"What happened?" Qian Renxue stopped immediately after the Ten Thousand Demon King halted, her voice laced with urgency and a trace of concern.
"I... my divine ability was stolen." The Ten Thousand Demon King's face twisted in shock.
"One Instant, A Thousand Years"—this was the skill he took the most pride in.
After noticing something unusual at the Heaven Dou death row prison, the Ten Thousand Demon King and Qian Renxue had rushed over without delay.
This Soul Master Grand Tournament was something the Silver Dragon King herself had ordered them to observe. Everything had to be handled perfectly, with no room for mistakes—after all, this was an inspection from their superior.
That was why the Ten Thousand Demon King had spared no effort in assisting Qian Renxue.
But just moments ago, when he had tried to temporarily restrain the enemy—
"One Instant, A Thousand Years."
A long-range time-based divine ability, the most convenient tool for such a situation. Yet before it could even be fully unleashed, it was shattered.
If it had just been countered, the Ten Thousand Demon King wouldn't have been so shocked.
After all, he was only at the pseudo-Demi-God level. But the enemy hadn't just broken his technique—they had forcibly stolen it from him. And not just the ability itself, but also...
The Ten Thousand Demon King could feel his cultivation plummeting rapidly.
"Damn it! Whoever did this, I'll make them pay!"
Wiping the blood from his lips, he coughed a few times. "They stole my time-based ability and even cut away part of my cultivation."
"What? How is that possible?" Qian Renxue's eyes widened as she scrutinized the Ten Thousand Demon King, only now realizing that his aura had weakened significantly.
"I've lost at least a hundred thousand years of cultivation." His voice was thick with fury.
"A hundred thousand years? Then you're now..."
"A 410,000-year soul beast." The Ten Thousand Demon King shot Qian Renxue a glance. "By human standards, I've fallen from a Limit Douluo to the early stages of a Level 98 Title Douluo."
Not only had he lost his time-based divine ability, but his cultivation had also regressed.
All the effort he had poured into surviving his fifth heavenly tribulation—gone. Everything was gone.
"What do we do now?" Qian Renxue had seen much in her life, but this situation was beyond her. For a moment, she was at a loss.
"We keep going." The Ten Thousand Demon King's voice was vicious.
"But—"
"Afraid? I'm not." Veins bulged on his forehead. "That person's strength is definitely not at the Limit Douluo level. They just have a slight edge over me in terms of mental and time-based abilities."
"If we really fight, do you think I'd back down?"
"Let's go!"
Without waiting for Qian Renxue's response, he accelerated toward the death row prison.
"Tch—" Qian Renxue wanted to say more, but as she watched the Ten Thousand Demon King's shrinking figure, all her words dissolved into a long sigh. Flapping her angelic wings, she chased after him.
Meanwhile, the "culprit" in question had already returned to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan's hotel.
Ning Rongrong could roughly guess the consequences of her actions, but she had no intention of dwelling on them.
Who cared?
Through her resonance with the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, she could feel the abundant time-attribute energy now surging within her.
"As expected of a Limit Douluo—what a fat sheep."
She had recovered at least half of her strength.
If she could fleece him a couple more times, maybe...
Beside her, Tokisaki Kurumi materialized with a look of exasperation.
"My dear master! You're playing with fire. If you're ever caught, you might get thrown into a pack of goblin-type soul beasts. You'd be ruined!"
"Shut up, shut up, shut up!"
"You're the one who'd get thrown to the goblins! If you don't know how to talk, then don't." Ning Rongrong rolled her eyes. "If I hadn't done this, would you have recovered so quickly?"
"And stop reading those weird books—they're corrupting you!"
"So, what's your plan?" Kurumi wasn't in a hurry, leisurely taking a seat on a nearby chair. "Even if I recover fully and fuse with you, we're no match for the Silver Dragon King."
"All we've done is maximize the fusion of the Evil God Pearl's rules with the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda."
"But even then, our limit is still bound by the Dark Devilgod Tiger's capabilities."
"And according to you, we'd need to reach what you call 'Perfection' to even stand a chance. Right now, you're still far from the so-called 'peak of the Grandmaster' level."
Hearing the concern in Kurumi's voice, Ning Rongrong replied, "The Silver Dragon King is a first-rank god, yes, but she's injured."
"Plus, with the five God Kings watching from above, how much of her power do you think she dares to use?"
"A third-rank god's strength? Second-rank? Or first-rank?"
"That's still dangerous, you know?" Kurumi couldn't help but complain. "Why is it that ever since I started following you, my heart's been in my throat?"
Since teaming up with Ning Rongrong, it was either facing 99th-level powerhouses or being on the way to face them.
Now, thanks to Ning Rongrong's reckless actions, the Sea God's Heart had been taken by the Silver Dragon King, who might very well appear during this Soul Master Grand Tournament.
In my thirty thousand years of life, I've never lived as thrillingly—or as terrifyingly—as I have these past few years with you.
"I don't have a choice!" Ning Rongrong sighed. "Our Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan is just too weak. If only we had an ancestor who became a god—then things would be different."
Kurumi: "..."
I really can't keep up with your erratic train of thought.
Ning Rongrong continued, "Anyway, focus on digesting the time energy we just got. Recover as fast as you can. I'll check the timing and maybe make a trip to the City of Slaughter."
"That's the Asura God's territory—are you insane?" Kurumi was stunned.
"What else can we do?" Ning Rongrong spread her hands. "I heard Tang Chen modified some of the City of Slaughter's rules. If you're strong enough, you can get out quickly."
"Tch." Kurumi scoffed.
"I don't recommend going to the City of Slaughter. Why not just have the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan capture more Soul Masters for us to recover from? It's not like it's impossible."
"I still have some standards." Ning Rongrong rolled her eyes.
Those who became Soul Masters weren't exactly saints—at some point, they'd all killed—but there was still a difference between that and being outright evil.
By the general moral standards of Douluo Continent, indiscriminate slaughter was something even she couldn't fully justify.
Ning Rongrong didn't have much of a conscience left, but she still had a little.
"How hypocritical!" Kurumi shrugged. "By the way, can you guarantee that every single Soul Master and criminal in that death row prison was guilty?"
"Need I remind you what the Heaven Dou nobility is like?"
"Stop trying to tempt me into becoming a villain." Ning Rongrong waved her off. "I know I'm not a good person, but I still have my limits."
"As for whether some were wrongly imprisoned—I don't have the time or energy to investigate each case. Maybe some were, maybe not."
"Unbelievable. Someone with barely any morals still draws a line for herself..."
"Go to sleep. Stop bothering me at night." Ignoring Kurumi's grumbling, Ning Rongrong recalled her into the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda before climbing into bed.
Tomorrow would be another hopeful day.