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Although Di Tian could easily dodge that strike himself, Master and Biji and the others were still nearby—so he could not avoid it freely.
"Dark Domain!"
Di Tian's body flickered and a black vortex formed, instantly swallowing all light in the surrounding area.
The space around Di Tian seemed to be missing a piece; there was only absolute darkness, an oppressive stillness.
The "Dark Domain" is somewhat like the Devouring Domain, but the one casting this Dark Domain is the Black-Eyed Dragon King of eighty-nine thousand years' age—the former lord of the spirit beasts, Di Tian!
The four exploding purple beams seemed never to have existed; their shockwaves and the countless sickle-fragments were all devoured cleanly by that void.
Bibi Dong stared at the hundred-meter-wide Dark Domain and felt her heart sink—this time she might not get away.
While Bibi Dong hesitated, a ripple passed through the space in front of her. Before she could react, Di Tian had already appeared three meters before her.
Seeing that black silhouette, Bibi Dong's pupils shrank—so fast! Even faster than when she opened her Six-Winged Violet Light Wings!
When Di Tian appeared before her, his fists had already transformed into thick, brutal black dragon claws.
The black claws glittered with dark soul-light, like something that could consume everything nearby.
"Black Dragon World-Annihilating!"
Di Tian thrust his claws toward Bibi Dong; two black dragon-shaped energy waves shot forth from the claws, blasting toward her.
Faced with those horrific dark energy waves, Bibi Dong's face changed.
Her Six-Winged Violet Light Wings flashed again; she teleported hundreds of meters away. As she tried to gather information from the environment, her vision blurred.
She was immediately sent back to the space she had just occupied—back to the moment before the Black Dragon World-Annihilating waves struck.
When Di Tian unleashed Black Dragon World-Annihilating he had already begun analyzing the space where Bibi Dong stood. Once the analysis completed, he locked onto her. After she used her spirit-bone technique, Di Tian used Spatial Conduit to pull her back into the path of the attack.
The two Black Dragon World-Annihilating waves struck the blood-red Death Spider Empress, blasting Bibi Dong hundreds of meters into a distant mountain.
A black column of light shot into the sky; the ground trembled and the peak collapsed.
The Death Spider Empress was instantly blown apart—reduced to purple-black fragments and severed limbs scattered among the rubble.
Di Tian frowned as he looked at the scattered remains.
But Bibi Dong had not truly died—after a moment, the purple-black fragments at once began to rapidly coalesce.
Before long, she re-formed in the guise of the Spider Empress.
"Immortal?" Di Tian muttered.
At the exact moment Black Dragon World-Annihilating struck her, Bibi Dong had activated her ninety-thousand-year soul-tech: Immortal Body.
During the Immortal Body's duration, no matter into what pieces her body was shattered, she could reassemble and recover at incredible speed.
Bibi Dong glanced at Di Tian with lingering dread—this man was terrifying. Worse, he had not even used his full power; she had to find another way.
As she thought, Di Tian bellowed, "Immortal all you like! If once is immortal, then I'll kill you ten times, a hundred times!!" and charged straight at her.
He was still inside the Death Domain and could not use displacement freely, but at his speed, Bibi Dong could not escape.
Boom!
As Di Tian's black dragon claw tore through the air and countless gale-winds slashed at Bibi Dong, a flash of golden light appeared—a golden blade barred the claw's path.
With a metallic clang the gale-winds were driven aside; this wave of wind was even more terrifying than before.
To hold back those gale-winds, Gu Yuena had even used Element Control to redirect the gusts so others like Bear Lord wouldn't be harmed.
The enormous commotion sent countless spirit beasts fleeing the area.
The golden figure blocking the black dragon claw was the angel Douluo known as Sky's Invincible—Qian Daoliu.
Qian Daoliu spoke: "Di Tian, no need to bully a weak woman, right?"
Di Tian laughed. "Hahaha—weak woman? Are you referring to a half-century-young Peak Douluo?"
Qian Daoliu answered, "This is the wrong of the Spirit Hall—give me some face. I have debts to repay to her; no matter what, I will not let her die here." His golden eyes showed sincere guilt.
Bibi Dong watched the gold-haired figure against the sky and sighed inwardly. Although she had been ruined by Qianxun, the Qian family had kept their honor toward her. If not for Qian Daoliu's endorsement, she would never have become the Spirit Hall's pope.
Di Tian said nothing to Qian Daoliu; he was weighing whether to take on the Spirit Hall. After all, the Wan Beast Sect had only just been founded; besides him, only the Evil Emperor remained as a Peak Douluo. He was not confident he could defeat the Spirit Hall in a full conflict.
Then Gu Yuena's soul-voice came: "Di Tian, test the Spirit Hall's strength. This is an opportunity to assert Wan Beast Sect's power. Also—do not reveal your true form."
Hearing his leader's command, Di Tian's mind quickly counted possibilities.
"I've heard there are three Peak Douluos on Douluo Continent: Earth's Invincible, Sea's Invincible, and Sky's Invincible. You are the one called Sky's Invincible—the angel Douluo, Qian Daoliu?" Di Tian asked calmly.
"That fame was earned in the past; it's not to be taken too seriously," Qian Daoliu replied, his gaze turning contemplative.
"You're modest. I'm confident none can match me in the sky. How about we each exchange three moves, and call it settled? Regardless of the result, this ends here." Di Tian proposed.
"All right—agreed." Qian Daoliu did not hesitate; after all, Bibi Dong had struck first.
Although he wished to learn more about the 'soul-spirit system', it was not urgent. His priority remained Xiaoxue and Yelan's growth; if Xiaoxue ascended to godhood, Qian Daoliu's wish would be fulfilled. The fate of the Spirit Hall would rest with those two.
Having promised, Qian Daoliu's black robe suddenly flashed with golden light. Three pairs of great angelic wings sprouted upon his back; the simple black robe was now overlaid by angelic battle armor.
Nine black soul rings rose from his soles. Facing the unknown adversary Di Tian, Qian Daoliu would not test—he would go all out.
Soul power erupted from Qian Daoliu, golden energy soaring to the heavens. Di Tian nodded inwardly—this was the first time he had felt a hint of real threat from a human.
Qian Daoliu unfolded his soul rings, waiting only a moment to allow Di Tian to show his own rings and summon his martial spirit. Seconds later, Qian Daoliu saw dark light flicker across several of Di Tian's black soul rings.
"Angel True Form!"
"Angel Holy Flame!"
"Archangel!"
"Angel Domain!"
Qian Daoliu activated Angel True Form. Dozens of meter-tall angelic projections instantly appeared behind him; his overall strength doubled and the angelic phantoms would mimic his actions, dealing twice the damage of his body.
His Angel Holy Sword blazed with molten gold; the giant angelic sword in the phantom's hand shone the same.
Archangel caused his white wings to gleam with golden light, boosting his aerial speed by two hundred percent.
Angel Domain increased Qian Daoliu's overall power by thirty percent while weakening Di Tian by ten percent. Inside Angel Domain, an opponent's soul power would gradually erode; once locked inside Angel Domain, escape was impossible.
Facing the fully unleashed Qian Daoliu, Di Tian did not dare be careless. He was already trapped in Angel Domain and had become a living target.
A black domain erupted around Di Tian.
"Black Dragon Domain!"
The Black Dragon Domain reduced the enemy's overall strength by twenty percent while increasing the user's by twenty percent. Space inside the Black Dragon Domain was parsed and analyzed.
Qian Daoliu immediately felt his strength fall by twenty percent, and he too could not leave the Black Dragon Domain—the two were confined to a hundred-meter arena.
Recognizing the Black Dragon Domain's potency, Qian Daoliu inwardly nodded. If the disparity between two domain bearers is too great, the stronger will cover the weaker; that both domains coexisted meant their martial-soul strengths were comparable.
"First move—let's compare aerial speed?" Di Tian suggested.
"With pleasure!" Qian Daoliu vanished in an instant; his speed was such that no afterimage remained.
Only Di Tian, as opponent, could truly feel Qian Daoliu's velocity. The Six-Winged Angel Wuhun—first among sky-type god-level martial souls—paired with Qian Daoliu's full configuration of ten-thousand-year soul rings and ten-thousand-year soul bones, left Di Tian awed.
Before Di Tian could blink, a golden holy blade appeared at his throat.
Space rippled once; Di Tian's figure flickered as he teleported ten meters beneath Qian Daoliu. He whipped his black dragon claw skyward and five black moon-blades ripped the air, appearing around Qian Daoliu.
Qian Daoliu saw Di Tian vanish and felt unease—space-displacement? At that moment his hairs rose and his six golden wings flashed red soul-light.
With a wing-beat he became a streak of light, instantly reappearing dozens of meters away. He quickly locked onto Di Tian's form and surged, wings slicing as he closed.
As their forms vanished and reappeared, sword-shadows and claw-shadows crossed the small domain. For a few heartbeats they chased each other mercilessly—dozens of flashes in only seconds.
Each time they manifested, golden sword-images and black claw-images streaked through the air. The collisions produced turbulent winds that set the Wan Beast Academy students' hair flying.
Sparks flew as holy blade met black dragon claw.
Qian Daoliu laughed aloud: "What a thrill! I've never enjoyed a fight this much in the sky."
As Sky's Invincible, among his peers only Tang Chen could rival him, but Qian Daoliu always fought on the ground with knightly restraint—today, against the mysterious Di Tian, he felt the joy of sky-combat.
"These sky-speed skirmishes are exhilarating. Let us call this speed duel a draw—neither of us can best the other," Di Tian said.
The Six-Winged Angel indeed justified the title: even relying solely on speed he could match a teleporting foe.
Although Di Tian could parse space and teleport, in a cramped area each teleport consumed time to gather environmental data. The Six-Winged Angel had no such drawback—Qian Daoliu constantly perceived his surroundings.
"All right!" Qian Daoliu nodded, then said, "Next, each of us will use one move—best two out of three to decide the result."
"You go first," Di Tian replied—he was curious what Qian Daoliu could truly unleash.
Qian Daoliu did not decline. He steadied his sword, both hands gripping tight. The angelic phantom synced with him; several of his soul rings glowed black as his arms shimmered red.
The Angel Holy Sword and its dozens-of-meters projection radiated silver and gold, the blinding brilliance piercing the clouds.
"Solar Holy Sword!!"
The ultimate purity of holiness fused with ultimate flame; the angel projection's six wings emitted radiant aurora as countless golden lights converged on the Sword phantom.
At that instant, a terrifying crimson-gold energy wave swept toward the diminutive Di Tian.
Di Tian abandoned any thought of meeting it with mere human flesh.
Space ahead of him rippled. "Spatial Conduit!!"
When the enormous crimson-gold wave struck the rippling space before Di Tian, he shifted those waves away to mountain peaks thousands of meters distant.
The earth trembled.
Gold light burst in the distance; even thousands of meters away Gu Yuena's party was bathed in that gilded radiance.
After the tremor, an endless gale struck. With a thunderous boom, distant peaks thousands of meters away collapsed; a golden mushroom cloud rose.
Seeing Di Tian relocate his Solar Holy Sword, Qian Daoliu cut off the soul-energy for the attack.
Di Tian, noticing Qian Daoliu's halt, withdrew his Spatial Conduit and said: "Brother Qian, your strength exceeds my expectations. Be careful next—if you can't withstand it, dodge."
After dueling Qian Daoliu, Di Tian had come to respect the knightly man and warned him—not because he wanted his death, but from a strange courtesy.
"All right—make your move." Qian Daoliu's face turned solemn. A Peak Douluo who could manipulate space was nearly godlike.
Seeing Qian Daoliu's seriousness, Di Tian's right arm black dragon claw shone with nine-color radiance. The claw swelled; the talons lengthened past his knee, rending reality and producing twisting ripples.
Feeling the divine power packed into the claw, Di Tian roared: "Dragon God Claw!!"
The massive claw shone with nine hues; five black claw-shadows shot toward Qian Daoliu. As they formed, the air rushed inward toward the claw-shadows.
The Dragon God Claw's blackness came from cutting through space itself—exposing an "emptiness."
Sensing the terrible energy within the claw, Qian Daoliu did not dare slacken; his ninth soul ring flashed red.
"Angel's Descent!!"
A thousand-meter golden angel projection silhouetted behind him, divine power pouring into his sword.
Gu Yuena watched the colossal angelic phantom—similar to Qian Renxue's white godly image yet more sacred—and murmured: Could this be the Angel God?
Facing Dragon God Claw, Qian Daoliu had no alternative but to use his ninth soul skill. The angelic projection lifted his power into near-god levels; divine energy surged through him.
With steady eyes he swung his sword. A thousand-meter sword-image slashed toward the black Dragon God Claw.
On impact a blinding flash of gold and nine-color light exploded. When the light faded, both the golden sword-image and the Dragon God Claw vanished together.
Di Tian observed the angelic projection behind Qian Daoliu and at last understood the full extent of his strength.
"Brother Qian, three moves are done. Let this be a draw." After his claw reverted to a human hand, Di Tian sighed.
"Perhaps we'll spar again—your Dragon God Claw will remain unforgettable." Qian Daoliu's Angel Holy Sword and wings faded away.
He could not fully fathom the mysterious Di Tian. Di Tian had used godlike power, yet Qian Daoliu had seen no godly phantom tied to him. Still Di Tian could wield Dragon God Claw—what manner of man was he?
"Dragon God Claw? Dragon God? I've never heard of such a deity…" Puzzled, Qian Daoliu nodded to Bibi Dong and flew north toward the Spirit Hall city.
If not for Xiaoxue alerting him that Bibi Dong had vanished, he might have followed Di Tian and Bibi Dong into the Star Dou Forest—and Bibi Dong would likely have been in grave danger.
Bibi Dong remained astonished by the duel; both fighters had surpassed the limits of Douluo Continent.
Was that Angelic power? Qian Daoliu had not even completed Angel's Nine Trials and yet wielded such strength—what was this Rasetsu God Trial she had obtained? Godly power indeed—she couldn't even fully use the Douluo limit.
This thought burned her with new resentment toward the Rasetsu God. First it had ruined her, destroyed the Spirit Hall and the Blue Electric Tyrannosaur Sect, and then it made her repeatedly nurture murderous intent toward Xiaoxue.
Now, learning other gods' trials apparently weren't like the Rasetsu God, her hatred for the Rasetsu God turned to pure killing intent.
Yet she controlled that killing intent with masterful discipline—by harnessing the Rasetsu God's "forging" she had unparalleled mastery over her murderous urges. Given the chance, becoming the Second Rasetsu God, she would grind that god to dust.
Suppressing her rage, she watched the distant figures fade and flew northward as well. Against Di Tian and the Wan Beast Sect she would need a different plan.
After Bibi Dong and Qian Daoliu departed, Gu Yuena asked: "Di Tian, how powerful were they?"
"Master, you need not worry about Bibi Dong for the moment. She is the Rasetsu God's candidate and may one day become the Rasetsu God—she will be an obstacle to us," Di Tian said.
"Qian Daoliu's power is also terrifying—he can borrow Angel God power. Even without using Angel God power, his strength reaches the brink of demi-god. With Angelic power, he reaches quasi-godhood."
"If I use only human form, our strengths are comparable. If I fully unleash my dragon body without restraint, Qian Daoliu would be beneath me."
Hearing Di Tian's assessment, Gu Yuena understood the situation better.
"Therefore, Wan Beast Sect must consider the Spirit Hall's power before expanding further," she continued. "According to Star Luo royal intelligence, the three Peak Douluos—Earth, Sea, and Sky Invincibles—have ties. We now know Qian Daoliu's strength; the other two are likely at godlike tiers as well. Before we learn their moves, it's unwise to provoke large-scale conflict with humans."
Di Tian nodded. He was grateful Gu Yuena had forethought to bring the Evil Emperor from the Sun-Moon Continent to Douluo Continent; otherwise he would have felt insecure. If the three Peak Douluos united, he might not be able to protect his master.
Gu Yuena continued: "Did you all see the duel between Di Tian and that human Qian Daoliu?"
"We did, Master," the others replied.
"Then take this as a warning. Humans of Qian Daoliu's caliber emerge every few centuries—do not think Wan Beast Sect's protection means you can act without regard for humans."
"In this generation, Qian Xue and Tang Lan will rapidly grow in power; their rise may exceed your expectations."
The Ice Emperor grinned: "Master, I believe you will surpass them!"
Gu Yuena sighed—if only there were only Qian Xue and Bibi Dong, they wouldn't pressure her much. Tang Lan, however, remained inscrutable. She even entertained the absurd thought that fragments of her dream-memory might somehow relate to that human Tang Lan—yet the idea was far-fetched. Given Tang Lan's ties to the Spirit Hall, she would not rashly snatch him away.
"Let us go—begin preparations for Wan Beast Sect's expansion. The Xingluo Empire will soon be lively," Gu Yuena said, turning southward to continue their march.
(End of Chapter)