"Defeat me, and you can do whatever the hell you want!"
Inside the grand hall, the moment Chen Xiaoming stepped outside, Xiao Xun'er saw a glimpse of the man he once was—the fearless soul who fought the heavens and defied the earth, striking down whoever stood in his path.
He had been dormant for so long that Xiao Xun'er nearly forgot that side of him. But now, with that shameless line tossed out, painful memories she'd tried to bury came flooding back.
As Xiao Xun'er drifted into her memories, the Soul Emperor, hovering mid-air, froze upon hearing Chen Xiaoming's words. His gaze grew oddly wary, his eyes gleaming with sudden realization.
With a slight tap of his foot, he instantly retreated. And deep within his pupils—there was a flicker of fear.
Inside the hall, Gu Yuan, Lei Ying, and the others were stunned. They couldn't comprehend why the Soul Emperor, a being of such power, would show fear. Could Chen Xiaoming truly be that formidable?
Their confusion didn't last long.
Just ahead, the Soul Emperor's figure halted, his eyes glinting with a chilling murderous intent—yet also seething with disgust.
"I refuse!"
The words left his lips like ice. Black mist surged from within him, instantly swallowing the surrounding space.
His voice, infused with Dou Qi, echoed through the void. Those three simple words left the bystanders baffled. But Chen Xiaoming only narrowed his eyes, understanding instantly. The silver radiance within him erupted.
"You bastard, Hun Tiandi, I'll beat you to death!"
The roar exploded from his mouth. His internal Dou Qi surged wildly as both the Soulfruit of Douluo and the Shrouding Dragonfruit activated at full force. Fury blazed in his eyes as golden Dou Qi roared around him, transforming into nine flying golden dragons. Their roars thundered across the heavens.
Suddenly, a terrifying energy storm burst forth, tearing through the surrounding void. The space trembled violently. Gu Yuan and Lei Ying exchanged glances, utterly clueless as to why these two titans had begun battling over just a few words.
"This is bad."
Watching the space fissures forming outside the hall, Gu Yuan's heart skipped a beat. This was the Gu Realm, after all—and these were two Peak Nine-Star Dou Saints. A full-blown clash might be too much for even this place to withstand.
He immediately channeled his battle qi, reinforcing the surrounding space to prevent the battle's shockwaves from spreading through the Ancient Realm.
Seeing this, Lei Ying and Yan Jin also moved, lending their power to help contain the spatial rupture.
Above the void, Chen Xiaoming's aura exploded. Nine golden dragons coiled around his body, and behind him, a colossal silver silhouette took shape—towering, divine, wielding a radiant silver spear.
On the opposite end, the Soul Emperor's fury boiled over at Chen Xiaoming's sudden aggression. Black mist surged violently from within him, and his titanic battle qi spread across the skies.
A dreadful, oppressive aura swallowed the battlefield whole. The void in the Ancient Realm quaked under the strain, and the once-sprawling mountains below were blasted into desolation.
"Boom!"
With a single step, Chen Xiaoming shot forth like a comet. His energy no longer traveled as light—it tore through the void like a sun blazing across the sky, raking open a massive spatial rift.
Each burst of movement exploded with thunderous booms. Watching from afar, Gu Yuan and the others felt a chill in their hearts—the deafening roar was like the heavens collapsing.
"Boom!"
As they reeled from Chen Xiaoming's display of power, the Soul Emperor responded. His black mist swelled until it shrouded the entire battlefield. Then—it converged.
In an instant, it formed a monstrous black hole, a vortex of annihilation, hundreds of meters wide, suspended above the battleground. It descended directly toward the charging Chen Xiaoming.
Like the coming of the apocalypse, darkness consumed everything. All matter seemed to vanish. Lei Ying and the others watched from a distance, their expressions grim. The pressure was overwhelming.
Though an Eight-Star Dou Saint and a Nine-Star Dou Saint were only a single level apart—the gulf was immense.
Lei Ying knew: caught in an attack like that, even a single blow would leave him shattered.
"Screee!"
But unlike Lei Ying, Gu Yuan kept his eyes on the battlefield. A piercing dragon's roar rang out, followed by an explosion of dazzling golden light. Nine golden dragons soared, piercing through the darkness.
"BOOM!"
Like fireworks in the pitch-black night, the dragons streaked through the gloom. A silver brilliance burst forth, scattering the shadows and bathing the battlefield in radiance.
Everyone looked up.
Above the battlefield, the colossal black hole loomed—devouring everything. But Chen Xiaoming's silver glow burst forth in defiance. Behind him, the divine silver silhouette stood tall, radiating light. The nine golden dragons merged into his spear, transforming into golden dragon sigils along its length.
"Battle!"
Chen Xiaoming stood tall, fearless, majestic.
With a step, his body merged into the giant projection. In that moment, the avatar opened its eyes—twin silver beams of divine light shot upward, piercing the void toward the descending black hole.
The silver spear danced, ripping through space. Even the Ancient Realm's sturdy space barrier couldn't withstand the onslaught. Energy of the space element burst forth, tearing the entire battlefield asunder.
"So… this is the power of a Nine-Star Dou Saint?"
A Dou Saint from the Lei Clan murmured in awe. The spectacle shook him to his core. They themselves couldn't even scratch the fabric of space—but Chen Xiaoming had shattered it.
This level of battle was sheer madness. If he were thrown into that fray now, just one aftershock would annihilate him.
"Break!"
Within the chaos, Chen Xiaoming's projection made its move. The silver spear spun, then shot directly at the descending black hole.
A beam of silver light ripped through the heavens, following behind the divine silver rays.
"Devour!"
From within the black hole, the Soul Emperor's voice thundered. The colossal void vortex erupted with dark energy, consuming everything around it.
"Bang!"
The twin beams of divine silver light struck the black hole dead on. The black mist churned violently as the opposing force made it tremble.
"This isn't good."
The Soul Emperor instantly sensed something was wrong—but before he could react, the silver spear's light had already reached him.
It pierced straight through the heart of the black hole—striking with unstoppable force.
"Explode!"
A visceral sense of dread surged forth—Soul Emperor made no hesitation. In an instant, he detonated the black hole. A terrifying wave of energy erupted like a storm, tearing open gashes of spatial rifts across the battlefield's void.
The entire battlefield fractured like a shattered mirror, breaking into countless jagged shards, devastation spreading in every direction.
As the black hole collapsed, a silver spear light burst forth, piercing through the void. In a flash, it shattered the spatial barrier of the Gu Realm, unleashing a blinding brilliance. Above the Gu Realm, a pitch-black spatial gateway was torn open in an instant.
Silver light flickered within Chen Xiaoming's eyes. He stared toward a rift in the shattered void. The aura within his body surged as he let out an involuntary murmur of awe:
"Bold indeed… to dare show yourself again!"
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