Word Count: 3,107 Words
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Cornered, the Blood Red Nine-Headed Bat King steeled itself. The passenger hitching a ride had become the driver gripping the wheel. Two of its peripheral heads burst apart with muffled bangs.
'Ho... this guy might be working a little too hard.'
Ling Bai's eyelid twitched. In order to obtain a flawless new body, the Blood Red Nine-Headed Bat King was willing to wound its own soul, wringing out every last scrap of spiritual power to keep stabilizing the Death Abyss Spirit Core.
"This spirit beast is spent. Let's officially begin," Electrolux said through spiritual transmission.
"Mm."
Ling Bai stopped manipulating the Blood Red Nine-Headed Bat King. He called back the massive reserve of spirit power he had sent to the Angel Spirit Core moments before and converted it for the Death Abyss Spider Emperor's use.
The Angel Spirit Core at his brow refused to sit idle while its spirit power drained away. It unleashed a powerful suction, trying to seize the energy back. Ling Bai felt the shift but had no intention of stopping. He kept drawing off that compressed spirit power without pause.
That was when the Snow Empress moved. As the seventh spirit ring of the Seraphim Martial Spirit, she leveraged the Martial Spirit Avatar's natural affinity, her spiritual power locking onto the Angel Spirit Core, slowing its rotation and suppressing it.
At last, the agony of Yin-Yang Complement Twin Spirit Cores fully surfaced. The instant Ultimate Holy and Ultimate Evil collided, Ling Bai's entire body shuddered violently. Outside, the Bloodsea churned with towering waves. Within him, the twin God bloodlines suddenly reversed course and slammed against one another in a brutal head-on clash.
Resonance Twin Spirit Cores sought balance between the two cores, letting them coexist in relative peace. Yin-Yang Complement Twin Spirit Cores, however, were fusion in essence, brutally forcing the two cores to complement one another.
The Seraphim had no desire to share spirit power with the Death Abyss Spider Emperor, and the Death Abyss Spider Emperor likewise refused to yield so much as a drop. This clash between Yin and Yang was the greatest hurdle in condensing Yin-Yang Complement Twin Spirit Cores.
Fine beads of blood oozed from Ling Bai's skin. The instant they appeared, the scorching Angel Holy Fire seared them away. His aura turned chaotic and savage. The Bone Dragon King, worried for its master, could not hold back a low, anxious growl.
A human Spirit Master's frail body simply could not withstand this collision of Yin and Yang. Even the Snow Empress, a Heaven and Earth Spirit of the Extreme North, could not have borne it in her original body. Only monsters among monsters had any right to touch Yin-Yang Complement Twin Spirit Cores. One would need the rugged true-dragon physique of the Golden Eyed Black Dragon King, or the Evileye Tyrant Emperor's terrifying spiritual power that could shake space and time.
Ling Bai's body, however, had already been remade by two pieces of Life Gold, granting him a vast life force far beyond that of ordinary men. The Blood Red Nine-Headed Bat King's Torso Spirit Bone, now fused with the Bloodsea Heart, began to show its true power. Ultimate Blood combined with Undying Body and frantically repaired the ruptured meridians throughout him.
The Snow Empress held the Angel Spirit Core in check. Ling Bai focused on converting the diametrically opposed spirit power of his two Martial Spirits. Electrolux gave his Necromancer Staff a single sweep and took full control of the Death Abyss Spirit Core.
The pressure on the Blood Red Nine-Headed Bat King eased in an instant. Dragging its half-shattered soul, it took Ling Bai's spine as its axis and the ribs of his chest and back as its frame, weaving them into a blood-red barrier that supported the Torso Spirit Bone's operation.
Every one of them was a powerhouse of their era, and each knew exactly what to do. Under that seamless coordination, the Death Abyss Spirit Core rapidly expanded to more than ten times its original size within a short span. When it nearly filled Ling Bai's entire chest cavity, it contracted abruptly. Under Electrolux's suppression, it shrank back down to the same size as the Angel Spirit Core.
Yin-Yang Complement Twin Spirit Cores would not tolerate Yang flourishing while Yin withered, nor Yin flourishing while Yang declined. Their energies had to remain roughly equal.
The Death Abyss Spirit Core changed in turn. Around the dead, silent gray mass of energy, a space as dark and still as the night sky gradually formed, with blood-colored lightning flickering through it now and then.
Everything inside Ling Bai's body seemed to undergo a transformation, especially within his chest. A subtle bond emerged between the Death Abyss Spirit Core, the Bloodsea Heart, and the Blood Red Nine-Headed Bat King's Torso Spirit Bone.
Ultimate Blood nourished his body. In that moment, it felt like true rebirth.
Angel and Death Abyss. The two spirit cores turned in opposite directions, their power merging at the midpoint between them. That point became the origin of Ling Bai's Twin Martial Spirits' power, and threads of spirit power flowed outward, surging through his meridians.
His spirit power broke through.
Rank 90.
"It succeeded..."
A radiant smile blossomed on the Snow Empress's exquisite face. What she had failed to accomplish, Ling Bai had done. It was like a wish entrusted long ago, finally realized after all these years. The two of them shared one heart and one body. She felt nothing but pure, heartfelt joy for him.
Ling Bai now held the shattered Angel God Position, and the Rakshasa God Position was almost within arm's reach. The Snow Empress could hardly wait for the day he became a God.
Electrolux withdrew his Necromancer Staff and calmly returned to the Spiritual Sea to rest. Beside them, the Blood Red Nine-Headed Bat King, now short two heads, nearly burst into tears. A sudden urge to slam its remaining heads against the ground gripped it.
"Inheritor, come absorb my spirit ring!" It forced a smile onto its faces, one brimming with malice.
Perfect body, God Position Inheritance, here I come!
A ring of light rose from beneath the Blood Red Nine-Headed Bat King's feet. This was no Great Beast spirit ring engraved with gold patterns. It shone a soul-shaking scarlet gold, noble and icy cold, radiating a wild, primeval aura from the ancient wilds.
"A Scarlet Gold Spirit Ring?"
Ling Bai blinked. He had assumed the Blood Red Nine-Headed Bat King's ring would carry six or seven gold patterns. Judging from this aura, it was almost on par with the Snow Empress's ring after she had fused with the origin power of the 300,000-year Skydream Iceworm!
"We have the Deep Sea Nether Dragon Emperor to thank for that," the Blood Red Nine-Headed Bat King said with a toothy grin. "I devoured the Deep Sea Nether Dragon Emperor. Everything it possessed now belongs to me.
This is essentially a fusion spirit ring between the two of us. It carries both our innate talents."
"Well done, Blood Emperor. I won't treat you poorly in the future."
Ling Bai painted that empty little pie in the air, then drew the scarlet gold spirit ring toward himself and let its vast power pour in. He seemed not to notice the Blood Red Nine-Headed Bat King's face growing more and more savage by the moment.
The evil spirit beast watched Ling Bai, completely absorbed in the ring, and could no longer contain itself. It threw its heads back and laughed wildly at the sky:
"At last... at last, you've taken the bait!"
The Blood Red Nine-Headed Bat King plunged headfirst into Ling Bai's Spiritual Sea. Its wings whipped up a storm of blood and gore as it roared, venting everything it had held back:
"This Emperor has had enough of you, you demon!
Sacrifice? I'll sacrifice your ass!
The perfect body, the perfect attributes, the recognition of the God Positions... mine, all of it is mine!
Fear! Tremble! Despair!"
Ling Bai: ...
Snow Empress: ...
Electrolux: ...
Even an evil spirit beast couldn't endure the silent treatment. The Blood Red Nine-Headed Bat King frowned.
"I'm going to possess you! You know Clear Sky Douluo Tang Chen, right? A Rank 99 Limit Douluo. Ten thousand years ago, I turned him into the Slaughter King!"
"So what, Little Bat?"
Ling Bai sighed and pointed at himself. "Do you really take me for Tang Chen?
An Angel trusting an evil spirit beast... even with all nine of your heads combined, you couldn't scrape together two ounces of brains."
A prickle of foreboding crawled through the Blood Red Nine-Headed Bat King, but there was no going back now. It could only grit its teeth and force the possession through!
The Bloodsea surged in, madly eroding the Spiritual Sea. Blood-red lines like eerie little serpents crawled outward from Ling Bai's eyes and spread across his skull, threatening to swallow his entire head.
Controlling a Limit Douluo was a feat the Blood Red Nine-Headed Bat King could boast about for the rest of its life. It had absolute confidence in its spiritual talent, and now, just as it had done to Tang Chen ten thousand years ago, it replicated that same possession one-to-one on Ling Bai's Spiritual Sea.
Its timing had been meticulously chosen. Ling Bai's full attention was consumed by absorbing his ninth spirit ring, leaving him with little spiritual power to spare. The Snow Empress wasn't versed in spiritual attributes. As for Electrolux… a mere old man, not worth worrying about!
The Blood Red Nine-Headed Bat King was still brimming with self-satisfaction when a purple-gold radiance suddenly bloomed. A majestic dragon's roar rang through the Spiritual Sea, and the Bloodsea froze mid-surge as though it had met its natural predator, unable to advance even half a step.
From the Blood Red Nine-Headed Bat King's vantage, Ling Bai's expression had turned solemn. A purple-gold crown rested atop his head, and broad, heavy purple-gold dragon scales sheathed his entire body.
A purple-gold giant dragon coiled through the Spiritual Sea. The Dragon King's might bore down upon the Blood Red Nine-Headed Bat King's spiritual power, crushing it until it could no longer exert any effective control. All it could do was stare, slack-jawed, as the Bloodsea dissipated.
Dragon King's Crown. Dragon's Will!
The Dragon King's Crown embodied the will of the Water and Fire Dragon Kings. From the very beginning, Ling Bai had never once feared the Blood Red Nine-Headed Bat King's possession. He had been squeezing it dry from start to finish, tricking it out of everything right down to the last scrap of its loincloth!
The dragon's roar reached its peak. The Spiritual Sea seemed filled to the brim with the purple-gold giant dragon's voice. Overhead, hail and fire rain fell intertwined, forming a strange and spectacular sight.
The purple-gold giant dragon opened its jaws wide toward the Blood Red Nine-Headed Bat King, and a powerful current gushed forth. First came a blast of bone-piercing frigid wind, then scorching, searing flames. The combined ice-fire power of the two great Dragon Kings converged within the Spiritual Sea, surging together into an ice-fire tornado that engulfed the Blood Red Nine-Headed Bat King's soul.
BOOM—
As the thunderous detonation faded, a smear of blood-light shot out of the ice-fire tornado in panicked flight. Worthy of its reputation as a super evil spirit beast that had survived beneath the Sea God's Light, the Blood Red Nine-Headed Bat King's methods of self-preservation were not to be underestimated. It darted left and right across the Spiritual Sea, desperately fleeing the purple-gold giant dragon's pursuit while tears and mucus streamed down its many faces.
"Great Inheritor, I was only joking with you! Come now, wasn't my little possession stunt a good laugh?
I've been wounded for you, bled for you, had my soul torn apart for you. My contributions to the Yin-Yang Complement Twin Spirit Cores cannot be denied!
We're all one Rakshasa family!
I only made the sort of mistake any evil spirit beast would make…"
"You have a point, Little Bat." Ling Bai nodded. "When it comes to the Yin-Yang Complement Twin Spirit Cores, you truly did work yourself to the bone for me. As thanks…"
Hummm—
A gray spiderweb vast enough to blot out the sky descended over the Blood Red Nine-Headed Bat King's soul. The purple-gold giant dragon dissipated, and in its place loomed a hideous, terrifying demon spider.
The Death Abyss Spider Emperor!
"No… no… NO!!!"
The Blood Red Nine-Headed Bat King shook its heads frantically, but could only watch helplessly as the Death Abyss Spider Emperor crawled along the threads and onto its body. Bite by slow bite, it began to tear the soul apart!
The Death Abyss Spider Emperor's Ultimate Talent, Soul Devouring!
A generation's guardian spirit beast of the Rakshasa perished with bitter resentment. With its master gone, the Bloodsea lost its anchor. Its surface suddenly began to rise, breaking through the hollow beneath the tavern and surging up toward the world above.
…
The civilians of Blood Desolation Town fled in every direction, and news of the Bloodsea anomaly spread like wildfire through every major faction of the Heavenly Soul Empire.
Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan.
Ning Fengyu kicked Jianmu Douluo's door off its hinges, seized the leisurely tea-sipping Jianmu Douluo by the collar, and hauled him bodily toward the corridor.
"Old man, our clan's spies just came back with word! The Bloodsea at Blood Desolation Town has erupted. Xiao Bai might be in trouble!"
"What?!"
Jianmu Douluo's heart clenched. Without so much as pausing to inform Ning Fengya, he tucked Ning Fengyu under one arm and shot toward Blood Desolation Town in a streak of light.
Body Sect.
A Body Sect disciple knelt before Du Busi, fists cupped in salute as he made his report:
"Sect Master, the Bloodsea in Blood Desolation Town at the foot of our mountain has surged upward. This subordinate suspects a supreme treasure has emerged!"
"A supreme treasure right at our doorstep!"
Du Busi was instantly overjoyed. Ever since Long Aotian's death at the Spirit Master Tournament, the Body Sect had been shrouded in gloom. Their disciples trembled day and night, wondering if the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan would come knocking to settle old scores. This Bloodsea treasure had to be the salvation the Body Sect needed!
"Heaven does not mean for my Body Sect to perish! Summon every elder and follow me to Blood Desolation Town. We cannot let anyone else snatch this treasure away!"
Shrek Academy.
"Elder Xuan, there has been an anomaly in Blood Desolation Town. The advance members of the Shrek Guardians suspect that an Evil Douluo may be cultivating some sort of evil secret technique…"
"I understand. Every Evil Douluo is a disaster for the continent, and Shrek Academy cannot stand idly by." Elder Xuan rose to his feet. "Shaozhe, Duoduo, Lin'er, the three of you will come with me."
Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan, Body Sect, Shrek Academy, the Heavenly Soul Imperial Family… every well-informed faction in the Heavenly Soul Empire dispatched their finest experts, one after another.
…
Within a single day, the Bloodsea had already swallowed Blood Desolation Town whole. Streaks of light gathered in the sky overhead as the assembled powerhouses waited for whatever had triggered the anomaly to reveal itself.
Deep beneath the Bloodsea, Ling Bai's eyes snapped open. A wisp of glaring crimson still clung to the gray tips of his Death Abyss Spider Lances. Having absorbed the Blood Red Nine-Headed Bat King's spirit ring and spirit bone, he felt the Bloodsea now moving like an extension of his own spiritual senses, and he could observe the experts gathered above with effortless ease.
'Teacher, Aunt Yu, the Body Sect, Shrek Academy… nearly twenty Titled Douluo, every one of them a name of consequence in the Heavenly Soul Empire.
Perfect. It's about time I showed my hand anyway.
But before that, there's still some spirit power left to absorb.'
He summoned a Spectral Gate and returned with the Bone Dragon King to the Spectral Demiplane.
Across the pitch-black plain, towering ice sculptures of sea spirit beasts stood in silent rows. These ocean behemoths ran three hundred feet long or more, and even encased in ice, their former ferocity remained unmistakable.
Ling Bai's goal was not the sea spirit beasts. It was the Holy Spirit Cult Evil Spirit Masters imprisoned under heavy guard.
The Blood Red Nine-Headed Bat King had simply worked too hard. Condensing the Yin-Yang Complement Twin Spirit Cores had not even required dipping into his reserve provisions. And so their fate was decided. They would become fuel for Ling Bai's continued ascent.
The instant Ling Bai raised the Angel Sword into view, the Evil Spirit Masters' pupils dilated in shock. Death Abyss Douluo was the Seraphim. At least they would not die confused.
The Angel Sword swept out. Heads flew. Evil Spirit Masters toppled like rows of harvested wheat. Screams became gurgling breaths, then silence, while golden light flared bright and cold across the field.
Once, these people had unleashed unspeakable cruelty across the continent, staining everything they touched in blood. Now their souls were being ground down into nourishment for his spirit power, one stroke of the sword at a time.
At last, Ling Bai stepped up before the Blue Silver Saintess, Tang Ya.
Perhaps because the drugs had worn off, Tang Ya's memories had returned. She looked at him quietly, a thread of clarity and weariness woven through her eyes as she spoke:
"Well done. Evil Spirit Masters deserve death."
"You're going to die too." Ling Bai met her gaze without flinching. "Do you regret it? Falling into evil for the Ironblood Sect… when the Sect Master was only a Spirit Emperor.
If you had just waited three or five more years, Bei Bei and Huo Yuhao would have had the strength to take back the Tang Sect for you."
"People always think the road they did not take is the one paved with flowers."
Tang Ya's gaze grew distant. "I admit it. I do regret. But it is all too late now. I should pay for the wrong choices I made, for the innocent lives I devoured."
She paused, and a tremor crept into her voice.
"Don't tell Bei Bei."
"I won't."
A single thrust through the heart. Tang Ya dissolved into motes of golden light and scattered on the still air.
…
Moments later, beneath the watchful gaze of the assembled powerhouses, the Bloodsea churned itself into a fathomless vortex. At its center, a hazy figure slowly began to rise into view…