Sensing that something was wrong, Long Xiaoyao suddenly exerted force, and that huge dark dragon claw instantly closed and gripped, its five fingers tightening with enough strength to crush a stubborn rock into powder.
However, the "Huo Yuhao" clenched in his claws did not let out any miserable screams, nor was there any scene of flesh and blood splattering.
That figure shattered directly in his palm, transforming into countless starry light fragments, dissipating under the night like fireflies blown away by the wind.
Nothing was left behind—no bloodstains, no remains, and not even a trace of residual Spirit Power.
Limit Douluo Long Xiaoyao's brows suddenly furrowed tightly; only then did he confirm that what he had grabbed in his hand just now was definitely not Huo Yuhao himself.
Right at this moment, Huo Yuhao's voice drifted up unhurriedly, carrying a hint of banter in his tone: "As expected of the Dragon Emperor Douluo, you noticed something was wrong so quickly."
Limit Douluo Long Xiaoyao's expression sank. He closed his eyes slightly, and his powerful mental force burst forth without reservation.
A moment later, when he opened his eyes once more, the scene in his vision was as if a layer of gauze had been peeled away, revealing its true appearance.
Huo Yuhao was still standing on the ground not far below, with a calm posture, as if he had never moved his position.
At this moment, he was wearing a set of spirit tool armor completely different from the previous one—a much more gorgeous and exquisite full-body armor.
Fine ice-blue patterns flowed across the dark silver armor surface, the wings behind him slightly spread, and the tips of the wings shimmered with a cold luster.
Under his feet stepped a halo, emitting a soft and steady shimmer, setting off his figure like a Divinity walking out of the night.
This was Huo Yuhao's true battle armor.
Limit Douluo Long Xiaoyao's gaze fell upon this armor, and the expression on his face finally became much more serious.
In his gaze looking at Huo Yuhao, a trace of genuine apprehension appeared for the first time.
He remained silent for a moment before slowly speaking, his tone carrying a sense of disbelief: "Spirit Illusion?!"
Obviously, Limit Douluo Long Xiaoyao had already realized that he had just fallen into the illusion constructed by Huo Yuhao.
To be able to walk to this step of a Limit Douluo, measured by the standards of Ten Thousand Years later, Limit Douluo Long Xiaoyao's mental force must have already reached the level of the Spirit Domain Realm.
Facing such an existence standing at the apex of the mainland, Huo Yuhao did not choose to use the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion Spirit, even though that Spirit possessed the ultimate freezing attribute.
In the current situation, his strongest trump card had always been his mental force.
Just before Limit Douluo Long Xiaoyao made a move, Huo Yuhao had already quietly unfolded his Spirit Domain.
The Space-Time Annihilation Domain was like a stretched-open fine net, silently covering the entire square, and Limit Douluo Long Xiaoyao indeed fell into this Domain without any awareness.
However, Huo Yuhao was very clear that wanting to trap a Limit Douluo solely with the Space-Time Annihilation Domain was unrealistic.
Sure enough, not long after, Limit Douluo Long Xiaoyao broke free from the illusion.
Through that brief probing just now, Huo Yuhao had roughly judged the opponent's true strength.
Limit Douluo Long Xiaoyao should be considered a demigod-level existence, not yet truly stepping into the level of a Quasi-God.
Looking at the clearly serious expression on Limit Douluo Long Xiaoyao's face, Huo Yuhao curved the corners of his mouth and said: "Senior Dragon Emperor has good eyes, but unfortunately it didn't take effect."
Seeing Huo Yuhao's disappointed expression, even with his composure, a trace of anger inevitably arose in Limit Douluo Long Xiaoyao's heart at this moment.
A Spirit Douluo actually still wanted to control him with mental force?
But even as he thought this, he had to admit that Huo Yuhao's mental force was so strong that it was no longer inferior to his own.
Placed in the history of the entire mainland, this talent was probably unprecedented.
"Kid, you are very strong." Limit Douluo Long Xiaoyao's voice sank, carrying a rare seriousness in his tone, "It's a pity that what you encountered is this old man."
His underlying meaning was very clear: if the one who came this time wasn't him, but any other person besides the two Limit Douluos of the Holy Spirit Cult, Huo Yuhao might really have the possibility of escaping from the opponent's hands.
But the one standing in front of him at this moment was Limit Douluo Long Xiaoyao, an existence standing at the Peak of the mainland!
Limit Douluo Long Xiaoyao stopped talking nonsense, and the aura belonging to a Limit Douluo on his body completely erupted, as if the entire square slightly trembled at this moment.
Two yellow, two purple, three black, two red—nine spirit rings successively emerged beneath his feet, overlapping and arranging themselves. Under this terrifying aura, the surrounding air seemed to become heavy.
Obviously, the experience of being pulled into the illusion just now had made Limit Douluo Long Xiaoyao completely put away his contempt for this young man.
Although he did not spell it out with his mouth, his posture when making a move and that expression serious to the point of solemnity had explained everything—he was already treating Huo Yuhao as an opponent of the same rank.
Limit Douluo Long Xiaoyao looked at Huo Yuhao and said: "Kid, your mental force is very strong. Now let me see how your true strength is?"
At the same time as his voice fell, the fourth spirit ring at his feet flashed with bewitching purple light, and the heavy Spirit Power fluctuations condensed into a sharp and refined form in the air.
Following closely, a black dragon-shaped blade radiance suddenly erupted, like a dark dragon compressed to the absolute limit breaking free from restraints, carrying the hissing sound of corroding the air as it whistled towards Huo Yuhao's direction.
Facing this Spirit Ability of Limit Douluo Long Xiaoyao, Huo Yuhao did not use a Spirit Ability to block it, nor did he have the slightest intention of dodging.
He stood in place, motionless, except that a streak of black light suddenly drilled out from between his eyebrows. That black light rapidly condensed into shape, transforming into a pitch-black dragon scale floating in front of him.
The surface of the scale circulated a dull luster, its patterns fine and ancient, emitting a heavy and condensed aura. This, naturally, was Di Tian's Reverse Scale.
But when Huo Yuhao took it out at this moment, it was not because of its defensive capability.
At the same time, far away by the Lake of Life in the Core Circle of the Star Dou Great Forest, Di Tian was sitting cross-legged, closing his eyes to regulate his breathing.
Suddenly, his slightly closed eyes snapped open, and a sharp luster flashed within his golden dragon pupils.
With a thought in his mind, the space in front of him silently split open a gap, the edges of the gap shimmering with a gloomy light, as if a door leading to an unknown place had been quietly pushed open.
His right hand waved forward seemingly casually, and a condensed attack plunged into that spatial crack.
Limit Douluo Long Xiaoyao frowned, his gaze tightly locking onto that black dragon scale floating in front of Huo Yuhao.
He rapidly flashed several thoughts in his mind, but he really couldn't figure out what this kid wanted to do.
Could he possibly think that relying solely on a scale, he could block his own fourth Spirit Ability?
Just as he was thinking this in his heart, his expression suddenly changed once again.
First, he sensed a clear spatial fluctuation coming from in front of Huo Yuhao, and immediately after, he saw with his own eyes that the air in front of that black dragon scale was abruptly torn apart, and a spatial crack instantly formed.
Following closely, a dull claw strike flew out from that spatial crack, wrapped in a dark force pure to the point of being almost Origin-level, neatly meeting his fourth Spirit Ability, Holy Dragon Dark Night Slash.
The moment that claw strike collided with the dark blade radiance, Limit Douluo Long Xiaoyao's fourth Spirit Ability was like being pinched off from the middle by an invisible palm, silently shattering in the air and transforming into wisps of residual dark airflow, quickly dissipating under the night.
Limit Douluo Long Xiaoyao's gaze fell upon that spatial crack, his heart shaken incessantly.
He could not sense specifically who the person making the move was, but he clearly recognized the essence of that power—that was the ultimate darkness attribute.
As the holder of the Dark Holy Dragon Spirit, his perception of the darkness attribute was sharper than anyone else's.
Furthermore, the dark force contained within that claw strike just now obviously suppressed him on the attribute level, and the opponent's strength also seemed not weaker than his.
Limit Douluo Long Xiaoyao's heart sank, various possibilities flashing rapidly through his mind, thinking: Could it be that the Limit Douluo behind the Spirit Pagoda has made a move?
There had long been rumors on the mainland saying that two Limit Douluo-level powerhouses stood behind the Spirit Pagoda, but Limit Douluo Long Xiaoyao had always doubted this previously.
Dominating the mainland for many years, he had a clear idea of almost all the top powerhouses in the Spirit Master's world, and had never heard of any two unknown Limit existences being able to pop up out of thin air.
Yet at this moment, that attack descending across space had shaken this suspicion of his.
Limit Douluo Long Xiaoyao's expression became a bit more solemn, his heavy gaze pressing down on Huo Yuhao, as if scrutinizing what kind of trump cards were still hidden behind this young man.
A moment later, he slowly spoke, his voice carrying a caution and vigilance rarely revealed: "Your Excellency, who are you?"
-------------------------------------------------
A/N:
I hope all of you are enjoying this story so far. I would appreciate some Power Stones if you can spare any. Leave a review if you like the story. Thank you.