Within the Zhuxian Sword Array, Chen Junting arranged the four swords to entangle "Zhongli Wu," engaging in a fierce, earth-shattering battle.
Yet, despite this, he couldn't gain the slightest upper hand.
Because this "Zhongli Wu" was no longer the previous Zhongli Wu. Not only had his strength increased, but compared to before, he had also learned from the original body's defeat, fully capitalizing on his strengths and avoiding his weaknesses.
Currently, Chen Junting and Gu Tianchen could only rely on the advantages of the Zhuxian Sword Array to keep "Zhongli Wu" pinned down here.
Did they truly want to defeat him like last time? Kill him?
In a word—difficult!
"Zhongli Wu" hovered in the high sky, surrounded by a bizarre blood-red glow. The light resembled flames from the Nine Nether Underworld, exuding a spine-chilling aura.
With another transformation, the Death God Puppet at this moment appeared exceptionally ferocious.
Its colossal form was dozens of metres tall, entirely covered in black scales that each shimmered with a metallic luster. Its head resembled a skull, with two clusters of blood-red flames burning within its hollow eye sockets. Long fangs protruded from its maw, emitting a nauseating stench of rot. The massive bat wings spread out behind it, blotting out the sun, and every flap brought with it a gust of foul wind.
"Today is the day you die!"
"Zhongli Wu" let out a roar that echoed like rolling thunder across the high sky. Following his bellow, the Death God Puppet behind him drew a scythe from the void and violently swung it. A streak of blood-red light surged toward them like a tempest.
Wherever the scythe passed, space was torn asunder, revealing pitch-black fissures from which endless dark power surged forth.
Chen Junting swung the long sword in his hand, and the Zhuxian Sword Array flared with dazzling light. The countless sword qis flooding the array shot out from all directions, colliding with that blood-red streak of light.
For a time, the sky blazed with light, and deafening rumbles echoed. The sword qi and dark power intertwined and clashed, erupting into brilliant sparks. It triggered intense energy fluctuations that spread outward like surging tidal waves, scattering the surrounding atmosphere and forming massive vortexes.
Amidst this fierce clash, Gu Tianchen held the Xianxian Sword and placed a hand on Chen Junting's shoulder, causing his figure to flicker.
Like a phantom, they pierced through the void, weaving through the sword qi.
Under the state of "Sword God has no self," the supremely rational Chen Junting could aim at "Zhongli Wu"'s weaknesses with pinpoint accuracy. He thrust out his sword time and time again—sometimes fierce like a violent storm, other times gentle as a spring breeze...
It wasn't that the attacks were hard to block, but they were genuinely too annoying.
Watching the two of them slip around like loaches, "Zhongli Wu" had the Death God Puppet behind him swing its arms. One hand propped up a barrier, blocking the Dark Golden Terrorclaws and the Luxian Sword Qi, while the other swung the scythe to parry the Snow Empress's "Emperor Sword: Ice Extreme Unrivaled" and the Juexian Sword Qi. Yet, the Spirit Soul "Tyrant" blasted a mouthful of Destruction Dragon's Breath and Zhuxian Sword Qi right at his face. Although he managed to block it, his fury could no longer be contained!
The blood-red glow on the Death God Puppet behind him grew increasingly dense, and dark power frantically converged from all directions.
In an instant, "Zhongli Wu" gave a violent shudder!
The Snow Empress and the Mad King, his two great Spirit Souls, were immediately swatted away.
The next second, the Death God Puppet raised its scythe high. A massive blood-red sphere of light condensed on the blade's edge.
That sphere contained terrifying energy, as if it could explode at any moment, reducing everything around it to ashes.
"Death God's Verdict!"
"Zhongli Wu" gave a loud shout and ferociously cleaved down with the scythe.
The blood-red sphere shot toward Chen Junting like a meteor. Wherever it passed, space warped and twisted, and the air was instantly ignited, forming a long tongue of flame that tore through the surrounding sword qi.
Simultaneously, phantom chains howled through the air, locking down the surrounding space.
Sensing the terrifying aura rushing at his face, Chen Junting immediately lit up his seventh soul ring, which flickered with an orange glow.
Seventh Soul Skill—Seven Kill True Body!
Immediately after, Chen Junting's momentum and will condensed into a giant, ethereal human figure. The moment this illusory figure appeared, a massive hand reached out and forcefully grabbed the hilt of the Seven Kill True Body's sword.
At the same time, the sword qi within the Zhuxian Sword Array rapidly converged. The four sword intents revolved around the figure, forming a colossal sword cocoon.
Gu Tianchen stood guard before the sword cocoon, his soul rings flashing.
Coiling Dragon Spiral Shield
Invincible Barrier
Bone Prison.
These three layers of defense, from the outside in, were shattered one after another.
When it reached the final layer, Crack...
The moment the sword cocoon shattered, a sword light spanned the void.
It struck down!
The instant the blood-red sphere collided with the sword light, the entire sky was illuminated. The intense glare was so blinding that even the soldiers far outside the array had to avert their eyes. The colossal explosion sounded like the collapse of the heavens and the splitting of the earth, causing the very sky to tremble.
The terrifying energy shockwave spread outward in all directions from the point of explosion. Wherever it went, the atmosphere was completely swept away, leaving a massive vacuum zone in the high sky.
Meanwhile, the narrative splits to another scene. At this very moment, on the other battlefields within the Zhuxian Sword Array.
"Shatter!"
Shattered Star Douluo's eyes narrowed. His Light of Shattered Stars bloomed, destroying the incoming soul tool rays before moving to block a sneak attack from the flank.
At this moment, with Chen Junting, his three Spirit Souls, and Gu Tianchen entirely focused on trapping "Zhongli Wu" and unable to free up their hands, the four Class 9 Soul Engineers of the Sun Moon Empire began to ruthlessly attack the three Title Douluos of the Star Luo Empire.
Although they were outnumbered, within the Zhuxian Sword Array, the three Star Luo Empire Title Douluos actually held the upper hand.
Take Shattered Star Douluo, for example. After launching several consecutive attacks, this sixty-something-year-old elder briefly gathered his energy, and his black eighth soul ring lit up.
Facing the purple-bearded old man and the red-haired female Soul Engineer, he clasped his hands together in front of his chest and slowly pushed outward. A tiny purple vortex, seemingly only ten centimeters in diameter, silently flew out.
As a level 95 Super Douluo whose martial soul was the Light of Shattered Stars, his power inherently possessed spatial attributes. To be precise, it was the power of spatial destruction—extremely formidable!
The small purple vortex drifted out and paused momentarily in the air. Then, the surrounding air suddenly turned violent. The intense purple light seemed to swallow the very air itself. Around the continuously expanding vortex, spatial fissures began to emerge one after another, constantly merging together.
Whether it was the incoming soul tool rays or soul tool artillery shells, they all seemed to be drawn in by an invisible force, flying into the purple vortex and being ground to dust—they couldn't even detonate. Moreover, the purple vortex was actually absorbing the energy of these soul tool rays and shells, continuously expanding outward.
Seeing this, the pupils of the purple-bearded old man and the red-haired female Soul Engineer shrank slightly. The next second, they attacked simultaneously. Two spherical objects shot out from their palms, forming an upper and a lower barrier that encapsulated the purple vortex.
Crack, crack—
In an instant, both their barriers and the purple vortex shattered simultaneously.
For the time being, he had firmly suppressed the two of them.
In the other two locations, Hammer Douluo swung his massive hammers, pressing aggressively toward Xu Tianyuan. A brilliant yellow light erupted, resembling a mountain crashing down. It was a truly overwhelming, unstoppable display of immense force!
However, as the commander of the Imperial Dragon Soul Engineer Legion, Xu Tianyuan was no ordinary figure. Coordinating multiple Class 9 soul tools, he not only deflected the rampaging sword qi within the array and blocked Hammer Douluo's attacks, but occasionally even counter-suppressed him.
The remaining Class 9 Soul Engineer, however, was not as fortunate as them; in fact, he looked utterly miserable. Riddled with bloody gashes from the tearing sword qi, he swung with his remaining arm, only to be sent flying by a direct hit from the Star Luo Empire's Title Douluo.
It looked like his life was hanging by a thread.
...
On the ground battlefield of the Mingdou Mountain Range.
The Star Luo Empire's army and the Sun Moon Empire's army were locked in an exceptionally brutal slaughter. As the focal point of their struggle, the Mingdou Mountain Range was echoing with constant artillery fire. The air was thick with gunsmoke, and fiery light blazed into the sky.
The Star Luo Empire's army had its soul masters and Soul Engineers at the vanguard, while the ordinary soldiers in the rear held shields and spears, continuously scaling the mountain range to charge into the Sun Moon Empire's forces.
On the Sun Moon Empire's side, various models of soul tool cannons boomed relentlessly. The fired artillery shells and soul tool rays rained down upon the Star Luo Empire's positions, blasting up clouds of dust and flesh.
The Soul Engineers at the rear of the army continuously unleashed various soul tool skills, providing fire support for the ordinary soldiers on the front lines.
Amidst the intense fighting, both sides suffered heavy casualties. Corpses littered the battlefield, and blood dyed the earth red.
The endless battle cries, screams, and clashing of weapons intertwined, painting a grim portrait of war.
At this moment, whether it was the Title Douluo powerhouses of the Star Luo Empire or the Class 9 Soul Engineers of the Sun Moon Empire, they had long since taken to the field, constantly clashing and slaughtering each other in the mid-air above the Mingdou Mountain Range.
Meanwhile, Dai Hao threw his head back and let out a frenzied roar. His seventh soul ring suddenly flared, and his body abruptly expanded. White fur pierced through his skin, and in the blink of an eye, he had transformed into a giant tiger over ten meters long. Every hair on his body stood on end like silver needles. Nine soul rings erupted around him, and the final soul ring, enhanced by the Vajra Giant Tiger, exuded an absolutely heart-pounding aura.
Those heterochromatic red-and-blue Evil Eyes radiated a domineering yet mountain-like majestic aura. His hind legs instantly exerted force, allowing him to leap over a small hill in a flash, continuously pouncing toward the highest peak.
And his target was precisely the Death God Soul Tool. There was no other reason; this soul tool was simply too great a threat!
The attack from earlier had even given Dai Hao the feeling that it surpassed a Limit Douluo. No matter what, this soul tool could not be allowed to remain! Once it was deployed on the ground battlefield, their Star Luo Empire would be lambs to the slaughter before the Sun Moon Empire, just waiting for the cleaver to fall.
Roar—
A purple and a black soul ring flashed.
White Tiger Vajra Transformation!
White Tiger Devil God Transformation!
Boom—
Dai Hao's White Tiger True Body, with an overwhelmingly domineering posture, ruthlessly slammed into a mountain peak. With just a flick of his over ten-meter-long body, he sent the Soul Engineers of a Sun Moon Empire position flying. With a downward swipe of his claws, he obliterated them beneath his tiger paws.
The moment his tiger paws landed on the peak, his rapidly climbing aura came to a halt, replaced by a layer of frenzied energy. A red light surged from his left leg, instantly spreading throughout his entire body before finally converging in his heterochromatic Evil Eyes.
At this exact moment, Dai Hao's previously stalwart and composed aura instantly turned manic. Under the effect of the red light, his already ten-meter-long body expanded once more. His length didn't increase, but all his muscles bulged to an exaggerated degree. The terrifying aura he emitted at that moment actually suffocated the surrounding Soul Engineers.
And this was precisely the soul bone that Chen Junting had seen during his first visit to the Nine Treasures Auction House—the Left Leg Bone of the Gale Demon Wolf King.
The effect of Bloodthirsty Frenzy increased Dai Hao's attack and defense by one hundred percent, and his speed by one hundred percent as well.
Just as Dai Hao was about to reach the summit, the Sun Moon Empire's Class 9 Soul Engineers showed no intention of stopping him. This anomaly instantly put Dai Hao on high alert. However, the arrow was already on the bowstring and had to be fired. Besides... this was the only chance he had!
"Ninth Soul Skill—White Tiger Explosive Strike!"
Dai Hao's White Tiger True Body erupted with intense golden light, and his ninth soul ring blazed as he violently slammed his paw toward the Death God Soul Tool. However, a thick layer of blood-red light suddenly surged from the Death God Soul Tool, directly reflecting Dai Hao's ninth soul skill back at him and sending him flying ten meters away.
Immediately after, a streak of dark-red light shot out.
Fortunately, Dai Hao had anticipated this. The moment he was sent flying by the blood light, he rolled toward the other side of the mountain peak.
The next instant, the Light of the Death God pierced through the exact spot where Dai Hao's White Tiger True Body had just been. This beam of light was as thick as a water vat. As it swept past, everything in its vicinity was vaporized, leaving behind a massive, gaping hole. Then, an unparalleled, terrifying power instantly erupted from that hole.
Woo woo woo—
The shrill, blood-curdling shrieks were soul-piercing. Intangible vengeful spirits frantically pounced toward Dai Hao.
Golden light shimmered around Dai Hao. After canceling his frenzy state, he activated an amplification soul skill once more and unleashed the White Tiger Meteor Shower. Countless massive spheres of light, imbued with the power of light, descended from the heavens, indiscriminately crashing down upon the shrieking spirits.
However, those vengeful spirits were incredibly powerful. For a moment, it was difficult to effectively eradicate them; he could only hinder their attack speed.
Seemingly feeling that a single strike wasn't enough, the Sun Moon Empire's Death God Soul Tool fired another blood-red pillar of light.
But this time, its target was no longer Dai Hao.
It was the Star Luo Empire's army!
The pillar of light, as thick as a massive blood-colored torrent, surged toward the Star Luo Empire's army. Wherever the pillar passed, the air was instantly vaporized, and the ground was scorched into a deep trench. The Star Luo Empire's soldiers felt the terrifying aura rushing toward them, and looks of absolute horror appeared on their faces.
But right at this moment, space was torn asunder, and a colossal dragon head, dozens of meters in diameter, abruptly poked its way through. The dragon's head was pitch-black as ink, yet its eyes gleamed with a dazzling golden hue. And then...
Roar—
The dragon opened its maw wide and swallowed the pillar of blood in a single gulp.
With this swallow, the dazzling gold in the dragon's eyes became laced with threads of blood.
Roar—
The dragon then opened its maw wide once more and spat out a cluster of dark-red airflow. As this dark-red airflow was expelled and dissipated in the sky, the visages of countless wronged spirits actually manifested within it. As they dissipated, they let out shrill, mournful shrieks across the sky.
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