"Roar!"
A furious roar echoed from within the golden pillar of light, its terrifying shockwave sweeping away the surrounding vegetation. Dai Mubai, Tang San, and the others unleashed their martial souls, using the nearby giant trees to shield themselves from the raging winds.
"Boss Dai, how about we retreat to a safer distance first?"
Tang San suggested, wrapping Oscar and Ning Rongrong with Blue Silver Grass to protect the two auxiliary system Soul Masters. His gaze flicked toward the golden pillar, where the terrifying Soul Power fluctuations made his heart tremble.
A battle between Soul Douluo and Titled Douluo was nothing less than a death sentence for them if they remained too close.
"Alright, let's go."
Dai Mubai nodded decisively, preparing to pull Oscar along with him.
"Hmph, why are you running? Stay here and watch."
Chen Xiaoming, who had yet to reveal his martial soul, snorted coldly. How could he let his hard-earned duel go unwatched? Besides, it was merely a barely qualified Titled Douluo—nothing worth fearing.
"Boom!"
With a stomp of his foot, red soul rings rose one after another beneath him, radiating a chilling crimson light.
Red... Red... Red... Red... Red... Red... Red... Red... Red...
Nine red hundred-thousand-year soul rings emerged, distorting the surrounding air with explosive force.
His sixth soul ring flared as his soul power surged, instantly activating his soul skill.
"Sixth Soul Skill, Azurewood Guardian!"
With a soft chant, thick azure tree trunks shot up from the ground. The bark shimmered with faint floral patterns, quickly reaching five meters in height.
In the blink of an eye, countless trunks emerged, encircling Dai Mubai, Tang San, and the others in a protective barrier. Narrow gaps about thirty centimeters wide were intentionally left between the trunks, allowing the group to observe the outside world.
"Stay here and watch carefully as I..."
Chen Xiaoming nearly blurted out his real intentions but stopped himself just in time, casting his gaze toward the golden pillar in the sky.
Within the light, the fusion reached its final stage. The Dragon Serpent Fusion produced a violet-gold dragon, its golden and purple eyes shimmering with a strange brilliance. Multicolored light flickered from its maw, its colossal fifty-meter-long body coiling around the pillar.
"Roar!"
With another deafening roar, the dragon merged into the golden pillar, transforming it into a sky-piercing staff engraved with the violet-gold dragon's form.
The pillar tilted, crashing down toward Chen Xiaoming.
"Oh? A staff wielder? What a coincidence—I'm one too."
Chen Xiaoming remained indifferent. His eighth soul ring, which had been lying dormant, flared to life, rising from beneath his feet before merging into the Azurewood Tree in his right hand.
The martial soul's silver light turned crimson, and boundless soul power erupted.
"Rumble... Rumble..."
The ground trembled violently. Within the Azurewood Guardian's protection, Tang San and the others clung to the trunks for support, staring down at the cracked earth.
Tang San activated Purple Demon Eyes and froze in shock.
"Xiao San, what do you see?" Dai Mubai asked urgently.
"Impossible... Is this the power of a Titled Douluo?"
Tang San muttered in disbelief.
"Boom!"
Before he could explain, the others saw it for themselves—a massive azure tree trunk, nearly fifty meters in diameter, burst from the fractured earth. Blood-red patterns etched into its surface glowed ominously.
"Eighth Soul Skill, Azurewood Skyward!"
Chen Xiaoming's long-hidden eighth soul skill activated, launching the colossal trunk like an iron staff toward the golden pillar.
As it swung, the trunk rapidly shrank—from fifty meters to thirty, then ten—until it became a three-meter-thick, fifteen-meter-long crimson staff, radiating searing heat.
"Bang!"
The crimson staff collided with the golden pillar, sending shockwaves rippling outward. The impact flattened the surrounding forest, carving deep fissures into the earth.
"Crack... Crack..."
Fractures spread across the golden pillar, its radiance dimming under the overwhelming force.
"Boom!"
With a final strike, the pillar shattered. Two figures plummeted from the sky—Dragon Duke and Snake Woman, the Unrivaled Dragon Serpent couple. Both were pale and battered, with Snake Woman coughing blood and Dragon Duke's soul power drastically weakened.
Dragon Duke caught his wife mid-air, landing softly on the devastated ground.
The once vibrant landscape was now nothing but rubble.
"Cough... Cough..."
Dragon Duke glanced at Chen Xiaoming, his gaze lingering on the nine crimson soul rings. He understood—this loss was not disgraceful.
If the opponent hadn't held back, that last strike could have killed them both.
"Grandpa, are you alright?"
A tearful voice interrupted the silence. Meng Yiran, who had been protected by golden light, ran forward and shielded her grandparents with her trembling body.
"If you want to kill my grandparents, you'll have to kill me first!"
Her small frame quivered, but she stood unwavering.
"Yiran..."
Dragon Duke and Snake Woman exchanged a tearful glance. They were willing to face death without regrets.
Chen Xiaoming sighed at the touching scene. What had been a perfect demonstration of strength had somehow turned into an emotional drama.
He massaged his forehead and glanced at Tang San and the others, who were watching the show with fascination.
"Leave, leave! Who said anything about killing you? Go cultivate hard—maybe we'll spar again someday."
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