"To be able to withstand my attack with just Seven-Star Dou Ancestor strength… I must admit, you do have the right to be proud."
The white-robed elder looked at Lin Ran, whose expression had grown grave. A faint smile played on his lips, yet his body suddenly leaned forward slightly—like a wild beast poised to devour its prey.
"Unfortunately, I don't have the time to toy with you. Once I finish you off, I still have to return to report to the young lady. Although Ling Ying is just a minor Dou King, he was still her personal guard."
The white-robed elder chuckled faintly. As his foot lightly tapped the ground, space began to ripple—and in the blink of an eye, he vanished.
The moment he disappeared, Lin Ran's pupils contracted violently. He abruptly sensed a withered hand piercing out from the void beside him, silently emerging as if from thin air, reaching straight for his throat.
That hand bore no visible Dou Qi, but wherever it passed, the air trembled and space screamed.
Dou Venerate-level power had already reached the realm of spatial manipulation. These experts could crush a foe to death by collapsing space itself.
Faced with this sudden ambush, Lin Ran's face tightened. He rapidly retreated, and his golden sword cleaved through the air in an explosive arc.
"Sacred Yang Sword Force!"
With a fierce cry, Lin Ran's blade turned into a brilliant streak of golden light and slashed heavily toward the withered palm.
Yet despite the vicious force behind the Dou Technique, when it landed on the elder's hand, it only made him pause slightly before an invisible force dispersed the attack. In the next instant, the white-robed elder accelerated, appearing before Lin Ran in a flash and casually striking out at his chest.
This palm was fast—so fast that even though Lin Ran's spiritual sense detected the incoming blow, he had no time to dodge.
At this critical moment, Lin Ran could only grit his teeth and raise his sword defensively.
"Clang!"
The withered palm gently struck the golden sword. A crisp metallic ring echoed through the air.
The collision changed Lin Ran's expression instantly. That skeletal hand, seemingly fragile and bony, weighed like a mountain. At the moment of contact, cracks spread wildly across the Pure Yang sword, forged of condensed Dou Qi.
It sounded like glass shattering.
"Crack! Crack!"
From the elder's hand erupted a terrifying force, shattering the sword in an instant. Lin Ran was blasted backward like a cannonball.
The elder, clearly not one to show mercy, raised his palm again the moment Lin Ran was flung away.
As Dou Qi surged, a dazzling emerald glow emanated from his palm. The light expanded outward, forming a strange crystalline green imprint that spread like vines along his palm. In just a second, a palm-sized crystal imprint had completely coated his hand.
Dark lines veined the imprint, and from within it surged an overwhelming spatial force that made the air tremble. The space surrounding the imprint cracked and split into jagged fissures of darkness.
"Subduing Earth Seal!"
The white-robed elder whispered coldly, curving his thumb and thrusting his palm forward. The emerald seal left his hand, transforming into a streak of green crystal light and shooting toward Lin Ran like a bolt of lightning.
"The Imperial Seal Art…"
Lin Ran's pupils narrowed. Just as he prepared to dodge, he was shocked to find that the surrounding space had frozen like solid ice—he couldn't move at all.
This wasn't Dou Qi suppression.
This was space imprisonment!
"Arrogant brat. It's over."
The white-robed elder wore a calm smile.
Lin Ran stared at the incoming crystal light, feeling the horrifying energy within it. His expression grew more and more serious.
The Imperial Seal Art may have been an Earth-Tier Dou Technique, and the Subduing Earth Seal only the third layer, but everything depended on the one who wielded it.
In the hands of a Dou Venerate, the Subduing Earth Seal's power had been pushed to its peak. It had the power to tear mountains asunder, overturn oceans, and devour the heavens.
Space had already been sealed—dodging was no longer an option.
If that's the case...
Lin Ran raised his palm. His Dou Qi surged violently. Facing the incoming Subduing Earth Seal, an endless golden radiance erupted from his hand. In the next moment, a palm imprint even more brilliant than the sun in the sky burst forth.
With a dominance that could not be resisted, it clashed toward the incoming seal.
"Great Sun Sacred Yang Palm!"
"What?!"
The elder's brow twitched slightly as he stared at the golden imprint, which shone brighter than the sky's sun.
"A Heaven-Tier Dou Technique… this boy really has some terrifying foundations."
As his words fell, the elder's sleeves flared. His hands moved like lightning, forming seals in a blur. His Dou Qi surged like a flood through his meridians.
"Mountain-Crushing Seal!"
"Sea-Turning Seal!"
Two palm imprints shot forward, stacking atop the previous Subduing Earth Seal. The triple-layered light exploded outward, creating a terrifying glow. Each imprint layered upon the last, emitting overwhelming power that tore the surrounding space into black cracks.
Even with all three seals combined, they only barely matched the radiant might of Lin Ran's Great Sun Sacred Yang Palm.
The elder flicked his palm. The crystalline seal trembled, leaving a long tail of light as it streaked through the sky.
In the blink of an eye, it collided head-on with the crimson-gold palm.
Boom!
Two palm imprints—equal in size and momentum—slammed into each other in front of countless stunned eyes. A deafening explosion echoed through the heavens.
Bang!
As the two Dou Techniques collided, a terrifying ripple of energy swept out like a tidal wave. At the center of the blast, space caved inward, forming a massive black void. The abyssal darkness at its core chilled the hearts of all who saw it.
Within that collapse, the crimson-gold and green-crystal palms released dazzling rays of light. Violent energy surged madly, each force trying to devour the other like two enraged beasts.
"What a tyrannical Heaven-Tier Dou Technique!"
A faint trace of seriousness finally appeared on the elder's face.
To think that with Lin Ran's current level, this technique was enough to make him feel a hint of danger. Though minor, it was real.
To threaten a Dou Venerate with Dou Ancestor strength—that was an achievement worthy of pride.
The power was indeed impressive, but to defeat a Dou Venerate on power alone was far from enough.
"Shhh!"
The two palm imprints—one crimson-gold, one emerald—continued to clash violently. But at a certain moment, both their lights extinguished almost simultaneously, like two flames suddenly snuffed out.
The energy storm that had been roaring a second earlier also vanished.
Then, in the stunned silence that followed, the white-robed elder's hand clenched suddenly in Lin Ran's direction.
The space around Lin Ran twisted and collapsed!
Controlling space. Collapsing space.
This was the Dou Venerate's true weapon.
(End of Chapter)