If the deaths of Ice Bear, the grave wounding of Heavenly Wolf, and Azure Dragon's "betrayal" were costs Dai Tao could still accept,
then the fact that after one burst from Chu Chengzhou's three summons the royal house immediately lost four more Titled-level Netherworld White Tigers, and the heavily injured Heavenly Wolf was finished off by the "traitor" Azure Dragon, was absolutely unacceptable to Dai Tao.
After all, whether royal elders or imperial marshals, they were the foundation of the empire's existence. With so many experts lost, even if they completed the revenge plan tonight and eliminated Chu Chengzhou, turmoil in the empire would be inevitable.
Now, after finishing another round of executions, Chu Chengzhou kept up the momentum. He drew and nocked, planning to shatter Wind Thunder Douluo, who was trapped in the Gravity Domain and could not break free.
Compared to the four remaining Netherworld White Tigers on the field, Chu Chengzhou intended to take down Tyrannosaurus Douluo and Wind Thunder Douluo first.
This was not just picking soft persimmons.
No one is unafraid of death. Seeing the outcome already decided, the enemy would certainly choose to run.
Netherworld White Tigers are far larger than human spirit masters, and their soul power fluctuations are hard to suppress. Even at a great distance he could still sense their general positions.
Titled Douluo are different. Even without a concealment art, once they put away their martial souls, the soul power they radiate is much weaker than a Netherworld White Tiger of the same level. If they ran a bit farther, he would have trouble sensing their positions.
In other words, if he killed the Netherworld White Tigers first and the enemy began to flee, those two Titled Douluo from Star Luo would very likely escape.
But if he killed the two Titled Douluo first, he still had a chance to wipe out Star Luo's elite entirely.
With that in mind, since he intended to annihilate the incoming foes, Chu Chengzhou naturally chose to deal with the two Titled Douluo first.
"Swoosh swoosh swoosh."
His right hand loosened. With a faint hiss through the air, Flowing Gold Armor-Piercing Arrows infused with fused fire-and-earth soul power burst from the string.
"Puff puff puff."
Three streaks of light flashed. The razor-sharp arrows sank straight into Wind Thunder Douluo's Wind Thunder Leopard Avatar.
In an instant, dense cracks spread across the Avatar.
Although an Avatar carries solid defensive power, Wind Thunder Douluo's strength was ultimately lacking. Before Chu Chengzhou's Sun-shooting Divine Arrow, with dual-element fused soul power and the Flowing Gold Armor-Piercing Arrows, he would not last long.
Suddenly, a furious shout rang out. "Die!"
As one of the continent's top experts, Dai Tao's Netherworld White Tiger could rival an ordinary level-97 Titled Douluo, perhaps even a notch stronger. Bracing against the terrifying gravity, he broke free of the Titan Giant Ape summon Xiao Ming's Gravity Domain.
With the wings behind him beating, the massive Netherworld White Tiger flew to Chu Chengzhou and brought a claw slamming down.
Seeing the claw about to land, Chu Chengzhou had to yield for the moment. He circulated Earth-Leaping Golden Light, his body blasting backward to avoid the strike.
"Roar."
At that moment, with a flash of black, a deafening tiger's roar sounded.
The Dark Devilgod Tiger summon Xiao Hei, which had just broken a Nether White Tiger with a single move, released its evil-tinged Devilgod Domain and moved to meet the Netherworld White Tiger formed by Dai Tao.
A hundred-thousand-year soul beast's power at minimum reaches the level of an ordinary level-95 Titled Douluo. Those adept at fighting can match level 96. The outstanding can rival level 97. With exceptionally strong bloodlines, such as pure-blood dragon clans or Dark Devilgod Tigers, even level 98 is not impossible.
At 110,000 years, Xiao Hei's bloodline was restrained by the True Spirit Banner martial soul, so it was not as strong as a Dark Devilgod Tiger of the same age, but it was still Chu Chengzhou's biggest trump card, bar none.
It might not be able to kill this level-97 Netherworld White Tiger in a short time, but taking the upper hand was no problem.
Excluding the controlled Azure Dragon Douluo, only six enemies remained. The strongest Netherworld White Tiger was pinned by Xiao Hei. Of the rest, one Netherworld White Tiger was at about level 94, two were at the newly advanced nine-ring level, and Tyrannosaurus and Wind Thunder Douluo were all still struggling inside Xiao Ming's Gravity Domain.
With no one free to interfere, the archer Chu Chengzhou had the chance to stand and fire freely.
"Swoosh swoosh swoosh."
"Swoosh swoosh swoosh."
Two more volleys of heavy-hitting, lock-on arrows fell.
The next moment a bang sounded. After taking nine Flowing Gold Armor-Piercing Arrows in succession, Wind Thunder Douluo had his Avatar blown apart by Chu Chengzhou on the spot.
The massive Wind Thunder Leopard Avatar dissipated, revealing the badly wounded Wind Thunder Douluo.
Before Chu Chengzhou could draw again to finish him, Xiong Da lunged with a bear pounce. One bear claw slapped down and popped the Titled Douluo's head like a watermelon.
"Damn it."
Sensing the loss of yet another expert on his side, Dai Tao, hard-pressed under Xiao Hei's relentless assault, cursed inwardly.
He had never imagined Chu Chengzhou would be this formidable.
It was one thing for his own strength to be great. His summons were outrageous.
He was only a seven-ring Soul Sage, yet his three summons, the Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear, the Titan Giant Ape, and this unknown black giant tiger, were all absolute terrors.
Not to mention the bear, both the Titan Giant Ape and this unknown black tiger possessed domain power.
In Dai Tao's experience, beasts with domain power were kings among soul beasts with ages of a hundred thousand years.
Anger flaring, he burst forth and pushed back Xiao Hei's assault a little, then took the opportunity to survey the current battlefield.
After Wind Thunder Douluo's death, Chu Chengzhou had turned his sights on Tyrannosaurus Douluo, who was now being shot so hard by Chu Chengzhou's arrows that he had no way to fight back.
The Netherworld White Tiger formed by the Fifth Elder, Dai Hui, was being throttled by the Titan Giant Ape, pinned and pounded into the ground. The earth all around shook without stop, as if an earth dragon were turning over.
The Netherworld White Tiger formed by the Sixth Elder, Dai Li, was also in dire straits under the Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear's assault.
If the Titan Giant Ape and the Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear had not already burst once and could no longer use their terrifying innate skills again for the moment, the royal house would have lost two more elders already.
The Seventh Elder, Dai Pan, was in the best shape. Although the "traitor" Azure Dragon was thrashing him with the Azure Dragon Staff, below level 95 the gaps between ranks were not so large, and the Netherworld White Tiger's toughness was decent, so he could still hold out for now.
He himself, the strongest, was being suppressed by this black tiger summon with its evil aura, while in the other four fronts one of his sides was at a disadvantage and the other three were on the brink. Collapse was imminent.
"Retreat!"
Knowing the outcome for tonight was decided, and that continuing would only mean total annihilation for his side, Dai Tao, hatred surging but still with a shred of reason, threw back his head and roared.
T/N: For up to 30 chapters ahead on my translations, become a p@tron at [email protected]/LordHipposApostle