Douluo Continent: The Eternal Dawn

Chapter 144 Star Luo City

Terrified, Elder Xuan let out a deep roar, the sound of which was enormous, like thunder.

In the blink of an eye, he transformed into a monster with tiger teeth, human claws, and a pair of enormous bull horns on its head. Its massive body was over a hundred meters long, and intense yellow light burst forth from its body, with all nine of its spirit rings forming halos that hovered between those two giant horns.

Two yellow, two purple, four black, and one red – this is almost the top-tier soul ring configuration for the vast majority of soul masters.

At this moment, the black soul ring ranked seventh was radiating a profound light. Sensing the threat, Elder Xuan did not hesitate to use his seventh soul skill, the True Form of the Gluttonous Divine Ox!
Elder Xuan snorted angrily, and the bright yellow light on his body transformed into a protective shield, instantly breaking free from the invisible suction force of the whirlpool beneath him. A similar bright yellow shield followed, protecting everyone, but it was clearly a step too late.

Everyone's body was inevitably stained with the dark purple raindrops. The cold, malevolent energy contained within the raindrops directly penetrated their protective soul power, relentlessly eroding them. This was entirely due to the difference in their energy levels.

With Xuan Lao's cultivation level, he could easily resist and force the evil energy out of his body. However, apart from Xuan Lao, Zhang Lexuan, whose soul power cultivation was the highest, was only at the level of an eight-ring Soul Douluo.

She was barely able to protect herself, let alone care about anyone else.

"Puff puff puff puff puff..." A dense series of soft sounds fell outside the crystal-yellow light shields around everyone, splashing up circles of dense light halos, like a dense array of light spots. You could even clearly see the vengeful spirits twisting and screaming outside the light shields.

The members of the regular and reserve teams, whose bodies were already being corrupted by evil energy, began to feel dizzy, nauseous, and vomit just from hearing these sounds.

The only ones who weren't significantly affected were probably Ye Xixuan and Tang Wutong.

Tang Wutong's soul power was infused with the divine power of the Tang God King, while Ye Xixuan actively absorbed the evil energy that had invaded his body, using it as nourishment to increase the age of his soul rings, thanks to the abilities of his own martial soul.

"Damn it!" Elder Xuan was filled with grief and indignation. He hadn't expected that his team would encounter such a mishap this time. The giant Taotie Divine Ox he had transformed into immediately roared repeatedly, galloping on auspicious yellow clouds, and transformed into a streak of light, quickly fleeing into the distance.

The protective light shields were like orbs of light, carrying everyone's figures as they landed one after another on the broad back of the Xuanlao Taotie Divine Ox Martial Soul True Body.

The crystalline yellow light barrier vanished, replaced by an even thicker yellow light screen above Ye Xixuan and the others. Under Elder Xuan's control, the light screen directly supported the sky, expanding outwards in a magnificent display.

After getting her feet firmly on the ground, Zhang Lexuan calmly observed everyone's condition. Seeing that Ye Xixuan was safe and sound, she breathed a slight sigh of relief.

But at present, the only ones who can still stand steadily are Ye Xixuan and her.

Ling Luochen, Xixi, and Gongyang Mo were among the weakest in terms of physical condition, and they had already completely lost consciousness.

In comparison, although Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi's soul power cultivation was somewhat lower, their performance was much stronger due to the special nature of their martial souls.

After all, the Holy Dragon Martial Soul of Light has an innate ability to restrain all evil powers, and with the blessing of the divine beast bloodline Xuanwu, Xu Sanshi's body is far more resistant to evil energy than other Soul Masters.

But that's only relatively speaking. The two brothers slumped helplessly on Elder Xuan's back, clearly having no fighting ability left.

As for Chen Zifeng and Yao Haoxuan, one benefited from his higher soul power cultivation, and the other from the toughness of his martial soul. Although their faces were also pale, they forced themselves to stay upright.

Just then, Zhang Lexuan couldn't help but let out a gasp.

"Xiao Tao!"

Ye Xixuan, who was originally preparing to absorb the evil energy within the others, suddenly turned around and realized that Ma Xiaotao seemed to be on the verge of losing control again. Her eyes had turned completely blood red, vivid and glistening, seemingly containing endless killing intent and evil energy.

Ma Xiaotao's soul power cultivation is second only to Zhang Lexuan, so she shouldn't be in this state. However, the flaw deep within her martial soul's origin has always existed, and now that it has been triggered again by that evil energy, it has naturally caused this situation.

Ye Xixuan knew very well that if things continued to drag on, Sister Xiaotao would probably lose control completely this time. He simply used the skill of his Three-Life Wolf Ape left leg soul bone to teleport in front of Zhang Lexuan and Ma Xiaotao.

"Sister Lexuan, let me help Sister Xiaotao suppress her evil thoughts!" As he spoke in a deep voice, his right hand had already unabashedly penetrated her clothes, and his warm palm was pressed against Ma Xiaotao's flat and smooth abdomen.

The black demonic markings were instantly imprinted on Ma Xiaotao's skin. The rich evil energy was continuously guided into her body by Ye Xixuan, and Ma Xiaotao immediately let out a beautiful moan of boundless pleasure.

Ma Xiaotao's eyes regained some clarity, and she met Ye Xixuan's gaze with burning intensity. Although her evil thoughts had been temporarily suppressed, after so many years of repression, her instinctive desires erupted uncontrollably.

In this state, Ma Xiaotao could no longer care about anything else and directly took the initiative, sitting down on Ye Xixuan. She subconsciously wrapped her arms tightly around Ye Xixuan's waist and back, as if trying to completely merge him into her own body.

By the time Ye Xixuan realized what was happening, his vision was already obscured by the exaggerated peaks that seemed to block out the sun, and he felt that he could hardly breathe.

"Sister Tao... Sister Tao, please loosen your grip, I can hardly breathe."

"You brat, you're acting innocent after getting the benefit, aren't you?"

Ma Xiaotao ultimately retained a sliver of rationality, refraining from taking any further reckless actions, her delicate body trembling slightly. Hearing Ye Xixuan's words, she couldn't help but relax a little, her pretty face flushed as she lightly spat out a retort.

"Stop talking nonsense and calm me down first."

Seeing Ma Xiaotao and Ye Xixuan striking that shameless pose, Tang Wutong felt like the sky was about to fall, and rushed over in a fit of rage.

Neither she nor Ye Xixuan had ever tried this position before! What on earth was this big-breasted, brainless woman doing?!

Zhang Lexuan stopped Tang Wutong in time, solemnly instructing her, "Wutong, don't make trouble at a time like this. Xiaotao's martial soul has a defect, and Xixuan is helping her suppress it."

"Is this how you suppress someone?!" Tang Wutong's excitement was hard to calm down, and she pouted with a jealous tone.

"Who's really suppressing whom here?"

However, Tang Wutong knew that Zhang Lexuan's words were true; the situation was indeed quite critical. She glared angrily at Ma Xiaotao before turning her head away, deciding to avoid seeing her altogether.

Zhang Lexuan comforted Tang Wutong by putting her arm around his shoulder, her delicate brows furrowing slightly as she revealed a thoughtful expression. Ye Xixuan wasn't affected by those evil energies because of the characteristics of his martial soul, but Tang Wutong's martial soul clearly lacked such abilities. It seemed that Tang Wutong not only had an astonishing background, but also possessed many secrets.

As Ye Xixuan continued to absorb the evil energy within Ma Xiaotao's body, he discovered that the level of this energy was extremely high; even a Limit Douluo-level evil soul master would probably be no more than this.

The deep-sea demon whale with such terrifying cultivation could only be the Demon Queen, the wife of the Deep-Sea Demon Whale King.

The fact that Elder Xuan is so wary suggests that this Demon Emperor may very well have cultivated a Yin-Yang complementary dual soul core. Only a Yin-Yang complementary dual soul core possesses the ability to easily alter celestial phenomena.

Zhang Lexuan gazed intently at the distant sea, where the enormous creature lurking in the water was still relentlessly closing in.

No one knew that the reason this Demon Emperor appeared in this sea area was due to a chain reaction caused by the Ten Thousand Souls Douluo.

The Soul Douluo, venturing deep into the sea to hunt sea spirit beasts and create their vengeful spirits, encountered a fellow demon emperor who was frantically devouring sea spirit beasts to enhance his cultivation. It's worth noting that the ten-thousand-year-old demonic great white shark that the Soul Douluo snatched up was also a survivor from the Demon Emperor's massacre of a great white shark clan.

According to the original story's timeline, the Ten Thousand Souls Douluo and the Demon Emperor might not have met.

But everything changed because of Ye Xixuan's appearance. The aura of the fragment of the Angel God's position within him had alerted the Demon Emperor, leading to the current situation.

At the level of a Demon Emperor, even devouring countless sea spirit beasts wouldn't allow one to reach the elusive realm of gods. However, possessing a shattered fragment of a divine throne would completely change that.

As the Demon Emperor approached, the entire sky darkened, and an intense sense of oppression followed. Thick, dark purple lightning bolts began to flash through the rain. Xuan Lao raised his enormous head, and his originally curved, spiraling, brown-black horns quickly became transparent and dazzling, as if they had been polished into diamonds.

A flash of white light, like lightning, pierced the sky covered by thunderstorms.

The ear-piercing explosion carried for miles. Elder Xuan had actually torn a huge black hole out of the thunderstorm, and the bull charged wildly towards it with its hooves pounding the ground. It was as if thunder was rolling in the sky, and the terrifying roar seemed to shatter the entire sky.

Only by personally engaging in a brief confrontation with the Demon Emperor can one truly understand his terrifying nature.

At least the only opponent who could ever bring such a sense of pressure to Elder Xuan was the Beast God Di Tian from the Star Dou Great Forest.

The ocean is indeed never short of strong individuals!
However, all sea spirit beasts are subject to a fundamental limitation: once they leave the sea, their strength is greatly weakened. This applies even to beings as powerful as the Demon Emperor.

Master Xuan's goal was simple: to get away from the sea and ascend into the sky as soon as possible. His deep and solemn voice resounded throughout the heavens and earth at this moment.

"This deep-sea demon whale is very powerful. Le Xuan, keep an eye on everyone. I'm leading you out now!"

"Yes, Elder Xuan!" Zhang Lexuan quickly replied solemnly.

Noticing Elder Xuan's movements, the Demon Emperor's enormous body immediately began to rise, and a huge column of water suddenly shot into the sky.

But in the next instant, its figure suddenly froze in place, its eyes filled with resentment and terror.

"Tang San, the Sea God?!"

Besides the aura of a fragment of a divine position, it also sensed the aura of the Sea God Tang San's divine sense from the human soul master's back. Combining these two, it had every reason to suspect that this was a trap set by Tang San for it.

Elder Xuan's cultivation level had not yet reached that of a Demon Emperor. Unaware of this, he took the opportunity to rush into the sky. Only after he was completely far away did he breathe a sigh of relief.

……

Star Luo City.

As the capital of the Star Luo Empire, Star Luo City is undoubtedly the largest city in the empire, with a profound and long-standing heritage, and is known as the imperial capital that will never fall.

Due to the upcoming Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Battle Tournament, the number of tourists in Xingluo City has surged in just half a month, and all hotels are almost fully booked.

The Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Tournament has always been held in rotation in the capital cities of the four major empires on the continent. Star Luo City has to wait twenty years for its turn to participate. Such a grand occasion naturally attracts people from the Star Luo Empire to flock here to watch this magnificent competition.

The venue for this competition is Xingluo Square in front of Xingluo Imperial City.

Xingluo Square is extremely large and can accommodate the largest number of spectators. In order to maintain order at the scene, 30,000 soldiers were mobilized from the city, of which 10,000 were responsible for guarding Xingluo Square.

Not far to the east of Xingluo Square, there stands a grand seven-story hotel. This hotel, named Xinghuang, belongs to the Xingluo Empire's royal family and has been specially set aside to accommodate participants from advanced soul master academies or soul master instructor academies from various countries.

As the defending champions and the number one Soul Master Academy on the continent, Shrek Academy's team members were accommodated in luxurious rooms on the top floor. Each room was a private suite, and there was also a dedicated conference room for their use.

At this moment, Zhang Lexuan, the team leader, and ten other members of the main team and reserve team gathered in the conference room for a pre-match meeting.

In fact, they had arrived in Xingluo City three days earlier, but had not shown themselves during that time because they had been staying in the hotel while Ye Xixuan took turns absorbing the evil energy from the others' bodies.

Although the evil energy contained within the Demon Emperor's power wasn't particularly vast, its energy level was extremely high, even possessing some characteristics of a Yin-Yang complementary soul core. It took Ye Xixuan three whole days to barely suppress it for everyone, but a complete resolution would likely require at least several more days.

Moreover, even if the problem of the evil energy in everyone's bodies is completely resolved, they will still need to rest and recover for a period of time.

In other words, only Ye Xixuan and Tang Wutong will actually be able to play in tomorrow's match.

Faced with such a difficult situation, even someone as strong-willed as Zhang Lexuan couldn't help but feel a little worried.

As for Elder Xuan, he returned to the academy immediately after everyone's condition had basically stabilized. He did this partly to report the current situation to Elder Mu, and partly to hope that the academy could send someone to provide support.

(End of this chapter)