Join my Patreon to be 30 chapters ahead of the webnovel releases:
patreon.com/ZeroMoney
*****
To detonate all his spirit rings in that fleeting, lightning-fast moment was undoubtedly an act requiring unmatched mastery—mastery over his martial soul, his spirit rings, and an immense reservoir of spiritual power. Did Qian Renhan possess such mastery?
Aside from spiritual power, Qian Renhan had none of it. The Asura Sword martial soul wasn't originally his. His bloodline didn't carry it. The spirit rings attached to it weren't his either—they were from dead soul beasts. How could he perfectly control something that didn't belong to him, something not yet fully fused with him?
In a life-or-death battle, there is no such thing as luck. Qian Renhan never believed that his pitiful, laughable luck would save him.
Yet even without perfect mastery over his martial soul, Qian Renhan still managed to pull it off—because he had external assistance: the split-mind control gifted by Ning Fengzhi.
"Split-mind control—The Three Apertures Governing Heart!"
Qian Renhan divided his mind into three parts: one focused on the spirit rings, one on the martial soul, and the last on the Dragon God's Claw that was constantly tearing at his spirit. Confronted by the claw's overwhelming, annihilating force, even with the aid of the Purple Demon Eye, his vision suffered grave injuries—blood flowed from his eyes as if they were being pierced by a thousand arrows.
The God of Asura, watching the madness unfolding in Qian Renhan's mind through the divine mark, deemed it feasible—and chose not to intervene, only preserving Qian Renhan's soul.
Time seemed to freeze.
The Dragon God's Claw approached his face. Had he not detonated the nine fallen angel spirit rings hidden behind his five pairs of wings, his body would've been crushed. At the same moment, the Asura Sword was swung.
In the blink before impact, all seven spirit rings on the sword shattered simultaneously.
As the Asura Sword clashed with the Dragon God's Claw, a massive explosion erupted in eerie silence. The skies above the Star Dou Great Forest shattered. One twenty-seventh of Douluo Planet's sky was torn open, revealing a dazzling expanse of stars above, filled with countless luminous celestial bodies.
Beneath that starry sky, the silhouettes of Qian Renhan and Di Tian—a man and a dragon—appeared.
Like a man whose faith had just crumbled, Di Tian asked, "How did you withstand that?"
"...I don't know."
Qian Renhan's hoarse voice echoed. Having taken the Dragon God's Claw head-on at such close range, half his body was nearly destroyed. The five pairs of divine wings behind him were completely shattered. His right arm hung limply, scorched black with no trace of its fair skin—completely ruined. His eyes had shut, bleeding continuously. In that moment, he appeared even more terrifying than Tang Chen when possessed by the Blood-Red Nine-Headed Bat King—utterly horrifying.
Even the divine-level martial soul, the Asura Sword in his right hand, was now covered in cracks, as though one more swing would cause it to break.
"Di Tian... it's over."
Qian Renhan gripped the hovering divine artifact, the Asura Demon Sword, and hurled it toward Di Tian.
"Bi Ji, can you see it? Did Di Tian win?"
Zi Ji asked anxiously. As a two-hundred-thousand-year soul beast, she was no match for Bi Ji in either spiritual power or status. Her love for Di Tian was deep and intense—so much so that she wished she could squeeze every drop out of him. But in terms of rightful partner, Bi Ji remained the true queen.
"Di Tian!"
Bi Ji suddenly cried out.
A dark silhouette slowly appeared in the sky—it was a massive black dragon. Its eyes were tightly shut, as if its life was nearing its end. A blood-red, two-meter-long sword was embedded in its chest.
Bi Ji, Zi Ji, and Chi Wang all transformed into their original forms, soaring up to catch Di Tian's dragon body. A fall from that height would cripple even Di Tian in his prime.
"That human...!"
Xiong Jun didn't move to catch Di Tian. Instead, he scoured the battlefield for Qian Renhan, his Sky-Rending Claw quietly charging—ready to strike the moment he saw him.
The Myriad Demon King also lay in ambush, searching for Qian Renhan's figure. He didn't believe Qian Renhan would expend so much to defeat Di Tian without trying to absorb his spirit rings. After all, Di Tian's rings were among the most powerful on the entire Douluo Star.
Meanwhile, the Silver Dragon King curled into a ball in her own space. Not to mention divine power—she didn't even dare release a sliver of her spiritual power to the outside. A clash comparable to a Tier-3 god had just erupted in the lower realm of Douluo. If the gods of the Divine Realm didn't turn their attention here, something was seriously wrong. She had to hide—immediately.
"Di Tian... I will avenge you."
With a cold remark, the Silver Dragon King transformed into a tall, impossibly flawless beauty. Her figure was elegant, her face so exquisite that not a single flaw could be found. Silver hair cascaded down her back as she slipped into seclusion within the Silver Dragon Castle, hiding herself and suppressing all signs of life.
Just as the three great beasts were about to reach Di Tian, a pitch-black streak shot through the air like a meteor, grabbing the Emerald Swan by the throat and lifting her into the sky.
"That human!" ×5
The five remaining ferocious beasts roared in unison, their killing intent practically manifesting into solid form.
Yet Qian Renhan remained completely unfazed. With his fingers clamped around Bi Ji's neck, he said coolly, "I was waiting for you."
When it came to emotions, soul beasts were even more sincere than humans. That meant they were hopeless romantics. So with Di Tian falling from the sky near death, it was inevitable that Bi Ji and Zi Ji would rush to catch him. Qian Renhan simply waited like a hunter lying in ambush.
As expected, when Zi Ji saw Bi Ji captured, her first instinct wasn't to save her, but to support Di Tian's falling dragon body.
Bi Ji glared icily and demanded, "Human, what are you trying to do?!"
"What I'm doing? Do you really need to ask?"
Qian Renhan smiled faintly. The last of his soul power surged into his hand. Bi Ji immediately felt her spirit power being drawn from her body like a receding tide.
Qian Renhan siphoned away her soul power—ninety-nine percent of it went directly to healing his wounds. The final sliver was stored in his dantian.
After his battle with Di Tian, Qian Renhan was close to death. He had to rely on Bi Ji, the continent's top-tier healer. If she wouldn't help him voluntarily, then he'd just take her power by force. It didn't matter if she wanted to kill him—what mattered was that her soul power was being used to mend his broken body.
Under the influence of Bi Ji's pure and abundant green energy, the dead flesh on Qian Renhan's body began to slough off like the bark of an old tree, revealing bones beneath that were still covered in deep cracks.
"Bi Ji!"
Xiong Jun roared. Who didn't love a good healer—even him, a hot-tempered Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear, couldn't deny it.
Bi Ji shouted furiously, "Xiong Jun, kill me along with this human!"
"Don't hesitate! This human is stealing my soul power to recover. If he regains his strength, all of us will be finished! Do it—now!"
The moment her words fell, a flash of dark gold light erupted. Xiong Jun transformed into a tall, muscular middle-aged man.
This was his human form. While not as strong as his original beast form, it was far more agile than his bulky physique.
Xiong Jun shot forward, golden light gathering in his right hand and forming into a massive bear claw.
"Sky-Rending Claw!"
The colossal claw came crashing down. As it passed, even the space around it groaned and cracked.
The Sky-Rending Claw had the power to tear space itself. However, since Xiong Jun was in his human form and lacked the mountainous weight of his beast body, its destructive power was on par with the original form's Darkgolden Terrorclaw.
With a sudden shudder of his body, Qian Renhan moved a hundred meters in an instant, narrowly evading the attack.
"I already told you—you're far too clumsy, bear. Trying to hit me is a complete waste of effort."
(End of Chapter)