Six golden silhouettes transformed into streaks of light, forming a battle array that moved with astonishing speed. In an instant, they had nearly caught up with the fleeing traitor, Zara.
"Damn you bastards! Aren't you afraid of divine retribution?!"
Realizing he could no longer escape, Zara stopped in his tracks. A vicious gleam flashed in his eyes as he gnashed his teeth, cursing them furiously.
"That's a problem you should've thought about yourself."
The squad leader of the Angel Legion replied indifferently. Zara was as good as dead—no need to waste words.
"Judgment of Evil!"
The six figures attacked simultaneously from six different directions. Zara's fate was already sealed.
After a brief and futile struggle, six lances pierced his body. Divine power surged through the shafts, invading Zara's body. Amid blood-curdling screams, his body was reduced to ashes.
The two young girls rescued earlier were safely handed over to the local branch of the Spirit Hall's shelter. Even without soul power, they could still learn useful crafts there, more than enough to sustain themselves.
Meanwhile, on the coastline, three figures were sprinting swiftly along the shore.
"Big brother, are those two really capable of drawing away the Spirit Hall's forces?" one of them—a Soul Sage—asked. Something didn't feel right, but he couldn't pinpoint what it was.
"Heh, it'd be ideal if they could. If not, they'll at least serve as a distraction. Either way, it improves our chances of escape."
"So basically, they're dead for sure?"
The Soul Sage spoke with unsettling calm, as though those two were never his companions.
"Mm."
Xiu Luo nodded.
"Enough talk. I've got a bad feeling. Let's pick up the pace."
"Oh? Seems your hunch is pretty spot-on."
A cold, youthful voice echoed from above. In the next moment, a volley of icy arrows rained down like meteors from the sky.
"Damn! They caught up!"
Xiu Luo was startled. He immediately summoned his Demonblade and unleashed a flurry of slashes, cutting down the incoming arrows.
A figure in a pale blue robe descended onto a nearby reef. Long flowing hair cascaded down his back. Frost clung to his lashes, and his eyes were a piercing ice-blue. Behind him, crystalline wings of ice slowly dissipated.
The three other Angel Legion members hadn't arrived yet—Guang Ling had outraced them, pushing his speed to the limit to intercept the enemy alone.
They were less than five hundred li from Zhenchi City. If Guang Ling hadn't acted on his unease and pursued them solo, the consequences could've been catastrophic.
"Well, well… If it isn't the infamous Demonblade from twenty years ago. How far you've fallen. What a pity."
Guang Ling's icy gaze locked onto Xiu Luo. He had recognized him at once—a former worship elder of the Star Luo Empire. Two decades ago, the Spirit Hall had discovered Xiu Luo secretly advancing by consuming human blood.
In response, the Spirit Hall dispatched two elders to hunt him down and even demanded an explanation from the Star Luo Empire. The Empire, fearing the consequences, had swiftly disavowed him, throwing him to the wolves.
Though Xiu Luo was a powerful Titled Douluo, his continued existence posed a deadly risk. The elders severely wounded him, but Xiu Luo managed to flee into the Slaughter City and barely clung to life.
No one expected that the Titled Douluo who had escaped from Slaughter City… would turn out to be him.
Unbelievable—yet entirely within reason.
"Hmph, who are you?"
Xiu Luo frowned. He didn't recognize Guang Ling, who had long been hidden away by Spirit Hall. But seeing the other identify him so easily put him on edge.
"You don't need to know who I am. Just know that today, you'll die by my arrow."
Guang Ling reached over his shoulder and drew the longbow strapped to his back. When fully extended, the bow was over two meters long—taller than he was by a good margin.
"High Explosive Penetration!"
He drew the bowstring. In an instant, a barrage of arrows imbued with extreme ice shot forth, leaving trails of freezing crystals in their wake.
"Hmph. Then let's play."
Nine soul rings rose beneath Xiu Luo's feet: two yellow, two purple, five black—the standard configuration for a Titled Douluo.
His first, third, and fourth soul rings lit up simultaneously. The first and third skills enhanced his attack power—together increasing it by a full fifty percent.
"Fourth Soul Skill—Blade of the Asura!"
Blood-red blade waves slashed out, colliding with the incoming arrows in a violent clash.
"Heh. Just Rank 93, and you think you can take on a Super Douluo? Delusional."
Guang Ling sneered coldly, unfurling a new pair of crystalline wings behind him as he soared into the sky.
"Ice Feather!"
Countless glowing points gathered in the heavens, falling like a breathtaking meteor shower.
"Not good!"
"Soul Avatar!" ×3
All three activated their Soul Avatars simultaneously—a blood-red bat and a massive black tiger materialized, roaring in defiance as they tried to evade the falling arrows.
Guang Ling's bow was dual-attribute: light and ice. Although its primary attribute was ice—and just short of being "Ultimate Ice"—his control was among the highest tier. Still, had it reached the level of Ultimate Ice, he might've already advanced beyond Rank 96.
Even so, with his ice powers and Rank 96 soul power, he was not someone ordinary Titled Douluo could handle.
The bat and tiger were soon overwhelmed and frozen by the icy storm.
Only Xiu Luo, being a Titled Douluo, could withstand the onslaught.
But among Titled Douluo, each level was like a chasm. A gap of three levels might as well have been an impassable abyss—unless you were someone from the freakish Tang Clan.
Thud!
An arrow pierced Xiu Luo's left shoulder, instantly freezing half his body.
"Argh!!"
Boom!
With a furious roar, Xiu Luo shattered the ice. His ninth soul ring flared beneath his feet.
"Ninth Soul Skill—Asura Slash!!"
His entire body transformed into a hundred-meter-tall blood-red giant, a living embodiment of Asura. The Demonblade in his hand grew to match, radiating a power that seemed capable of cutting down anything as it cleaved toward the airborne Guang Ling.
"Hmph, now this is getting interesting."
Facing a ninth soul skill from a Titled Douluo, Guang Ling finally grew serious. His seventh ring lit up.
"Soul Avatar!"
Guang Ling assumed his Soul Avatar form. Unshaken by the terrifying attack, his left eye—icy and crystalline—sharpened, locking onto Xiu Luo's heart like a sniper scope.
His bow pulled into a full moon arc. A glowing blue magic array appeared in front of him.
The devastating strike landed—but was completely blocked by the magic array.
"What?!"
Xiu Luo was shocked. The gap between them was greater than he had imagined. He turned to flee at full speed.
A Titled Douluo determined to escape had a good chance of getting away—even from someone at level 99.
Guang Ling smirked, lips parting slightly.
"Fifth Soul Skill—Arrive without obstacles."
Fwoosh!
The arrow loosed without a sound, moving faster than the eye could follow. No matter how Xiu Luo dodged, it pursued him relentlessly.
"No! I don't want to die!"
"Eighth Soul Skill—Demoncleave: Spatial Rend!"
Xiu Luo gripped his blade with both hands, swinging it at the silent arrow. Just as his Demonblade was about to strike it down, the arrow curved mid-flight—looping behind him.
"Damn it!!"
His pupils contracted as a pale blue light flickered above his head.
"Purple Polar Divine Light!!"
Twin beams of immense spiritual power shot from his eyes, forcibly blasting apart the incoming arrow.
"A spiritual soul bone!"
Now it was Guang Ling's turn to be surprised. Xiu Luo possessed a cranial soul bone—specifically a rare spiritual-type, likely around 60,000 years old judging by its strength.
"Interesting."
But Xiu Luo had no intention of prolonging the fight. After deflecting the arrow, he turned to flee again.
"Still running?"
Guang Ling coldly snorted. His ninth Soul Ring lit up.
"One Arrow to Pierce the Heart—Through Mist and Cloud."
He soared high into the air, his Soul Avatar's phantom pulling the bowstring behind him. A storm of freezing air spread in all directions—within a hundred li, the land turned to frost and snow.
"Strike!"
The arrow shot across the sky like a falling star.
Fast. Incredibly fast. Too fast for the human eye to follow, too fast for thought.
Xiu Luo's expression shifted drastically. His ninth ring began to glow again.
"Ninth—"
Thwack!
Before he could finish, the arrow pierced straight through his chest.
"This... impossible…"
Xiu Luo stared in disbelief. He had been killed so easily. His life ebbed away, and then he became a human-shaped ice sculpture—shattering upon hitting the ground.
A soul bone, glowing faintly with blue light, lay silently on the frozen beach.
Exhaling softly, Guang Ling landed, bent down, and picked it up. He focused his senses on it, his expression changing subtly.
"As I thought… a 60,000-year-old Mind Condensing Wisdom Skull. Hah… Star Luo Empire, you'd better pray you don't slip up."
Guang Ling chuckled coldly. This soul bone should have been part of the Star Luo Imperial Treasury's core reserves. To think it had ended up in Xiu Luo's hands—no wonder their emperor was never seen wearing it.