Tang San stared at the blazing crimson-gold figure in the sky, emotions surging like stormy waves in his heart, refusing to settle.
Five years this time had been his trial, his metamorphosis, and countless silent nights reflecting on past humiliation and longing for victory.
He had dueled with Yan countless times in his dreams. Each time he awoke, his resolve to surpass his rival and cleanse his shame grew stronger.
Yet witnessing this scene with his own eyes now, all his assumptions and expectations felt weak and meaningless.
That overwhelming Flame Lord stood tall in the air like a war god descended from the heavens.
With a single punch, Yan shattered the Golden Holy Dragon summoned through the Martial Soul Fusion Technique of Yu Xiaogang, Flender, and Liu Erlong.
How terrifying was such strength?
That Golden Holy Dragon was on par with a Title Douluo in power.
And yet, it was crushed in an instant.
To vent her anger for the one she loved, Liu Erlong always hot-tempered charged fearlessly toward Yan in the sky.
Faced with this sudden assault, Yan remained utterly calm. His soul rings quietly emerged:
Yellow, Yellow, Purple, Purple, Black, Red, Red, Red, eight soul rings shone brilliantly, especially the three red 100,000-year soul rings that radiated awe-inspiring light.
In that moment, the entire sky above the plaza was bathed in crimson glow.
Everyone present was shaken to their core.
Even the ongoing battles among the Title Douluo came to a sudden halt, all eyes locked onto Yan.
"His sixth ring is already at 100,000 years?"
"Three 100,000-year soul rings?!"
Even Golden Crocodile Douluo, the second Worship elder of Spirit Hall who had fought in countless battles, was stunned.
In all his years, he had never seen such an overwhelming soul ring combination.
Clearly, this young spirit master's future potential was immeasurable.
If Yan hadn't belonged to Spirit Hall, but instead was an enemy he wouldn't hesitate to kill him right now.
Yue Guan was also astonished.
"Yan's sixth ring also evolved into a 100,000-year one… Impressive, impressive~"
Tang Hao's eyes narrowed, his expression unreadable.
He knew how rare and powerful 100,000-year soul rings were. Even in his prime, he had never possessed such a divine configuration.
What Yan had displayed reminded him of past grudges with Spirit Hall.
At this moment, his heart held both awe at Yan's power and deep concern for Tang San's future.
He had originally planned to use Yan's blood to nourish the Blue Silver Emperor, hoping it would accelerate her rebirth.
But after seeing Yan's terrifying strength, he realized that plan was now nothing but a fantasy.
Tang Xiao also saw clearly this prodigious young spirit master of Spirit Hall would become a great threat, possibly even a calamity, to the Clear Sky Sect.
Seeing Yan's soul rings, even Ning Fengzhi couldn't hide his shock.
Tang San's inner turmoil was indescribable. Never had he imagined that Yan would grow to such an unimaginable extent.
With Ning Fengzhi's healing, the gravely injured Yu Xiaogang recovered a little.
He barely lifted his head and caught a glimpse of the crimson glow in the sky. In a trembling voice, he muttered:
"No, that's impossible… Erlong, come back…"
Yu Xiaogang was panicking.
But it was too late.
Liu Erlong had already launched her attack and was closing in on Yan, just tens of meters away.
Her fire dragon form unleashed a ferocious flame assault.
By this point, Yan's Gravity Domain had silently activated.
Within a hundred-meter radius centered on him, gravity surged tenfold in an instant.
Liu Erlong suddenly felt immense pressure, as if a towering mountain were crashing down upon her.
Her expression turned grim, sensing an unprecedented fear.
Her once-speedy flight slowed drastically.
Worse still, the blazing flames she spat out became sluggish and heavy, as if shackled by an invisible force, losing their former edge and power.
"Erlong, defend yourself!"
The exact same scene from before unfolded again Flender shouted in panic.
Xiao Wu's pupils contracted sharply.
"That's Er Ming's Gravity Domain—Mother is in danger!"
"Gravity Domain?!"
Tang San was also alarmed.
Xiao Wu explained:
"Within the Gravity Domain, he can freely control gravitational force. Mother's speed and attacks will be greatly hindered."
Finishing her words, Xiao Wu leapt into the air without hesitation.
"Xiao Wu, be careful!"
Tang San followed immediately, worried for her safety.
Seeing this, Ghost Douluo was thrilled. This was a golden opportunity to capture Xiao Wu alive.
Ignoring Bone Douluo, his current opponent, Ghost Douluo lunged toward her.
Sensing danger, Tang San activated his 100,000-year right leg soul bone.
"Xiao Wu, come back!"
As the shadow appeared, a golden Blue Silver Grass tendril suddenly wrapped around Xiao Wu's waist and yanked her back.
"San, you two retreat now!"
Tang Hao roared, then swung his giant Clear Sky Hammer directly at Yan's Gravity Domain.
"Tang Hao! Attacking a junior from behind—does that suit the dignity of the Clear Sky Douluo?!"
Yue Guan charged forward, his Chrysanthemum Douluo martial soul erupting with golden light that enveloped the domain, forming a protective barrier around it.
Ghost Douluo also withdrew and joined Yue Guan to defend against the Clear Sky Hammer.
They knew that Tang Hao's attack might break Yan's domain.
Tang Xiao also rushed forward, hoping to kill this dangerous Spirit Hall genius.
"Despicable! You'll never succeed!"
A roar erupted.
Golden Crocodile Douluo flashed forward and met the ferocious Clear Sky Hammer head-on once again.
BOOM—
With a deafening explosion, the battle around Yan reignited, with over a dozen Title Douluo clashing once more.
At this moment, Yan activated Titan's Guard and released Nihility Devouring Flame, spreading a sea of black-gold fire.
The swirling flames enveloped the defending Liu Erlong entirely.
"Erlong!"
Flender cried out in horror.
But his voice was quickly drowned out in the chaos of battle.
He had already tested it his light blades couldn't even scratch Yan's defenses.
He could only watch helplessly as Liu Erlong's flames were devoured by the Nihility Flame.
He knew that unless someone stopped Yan, Liu Erlong would suffer the same fate as Ma Hongjun burned to ashes by the fire.
But right now, all their Title Douluo were locked in battle, unable to come to her aid.
And the Clear Sky elders were gradually being overwhelmed.
"AAAH—!"
With a scream of agony, the Fifth Elder of the Clear Sky Clan fell beneath the Coiling Dragon Staff of Demon Subduing Douluo.
As the seventh Worship of Spirit Hall, Demon Subduing Douluo was at Level 96, a seasoned warrior.
His opponent had only just reached Level 93. Despite wielding the mighty Clear Sky Hammer, he was still no match.
Had everyone not been distracted by Yan's soul rings earlier, the Fifth Elder would've died even sooner.
"Fifth Elder!"
Tang San was extremely heartbroken when he saw the fifth elder's body fall heavily from the air to the ground.
A strand of Blue Silver Grass suddenly shot out from the center of his palm, wrapping around the Fifth Elder's body and pulling him toward himself.
"Fifth Elder!"
"Uncle Ning, please save the Fifth Elder."
Ning Fengzhi shook his head helplessly and sighed:
"Xiao San, he's already... sigh, there's nothing I can do."
"No!"
Tang San couldn't accept the fact that the Fifth Elder had died in battle.
"When the flower falls, one is left heartbroken(Nineth Soul Skill) go die!"
The Chrysanthemum petal blades of the Strange Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum carried a destructive force, slicing the Fourth Elder of the Clear Sky Sect in half.
Just like Demon Subduing Douluo, Yue Guan's spirit power had already reached Level ninety-six. If not for his intent on capturing Xiao Wu alive, he would have long since killed the Fourth Elder.
"Fourth Elder!"
Clear Sky Sect had just lost two elders at the Titled Douluo level in quick succession, and Tang Xiao was filled with grief.
In the operation supporting Shrek Academy, Clear Sky Sect had already lost dozens of disciples.
Tang Xiao never imagined that just after relocating the sect to Heaven Dou City, they would pay such a heavy price.
At this moment, he, like Tang Hao, had already become a sinner to the sect.
With the fall of the two elders of Clear Sky Sect, the situation on the battlefield shifted dramatically.
Among the nine Titled Douluo from Spirit Hall, their opponents were now reduced to only seven Titled Douluo.
Moreover, Yan, who possessed three hundred-thousand-year soul rings, absolutely had combat strength not beneath that of a rank ninety-five Titled Douluo.
"Xiao San, use the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud to go invisible. Take Rongrong, Xiao Wu, and the Grandmaster and leave. Head to the Star Luo Empire and find Dai Mubai!"
Things had escalated to the point where Ning Fengzhi had no way out.
The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda floated silently into the air, and in an instant, treasure light blossomed, cascading down upon the seven Titled Douluo on their side.
In that moment, the seven Titled Douluo felt their soul power consumed in battle rapidly recovering at an astonishing rate.
But even so, they did not have absolute confidence in victory.
Because their enemies included six experts above rank ninety-five, among them a peak Douluo at rank ninety-eight, plus three ordinary Titled Douluo and the powerful Yan.
Tang San lightly tapped his forehead, and the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud unfurled, enveloping him, Yu Xiaogang, Xiao Wu, and Ning Rongrong.
The four of them instantly vanished from the battlefield.
Seeing this, Qian Renxue was shocked.
"What's going on? They actually disappeared!"
Inside the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud, Tang San and the others could still see the ongoing battle outside, but they didn't immediately leave.
Yu Xiaogang stared at Liu Erlong, who was in the midst of that black-gold virtual flame vortex, his heart aching as if it were being torn apart.
"Erlong! Why are you so foolish…"
"Mom…"
Sensing Liu Erlong's weakening aura, Xiao Wu was also heartbroken, as if she were dying herself.
The fierce battle among more than a dozen Titled Douluo continued.
Sword Douluo was being besieged by the Douluo brothers, Thousand Jun and Demon Subduing.
Yue Guan, together with Lion Douluo, was attempting to kill Tang Hao and avenge the former Pope Qian Xunji.
Tang Xiao's opponent was still Golden Crocodile Douluo.
The battle was intense.
Staring at that black-gold virtual flame vortex, Yu Xiaogang was burning with anxiety. He could feel himself losing Liu Erlong bit by bit…
The black-gold virtual flame gradually receded, and before they knew it, the giant fire dragon had been completely devoured without leaving a trace.
"Erlong!"
Flender felt a pain as if ten thousand arrows had pierced his heart.
At that moment, Yu Xiaogang's face seemed frozen by frost, his eyes wide, the corners of his mouth trembling, but he couldn't utter a single word.
His fists clenched tightly, nails digging deep into his palms, blood slowly seeping from between his fingers. Yet he felt no pain, because the anguish in his heart had already far exceeded the limits of physical suffering.
"Erlong…"
Yu Xiaogang's voice was hoarse and broken, filled with endless grief and reluctance, as two streams of tears burst from his eyes.
He seemed to have been drained of all strength by an invisible force and could only remain standing by sheer willpower.
Tang San knew how deeply Yu Xiaogang felt about Liu Erlong, but at this moment, he didn't know how to comfort his teacher.
"How could this happen?!"
Tang San muttered to himself, his gaze instinctively moving away from Yu Xiaogang's grief-stricken figure and falling instead on Yan, who was undergoing a startling transformation in midair.
He saw that the soul rings surrounding Yan's body had undergone an abnormal change after the devouring of that black-gold flame vortex.
The original yellow, yellow, purple, purple first four soul rings had now transformed into deeper, more powerful purple, purple, black, black soul rings.
Yan's soul ring configuration had become purple, purple, black, black, black, red, red, red—eight soul rings in total.
Tang San's pupils shrank sharply, and a wave of unprecedented shock surged within him.
He knew very well what changes in soul ring color signified each higher-level soul ring represented an enormous leap in a soul master's power.
And the soul ring configuration Yan now displayed was an extremely rare and terrifying presence even within the entire soul master world.
Only now did Tang San realize that Yan seemed to possess a near-defying ability to devour.
He could not only devour flames, but even convert the soul power of fire-attribute soul masters directly into his own strength.
Such an ability was undoubtedly terrifying and unimaginable.
"What exactly has he experienced to become this terrifying?!"
Tang San pondered secretly, his gaze sharp as a blade, locked firmly on Yan.
He knew this battle had already far exceeded their original expectations.
But no matter what, he had to protect his companions especially Yu Xiaogang, who was now immersed in overwhelming sorrow.
There was no time to think further. Tang San gathered his soul power and silently pushed the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud, intending to move away from the battlefield.
The battle between the Titled Douluo became even fiercer, and none of them noticed the change in the color of Yan's soul rings.
After withdrawing the Nihility Flame Devour, Yan also prepared to join the battle.
Although Tang Xiao was tenacious, his opponent was the rank ninety-eight Golden Crocodile Douluo he had no chance of victory.
The attacks from Ghost Douluo and Bone Douluo were strange and hard to counter, resulting in a stalemate.
The Douluo brothers, Demon Subduing and Thousand Jun, coordinated seamlessly. Facing Sword Douluo whose spirit power was higher but was constantly concerned about Ning Fengzhi's safety they gradually gained the upper hand.
Devil Bear, Ghost Leopard, and Porcupinefish were evenly matched with the three remaining Clear Sky elders, battling fiercely without a clear outcome.
Surrounded by Yue Guan and Lion Douluo, Tang Hao already injured fell into a passive position and had to use the Clear Sky Body Shield, forming a tightly packed shield wall around himself.
After analyzing the situation, Yan made his choice: his target would be that once-dominant Tang Hao.