Held under Yao Yang’s arm, Xu Zihuang looked down at the island, now transformed into a fiery red purgatory, feeling a sense of melancholy.
Yao Yang had actually hinted at this to him earlier.
But he also knew this was the best possible outcome.
Wang Xiao had only brought a little over forty men; if they had continued to entangle themselves with the Western Sea Legion, their losses would only have increased.
The Imperial Dragon soldiers quickly used their flying soul tools to converge toward Yao Yang and Xu Zihuang.
In addition to Elder Yu’s group who had met Xu Zihuang, the other group that had fought the Western Sea main force also arrived.
Out of the original twenty-three Soul Emperors, only nineteen remained.
Many had suffered various minor injuries, but none were severe.
In contrast, out of Elder Yu’s original twenty-one men, only thirteen managed to safely reach the rendezvous point.
“Young Master.”
The group formed a protective perimeter around Xu Zihuang.
Although their faces were solemn due to the fall of their comrades, as long as Xu Zihuang was rescued, it was all worth it.
There is no war without death.
But right at this moment, countless dazzling beams of blue-purple lightning cascaded from the night sky like a waterfall.
Yao Yang, the one with the highest soul power present and a mental-attribute soul master, reacted instantly, shouting a warning: “Scatter!”
Everyone instinctively looked up, heeding Yao Yang’s warning to disperse using their flying soul tools.
From those meter-thick blue-purple lightning pillars, they felt an extremely dangerous aura.
The source of the lightning was Hai Xiao, who had reverted to his human form.
The deep blue armor on his body was already shattered.
A deep, bone-baring gash ran from his burly chest to his abdomen, and his face was as pale as gold foil.
Because his lungs were torn, his violent gasps sounded like a broken bellows.
His eighth black soul ring was glowing, and a dense cluster of lightning surged across his body.
“Eighth Soul Skill, Purple Thunder Heavenly Prison!”
A trail of blood slipped from the corner of Hai Xiao’s mouth, his voice exceedingly low.
“This way, I can finally be considered worthy of His Highness the First Prince.”
Wang Xiao, who had also canceled his Martial Soul Avatar state, saw this scene and his expression changed drastically.
Although his cultivation was much stronger than Hai Xiao’s, there was no way he could entirely block an Eighth Soul Skill unleashed by Hai Xiao burning the last of his soul power.
His martial soul was the Overlord Xiao, an extremely anomalous existence among tiger-type martial souls.
Inherently possessing both darkness and wind attributes, its quality was not inferior to the White Tiger martial soul passed down by the White Tiger Duke’s lineage in the Star Luo Empire.
Combining speed and strength, it had almost no shortcomings.
It was undeniably a top-tier beast martial soul.
However, unfortunately, it did not excel in defense.
Right now, the best he could do was try to protect Xu Zihuang and the others to the best of his ability.
He couldn’t help but curse himself inwardly for failing to stop Hai Xiao’s dying counterattack.
Hai Xiao smiled bitterly, gazing far into the eastern sea.
Across that sea lay the country where he was born and raised.
Scenes of his past flashed through his mind like a revolving lantern.
Surprisingly, he felt much more relaxed now.
Perhaps from the moment he learned Xu Tianran was colluding with Evil Soul Masters, he had already made his decision.
Dying here was, in a way, a release for him.
His consciousness growing blurry, he forced himself to weaken the power of the blue-purple lightning pillars covering Xu Zihuang’s vicinity.
Xu Tianran had recognized his talent, but Xu Zihuang’s father, Prince Zheng Xuan, had also shown him kindness in the past.
This was one of the reasons why he had treated Xu Zihuang with such courtesy over the years.
Although he knew Wang Xiao was strong enough to protect Xu Zihuang, he didn’t want the boy to bear too much risk.
Simultaneously, he was fulfilling his duty as Xu Tianran’s subordinate.
This was his final persistence.
He had lived his life with a clear conscience toward everyone.
“Everyone, gather around me!”
Just as Wang Xiao was about to go all out using his soul skills to protect the group, he heard Xu Zihuang’s voice, causing his body to jolt to a halt.
The other panicked Imperial Dragon soldiers also shifted their gazes to Xu Zihuang.
At this moment, Xu Zihuang, still protected by Yao Yang, had his shoulder-length hair untied, flowing freely in the wind, with the few demonic purple strands at his temples fluttering.
His icy, purple-glowing vertical pupils seemed to carry boundless majesty.
And in his right hand, black-purple lightning surged, exuding a violently oppressive aura that made one’s heart palpitate.
Under Xu Zihuang’s control, the black-purple lightning in his palm condensed into threads as thick as a finger.
To everyone’s shock and bewilderment, when Hai Xiao’s blue-purple lightning pillars—condensed from his Eighth Soul Skill—touched the black-purple lightning threads in Xu Zihuang’s palm, they bizarrely dissipated, melting away like snow.
“Ul…timate…
Light…ning?!” Hai Xiao, his mouth full of blood, mumbled the words syllable by syllable.
Looking at the imposing Xu Zihuang, he was stunned for a moment, and then his stiff face broke into the most relieved smile of his life.
“Heaven bless my Sun Moon Empire!”
Lightning is born of the righteous energy of heaven and earth, inherently suppressing Evil Soul Masters.
And Ultimate Lightning suppressed Evil Soul Masters no less than the Angel lineage from ten thousand years ago!
He seemed to foresee countless Evil Soul Masters being annihilated under a sky full of thunder.
He didn’t know whether Xu Zihuang’s future growth would be a good thing for Xu Tianran and his father, who currently held power in the Sun Moon Empire.
But it would absolutely be doomsday for those Evil Soul Masters.
His obsession fading, Hai Xiao could no longer maintain his balance.
He closed his eyes and plummeted straight down, swallowed by the terrifyingly hot shockwaves.
He would sleep eternally here alongside his subordinates.
The threads condensed by Xu Zihuang instantly wove into a lightning net about ten meters in diameter in front of him.
Under the protection of this net, this small pocket of space became the final sanctuary.
Although everyone was astonished by Xu Zihuang’s methods, their strong combat instincts allowed them to react immediately.
Wang Xiao casually crushed the blue-purple lightning pillars raining toward him, his breathing becoming slightly ragged.
It was unclear if this was due to the immense soul power consumption from fighting Hai Xiao, or because his emotions were too turbulent.
“It’s actually Ultimate Lightning!
As expected of the Young Master, inheriting the bloodlines of both the Prince and the Princess Consort.”
Martial soul inheritance is directly related to both parents.
Xu Zihuang’s martial soul was clearly not a mutation out of thin air.
Because he could clearly sense that when Xu Zihuang used his martial soul, the two equally matched yet entirely different bloodline powers within his body subtly fused together.
He couldn’t misidentify one of the auras: it was definitely the unique destructive power of the Purple Brilliance Heaven-Destroying Dragon.
He was one of the few people who knew the true identity of Xu Zihuang’s mother.
The black-purple lightning dancing in Xu Zihuang’s palm gradually dimmed.
Looking at the night sky returning to tranquility, Xu Zihuang breathed a heavy sigh of relief, immediately losing consciousness and fainting.
Despite having absolute elemental suppression from the Ultimate Lightning, it was still far too taxing for someone who hadn’t even acquired a single soul ring.
Fortunately, Hai Xiao’s Eighth Soul Skill was entirely composed of lightning; otherwise, with his current cultivation, how could he possibly block it?
Even just maintaining that small area had completely drained the soul power in his body.
Luckily, his body had been nourished by various heavenly treasures during his childhood, preventing it from collapsing on the spot.
“Young Master!” the crowd called out in concern, their eyes now holding a hint of fanaticism.
The methods Xu Zihuang had just displayed were simply too shocking.
A rank ten Soul Scholar actually blocked an Eighth Soul Skill from a Soul Douluo?!
Yao Yang checked Xu Zihuang’s condition and reassured the crowd: “He’s fine.
Zi Huang just exhausted his soul power and fainted.
He’ll recover after some rest.”
He had originally prepared to step in, never expecting Xu Zihuang to actually hold out.
Despite the absolute elemental suppression, the pressure Xu Zihuang endured was very real.
Wang Xiao floated over, exchanged a glance with Yao Yang, and waved his right hand heavily.
“Let’s return to the warship first and leave this sea area.”
(END CHAPTER)
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