Chapter 59 – The Waltz of Thorns and Blood
The Jialing Canyon transformed into a slaughterhouse in seconds. The three enforcers from the Slaughter City didn't fight with the dignity of spirit masters; they fought like starving ghouls. Their leader, a man known as the Carrion Douluo (Rank 92), unleashed his martial soul: the Blood-Sucking Bat King.
The air turned into a viscous, crimson fog that smelled of rotting meat. "Blood... I need the blood of geniuses to stay young!" he shrieked, his nails lengthening into jagged, rusted claws. His style was vampiric and erratic, lunging at the jugulars of the Imperial Knights, leaving behind shriveled husks where men once stood.
"Disgusting creatures," Yue Guan spat, his flamboyant eyes flashing with a righteous coldness. He didn't just protect the high-ranking masters; he remembered Lakan's vision of a unified continent.
"Eight-Gate Overdrive: x5 Surge!"
Yue Guan's aura exploded into a vibrating violet-crimson. He leaped into the air, his Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum rotating with such speed it became a golden sun in the dark canyon.
"Everyone, get behind me!" Yue Guan commanded. "Sixth Spirit Skill: Golden Barrier of the Thousand Petals!"
Millions of razor-sharp golden petals didn't fly out to attack; they wove together, creating a massive, shimmering dome that covered not just the Shrek carriage, but the Blazing Academy, Godwind, and even the smallest, unranked schools. The petals acted as a filter, purifying the Carrion Douluo's poisonous blood-mist.
Contrastingly, Tang San didn't look at the other students. His eyes were fixed only on Xiao Wu. He used his Blue Silver Grass to pull her close, ignoring the cries of a student from a minor academy nearby who was being swiped at by a Blood-Enforcer. In Tang San's mind, only his "family" mattered.
"There! The bird of fire!" one of the Enforcers, a Rank 89 Spirit Douluo, spotted Ma Hongjun's Phoenix flames. Misinterpreting the Godly Prophecy, he assumed the fatty was the threat to the Heavens.
The Enforcer lunged, his body turning into a liquid stream of blood. Ma Hongjun let out a yelp, his Phoenix Cry Sky Strike failing to penetrate the liquid defense.
"Fatty!" Tang San roared. Desperate and seeing the Enforcer about to pierce Ma Hongjun's heart, Tang San reached for his newest toy. "Torrential Pear Blossom Needle, fire!"
The mechanical device roared. Twenty-seven silver needles, propelled by high-pressure soul power and guided by Tang San's stolen Distraction Heart Control, tore through the air.
CRACK.
The needles hit the Enforcer, but because Tang San hadn't accounted for the refractive index of the Carrion Douluo's blood-mist, the needles deflected.
"AGH!" A cry of pain came not from the enemy, but from a student of the Godwind Academy standing ten yards away. A silver needle had buried itself in the boy's thigh, the paralyzing poison instantly turning his leg black.
"Tang San! What are you doing?!" Feng Xiaotian yelled, seeing his teammate collapse from "friendly" fire.
"I... I was trying to save him!" Tang San shouted back, his face pale, but he didn't stop to help. He was too busy reloading, his "Heroic" image cracking under the pressure of his own untested inventions.
The Blood Sacrifice and the Adarna's Song
Seeing their prey protected by Yue Guan and Chen Xin, the three Evil Titled Douluos gathered. "The King wants the Phoenix! Forbidden Art: River of the Damned!"
They slashed their own wrists, pouring their Rank 90+ blood into the ground. The canyon floor turned into a literal river of gore that began to dissolve Yue Guan's golden petals. Chen Xin's swords were being weighed down by the sheer Grief and Evil imbued in the blood. The atmosphere grew heavy, a spiritual pressure that threatened to crush the hearts of the younger students.
Then, the world went silent.
From the direction of Wuhun City, hundreds of miles away, a sound arrived. It wasn't a loud explosion, it was a frequency, a crystalline, divine melody that resonated with the very fabric of space. It's sound is melodic and beautiful to the ears.
The Adarna's Song!
The "Psychic Shockwave" hit the canyon. To the students of the Martial Soul Hall, it felt like a warm embrace. To the Evil Soul Masters, it was a physical hammer of purity. The "River of the Damned" instantly evaporated into white steam. The Carrion Douluo let out a scream, clutching his ears as his very soul felt like it was being "re-tuned" by a force he couldn't comprehend.
The resonance stabilized the battlefield, neutralizing the evil domains. It was a clear message from Lakan: I am watching.
"That sound..." the Carrion Douluo hissed, his body smoking from the divine vibration. "That is no fire phoenix... that is something else. Retreat! We must tell the King!"
The Evil Soul Masters vanished into the shadows of the canyon walls as quickly as they had appeared.
The canyon returned to a deathly quiet. Yue Guan landed, his Overdrive fading, his face slightly pale. He looked at the injured student from Godwind—the one Tang San had accidentally shot—and walked over, using his own soul power to neutralize the poison.
"You call yourself a genius," Yue Guan said, looking over his shoulder at Tang San with utter disgust. "But your weapons are as sloppy as your soul. You almost killed an ally while trying to play the savior. Go back to your carriage, boy. You're an embarrassment to the title of Spirit Master."
Tang San stood there, his hands trembling, the Pear Blossom Needle feeling like a lead weight. He looked at the Godwind student, then at the grateful looks the other academies were giving Yue Guan. The Martial Soul Hall were the heroes today. He was just the boy who missed.