Upon receiving the Third Elder's promise, the Fourth Elder had no more reservations. A dark green longsword instantly appeared in his hand.
At the same time, nine spirit rings—two yellow, two purple, and five black—flashed. The Fourth Elder moved like lightning, his dark green sword light tearing through the air, heading straight for Nan Shuishui.
Seeing this, Nan Shuishui's heart sank instantly. Facing two Titled Douluo, even if her Rouge Dragon martial spirit was powerful, she had no chance of winning.
However, surrendering was impossible for her. She gritted her teeth and unleashed her spirit skill again. A pink glow quickly condensed, instantly forming a pink Rouge Annihilation Sword, which Nan Shuishui gripped tightly and swung towards the dark green sword light.
Sword lights intersected, and spirit power violently collided, releasing a massive energy shockwave. Pink and black figures transformed into afterimages, and the aftermath of the battle uprooted trees in the Sunset Forest.
Accompanied by dragon roars and sword cries, explosions resonated ceaselessly. Sword lights and energy beams intertwined, vengeful spirits wailed, and the once silent Sunset Forest became exceptionally noisy.
Nan Shuishui was locked in a bitter struggle, and Nan Qiuqiu and the others were also in an extremely difficult situation. They stood guard by Xu Shenshu, desperately fending off the evil spirit masters' attacks. If the opponents hadn't been hesitant, not wishing to take their lives, they would have long since collapsed.
Moreover, those evil spirit masters hadn't laid a hand on Xu Shenshu, who was absorbing his spirit ring. Clearly, they were worried about interrupting the spirit ring absorption, which could lead to Xu Shenshu's death and incur the Third Elder's punishment.
Through this battle, the Earth Dragon Gate members had already realized the identity of these black-robed figures: they were the notorious evil spirit masters, hated by everyone on the continent. The spirit skills they used and the characteristics of their martial spirits were too obvious; their attacks carried a strong smell of blood, and vengeful spirits wailed incessantly, fully displaying their evil nature. How could the Earth Dragon Gate not recognize them?
Because of this, they grew even more desperate. What good outcome could there be if they fell into the hands of evil spirit masters? Even if the opponents were temporarily lenient, there was no guarantee that things wouldn't change later.
Seeing Nan Qiuqiu and the others surrounded and in precarious danger, Nan Shuishui was frantic, her attacks growing increasingly fierce and urgent. However, the Fourth Elder appeared at ease, steadily blocking Nan Shuishui's offense. He knew of the Third Elder's obsession with Nan Shuishui and dared not harm her, thus intending to exhaust her spirit power and capture her unharmed. He indeed had the strength for this; while Nan Shuishui could contend with an ordinary Titled Douluo for a while, he was no ordinary Titled Douluo, but an evil spirit master.
The pink Annihilation Hand crushed an advancing vengeful spirit, and Nan Shuishui was filled with regret. She wished she had brought more elders with her; she wouldn't have fallen into such a passive predicament now. But who could have foreseen encountering evil spirit masters in the Sunset Forest? A Spirit Douluo coming to the Sunset Forest to hunt a thousand-year spirit beast was already like using a cannon to kill a mosquito, so why would she have thought of bringing more Spirit Sage elders?
Nan Qiuqiu, Song Qian, Tian Tian, Xiao Ye, and Feng Jue cooperated, forming a defensive formation. They had just managed to repel a wave of attacks and were now utterly exhausted. If the enemies hadn't been holding back, not wishing to take their lives, and dared not use powerful spirit skills, they would have long since given up. Even so, their spirit power was on the verge of depletion.
"What do we do, big sister?" Xiao Ye and Feng Jue asked, back-to-back, breathing heavily. As boys, they were at the forefront, blocking attacks. Now, not only was their spirit power heavily depleted, but they also bore injuries.
"How should I know! We're trapped this time. If we die, we'll take someone down with us," Nan Qiuqiu said through gritted teeth. The power gap between the two sides was simply too vast. The enemies had barely suffered any damage and were merely slowly draining their spirit power and stamina.
Thinking of the various terrifying acts of evil spirit masters in legends, Nan Qiuqiu couldn't help but feel fear. Being captured alive by evil spirit masters would be worse than ending it herself. But she had never even been in love, never defeated those annoying guys like Yu Tianlong, and never led the Earth Dragon Gate to surpass the Heavenly Dragon Gate. She was truly unwilling to die like this.
"I, I don't want to be captured by evil spirit masters. How about you give me a quick end, Qiuqiu?" Song Qian also gasped, her breath ragged. Her martial spirit was a mutated Rouge Dragon, possessing lightning attributes, which offered some restraint against these evil spirit masters, so she had used her spirit skills most frequently just now.
"Me too, being captured by evil spirit masters is too terrifying!" Tian Tian's face was pale. Who didn't know the infamy of evil spirit masters? Ordinary adults often used evil spirit masters to scare children, and they had a profound understanding of the evilness of evil spirit masters. With their looks and martial spirits, if they were captured by evil spirit masters, they would most likely not end well. Rather than enduring torment, it would be better to die.
"Don't give them a chance to breathe, charge!" An evil Spirit Emperor wielding a scythe waved it, and instantly, five or six figures once again rushed towards Nan Qiuqiu and the others.
"It's over!" Nan Qiuqiu looked desperate. Her spirit power was almost completely depleted, and she couldn't even unleash a single spirit skill.
Rouge Dragons were not skilled in close combat. Without the support of spirit skills, she had almost lost the ability to resist. Seeing the evil spirit masters about to charge forward, not only Nan Qiuqiu but everyone else also showed expressions of despair.
"Whoosh!" Just then, a sharp whooshing sound suddenly erupted. A black long spear, wrapped in black and red electrical arcs, descended from the sky, piercing straight into the ground, perfectly blocking the path of those evil spirit masters.
The next moment, black and red lightning violently erupted from the spear, engulfing all those evil spirit masters. Accompanied by several shrill screams, several evil spirit masters were instantly disintegrated into ashes by the lightning of decomposition.
One evil spirit master, slightly luckier, only had his arm grazed by the lightning of decomposition, but he instantly lost that arm. If he hadn't reacted quickly and retreated in time, his fate would have been the same as his vanished companions.
"Boom!" A figure then rapidly descended, heavily crashing into the ground, creating a large pit. Dust instantly billowed upwards.
"So... so handsome!" As the dust gradually cleared, what appeared before Nan Qiuqiu was a handsome young man with white hair and red eyes, carrying a long spear.
"A hero saving a beauty, don't you think it's a bit cliché?" A cool voice sounded, and Gu Yue, wrapped in green flowing wind, lightly landed beside Lu Jingming.
Lu Jingming's mouth twitched slightly. He had merely made a stylish entrance. How did he manage to annoy Gu Yue?
"Hmm?" Seeing Lu Jingming and Gu Yue suddenly appear, the Third Elder's brows furrowed deeply. With his power as a Titled Douluo, he hadn't even detected anyone approaching beforehand, which was truly unusual.
The Third Elder looked up at the sky, his pupils suddenly contracting. He saw the Snow Empress floating hundreds of meters high, with the Ice Empress standing quietly beside her. Not only the Third Elder, but Nan Shuishui and the Fourth Elder also noticed this sudden change.
"Attack, kill these two!" The Third Elder gave the order without hesitation. He had been closely monitoring the Earth Dragon Gate and confirmed that Lu Jingming and Gu Yue were not from there, so there was no need to show mercy. He wanted a quick resolution, fearing that other uninvited guests might arrive soon.
"Yes, Third Elder!" The leading evil Spirit Emperors responded, immediately revealing cruel smiles. Their figures turned into afterimages, pouncing towards Lu Jingming and Gu Yue like hungry wolves. They had been restless for a long time. As evil spirit masters with wicked dispositions, they had been suppressing their inner desire for slaughter because they couldn't kill Nan Qiuqiu and the others.
"Die, brat! Who told you to meddle!" The evil Spirit Emperor with the scythe was incredibly fast. His scythe was enveloped in a layer of bloody light, exuding a nauseatingly strong smell of blood.
"Be careful!" Seeing this, Nan Qiuqiu couldn't help but exclaim loudly.
"Pfft!" A black spear light flashed, piercing the evil Spirit Emperor's throat with lightning speed, impaling him on the spear tip.
"Oh, I did meddle. So what?" Lu Jingming's expression was indifferent. With a gentle shake of the spear tip, black electrical arcs instantly spread, disintegrating the scythe-wielding evil Spirit Emperor in the blink of an eye, leaving no trace.
Lu Jingming's gaze coldly swept over the other evil Spirit Emperors. Blue electrical arcs flashed around him, and with a thunderous boom, he appeared in the center of the evil spirit master group.
"Aeon Corridor!" The dark spear shaft slammed heavily into the ground, and his second spirit ring glowed brightly. Black light spread out like a tide, instantly transforming an area of several tens of meters into a dark domain.
At this point, almost half of the evil spirit masters were engulfed by this black light.
"What is this?"
"No!"
"Ah!"
Among the evil spirit masters surrounded by the black light, the Spirit King level evil spirit masters felt their bodies, souls, and spirit power decompose in an instant. They only managed to let out a single scream before vanishing without a trace.
The Spirit Emperor level evil spirit masters, due to their higher spirit power, had relatively stronger resistance, but they died even more painfully. They could only watch helplessly as they were slowly decomposed, the agonizing torment causing them to emit shrill screams.
Gu Yue watched this almost one-sided slaughter and gently shook her head. This was not the Spirit Master Tournament. To avoid killing, Lu Jingming had always suppressed his power in the tournament. But now, he wasn't facing contestants from other spirit master academies, but notorious evil spirit masters. There was no need to hold back, and Lu Jingming's terrifying destructive power was unleashed without reservation. A group of evil Spirit Emperors and Spirit Kings were nothing but ants before an unconstrained Lu Jingming.