At this moment—Daluo City—
Though the city's name sounded grand, it had no connection to the legendary "Great Luo Immortal" from other worlds. The name was simply derived from the fact that the city's first mayor was surnamed Luo. Believing the city to be vast and under his control, he decided to call it Daluo City.
However, time and circumstances had changed. The descendants of that original Luo mayor were long gone, no longer the masters of this city.
Moreover, Daluo City wasn't a first-tier metropolis. On the contrary, among the major cities in the Star Luo Region, it ranked near the bottom.
The current overseer of this city was Cheng Gang, the former Guardian Douluo of the Star Luo Empire.
Yes, the same "genius" who, in the normal timeline of The Peerless Tang Sect, mistakenly believed Huo Yuhao was a 100,000-year soul beast.
While all the core disciples and Super Douluo of Shrek Academy failed to recognize Huo Yuhao as a spirit-formed beast, this "brilliant" individual thought he had figured it out.
His title was "Giant Strength," just as simple and brutal as his personality.
His martial soul was the Ant Emperor—a rare insect-type soul beast martial soul—ironically possessed by such an incompetent individual.
Cheng Gang's soul ring configuration was laughably weak: two yellow rings, three purple rings, and four black rings.
If he had been born in the Douluo Continent of ten thousand years ago, there was no doubt he would have been a strong contender to dethrone Du Gu Bo as the weakest Title Douluo.
True to form, Cheng Gang was now being pummeled by two Super Douluo until he spat blood. If not for his martial soul's extraordinary exoskeletal defense, he would have already perished.
Even so, Cheng Gang's limbs were shattered, and if not for his martial soul's unique properties, he would have collapsed into a helpless heap on the ground.
But Cheng Gang knew that with only his exoskeletal true body armor keeping him mobile, he was no longer capable of fighting.
Despite having said something similar earlier, Cheng Gang repeated himself:
"Listen up, you two! Reaching the level of a Title Douluo isn't easy. Don't throw your lives away like this! With your strength, you could easily join the Tian Xing Federation. Why follow these useless fools in this rebellion? This is a death sentence! Or how about this—you surrender now, and I'll put in a good word for you. In the future, you could become First-Class Administrators of a major city, enjoying wealth, luxury, fine wine, and beautiful women—everything you could ever want!"
To Cheng Gang's surprise, the two Super Douluo actually stopped their assault, leaving him baffled.
He had said similar things before, but they had immediately attacked him without hesitation. What was going on here?
Cheng Gang's tiny brain began working furiously.
Failing to understand, Cheng Gang could only continue sending frantic distress signals in secret. Whatever happened, stalling them was the right move.
Strangely enough, these two hadn't used their martial souls during their earlier beating of him, which confirmed to Cheng Gang that they were indeed Super Douluo. If they weren't at that level, he wouldn't have been beaten so badly.
One of them was an old man with a thick beard, while the other was a middle-aged man with a clean-shaven face and a muscular build.
The old man now examined Cheng Gang with a sly smile.
"Not bad. Though your strength is pitiful, your spiritual power is undoubtedly at the Title Douluo level. Combined with the immense power granted by your martial soul, you'd make a decent blacksmith apprentice."
The middle-aged man nodded silently, clearly agreeing with the old man's assessment.
At this, the old man chuckled.
"Boy, you gave us two options earlier, so let me give you one now: join our sect and serve us, and we'll spare your life."
Cheng Gang's lips twitched. Was this really how people tried to recruit others? He saw no benefits, only thinly veiled threats.
And why did he feel like he was dealing with a shady employer? Cheng Gang couldn't help but recall his miserable days of hard labor when he was younger.
A wave of nausea rose in his chest, but Cheng Gang forced himself to suppress it. He knew that refusing outright might get him killed on the spot—and he couldn't bear to part with his luxurious lifestyle.
In a rare moment of cleverness, Cheng Gang asked:
"What sect? Which sect are you from?"
It didn't matter whether he joined or not—stalling for time was always the right move. If luck was on his side and reinforcements arrived, he wouldn't just survive but also gather valuable intelligence. Reporting it later would surely earn him a handsome reward!
But these two Super Douluo weren't fools either. They understood the principle that discretion was key to survival.
The old man chuckled. "Don't ask about the sect just yet. Our organization is still amassing strength and can't afford to expose itself. So, what do you say? Will you join us?"
As he spoke, a faint aura of killing intent emanated from the old man—an ominous sign that hadn't been present during their earlier beating of Cheng Gang.
Instantly, the weak and pitiful Cheng Gang broke out in cold sweat. Part of it was from the pain, but the rest came from the sheer terror of the old man's killing intent—it was even more frightening than the 100,000-year soul beasts Cheng Gang had once hunted!
Cheng Gang's resolve wavered, and he was about to blurt out his acceptance.
But just then, a surge of powerful soul force fluctuations erupted in the distance, snapping Cheng Gang back to his senses.
"Good grief—!"
Cheng Gang shuddered at how close he had come to joining a weak rebel organization. After all, the overwhelming strength of the Tian Xing Federation was undeniable.
But at that moment, Cheng Gang realized he could see his own back.
"What?! Have I been decapitated?"
Before he could think further, he plunged into darkness. A Title Douluo had fallen.
The old man watched the middle-aged man's decisive strike with a hint of regret but said nothing. A mere 91-level Title Douluo wasn't worth lamenting over. If anything, it was better to eliminate this pawn before it interfered with the upcoming battle.
At that moment, a chilling voice rang out from above.
"How dare you!!!"
An explosive surge of soul force erupted, and an attack descended from the heavens.
There were no soul skills involved—just pure soul force—but its momentum seemed capable of piercing through the continent itself, striking fear into anyone who witnessed it.
This was the might of a Limit Douluo! A single movement could unleash calamity upon the world!
To ordinary soul masters, the two Super Douluo on the ground were already courting death. Even Super Douluo would struggle to withstand a casual attack from a Limit Douluo.
But at this moment, two equally terrifying soul force fluctuations erupted in response!
Jiang Nan'nan stared in disbelief as her foot struck a massive six-sided hammer.
"This soul force… Limit Douluo—"
Before Jiang Nan'nan could finish her exclamation, another elderly man clad in full black Battle Armor swung a giant hammer toward her with crushing force!
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