured the humanoid silhouette within the dark pillar of light in his mind, and the intensity of the Soul Power fluctuation almost caused his perception light to explode. That fluctuation surpassed the limits of Titled Douluo, surpassed Level 97, Level 98, and even surpassed any Soul Beast aura that Nan Feng had sensed in the Abyss.
"Bibi Dong." Old Huai's voice came from the Tower Spirit Space, heavy like a piece of iron thrown into a deep pool.
Nan Feng conjured the tower from his palm. The nine-story bronze tower slowly rotated in the morning light, the seventh layer of the tower's Samsara pattern illuminating with a silver-blue light, while the sixth layer of the Return to the Void pattern simultaneously glowed with a black light. He sensed that his Level 87 Soul Power was like a stream facing a vast ocean under this pressure, the Primordial World Power in his meridians was operating autonomously, and a golden warm current surged from the depths of his soul, devouring, transforming, and annihilating the pressure that had invaded his body, strand by strand.
A sharp bugle call sounded from the city gate. Xue Beng rushed out of the city tower, followed by more than a dozen generals, all of whom looked pale under the light of the dark pillar. Xue Beng walked quickly to Nan Feng's side, his gaze fixed on the towering pillar of light outside the gate.
"Bibi Dong has come in person." Xue Beng's voice was deep. "She shouldn't have acted so soon."
Nan Feng remained silent. His Treasure-Appraising Spirit Light continued to track the dark pillar of light in his mind. He sensed the human figure within the pillar moving slowly. With each step, ripples of Soul Power spread hundreds of steps across the ground, swallowing up all Spiritual Power fluctuations along its path. Tuoba Lie's Holy Dragon Legion rearranged behind Bibi Dong, and 50,000 elite Soul Master simultaneously released their Soul Power. These 50,000 pillars of Soul Power merged into the dark Rakshasa Divine Power Bibi Dong, causing the oppressive aura to surge by another 30%.
The walls of Jialing Pass trembled. The ordinary soldiers on the city wall slumped under the oppressive force, many collapsing to the ground, their faces deathly pale. The Soul Engineer Corps urgently activated the protective Soul Guidance Array on the city wall, and a blue Soul Power light screen rose from the city wall. However, in the face of Bibi Dong's Rakshasa God, the surface of the light screen rippled violently, like thin ice that could shatter at any moment.
Nan Feng turned to face Xue Beng. "Have all soldiers below the Soul King level withdraw from the city walls. All Soul Master above the Soul Emperor level, gather on the city walls and infuse your Soul Power into the protective array. Do not launch any attacks."
Xue Beng nodded and quickly gave the order. Nan Feng walked to the very front of the city wall, and the tower slowly expanded to three feet tall in his palm. The seventh layer of Samsara patterns and the sixth layer of Return to the Void patterns reached their brightest at the same time. He walked to the outermost crenellation of the city wall, suspending the tower in front of his chest, with the base of the tower facing the direction outside the pass.
"Tower Realm."
The three-layered light membrane of the Tower Realm was released from the tower body, expanding outwards by a hundred paces from the city wall as the center. The moment the light membrane unfolded, the oppressive aura on the ordinary soldiers on the city wall suddenly lessened by seventy percent. Nan Feng sensed that the light membrane of the Tower Realm was being continuously consumed under Bibi Dong's Rakshasa God. The first layer of the light membrane was being eroded every breath, and the second layer was also slowly thinning. He continuously injected Soul Power into the tower body to maintain the Tower Realm, while at the same time using the Mountain Suppression Art to lay a layer of suppressive power on the surface of the city wall beneath his feet, stabilizing the Soul Power structure of the entire section of the city wall.
Bibi Dong's jet-black beam of light stopped five hundred paces outside the pass.
The pillar of light slowly dissipated. A woman dressed in a long, jet-black dress emerged from it. Her face was cold and stern, her brows exuding an aura of dominance over all things. Her deep purple pupils swirled with the unique dark purple light of Rakshasa Divine Power. Her Martial Soul materialized behind her, the Twin Martial Souls of the Death Spider Emperor and the Soul Devouring Spider Emperor simultaneously unfolding. Two enormous Spider Emperor phantoms intertwined behind her, dark purple spider silk cascading from the phantoms, each strand shimmering with the dark light of Rakshasa Divine Power.
Level 99. Above the peak of Titled Douluo, but below God Level.
Bibi Dong's gaze swept across the Jialing Pass city wall, lingering for a moment on Xue Beng, then on the Soul Engineer Corps on the city wall, before finally landing on Nan Feng.
The moment that gaze fell upon Nan Feng, Nan Feng felt as if his soul had been gripped by a giant, icy hand. The Rakshasa Divine Power transformed into an invisible spiritual shock that pierced through the light membrane of the Tower Realm, striking straight into the depths of his soul. The first layer of the Tower Realm light membrane shattered under the spiritual shock, the second layer cracked, and the third layer trembled violently.
The Primordial World Imprint within Nan Feng's soul suddenly awakened. Golden light surged forth from the depths of his soul, enveloping, crushing, and devouring the Rakshasa Divine Power that had invaded it. His body remained motionless under the pressure, with fine blood seeping from his seven orifices, but his eyes remained calm.
Bibi Dong's deep purple pupils suddenly contracted.
Her gaze shifted from Nan Feng's tower to the depths of his soul. Her purple eyes reflected the golden, Primordial World Imprint within Nan Feng's soul, and the celestial light illuminating all nine levels of the tower. Her lips parted slightly, and the coldness on her face was instantly replaced by a more complex emotion—shock, greed, fanaticism, and a kind of almost insane excitement.
"In your soul..."
Bibi Dong's voice wasn't loud, yet it carried clearly throughout the entire Jialing Pass. There was a strange tremor in her voice, like a traveler who had trekked through the desert for days suddenly seeing an oasis.
"That's the Primordial World?!"
Nan Feng's heart skipped a beat. Bibi Dong recognized him. She actually recognized him. Old Huai had said that the Primordial World Power was the most ancient origin of all realms, even the God King had to bow down. But Bibi Dong was just a Soul Master, a descendant of the Rakshasa God, she shouldn't know the term "Primordial World".
"The legendary ancient origin... a power even greater than the Divine Realm!" Bibi Dong took a step forward, her long black dress billowing in the wind. Behind her, the twin Spider Emperor hissed simultaneously, their dark purple spider silk spreading out like a tide, weaving a Spiderweb Domain covering a thousand paces in radius. "You actually possess such a thing in your soul! It wasn't recorded in the Rakshasa God's divine sense, but I've seen this description in the forbidden ancient texts of the Spirit Hall — the Primordial World! The origin of the shattered ancient world! A power even older than the Divine Realm!"
Her gaze was fixed on Nan Feng, and the fervor burning in her purple eyes sent a chill down his Nan Feng. The Bibi Dong looked at him was as if she were looking at a priceless treasure, something she had searched her whole life for and finally found.
"Seize him—" Bibi Dong's voice suddenly rose, Rakshasa Divine Power erupted from her body, a jet-black pillar of light shooting into the sky once more, dyeing the entire sky dark purple. "I want him alive! I want to dissect and study his soul! That Primordial World Imprint —it must be mine!"
The moment the words fell, the phantom of the Death Spider Emperor behind Bibi Dong suddenly sprang out, and a jet-black spider silk transformed into a beam of light as sharp as a javelin, piercing through hundreds of steps and straight at Nan Feng. The Rakshasa Divine Power contained in the spider silk was enough to penetrate the protective Soul Power of Titled Douluo.
The Nan Feng did not recede. The seventh layer of the tower's Samsara patterns erupted with the strongest silver-blue light, expanding the tower to a height of ten feet. The Mountain -Samsara Power Technique was superimposed on the Suppress Mountains and Rivers Mountain Suppression Art, and the power of reincarnation condensed into a silver-blue light shield at the base of the tower. The spider silk spear struck the light shield and exploded with a bang. The dark purple energy of the Rakshasa Divine Power and the silver-blue light of the Samsara Power collided fiercely in the sky above the city wall. The aftershocks forced several Soul Emperor -level Soul Master on the city wall back several steps, blood trickling from the corners of their mouths.
Nan Feng slid back three steps on the city wall, leaving two deep grooves on the bluestone bricks. The blood vessels in his seven orifices became more prominent, and the Primordial World Power in his meridians circulated wildly, devouring and transforming the Rakshasa Divine Power that had invaded his body. The Mountain Suppression Art dispersed the impact and channeled it into the city wall beneath his feet, dissolving most of the force.
He stopped.
"Xue Beng." Nan Feng's voice was forced out through clenched teeth, "Have all Soul Master below the Soul Emperor level withdraw from the city walls. Now."
Without hesitation, Xue Beng waved his hand to signal. The Soul Engineer Corps and ordinary soldiers on the city wall quickly withdrew under the command of their general, leaving only a dozen or so Soul Emperor and Soul Saint level Soul Master to maintain the defensive formation. The city wall instantly became much emptier.
Bibi Dong did not rush to make a second move. She stood five hundred paces outside the pass, the pitch-black Spiderweb Domain expanding beneath her feet, the twin phantoms of the Death Spider Emperor and the Soul Devouring Spider Emperor roaring alternately behind her. Her gaze pierced through the protective light curtain on the city wall, through the remaining barrier of the Tower Realm light membrane, and fixed directly on Nan Feng.
"Your Soul Power is only Level 87," Bibi Dong's voice carried a cold certainty, "But your soul contains Primordial World Power, your Martial Soul is a nine-story pagoda, and your pagoda bears patterns of Samsara and the Return to the Void. You don't cultivate the Soul Power system—you cultivate something else entirely. What the ancient texts refer to... immortal cultivation?"
Nan Feng did not answer. He sensed that Bibi Dong's pitch-black Spiderweb Domain had expanded to three hundred paces outside the pass, and the Rakshasa Divine Power on the spiderweb was slowly eroding the Soul Power structure of the city wall foundation. If the spiderweb was allowed to continue to expand, the foundation of Jialing Pass's city wall would be completely disintegrated by the Rakshasa Divine Power within half an hour.
He made a decision.
"Old Huai," Nan Feng spoke in the Tower Spirit Space.
The Old Huai stood up from the sacred tree. "Which move are you going to use?"
"The Suppress Mountains and Rivers covers the entire section of the city wall. The Mountain Suppression Art is activated at full power, connecting the foundation of the city wall to the earth's spiritual veins. The spider webs are eroding the foundation, so I will use the power of the earth's spiritual veins to fight back."
Old Huai was silent for a moment. " At Level 87, with the Mountain Suppression Art operating at full power, your meridians can't withstand it. You will—"
"I know," Nan Feng interrupted him, "Do it."
The patterns on the seventh and sixth floors of the tower simultaneously erupted with their strongest light. Nan Feng threw the tower out, and the nine-story bronze tower expanded to ten zhang tall in the air. A huge silver-blue tower shadow was projected from its base, sealing off the entire section of the Jialing Pass city wall. The power of suppressing Suppress Mountains and Rivers encompassed the protective array on the city wall, the Tower Realm's light membrane, and the Soul Power ripples within its suppression range, isolating Bibi Dong's Rakshasa God outside the city wall.
Immediately afterward, Nan Feng placed both hands on the crenellations of the city wall, fully activating the Mountain Suppression Art. Golden Primordial World Power poured from his palms into the city wall, seeping along the bluestone bricks into the foundation, and then into the earth's spiritual veins beneath the city. His meridians creaked under the strain of the full force, and the Soul Bone in his left arm and right leg trembled violently, but the power of the earth's spiritual veins surged from beneath his feet, pushing back the erosion of Bibi Dong's Spiderweb Domain inch by inch.
The light in Bibi Dong's eyes shone even brighter.
"Interesting." A slight smile curved her lips, a cold yet intriguing arc. "At Level 87, you withstood the erosion of a Level 99 domain, relying on Primordial World Power and the earth's spiritual veins. You're even more patient than your ancestor Pagoda God."
Nan Feng remained silent. All his energy was focused on maintaining the resonance between the Mountain Suppression Art and the Earth's spiritual veins. He forcefully suppressed the excruciating pain in his meridians with his will, and blood seeped from his seven orifices, already flowing down to his chin. In the Tower Spirit Space, Hu Liena's secret letter floated quietly, its dark fox tail pattern shimmering slightly in the celestial light.
Bibi Dong stared at him for a long time before slowly withdrawing her Spiderweb Domain. The dark pillar of light dissipated from her body, and the phantom of the Twin Spider Emperor merged back into her. She turned and walked back towards the Spirit Hall camp, her long black dress billowing in the wind, her silhouette like a moving shadow in the morning light.
After taking ten steps, her voice came again, clear and cold.
"Three days. I'll give you three days. After three days, I will personally breach the city. At that time, your soul, your tower, and your Primordial World Power will all be mine."
Her figure disappeared into the dark red light curtain of the Spirit Hall camp.
Nan Feng stood atop the city wall until Bibi Dong's aura completely disappeared from his perception range before retracting the tower into his palm. The tower shrank to its normal size, and the light of the seventh layer of Samsara patterns slowly dimmed. When his hands moved away from the crenellations of the city wall, ten deep finger marks were left on the bluestone bricks, and extremely fine golden Immortal Power seeped from the gaps around the bricks. These were traces left over from the resonance between the Mountain Suppression Art and the earth's spiritual veins.
He turned and leaned against the city wall, taking a deep breath. The excruciating pain in his meridians had not subsided, the blood vessels in his seven orifices had congealed on his face, and his clothes were soaked with sweat. In the Tower Spirit Space, the remnant soul of the Old Huai tree leaned against the immortal wood, his face weary but with a hint of a smile in his eyes.
"You withstood the erosion of a Level 99 87, and even borrowed the earth's spiritual veins," Old Huai said. "Once word gets out of this battle, those Titled Douluo in the Spirit Hall will probably be getting restless."
Nan Feng did not respond. He sensed that he had consumed 60% of his Soul Power in the previous confrontation, and there were several minor cracks in his meridians that needed time to repair. But three days. Bibi Dong had given him three days.
Xue Beng emerged from the city gate and stood beside him. The two remained silent for a long time.
"When she breaches the city three days later," Xue Beng finally spoke, "What do you plan to do?"
Nan Feng tightened the red hair around his left wrist. The tower slowly rotated in his palm, the Samsara patterns on the seventh floor and the Return to the Void patterns on the sixth floor shimmering quietly. He recalled the look in Bibi Dong's eyes when she looked at him earlier, that fanaticism and greed, as if she had seen something more important than the position of the Rakshasa God.
"She wants my soul," Nan Feng said, "But my soul is mine. Three days later, her Rakshasa God couldn't crush me. Her Spider Emperor Domain couldn't trap me. Her Level 99 Soul Power couldn't scare me away."
He turned and walked towards the city tower, silently activating the Nether Step: Shrinking the Earth beneath his feet, his figure leaving a trail of afterimages in the morning light. The red ribbon on his left wrist fluttered gently in the wind, and in the Tower Spirit Space, Hu Liena's secret letter, the Nine Netherworlds Dark Python's snake bead, the Frost Giant Dragon's Right Arm Soul Bone, the Golden-Eyed Peng King's Head Soul Bone, and the Nine Netherworlds Dark Python's Right Leg Soul Bone all floated quietly in their respective positions.