Chapter 143: The Battle for the Title (Part Two)

The battle among ten Title Douluo was utterly terrifying. The air seemed to be compressed to its limit, and the deafening explosions generated by the collision of soul skills echoed like thunder, creating a truly intimidating spectacle.

The first to decide the outcome of their duel were Aldebaran and the Sea Turtle Douluo.

Vivid red light burst forth from Aldebaran's hundred-thousand-year soul ring. A golden celestial bull leaped forward with its hooves thrashing and horns lowered, charging directly toward its opponent at supersonic speed. This was none other than his ninth soul skill, the Great Horn, possessing the destructive might to shatter mountains and cleave the earth.

"Ninth Soul Skill: Vast Sea Barrier!"

Faced with Aldebaran's all-out attack, the Sea Turtle Douluo hurriedly unleashed his ninth soul skill, an ability designed to maximize his defensive prowess. Under the influence of the soul skill, the turtle shell on the Sea Turtle Douluo's back rapidly expanded, growing many times larger before detaching from his body. It flew up into the high air and crashed heavily onto the ground, blocking the charging celestial bull's path.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The ninth soul skills of both combatants decided the victor the very moment they collided. The Sea Turtle Douluo's seemingly impregnable turtle shell was as brittle as paper before the Great Horn, instantly blasted into smithereens.

Yet, this was hardly surprising.

The Sea Turtle Douluo's soul power was only around rank 91.5. Ever since Dugu Bo resolved the issue of his innate poison backlash and broke through consecutive bottlenecks, he had become the new gatekeeper of the Title Douluo realm.

Furthermore, the age of the Sea Turtle Douluo's ninth soul ring was just barely over sixty thousand years. Facing the exact same ninth soul tier, Aldebaran easily crushed him in both soul power and soul ring quality, making this outcome entirely predictable.

The Great Horn landed squarely on the Sea Turtle Douluo. Golden light swallowed his entire body. Without even a chance to utter a scream, the burly figure burst apart violently, his blood transforming into a shower of crimson rain that drizzled down.

"Sea Turtle!"

The fall of a Title Douluo, even the weakest among them, was an unbearable loss for the Spirit Hall.

Right now, however, the other four elders of the Spirit Hall had no time to grieve the death of the Sea Turtle, for their opponents were equally terrifying; a single misstep would mean following in the Sea Turtle's footsteps.

Next to decide the outcome were Shura and the Ghost Leopard Douluo. The Ghost Leopard Douluo's soul power was at rank 93, approaching rank 94—if expressed in decimals, roughly around 0.9. Among the nine great elders of the Spirit Hall, he ranked fourth, trailing only the Chrysanthemum and Ghost Douluo, as well as the Demon Bear Douluo who possessed rank 94 soul power. He was that unfortunate wretch in the original tale who was pulled by Xiao Wu to serve as a human shield against Bibi Dong's fatal strike during the Battle of Jialing Pass.

Although the Ghost Leopard Douluo's soul power was slightly superior to that of the Spirited Bird Douluo, his opponent was the strongest among the five Star Palace Title Douluo present. Shura was the only one among the ten—ah, correction, now only nine—Title Douluo who had broken through the Super Douluo bottleneck, reaching rank 96.

"Eighth Soul Skill: Ten Thousand Swords Shatter Spirit!"

The holy sword fractured into tens of thousands of fragments, transforming into countless points of starlight around Shura. Driven by Shura's surging soul power, they began to condense into miniature holy swords, striking fiercely toward the Ghost Leopard Douluo.

"Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom—"

The blades filling the sky descended upon the Ghost Leopard Douluo like a torrential rainstorm, instantly shattering his defenses and engulfing his figure within the endless sea of swords.

"Ninth Soul Skill: Void Shadow!"

At this critical juncture, the Ghost Leopard Douluo unleashed his ultimate life-saving trump card, forcibly summoning a phantom double to bear the brunt of Shura's devastating attack, barely managing to preserve his life.

Even so, the Ghost Leopard Douluo's complexion turned deathly pale. Because his dark skin tone naturally resulted from his martial soul, the pallor appeared even more stark. His soul power was completely bottomed out; he dropped to one half-kneeling stance, supporting his weight with one hand against the ground to keep from collapsing, evidently devoid of any further capacity to battle.

In the shadows, Sword Douluo grew increasingly eager to test his mettle, his Seven-Slaying Sword intent unconsciously radiating outward.

A flash of surprise crossed Shura's eyes, and he promptly released his own sword dao intent. The two opposing sword intents clashed silently in the air before rapidly dissolving into nothingness.

This was a silent duel established by two supreme masters of the sword through their respective intents.

"Chrysanthemum Guan!"

Realizing that two members of their side had already fallen, the Ghost Douluo roared instantly. His form shifted, transforming into a streak of black shadow as he rapidly closed the distance toward the Chrysanthemum Douluo.

Having fought alongside each other for nearly sixty years, the Chrysanthemum and Ghost Douluo could understand the deepest intent of the other with merely a glance.

Without hesitation, the Chrysanthemum Douluo feinted an attack to shake off his opponent and sprinted toward the Ghost Douluo.

How terrifying was the speed of a Title Douluo? In the blink of an eye, the two had locked fingers. Their respective nine soul rings lit up simultaneously, their bodies fusing into one at that very moment. Eighteen soul rings glowing with dazzling, unusual colors instantly condensed into a massive golden-silver dual-colored halo.

"Netherworld River Domain!"

The voices of the Ghost Douluo and the Chrysanthemum Douluo rang out in unison. At the same time, the gigantic halo soared into the sky, transforming into a colossal ring over a hundred meters in diameter that enveloped Shura and the other four entirely.

"Spirited Bird, quickly take Ghost Leopard and get out of here!"

The Chrysanthemum Douluo's voice carried a hint of urgency...