The Fall of a Titled Douluo, Spirit Hall's Defeat

"My lords, please act quickly. The two of us can't hold on much longer."

Yue Guan's urgent voice rang out from high in the air.

Qian Jun Douluo's Eighth Soul Ring immediately flashed behind him, and the Coiling Dragon Staff in his hand blazed with black light as he brought it down on Sea Maiden Douluo's head.

Demon Subduing Douluo's Coiling Dragon Staff also began spinning like a windmill. The golden dragon on the staff seemed to come alive, circling into a huge golden ring amid bursts of dragon roars and hurtling toward Sea Maiden Douluo.

This move was called Jiang Mo Coiling Dragon Ring. Like Qian Jun Douluo's earlier Qian Jun's Throw, it was an Eighth Soul Skill.

It was not that their Ninth Soul Skills lacked power, but that their Eighth Soul Skills were faster to activate. After all, they could not be sure how long the Two Extremes Stillness Domain could trap their opponents.

The other two also unleashed their strongest Soul Skills, sending sword lights and wind blades filling the sky toward the seven Sacred Pillar Guardians of Sea God Island.

With a sharp crack, the gold and silver Soul Rings suddenly shattered. Yue Guan and Gui Mei had exhausted their Soul Power and fell from the sky.

Sure enough, the two had only just become Titled Douluo. With their strength, trapping seven people at once was still too much of a strain.

But in a battle between Titled Douluo, even a brief moment could decide victory or defeat.

Spirit Hall's two strongest Soul Skills struck at Sea God Island's strongest fighter, and because of the stillness domain, Sea Maiden Douluo had no time to dodge.

Two muffled thuds rang out as the two Coiling Dragon Staffs mercilessly smashed into Sea Maiden Douluo's body.

Such powerful attacks instantly kicked up a fierce shock wave, making the clothes of all three whip and snap.

The next second, Sea Maiden Douluo was sent flying back nearly a hundred meters. While still in the air, she spat out a large mouthful of blood, clearly gravely wounded.

Lang Ming and Ye Feng's attacks also successfully struck the other four Titled Douluo and two Soul Douluo, leaving hundreds of wounds of varying sizes across their bodies with wind blades and sword lights.

This time, Yue Guan and Gui Mei had rendered great service. Thanks to their Martial Soul Fusion Skill, all of Sea God Island's Titled Douluo were injured, and the strongest among them was even on the verge of death.

Staff in hand, Qian Jun Douluo flew forward in pursuit of Sea Maiden Douluo.

This was Sea God Island. To prevent her from having some special means like the Demon Soul Great White Shark before her, he decided to cut the weeds and dig out the roots.

Demon Subduing Douluo caught his rebounding Coiling Dragon Staff and attacked Sea God Island's other Titled Douluo, with Lang Ming and Ye Feng close behind.

The guardians of Sea God Island were injured, but they could only grit their teeth and withstand the three men's attacks.

Demon Subduing Douluo grew fiercer as the battle went on. His Coiling Dragon Staff darted up and down, chopping high and thrusting low, and with the other two helping him, he sent the five scrambling and struggling to defend themselves without even using much in the way of Soul Skills.

Suddenly, a dazzling burst of golden light erupted in the direction Qian Jun Douluo had flown, immediately drawing everyone's attention.

They all looked over to see Qian Jun Douluo shielding his eyes with one hand as he flew rapidly backward, soon arriving in front of Demon Subduing Douluo.

"Another one of those bizarre tricks," Qian Jun said with some disgust.

As the golden light slowly faded, Sea Maiden Douluo came into view again. This time, however, she looked as though she had never been injured.

All four of Spirit Hall's fighters showed disbelief. She had plainly been on the verge of death only moments ago, so how had she ended up looking like this?

"She must have temporarily suppressed her injuries. She definitely can't maintain this state for long."

"?" Qian Jun Douluo and the other two all looked at Demon Subduing Douluo, curiosity in their eyes.

"You can tell from the looks on their faces," Demon Subduing Douluo said succinctly.

The three looked over at Sea God Island's group and saw that all of them did indeed look sorrowful.

Qian Jun Douluo made an immediate decision. "Let's avoid her edge and fight again later."

The others were already thinking of retreating, so they naturally followed his order and continued flying backward.

But would their opponents let them go so easily? The answer, of course, was no.

There was a reason Sea Maiden Douluo could recover from her injuries so quickly. Or rather, she had not recovered at all. With the help of the Sacred Pillar in nearby Sea Maiden City, she had temporarily suppressed the onset of her injuries in exchange for her full strength.

Of course, this came at a price. Without time to heal her injuries, she would die the instant the Sacred Pillar's power faded.

So, with scarcely a moment's hesitation, she ordered the other guardians, "Stop them!"

She herself began charging her Ninth Soul Skill, Sea-Suppressing Demonic Sound. It was also a sonic Soul Skill, but the longer it was charged, the more powerful it became. At its strongest, it could even rival the skill of a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring.

The Sacred Pillar Guardians forced down their grief, rushed forward, and engaged Qian Jun Douluo and the other three.

As for Yue Guan and Gui Mei, the two had fallen after exhausting their Soul Power, but they had been caught by the wooden man Jun Yan controlled.

They were all Titled Douluo. They might not be able to win, but they could still keep their opponents tied down and prevent them from leaving.

With the battle reaching this point, the thousands of Soul Masters outside Sea Maiden City had all stopped involuntarily and turned their eyes to the sky. Even Jun Yan was no exception.

Sea Maiden Douluo's delicate figure was enveloped in golden light. A dense mass of black energy poured from her Ninth Soul Ring and gathered around the short flute in front of her.

The black energy grew denser and denser, slowly becoming like ink, until a trace of blood-red appeared within it.

Like a drop of ink spreading through clear water, once a streak of red appeared in the mass of black energy, all of it turned red.

Sea Maiden Douluo glanced back. No one knew whether she was looking at Sea Maiden City behind her or the more distant Sea God Hall.

A tear slid down her cheek, and then the red energy spread outward in ripples, each carrying incomparably terrifying power.

The greatest sound was inaudible. Though it was plainly a sonic attack, not a sound could be heard. In fact, every sound across the entire plain vanished.

"Retreat!"

Fear appeared on Qian Jun Douluo's face as he shouted, but his warning could not reach anyone else's ears.

The ripples reached them in an instant. Though they defended themselves in time, it was no more than a mantis trying to stop a chariot.

Qian Jun and Jiang Mo were instantly sent flying, while Ye Feng and Lang Ming, who were considerably weaker, burst open all over and were hurled backward with blood spraying everywhere.

The golden light around Sea Maiden Douluo, who had unleashed such a terrifying blow, slowly faded. And it was not the only thing that faded away-her body did too.

That Soul Skill had consumed not only all of her Soul Power, but her soul as well.

In Sea Maiden City, a figure quietly appeared before the Sea Maiden Sacred Pillar at the very center of the sea within the sea.

"After being drained this time, the Sacred Pillar will probably need twenty years to recover. What a pity!"

"Retreat!"

Blood trickled from the corner of Qian Jun Douluo's mouth as he shouted.

Although Sea God Island's strongest Soul Master had died in battle, Spirit Hall had gained no advantage either. Two Titled Douluo were exhausted, two were gravely injured, and two were lightly injured. The two sides were still evenly matched.

But Sea Maiden Douluo sacrificing her life to unleash such a terrifying blow had already frightened Qian Jun Douluo and the others.

There were seven Sacred Pillar Guardians. If the others could do the same, it would take only three of them to completely turn the tide.

"After them! Don't let them escape!" Sea Dragon Douluo was the first to speak.

After Sea Maiden Douluo's death, he was the strongest Sacred Pillar Guardian, so he naturally had the authority to give orders.

As rank ninety-five Titled Douluo, Qian Jun and Jiang Mo were not only powerful but fast. They soon left the others behind.

Seeing Sea God Island's pursuers drawing closer and closer, Ye Feng hurriedly called out to Qian Jun and Jiang Mo:

"My lords, save me!"

Qian Jun Douluo glanced back, then ran without looking back again.

How was he supposed to save him? If he went back, he might not even be able to escape himself.

Seeing their own Titled Douluo fleeing through the sky, the Soul Masters below thought their strongest fighters had been defeated and could not help growing anxious.

Another Soul Douluo heard Qian Jun Douluo's voice from above and shouted, "All forces, retreat!"

His shout made things worse. Morale had already been crumbling, and now it collapsed like a mountain, impossible to stop.

Many of Spirit Hall's Soul Masters caught in the melee stopped fighting and fled to the rear.

And when everyone did that, it became a complete rout.

More than a thousand Soul Masters shoved and trampled one another. The scene was utter chaos, and instead of striking their enemies, their Soul Skills struck their own people.

Sea God Island's Sea Soul Masters seized the chance to pursue and attack, achieving considerable results for a time.

Jun Yan also knew defeat was certain and hurriedly controlled the wooden man to run toward the rear.

Along the way, he happened upon the Blood-Piercing Pufferfish and Blood Demon Berserk Bear Soul Saints, so he had the wooden man reach out, pick them both up, and carry them along as he fled.

The wooden man was tall and naturally ran faster. It soon reached the very front of the routed army.

Then the wooden man began to halt, its feet carving two long, deep furrows in the ground before it came to a stop.

They were already far from the battlefield, and after pursuing them for some distance, Sea God Island's Sea Soul Masters had stopped the chase.

"Elders, please recover your Soul Power first. We'll need you to take charge of the situation in a little while."

Jun Yan said this to Yue Guan and Gui Mei beside him, then jumped down from the wooden man.

He then planted a sign in the middle of the road. On it were the words:

"The enemy won't chase us this far. You can stop for a while!"

The two Soul Saints Jun Yan had just saved also jumped down from the wooden man.

The Blood Demon Berserk Bear Soul Saint was broad-backed and thick-waisted, tall and rugged-looking, a rough man through and through. The Blood-Piercing Pufferfish Soul Saint, on the other hand, was of average height and build, with an ordinary face that would hardly stand out in a crowd.

The rough man cupped his fists toward Jun Yan. "My name is Xiong Gang. Many thanks for saving me."

The other man also cupped his fists. "Ci Xue. Thanks."

Jun Yan waved a hand. "Don't mention it. We're all from Spirit Hall. It was no trouble."

Ci Xue looked at the wooden sign Jun Yan had put up and asked, "Isn't it a little inappropriate to write that?"

Jun Yan shrugged. "It's the only way to stop them. My name alone wouldn't carry much weight."

Xiong Gang nodded in agreement. "That sign's useful. If I saw it, I'd definitely be too indignant to keep going."

Jun Yan said, "I'm only responsible for getting them to stay. Once Elder Ju and Ghost Elder recover their Soul Power, they'll naturally come down and take charge."

Because they had ridden the wooden man, they had traveled the fastest, so they waited quite a while before the first wave of routed troops arrived.

When those people saw the wooden sign in the middle of the road, they were immediately overcome with embarrassment and had no choice but to stop in front of Jun Yan.

"Hey, did that sign stop you too?"

A tall Soul Master came up to Jun Yan and the other two and asked.

"No." Jun Yan shook his head. "I put it up."

Someone behind him heard Jun Yan's words and immediately rolled up his sleeves and stepped forward. "So you're the one who put it up. You little-"

"Wait." His companion immediately pulled him back, then asked Jun Yan with some apprehension, "Is that wooden man yours?"

"Yes," Jun Yan admitted.

"Your wooden man really showed its powers on the battlefield just now! Even a Soul Douluo was no match for you, and you're still a Soul Saint, right?"

"Just luck. That Soul Douluo wasn't good at fighting at all," Jun Yan said calmly, as though a Soul Saint defeating a Soul Douluo were only natural.

Hearing this, the man who had been furious moments ago immediately furled his banners and silenced his drums, not daring to step forward again.

The road Jun Yan had chosen was a major route, and well over half of Spirit Hall's Soul Masters had chosen it when they fled.

Before long, more than five hundred Soul Masters had gathered there. Most still had some reason left and knew Sea God Island's Soul Masters would not chase them this far. Besides, the wooden man had indeed been extraordinary earlier, so they chose to stay and see what happened.

A few Soul Masters, however, were eager to leave and did so.

By this time, Yue Guan and Gui Mei had recovered a good deal of Soul Power and finally descended from atop the wooden man.

"Greetings, elders!" All five hundred Soul Masters present bowed.

It had to be said that the earlier battle had left these Soul Masters quite disappointed in Spirit Hall's elders, who had actually fled in the middle of battle. The Soul Masters on the other side, by contrast, had fought to the death.

Disappointed as they were, however, they did not direct those feelings at Ju and Gui. Many had seen the two remain on the battlefield after unleashing their Martial Soul Fusion Skill, leaving only when their Soul Power was exhausted.

Instead, their feat of trapping seven enemies with a single Martial Soul Fusion Skill had earned them great respect.

Yue Guan and Gui Mei naturally knew nothing of the reason. They were still wondering why these Soul Masters were so enthusiastic when they had only recently become elders.

Jun Yan hurriedly signaled the two with his eyes to get down to business.

Only then did Yue Guan clear his throat. With a look of grief, he said, "This operation to bring Sea God Island under our control appears to have failed. We have let down His Holiness the Pope and the Great Enshrined."

"Elder, it wasn't your fault!" a Soul Master immediately said to console them.

Yue Guan continued, "Our most urgent task now is to leave Sea God Island as quickly as possible. If we split up, Sea God Island can easily pick us off one by one. That's why I had Jun Yan find a way to stop you."

As he spoke, he pointed to Jun Yan beside him.

Gui Mei nodded, then said, "The most important thing now is to return to where the warships are stationed."

Above Sea God Island, hundreds of meters in the air, Qian Daoliu and Bo Saixi stood facing each other.

"You won this time." Qian Daoliu's expression was indifferent, as though Spirit Hall had not been the side that lost.

"I'll order the Sea God Warriors to stop pursuing your people. I hope you'll keep your promise," Bo Saixi said, equally expressionless.

Sea God Island had gained no advantage from this war either. Instead, it had lost the island's second-strongest fighter.

Of course, Spirit Hall's losses were certainly greater.