The Angelic Holy Sword descended, bringing with it a terrifying, holy aura that suppressed the very air. However, the position where the faint spatial ripple had just appeared remained unchanged.
It wasn't that Qian Renxue's attack had missed due to a lack of skill; within her domain, her movements were as effortless and smooth as a fish gliding through water. She had missed simply because Gu Xuan's figure had not appeared at the site of the ripple.
Instead, in the brief gap after her strike fell, Gu Xuan appeared directly behind her—at the exact spot where he had first vanished.
In his left hand, Gu Xuan gripped a massive dragon sword; the Sword Dragon Eight Wings on his back had disappeared. Having activated the Elemental Battle Armor, he no longer needed the physical wings to remain airborne; his mastery over spatial power allowed him to tread the void at will.
His right hand had transformed into five dark-gold claws, radiating a bone-chilling cold and a sharpness so extreme it felt as though it could slice through any defense in the world with a mere touch.
Appearing instantaneously, Gu Xuan aimed his dragon sword and right claw at the Angel's head and chest. Because the Avatar-form of Qian Renxue stood thirty meters tall, these were the only two vital areas Gu Xuan could strike simultaneously.
"Sword Dragon Eight Wings Soul Bone Skill: Flying Dragon Piercing Heaven!"
"Darkgold Terrorclaw Soul Bone Skill: Darkgold Penetration!"
As the skills ignited, the massive sword in his left hand transformed into a ten-meter-long sword-dragon wreathed in razor-sharp qi, lunging for her head. Meanwhile, the Darkgold Terrorclaw on his right burst with a brilliant dark-gold luster, locking onto her chest.
Both of Gu Xuan's external soul bones possessed two powerful skills. With the evolution of the bones, these skills had reached a terrifying level of lethality. Most importantly, soul bone skills consumed far less soul power than standard soul skills, yet their offensive output was in no way inferior.
Having just swung her sword, Qian Renxue couldn't possibly react physically in an instant. However, she was not without defenses within her own Angelic Domain.
Suddenly, her body erupted with brilliant light, and a golden angelic phantom surged backward toward Gu Xuan.
"Angelic Domain Evolution Skill: Angelic Descent!"
The phantom collided with Gu Xuan's dual soul bone assault. It managed to block both the sword-dragon and the piercing claw simultaneously. Even when the Darkgold Terrorclaw tore through the phantom's form, it refused to dissipate, stubbornly clinging to him.
By then, Qian Renxue had already completed her turn, and her Angelic Holy Sword came crashing down once more.
Faced with a full-power strike from her Martial Soul Avatar form, Gu Xuan had no desire to test his Elemental Battle Armor against it. However, the golden phantom was now deathly gripping his Darkgold Terrorclaw, preventing him from dodging.
Gu Xuan's heart jumped. He channeled the elemental energy from his armor directly into the claw, severing the phantom's tether. He then tore open a spatial gate and vanished, narrowly avoiding the blade.
Qian Renxue couldn't stop him from slipping into the void, but she knew he couldn't maintain such a skill forever. She ceased holding back. Every time a spatial ripple appeared, she struck without hesitation. She was burning through her soul power rapidly, but her focus remained absolute.
Ten seconds passed. Qian Renxue had unleashed dozens of strikes, but each time Gu Xuan was about to emerge, her attack hit only air.
Despite this, she remained composed, clutching her holy sword and waiting for him to truly show himself.
Meanwhile, inside the special dimension created by his spatial gate, two dragon souls roared around Gu Xuan. They looked identical to the Ice and Fire Dragon Kings resting beneath the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, yet a closer look revealed they were merely mindless remnants—pure soul energy.
The dragon markings on the backs of Gu Xuan's hands had vanished; these souls were the manifested forms of those seals. While his current state protected him from the domain, it wasn't enough to defeat her. He needed to use his ultimate trump card: the Inherited Secret Technique of the Ice and Fire Dragon Kings.
The only problem was the preparation time. Qian Renxue would never give him a window to cast it in a normal fight, so he was currently sacrificing a massive amount of soul power to maintain his spatial hiding spot and buy himself the necessary time.
However, there was a catch: even in this special space, he could not leave the diameter of the arena. This was still a sanctioned match, and the rules applied.
Seeing that Gu Xuan hadn't appeared for nearly a minute, Qian Renxue guessed he was preparing a high-powered move with a long charge time.
She retracted her holy sword. Her sixth soul ring—the last of her black rings—began to glow. Two golden vortices appeared at the joints of her wings, frantically absorbing the energy within the domain. Golden streaks of holy power flickered across her body like tiny snakes.
After three seconds of charging, Qian Renxue let out a sharp, piercing, and deafening cry.
In that moment, intense golden flames erupted from her eyes, extending over a meter in length. As her mouth opened, a storm-like golden flood of energy swept across the entire arena.
This was her Sixth Soul Skill, a mental-attribute attack: Angelic Roar.
Angelic Roar utilized a unique conversion method to turn half of the user's soul power into a mental shockwave for a wide-area strike. If the opponent's mental strength was less than half of the user's, their soul would shatter instantly. If the gap were smaller, it would still cause severe mental trauma and a stun effect, the duration of which depended on the difference in their mental power.
This was a staggeringly domineering skill that struck the soul directly. Even with Gu Xuan's impressive mental strength, he could not compare to a mental blast fueled by a Soul Saint's energy.
Normally, his spatial dimension would protect him from such mental detection and attacks, but Qian Renxue was using her Martial Soul Avatar-form's lack of cooldowns to her advantage. She intended to time her roars so that the moment he emerged, he would be hit.
If he were caught, even with his resilience, he would be stunned for at least five seconds—more than enough time for her to finish the fight.
She unleashed her first Angelic Roar. No response. Five seconds later, she unleashed another. She continued this rhythmic assault every five seconds.
Gu Xuan still did not appear.
After the fifth roar, Qian Renxue felt a surge of irritation. To her, Gu Xuan was acting like a "shrinking turtle," trying to hide until her soul power ran out.
"Hmph! Is this your strength? Hiding like a coward? Do you think you can win by draining my energy?" She growled in frustration. "Since you want to play this way, don't blame me for being ruthless. Even if I lose this match, I'm going to catch you and give you a proper thrashing afterward!"
Hearing her vent, a smile finally tugged at the corner of Gu Xuan's mouth. After nearly a minute of concentration, it was finally ready.
Just as her voice faded, a massive spatial gate—fifty meters in diameter—appeared in the sky. From within, a colossal dragon head slowly emerged.
(End of Chapter)
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