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"This young man... is terrifying beyond measure! He cannot be allowed to live! Fortunately, Dongfeng has laid a net of heaven and earth and invited me to emerge from seclusion. To reach such heights at such a tender age..."
The more Qiangu Dieting clashed with Bai Xu, the more shocked he became. Bai Xu's physical body was practically invincible, capable of withstanding his Coiling Dragon Staff without sustaining injuries. Although Qiangu had yet to exert his full strength, the offensive power and explosive force of his Coiling Dragon Staff were undeniably unmatched in the present world.
But now...
As Bai Xu closed in, a fierce glint flashed in Qiangu Dieting's eyes. With a swift movement, he charged forward to meet Bai Xu's attack head-on.
The dragon soul coiled around the Coiling Dragon Staff roared, and Qiangu himself gathered momentum, causing the surrounding space to ripple faintly.
The probing phase between the two was over!
At the level of a Quasi-Deity, comprehension of dimensional laws was no longer the sole focus. In a sense, they could even create some of their own laws. Their control over time and space had reached an extraordinary level.
"Battle Against Heaven and Earth!"
This move had earned Qiangu Dieting only one evaluation from the Heartless Douluo, Cao Dezhi—among all Limit Douluos, his explosive power was unmatched. In terms of burst attacks, no other Limit Douluo could compare to Qiangu Dieting.
Bai Xu watched as the Coiling Dragon Staff materialized beside him in an instant, aiming straight for his face. The sheer force of the attack caused the surrounding space to shatter for hundreds of meters, creating a sensation as if heaven and earth were being torn apart!
"This is the feeling I wanted!"
Bai Xu raised his arm to block the strike, still choosing to take it head-on.
BOOM!
The shockwave from the collision was deafening. The audience saw a figure, like a cannonball, plummeting at breakneck speed toward the center of the grand stadium.
CRASH—
Another thunderous impact. The earth split apart as Bai Xu smashed into the ground, creating a deep crater and sending up a cloud of dust dozens of meters high.
One strike—just one strike!
The Battle Heaven Douluo's ferocity had already awed the entire stadium.
The audience fell into stunned silence, holding their breaths as they stared at the figure in the crater.
True to expectations, the newly ascended Limit Douluo, Demon Lord Bai Xu, leaped out of the pit almost immediately. Paying no heed to the spectators below, he soared straight back into the high-altitude battlefield.
But everyone could see that the mystical light around Bai Xu's right arm had been torn apart, the limb twisted unnaturally.
The Battle Heaven Douluo's single strike had actually injured Bai Xu's body, fracturing his arm.
"No, should we say that merely breaking his entire arm is already an achievement?" Gu Yuena murmured with a sigh. Bai Xu's physical body seemed even more bizarre than imagined.
On the live broadcast screen—
As Bai Xu rapidly returned to the battlefield, the five-colored mystical light surged around him once more, enveloping his shattered arm. A torrent of life energy spread, healing his injuries in an instant. However, in Qiangu Dieting's perception, Bai Xu's aura had weakened slightly. His current state was peculiar...
In other words, to kill Bai Xu, they would first have to exhaust him until he exited his five-colored mystical light state, and only then deliver a fatal blow.
"Old Tower Master, you're nothing special. Now... it's my turn!"
Countless white blades made of Metal Element materialized behind Bai Xu, their sharp edges seemingly capable of tearing through space. At the same time, an inexplicable sense of being locked onto surged in Qiangu Dieting's heart.
Unseen by all, the threads of Qiangu's fate had been tugged, imbuing the Metal blades with an unavoidable effect. No matter where he fled, there would be no escape.
WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
A hundred blades shot forth, slicing through the void, even vanishing into the emptiness of space.
The next moment, the tips of the swords reappeared around Qiangu Dieting—aimed at his temples, vital organs, neck, and other lethal points.
But Qiangu Dieting was no ordinary opponent either. Swinging his Coiling Dragon Staff, he sent tremors through space, creating a storm of staff shadows to shield himself and fend off the relentless onslaught of blades.
Yet Bai Xu's figure flickered, and in an instant, he appeared above Qiangu Dieting. Seizing the opening created by his distraction, Bai Xu stomped down, driving him even deeper into the earth.
Another figure plummeted from the sky. Like Bai Xu before him, Qiangu Dieting was sent crashing down. His robes were tattered, and though he had narrowly avoided the Metal blades, he could not escape the humiliation of being kicked by Bai Xu. Now, he was in an utterly wretched state.
"Father!" Qiangu Dongfeng shouted in worry, stepping forward to assist.
But Qiangu Qinfeng stopped him. "It's not yet time," he said.
"You brat!" Qiangu Dieting roared, leaping back up in fury. Adjusting his stance, he prepared to unleash a series of ultimate staff techniques to suppress and kill Bai Xu once and for all.
However, as the five-colored cauldron materialized beneath Bai Xu's feet, the two collided head-on once more.
CLANG!
The Coiling Dragon Staff struck the Five Elements Cauldron with a deafening impact, briefly tearing open space, leaving it unable to heal. Yet the force of the blow was dissipated by a swirling energy, rendering the strike ineffective.
Bai Xu wielded the cauldron like a hammer, trading blows with Qiangu Dieting thousands of meters in the air. At this point in the battle, there was no need to hold back—victory or death would be decided here.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Space continued to fracture, residual energy from their clashes lingering and slowing its recovery. The sky above took on the illusion of a world shattered by their battle. The spectators could no longer remain seated. Those with weaker cultivation began to flee, fearing they might be caught in the crossfire.
Within minutes, the stadium, which had held a hundred thousand people, was nearly empty. Only those confident in their ability to withstand the aftermath and eager to witness the clash of the world's strongest remained.
"Heh, your explosive power is formidable, but it lacks endurance. How many strikes of that caliber can you unleash? Step down, old man!"
Under the relentless barrage, even the Limit Douluo famed for his explosive power found it difficult to sustain such an onslaught. Once his opponent withstood Qiangu Dieting's initial assault and dragged him into a prolonged battle, the elder's stamina began to falter.
Qiangu Dieting froze as Bai Xu's massive cauldron hovered behind him, its opening slowly turning to face him. A terrifying aura, one that seemed capable of rewriting existence itself, locked onto him.
In the next instant, a beam of five-colored light shot out from the cauldron—so fast that not even an afterimage could be seen. One thing was certain: being struck by it would exact a heavy price.
Qiangu Dieting desperately retreated, putting distance between himself and the light. But the beam seemed enhanced by some escape-defying technique, closing in at an impossible speed.
At the critical moment, a figure flashed forward, rescuing Qiangu Dieting.
"Father, are you alright?" Qiangu Dongfeng asked anxiously, his gaze wary as he watched Bai Xu.
Qiangu Qinfeng also appeared, standing between Bai Xu and his father, his expression grave.
"Who told you to interfere?!" Qiangu Dieting roared, glaring at his two sons. But after a moment, as if resigning himself to reality, he sighed, no longer able to maintain his dignity.
"Be careful. He may have already touched upon that realm..." Qiangu Dieting warned.
"What?!" Qiangu Dongfeng exclaimed in shock.
Meanwhile, Qiangu Qinfeng had already engaged Bai Xu in a new round of battle.
"My instincts were correct. He was testing me earlier, deliberately taking my attacks head-on. He had countless ways to evade or counter, yet he chose not to. It seems Dongfeng was right—we cannot let him leave here alive. Otherwise, our Qiangu family may never rise again." A sense of foreboding gripped Qiangu Dieting.
Glancing at Qiangu Zhangting, who was still watching the battle anxiously from the marriage selection venue, Qiangu Dongfeng steeled his heart and joined the fray.
He wasted no time on probing attacks, immediately unleashing his most devastating technique.
"Heavenly Staff, Earthly Battle!"
A storm of staff shadows filled the sky, first rising high before crashing down with the force of splitting heaven and earth. The impact tore fissures in the air, devouring the surrounding elemental energy and channeling it all into the Coiling Dragon Staff.
The descending staff carried the madness of creation and destruction—this was the pinnacle of the Coiling Dragon Staff's power.
His four-word battle armor infused all its radiance into the strike. As the staff descended, the dragons coiled around it seemed to come alive, transforming into nine twisting behemoths that surged toward Bai Xu alongside the staff.
In the art of battle, Qiangu Dongfeng might have already surpassed his father.
Qiangu Qinfeng, who had been locked in combat with Bai Xu, abruptly retreated, ensuring his brother's attack would land unimpeded.
Bai Xu remained expressionless. Only his hands, now wreathed in a dark aura, betrayed his next move. The concept of the Five Elements' cycle enveloped his fists, and behind him, an image of a world in flux began to manifest—a cycle of birth, death, and rebirth.
The collision between the two forces utterly shattered the sky above Mingdu for five thousand meters. Chaotic currents surged, and spatial storms ran rampant. Dark clouds blotted out the sun for ten thousand meters in all directions.
Yet, several figures still stood firm amidst the turbulence.
Qiangu Dongfeng's full-power strike had failed to harm Bai Xu. Though it had torn through the mystical light, Bai Xu had blocked it with his bare hands, his fists now steaming faintly.
"Brother, let us attack together!"
"We cannot let this tiger return to the mountains today!"
The Super Douluos stationed at the periphery to disrupt space and prevent Bai Xu's escape had long since halted their efforts, staring dumbfounded at the chaotic battlefield.
"Hah... Five Elements Law—Five Elements Realm."
With Bai Xu at the center, the world seemed to be dyed in five-colored light.
"Without the grand formation, executing this technique is taxing... But it should suffice to finish you quickly."
"Arrogant fool!" Qiangu Dongfeng brandished his staff and charged again.
Qiangu Qinfeng wielded a massive halberd—long and sleek, its three-pronged blade gleaming with a dark purple light. The weapon exuded a heavy, oppressive aura.
The two brothers attacked from front and rear, their martial soul true forms manifesting in full as they pressed Bai Xu from both sides.
"Four Celestial Beasts!"
The Azure Dragon of Wood, the Vermilion Bird of Fire, the White Tiger of Metal, the Black Tortoise of Water—and finally, the Earthly Yinglong (Winged Dragon), born of Bai Xu's own Earth Element.
"Five Elements Fusion!"
The five sacred beasts resonated, merging into a colossal avatar that clashed against the brothers' martial soul true forms. A blinding white light engulfed the battlefield, rendering the center invisible. The spatial rifts expanded further, and the stadium's protective barrier trembled under the strain.
No matter how much the combatants restrained themselves, the collateral damage to Mingdu was inevitable.
Fortunately, multiple Titled Douluos intervened—including Tang Wulin and others, as well as the Federation's War God Hall forces—preventing a repeat of past tragedies.
The two brothers retreated, cold sweat dripping as they stared at the still-unfaded sacred beasts. Qiangu Dongfeng felt a pang of regret—regret for ever provoking Bai Xu.
But the transformation was not yet complete. The Five Elements merged, with the Yinglong at the center as the four sacred beasts fused into its form, birthing a true Yinglong avatar—a manifestation of the Five Elements' endless cycle.
Standing atop the dragon's head, Bai Xu gazed down at the disheveled father and sons, his voice calm yet final:
"Those who defy the Five Elements shall be forsaken by Heaven's Mandate."