As the cataclysmic battle painted the sky above Spirit City in violent, clashing shades of holy gold and abyssal purple, the mortal realm below trembled under the weight of the heavens tearing themselves apart. The continuous, devastating shockwaves generated by the conflict of Limit Douluos rolled downward, turning the very air into a suffocating swamp of conflicting spirit power. The afternoon light was fractured, swallowed by the expanding shadows of the great black dragon and the radiant, desperate flares of the six-winged seraphim. It was a tableau of absolute destruction, a storm that promised to erase the monumental capital from the map of the continent.
High atop the central mountain peak of the city, the heavy, reinforced stone doors of the Elder Hall burst open.
BOOM!
The sound echoed like a massive war drum signaling the arrival of divine judgment. The thick stone slabs shattered outward, unable to contain the sudden, explosive eruption of spirit power from within. From the sacred, isolated confines of the highest sanctuary, a series of terrifying, ancient auras shot directly into the tumultuous air. They moved like a cluster of falling stars, vibrant streaks of lethal light tearing through the gloomy, dust-choked atmosphere as the hidden, ultimate guardians of the Spirit Hall descended rapidly toward the ruined market square.
These were not ordinary Spirit Masters. These were the absolute pillars of the human cultivation world, individuals who had dedicated their entire, lengthy lives to reaching the absolute peak of martial power. They had sensed the terrifying, suffocating darkness eclipsing their holy city, and their response was swift, coordinated, and merciless.
THUD!
Golden Crocodile Douluo landed upon the remnants of a shattered, multi-story rooftop. The sheer physical force of his descent pulverized the remaining clay tiles and wooden support beams, sending a massive shower of gray debris cascading into the cratered street below. He stood tall amidst the settling dust, his massive, heavily muscled frame radiating a pressure that felt like an entire mountain range pressing down on the fragile shoulders of everyone present in the plaza.
He was a Rank 98 Hyper Douluo, an entity whose foundational strength was second only to the Grand Enshrinement himself. His thick, golden armor gleamed with a predatory light even in the dim, shadowed atmosphere of the battlefield. His golden eyes burned with a cold, unforgiving fury as he surveyed the intruders who dared to bring war to his doorstep.
A fraction of a second later, a gust of razor-sharp, howling wind heralded the arrival of the next supreme guardian.
SWISH!
Azure Luan Douluo touched down gracefully upon the broken edge of a stone balcony. His elegant, flowing blue robes fluttered violently in the turbulent, chaotic gales generated by the skyward battle. His Rank 97 cultivation added another dense, suffocating layer to the invisible net that was rapidly closing around the plaza. His eyes were incredibly sharp and unyielding, carrying the haughty, absolute disdain of an avian predator observing grounded, helpless prey.
In a rapid, continuous blur of motion, several other high-ranking elders arrived. They landed with heavy thuds and sharp bursts of elemental energy, taking up strategic, elevated positions on the surrounding rooftops, shattered balconies, and the remnants of the city walls. They formed an inescapable, three-dimensional perimeter. Their piercing gazes locked firmly onto the three disguised beasts standing amidst the rubble of the market square, their high-level spirit rings already summoned and pulsing with lethal, synchronized intent.
Down in the center of the cratered street, the three ancient beasts instantly sensed the shifting tides of the battlefield.
Yao Ling, Chi Wang, and Zi Ji immediately shifted their combat stances. Their ancient survival instincts, honed over hundreds of thousands of years of brutal, unending conflict in the unforgiving depths of the Star Dou Great Forest, flared to life. They moved fluidly, without needing to speak a single word, forming a tight, impenetrable defensive triangle so that none of their backs were exposed to the encroaching human experts.
The human elders did not rush upward to assist Qian Daoliu and Bibi Dong in the apocalyptic sky. Their tactical instincts, forged through decades of warfare and brutal suppression, dictated an entirely different approach. They recognized that the battle raging above the clouds was a clash of titans where their direct interference might only serve as a fatal distraction for the Grand Enshrinement. Furthermore, the three strange individuals standing on the ground emitted auras that felt ancient, wildly untamed, and incredibly dangerous. Securing the ground and eliminating the immediate, unknown threats was their primary objective.
Golden Crocodile Douluo crossed his thick, muscular arms over his broad, armored chest. His golden eyes gleamed with lethal intent as he stared down the frail-looking old man and his two companions. He recognized that these intruders were no ordinary trespassers; the raw, unrefined power leaking from their human disguises was a blatant provocation that could not go unanswered.
"Do not move a single muscle, beasts," Golden Crocodile Douluo commanded.
His voice was a low, gravelly rumble that vibrated the loose stones at their feet, carrying a promise of swift, merciless execution. The word 'beasts' was meant as a derogatory insult, an arrogant assumption of their barbaric, uncultured nature, though the golden-armored giant had absolutely no idea how terrifyingly accurate his terminology truly was. His ninth black spirit ring pulsed with a subtle, warning light, ready to unleash devastation at the slightest twitch.
"We will ensure you remain exactly where you are," Azure Luan Douluo added smoothly. His tone was a chilling melody of aristocratic arrogance, a stark contrast to the brutal, blunt strength of his companion.
SHING! SHING! SHING!
Azure Luan Douluo raised his elegant hand, his slender fingers weaving a rapid pattern. He summoned his Wind Blade Array with casual mastery. Dozens of massive, crescent-shaped blades of highly compressed air materialized out of thin air. They began to revolve rapidly, creating a swirling, howling cage of razor-sharp air around the trio of disguised beasts. The blades hummed a high-pitched, lethal tune, promising to sever any limb or slice any flesh that dared to cross their invisible threshold.
The elders positioned themselves meticulously, covering every possible physical and spatial escape route. They effectively placed Yao Ling, Chi Wang, and Zi Ji under absolute, undeniable house arrest, forming a barricade of flesh, bone, and supreme spirit power to prevent them from leaping into the sky and supporting the great black dragon battling above.
GRRR!
Chi Wang could no longer contain the feral, bloodthirsty beast roaring within his soul. He bared his teeth, his jaw dropping open in a silent, menacing snarl. Dark red flames instantly licked across his knuckles, the intense heat distorting the air around his fists and carrying the acrid scent of sulfur and burning ash. His beastly pride, the deep-seated arrogance of the Scarlet Mastiff who commanded the fiery, volcanic domains of the deep forest, demanded he tear these arrogant, posturing humans into bloody ribbons and feast upon their charred marrow.
"These fragile scavengers dare to bare their dull, pathetic fangs at us," Chi Wang hissed. His muscles bulged dangerously against the dark fabric of his human disguise, the seams ripping under the expanding mass. "I will melt their golden scales into puddles of slag. I will rip their throats out for daring to cage our Auspicious Beast in this human den."
"Hold your fire, Chi Wang," Yao Ling hissed softly. His voice resembled the dry, grating rustling of dead leaves blowing across a cemetery.
The old man's cloudy, ancient eyes darted rapidly between the numerous Super Douluos surrounding them. His vast, centuries-old intellect calculated the lethal variables of their dire predicament. "We must weather the violent storm, not burn ourselves to useless cinder in a futile, immediate blaze. Our task is to survive for now."
Zi Ji's beautiful, violet eyes narrowed into dangerous, predatory slits. Her pale hands glowed with a dense, dark purple energy, the localized manifestation of her consuming abyss attribute. She prepared to unleash her Devouring Domain at the very first sign of an actual, physical strike from the golden-armored giant above. She would not fall to these two-legged creatures without dragging several of these arrogant human elders into the crushing, lightless depths of her darkness.
The tense standoff on the ground mirrored the rolling apocalypse in the sky. It was a massive, highly unstable powder keg waiting for a single, stray spark to ignite a massacre of legendary, historical proportions. The air grew stagnant and difficult to breathe, heavy with the suffocating weight of raw killing intent and ancient, unspoken enmity.
Golden Crocodile Douluo's imposing figure seemed to swell with a terrifying, righteous fury. His golden armor reflected the erratic, terrifying flashes of lightning and holy fire from the battle raging furiously above the dark clouds. He viewed the intruders as a filthy stain upon the absolute sanctity of his city, a vile blight that required immediate, cleansing eradication.
SNAP!
"You dare infiltrate our sacred grounds and threaten the safety of our citizens?" Golden Crocodile Douluo scoffed loudly, his voice dripping with absolute contempt.
His martial spirit phantom—a massive, golden-scaled crocodile with jaws capable of snapping a mountain peak in half—manifested directly behind his broad back. The spectral beast snapped its massive jaws together, creating a concussive shockwave of sound in a display of primal, overwhelming intimidation.
Yao Ling did not flinch at the grand display of human power. The ancient Monster Eye Tree had witnessed the slow rise and inevitable fall of countless human factions; their fleeting concept of 'sacred grounds' was a passing joke to a being whose roots touched the ancient, undisturbed bedrock of the world long before humanity had learned to forge steel.
"Your sacred grounds are built upon the buried bones of our slaughtered kin," Yao Ling retorted. His voice carried the dry, grating sound of ancient timber grinding against hard stone, refusing to yield an inch of pride. "You carve your grand cities from the heart of our forests, you harvest our children to forge your glowing rings, and you dare to call yourselves righteous defenders. We are merely reclaiming what you so greedily abducted from our forests. "
The old man leaned heavily on his gnarled wooden staff, projecting a frail, perfectly calm exterior despite the desperate, high-speed calculations running through his vast, ancient mind. He knew that provoking the humans too far would invite a synchronized, devastating assault they could not possibly withstand without suffering fatal casualties.
SHING!
Azure Luan Douluo raised his elegant hand higher into the air. The subtle gesture caused the wind blades encircling the three beasts to spin dramatically faster. The increased velocity generated a shrill, ear-piercing whistle that hurt the eardrums. The highly compressed air carved deep, clean gouges into the remaining cobblestones, sending sharp shards of rock flying outward to demonstrate his lethal, absolute control over the wind element.
"Once the great beast falls from the sky, your pelts will decorate the grand halls of our sanctuary," Azure Luan Douluo threatened, his expression a mask of cold, aristocratic disdain. "We will extract your spirit bones from your ruined corpses and mount your skulls as permanent trophies of this foolish, doomed invasion."
Chi Wang could no longer contain the boiling furnace of his rage. The blatant insult to his pride, combined with the arrogant threat to the great black dragon battling above, ignited the volatile, explosive core of his spirit. His muscles bulged to an extreme degree, tearing the sleeves of his tunic entirely as he dropped into a crouch, preparing to launch his fiery mass directly at the smug, blue-robed human perched on the roof.
"I will melt your brittle bones into slag before I let you touch a single hair on any of us!" Chi Wang roared, his dark red flames surging outward from his body like a miniature, angry sun, scorching the paving stones beneath his boots.
Before he could leap and unleash his devastating fiery assault, Zi Ji firmly grabbed his thick arm. Her grip possessed the crushing, inescapable strength of a deep-sea leviathan, her long fingernails digging deeply and bruising his tough skin right through the remaining fabric.
"Patience, you fool," Zi Ji whispered fiercely, her dark, abyssal aura flaring rapidly to suppress his expanding flames. "Do not let their pathetic yapping provoke you into a premature strike. If we attack now, we give them the precise excuse they need to slaughter us together in a combined net. We are vastly outnumbered and tactically outmaneuvered. We must wait for Lord Di Tian to defeat those humans in the sky."
Golden Crocodile Douluo noticed the brief, violent internal conflict among the disguised beasts. A cruel, victorious smile touched his scarred lips as he realized their absolute, undeniable helplessness. They were incredibly formidable, yes, but they were trapped securely within a cage of overwhelming human power.
'They are merely cornered rats,' Golden Crocodile Douluo thought, his piercing golden eyes tracking their every minor twitch, evaluating their hidden worth. 'The moment that dark beast in the sky is defeated by the Grand Enshrinement's holy light, these three will provide an unparalleled, historic harvest for the Elder Hall. Their auras are incredibly dense, their foundational vitality ancient and profound. Taking their high-level spirit bones will elevate our collective power to unprecedented, glorious heights.'
The heavy, suffocating silence between the two opposing factions was broken only by the continuous, booming shockwaves generated from the heavens above.
BOOM! CLASH! RUMBLE!
The terrifying sound of the dark dragon sword clashing violently against Qian Daoliu's blazing holy sword rolled across the city like a continuous, unending thunderstorm. The sky wept violent flashes of holy gold and consuming black, creating a tempest of opposing energies that defied mortal comprehension and made the very air vibrate with raw power.
Dust rained down upon the standoff below like a steady, gray snowfall. The pulverized debris from the shattered buildings and the pulverized clouds above drifted slowly downward. It coated the vibrant, immaculate robes of the floating elders and the ragged, dust-stained clothes of the disguised beasts in a thick, uniform layer of ash. It was a macabre, silent snowfall, a grim testament to the apocalyptic destruction raining down upon the capital of the human world.
Yao Ling closed his cloudy eyes, entirely ignoring the arrogant taunts of the golden-armored human towering above them. He extended his vast, ancient spiritual senses upward, reaching carefully past the howling wind blades and the oppressive auras of the Super Douluos. He focused entirely on the dark, chaotic maelstrom churning in the sky. He prayed to the ancient, unspoken laws of the great forest, hoping against all rational hope that the black dragon could overcome the combined, terrifying might of two Limit Douluos. The great dragon was the absolute, undisputed champion of the star forest, an entity of unparalleled, world-ending might, but facing two humans at the absolute peak of cultivation simultaneously in their own heavily warded stronghold was a monumental, grueling task.
The tension was a physical, crushing weight, pressing heavily down on the chests of everyone present in the plaza. It turned the ruined market square into a tightly sealed pressure cooker of suppressed violence, an arena where the slightest sudden movement or misplaced breath would instantly unleash a torrential flood of blood and devastation.
Standing near the very edge of the standoff, safely hidden within the deep shadows of a partially collapsed, multi-story building, Zhang Tian remained a picture of absolute, unyielding calm. His posture was entirely relaxed, his broad shoulders squared, and his hands resting comfortably behind his back as though he were merely observing a theatrical stage performance rather than the potential, fiery end of the world.
His icy blue eyes tracked the erratic, lightning-fast movements in the sky with absolute precision. His extraordinary vision, massively enhanced by his rigorous internal cultivation and his vast, Boundless mental capacity, pierced the chaotic, blinding light to observe the finer, lethal details of the clash occurring above the dark clouds.
He noticed the dark, corrosive blood rapidly staining Bibi Dong's ornate papal robes. The Supreme Pontiff was fighting like a cornered, vicious demon, her terrifying spider form weaving a toxic, venomous web across the sky, but he could see her miraculous regenerative abilities struggling mightily to keep pace with the sheer, destructive density of the abyss element. The dark energy carried a rotting, consuming property that severely hindered her usual, instantaneous healing, leaving her thick carapace scarred, cracked, and her breathing increasingly ragged as she expended massive amounts of spirit power just to survive the glancing blows.
He also saw Qian Daoliu's massive, golden barrier flickering dangerously under the relentless assault. The Grand Enshrinement was expending vast, unsustainable amounts of his divine energy to protect the sprawling city from the fallout of the battle, acting as a holy, desperate shield for the citizens below rather than focusing his power entirely on a lethal, concentrated offense against the great dragon. The immense strain of maintaining such a massive, impregnable dome while simultaneously fighting a champion of absolute darkness was taking a highly visible toll on the old man's deep reserves.
'The longer this battle of attrition continues, the more dangerous it becomes for everyone involved,' Zhang Tian thought, his brilliant mind processing the cascading variables with the cold, detached efficiency of a grandmaster evaluating a complex board.
'Dong'er and the old man are sustaining genuine, lasting injuries, and their stamina will eventually falter against a beast whose vitality is an endless, bottomless ocean,' Zhang Tian analyzed, his gaze flawlessly following a stray, devastating bolt of purplish-black dragon fire that deflected violently off the golden dome. 'Furthermore, Di Tian's attacks are growing increasingly desperate, wild, and wide-ranged. He is realizing the stubborn, entrenched resilience of the human peak and is escalating the destruction.'
He knew that a prolonged battle of attrition between three Limit Douluo-level entities would inevitably result in a catastrophic, unacceptable outcome. It would end in permanent, fatal casualties for his vital allies, or the complete, unrecoverable leveling of Spirit City. The massive collateral damage would shatter the foundations of his future empire, destroying the very infrastructure he planned to usurp. This conflict served absolutely no beneficial purpose; it was a senseless clash of pride and vast misunderstanding that threatened to erase the board entirely before he could make his winning move.
Turning his head slightly, Zhang Tian looked down at the beautiful, golden-haired girl standing nervously by his side. Jin Xi's delicate hands were clasped tightly in front of her chest, her knuckles pale. Her beautiful crimson eyes were filled with profound, heart-wrenching worry. She watched the apocalyptic sky with the terrified, helpless expression of a child watching her beloved home burn to the ground.
"Jin Xi," Zhang Tian spoke softly.
His voice carried a soothing, undeniable authority. The deep, calm resonance of his tone acted as a heavy anchor, steadying her racing heart and pulling her frantic attention away from the exploding sky.
"Yes?" Jin Xi responded, her voice trembling slightly as she looked up at his handsome, perfectly composed face.
"I need you to tell the beast in the air to stop fighting," Zhang Tian instructed, his icy blue eyes locking firmly onto her crimson gaze. He spoke with the absolute certainty of a man who commanded the tides of fate. "This clash is nearly useless. It serves no productive purpose and will only end in tragedy for both sides. The destruction must halt immediately."
Jin Xi blinked, her hands nervously twisting the soft fabric of her golden dress. The request seemed highly impossible. The great dragon was a force of untamed nature, an entity whose wrath was a legendary, paralyzing terror within the deep woods.
"But Zhang Tian, Lord Di Tian is very angry," Jin Xi reasoned, her voice a small, frightened whisper that barely carried over the howling wind blades nearby. "He believes I am a bound captive suffering among the humans. When his blood boils, his roar shatters mountains. Will he even listen to me while he is consumed by the heat of battle?"
"Tell him that I want to talk to him," Zhang Tian added smoothly. A confident, knowing smile touched his lips, an expression that promised he held the absolute winning cards in this high-stakes game of survival. "Tell him that I offer an audience. Tell him that if he isn't convinced after our talk, he can freely resume his fight to satiate his rage and burn this city. I merely ask for a brief moment of silence to stop this useless fighting."
Jin Xi was a bit worried about his physical safety. She knew the terrifying, unforgiving temper of the great dragon, and she knew that stepping into the path of his blazing wrath was a foolish, deadly endeavor for any human. But she looked deeply into Zhang Tian's eyes and saw no fear, only an impenetrable, vast ocean of absolute calm. She trusted the red-haired man implicitly. He had offered her shelter, warmth, and a genuine kindness she had never experienced in the brutal, hierarchical structure of the forest. He was her chosen anchor.
She closed her eyes, taking a deep, shuddering breath to steady her nerves. She centered her mind, focusing her unique, innate spiritual connection to the forest. As the Golden Auspicious Beast, her soul was intrinsically tied to the destiny of the star woods, granting her a powerful telepathic frequency that resonated directly with the sovereign of the beasts, cutting through all interference.
She cast her thoughts upward, sending a piercing, incredibly clear signal directly into the stormy, chaotic sky.
'Lord Di Tian,' Jin Xi telepathically called out.
Her voice in the spiritual realm was a clear, resounding bell, cutting effortlessly amidst the deafening roar of battle, the loud crackle of holy flames, and the agonizing screech of spatial tears.
'The human standing with me wishes to speak with you. He requests an audience to end this useless destruction. Please, Lord Di Tian, halt your attacks and listen.'
~~
A/N: Check out my other novels [Villain: Manipulating The Heroines Into Hating The Protagonist] and [Harem Master: Seduction System].
Also, check out 20 Chapters Ahead for this fanfic on my P.atreon.
Patreon link: https://www.patreon.com/c/evildragon04