As the dragon's voice fell, the black fifth soul ring on its body ignited. Though the dragon possessed only five rings, the power of this fifth ring was in no way inferior to the strength granted by a hundred-thousand-year soul ring.
Qian Renxue felt a wave of helplessness. She had struck with full force from the very beginning, but Gu Xuan's soul skills were too eerie. After he slipped into the spatial void, she had been completely unable to lock onto him, leaving her with no choice but to watch him charge his ultimate move.
Hearing Gu Xuan's declaration, Qian Renxue stopped rationing her energy. Every drop of her remaining soul power poured into the Angelic Holy Sword. The blade erupted with an unprecedented, blinding radiance, its edge sharper than ever before.
Opposite the Angel, the dragon's massive dark-gold right claw began to swirl with light. Blue-purple lightning, pitch-black darkness, silver-white space, teal wind, ash-gray earth, sky-blue ice-fire, crimson flame, and blue-white time—eight colors fused with the dark gold to become a profound, abyssal black.
This was the fifth soul skill unleashed through the external soul bone, the Darkgold Terrorclaw. Gu Xuan's fifth skill originated from the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger, which inherently contained six elements; now, by adding fire, ice, and the peerless sharpness and piercing traits of the Darkgold Terrorclaw, it was no exaggeration to say this was the most powerful strike he could currently manifest.
As the black soul ring's deep, dark light flared, the dragon in the sky raised its right claw. It held a terrifying, primordial power capable of annihilating all things.
Below, Golden Crocodile Douluo and Bibi Dong both raised their eyebrows in surprise. Even they could sense the extraordinary nature of this strike.
Chen Xin watched with a face full of pride and gratification. He leaned in and whispered to Ning Fengzhi, "If Old Bone could see this, he'd wake up laughing from his dreams!"
Ning Fengzhi was smiling as well, though his expression leaned more toward pure disbelief. Even he hadn't known Gu Xuan held such a trump card. As those who had spent the most time with him, they knew his ultimate secrets likely came from the legacy of the Ice and Fire Dragon Kings, but they never imagined that legacy would allow a Rank 56 Soul King to erupt with such power.
Using Rank 56 soul power to manifest a Martial Soul Avatar on par with a Soul Saint was one thing, but Gu Xuan's dragon form wasn't even a complete Avatar yet. Once he reached Rank 70, just how terrifying would his true Avatar be?
Ning Fengzhi had only one thought. 'The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan is destined for ultimate prosperity!'
"Fifth Soul Skill: Evil God's Annihilating Thunder!"
The massive dragon claw descended with world-ending momentum. The holy sword in the Angel's hands, fully charged with Qian Renxue's final reserves, rose to meet it.
"Angelic... Judgment!"
When the two attacks collided, there was no thunderous explosion or billowing shockwave as expected. Instead, the annihilating power of the giant claw and the Angelic power began to devour and dissolve each other in a silent, violent struggle for dominance.
The stalemate lasted nearly a minute. To everyone's shock, the first to falter was actually the Rank 74 Qian Renxue!
The moment her defense weakened, the dragon claw surged with power, directly crushing the Angelic Holy Sword and lunging straight for the Angel's head.
Just as the claw was about to crush the skull, a golden blur arrived in an instant. Below, Chen Xin snapped to his feet, the Seven Kill Sword appearing in his hand.
The golden figure stepped between the dragon and the Angel. Though he stood over two meters tall, he appeared minuscule beneath the two gargantuan entities. Yet, simply by standing there, he halted the dragon's claw in its tracks.
It was the Golden Crocodile Douluo. Seeing that Qian Renxue was about to lose, he could no longer remain a spectator. Gu Xuan's strike was powerful enough to cause irreversible, permanent trauma to her. Even he felt a trace of trepidation toward the fused elemental power within that claw.
A ferocious, golden giant crocodile manifested behind the Worship, radiating the aura of a prehistoric beast. Nine soul rings rose around him: Yellow, Yellow, Purple, Purple, Black, Black, Black, Black... Red.
"A hundred-thousand-year soul ring?!" The crowd gasped.
This was the true power of the Second Worship. He hadn't shown himself for fifty years, but the sight of those nine rings commanded absolute awe. He reached out his right hand, fueled by Rank 98 soul power, which transformed into a golden-scaled crocodile claw.
He caught the dragon's claw. "Enough," Golden Crocodile's voice rang out calmly. "Show mercy where it is due. You have won this battle."
However, a second later, his expression changed. The soul power in his right hand was being annihilated and corroded at a terrifying rate! He quickly funneled more energy into his claw, but his shock only grew—Gu Xuan's strike had just consumed a full tenth of his soul power!
How was that possible? He was a Rank 98 Super Douluo; a tenth of his power was enough to rival a Rank 90 Titled Douluo. If this strike had actually hit Qian Renxue, there wouldn't even be ashes left of her.
Gu Xuan was equally stunned. Even he hadn't realized the power would be this extreme. If he could do this now, once he reached Rank 70 and used this under a true Martial Soul Avatar, he would truly be able to challenge Titled Douluos!
Through his growth, his Martial Soul had been evolving. This attack was a skill he had developed himself by combining the Ice and Fire Dragon Kings' legacy—a process he called Second Awakening.
Gu Xuan had always felt his Bone Dragon was a type of Body Martial Soul, as it evolved from his own skeletal structure into dragon bone infused with spatial elements. He had researched how to trigger a second awakening for a long time, but only found the key after obtaining his fifth ring and mastering multiple elements. If this were ten thousand years in the future, his awakening would undoubtedly be classified as the ultimate Gold-Level Second Awakening.
The dragon's red and blue flaming eyes stared at the Worship. "In that case, I ask you one thing: Do you yield?" The dragon's voice was indifferent, showing no face to the opponent. He wanted to hear the admission of defeat from her own lips!
Qian Renxue's expression was a mix of conflict and shock. Had that strike landed, she truly would have been finished. She felt a sudden urge to tell Gu Xuan that she was his "Brother Xue," but in his eyes, he didn't know that.
She had lost. She, a Soul Saint, had lost to a Rank 56 Soul King. How could this brat have hidden such terrifying power? The boy who usually laughed and played dumb with her had already surpassed her!
(End of Chapter)
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