A spacetime rift stretching thousands of meters long severed the massive storm.
Dark spatial ripples continuously spread outward.
The oppressive force generated from the collision of energies spread layer by layer from the point of contact, like ripples on water, accompanied by piercing sound waves.
However, in the next moment.
Sizzle—
The void peeled away, but the formed emptiness was quickly smoothed over.
A human figure flickered in and out of view, standing at the center of the still-lingering aftermath.
That vast first-level god aura dispersed the surrounding energy.
Crystal-clear, lustrous white hair framed the fair-faced youth. He held the Heavenly Saint Splitting Abyss Halberd. His black eyes lacked whites yet gave an endless sense of profound depth.
A black long robe covered his entire body, with wide, thick shoulder collars flaring outward on both sides.
Merely standing there exerted immense pressure on everyone present.
"Abyss... Abyss Saint Lord!"
Xue Di's eyes filled with shock. She could never mistake this aura.
Back in the Extreme North, she had once battled the man before her, but this aura was far too powerful. If he had possessed such strength at that time, she doubted she would even have entertained the thought of fighting.
"Abyss Saint Lord, Tian Yuan."
Ning Rongrong faced the Abyss Saint Lord from afar.
The Glazed Holy Sword, also a super-divine weapon, let out a faint sword chime in response.
"Ning Rongrong, it seems you're not surprised by my appearance." The Abyss Saint Lord sized her up. His voice carried no trace of frivolity; his entire body was poised and ready to strike.
"Hehe." Ning Rongrong gave a light laugh. "The moment I grasped the Heavenly Saint Splitting Abyss Halberd, I sensed it. I just didn't know whether your revival was due to the Crimson Mother or your own scheme."
"Compared to Yan Long, who was constantly toyed with, you're the real main force behind this invasion, aren't you!"
"Or perhaps... you're also just a pawn?"
While Ning Rongrong was still confronting the Abyss Saint Lord, Bibi Dong and the others had come to her side.
"The battle from here on is not something you can participate in." Ning Rongrong said to Bibi Dong and the others. "Do as we discussed earlier."
Hearing this, Bibi Dong gave Ning Rongrong a deep look.
"Understood."
Lan Fozi and Xue Di also nodded.
The three of them simultaneously took out their array disks, preparing to teleport out of the trapped formation within the Star Luo Empire.
"Thinking of running!"
A residual shadow streaked across the sky. The Abyss Saint Lord instantly appeared before Ning Rongrong as if flashing over. Gripping the long halberd with both hands, he fiercely slashed toward the group.
"If I want to let my people leave, can you stop me?"
"Sword Technique—Four Ounces to Move a Thousand Pounds"
The surroundings seemed to form a wind field. With the swing of the Glazed Holy Sword, the Heavenly Saint Splitting Abyss Halberd—which had been aimed to strike the group—suddenly lost its balance as if deflected and was flung away.
Even the wildly spreading rule-based energy seemed to encounter some untouchable barrier and completely avoided them.
Taking advantage of the moment, Xue Di, Lan Fozi, and Bibi Dong used their array disks to teleport outside the formation.
"Hmph!"
Failing to kill his opponents, the Abyss Saint Lord let out a cold snort and once again wielded the Heavenly Saint Splitting Abyss Halberd.
At this moment, the blade of the Heavenly Saint Splitting Abyss Halberd emitted a black luster, almost perfectly matching the Abyss Saint Lord's energy.
The halberd came crashing down fiercely.
A torrential surge of energy poured down like a straight-falling waterfall.
"Abyss!"
The skill of the Heavenly Saint Splitting Abyss Halberd—an attack that could ignore all defenses. Even Yan Long could not unleash its full power; only he, as the Abyss Saint Lord, could achieve such a level.
"Do you really think I can't block it?"
Ning Rongrong's eyes narrowed slightly. The brown-black pupils in her eyes changed, turning into blue and gold spacetime pupils.
Clang—
The clash of weapons.
The energies of both sides erupted outward from the point of contact.
Heaven-shaking and earth-shattering power swept through like gusts of gang wind, blanketing the entire Star Luo Empire.
The already ruined clusters of broken buildings were ravaged further by wave after wave of storms, becoming even more fragmented.
Clang—
Clang—
Clang—
Multiple clashes of weapons rang out. White and black light orbs danced continuously in the sky.
Each contact unleashed powerful shockwaves. The rampant energy that fell to the ground carved deep, bottomless cracks across the earth.
The battle continued. All the energy was confined within the Star Luo Empire's boundaries by the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams Formation.
Yet the terrifying spectacle was transmitted through the distant monitoring soul guidance devices to soul beasts, soul masters, and even ordinary people across the entire continent.
"This... this is just too strong!"
Lan Fozi swallowed hard, unable to stop herself from trembling.
No wonder Ning Rongrong had said earlier that they didn't need to interfere—just stabilize the formation.
Even if they wanted to get involved, it seemed they couldn't possibly squeeze in!
"Probably around level 139, peak first-level god power." Xue Di sighed, feeling quite emotional. When she first met Ning Rongrong, the other had still been quite weak. Even though she had some tricks, Xue Di had been confident she could kill her. But every encounter seemed to reset her understanding of the other's strength.
For example, right now—Ning Rongrong had claimed her strength was roughly at the second-level god level.
Yet the scene before them was clearly far beyond any second-level god.
Xue Di possessed memories left by the previous Ice God. The combat power Ning Rongrong was unleashing was comparable to a first-level god—and Xue Di even vaguely suspected she was holding something back.
"Truly terrifying! Good thing we're not enemies." A look of relief actually appeared on Bibi Dong's face.
"Right, we need to stabilize the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams Formation as quickly as possible. If the formation breaks, the entire continent will likely face a massive crisis." Xue Di was the first to snap back and reminded Bibi Dong and Lan Fozi beside her.
"Mm." Bibi Dong and Lan Fozi nodded.
The three transformed into three beams of light and flew off in different directions.
Compared to these god-level experts who had seen great storms,
the entire Douluo Continent was in an uproar.
...
In the Star Dou Great Forest, Bi Ji and Xiong Jun were transmitting faith to Qian Renxue while also observing Di Tian and the other soul beasts' tribulations through a corner of the formation.
"Bi Ji... I actually fought against such an existence before and survived. Looks like my ancestral graves were really smoking." Xiong Jun's eye twitched. He truly hadn't expected that this pink-haired little sprout's combat power would keep shattering his understanding with every encounter.
"Mm." Bi Ji remained calm and composed. "The one our lord said deserves serious attention naturally wouldn't be simple. But this level of combat power is a bit ridiculous."
Moreover, Ning Rongrong wasn't just ridiculously strong—she was also proficient in all sorts of strange formations.
This was a god-level battle, even surpassing Xue Di's current level of divine power, yet it was completely confined to the Star Luo Empire's territory. Simply unbelievable.
"I'm not too worried about Ning Rongrong's side. It's Qian Renxue's breakthrough, and Di Tian..." Thinking of this, Bi Ji felt somewhat helpless.
"It's up to people to make it happen. Di Tian has gone all in this time." Xiong Jun said helplessly. "Soul beasts can't become gods—I really suspect the Dragon God had something wrong with his head."
Though Xiong Jun didn't consider himself smart—at best he could bicker with Di Tian and had never done anything to destabilize the Star Dou Great Forest.
But the Dragon God pulling this kind of stunt on his own people—could he be a spy who somehow became the leader?
"You can say that here, but don't let our lord hear you. Otherwise, when it's time for red-braised bear paw, I'll happily help sprinkle the salt."
"I'm not stupid." Xiong Jun rolled his eyes. "Ning Rongrong can point at our lord and say he's got a hole in his brain because she has the capital to pin him down. I, Xiong Jun, know exactly how much I weigh."
"If you really knew your weight, you wouldn't always go picking fights with Di Tian." Bi Ji teased.
Speaking of which, perhaps because they now shared a common goal to strive toward, the relationships among the ferocious beasts of the Star Dou Great Forest had become much more harmonious. In the past, the ferocious beasts often couldn't stand each other.
"Tch..." Xiong Jun directly lay down, hands crossed behind his head. "Bi Ji, you're the smart one. Do you think Qian Renxue can really succeed?"
"I'm not talking about first-level god—I'm talking about God King."
"You've seen Bibi Dong's situation too. Even with Zi Ji and Chi Wang sacrificing themselves, she still couldn't touch the first-level god bottleneck."
"It's not that I lack confidence—it's just... sigh..."
"I don't know." Bi Ji shook her head. "Life and death are fated; wealth and honor are in heaven. Honestly, with everything happening now, if the Divine Realm barrier disappears, those above will definitely send people to investigate."
"Hehe, then we're all dead!" Xiong Jun indifferently picked up a blade of grass from beside him and stuck it in his mouth. "To be honest, do you think Ning Rongrong is in such a hurry because things are really bad on our lord's side?"
"From what you've told me about her personality, she doesn't seem like someone who takes risks lightly."
"I don't know." Bi Ji fell silent after saying that.
Xiong Jun didn't press further.
The two of them turned their gazes through the formation's projection toward the battle zone in the direction of the Star Luo Empire.