Tang Chen and Bo Saixi realized too late.
"They… just ran away like that?"
Bo Saixi's expression was dazed, almost comically so, as she pointed at the sky.
"Damn it!" Tang Chen snapped, veins bulging on his forehead. "We've been played!"
Using the ninth soul skill to escape.
Who taught you such a bizarre tactic? A 100,000-year soul ring used to flee?
Are you worthy of the Martial Soul Hall's reputation, worthy of the Angel God?
"I'll fetch Xiao San. You pursue them, and I'll catch up," Tang Chen said, transforming into a streak of blood-red light toward Tang San.
Without hesitation, Bo Saixi wielded the Sea God Trident, manipulating the moisture in the air to accelerate her flight, chasing after the golden wind-and-fire wheel that was Golden Crocodile.
"What a guy, they actually escaped?" Ning Rongrong, stunned, lowered her binoculars.
Using the ninth soul skill to flee.
Who did they learn that from?
Well… she wasn't exactly in a position to judge.
Back at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well in the Sunset Forest, when she first encountered Di Tian, didn't she have Bone Douluo use his ninth soul skill to escape?
They were about even.
Still, using a 100,000-year soul skill to run was worth learning.
"There's merit in using the ninth soul skill to escape," Ning Rongrong said, looking up at Ning Fengzhi. "Father, you must learn this."
"If not, find a soul bone that helps you escape."
"Surviving is the priority. As auxiliary soul masters, we don't have the combat strength of battle soul masters. Staying alive is key."
Ning Fengzhi: "…"
Everyone else: "…"
Does your conscience not hurt saying that?
Other auxiliary soul masters lacking combat power, sure, but you, Ning Rongrong…
You've taken down two Title Douluo, defeated a secondary god, freely navigated the deep sea to kill an 80,000-year sea soul beast, and regularly hung around soul beasts comparable to Limit Douluo, escaping safely each time.
This kind of "auxiliary soul master"—are you trying to be funny?
Ning Rongrong's scalp tingled under their stares, her eyes twitching as she mumbled, "I'm just an auxiliary with some self-defense skills. My strength is barely enough."
"Uh, anyway… aren't we here to watch the fight? Let's go!"
Ning Rongrong changed the subject, activating Zafkiel: City of Devouring Time for a short-range spatial jump.
…
Using a 100,000-year soul skill to escape was indeed fast and effective.
Moreover, Golden Crocodile Douluo had no intention of fighting Tang Chen and Bo Saixi.
So, he put all his effort into fleeing.
"Hurry, channel your soul power into my martial soul true body. The closer we get to the Star Dou Great Forest, the safer we are," Golden Crocodile coughed up blood but paid it no mind.
"You…" The Demon Empress opened her mouth, but before she could speak, Golden Crocodile Douluo produced a dark black scale. Sensing its familiar aura, her pupils contracted slightly. "I understand."
The moment she saw the scale and felt its aura, the Demon Empress fully trusted Golden Crocodile Douluo.
Even if he was a human from the Martial Soul Hall.
Channeling soul power into the martial soul true body, though heavily injured, her soul beast heritage gave her more soul power reserves than humans, thanks to her long lifespan.
But the next moment, a domineering soul power locked onto them.
Holy light radiated from Bo Saixi, her water-blue soul power compressed, surrounded by moist vapor.
"Sea God's Thirteen Forms—Unfixed Storm!"
Raging seawater roared.
Moisture from all directions formed vine-like shapes, swiftly entangling Golden Crocodile's ninth soul skill martial soul true body, slowing it down.
As a quasi-god powerhouse wielding the Sea God Trident, Bo Saixi, though less effective on land than at sea, was not someone a newly minted Limit Douluo like Golden Crocodile could handle.
Bang—
The martial soul true body creaked. In seconds, the ninth soul skill disintegrated, scattering into specks of starlight.
The soul power from the Sea God Trident, though weakened, still struck Golden Crocodile and the Demon Empress.
"Pfft—"
"Ugh—"
Golden Crocodile Douluo and the Demon Empress spat blood, plummeting from the sky.
At that moment, Tang Chen arrived with Tang San.
They landed slowly. Tang Chen held the Asura God Sword, its blood-red killing intent adding to his cold demeanor.
Bo Saixi's Sea God Trident shimmered with water ripples, serene and elegant.
The two exuded the pressure of quasi-god Limit Douluo. The heavily injured Golden Crocodile and Demon Empress struggled to resist.
"Your escape ends here," Tang Chen said, flourishing the Asura God Sword. He didn't want to wait any longer. Even if he couldn't get the soul ring, a soul bone would do.
Killing the Martial Soul Hall's Second Worshiper to honor Tang Hao's spirit would be some compensation from an ancestor to his descendant.
"Yes, it ends here," Golden Crocodile suddenly laughed. "But it's you who's finished, not me."
"What do you mean?" Tang Chen frowned, a bad feeling creeping in.
A pressure that warped the air spread from far away, dyeing half the sky ink-black.
"Not good!" Tang Chen's face changed, as did Bo Saixi's, sensing the soul power fluctuation in the air.
"Quick, kill them!" Tang Chen felt the soul power was familiar but couldn't place it.
Killing the Demon Empress and Golden Crocodile was the priority.
"Asura God Sword—Asura Slash!"
"Sea God's Thirteen Forms—Thousand Years of Serenity!"
Overwhelming pressure accompanied their skills, aimed at killing the Demon Empress and Golden Crocodile in one strike.
A mocking smile crossed Golden Crocodile's lips.
Tang Chen's heart sank.
Before he could think, a black polygonal scale flew out.
In front of Bo Saixi and Tang Chen, it formed a humanoid shadow. The shadow's black soul power blocked their attacks, locking them in a stalemate.
"Increase the power, quick!" Tang Chen roared.
Soul power surged into the Asura God Sword, and Bo Saixi followed suit.
The stalemate tipped as one side powered up, the shadow from the scale dimming, its aura weakening and teetering.
Roar~
A resonant dragon roar shook the heavens.
The black mist on the distant horizon spread rapidly, darkening the sky like a city under siege.
A black light dove down, ink-black claws carrying boundless pressure.
Tang Chen's pupils contracted.
"Golden-Eyed Black Dragon King, Di Tian!"
As he spoke, a voice like judgment rang from the sky.
"Divine Skill—Dragon God Claw!"
Overwhelming soul power formed a black dragon shadow, pouring down from the sky with profound mystery, drowning out the aura of the sea and slaughter.
"Damn it, defend!" Tang Chen shouted.
The black light engulfed Tang Chen and Bo Saixi's defensive barrier. The soul-power dragon swallowed them, flying far away.
The dragon pushed them thousands of meters before shattering under their soul power.
As Tang Chen and Bo Saixi reappeared, they spat out crimson blood.
They glared downward.
Where Golden Crocodile and the Demon Empress had been, the black shadow from the scale was gone.
In its place stood a tall, muscular young man with sharp dragon horns.
The young man, arms crossed, had a trace of blood at his lips. Though his aura was slightly disordered, he was far better off than the weakened Tang Chen and Bo Saixi.
"It's you, Di Tian!" Tang Chen's face darkened, his gaze shifting past Di Tian to the barely combat-capable Demon Empress and Golden Crocodile. "So that's it. You were luring Di Tian here?"
No wonder they fled toward the Star Dou Great Forest.
He thought they were fleeing blindly or hiding in the forest.
Instead, they were contacting the Beast God Di Tian.
With their desperate escape, ignoring injuries, if the Demon Empress and Golden Crocodile hadn't coordinated with Di Tian, Tang Chen would cut off his own head for Di Tian to kick.