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"You say who is trash?"
Xiao Yan took a step forward. In that instant, a majestic and overwhelming aura began to rise steadily from within his body.
"Nine-Star Dou Zong… Heh, well, well," Lingquan sneered. "I didn't expect that the Xiao Clan, fallen to such a pathetic state, could still produce another Dou Zong-level cultivator. I admit, that's a surprise. But let me make it clear—such strength is nothing in the eyes of this Commander!"
As he spoke, Lingquan raised his brow slightly, and the fierce Dou Qi of a One-Star Dou Zun erupted from him.
Faced with such formidable power, Xiao Yan's expression didn't change in the slightest. He met Lingquan's gaze directly, and in his pitch-black eyes, a chilling gleam began to rise.
The two locked eyes, and their respective auras slowly expanded and clashed, thick with murderous tension.
"Lingquan," Gu Xun'er said flatly. Although she no longer remembered Xiao Yan, there was still a sense of familiarity, and she didn't want him to be too humiliated.
"Don't worry, Miss. I just want to give this Xiao Clan trash a small lesson. I'll let him know what an insurmountable gap really means. A toad could never dream of eating swan meat."
Lingquan stepped forward. Gu Xun'er, despite her misgivings, couldn't find a proper reason to stop him.
Xiao Yan turned to the Little Medical Fairy and Venerable Tian Huo and said in a deep voice, "You two—don't interfere."
"Demonic Phoenix Holy Form!"
Dark clouds surged once again as Huang Tian let out a deafening roar toward the heavens. His body swelled rapidly, golden light blasting out in all directions. In the blink of an eye, a monstrous Demonic Phoenix—stretching thousands of meters across—covered the sky like a curtain, casting a shadow over the earth. Waves of horrifying pressure rolled out like crashing mountains, causing even distant spectators to tremble in fear. Huang Tian had revealed his true form!
With a mighty flap of his colossal wings—each spanning a thousand meters—the very sky seemed to darken. That enormous figure, moving at a speed unimaginable, tore through space itself. A black spatial rift split across the heavens like a bolt of wrathful lightning. The sonic boom that followed ruptured the eardrums of nearby cultivators, making blood stream down their faces. Even towering mountains below were shattered into ash by the terrifying shockwaves.
This level of destruction required no technique. At this moment, Huang Tian's body itself was the most terrifying Dou Technique!
On the other side, Qian Renhan had fully merged with the Shura Sword. His body and mind had become one with the blade. His Dou Qi surged madly as the Shura Sword expanded a thousandfold, transforming into a mountain-sized blood-red greatsword. Each swing of the blade unleashed a horrifying burst of sword energy that seemed to rend the sky in two—each strike no less powerful than a high-tier Heaven-Rank technique.
The fierce clash between the two unleashed Dou Qi storms so violent that countless mountain peaks were obliterated. Many bystanders, unable to escape in time, were instantly killed by the shockwaves.
Elsewhere, in the void above, Zi Yan was flying at full speed toward Ancient Dragon Island, staying completely hidden. Just then, an aged figure suddenly appeared in her path. With a single gesture, the space around her shattered, and she was captured.
Had Qian Renhan witnessed this scene, he would have immediately recognized the move as the Ancient Emperor's Sky-Seizing Claw—and the old man who had captured Zi Yan was none other than Elder Gu Chui, one of Gu Xun'er's two bodyguards.
"The Dragon-Phoenix Origin Fruit… Hmph. The Taixu Ancient Dragon Clan has finally fallen into decline, and you think we would allow you to rise again?"
Elder Gu Chui stared at Zi Yan, his eyes gleaming. "So, you're the one the clan ordered to be taken alive… the Taixu Ancient Dragon the patriarch mentioned. Heh, I must be truly blessed today."
No one who had cultivated to the peak of Nine-Star Dou Sheng was a fool. And no one dared to provoke such a powerful enemy without cause. But if you had to provoke one, and couldn't defeat them head-on, there was only one strategy: capture their weakness and use it to threaten them.
And Zhu Kun's only weakness—was Zi Yan.
Back on the battlefield, Qian Renhan, still locked in a fierce battle with Huang Tian, suddenly sensed that the aura he had left on Zi Yan had stopped moving. She had been fleeing at full speed, but now her movement had come to a halt. If she had reached Ancient Dragon Island, which was protected by a spatial barrier, he wouldn't have been able to track her anymore. But now… she was still within range of his perception.
With late-stage Heaven Realm soul power and spatial strength fully activated, Qian Renhan's gaze pierced across thousands of miles—until he spotted Zi Yan being seized by an old man.
"The Gu Clan!"
"You dare lose focus while fighting this king?"
Seizing the moment, Huang Tian channeled his Dou Qi with ferocious intensity. Every feather on his body blazed with radiant golden light, making him resemble a burning sun. That immense, golden solar form tore through space at terrifying speed. With a sudden flash, it came crashing down with unstoppable might.
The devastating force collapsed a vast portion of the surrounding space. The ground beneath them—already leveled by their earlier battle—was driven several hundred meters downward. The raging winds whipped across the landscape like a thousand lashes, carving a massive trench into the earth. This strike—if it hit a Dou Sheng directly—would instantly cause their body to explode into a mist of blood!
The golden sun that was Huang Tian collided violently with the Shura Sword. The blood-red shadow of Qian Renhan behind the blade was shattered, and the Shura Sword itself cracked with jagged lines—blood seeping out from within the blade.
Inside the Shura Sword, Qian Renhan, clad in black, was now drenched in blood. His eyes had turned scarlet, matching the color of his irises. Every trace of sword intent from his domain was drawn into the blade. A pillar of blood-red light shot into the heavens, and within it, a colossal sword spanning ten thousand meters hovered in the air—its overwhelming killing aura dyed the entire sky red.
For the first time, the arrogance faded from Huang Tian's face. His expression turned grim as he focused massive amounts of Dou Qi into his indestructible claws. Under the weight of this immense power, two even brighter golden orbs ignited within the sunlike form above him.
"Slash!"
The mountain-sized blade came cleaving down, splitting the heavens in two. It clashed head-on with Huang Tian's claws, and the resulting explosion of red and gold light completely engulfed the region.
"You Xiao Clan trash! Are you trying to get yourself killed?"
Meanwhile, inside the ruins, the battle between Lingquan and Xiao Yan had reached its climax. Xiao Yan, using the Three Mystical Transformations of Heavenly Flame, had temporarily boosted his strength to Two-Star Dou Zun. He unleashed his ultimate attack: the Destruction Lotus Flame.
Lingquan, not to be outdone, activated his Blood Convergence Technique, elevating his power to the peak of Two-Star Dou Zun, and used his ultimate—The Four-Seal Fusion of the Emperor's Seal Art.
Their attacks collided with a thunderous explosion, sending a towering mushroom cloud into the sky. From within the inferno, Lingquan's charred body came hurtling out like a blackened corpse, barely clinging to life. Xiao Yan fared slightly better, but his Dou Qi was completely drained. His chest had caved in, countless bones broken, and his eyelids felt as heavy as iron.
At that moment, a black-robed elder appeared, lifting Lingquan effortlessly with one hand. His icy eyes turned toward Xiao Yan, who was now being shielded by the Little Medical Fairy and Venerable Tian Huo.
"Enough, Elder Wu," Gu Xun'er's cold voice rang out. "Lingquan lost because his skills were inferior. Let's go."
Her beautiful eyes drifted toward Xiao Yan, rippling with emotion. His desperate struggle had deeply shaken her. Could it be… that before I lost my memory, something truly did exist between us?
But before Gu Xun'er had time to process her thoughts, a frigid voice echoed across the sky.
"No one leaves."
Blood-soaked from head to toe, Qian Renhan returned to the ruins—his presence chilling to the core. One hand gripped Zi Yan's wrist; the other held Elder Gu Chui, whose neck had just been crushed barehanded.
With a flash from his spatial ring, a colossal altar—spanning over a kilometer in radius—descended from the sky and landed in the middle of the ruins. Surrounding the altar were eight stone pillars, each over a hundred meters tall, carved with twisted and ominous markings.
This altar was the infamous Soul-Devouring Life-Severing Array, taken by Qian Renhan from the Soul Hall's sub-division in the Nether Soul Mountain Range. He intended to use this ancient formation to perform a blood sacrifice on the Skeleton Mountain Range, boosting his power in order to fight Huang Tian once again—who would surely return with the might of the Sky Demon Phoenix Clan.
As for how to activate the Soul-Devouring Life-Severing Array, Qian Renhan had already consumed the souls of several Soul Hall elders... and even a Gu Clan Half-Sage.
(End of Chapter)