"So powerful an aura…"
Shui Wuhen looked at the suddenly surging presence below, his expression turning grim.
In his perception, the aura emanating from the Slaughter King had already surpassed that of the Ice Dragon King, the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion, and other ferocious beasts, approaching the strongest one he had ever faced—the Deep Sea Demon Whale King!
"No, we can't let him keep getting stronger."
After only a brief pause, Shui Wuhen and Articuno unleashed their final combined attack.
Boom—
Endless wind and snow, carrying an ice-blue beam of light, struck directly at the Slaughter King's position.
However, at that moment, the Slaughter King raised his hand, and a semicircular shield formed from killing intent appeared around him, blocking the joint attack from Shui Wuhen and Articuno.
"Tch~ Didn't finish him off, huh?"
At this moment, Shui Wuhen and Articuno had already flashed to Shui Binger's side. Watching the Slaughter King easily block the attack, Shui Wuhen clicked his tongue.
But he hadn't held much hope anyway. Generally speaking, situations like this always came with invincibility frames—of course, except for a certain spinning existence.
Soon after, Shui Wuhen's expression turned serious. What exactly had happened that allowed someone who had been nearly beaten to death to suddenly gain such immense power?
As the smoke cleared, the Slaughter King's figure reappeared on the field. The moment he appeared, Shui Wuhen instinctively stepped in front of Shui Binger.
The "Slaughter King" moved his body slightly, then reached out and grabbed. Instantly, space shattered, forming a vortex-like hole.
At the same time, inside a spacious secret chamber, a blood-red longsword began to hum. A crimson vortex suddenly appeared above it, and the sword soared into the air, plunging into the vortex.
Looking at the blood-red sword now in his hand, the newly awakened Tang Chen let out a sigh. After so many years, he had finally regained consciousness—but this timing was far too late.
His current body had already been corroded by the Nine-Headed Blood Red Bat to a severe extent, and he had not truly resolved its problem. It was only heavily injured and temporarily suppressed.
Whether he could completely rid himself of the Nine-Headed Blood Red Bat, dispel the lingering malice left by the Rakshasa God, and restore his corroded body within his lifetime—even he wasn't sure.
"That young one over there…"
Just as Tang Chen was about to speak, the will of the Nine-Headed Blood Red Bat, along with the malice of the Rakshasa God, surged back. Instantly, Tang Chen's body descended into madness.
On the other side, Shui Wuhen frowned slightly at the sight.
Ever since Tang Chen emerged from that blood-red sword, the Ice God's Heart within Shui Wuhen had begun to tremble faintly, even conveying a trace of fear.
Clearly, that blood-red sword was also a divine weapon—and of a higher tier than the Ice God's Heart.
"This is troublesome… he just entered phase two. Looks like Martial Soul Fusion is unavoidable."
Shui Wuhen sighed inwardly. If not for the suppression of the Slaughter City's rules, he wouldn't fear the Slaughter King at his current strength.
But here in Slaughter City, he couldn't use his Martial Soul True Body. While his lower limit wasn't affected much, his upper limit had dropped significantly.
He immediately signaled Shui Binger and transmitted his voice: "Binger, prepare to use Martial Soul Fusion. This is going to be a tough fight!"
Hearing this, Shui Binger's heart tightened. Even her brother, who had just instantly defeated a Title Douluo, was saying this—clearly, the situation was dire.
She immediately stepped closer to Shui Wuhen, pressing her body more tightly against his.
Meanwhile, Tang Chen was still clutching his head in madness, his eyes flickering between clarity and blood-red frenzy. He looked to be in immense pain.
Facing him, Shui Wuhen remained vigilant.
Though it seemed like a perfect chance for a sneak attack, Shui Wuhen didn't act rashly. No one knew the Slaughter King's exact state—attacking prematurely might trigger the battle early.
Moreover, Shui Wuhen needed time to recover his soul power. At this moment, the inner core within him spun rapidly, drawing in surrounding energy to replenish his soul power.
He now had two choices.
One was to let Articuno use the still-unstable Sheer Cold and gamble—if successful, it could instantly kill the opponent.
The other was to perform Martial Soul Fusion with Shui Binger, becoming Super Articuno, which would grant them the power to fight on equal footing.
Shui Wuhen leaned toward the latter. Sheer Cold was too unreliable—failure would mean utter doom.
However, both options required a large amount of soul power. Even with Martial Soul Fusion, Shui Binger's level 70 soul power alone was far from enough, making Shui Wuhen's own reserves crucial.
"AHHH!!!"
Moments later, Tang Chen suddenly roared and charged toward the siblings with his blood-red sword.
His speed was terrifying—almost instantly, he appeared before Shui Wuhen and slashed down.
"That speed!!!"
Shui Wuhen's pupils shrank. Without hesitation, he swung his blade.
In an instant, twenty-one ice-blue arcs appeared, all converging toward the blade of the blood-red sword.
Bang!
Yet the next moment, something even more shocking occurred. Shui Wuhen's usually unstoppable Ice Slash failed to hinder the attack in the slightest. Even his condensed ice-blue blade shattered instantly.
At that critical moment, Articuno moved.
A layer of ice-blue barrier suddenly appeared, blocking the attack.
Protect truly was the strongest defensive move. Even though the Shura Sword was a super divine weapon, as long as the attack hadn't reached true god-level, it couldn't break through Protect's shield.
"Binger!"
Seizing the moment, Shui Wuhen immediately transmitted his voice.
"I know, Brother!"
The next instant, both of their bodies faded into illusion, turning into ice-blue light that intertwined and slowly merged into Articuno's body.
"Wuu~~~"
With a long cry, Articuno's body began to emit a dazzling light.
Along with the light came subtle changes—her feathers grew longer and more radiant, and even her crest began to shine with a special glow.
"Wuu~wo!!!"
As these changes completed, Articuno's aura surged geometrically. A dense blue energy flame rose from her body, and within moments, she rivaled Tang Chen.
With Shui Wuhen and Shui Binger's increased levels, Super Articuno's strength had grown tremendously.
Previously, when facing the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion, their fusion was only comparable to an ordinary 100,000-year soul beast—roughly level 95–96 Title Douluo.
But now, Shui Wuhen alone was no weaker than a level 96 Title Douluo. Combined with Shui Binger, their fusion reached the level of a level 99 Ultimate Douluo.
"Not good—it's Martial Soul Fusion!"
Seeing this, Tang San's expression changed. He immediately used Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track to dash toward the exit of the Hell Slaughter Arena.
Hu Liena reacted as well, fleeing at top speed.
If Martial Soul Fusion was in play, this was clearly a final clash. Staying here would mean certain death if caught in the aftermath.
"Wuu~wo!!!"
Just as Tang San and Hu Liena reached the exit, Articuno's eyes flashed, and a dazzling cross-shaped light shone on her crest.
She spread her wings like a deity. Instantly, endless wind and snow mixed with ice shards spread outward from her.
In a flash, the blizzard froze the corpses in the arena and blew them away. Some Fallen Ones still watching were instantly frozen and shattered.
As for those like Tang San and Hu Liena, who were fast enough, they were merely caught in the aftermath—seriously injured, coughing blood, and falling unconscious.
Bang!
Under the blizzard, even Tang Chen was blasted back over a hundred meters, embedding into the arena wall.
At the same time, snow began falling across the inner city—and even the entire Slaughter City—turning it into a frozen world within moments.
Everyone in Slaughter City stared in shock. The once blood-red land had turned into a vast white expanse.
"Cough… cough~ What a powerful Martial Soul Fusion…"
Tang Chen broke free from the wall, staring at Super Articuno with shock.
From that beautiful ice-type bird, he could faintly sense a divine aura—not Sea God, Angel God, Shura God, or Rakshasa God, but an unfamiliar deity.
Clearly, one of the two who performed the fusion was a god's inheritor.
Given the earlier events, it was obvious who that was.
"But in this situation… there's no avoiding a fight."
Tang Chen felt helpless. Even if he explained now, they would think he was stalling. They wouldn't stop.
After all, Martial Soul Fusion had a time limit. Once it ended, the users would fall into weakness. If the opponent had ill intentions, they'd have no way to resist.
Tang Chen knew that if he were in their position, he wouldn't stop either.
"Then I'll defeat them first… and explain later."
After the previous attack infused with divine essence, the will of the Nine-Headed Blood Red Bat had been completely shattered, and even the Rakshasa God's malice had been weakened. He could now control his body freely.
His only regret was that Shui Wuhen had come too late—his body had already been severely corroded.
"Wuu!!!"
At that moment, Articuno launched her first attack.
She opened her beak, forming a massive deep-blue energy sphere, which split into several pale-blue beams. These beams merged into one, surrounded by spiraling white wind rings filled with countless ice particles.
As the beam shot forward, space within dozens of meters began to distort. Frost spread, threatening to turn the battlefield into eternal ice.
This was a newly comprehended move, combining Ice Beam, Blizzard, and numerous techniques—even Shui Binger's evolved combo skill. Its power surpassed all moves except Sheer Cold.
Martial Soul Fusion didn't just merge attributes—it also fused skills and domains.
After combining with Shui Binger's Ice Domain, Articuno's Frozen Domain became stronger, gaining elementalization.
Now, as long as energy remained, even if shattered into pieces, she could instantly reform.
As long as the will of Shui Wuhen and Shui Binger remained, Articuno could not die.
She was virtually invincible.
The only concern was running out of soul power or spiritual energy.
On the other side, seeing the incoming beam, Tang Chen felt a deadly threat. Without hesitation, he activated the Shura Demon Sword and used the Great Sumeru Hammer!
He had originally intended to hold back—but now, he had no choice.
Boom—
The ice-blue beam collided with the enlarged Shura Demon Sword.
"Ah! Hold it!!!"
Tang Chen's eyes turned blood-red as nine soul rings appeared behind him, exploding one by one starting from the first.
The beam was halted—and even began to be pushed back.
Seeing this, Articuno's eyes flashed, and the beam suddenly expanded, pushing Tang Chen's attack back again.
By Douluo Continent's standards, both attacks had reached god-level.
But after a brief stalemate—
Crack…!
Perhaps due to the overwhelming power, space itself began to shatter at the point of collision.