The invisible bubble of Ah Yin's camouflage shimmered, holding steady against the psychic wake of the two departing Super Douluos. The sheer pressure, even in passing, was enough to make the air feel thick and heavy.
She Long and Ci Xue, Qian Renxue's guardians, let out breaths they hadn't realized they were holding. Their faces, usually masks of arrogant indifference, were tight with tension. Hiding from two peak Super Douluos was not an experience they cared to repeat.
Zhang Tian was the first to break the silence, his face a mask of calm, thoughtful analysis.
"Well," he said, his voice a low murmur. "I believe you all recognized who that was. One was clearly Tang Hao. The other, radiating that kind of pure, domineering lightning… it must have been the Clan Head of this place, Yu Yuanzhen."
The name 'Tang Hao' was a spark in a powder keg. Qian Renxue's body went rigid, the polite facade she maintained for the group replaced by a flicker of cold fury.
"Tang Hao!" she hissed, her violet eyes flashing. "What is he doing here? And with the leader of the Blue Lightning Clan? Have our two greatest enemies forged an alliance?"
Zhang Tian reached out, his movement casual, and gently patted the top of her golden head, as if calming an agitated, high-strung cat.
"Calm down, Renxue. Getting angry won't give us answers," he said, his tone soothing.
Qian Renxue froze. The touch was condescending, familiar, and yet… not entirely unpleasant. She found herself instinctively relaxing under his hand, a reaction that infuriated her even more.
This simple, intimate gesture was not lost on the other two women.
Ning Rongrong's eyes narrowed, and she let out an indignant little huff, immediately grabbing Zhang Tian's other arm and pulling it possessively.
Zhu Zhuqing just stared coldly, her gaze flickering between Qian Renxue's flushed face and Zhang Tian's hand. She moved closer, pressing her shoulder firmly against his.
Zhang Tian, seemingly oblivious to the silent, hormonal war he had just escalated, smiled. "If you want answers, the best way is to follow them. Let's see what they're up to."
He turned to Ah Yin. "Maintain the illusion. We'll keep our distance."
He then knelt, placing his palm flat against the black, ozone-scorched rock. He closed his eyes. His new fifth spirit ring, the black one from the Thunder Hell Prison Vine, glowed faintly.
He began to release his spores, infusing them with the new attribute. The spores landed on the damp rock and, instead of withering, they thrived. Tiny, crimson grass blades sprouted, crackling with faint, stolen static. When a small arc of ambient lightning snapped nearby, the grass didn't burn; it absorbed it, its crimson color deepening.
Zhang Tian smiled. 'It worked. My Blood Silver Grass is immune to this lightning. It can feed on it.'
His domain began to spread, a silent, crimson carpet disguised as harmless moss, following the lingering aura of the two Super Douluos.
"They are moving fast," She Long hissed, his Titled Douluo senses tracking the disturbance. "Heading toward the core of the canyon. The lightning there is stronger."
"Why the central region?" Ci Xue grumbled, his voice a deep rumble. "That's where the truly ancient ones sleep. Only a fool would wake them. I'm starting to think there could actually be hundred-thousand-year-old spirit beasts inside."
Liu Erlong, who had been silent, spoke up, her voice sharp with its own analytical edge. "Unless they are fools with a purpose. They aren't here for a scenic flight."
Zhang Tian stood, brushing dust from his robes. "They're hunting. They need something only the most powerful beasts can provide. Something that doesn't always drop."
The realization dawned on everyone at once.
"Spirit Bones," Qian Renxue whispered, the strategic implications hitting her instantly.
This wasn't a casual visit. It was a high-level resource raid.
Zhang Tian nodded grimly. 'But why? Why do two top clans suddenly need a stockpile of bones? Unless... they plan on elevating their Elders. An arms race. Against whom? Spirit Hall? Or... me and the Seven Treasure Sect?'
This solidified his resolve. They had to see this through.
The group moved forward, a silent, invisible bubble of predators. Ah Yin's perfect illusion, fueled by her own vast reserves and the supplemental power of two Titled Douluos, held firm.
And with every step they took, Zhang Tian's own surveillance network spread, his crimson grass seeding the dark, wet rock, turning the entire canyon into an extension of his own senses.
They followed for hours, delving deeper into the howling, storm-wracked abyss. The landscape grew more violent, the lightning more frequent. Finally, through the driving rain and constant thunder, they heard it—a new sound. The bellow of a massive beast in agony, followed by the unmistakable boom of the Clear Sky Hammer.
They crested a jagged ridge and looked down into a massive basin.
Below them, a battle was just concluding. Two colossal avatars were flickering out of existence—the one-hundred-meter Clear Sky Hammer and the shimmering Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon. On the ground between them lay the corpse of a massive beast, a thirty-meter-long reptilian thing covered in pulsating electrical sacs, its six legs twisted at unnatural angles. An 86,000-year-old Thunder-Vein Hydra.
As they watched, a brilliant black spirit ring rose from the corpse. And beside it, pulsing with a faint, powerful light, a spirit bone shimmered into existence.
It was a Skull Bone.
Yu Yuanzhen let out a booming laugh that echoed through the canyon, his human form reappearing. "Excellent! A Skull Bone! My brother Luomian has been stuck at Level 89 for many years. This will guarantee his breakthrough to Titled Douluo!"
Tang Hao's avatar also faded, revealing his grim, cloaked figure. He nodded once. "Good. We need every Titled Douluo we can get. The Spirit Hall is not our only threat anymore."
Yu Yuanzhen clapped his hands, his face alight with a fierce, greedy energy. "Agreed. Now, let's continue. We save the strongest ones—the 90k and above beasts—for their ninth rings. For now, we hunt the mid-range. Fifty-five to sixty-eight thousand years. We need to stockpile enough spirit bones to elevate at least five more elders."
"Let's move," Tang Hao replied simply, already turning toward the deeper reaches of the canyon.
What followed was a spectacle of such brutal, overwhelming power that it left Zhang Tian's group speechless.
It was a massacre.
For the next twelve hours, they trailed the two Super Douluos as they swept through the inner canyon. They were two gods of death. Any beast, no matter how powerful, that fell within their target range was annihilated.
A sixty-thousand-year-old Thunder-Winged Serpent, a fifty-eight-thousand-year-old Lightning-Charged Rhino, a sixty-five-thousand-year-old Volt-Fang Tiger. These were creatures that would normally require a full, coordinated team of Titled Douluos to hunt with care. Tang Hao and Yu Yuanzhen were killing them in minutes.
Tang Hao would shatter their defenses with the raw, domineering force of his hammer, and Yu Yuanzhen would fry their core with his pure, destructive lightning. Their teamwork was terrifyingly efficient.
Ah Yin's face was grim. Liu Erlong was pale. Even Qian Renxue, no stranger to power, was stunned by the sheer efficiency of the slaughter.
After slaying their twenty-third beast—a sixty-eight-thousand-year-old creature—the two Super Douluos finally stopped to assess their loot. The drop rate was, as always, depressingly low. Of the twenty-three kills, only five had yielded spirit bones.
But what a haul it was. A torso, a left arm, a right arm, a left leg, and a right leg. A full, if mismatched, set of high-tier armor.
"This is a good start," Yu Yuanzhen said, his voice brimming with satisfaction as he stored the bones. "We will rest for a few hours, then continue. We need at least ten more before we can consider this a success."
Just as he spoke, the world changed.
The constant, chaotic storm above them… stopped.
The relentless crashing of lightning ceased. An absolute, deafening silence fell over the canyon. Even the howling wind died, leaving a vacuum that was more terrifying than the storm itself.
Tang Hao and Yu Yuanzhen both froze. They looked up.
A new sound began. It was not the sharp crackle of lightning. It was a roar. A deep, resonant ROOOOOOAR that seemed to come not from a single throat, but from the canyon walls themselves, from the very sky above them. It was a sound that made the ground tremble like a dragon's throat.
From the black, swirling vortex of clouds, something descended.
It was a bird, but to call it a bird was like calling a mountain a simple rock.
It was colossal. Its body was not just feathers, but a living fusion of a giant roc and a churning thunderhead. Azure and violet lightning crackled and arced between its plumes, which seemed forged from solidified storm clouds. Its wings, when they unfurled, were a terrifying shadow that blotted out the sky, easily stretching over three hundred meters from tip to tip. Its eyes were not eyes, but two blazing, white-hot suns, filled with an ancient, cold intelligence.
This was the Thunder Roc Sovereign. The beast that gave the Dragoncry Thunder Canyon its name. A true, one-hundred-thousand-year-old overlord.
Tang Hao instantly felt the pressure. It was ancient. It was overwhelming.
'This aura…' he thought, his hand gripping his hammer, his knuckles turning white. 'It's... stronger than the Sky Azure Bull Python. This is a really powerful hundred thousand year old spirit beast.'
He could feel the environment itself turn against him. His own power, his connection to the earth, felt suppressed. But the Roc... the Roc was amplified. This was its home. It was the storm.
Yu Yuanzhen was feeling it too, but in a different, more humiliating way. His Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon, the king of all lightning spirits, the most domineering beast spirit on the continent... was humming. It was vibrating inside him... in fear.
The raw, primal lightning energy radiating from the Roc was so pure, so overwhelming, that his own spirit felt like a tiny candle next to a blazing sun. He felt his own power being actively, forcefully suppressed by the beast's mere presence.
The two Super Douluos looked at each other, their faces grim. Their perfect, dominant hunt was over.
The Thunder Roc Sovereign glided silently above them, its blazing white eyes looking down, not at them, but at the recent twenty third corpse of the powerful spirit beast that littered the canyon floor. Its gaze was not one of hunger. It was the cold, intelligent fury of a king whose domain had been violated, whose subjects had been slaughtered.
It opened its massive, lightning-wreathed beak. And it screamed.
The resulting blast of pure sound and concentrated violet lightning was not an attack. It was a white wave of annihilation that tore the very canyon floor apart, a solid wall of destructive energy that surged straight for them.
Tang Hao and Yu Yuanzhen, two of the most powerful men on the continent, felt a jolt of pure, instinctual fear. They reacted in the same instant, their movements a blur of desperate, defensive power.
"Seventh Spirit Ability! Clear Sky Hammer Avatar!" Tang Hao roared, the colossal, mountain-sized hammer appearing in his hands. He didn't swing it. He planted its haft firmly on the ground, the massive black head forming an impenetrable bulwark before them.
"Seventh Spirit Ability! Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Avatar!" Yu Yuanzhen bellowed, his own body erupting into the form of a magnificent, fifty-meter-long dragon of pure, crackling blue lightning. He didn't attack. He coiled his massive, serpentine body around Tang Hao's avatar, adding his own power to the defense.
The white wave of annihilation slammed into them.
The impact was a deafening, world-shattering BOOOOOOM that was a thousand times more powerful than any of the natural lightning strikes. The very ground of the canyon split open, fissures spreading out from the point of impact like a spider's web.
The combined defense of two peak Super Douluos held. Barely.
Tang Hao was thrown back a step, a grunt of pure effort torn from his throat. The Clear Sky Hammer avatar flickered violently, the intricate patterns on its surface dimming for a fraction of a second.
Yu Yuanzhen's dragon avatar fared worse. The raw, pure lightning of the Roc's attack seemed to find a resonance with his own, and the feedback was a brutal, agonizing thing. He let out a low, pained roar as his own blue lightning was momentarily overwhelmed, his avatar form shrinking by a good ten meters.
High on the ridge, safe within their shimmering blue bubble, the observers watched, their faces pale with a mixture of terror and awe.
"Gods above…" Ning Rongrong whispered, her hand clutching Zhang Tian's arm in a death grip. "That… that was just one attack."
The Thunder Roc Sovereign glided silently above them, its blazing white eyes looking down, not with the mindless fury of a beast, but with the cold, intelligent fury of a king.
A voice, ancient and resonant, echoed not in the air, but directly within their minds. It was a voice that was both a roar and a whisper, a sound that seemed to carry the weight of a thousand storms.
"You have killed enough of my subjects," the Roc's telepathic voice declared. "Why do you continue this slaughter?"
Tang Hao and Yu Yuanzhen, having recovered from the initial, devastating blow, looked up, their expressions a mask of grim, defiant pride.
"Hmph," Yu Yuanzhen snorted, his draconic voice a low, rumbling thunder. "Humans and spirit beasts are destined to be on opposing sides. It is the law of this world. We are simply eliminating future threats. Threats that might one day harm our own children, our own grandchildren."
The Roc let out a sound that was the mental equivalent of a cold, derisive laugh.
"Do not insult my intelligence with such pathetic, self-righteous excuses," it retorted, its voice dripping with an ancient, weary contempt. "I know why you are here. I can smell your greed. You do not hunt for security. You hunt for trinkets. For the bones of my people."
Its blazing white eyes narrowed. "You are two of the most powerful of your kind. Yet you spend your days bullying and slaughtering those who are a fraction of your strength. There is no honor in that. If you truly wish to fight, if you truly wish to test your power… then fight me."
The challenge hung in the air, a silent, deadly gauntlet thrown down.
Tang Hao just grinned, a slow, feral expression. He looked at Yu Yuanzhen, who returned the look with a nod of his own.
This was what they had come for. A true battle.
"Deathgod Domain!" Tang Hao roared. The familiar, grey, misty, and soul-crushing aura erupted from him, washing over the canyon, staining the vibrant purple of the storm clouds with a grim, lifeless grey.
"Seventh Spirit Ability: Clear Sky Hammer Spirit Avatar!"
"Seventh Spirit Ability: Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Avatar!"
The two Super Douluos unleashed their full power, their avatars magnificent, terrifying pillars of destructive energy against the dark, storm-wracked sky. Yu Yuanzhen took it a step further. He activated his Dragon Transformation, and his entire body, even within the avatar, became a thing of pure, draconic power, his scales crackling with an even more potent lightning.
The Thunder Roc Sovereign watched them, its expression unchanging. And then, it moved.
"Storm-Wing Domain!"
It spread its colossal, three-hundred-meter wings, and the very weather of the canyon changed. The random, chaotic lightning strikes ceased, and the howling wind coalesced into a single, massive, and destructive hurricane that swirled around the Roc, its domain a vortex of razor-sharp winds and chaotic, arcing lightning.
The two Super Douluos felt the pressure instantly. Their movements became sluggish, the very air a thick, heavy molasses that sought to hold them, to crush them.
"Sky-Sundering Cry!"
The Roc let out another of its terrifying, soul-shattering roars. It was a wave of pure sonic and spiritual power that slammed into their avatars. Tang Hao's Deathgod Domain flickered violently, the ghostly whispers of the damned momentarily silenced by the sheer, overwhelming power of the cry. Yu Yuanzhen's dragon avatar let out another pained roar as his own spirit power circulation was disrupted, his lightning flickering erratically.
"Do not let it control the pace!" Tang Hao bellowed. He stamped his foot, and his fifth spirit ring, a deep, menacing black, flared to life. "Fifth Spirit Ability: Gravity Crush!"
The immense, gravitational field of his hammer intensified a hundredfold, a crushing weight that slammed down on the Roc's massive form, trying to drag it from the sky.
At the same time, Yu Yuanzhen acted. His own fifth spirit ring blazed with a brilliant, chaotic light. "Fifth Spirit Ring Ability: Lightning Dragon's Wrath!"
A storm of pure, blue-white lightning erupted from his draconic form. It was not a single beam, but a chain lightning attack, a dozen brilliant, crackling tendrils of energy that arced through the air, striking not just the Roc, but the very storm clouds of its domain, trying to disrupt its control.
The Roc let out an irritated shriek. The gravity was a nuisance, a heavy, dragging weight. But it was a creature of the sky. It met the pressure with the raw, untamed power of its own wings.
And as for the lightning… it simply absorbed it. The Azure Dragon's Wrath, an attack that could have incinerated a small army, was just… food to this ancient, elemental being.
"Heaven's Talon!"
The Roc descended, a black and violet meteor of fury. Its massive talons, each one the size of a small house, were sheathed in a concentrated, solid-looking layer of pure lightning. They sliced through the air, aimed directly at Tang Hao's avatar.
Tang Hao met the attack head-on. "Ninth Spirit Ability: Clear Sky Fury!"
His hundred-thousand-year-old, blood-red ring flared to life. The colossal, black hammer of his avatar was wreathed in a brilliant, crimson light, its power skyrocketing. He swung the hammer, a beautiful, terrifying arc of red and black that met the descending, lightning-wreathed talons.
The clash was a beautiful, terrifying, and world-shattering thing. The very canyon seemed to scream as the two ultimate attacks collided. Tang Hao was thrown back, a grunt of pure effort torn from his throat. The Roc was also pushed upwards, a series of hairline cracks appearing on the solid lightning that sheathed its talons.
It was a stalemate.
But the Roc was not alone. Its domain was its weapon. As Tang Hao was recovering, the hurricane winds of the Storm-Wing Domain coalesced into a dozen massive, swirling tornadoes that shot towards him, seeking to tear his avatar to shreds.
"Sixth Spirit Ring Ability: Tyrant's Lightning Aegis!" Yu Yuanzhen roared. He flew to Tang Hao's side, his own sixth ring flaring. A massive, translucent shield of pure, crackling blue lightning materialized around them, a defensive bulwark that met the oncoming storm of tornadoes.
The tornadoes slammed into the shield, and the air was filled with a high-pitched, screeching symphony of shattering energy. The shield held, but it was cracking, flickering violently under the relentless assault.
High on the ridge, safe within their silent, invisible bubble, Zhang Tian watched the battle of gods and monsters, his face a mask of calm, but his mind was a raging, chaotic sea of new, profound, and world-shattering ideas.
'This is it,' he thought, his gaze fixed on the brutal, beautiful dance of destruction below. 'This is the core of the problem. The very foundation of this world's eternal, tragic conflict.'
He saw the magnificent, powerful spirit beasts, fighting for their homes, for their lives. And he saw the two powerful humans, fighting for… what? For Spirit Rings. For spirit bones. For a small, incremental advantage in their own, endless, and ultimately pointless, human power struggles.
'The slaughter is a necessity,' his mind, a cold, logical machine, analyzed. 'As long as the only path to power for humans is to kill spirit beasts, this war will never end. It is a fundamental, inescapable law of this world.'
A new, audacious, and utterly, completely, and terrifyingly revolutionary thought entered his mind.
'But what if… what if that law could be changed?'
He thought of his own, miraculous creations. Of the spirit tools he had designed, of the pills he had concocted. Of the plot of the future eras of this world that he knew which meant that it was possible to achieve.
He was an engineer. Someone who develops new uses for the raw materials and technology.
'Artificial spirit rings,' the thought was a lightning bolt in his mind. 'Artificial spirit bones. Not just simple imitations, but true, custom-made creations. Forged from rare metals, infused with the essence of heaven and earth, powered by engraved, spirit-tool-like circuit arrays. A new path to power. A path that does not require slaughter.'
The implications of it, the sheer, breathtaking scale of the idea, made his head spin.
'If I could do it,' he mused, his eyes gleaming with a new, ambitious fire, 'if I could provide a safe, reliable, and powerful alternative to hunting spirit beasts… the entire human race would be in my debt. They would see me not as a conqueror, but as a savior or messiah.'
He thought of the spirit beasts. Of the ancient, powerful, and fiercely proud creatures that ruled the great forests. Of the true king who slept in the deepest, most hidden corner of the Star Dou Great Forest. Di Tian. Or even that Silver Dragon King.
'And them…' his smile widened, becoming a slow, predatory expression. 'If I could end the slaughter, if I could give them a future free from the constant, existential threat of humanity… they would not just be grateful. They would be my allies. My subjects.'
The vision was a beautiful, magnificent, and incredibly dangerous one. An entire world, human and beast, united under his banner. Not through conquest. But through faith.
'Faith,' he thought, the word a new, powerful concept in his mind. 'That is a power greater than any spirit ring, any spirit bone. It is the power to build a godhood. To forge a divine tablet not from a god's legacy, but from the will of an entire world.'
He knew the path would be a long one. A dangerous one.
'I cannot be hasty,' he cautioned himself. 'To reveal such a thing now… the Spirit Hall, the great clans… they would see it as a threat to their entire way of life. No. I must be patient. I must grow strong enough to protect my creations. And the creations themselves… they must be perfect. They must be better than the real thing. More powerful, more versatile, more adaptable. Only then will the world be ready to accept this new path.'
The battle below reached its climax.
The Thunder Roc Sovereign, its patience with these two persistent, powerful insects finally snapping, unleashed its ultimate attack.
"Hundredfold Thunder Tribulation!"
The swirling vortex of clouds above the canyon seemed to turn black. And then, a hundred brilliant, violet-white bolts of lightning, a storm that was a perfect, terrifying imitation of a god's own wrath, descended from the heavens, a solid, inescapable wall of pure, destructive energy aimed directly at the two Super Douluos.
"Damn it!" Yu Yuanzhen roared. He knew his Aegis could not withstand such a focused, overwhelming assault.
He looked at Tang Hao, a silent, desperate question in his eyes.
Tang Hao met his gaze, and his own eyes were burning with a grim, unwavering resolve. He gave a single, curt nod.
He had no other choice.
"Ninth Spirit Ring Ability!" he roared, his voice a clap of thunder. "Celestial Dragon's Judgment!"
He unleashed the full, unrestrained power of his black ninth, ninety-thousand-year-old spirit ring. The blue lightning of his avatar was consumed, annihilated, replaced by a brilliant, holy, and terrifyingly powerful golden lightning.
He met the descending storm of violet lightning with his own storm of gold. The two ultimate attacks collided, and the world dissolved into a silent, blinding, and beautiful inferno of pure, elemental chaos.
~~
A/N: Check out my other novels like "Douluo Dalu: Time Travel", "Harem Master: Seduction System" and the "Villain: Manipulating the Heroines into hating the Protagonist" and I hope you like this story and those stories as well.
Check out more chapters on my P.atreon. The P.atreon will have 20+ Chapters ahead for this story. I hope you like it.
The link of p.atreon is: bit.ly/evildragon