The vast room felt as though it had been filled with mercury, the circulating air in the darkness as viscous as blood, slowing to a crawl.
The dim, eerie glow in the dark expanded until the tall figure finally emerged in full.
It was an elderly man, towering in stature. His silver hair was combed back immaculately, his face ruddy like that of a newborn, and his long brows drooped down the sides of his cheeks. Suspended in mid-air, he placed one hand—covered entirely in fearsome black dragon scales—on Xuanzi's shoulder.
"An Extreme Douluo! Dark attribute, dragon scales…"
"You're Long Xiaoyao!"
"You're… not dead?!"
Xuanzi turned his head toward the man, pupils contracting violently, his expression one of sheer shock.
The moment that hand landed on his shoulder, a thick, oppressive dark soul power poured into his body. His own immensely robust earth-attribute soul power instantly fell into disadvantage.
At that instant, Xuanzi understood—this man was an Extreme Douluo. That dense darkness reminded him of one of the legendary Twin Holy Dragons, on par with Elder Mu in days past: the Dragon Emperor Douluo, Long Xiaoyao.
Hearing Xuanzi's first words, Long Xiaoyao felt slightly gratified—after so many years in seclusion, someone still remembered him.
But the next thing Xuanzi said darkened his face.
What did he mean, "still alive"? If Mu En could survive in his state, why couldn't he?
"Ha!"
Seeing Long Xiaoyao's face turn grim, Xuanzi's heart skipped a beat. He urged his soul power again—two massive horns were about to sprout from his head, his soul rings beginning to rise one after another from beneath his feet.
Damn, I've hit iron this time…
He might drink himself half-senseless every day, but he wasn't stupid when it mattered. He knew well the gap between a Super Douluo and an Extreme Douluo—just one rank apart, yet as vast as the difference between a Soul Douluo and a Titled Douluo, utterly unbridgeable.
So his first thought was: Run!
"Stay put for me!"
Long Xiaoyao frowned, the dragon-scaled hand on Xuanzi's shoulder pressing down harder. A torrent of dark energy surged around Xuanzi's body, while Long Xiaoyao's left hand clenched into a fist, gathering a terrifying aura.
Boom!
Space quivered as Long Xiaoyao slammed a punch into Xuanzi's abdomen. The sound of bones cracking rang out.
Xuanzi sucked in a sharp breath, eyes bulging, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth like a tiny snake. The martial spirit he'd just tried to possess was forcibly beaten back by that punch.
Long Xiaoyao looked at Xuanzi in his grasp, displeased.
What's with this guy? If he releases his martial spirit here, the whole Star Emperor Grand Hotel will be done for—and everyone inside with it.
He's acting more recklessly than some Evil Soul Masters in the sect.
He didn't actually care about the other guests; he had come here at Zhongli Wu's request to quietly ensure Jiang Jue's safety. But if Xuanzi insisted on making trouble, he wouldn't be polite.
"Elder Long!"
Jiang Jue had gotten to his feet, eyes bright as he respectfully greeted Long Xiaoyao.
Just before Xuanzi struck, Elder Yi had told him that someone even stronger was present in the shadows. Given what Zhang Peng had said at the hotel last time, plus knowing that his master Zhongli Wu had secretly "sent" someone, Jiang Jue had guessed it might be Long Xiaoyao. And now it was confirmed.
Xuanzi spat a mouthful of blood, face turning grim as he tried to muster soul power to escape.
"So eager to fight? Then this old man will indulge you."
"Go!"
A surge of ultimate darkness burst from Long Xiaoyao, the air rippling like a dissolving illusion.
Buzz… buzz… buzz!
In an instant, all three men vanished from the room.
Jiang Jue focused on the shifting light—this was the space power only Extreme Douluo could grasp. In this world, unless a soul master had a space-attribute martial spirit, reaching the true essence of space required crossing that Extreme Douluo threshold.
Moments later, light returned, revealing a wide clearing under a cold moon.
They had traveled from the hotel to the outskirts of Star Luo City in just seconds.
Thud!
Long Xiaoyao tossed Xuanzi to the ground, raising a cloud of dust.
"Didn't you want to fight? I could use the exercise."
His voice was cool. A mass of dark soul power surrounded Jiang Jue protectively; Long Xiaoyao nodded to him before descending toward Xuanzi.
On the ground, Xuanzi clutched his abdomen—Long Xiaoyao's punch had shattered several ribs, throwing his blood and soul power into chaos.
This was the gap between a Super Douluo and an Extreme Douluo.
The gap between a single soul core and a twin soul core.
I just wanted to leave—who said anything about fighting?
He had only come to find Jiang Jue to suppress Ma Xiaotao's evil fire. How had this ended up dragging out Long Xiaoyao, a living Buddha?
A figure who had made his name alongside Elder Mu a hundred years ago—how could Xuanzi hope to contend?
Fight with what? His head?
But now, whether he fought or not was no longer up to him.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
As Long Xiaoyao descended, dragon scales spread across both arms, his eyes icy.
Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, red! Red!
Nine soul rings—surpassing the optimal configuration—rose beneath him. The last two were sinister hundred-thousand-year rings that made space itself shiver. Behind him loomed the phantom of a majestic black dragon.
As he dropped, space twisted around him. Black flames surged skyward, shrouding everything in darkness, dimming even the moonlight.
"Taotie Divine Bull!"
Xuanzi roared as two spiral horns sprouted from his head. Earth-yellow soul power condensed into dark yellow armor; two extra eyes appeared beneath his arms, and his body swelled to over ten times its size.
Two yellow, two purple, four black, one red—nine soul rings emerged from beneath him.
On the ground, the Taotie Divine Bull had the elemental advantage. Xuanzi believed he could withstand Long Xiaoyao's strike and use the chance to tunnel away.
Rumble!
Long Xiaoyao fell like a meteor, clashing dragon arms with Xuanzi's massive manifested hands.
In that instant, a terrifying force erupted—earth-yellow and black energies clashed, shockwaves fanning outward, obliterating everything nearby to dust.
Xuanzi's face flushed, veins bulging, the ground beneath his feet cracking like baked clay, sinking as if an earth dragon had rolled over.
I actually lost in my best domain—raw power!
The booming continued as earth-yellow was steadily devoured by darkness, clinging like maggots to bone, ignoring Xuanzi's roars.
"Hmph! Bullying the weak—did Mu En teach you that?"
"Since you've chosen this path, I won't hold back either!"
Clang!
With a metallic crash, Xuanzi could resist no longer—Long Xiaoyao crushed him to the ground, forcing him to his knees. Blood seeped from wounds all over his body, his eyes bloodshot.
A wretched sight indeed.
(End of chapter)