"Your arrogance is unwarranted. We are both Limit Douluos. Even if your soul rings surpass mine in age, that doesn't guarantee your victory."
Although Qian Daoliu's configuration of eight black and one red soul rings paled in comparison to Tokisaki Kurumi's, those who stood at the pinnacle of Douluo Continent's power were all exceptional talents in their own right.
"Pfft—" Tokisaki Kurumi let out a light laugh. "Qian Daoliu, do you know how your dear friend Tang Chen once described you?"
"What?"
Qian Daoliu's brow furrowed, his handsome face darkening slightly.
Instead of answering immediately, Tokisaki Kurumi focused her attention elsewhere. A dark space coalesced beside her, and from it emerged a perfect duplicate of herself, albeit with slightly different hairstyle.
"Take those three to safety. I'm concerned things might get messy here," Tokisaki Kurumi instructed her clone.
"Understood." The clone nodded before retreating to where Ning Fengzhi and the others stood. Seeing the questions brimming in Ning Fengzhi's eyes, the clone spoke first, "The battle here isn't something you can intervene in. If you want answers, I'll explain everything later. For now, leave."
"Very well."
Ning Fengzhi nodded, and the three swiftly retreated into the distance.
Once she sensed her clone's position and confirmed Ning Fengzhi's group had withdrawn, Tokisaki Kurumi turned her gaze back to Qian Daoliu, who remained on guard. She studied him for a long moment before speaking.
"The Tang Chen you hold in such high regard once said of you: 'Qian Daoliu, you are a coward.'"
"You—what do you mean by that?" Qian Daoliu's expression darkened.
A coward? Him? Impossible.
He was the Invincible of the Skies, and now, having grown even stronger, he could match the Beast God Di Tian of the Star Dou Great Forest even without divine armor.
And yet, it was Tang Chen—of all people—who called him a coward?
"Wasting your granddaughter's talent, hesitating over your son's death, and holing up in the Spirit Hall for decades over some so-called promise."
"Ah, speaking of which... not long ago, Tang Chen outright blockaded your gates. Did he care even a little about any promises then?"
"This is none of your concern," Qian Daoliu retorted coldly, his soul power faintly surging around him as the air grew heavy.
"True enough." Tokisaki Kurumi shrugged. "With someone like you around, no wonder the Spirit Hall gets destroyed in one possible future."
She deliberately manipulated the air around them, ensuring only Qian Daoliu could hear her words.
"What did you say?!" Qian Daoliu's fury erupted. "The Spirit Hall destroyed?!"
"Oh my, you can get angry. I thought a man who could ignore his own son's murder would be nothing but a spineless worm. But it seems there's still some fight in you."
"That's right, you heard me correctly." Tokisaki Kurumi twirled her gun idly, her dark eyes unfathomably deep.
"If you can defeat me, I'll tell you exactly how it happens. Doesn't that sound like a tempting offer?"
"You expect me to believe you?"
Qian Daoliu, after all, was a 99th-rank powerhouse. He quickly realized their conversation was being isolated by her.
"Believe me or not, it makes no difference. You can't win against me either way." Tokisaki Kurumi smirked. "Besides, whether the Spirit Hall lives or dies has nothing to do with my Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School."
"Enough! Let's see what you're truly capable of!" Seeing her unyielding attitude, Qian Daoliu grew impatient. He didn't care about Tang Chen's opinion—after their last battle, he'd realized the man was far from the honorable figure he'd once believed.
Tang Chen had accused the Spirit Hall of stealing his granddaughter-in-law's soul bone and kidnapping her.
"Bullshit!"
Since when was the Spirit Hall so incompetent?
Don't pin every crime on us!
If I'd truly wanted to find your grandson all these years, do you really think I couldn't have?
Spare me the theatrics.
Accusing me of stealing a 100,000-year Blue Silver Emperor soul bone and injuring Tang Hao?
Even if my worthless dead son's so-called 'friend' sacrificed himself in that fight, what does that have to do with the Spirit Hall?
Even if it did, we never saw hide nor hair of that soul bone!
Qian Daoliu had even investigated the incident in the Balak Kingdom afterward—it was purely an accident. How was losing your soul bone our fault?
It's like the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect buying pills for that waste Yu Xiaogang at Shrek Academy and accidentally sacrificing their own grandson in the process.
Are you seriously blaming us for that? Or the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School?
That's just delusional.
Conclusion?
Tang Chen is a hypocrite.
These thoughts flashed through Qian Daoliu's mind in mere seconds before he refocused.
Unlike his earlier skirmish with Ning Fengzhi's group, he would need to go all-out to stand a chance here. Six black and three red soul rings—that configuration was outright terrifying.
Forget the 100,000-year rings, even the first six were frighteningly close to that level.
"Tokisaki Kurumi, I don't believe a word you say. But as an opponent, I will fight you with everything I have."
"Angel Domain!"
With a roar, Qian Daoliu's Angel God Armor materialized, his Angel Sacred Sword gleaming in hand. The Six-Winged Angel behind him spread its six radiant wings, unleashing overwhelming soul power and divine law.
"Oh? Getting serious now?" Watching the purifying light surge toward her—light capable of erasing all darkness—Tokisaki Kurumi smirked. Behind her, two massive clocks, one gold and one blue, manifested.
"Zafkiel!"
"Rophocale!"
The instant her voice fell, her pitch-black eyes transformed.
Her left pupil became a golden clock, while her right shimmered an icy blue.
Bang!
Bang!
Two bullets—one etched with gold, the other with blue—fired simultaneously.
The bullets trembled slightly mid-flight, resonating in some inexplicable harmony. The moment they made contact with the Angel Domain—
Qian Daoliu's face twisted.
Swinging his Angel Sacred Sword, his seventh black soul ring flared. The blade erupted in blinding radiance as a flaming slash tore through the air.
His body shot backward hundreds of meters in retreat, as though fleeing something unimaginably terrifying.
Only when he stopped did he dare look back at where the bullets had struck.
Cold sweat beaded on his forehead.
"Space... and time?"
A spatial-attributed martial soul was one thing, but time?
That was beyond comprehension. It shouldn't even be possible for a martial soul to wield.
The two bullets had formed a bizarre distortion upon hitting the Angel Domain—a swirling black void that devoured the domain's energy and laws before vanishing without a trace.
Though the affected area was small, no larger than two meters, the sheer wrongness emanating from that spatial rift left Qian Daoliu shaken.
"A twin martial soul possessor...?"
Taking a deep breath, he suppressed his unease and reassessed Tokisaki Kurumi.
Her dual-colored eyes, each matching one of the colossal clocks behind her, only deepened his wariness.
"So, Qian Daoliu," Tokisaki Kurumi's voice rang out again, "do you believe me now?"
Qian Daoliu said nothing. He neither affirmed nor denied—only silence.
A soul master who could manipulate time might indeed glimpse the past or future. But such power undoubtedly came at a cost. It wasn't something to be used lightly, let alone to observe something as trivial as the Spirit Hall's fate.
Martial souls had limits. So did people. To be omniscient? That was the realm of gods.
And clearly, she hadn't reached that level.
In the end, only three words echoed in Qian Daoliu's mind:
I don't believe you.