Word Count: 3,355 Words
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Streaks of light tore free from the Jade Phosphor poison miasma. Set against an army of six hundred thousand, the survivors numbered pitifully few, only the Sun Moon Imperial Spirit Guidance Legion, the Fire Phoenix Spirit Guidance Legion, and a scattering of experts at Class 8 and above.
The entire sky had drowned in ghostly green. In a single night, Dugu Lin had all but slaughtered six hundred thousand troops!
Silver Moon Douluo Kong Deming had pulled Ju Zi to safety. She stared down at the roiling poison fog below in stunned disbelief, her lips trembling.
"No, no… my legion… I want vengeance! Sun Moon Empire, all forces, attack! Charge into Star Luo City! Kill White Tiger Duke Dai Hao! Kill him!"
The War Empress who had outschemed three great empires shrieked herself raw, refusing to acknowledge the ruin already closing over her head. In that very same instant, a furious roar split the sky.
"Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor!"
Illustrious Virtue Hall Master Jing Hongchen's face twisted with rage. So many of the soldiers in that camp had been elites cultivated by the Sun Moon Imperial Academy, and now they were nothing more than withered bones beneath the Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor's poison!
In the next breath, more than a thousand spirit cannon barrels extended from Jing Hongchen's body, transforming him into a metallic porcupine. The barrels twisted and calibrated of their own accord, locking onto Ling Qiuxi and Dugu Lin.
"Retreat!"
Eight spirit rings blazed to life at once. Ling Qiuxi ignited her seventh ring, and amid a stirring dragon's cry, the Golden Dragon spread its wings and soared skyward. A single claw shot out, scooped up the spirit-power-drained Dugu Lin, and the two of them raced toward Star Luo City.
Had it been a one-on-one duel, the Ultimate Strength Golden Dragon would have had no reason to fear him. But this was the heart of the Sun Moon encampment, and Dugu Lin had just butchered six hundred thousand soldiers. The few hundred survivors would pour every last drop of their hatred onto the two of them!
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Jing Hongchen's eyes burned a feral red as he opened fire without restraint. Clusters of golden-red light streaked across the night sky, chasing after the Golden Dragon like a shower of meteors.
The bombardment closed in from behind, yet Ling Qiuxi only grew calmer for it. Her dragon claw cradled Dugu Lin protectively against her chest, and the Evil Spirit Orca King's eighth spirit ring bloomed at her command. The empty air seemed to congeal into a smooth red-gold mirror, and the spirit cannon shells that struck it raised only the faintest of ripples.
Golden Dragon's Eighth Spirit Skill, Golden Dragon Fiend Mirror!
The dragon's body twisted, and its long, slender golden tail whipped out a red-gold blade of light. Wherever it passed, spirit cannon fire was cleaved cleanly in two, and the unblunted strike sliced onward toward Jing Hongchen.
The eighth spirit skill's second ability, Golden Dragon Fiend Axe!
Jing Hongchen's pupils contracted violently. The Golden Dragon layered atop the ocean overlord Evil Spirit Orca King produced a strike of such ferocious sharpness that even before the Golden Dragon Fiend Axe arrived, its cutting edge already pressed against him, threatening to split him clean in two.
BOOM—
Light burst outward in a violent flare. Jing Hongchen activated three Class 9 Spirit Barriers in rapid succession and only barely managed to withstand that terrifying blow. Cold sweat poured down his face, and his pursuit slowed to a crawl.
It was as though a bucket of icy water had been dumped over his head. Jing Hongchen sobered all at once and very nearly slapped himself across the face. A master can only lead his student to the door; the rest is up to the individual. What in the world am I gambling this old life of mine for?!
High in the air, Ling Qiuxi clutched Dugu Lin close and glanced back. Jing Hongchen hung frozen where he hovered, and she let out a long breath of relief. "That Class 9 Spirit Guidance Master doesn't dare give chase anymore. Looks like we're safe. Still, after wiping out six hundred thousand troops with the Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor poison, the Sun Moon Empire is going to hate you to the bone from this day forward."
Dugu Lin's face was pale as paper, yet the bewitching curve of her smile had not dimmed in the slightest. "It's the first time I've cut loose with the Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor poison without holding back a single drop. I was even worried it wouldn't be enough. Let the Sun Moon Empire hate me all they want. They invaded the Douluo Continent. They deserve to come and never leave."
"If I hadn't come along, you'd be one of the ones who never left," Ling Qiuxi shot back with a teasing smile.
The Golden Dragon beat its wings and climbed higher into the night. After this battle, the ever-proud Ling Qiuxi had truly come to acknowledge Dugu Lin. That blazing, reckless devotion suited her tastes perfectly.
Yet just before they reached Star Luo City, a silver moon shot abruptly into the air, and in an instant the true moon hanging in the sky vanished altogether.
The silver moon hung overhead in its place, shining in mirrored brilliance with the field of stars, and forcibly halted the Golden Dragon mid-flight.
"Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor, Golden Dragon… the two of you have nerve…"
Silver Moon Douluo Kong Deming stepped through space with Ju Zi at his side, two Hand that Protects the Nation Spirit Guidance Legions arrayed at his back. Jing Hongchen and the other Class 9 Spirit Guidance Masters fixed their gazes upon the two women without blinking, teeth grinding, killing intent thick in every glare.
In their eyes, Dugu Lin and Ling Qiuxi were butchers drenched from head to toe in the blood of the Sun Moon Empire. To leave them alive would be to disgrace the name of Sun Moon!
"Save your breath. If you've got the strength, then come!"
The Golden Dragon lifted its proud head high, chest thrust outward, and the Black Dragon Reverse Scale flickered with deep, abyssal black radiance.
Kong Deming nearly laughed in pure fury. In all his long life, this was the first time he had ever encountered someone who could remain so brazenly arrogant with death already at the door. Light gathered within his Class 10 Spirit Guidance Device, the Silver Moon Divine Light Barrier!
"Dis—perse!"
Those two simple syllables shook the space outside Star Luo City to its very foundations. A rolling wave of sound mingled with overwhelming spirit pressure swept outward, blanketing a thousand-mile radius in the blink of an eye.
The midnight sky seemed to ignite. A radiant golden sun blazed into existence from nothing, and night was reborn as bright as day. Countless civilians within Star Luo City jolted awake from their dreams. Barefoot, they threw open their windows and beheld a golden sun and a silver moon facing one another across the vault of the sky.
"Holy Evil Douluo!" The cry tore from Kong Deming's lips before he could stop it.
He had crossed paths with Ling Bai during the battle in the western hills outside Mingdu, but what he felt now went far beyond mere shock. He retreated at once, putting as much distance as he could between himself and Ling Bai.
The profound mystery of the Silver Moon Divine Light Barrier lay in its command of spatial power. Kong Deming had already sealed the surrounding space moments before, and he had been certain that not even a Limit Douluo of Dragon Emperor Douluo Long Xiaoyao's caliber could interfere with it. Yet Ling Bai had torn his way through by sheer brute force, ripping space apart to descend upon them.
"Acting on your own without authorization. We'll deal with this when we return."
Ling Bai opened a spatial passage and motioned for the two women to leave first.
Ling Qiuxi curled her lips and stepped into the spatial passage, returning to the military camp. The word 'unconvinced' might as well have been carved across her forehead. I'd like to see what you can really do to me!
Dugu Lin was even more shameless about it, like a dead pig with no fear of scalding water. She had never expected to make it back alive in the first place. The worst that could happen was being beaten to death once she got home.
"Elder Kong, he's only one man! Kill him! Charge into Star Luo City and kill Dai Hao!"
By the end, Ju Zi's emotions had spiraled to the very brink of collapse. Her whole body shook violently, and bottomless hatred boiled within her eyes.
Dai Hao had already been gravely wounded by the Silver Moon Divine Light Barrier, but that was not enough, not nearly enough. She had to watch him draw his last breath with her own eyes, had to see his body hacked into ten thousand pieces before the agony in her heart could even begin to ease!
"All forces, form ranks!"
Kong Deming made his choice and threw down his last gamble. He thrust his right hand upward and clenched it tight. The Sun Moon Imperial Spirit Guidance Legion and the Fire Phoenix Spirit Guidance Legion fanned out in an instant, sweeping into a vast arcing formation.
Every Class 9 Spirit Guidance Master who had survived the Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor poison brought forth their most lethal methods. A dazzling array of Class 9 Spirit Guidance Devices trained upon the greatest obstacle standing in the Sun Moon Empire's path of conquest, Holy Evil Douluo Ling Bai!
Blinding lances of light converged upon Ling Bai from every angle, the combined assault of nearly a thousand Spirit Guidance Masters, and among them stood Class 10 Spirit Guidance Devices like the Silver Moon Divine Light Barrier itself!
Ju Zi shouldered a Class 7 Stationary Spirit Cannon and wrung every last drop of spirit power from her body, throwing her own meager strength into the volley. She no longer cared who would unify the two continents. She wanted only to see White Tiger Duke Dai Hao dead, to avenge her father and her mother. Anyone who stood in her way deserved nothing but death!
The Sun Moon Spirit Guidance Masters' frenzied barrage lasted no more than a heartbeat. Ling Bai swept the Angel Sword in a single circle, and a soundless golden gate appeared before him, devouring every shell and beam without exception. His white-gold ninth spirit ring flared with a brilliance beyond compare.
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"
Kong Deming's voice tore from his throat. "This is not the power of a Limit Douluo!"
Silver Moon Douluo Kong Deming was the embodiment of Sun Moon spirit guidance technology, hailed across the empire as the father of Spirit Guidance Devices. The Illustrious Virtue Hall itself bore a name drawn from his own.
[TL/N: Illustrious Virtue Hall (Míngdé Táng).]
He had always held to the conviction that human effort could overcome the heavens. No matter how mighty an individual's power, no single person could withstand the unbroken barrage of Spirit Guidance Devices. Yet Ling Bai had clearly stepped beyond every boundary of his understanding. A certain suspicion had begun to take shape in the depths of his mind, one he did not dare allow himself to follow to its conclusion.
Silver armor flared to life across Kong Deming's body. A massive bright-silver gem stretched from the center of his chest down to his lower abdomen, and at the guidance of the Silver Moon Divine Light Barrier, the power of space poured into the gem. The intense silver radiance turned him into a small silver sun, and a beam capable of piercing through all things began to gather within him.
The instant the beam fired, spiderweb fractures spread across the silver gem set into his chest plate. This era had yet to produce a Spirit Guidance Device capable of fully containing compressed space. To loose a single ray of spatial light was already the absolute limit.
High above, the temperature in the sky climbed at an astonishing rate. A brilliant golden holy fire ignited upon every Sun Moon Spirit Guidance Master, and the Angelic Holy Fire began to burn through their bodies without mercy.
Ling Bai raised the Angel Sword high above his head. The angelic wings wrought into its hilt seemed to come alive, and holy sword energy condensed into a single straight line through the air. Surging golden radiance gathered into a vast, dazzling sword blade, and bearing down with it was an irreversible will of absolute majesty. It came crashing down toward the spatial beam, toward Kong Deming, toward the Sun Moon Imperial Spirit Guidance Legion, toward the Fire Phoenix Spirit Guidance Legion, and toward the silver moon hanging in the sky!
The crystal upon Kong Deming's chest exploded with a thunderous report and burst into countless fragments that spun glittering through the air. The attack that should have continued cut off without warning, and blinding light erupted from the body of every Sun Moon Spirit Guidance Master.
Hundreds of corpses rained down from the sky and crashed into the dust!
The defenders atop Star Luo's walls could only gape in stunned silence. That had been Silver Moon Douluo Kong Deming, a Class 10 Spirit Guidance Master rivaling a Limit Douluo!
The Sun Moon Imperial Spirit Guidance Legion, every member possessing the combat strength of a Class 8 Spirit Guidance Master, had been considered invincible whether within the Sun Moon Empire or in the eyes of the three former Douluo nations!
And that was without even counting the beast-king-class Fire Phoenix Spirit Guidance Legion, or the host of long-renowned Class 9 Spirit Guidance Masters of the Sun Moon Empire.
Yet beneath a single sword stroke, every last one of them had fallen!
The might of that one sword was terror beyond reckoning!
Aside from Ling Bai, two figures still remained suspended in the sky: Illustrious Virtue Hall Master Jing Hongchen and War Empress Ju Zi.
Jing Hongchen brushed his fingers across the side of his neck. A sharp, persistent sting greeted them, and when he drew his hand away, a smear of thick scarlet blood clung to his fingertips. He smiled bitterly and shook his head. Ling Bai had spared him. Otherwise, he would have shared Kong Deming's fate without question.
Ju Zi stared at the empty space where her army had been. First the tears came, streaming down in silence, and then a wild, ragged laughter tore loose from her throat. Her once-beautiful face contorted into something almost ghostlike as she shrieked:
"Holy Evil Douluo! Why didn't you attack the Sun Moon Empire?! Why?!"
She had been one step away from success. One step!
So close, and yet a world apart. Ling Bai's arrival had risen before her like an unscalable mountain, severing every last thread of her dream of vengeance.
She hated White Tiger Duke Dai Hao. Hated him for killing her father, for driving her mother into a despair so deep that grief itself had withered her away.
She hated Xu Tianran too. Hated his cold, unfeeling heart, hated that he had forced her to conquer Star Luo only so she might return home and bear the imperial heir of another man.
And so she had marshaled the bulk of the Sun Moon Empire's might against Star Luo while deliberately laying her homeland bare, baiting the Angel Empire into striking at Sun Moon. She had been certain the Angel Empire would never permit Xu Tianran to live.
She would kill Dai Hao. The Angel Empire would kill Xu Tianran. Two stones felled with a single hurl. But the Angel Empire had refused to follow her script. Without warning, they had descended directly upon Star Luo City, and the Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor poison had buried six hundred thousand Sun Moon soldiers in a single night!
"There is no reason. The Star Luo Empire is a part of the Douluo Continent."
A slash of sword energy fell from the Angel Sword, and Ju Zi dissolved into countless motes of golden light.
The strategy of pinning down two nations while striking the killing blow at Star Luo had been Ju Zi's design from beginning to end, and hers alone to execute. Were she to fall into the hands of the Douluo Continent, this War Empress was a dead woman by every measure. Ling Bai simply sent her on ahead to meet the Angel God, sparing her the humiliation of imprisonment.
"Hall Master Hongchen, our matter can wait. I need to deal with the Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor poison first."
"Very well..."
As the sole survivor of the Sun Moon army, Jing Hongchen smiled bitterly and let himself drift back down to the earth. No thought of flight crossed his mind. If Ling Bai wished him dead, the act would be no different from crushing an ant beneath a heel.
Ling Bai's six angelic wings beat only twice, and he ascended ten thousand meters into the sky. Dazzling golden radiance spilled outward in every direction. The cloud-shrouded sky brightened all at once, and the air filled with the breath of light.
A single ray of sunlight reached down to touch the earth, then swelled gradually into a blazing sun. Ultimate Holy, Ultimate Light, and Ultimate Fire moved in perfect concert, purging the horrifying miasma the Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor poison had left behind.
The poison fog evaporated beneath that radiant sun and scattered into nothingness. The land drank in fresh vitality once more. Jing Hongchen listened to the cheers of the Star Luo soldiers rising from atop the city walls and could not help but marvel inwardly. This was nothing short of a divine miracle.
With Dugu Lin's lingering catastrophe resolved, Ling Bai flickered into being directly before Jing Hongchen and offered a faint smile.
"Hall Master Hongchen, you are a clever man. You should be able to guess why I chose to spare you alone."
"You want me to betray the Sun Moon Empire..."
Jing Hongchen swallowed hard. Less than two years had passed since the last Continental Elite Spirit Master Academy Tournament, and yet a chasm of impossible breadth had opened between him and Ling Bai. One of them had stood still while the other had soared to the very pinnacle of the Douluo Continent. But raw power alone was not enough to make him forsake the Sun Moon Empire he so deeply loved.
"There is an old saying on the Douluo Continent: the wise know how to bend with the times."
Ling Bai stood bathed in the warm sunlight, his handsome features seeming to have been gilded in gold. "Xiao and Meng are my friends. You are their grandfather, and your standing in the Sun Moon Empire is no small thing. Hall Master Hongchen, consider the situation carefully. Silver Moon Douluo has fallen in battle. The five Hand that Protects the Nation legions have been wiped out to the last. Almost nothing remains of the ordinary Spirit Guidance Legions. The Sun Moon Empire has already lost the strength to conquer the continent.
I will speak plainly. The Angel Empire shall unify both continents. In the end, this world will know only one nation. Join us, and you will remain dean of the Spirit Guidance Academy and master of Illustrious Virtue Hall. Meng will take her place as master of the Angelic Sanctuary in Mingdu, and the Hongchen Clan will only rise higher than it stands today."
Ling Bai sought the faith of the countless people of the Sun Moon Empire, and so he had resolved to bring Jing Hongchen into his fold, that this household name across all of Sun Moon might labor without reservation to spread his cause and cleanse his name.
Jing Hongchen's gaze flickered as he weighed every gain against every loss. After a long silence, he bent at the waist and bowed deeply to Ling Bai.
"Holy Evil Douluo is benevolent and righteous. The Hongchen Clan offers itself in your service."