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The deep blue sword tip rapidly grew larger in the vertical pupils of Gold Crocodile Douluo. He was completely suppressed by both Xue Wu's Ultimate Ice Domain and the lingering power of the Emperor's Palm. Because of this dual suppression, he could not even lift a single finger to defend himself. He could only watch helplessly as that blade of light, which represented nothing but death, rapidly closed in on him.
At this line between life and death, he felt extreme terror. A single name, acting like the final straw he could cling to, was roared out from between his clenched teeth.
"Bibi Dong! Are you still not going to make a move!"
The roar of Gold Crocodile Douluo carried his deep unwillingness, intense anger, and a trace of imperceptible pleading. It was the desperate cry of a ninety-eighth-level Peak Douluo who had never felt so helpless before.
However, the surroundings remained deathly silent. No sound responded to his loud shout. The only things that could be heard were the wailing of the wind and snow, and the faint, sharp whistling of the sword blade cutting through the cold air.
Deep within the imperial palace, there was absolute silence. It was as if this heaven-shaking killing trap, which was completely capable of overturning the Heaven Dou Empire and burying the Hall of Worship, had been nothing but a wishful stage of their own making from the very beginning. It seemed like no one was coming to save them.
At this moment, in the vertical pupils of Gold Crocodile Douluo, the very last glimmer of hope was completely extinguished. It was quickly replaced by a deathly, icy coldness and a sense of unbelievable absurdity. He realized he had been abandoned.
Beside him, Qian Renxue, who was still disguised as Xue Qinghe, froze the exact moment she heard the desperate roar of Gold Crocodile Douluo. Then, it was as if a bolt of icy lightning had split through her chaotic thoughts. A terrifying speculation that made her entire body go cold suddenly emerged in her mind.
She suddenly looked up, staring toward the Void Realm deep within the imperial palace. That was the place where Bibi Dong should have been presiding over the plan. But at this moment, that spot was completely empty. There was nobody there.
Immediately after that, she looked fiercely at Gold Crocodile Douluo in the center of the field. She looked at the frozen Thousand Weight Douluo and Demon Subduing Douluo. Finally, she looked at the surrounding Spirit Hall elites who were currently being used as sacrificial pawns. It was as if she understood everything in an instant.
"Oh no! We have all fallen for that madwoman's scheme! If this Heaven Dou palace coup succeeds, she, Bibi Dong, can naturally conquer the entire Heaven Dou Empire and consolidate her power with such a great achievement! If it fails, she can also take this opportunity to bury all those core forces belonging to the Hall of Worship that do not obey her orders! Weakening the Hall of Worship and eliminating dissidents, regardless of success or failure, she is the biggest winner! Madwoman, this absolute madwoman! For the sake of power, she even dares to gamble with the very foundation of Spirit Hall!"
Qian Renxue exclaimed aloud, her voice sounding slightly distorted because of her extreme shock and anger.
Hearing her words, Snake Lance Douluo, Porcupinefish Douluo, and the others were struck as if by a bolt of lightning. Their faces turned completely ashen instantly. A deep chill and a terrible sense of betrayal from the marrow of their bones made them feel freezing cold. They could not believe their own leader would do this to them.
In the eyes of Gold Crocodile Douluo, beneath that deathly grey color, a monstrous rage suddenly erupted. The feeling of being used, being abandoned, and being sacrificed as a mere pawn by Bibi Dong was too much to bear. This extreme humiliation made him feel even crazier than the literal death he was about to face.
"Bibi Dong, you bastard! If I die today, do you think the High Priest will let you off?"
He roared toward the empty sky, but his words changed nothing. The ice-blue Emperor Sword would not pause in the slightest due to the revelation of this cruel truth. It was already thrusting directly toward the glabella of Gold Crocodile Douluo.
But just at the exact moment the sharp sword tip was about to pierce through the skull of Gold Crocodile Douluo and spill his blood, a strange change happened.
A golden light, which was pure to the extreme and carried the dual attributes of fire and light, suddenly erupted without any warning from somewhere on the body of Gold Crocodile Douluo. Immediately following this, the bright golden light spread across his entire body like quicksilver poured upon the ground. Wherever the golden light passed, that incredibly hard, deep blue ice containing the chill of annihilation hissed loudly like winter snow encountering a scorching sun. It then rapidly melted and vaporized into mist.
Although this mysterious golden light only lasted for a fleeting moment and only melted the outermost layer of the ice, failing to completely break the absolute suppression of Xue Wu's Ultimate Ice Domain, it was already enough for a powerful expert like Gold Crocodile Douluo.
"Roar!"
Having broken free from the tight restraints, Gold Crocodile Douluo immediately let out a primordial roar. His voice was mixed with endless humiliation, extreme rage, and a powerful desire to survive. Immediately after that, the deep, blood-colored ninth spirit ring under his feet shone with unprecedented brightness the very instant the golden light appeared.
The next second, a massive surge of dark golden spirit power, which was as vast as a tsunami, shot straight into the sky. This power forcibly shattered the remaining icy confinement around his body. In the blink of an eye, the illusory Golden Crocodile King true form behind Gold Crocodile Douluo solidified once again. An aura of barbaric violence, looking as if it could tear the heavens apart, erupted along with it.
"Want to kill this old man? You are not qualified! Ninth Spirit Skill: Crocodile Emperor Devours the World!"
With crimson eyes, Gold Crocodile Douluo sneered loudly. He stared fixedly at the ice-blue Emperor Sword that was already within arm's reach. Then, he poured his lifelong cultivation, all of his remaining spirit power, and the monstrous rage from being betrayed into this final and strongest attack.
The next second, a terrible roar that seemed to come from ancient times rang out through the area. Gold Crocodile Douluo opened his huge mouth wide. He did not aim his attack at Tang Chen, but directly at that ice-blue blade of light.
The phantom of the Golden Crocodile King behind him simultaneously made a large motion of devouring heaven and earth. Inside its huge mouth, a deep, pitch-black terrifying vortex suddenly took shape. It seemed fully capable of swallowing light and human souls. At the edge of the vortex, dark golden lightning darted wildly in all directions, emitting a destructive force of absolute annihilation.
This strike held absolutely nothing back. It was his ultimate outburst in a desperate, near-death situation. He fused his lifelong cultivation and all his spirit power together. He intended to use his Ninth Spirit Skill to clash head-on with the Emperor Sword of the Snow Empress.
The next second, two ultimate lethal moves representing different peak powers collided with a loud boom less than three feet away from the glabella of Gold Crocodile Douluo.
Strangely, there was no sound after that initial crash. Or rather, the sound was completely swallowed the moment it was born by the annihilating energy that erupted at the exact point of contact. It was a force that completely surpassed the limits of human perception.
Replacing the sound was a solid ring of energy ripples. It was so condensed that it looked nearly black, yet its outer edges were blooming with destructive gold and blue light. The ripple expanded and diffused outward at a speed that transcended normal thought.
Wherever this ripple passed, the space itself emitted a groan of unbearable weight. The remaining side hall ruins, the towering palace walls, the exquisite pavilions and towers, and even the intact palace rooftops further away were all completely destroyed. In the face of this destructive ripple, they were all as fragile as simple sandcastles on a beach.
They were not merely shattered into pieces. Rather, they were directly erased and vaporized from the level of existence by the power of annihilation produced by that extreme collision. There were no fragments left behind, and there were no roaring sounds of structures collapsing. There was only a rapidly expanding, bare, flat piece of scorched earth, looking as if it had been licked by an invisible giant beast. Along with it, billowing smoke and turbulent energy rose high into the sky, completely blotting out the sun.
The entire core area of the Heaven Dou imperial palace was forcibly razed by the terrible aftermath of this single strike. As far as the eye could see, only the devastated, scorched black earth and the lingering, pervasive smoke of chaos remained in the area.
Dugu Bo and the others had been protected by the domain power that Tang Chen had quietly spread out just before the collision happened. They had retreated far away to stay safe. At this moment, gazing at the core of the massive destruction, they were all struck with deep terror.
A moment later, the thick smoke slowly settled down and then disappeared completely. The turbulent energy also gradually subsided. In the air at this moment, the figure of Gold Crocodile Douluo had completely disappeared. Even the ice sculptures of the two frozen men, Thousand Weight Douluo and Demon Subduing Douluo, were entirely gone.
As well as the remaining Titled Douluo of Spirit Hall, like Snake Lance Douluo and Porcupinefish Douluo, and Qian Renxue, all of them had vanished without a single trace. It was as if they had never existed in this place at all.
"Escaped? What was that golden light just now?"
Looking at this empty scene before him, Tang Chen frowned slightly. Then, his figure moved forward, intending to chase them in the direction where the energy disturbance was last sensed. For the opponents to disappear instantly under the aftermath of such a major collision and his own domain lock was no easy feat. There must have been an extremely powerful rescue force or a hidden backup plan involved.
However, just as he took a single step forward, a golden feather drifted down lightly from the smoke and energy glimmer that had not yet fully dispersed into the air. It landed precisely on the newly raised left shoulder of Tang Chen.
Seeing this happen, Tang Chen stopped his movements abruptly. Then, he raised his hand and pinched the golden feather with two fingers.
The feather felt very warm and smooth to the touch. It was not a real bird feather at all. Instead, it was composed of a golden, sacred energy that had been condensed to the absolute extreme. It faintly emitted a soft and pure halo. It felt very warm to the touch, which was completely out of place with the surrounding lingering aura of Ultimate Ice left by the previous attack.
Staring at the golden feather on his fingertips, a trace of deep solemnity flashed within the eyes of Tang Chen. The next second, he slowly raised his head and looked up toward the sky from where the feather had originally drifted down. He looked up as if his gaze could pierce through space itself and see a certain towering hall located in the clouds far above Spirit City.
"Angel Douluo, Qian Daoliu?"