After exchanging several blows with the Devil Bear Douluo, Yang Xiong's muscles felt as though they were on the verge of being crushed flat.
Gritting his teeth, Yang Xiong activated his fourth soul ring, unleashing his fourth soul skill: Dragon Elephant Steel Body.
Normally, using two enhancement-type soul skills simultaneously would consume an immense amount of soul power. When Yang Xiong had dared to use two enhancement skills against Huyan Zhen in the past, it was because the situation had been secure, and he had absolute confidence in Yang Wudi.
But now, the situation was extremely perilous. Countless black-clad enemies surrounded him, and no one would come to his aid.
After activating Dragon Elephant Steel Body, Yang Xiong's muscles, bones, and even every drop of blood in his body seemed to harden and boil with energy.
At the same time, multiple beams of light surged into Yang Xiong's body. Turning his head, he saw Ning Fengzhi using the Eight Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda to assist him.
Yang Xiong's confidence soared. When he clashed with the Devil Bear Douluo again, for the first time, the Devil Bear Douluo was forced back. The battle began to gradually balance out, and Yang Xiong was no longer at such a disadvantage.
Of course, throughout this battle, the true key factor was the Killing God Domain.
Under the influence of the Killing God Domain, even a Title Douluo like the Devil Bear Douluo experienced some suppression of his soul power, while Yang Xiong gained a significant boost in attack power within its influence.
The two fought fiercely, their battle shaking heaven and earth. Yang Xiong's entire mind seemed consumed by the fight—a desperate struggle, a refusal to yield under any circumstances.
If the rest of the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect echoed with the sounds of slaughter, then the clash between Yang Xiong and the Devil Bear Douluo was a pure collision of raw power.
With each strike, the ground beneath them cracked, and their overwhelming auras forced everyone nearby to retreat.
As the battle continued, the Devil Bear Douluo grew increasingly enraged. He couldn't believe he had been held up by a mere child from the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect—it was utterly humiliating.
Roaring furiously, the Devil Bear Douluo activated his second soul ring. In an instant, his hands transformed into bear claws, and his attack power surged significantly—this was his second soul skill: Ferocious Rend.
With a single swipe, Yang Xiong's Xuanming Armor suffered a heavy blow, cracking all over. This demonstrated the terrifying ability of the Devil Bear Douluo's attack to penetrate defenses, even tearing through them with incredible force.
Ignoring the impact on his body, Yang Xiong's hands transformed into dragon claws, swiping toward the Devil Bear Douluo. In that moment, his claws expanded, appearing even more fearsome than before.
This was Yang Xiong's external soul bone skill, Explosive Dragon Claws. Over the years, the evolution of his ice-and-fire dragon claws had surpassed the 30,000-year level. Each claw now radiated both ice and fire energy, making their power far more devastating.
Yang Xiong unleashed his full strength, breaking through the Devil Bear Douluo's attack and landing a direct hit on his arms.
Even with the Devil Bear Douluo's formidable strength and defense, he sustained severe injuries. Two ghastly gashes appeared on his arms—one glowing fiery red, the other icy blue. The two energies surged through his body like clinging parasites, wreaking havoc.
This was the first time Yang Xiong had injured the Devil Bear Douluo, achieved through sheer power and relentless attack.
Enraged, the Devil Bear Douluo immediately activated his first soul skill: Devil Bear Strength. His skin turned a hardened brown, and both his strength and defense increased dramatically.
But Yang Xiong showed no fear, trading blows with the Devil Bear Douluo in a flurry of punches and claw strikes.
In that moment, Yang Xiong seemed to forget the war raging around the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect, and forgot the chaos of the battlefield. Like a ferocious beast, he relentlessly resisted the Devil Bear Douluo.
In just a few short minutes, the two exchanged countless attacks. Their bodies were riddled with wounds. Even the indomitable Devil Bear Douluo seemed to have suffered repeated heavy blows.
By comparison, Yang Xiong fared even worse. His Xuanming Armor had completely shattered, leaving only his ribs protected. Several of the claws on his ice-and-fire dragon claws had been smashed, and the dragon scales covering his hands had crumbled into fragments.
His body was covered in countless wounds, as if every muscle had been battered. It was unclear how many bones had been broken.
Seeing that neither side showed signs of backing down, Yang Xiong activated his second soul skill: Golden Heart. A special energy surged through his body, and endless vitality flowed from the Blue Silver Emperor soul bone in his right leg. Under the combined effects of these two forces, his broken bones and wounds began to heal rapidly.
The Devil Bear Douluo, meanwhile, displayed his brute strength: "Brat, you've got plenty of tricks, but they're nothing compared to absolute power."
"I've only used two low-level soul skills, and you're already struggling. Now, let me show you what true strength looks like."
The Devil Bear Douluo, at soul power level 95 with the martial soul Blood Devil Mad Bear, was a pure power-type soul master. His attack, defense, and explosive power were all exceptional.
In terms of attributes, the Blood Devil Mad Bear resembled Zhao Wuji's Vigorous Vajra Bear, but it seemed even more ferocious and bloodthirsty.
Especially in terms of attacks, each of the Devil Bear Douluo's soul skills seemed to emphasize offensive power.
As the battle dragged on, Yang Xiong noticed that the Devil Bear Douluo seemed to grow stronger with every exchange, almost as if he were entering a berserk state. Purely in terms of strength, among all the soul masters Yang Xiong had encountered, perhaps only Tang Hao and Elder Bone Douluo surpassed him.
Suddenly, the massive Blood Devil Mad Bear let out an earth-shaking roar. Hundreds of meters around were shaken by its presence, especially soul masters with beast martial souls, who seemed even more affected.
This was the Devil Bear Douluo's fifth soul skill, a ten-thousand-year soul skill: Mad Bear Roar.
This move was akin to a sonic wave attack, accompanied by a mental assault.
Yang Xiong felt a splitting headache, as if a colossal bear shadow sought to crash into his spiritual sea.
Ignoring the pain in his head, Yang Xiong emitted an endless blue glow from his forehead. This was the head soul bone skill of the Blue Silver King: Endless Spiritual Power.
After the surge of blue light, Yang Xiong's mind became crystal clear. The surrounding battles and chaos seemed to slow down, and his thoughts raced at an extraordinary speed. He could see more details of the fight, especially in the air, where a massive, spectral Blood Devil Mad Bear loomed—likely a manifestation of the Devil Bear Douluo's soul ring skill's released mental energy.
Seeing the spectral Blood Devil Mad Bear drawing closer, Yang Xiong's eyes turned crimson. A beam of red light shot toward the spectral bear, brimming with an aura of slaughter so intense it seemed capable of tearing apart any foe.
This was Yang Xiong's Asura Divine Light from the Purple Extreme Demon Eye. With the Killing God Domain gradually integrating into his body and martial soul, the Asura Divine Light seemed to resonate with the Killing God Domain, becoming even more terrifying in power.
Under Yang Xiong's full-force attack, the Asura Divine Light reduced the spectral Blood Devil Mad Bear to ashes. The crimson aura of slaughter surged along the Devil Bear Douluo's soul skill's phantom form, directly assaulting his brain.
The Devil Bear Douluo let out a piercing scream, blood streaming from his eyes as he clutched his head and roared in agony.
Clearly, Yang Xiong's Asura Divine Light had inflicted severe damage on the Devil Bear Douluo. On the entire continent of Douluo, there were very few mental-type attack skills, let alone self-created ones.
However, after sustaining this injury, the Devil Bear Douluo seemed to grow even more frenzied. His power surged further, as did his bloodlust.
But Yang Xiong showed no weakness. His blood-red eyes glowed with intensity, as if he had returned to Slaughter City, determined to defeat his enemy at all costs.
…
While Yang Xiong's battle with the Devil Bear Douluo remained intense, the tide of the overall battle within the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect began to turn.
The Spirit Hall's greatest advantage lay in its four Title Douluos and ten thousand elite soul masters, all carefully selected and possessing above-average combat abilities.
In contrast, the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect boasted five thousand soul masters, but ten percent of its members were away on missions.
Moreover, the sect's personnel were diverse, comprising various types of soul masters—not just auxiliary Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda users, but also food-based and control-type soul masters. Some, like Sun Yu, had extremely poor attack and defense capabilities and lacked supportive or controlling abilities altogether.
Over the years, Ning Fengzhi had invested heavily in cultivating soul masters and recruiting wandering cultivators and small soul master families to strengthen the sect.
However, not all of these individuals were loyal to the sect or willing to fight to the death. Some fled at critical moments, and if the enemy couldn't be repelled, the sect risked total collapse.
This was the gap between the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect and the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan or the Hao Tian Sect. The latter two sects maintained stricter hierarchies, with members bound by martial souls and bloodlines. Betrayal was almost nonexistent, and when attacked, everyone fought back fiercely, as the sect was their home.
For members of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan or the Hao Tian Sect, running away during a crisis offered no escape. While they might survive temporarily, their martial souls were impossible to conceal. Once they fled, their nightmare would truly begin, as they'd lose the support of teammates and family, and those they had wronged would surely take revenge.
Unfortunately, the Spirit Hall's calculations were severely flawed, and their intelligence contained significant errors.
Ning Fengzhi had now reached level 86, with an enhancement ability of up to ninety percent. Previously, at level 79, his enhancement ability had been only eighty percent—a substantial increase.
Moreover, after adding his eighth soul ring, Ning Fengzhi gained a new enhancement ability in addition to the original seven, marking a qualitative leap in his powers.
Sword Douluo had reached level 97, allowing him to easily restrain Snake Spear Douluo while occasionally unleashing a rain of swords to attack the encircling Spirit Hall soul masters. Even under siege, his attacks proved highly effective.
Bone Douluo could focus on protecting Ning Fengzhi while intermittently attacking enemy Soul Douluos or Soul Sages. He moved unpredictably across the battlefield, striking suddenly and vanishing just as quickly.
The most miscalculated aspect for the Spirit Hall was the addition of four new Title Douluo-level experts to the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect.
Though Yang Xiong's soul power level was relatively low, his combat prowess was astonishing, enabling him to hold his own against the Devil Bear Douluo.
Ling Yuan Douluo was being restrained by the Dragon-Serpent couple. Purely in terms of combat strength, the martial soul fusion technique of Dragon Duke and Serpent Grandmother surpassed Ling Yuan Douluo's abilities. However, Ling Yuan Douluo's flight capability and speed allowed him to maintain a stalemate.
Yang Wudi's combat strength was equally remarkable. Though he hadn't yet reached Title Douluo level, he held his ground firmly against Porcupinefish Douluo. With the sharpness of his Soul-Breaking Spear, he even managed to gain a slight advantage.
It was important to note that Porcupinefish Douluo was the Spirit Hall's deadliest weapon among its ten thousand soul masters. His martial soul, the Spiny Blood Pufferfish, was highly toxic and capable of inflicting massive casualties even without using soul skills.
In the original storyline, Bone Douluo harbored deep hatred for Porcupinefish Douluo because of the countless lives he had taken from the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect.
But the most terrifying figure on the battlefield was Dugu Bo. The colossal Jade Phosphorous Snake Emperor weaved through countless black-clad enemies without even needing to activate soul skills. Periodically exhaling green vapors from its mouth, it decimated large groups of Spirit Hall soul masters instantly.
The disciples of the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect were quick to summon the Eight Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda to amplify Dugu Bo's abilities. This caused his attributes to skyrocket, and his consumption seemed negligible compared to the benefits of the amplification.
Dugu Bo: …
At this moment, Dugu Bo was speechless. He had only come to "make a guest appearance", killing ordinary soul masters without even using his soul skills. But with the sect's amplification, he felt as if he were being thrown into the fire.
As the war dragged on, the tide of battle gradually shifted. The effects of the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda's amplification became increasingly evident.
Whether it was Yang Wudi, Dugu Bo, or Dragon Duke Meng Shu, under the amplification of the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda, they could fight without concern for consumption, boldly and recklessly unleashing their full potential.
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