Bibi Dong's expression changed drastically as she watched the Light Sphere hurtling toward the spectator stands. With a flash of purple light, she, Chrysanthemum Douluo, and Ghost Douluo sprang into action almost simultaneously, rushing toward the stands to intercept it. At the same time, four other figures shot out from hidden locations, and with Yang Wudi and Dugu Bo already in the stands, a total of nine Titled Douluo moved to meet the aftermath of the battlefield.
Boom—
Blank. The minds of all Soul Masters below level 70 went completely blank. The deafening roar, akin to divine retribution, caused the entire Martial Soul City to tremble violently.
The nine figures suspended in mid-air exerted their full power to maintain a protective barrier of Soul Power, but the other spectators were not so lucky; everyone was shivering in the face of the sudden, terrifying pressure.
Fortunately, they succeeded in blocking the cataclysmic explosion created by the two combatants, otherwise, Martial Soul Hall would have lost both face and reputation today. One had to realize that the sects participating in this Seven Sects Championship were all supporters of Martial Soul Hall's grand cause; if they suffered heavy losses during the selection, it would be a massive disaster.
The massive Light Sphere persisted for a full half-minute before gradually fading away.
At the epicenter of the explosion, the entire plaza had sunk more than a hundred meters, yet two figures still remained within.
Yun Ming had changed his attire, now wearing armor missing its right arm—this was his Spirit Bone Battle Armor.
After the initial three spirit bones, Yun Ming had crafted his Battle Armor using the Clear Sky Sect's time-attribute inheritance Head Spirit Bone, another Sky-Fleeing Falcon Left Arm Bone, and the Mountain Sea Dragon Turtle Torso Bone given to him by Ao Tian. He was only one step away from completing the final set.
However, using the Battle Armor this time was different from the last; the incomplete spirit bone armor was still at the one-word level, and for the current Yun Ming, its utility was extremely limited, so it could only be used to block sword strikes.
Yun Ming's Spirit Bone Battle Armor was covered in countless crisscrossing sword marks, and he gripped the Atlas Divine Spear, which was thrust into the ground, to support his body.
His opponent, Chen Xin, was in no better shape. His clothes were torn in many places, his white robes stained with blood, and he leaned on his Seven Kill Sword to steady himself, his aura unstable.
Yun Ming glanced at Chen Xin, who was heavily injured but clearly still capable of fighting, and sighed inwardly. Having lived in peace for so many years, he had fought too few high-level matches; he had been a bit careless after all, otherwise, it should have been over by now.
With both Dual Soul Cores exerting force, countless amounts of heaven and earth spiritual energy swarmed toward Yun Ming, rapidly filling the void in his Soul Power. In just a moment, Yun Ming had largely shaken off the weakness caused by the massive drain of his energy.
Yun Ming steadied his internal breath, retracted his riddled Battle Armor, pulled the Atlas Divine Spear from the ground, and said to the heavily panting Chen Xin:
"Senior, shall we continue?"
Seeing Yun Ming adjust so quickly, Chen Xin was shocked by his recovery speed. He, a Super Douluo, hadn't even caught his breath yet, and his opponent had already stabilized?! Chen Xin's perception of Yun Ming's monstrous nature was refreshed once again.
However, this was normal; the recovery ability of a Soul Douluo with Dual Soul Cores was something few people in later generations could even comprehend, let alone Chen Xin.
Chen Xin straightened his body, the remaining Soul Power in his body circulating through his limbs, and his aura began to rise once more. He raised his Seven Kill Sword, intending to clash with Yun Ming again, but while Chen Xin could hold on, others could not.
Just as Chen Xin was about to respond, the light of amplification on his body cut off directly. His aura, which had just begun to climb, reversed and plummeted to the bottom. A wave of intense weakness washed over him, and the sudden change caused Chen Xin's hand gripping the sword to soften involuntarily.
Only then did Yun Ming and Chen Xin remember that there were two others nearby! They turned their heads and saw that where Ning Fengzhi had been, there was now a pitch-black mountain of bones covered in cracks.
Looking at the smoking, fractured bone mountain, Chen Xin lost the desire to continue fighting; he was now more worried about his sect master's condition.
"Bang, bang, bang."
The bone mountain shook, and countless bone fragments of various sizes clattered to the ground, revealing a pale, scholarly-looking middle-aged man—the Sect Master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, Ning Fengzhi.
"Fengzhi!"
Chen Xin retracted his Martial Soul and arrived at Ning Fengzhi's side, helping the man who had collapsed to the ground to sit up before checking him for injuries.
Ning Fengzhi was extremely weak at this moment, completely unable to resist Chen Xin, and could only let him check, speaking feebly:
"Sword Uncle, don't worry! I'm not hurt, just a bit drained of Soul Power."
This was his first time assisting a level 97 Titled Douluo, and he hadn't expected the pressure to be so much greater than assisting a level 96. He used to be able to assist both Chen Xin and Gu Rong for a short time, but after Chen Xin broke through, assisting him alone made Ning Fengzhi feel strained. Later, when Yun Ming and Chen Xin blew up the arena, he had forcibly applied both Soul and Defense buffs to Bone Douluo, who was protecting him, which nearly drained him dry.
Chen Xin channeled his Soul Power into Ning Fengzhi's body and found that he was indeed just exhausted and weak, with no actual injuries, so he breathed a sigh of relief. It was good that he was fine; if he had protected the Sect Master for all these years only for him to be severely injured by the aftermath of his own battle, it would have been a laughingstock.
However, while Ning Fengzhi was fine, someone else was not. Gu Rong, who had turned into a bone mountain to protect the Sect Master, shrank rapidly and knelt on one knee, coughing up a mouthful of black blood.
Gu Rong looked miserable; blood was leaking from his nose and mouth, his black robe was shredded, revealing a gaunt, scar-covered upper body. He was pitch-black and still smoking, and to top it off, the sparse hair on his head had completely bid him farewell. Miserable! Visibly miserable!
Seeing Gu Rong in this state, Yun Ming retracted his Atlas Divine Spear and stepped forward to help him up, while simultaneously channeling a stream of blood-energy Soul Power into him.
"Senior Gu, are you alright?"
Receiving Yun Ming's support, Gu Rong felt a bit better and replied:
"I'm fine—ugh."
But as soon as he spoke, before he could finish, another mouthful of stagnant blood spilled out.
Yun Ming, Chen Xin, and Ning Fengzhi: "..."
It was clear: he was indeed "fine."
But this was normal. Even though Gu Rong was a level 95 Defense System Titled Douluo, it was no surprise he hadn't come out unscathed after being so close to the collision of the two strongest attacks from Yun Ming and Chen Xin.
Gu Rong hadn't actually wanted to take the hit head-on; as a defense-type Soul Master, he knew his limits, but Yun Ming's ability had thrown the space into such chaos that he couldn't escape with Ning Fengzhi. He had no choice but to use his Ninth Soul Skill to tank it, and the result of that was saying goodbye to his final strands of hair.
Yun Ming didn't speak again, simply taking a pile of top-tier healing pills from the Phoenix Cry Ring and handing them to Gu Rong, while silently channeling Soul Power to help him regulate his breath. Gu Rong took the pills and, aided by the Soul Power, sat cross-legged to stabilize his injuries.
On the other side, Ning Fengzhi, who was also resting, saw Gu Rong's miserable state, felt his own Soul Power drained, and noticed that Chen Xin was not in a good state either. Comparing this to Yun Ming, who was still rapidly devouring heaven and earth spiritual energy through his Soul Cores to replenish himself, he knew the competition was over. He sighed internally—it was all fate! He turned to the Titled Douluo standing above.
"The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect admits defeat!"
Ghost Douluo, who had just finished blocking the shockwave for the spectators, saw that Ning Fengzhi had conceded and that the group truly had no combat power left, so he immediately announced the final result.
"The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, defeated!"
"The Seven Sects Championship, officially concluded!"
"The one who has finally claimed the title of Number One Sect Under Heaven is... the Soul Break Sect!!"
As the result was announced, the members of the Breaking Clan saw their Young Master truly seize the title of Number One Sect Under Heaven with his own strength, and the crowd erupted in an instant.
"From now on, our clan is the undisputed number one in the world, hahahaha!"
"Young Master, Wudi!"
"Brother Yun, Number One Under Heaven!!!"
"."
Some middle-aged and elderly members were moved to tears seeing their clan ascend to the pinnacle of honor in the Soul Master world, while some young people cheered and jumped for joy at Yun Ming's unparalleled strength. Within the Breaking Clan Residence, there were many different reactions, but they all shared one core sentiment: expressing their excitement for the rise of their clan.
The members of other sects who had just narrowly escaped death nearby saw that Yun Ming had truly accomplished something unprecedented, and likely something that would be difficult for anyone to surpass in the future. At this moment, all other emotions in their hearts vanished; they were left only with the awe and sighing at the birth of a new number one sect, as well as reverence for the young man in the arena.
The young men and women from other sects looked at Yun Ming in the arena, their jealousy and admiration dissolving into nothingness. The gap was too great—so great that even though they were looking down at him from the stands, they still felt as if they were looking up. Meanwhile, some old fogies, while envious of the Breaking Clan's stroke of luck, cursed the heavens for being unfair in their hearts. If only a Yun Ming had been born into their own sects, wouldn't this number one sect title be theirs?
Beyond the reactions of the other sect spectators, the Title Douluo were equally shocked. However, those belonging to Martial Soul Hall had differing perspectives.
Bibi Dong naturally had nothing to say. Although she appeared calm on the surface, she was fuming inside. While she knew that the first-rate sects under her command, which lacked even a single Title Douluo, stood no chance at the title this time, she hadn't expected the Breaking Clan to take it. Furthermore, this clan was at odds with her, which made her very displeased.
The Chrysanthemum Ghost Two Douluo followed Bibi Dong's lead.
The elders of the Worship Hall, however, had more complex feelings. On one hand, they felt quite pleased that Yun Ming, as Ya Li's future husband, could be this formidable. On the other hand, Yun Ming was far more powerful than they had imagined, and both he and Ya Li possessed great ambition and were in conflict with another party. The seeds of internal division had already been sown. If Qian Daoliu were no longer around in the future and the two sides truly came to blows, what choice would they, the elders, make?
This question, which had originally been simple, now required deep reconsideration after they had witnessed the power of Yun Ming. However, these matters were still far off; their attention was diverted by a question from the Third Elder, Azure Luan Douluo.
"Tell me, this kid is only at level eighty-seven, yet his true combat strength is already greater than mine. Where does his future lie?"
The group of elders fell silent upon hearing the Third Elder's question. They had interacted with Qian Daoliu and understood his life experiences. Comparing him to Yun Ming—well, let's not compare; it felt like an insult to someone. If such a person's future continued to ascend, wouldn't it lead to the realm of a god? They didn't understand that, so for now, they would just sit back and watch the winds of change.
As for Yang Wudi and Dugu Bo, it went without saying that they arrived at Yun Ming's side the moment the results were announced.
Dugu Bo looked at Yun Ming and said.
"Good kid, you really did it. I never imagined that while you were keeping a low profile, your strength had reached such a level!"
Yun Ming smiled and said.
"It's alright!"
Dugu Bo retorted irritably.
"You kid! If this is only 'alright,' then those of us who only broke through to Title Douluo in our seventies or eighties might as well just give up on life."
Yun Ming couldn't respond to that; he couldn't exactly say that his talent was indeed quite average! Seeing this, Yang Wudi helped change the subject, patting Yun Ming on the shoulder as he said.
"Ming Er, you did well!"
Yun Ming looked at the joy in his grandfather's eyes and felt that the fight had been worth it, replying.
"This is what I promised you, so of course I would achieve it."
"And in the future, our clan will only get better and better. This is just the beginning!!"
Yang Wudi nodded with a smile.
"Good! I will wait for that better future."
There were some things he could no longer see clearly, but he believed that Yun Ming would lead him to see them.
The Seven Great Sects Hegemony Tournament officially concluded. Over the next few days, news of the new seven sects spread rapidly through various channels.
The new Upper Three Sects: Soul Break Sect, Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.
The new Lower Four Sects: Black Tiger Sect, Fire Leopard Sect, Saint Dragon Sect, Elephant Armor Sect.
The rankings were ordered from highest to lowest.
Beyond this information, Yun Ming also became famous in a single battle for defeating six sects with one man and one spear, including two of the old Upper Three Sects. Some enthusiasts even touted Yun Ming as the new number one person on the continent.
The era of the Two Pillars of the Continent had passed many years ago, and few in the current Soul Master world even knew of them. With a battle record that could be called the most dazzling on the continent in the last twenty years, it was only natural that many in the prestige-obsessed Soul Master world would pursue him. If not for the fact that there hadn't been a contest against the Pope, Bibi Dong, this title would likely have been set in stone!
Five days later, Martial Soul City, Breaking Clan Residence.
Ning Fengzhi and Chen Xin were sitting together with the brothers Yang Wudi and Yang Wutian, drinking and chatting. Seeing Yun Ming finish reading the latest intelligence from the continent, Ning Fengzhi asked gently with a smile in his eyes.
"How does it feel to be hailed as the new number one on the continent, nephew?"
Although he had initially held some obsession with being number one, after losing, Ning Fengzhi felt it was fine.
Yun Ming shook his head and said calmly.
"It's not like I'm truly number one, so I don't have any special feelings about it."
Having once been the genuine number one under heaven, it was unrealistic to expect him to have a major emotional reaction to a title that didn't quite live up to the reality.
However, Ning Fengzhi and the others didn't know about Yun Ming's past experiences! Because of this, their already high opinion of Yun Ming rose by several notches.
Compared to this, Yun Ming was more concerned about the Seven Sects Conferment Ceremony in two days. If he remembered correctly, it was during this very ceremony in history that Martial Soul Hall received the documents of submission from the seven sects, reaching the peak of their prestige and laying the foundation for founding their nation.
However, there was a problem: while the hatred between the Breaking Clan and Martial Soul Hall had indeed passed, this did not mean the older generation of the Breaking Clan could accept swearing allegiance to Martial Soul Hall. It was impossible for Yang Wudi and the others to show submission, so other plans had to be made. Fortunately, Yun Ming already had a solution.
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Translated by: randomtranslator.com
Proofread by: DaoistReader