"You really are impressive. At merely Seventh Rank, you can face two Ninth-Rank Emperors at once without losing."
"A man like you… it's very easy to feel admiration for you."
Shivelle swayed gently as she spoke, her posture graceful and captivating.
At this moment, the one with a child's body and an old man's face stepped forward.
"Shivelle, what's the use of admiring him? He's about to die."
"With me stepping in, he has no chance to live."
"Kid, dare to taste the power of the Bomb Fruit? I promise it'll feel extremely 'refreshing.'"
"Hmph. Why wouldn't I dare? Stop talking and come at me."
"Childlike Bomb—go!"
A soft, fluid substance appeared in his palm, quickly molded into a bear-shaped bomb.
Boom! Boom!
Two explosions echoed.
Smoke billowed everywhere, and two massive craters appeared in the ground.
"Hahaha! He's not as strong as you all claimed. I finished him with just two bombs."
"Shivelle, the one you should admire is me."
"Oh? I don't seem to think so."
"Lightning Tempest Kick!"
Bang!
The old face was struck hard. The small-bodied man was sent flying, tumbling across the ground repeatedly.
"Tch. Pathetic. You think two bombs could hurt me? Save it."
"Beauty, your three companions seem a little useless. Why don't you come personally?"
Shivelle lifted her snow-white chin, but vigilance deepened in her beautiful eyes.
"You're even stronger than I imagined. But the three of them aren't so easy to deal with. You'd better be careful."
She gracefully stepped back.
Shivelle clearly had no intention of joining the fight yet.
It was obvious Zhao Xuan still hadn't used his full strength. Letting her companions do the dirty work was the smarter choice.
As the only woman among the seven Ninth-Rank Emperors, Shivelle felt entitled to that privilege.
"Who did that?!"
"Who hit me?!"
"You brat! How dare you sneak attack me!"
"Watch me blow you to pieces now!"
"Bear Bomb — Advanced Version!"
The adorable bomb rapidly expanded.
Seeing this, Zhao Xuan immediately stepped into the air.
"Moon Step!"
After several steps, he was already high in the sky.
This made the Crow man laugh.
"You think flying into the sky will save you? That's my playground."
"Crow — Clone!"
"Let's see how you dodge this!"
A pitch-black flock of crows surged into the sky, forming a dense swarm in mere breaths.
"Damn crow, get lost! That guy is mine!"
"The one who should get lost is you. No one interferes in Stone's battle!"
"Stone Giant!"
The three Ninth-Rank Emperors rushed to attack Zhao Xuan at once.
A massive stone hand covered the sky.
Thousands of crows filled the heavens.
The enlarged bear bomb was ready to flatten everything.
"Get out of the way! He's mine!"
Dark clouds gathered.
A white giant hand descended from the sky.
In an instant—
Whether it was the swarm of crows, the massive stone hand, or the enormous bomb—
All three attacks were forcibly suppressed.
"Zhao Xuan! Earlier you used dirty tricks to threaten me. Now I have no more concerns. Your death has arrived."
"You beat my son unconscious. I will make you pay with your life."
A white beam of light shot skyward as Edison's aura merged with heaven and earth.
"Oh? Make me pay? Any one of those four might be able to do it… but you, old sir, absolutely cannot."
"Aren't you worried about your son? What if, by accident, he ends up crippled for life?"
"…What do you mean by that?"
No parent is indifferent to their child.
Even a Ninth-Rank Emperor like Edison was no exception.
"Nothing much. Exactly what you think."
"You're really a foolish father. There's still a strand of lightning power in your son's body, and you didn't notice a thing. Truly stupid."
"Don't believe me? Zhao Xuan never lies."
"Finger Pistol."
A blue spark tapped onto Little Di's forehead.
His skin became translucent, revealing strands of blue lightning coursing through his veins.
Edison had completely missed this earlier.
"This… how is this possible? I checked him thoroughly. This shouldn't have happened!"
Zhao Xuan sighed, speechless at this father's misplaced confidence.
"The facts are right in front of you. Believe what you want."
"I'll be direct. Among everyone here, only I can remove the lightning from your son's body."
"Likewise, I can use it to destroy his foundation completely."
"As for which I choose… that depends on how much sincerity Mr. Edison shows me."
"You shameless bastard! You untrustworthy scoundrel!"
Edison's beard trembled with rage.
Shivelle quickly examined Little Di. When her jade-white fingers touched his meridians, her face turned pale.
"Edison, we can send Little Di back now and maybe save him. Don't be manipulated by this brat."
"A person like him is capable of anything."
The Goddess of Wisdom, Shivelle, was always calm and composed.
But now—
Her words lacked coherence.
Edison immediately noticed.
"No, Shivelle. Stop trying to deceive me."
"You know my son's life is already in that bastard's hands. Even if we send him back now, the survival chance is less than one in ten."
"I have only this one son. I will never gamble with his life."
"For him, I can do anything."
"Zhao Xuan, what do you want me to do?"
Edison's resolve was firm.
Even Zhao Xuan hadn't expected this.
"Oh? I didn't expect you to be this easy to talk to. I thought you'd take much longer to agree."
"In that case—"
"Please help me deal with these three."
Chapter 199 — Shivelle's Ability
"Edison, you're really going to attack us?"
"Have you thought about the consequences?"
Shivelle's voice rang out, cold and steady.
Edison paid her no mind.
"For my son, I have no other choice. Even if those two arrive, my decision will not change."
Cloud Hand.
His aura linked with the clouds in the sky. A giant milky-white hand formed from the clouds and swept down toward the three Ninth-Rank Emperors below.
"Edison, you old bastard! You dare attack us!"
"Enough talk. It's been a long time since I sparred with Edison anyway. Let's fight!"
"Bear Bomb!"
"Stone Palm!"
"Crow Feather Arrows!"
"Explode!"
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A Ninth-Rank battle was terrifying. Even the surrounding space began to tremble.
"Good thing I already moved everything out of the relic. Otherwise this would've been troublesome."
Zhao Xuan glanced toward the relic entrance and breathed a sigh of relief.
The four Ninth-Rank Emperors were now fully engaged with one another.
"Ultimate Bear Bomb!"
"Hundredfold Petrification!"
"Black Feather Blade!"
Brilliant lights exploded in the sky like fireworks.
"Beautiful lady, what exactly is your ability? Let me experience it for myself."
"If I'm not mistaken, those four probably aren't your match, are they?"
"Hmph. Your eyesight is quite sharp."
"And yet someone like you chose to provoke me. I really don't know if you're impulsive or just foolish."
When a woman is beautiful enough, she doesn't need to do anything to attract attention.
Shivelle was that kind of existence.
Even standing still, she radiated charm.
"Hahaha!"
"Of course it's because you're beautiful. If I had to fight those three guys, I'd probably have nightmares tonight."
"Pah! Who are you insulting? I'm not any worse-looking than Shivelle!"
The Bomb Fruit user immediately caught Zhao Xuan's sarcasm.
His ears were clearly very sharp.
A bomb over three meters wide formed in his hands.
"Go! I'll blow you to pieces!"
Before the bomb could reach Zhao Xuan—
A milky-white giant hand grabbed him tightly.
The explosion detonated midair, shockwaves scattering everywhere.
"Edison, you old bastard!"
"You dare block me? I'll kill you first!"
"Hmm. Old Mr. Edison is truly doing his job well. Looks like I don't need to worry about that side anymore. Good. I can focus on having a proper match with Miss Shivelle."
Dragon-Man Form.
Zhao Xuan's combat power skyrocketed.
The boost from breaking into Seventh Rank was beyond description.
Wrapped in blue lightning, the small dragon-man looked overwhelmingly imposing.
"What a mysterious fruit. No wonder you can fight across ranks."
"But today, you ran into me. That's unfortunate for you."
"Zhao Xuan, have you ever heard of a power that can grant life?"
As she spoke, Shivelle casually picked up nearby plants.
A purple mist flowed from her lips.
In the next moment—
The plants underwent drastic transformation.
Some became tree demons over five meters tall.
Others turned into flower monsters, their eyes growing from both sides of their petals like man-eating plants.
"One, two… eleven."
"That many? Looks like I'll need to put in some effort."
Ten life-infused plant monsters stood before him.
Their eyes were dull, lifeless.
But their attack power was hundreds, thousands of times stronger than before.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Vines shot up from the ground, rapidly wrapping around Zhao Xuan.
Shave.
His figure flickered continuously as he severed the vines again and again.
But something shocking happened—
The fragments that fell to the ground regenerated into new entities.
They seemed impossible to kill.
Thunder Bagua · Iron Fist!
Lightning gathered.
Zhao Xuan smashed his fist into the ground.
A massive crater appeared.
All lifeforms in the area were pulverized instantly.
"Miss Shivelle, is this all you've got? Can you bring out something more challenging?"
"Oh? Something challenging?"
"I do have something like that. But I wonder if you can endure it."
"If you can't… you'll die here."
"Hmph. I'm happy to oblige. Whatever you bring, I'll take it."
A domineering aura burst forth from Zhao Xuan.
What if she was Ninth Rank?
In his eyes, Shivelle was still just a woman—nothing particularly special.
"Very well. Then experience this."
"Great gods, allow the strongest from another world to descend upon this one!"
Her chant echoed through the space.
Shivelle spread her arms as if embracing the sky.
"So she has both the ability to grant life and to summon beings from another world… No wonder she's so confident. I really underestimated her."
A gate to another world opened.
Purple starlight poured down.
From within the light—
A massive claw slowly stepped out.
Then a huge head followed.
A raccoon-like face, savage and grotesque.
Its body stretched over fifteen meters long.
Even in Dragon-Man form, Zhao Xuan looked small before it.
Unless he fully transformed using the Azure Dragon Fruit, this thing would be no more than a kitten.
But it didn't end there.
Shivelle wasn't playing around.
A single creature could not possibly represent the full extent of her power.
She was serious.
Another figure emerged.
A giant humanoid with a wild boar's head, wielding a spiked club and dressed in thick fur armor.
More grotesque than the other Ninth-Rank Emperors.
At the same time, slithering out beside it—
A massive emerald-green python appeared.
Its scales were crystal-clear. If used as jewelry, they would be priceless.
Three holy beasts descended.
Shivelle's true ability was finally revealed.
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