"You go save them, leave this to me!"
Bone Douluo looked down at Black Firefly with a grave expression. Normally, even a standard Titled Douluo would find it hard to break his defense, yet a Soul Emperor like Black Firefly managed to do it. Is this the terror of a 100,000-year soul ring? Bone Douluo didn't believe a single 100,000-year ring could drastically close the gap between a Soul Emperor and a Titled Douluo, so there had to be other reasons—like martial soul or something else.
He glanced at the distant sky where Dugu Bo and Black Jinhsi were fighting fiercely. Though Dugu Bo currently had the upper hand, defeating Black Jinhsi completely in a short time didn't seem easy.
Teleportation, time slow, state reset, foresight—Black Jinhsi's bizarre abilities in battle made Dugu Bo increasingly alarmed.
He felt extremely stifled. His pride, the deadly poison, was useless against Black Jinhsi, who was formed from negative energy.
His attacks couldn't instantly kill Black Jinhsi, and with any opening, she could reset her state.
In terms of speed, Black Jinhsi could also move within the gaps of time—her speed rivaled teleportation. She could even predict his attacks and next moves to a certain degree.
Dugu Bo had already suffered several losses from this, with many attacks predicted and several sword lights solidly hitting him.
Those sword strikes were extremely strange—each looked like a casual swing, but four slashes would strike from different angles at once, making them unavoidable.
If not for his absolute advantage in soul power, if this was a same-level fight, he'd have been killed by what looked like an ordinary sword swing!
In this era, anyone who could become a Titled Douluo was a chosen one, each with a sense of pride.
But Dugu Bo had to admit, the little girl opposite him had talent far above his own.
If they were the same rank, he might not even see her back.
He understood negative-energy monsters were usually stronger than their originals, but if a copy was this strong, how could the original be weak? Besides, the 100,000-year soul ring was real—if the clone had it, so did the original.
He was filled with doubt, unable to comprehend where such an outrageous Soul Emperor came from, one that was copied by this contamination point.
Dugu Bo even began to doubt whether the Douluo Continent of his memory was fake.
He'd lived on this land so many years, but never met such a ridiculous Soul Emperor.
Overall, Black Jinhsi's power was at the Soul Douluo level, but she was just too troublesome. For Dugu Bo, fighting her was even harder than fighting other Titled Douluo.
While Dugu Bo was locked in a tough fight, trouble was brewing for Bone Douluo as well.
A layer of fiery red markings appeared on his body at some point.
Though the marking did not affect Bone Douluo immediately, no matter what he tried, he couldn't remove it.
Next, Black Firefly shot into the sky like a cannonball, her 100,000-year red ring glowing brilliantly, then she viciously kicked down at Bone Douluo.
Her third skill "Death Star Overload" added a fire weakness to Bone Douluo, while her sixth skill "Super Break—Falling Star" turned her into a meteor, delivering a devastating blow to her target.
Though Bone Douluo didn't know what the red marking did, danger bells rang in his heart and he almost instinctively activated his martial soul avatar.
A bone dragon dozens of meters long appeared, surrounded by thick black light, forming an unbreakable defense.
The meteor, wreathed in black-red flames, trailed a cloud of sonic booms as it crashed into the massive bone dragon.
At that crucial moment, the red Stigmata on the dragon's body flared. The black soul power barrier, once unbreakable, shattered like paper.
Black Firefly's devastating kick landed solidly.
Instantly, black-red flames spread, wrapping the bone dragon and turning it into a fire dragon before smashing it into the ground.
With a huge boom, a shockwave rippled out for hundreds of meters, sending dust everywhere and blotting out the sky.
"Uncle Bone!" Ning Fengzhi's eyes widened in disbelief.
In his mind, Bone Douluo's defense was unmatched— even Sword Douluo would struggle to break it.
But what happened before him shattered this belief.
The famed defense master, level 95 peak Douluo, was forced into his martial soul avatar, and his defense was broken so easily.
Compared to Ning Fengzhi's shock, Sword Douluo was much calmer.
Though shocked, he knew Bone Douluo's true strength well.
He understood that Black Firefly's attack was powerful and surprisingly broke Bone Douluo's defense, but to truly injure him badly was impossible.
Indeed, a deafening dragon roar sounded as the bone dragon flapped its wings, stirring up a tempest.
At the same time, sharp bone spikes erupted from the ground, turning hundreds of meters around into a white-bone hell.
Black Firefly, unfazed, punched out—terrifying flames turned the ground beneath her into magma, blocking the bone spikes.
As a killing machine made of negative energy, her instincts were terrifyingly sharp, instantly neutralizing Bone Douluo's fierce assault.
Plus, her original self was a battlefield veteran, with extreme combat experience.
However, the huge gap in soul power was still a chasm hard to cross.
While her unexpected attacks and debuff skills let her temporarily suppress Bone Douluo, unless she could kill him instantly, once he recovered, her defeat was only a matter of time.
But in this contamination point, what she least lacked were companions.
And being a being of pure killing instinct and no intelligence, she had no concept of one-on-one combat.
So, a silver dragon spear, trailing air currents, whistled down like lightning onto the bone dragon's head.
Crack!
With a crisp sound, the dragon bone struck by the spear shattered instantly.
At the same time, Bone Douluo felt his life force and soul power being crazily drained by the silver spear.
Fortunately, in his martial soul avatar, his huge form meant a few bones breaking wasn't fatal.
But it was horrifying enough.
If that spear had hit his head, even his strongest part, he doubted he could withstand it.
Watching from afar, Lu Jingming's mouth twitched. This planet's will was really extravagant—even artifacts could be copied.
The silver dragon girl in martial soul attachment state was surrounded by elemental orbs, spinning rapidly and radiating dazzling light.
She, too, had two purple, three black, and one red ring, and was fighting Bone Douluo alongside Black Firefly.
The Silver Dragon martial soul was the pinnacle of true dragon martial souls.
Even though Bone Douluo's spirit was a mutated bone dragon, able to control space, under the Silver Dragon's pressure, his power was still suppressed.
Thus, a peak Douluo was temporarily held off by two Soul Emperors.
Not only that, but Black March 7th in the distance fired arrows, creating a stalemate.
"Uncle Sword!" Ning Fengzhi frowned tightly. Things had developed far beyond his expectations.
This contamination point was too strange. The negative-energy monsters, by level, matched a new contamination point, with the strongest being Soul Emperor—no Soul Sages appeared.
But their actual combat power was unbelievable.
Who would have thought Soul Emperors could go toe-to-toe with Titled Douluo, even holding their ground? This was unimaginable before.
Sword Douluo had held back, secretly protecting Ning Fengzhi, Xue Qinghe, and others in case of emergencies.
He could also tell that while the battle was stuck, over time, Dugu Bo and Bone Douluo would eventually win.
But Ning Fengzhi felt they couldn't just wait.
The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda burst into seven-colored light, sending beams onto Dugu Bo, Bone Douluo, Sword Douluo, Meng Shenji, and others.
As sect master, Ning Fengzhi was far stronger than Ning Rongrong.
He had already reached the Seven Aperture Exquisite Heart realm, able to use seven skills on seven targets at once.
With the Pagoda's buffs, Dugu Bo felt all his stats—soul power, spirit, attack, defense—rocket upward.
"Hahaha, so this is the world's best support spirit! I've finally experienced it myself."
Dugu Bo laughed heartily, finally enjoying what Sword Douluo and Bone Douluo usually had.
At the same time, his eighth ring shone, unleashing his eighth skill, "Time Freeze."
A green ripple spread, instantly reaching Black Jinhsi.
Even though time-control skills didn't scare Black Jinhsi, since she too could manipulate time, Dugu Bo knew this—and had held back this skill until now.
But with the Pagoda's boost, its power was greatly increased.
Even Black Jinhsi involuntarily paused for a moment.
In that fleeting instant, Dugu Bo unleashed his skull bone skill—Medusa's Stare.
A petrifying gaze shot out, hitting the immobilized Black Jinhsi.
Gray petrification quickly spread, turning her completely to stone, causing her to fall from a hundred meters up.
Fully petrified, she was doomed to shatter.
Though her actual combat power was high, her soul power was only Soul Emperor level, and with Dugu Bo's buffs, she stood little chance.
Not only Dugu Bo, but Bone Douluo's aura also soared with the Pagoda's support.
Countless bone spikes rained down like a storm, forcing Black Firefly and Black Gu Yue into retreat.
With the tide turning, morale soared.
Soul rings shone like stars, lighting up the valley.
Soul skills erupted in a dazzling display, sweeping away the black-armored soldiers.
But while others cheered, Lu Jingming's gaze locked onto Black March 7th and Black Robin.
Others might not know their skills, but Lu Jingming did.
Sure enough, Black March 7th's fifth ring glowed as she fired an arrow at petrified Black Jinhsi.
The ice-blue arrow struck Black Jinhsi, melting into her body. The petrification vanished instantly.
This was March 7th's fifth skill, "Pure White Prayer," which not only dispelled debuffs but also gave strong defense.
Meanwhile, Black Robin's head glowed with a heavenly ring as white wings spread.
With a melodious song, soul power notes appeared, falling on Black Jinhsi, Black Firefly, and others.
She used three skills: "White Wing Song," "Feather Aria," and "Heaven Ring Sound," boosting all teammates—better than the Seven Treasure Pagoda.
Then her fourth skill, "Thousand-Tone Concerto," turned all fifth rings blood-red, upgrading them to 100,000-year rings.
Her fifth skill, "Stellar Fugue," hit Black Gu Yue and others, raising their power so quickly that all broke through to Soul Sage, gaining a seventh red ring.
Finally, her sixth skill, "Harmonic Hymn," linked everyone in a soul power network.
If anyone used soul power, 10% of the cost would be restored by teammates.
With such powerful support, the blackened group all advanced to Soul Sage, displaying terrifying dominance.
Dugu Bo, as a hundred-meter green scaly snake emperor, was pinned by Black Jinhsi's time dragon.
A giant mecha over fifty meters tall, wreathed in black-red flames, wielded a green giant sword, leaving a shocking sword scar on Bone Douluo's dragon body.
The beautiful but blackened Silver Dragon still radiated noble aura, clawing at Bone Douluo's wings as if to tear them off.
The battle changed rapidly: from Ning Fengzhi's Pagoda boost, to Black Robin powering up Black Jinhsi's side, all advanced to Soul Sage and used spirit avatars—in just a few minutes.
"Fengzhi, be careful!" Sword Douluo could no longer sit still—he called out, drew his Seven Kill Sword, and vanished.
The moment he disappeared, the white-haired youth on the Black Throne opened his eyes.
Seven Kill Sword intent condensed into a blood-red sword, instantly appearing before Black Robin.
Sword Douluo knew Black Robin's support had reversed the battle; his first target was her.
After all, her support had surpassed Ning Fengzhi's; everyone had to accept this fact.
Just as the sword flashed, Black Castorice, who stood near Black Robin, also opened her eyes.
She swung a purple-black scythe, sending a purple blade against the blood sword.
Sword and scythe clashed, unleashing a shockwave as Sword Douluo reappeared.
He looked at the girl who blocked his attack, then at the purple airflow binding his legs, frowning.
Black Castorice had used her second skill, "Nether Domain," spreading a deathly field that weakened all his stats.
In this domain, the effect of the Seven Treasure Pagoda was greatly reduced.
Sword Douluo formed a sword with his fingers, gathering the Seven Kill Sword and aiming at Black Castorice, sword intent and killing intent surging.
But then, a black spear with black-red lightning and terrifying spear intent struck like lightning.
Sword Douluo's face changed, hurriedly blocking with his sword.
The spear tip hit the sword, black-red lightning raging as sword and spear intent clashed, even freezing the space around them.
Black Castorice and Black Robin retreated instantly, leaving the clash zone.
With Black Robin's support, Black Lu Jingming now had two purple, one black, and four red soul rings.
The sixth and seventh rings had golden lightning Stigmatas, very striking.
The four blood-red rings made Sword Douluo's eyelid twitch. He glanced at Lu Jingming by Ning Fengzhi.
"Brother Lu, aren't you a sword cultivator?"
Xue Qinghe looked at Lu Jingming, who was holding a black spear wreathed in black-red lightning and fighting Sword Douluo.
"I do practice swordsmanship, but I never said my martial soul was a sword," Lu Jingming replied helplessly.
He'd always practiced swordsmanship, but who said a swordsman's spirit had to be a sword?
"Brother Lu, you really give me endless surprises!"
Xue Qinghe looked at Black Lu Jingming's strange 100,000-year soul ring, especially the golden lightning, his expression flickering.
As a descendant of the Angel God with a god-given spirit, Xue Qinghe knew many secrets.
For example, after a soul master reached rank 100 and became a god, the tenth ring was a god ring—gold in color.
Seeing Black Lu Jingming's strange rings, his first thought was god rings.
But quickly ruled it out—if it were a god ring, Sword Douluo couldn't block that spear.
So he guessed Lu Jingming's backers, like Spirit Hall, had divine inheritances.
Otherwise, such extraordinary rings and their strange effects were hard to explain.
He also deduced that everyone appearing at this contamination point was likely Lu Jingming's companions.
After all, at the contamination point in Star Luo Empire, a copy of Ning Fengzhi appeared with Sword Douluo as the core.
With this precedent, both Xue Qinghe and Ning Fengzhi concluded the same.
Moreover, Black Robin's support suggested Lu Jingming's true ring configuration was two purple, two black, two red.
This only confirmed Xue Qinghe's suspicions that Lu Jingming's backers were on par with Spirit Hall and Sea God Island, with gods behind the scenes.
Otherwise, without divine help, how could Lu Jingming absorb such rings? Even he, with innate rank 20 soul power and a god-given spirit, supplied with endless treasures, had never absorbed out-of-level rings.
Of course, he didn't need to—just starting the god trial would upgrade his rings naturally.
"Brother Lu, what do you think we should do next?"
Xue Qinghe frowned at Lu Jingming.
Since this was Lu Jingming's own copy, he surely knew its strength.
Lu Jingming stroked his chin and said frankly, "Sword Douluo is extraordinary, and with his soul power, he can defeat that blackened me, but it'll be hard to truly kill me."