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"Among the gods above, who dares descend to the mortal world!"
The words were tyrannical—no man and no god dared answer.
Lan Minghua alone held back the myriad deities; not one true body dared step half a pace past the Heavenly Gate.
Heaven and earth fell still. Tens of thousands looked on in reverence.
Lan Minghua turned his gaze down to the land. Seeing everyone staring, dumbstruck, he patted his stomach.
"Why are you all looking at me? Go hit them! With me here, those gods up there won't dare lift a finger."
Indeed, just as he said, the Five God Kings did not act rashly; their eyes never left Lan Minghua for an instant.
The battlefield instantly devolved into a chaotic melee.
Those second- and third-tier gods possessing the Xingluo Empire's Titled Douluo could, at best, display Rank-100 strength.
And because those mortal bodies were frail, they could not even exert a full Rank-100 battle power.
Their opponents, however—shadow assassins, Hai Bodong and the others—were almost all fighters at god-tier strength.
"War God, kill Lan Minghua's disciple immediately!"
Receiving the Sea God's order, the War God exploded into motion like lightning, lunging at the wounded Zhu Zhuqing.
"Die, little girl!"
His speed was so great that even Zhu Zhuqing, an agility-attack specialist, could not hope to match it.
"Zhuqing!" Oscar and the others roared, eyes splitting with rage, but each was entangled by an opponent and unable to aid her.
The War God's fist crashed out, aiming straight for Zhu Zhuqing's head.
At the last possible instant, a purple longblade veined with cracks pierced the War God's skull even faster.
He froze, lifting a trembling hand to stare in horror at the shattered blade skewering his head.
"W-What blade is this?"
Zhu Zhuqing knew that blade too well and blurted, "Demonic Blade—Thousand-Edge? Second Master is here?!"
Before the words fell, Thousand-Edge detonated. A storm of razor fragments in an instant minced Dai Mubai's body to pieces.
Even that sliver of the War God's divine sense perished beneath Thousand-Edge.
At once the fragments drifted toward a single point and reassembled into a complete Demonic Blade—Thousand-Edge.
A figure wearing a conical bamboo hat—Qi—gave Zhu Zhuqing a faint glance, then walked toward other Titled Douluo possessed by gods.
Zhu Zhuqing blinked, speechless. "In this state, Second Master is even colder than I am."
Indeed, Qi's "main" persona was this cold and aloof, utterly unlike his "small number" alter, Wu Liuqi; they were practically two different people.
She had trained under Qi for two years and knew his temperament well.
Zhu Zhuqing rose, drew a long breath, and transmitted a message to Oscar to report her safety.
Oscar, who'd been on edge, finally exhaled, able at last to focus wholly on Tang San.
By now, Tang San had none of his earlier arrogance.
Watching his side's Titled Douluo slaughtered across the ground, his face turned so dark it seemed ink might drip from it.
Sensing the strength of Hai Bodong, Qi, and the others—no weaker than his own—only further stoked his fury.
"Damn it! Why does the Tianlong Empire have so many god-tier powerhouses? Even with aid from the Divine Realm, how are we ending up like this?"
"No. At this rate, our side will be the one to lose."
His gaze cut toward the embattled Bibi Dong and Qian Renxue.
Their divine trials had been watered down; though they reached Rank-100 and became gods, they were the weakest among god-tier combatants.
Besieged by Feng Xiaotian and other Rank-99 Limit Douluo, they held no advantage at all.
Such is the price of forcing the sprout to grow—an empty shell and nothing more.
Tang San next looked to Tang Chen, Qian Daoliu, and Bo Saixi, hoping they might defeat their foes and come to his aid.
One look—and his heart sank.
Facing Wu Song, who had opened the Domain of Martial Pride, Tang Chen had not gained the slightest edge. Instead, he was beaten until blood streamed from seven orifices, his visage unrecognizable.
Though Wu Song, too, was bathed in blood, all of it belonged to Tang Chen.
Qian Daoliu fared no better.
Even with a demigod body—hailed as the strongest beneath true godhood—he was utterly helpless before Yun Shan, whose strength was truly at the god-tier level.
His once-splendid robes were in tatters, his body crisscrossed with hundreds of wounds that spurted blood.
By contrast, Yun Shan remained as calm as drifting clouds; his garments weren't even soiled.
Bo Saixi, battling an unknown female powerhouse with a ghostly movement art, was likewise driven back blow after blow, struggling just to protect herself.
Seeing the present situation, Tang San spat a curse. "A bunch of useless trash! In the end, you all still rely on me to breathe!"
With that, he tarried no longer. He circulated the Sea God and Shura God powers through his whole body and charged at Oscar.
Because of his earlier distraction, Oscar had been ambushed by Tang San and was now weakened.
Though Tang San's own ascent had been forced, bearing two divine thrones still made his combat strength greater than the likes of Bibi Dong and Qian Renxue.
With a savage shout, Tang San swept the Sea God Trident, unleashing wave after wave of blood-red sword light.
Oscar managed to block part of it, but couldn't stop it all and was forced to keep dodging.
Tang San sneered, stepping forward. A thousand afterimages flashed across the sky.
By now, he had fused divine power into Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track; his speed was so extreme the eye could scarcely follow.
Boom!
Oscar, unable to evade, set his sword crosswise before his chest and caught the Sea God Trident head-on.
But how could he truly block it? The terrifying force blasted him hundreds of meters back.
The impact surged through his blade and crashed into his body.
Already wounded, he was shaken again; blood spurted from his mouth with a harsh gasp.
Just as Tang San pressed the attack, Oscar's aura suddenly flared—he cleaved out with a single stroke!
In a blink, two streaks of azure sword qi, like bolts of lightning, shot toward Tang San.
Twin-Sleeved Blue Serpents!
Tang San's pupils tightened as he frantically drove Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, weaving left and right.
But Twin-Sleeved Blue Serpents was too fast; even so, it carved two wounds across his waist and thigh, drawing lines of blood.
The moment the technique was unleashed, the longsword in Oscar's hands could no longer endure and crumbled into drifting ash.
Seeing this, Tang San threw back his head in laughter. "Hahaha! In the end, I win. Without a sword, how could you ever be my match!"
His voice boomed, arrogant and unrestrained, the very picture of a victor.
Across the battlefield, many paused at Tang San's proclamation and turned their eyes to the sky.
If neither the gods of the Divine Realm nor Lan Minghua interfered, the outcome would rest on Tang San and Oscar alone.
Whichever of them prevailed would decide the war.
Under countless gazes, Oscar slowly, slowly stood upright. His posture was straight as a sword, a faint calm smile on his lips.
He met Tang San's eyes, serene.
"Tang San, are you so certain that without a sword, I cannot be your opponent?"
"I wonder—if I do this next, how will you respond?"
Oscar brought both hands together before his chest and closed his eyes.
His aura plunged off a cliff; the peerless, edge-like sword intent vanished. He seemed no different from the most ordinary of men.
Yet Tang San's heart blazed with alarm—he smelled death.
Oscar opened his eyes, voice mild. "Master, tell me—how close is this sword art of mine to yours? Does it carry even a fraction of your grace?"
Lan Minghua chuckled softly, his gaze as keen as a blade. "Very well. Let me see how far you've cultivated the Five-Finger Fist-Heart Sword."
Over the past two years, he had drawn from the system the inheritance of the immortal killing move, Five-Finger Fist-Heart Sword, and passed it to Oscar.
This would be his first time seeing Oscar use it.
Hearing master and disciple speak thus, Tang San's mind shuddered; the aura of death rolled in like a tide.
Oscar's lips quirked faintly.
His left hand remained at his chest, unmoving. His right hand clenched into a fist and slowly rose above his head.
With the first breath complete, his right thumb suddenly flicked up—
and from the heart of his fist, a sword-light burst forth.
Hum!
So swift was that sword-light that, before it, Twin-Sleeved Blue Serpents seemed a plodding snail.
The instant it fired, Tang San's right arm—the one wielding the Sea God Trident—was neatly severed. Blood geysered forth!
(End of Chapter)