DD Spiritual Sword [484-45] (Patreon)

Chapter 484: Thunder Dragon vs. Sea Spear — The Shi Brothers vs. Sea Ghost and Sea Horse

All of Yu Tianheng's electrical power surged into his arm.

Before coming to Sea God Island, Yu Yuanzhen had given him this family soul bone. Like Tang Hao's inherited soul bone from the Clear Sky Sect, it was a precious piece only passed down to the direct heir, with an age of up to sixty thousand years.

This soul bone skill, Heavenly Thunder Skybreaker, could gather all his lightning, condense it into a gigantic thunderbolt arrow, maximizing the attack power, speed, and piercing force of his thunder attribute. This was Tianheng's most powerful attack so far.

This attack would decide the outcome.

"Go!" Yu Tianheng shouted and launched the thunderbolt arrow.

On the other side, Sea Spear Douluo also gathered the endless power of the sea into his spear. The two immense forces clashed in the middle of the sea.

The shockwaves spread everywhere—the sea's power pressed downward, forming countless huge whirlpools on the surface; the thunder's power shot into the sky, ripping several holes in the clouds.

At first, both sides were evenly matched, but over time, Sea Spear Douluo's spear was slowly pushed back by the lightning.

"What?" Sea Spear Douluo was shocked. His most powerful skill, Silent Sea's Sigh, even at sixty percent strength, was far stronger than most Soul Douluo's eighth soul skill. Yet now, it was losing in a head-on clash with a Soul Sage's soul bone skill.

"I got you, Your Excellency," Yu Tianheng smiled. "How about it? My Abyss Black Thunder is pretty impressive, isn't it?"

"Abyss Black Thunder? Is that the black lightning?" Sea Spear Douluo finally noticed the black lightning spreading all over the sea. Not only did it block his domain, it also had another effect: his strength was being drained by the black lightning.

It wasn't that the opponent grew stronger—it was that he himself was weakened.

"Haha, not bad, kid. You've been calculating since the fight began. I lost this one." Sea Spear Douluo admitted defeat. With his power draining, he wasn't Yu Tianheng's match anymore.

Yu Tianheng nodded. "Then, Senior, let's withdraw our powers at the same time."

"Agreed!"

Since this was just a trial, they both withdrew their soul power simultaneously to avoid injuring each other. The spear and lightning vanished, and the sea calmed.

["Yu Tianheng, Black Level Sixth Trial, fifth test passed. Reward: soul power increased by one level. Current level: 80."]

Yu Tianheng had finally reached Soul Douluo rank. Unfortunately, he'd already received a god-bestowed soul ring before. Unless he passed the sixth trial, he couldn't get another.

"Level 80, not bad. So young and already so strong—you're worthy of being a direct heir of one of the three clans of the Douluo Continent." Sea Spear Douluo praised.

"Senior flatters me. If you hadn't been limited to sixty percent strength, and if I didn't have a natural attribute advantage, I definitely would have lost."

"Hmph, I'm a Titled Douluo and you're just a Soul Sage. If I can't win with even sixty percent, there's nothing more to say. Go on, I'm going back to train." The defeat left Sea Spear Douluo unhappy. He resolved to reach level 95—if he were a Super Douluo, even forty percent power would have sufficed today.

"Wait, Senior, Rongrong also needs to complete the fifth Sea God trial. Please accept my challenge," Ning Rongrong suddenly stepped forward.

Sea Spear Douluo looked at her in surprise, then understood. "So you want to pass the trial using clever methods. But Lord Sea God may not be very pleased."

"There's no other way. I was an auxiliary soul master until age seventeen, and I haven't been a battle soul master for long. Even with Zhuqing's help, I could only pass the tests of the last four Titled Douluo. Against you, I have no confidence," Ning Rongrong replied respectfully. "Besides, if I can't pass the trial, does it matter if the Sea God is satisfied?"

"That's true. The most important thing is to pass. Let's begin—I accept your challenge!"

At the Sea Spear Sacred Pillar, the battle started again. But the outcome was obvious—Sea Spear Douluo had just spent over seventy percent of his soul power against Yu Tianheng, and the negative effects of Abyss Black Thunder had not faded. He was no match for Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing together.

…

Elsewhere, things were also looking good.

At the Sea Horse Sacred Pillar, Sea Horse Douluo and Sea Ghost Douluo were teaming up against the Shi brothers.

Limited to sixty percent strength, these two Douluo were struggling. They just couldn't break through the brothers' defense—their turtle shells were too tough.

After taking the Xuanwu Gold Pill, the Shi brothers' defense far surpassed the Diamond Mammoth of the Elephant Armored Sect and the Armored Rhino of the Imperial Clan at the same level.

Under Tianlin and Qin Ming's advice, their soul skills differed from the original. In the original story, they could temporarily shed their armor for powerful attacks. Now, they were pure defense—even Turtle God Impact was mainly for its stun effect rather than attack.

One maximized all physical and special defenses, the other added extreme resistance to abnormal statuses.

Sea Ghost Douluo's attacks relied on abnormal status effects, but he was completely countered by Shi Mo.

Of course, pure defense didn't mean weak fighting ability. Working together, the brothers could handle most enemies. Tianlin, having played games for years, knew how powerful counterattacks were.

Sea Horse Douluo's various martial soul skills had strong physical attack power, but every hit on Shi Mo's turtle shell bounced back some damage, injuring himself.

Many times, he wanted to use all his strength to smash the shell, but he'd never disobey Lord Sea God's orders.

"Sea Ghost, we can't drag this out. Let's use our ninth soul skills and settle it," Sea Horse Douluo suggested.

Sea Ghost Douluo nodded. "Alright—Ninth Soul Skill: Underworld Star Nether Slash!"

"Ninth Soul Skill: Heaven-shaking Tornado Annihilation Fist!"

Both unleashed their most powerful moves.

"Big brother, one has terrifying poison, the other is a super-strong physical attack. The sixth soul ring skill Tian gave us will work," Shi Mo laughed.

"Right, I'll take Sea Horse Douluo's punch, you handle the poison." Shi Mo sprang into action.

Shi Mo: "Sixth soul skill, Pain Split."

Shi Mo's Pain Split could divide the power of any attack—physical or energy-based—between himself and the attacker.

Shi Mo: "Sixth soul skill, Turtle Shell: Magic Reflection."

Shi Mo's skill would reflect abnormal statuses back to the opponent.

Sea Horse Douluo's punch suddenly split in two: one hit Shi Mo's shell, but with his defense, it was no problem. The other half hit Sea Ghost Douluo.

"What?!" Sea Ghost Douluo was caught off guard, blasted into the Sea Horse Sacred Pillar.

"Sea Ghost!" Sea Horse Douluo tried to help, but poisonous mist covered his feet—Shi Mo had reflected Sea Ghost Douluo's poison at him.

He didn't have the same resistance as Sea Ghost Douluo. Inhaling the poisonous mist, Sea Horse Douluo felt his strength draining, his mind dizzy; his spirit power especially was dropping rapidly. If it continued, he'd pass out completely.

The match was decided. At the last moment, both Douluo admitted defeat.

Black light descended.

["Shi Mo, Shi Mo, Black Level Fifth Trial, fifth test passed. Soul power increased by one level. All Black Level Fifth Trials completed—extra reward: one more level. Current level: 80. Granted Sea God Island Black Level authority and a god-bestowed soul ring."]

Chapter 485: Power of the Ice-Fire Jiao — Ning Rongrong's Clever Trial

"Jiao Poison!"

"Third soul skill: Devour! Soul bone skill: Devour!"

At the Sea Star Sacred Pillar, Dugu Yan was battling Sea Star Douluo in a contest of poison and devouring.

After her martial soul evolved, Dugu Yan's poison far surpassed her grandfather Dugu Bo at the Soul Sage level. Even Titled Douluo dared not take it head-on.

But today's opponent, Sea Star Douluo, like Porcupinefish Douluo of Spirit Hall, could devour poison—both his third soul skill and his soul bone skill were "Devour." With both, Dugu Yan's poison was useless.

Dugu Yan grew anxious. Her only way to win was to outlast him—but her opponent was a Titled Douluo.

Though restricted to sixty percent power, this only meant his skills were weakened—his soul power reserves were unchanged. As a Soul Sage, she couldn't outlast him.

"I won't give up! Soul bone skill: Venomous Rain!" Dugu Yan's forehead glowed, and dark clouds gathered above.

Purple-black rain fell, corroding everything it touched with deadly poison.

This was Dugu Yan's widest-area attack, but it cost nearly half her power.

Sea Star Douluo's martial soul looked more like a giant octopus after activating his true form, with a hundred tentacles. Now, his tentacles were corroded by the rain, and Dugu Yan smiled, thinking she'd won.

Sea Star Douluo laughed. "I didn't expect such a wide-range attack. It's beyond my devouring limit—but it's useless. Fifth soul skill: Regenerate!"

New tentacles swiftly grew from the corroded stumps. Dugu Yan's half-power ultimate move had no effect.

All his tentacles surged at Dugu Yan, who was too drained to react.

Her arms, legs, neck, and waist were tightly bound.

"I'm finished—I can't move at all!" With her throat constricted, Dugu Yan could barely breathe.

"Admit defeat, girl, and I'll let you go. If you die during the trial, I haven't broken Lord Sea God's rules. If you won't admit defeat, prepare to die from suffocation," Sea Star Douluo warned.

"I… will never admit defeat!" Dugu Yan was one of the most tenacious in the Emperor Battle Team.

"Fine, you've used your last chance. Prepare to die. Ninth soul skill: Gravity—Tide's Rise and Fall." Sea Star Douluo's martial soul grew larger. At its center, a massive black hole appeared and sucked Dugu Yan in.

This was his strongest control skill. Once inside, all life force, soul power, and spirit were drained rapidly.

If one had overwhelming attack power, there might be a chance to break free. But Dugu Yan, with hands and feet bound, was helpless.

Among the pillar guardians, Sea Star Douluo's soul power ranked second-lowest, but in difficulty, he was among the hardest to deal with—because he was a control type.

Dugu Yan's remaining half soul power was being drained rapidly.

At that moment, Dugu Yan suddenly smiled. From her arm, the tentacles binding her were frozen or burned away, freeing her.

"What's this? Incredible ice and fire power. Isn't her martial soul the Jade Phosphor Serpent? How does she have such strong elemental power?" Sea Star Douluo was confused.

Dugu Yan smiled. "You fell for it, Your Excellency. I played weak on purpose. My true martial soul is the Ice-Fire Jiao. For years I've trained both poison and ice-fire power. My soul power is infused with extreme cold and heat. Absorbing so much of my power—how do you feel now?"

"Oh no!" Sea Star Douluo realized in horror he couldn't control his soul power. When he tried, it felt like burning flames or icy hell.

He'd absorbed so much of her power yet couldn't use it—it was meaningless.

"Break!" Dugu Yan still had about twenty percent soul power left, enough.

No matter how strong the ninth skill, without soul power, it could be broken. Dugu Yan forced her way out.

"Third soul skill: Purple Poison!" She used her last power to unleash her ultimate poison.

Sea Star Douluo, unable to use his devour skill or move because his meridians were frozen, could only watch as the poison engulfed him.

The trial was over as the deadly poison filled the Sea Star domain.

["Dugu Yan, Black Level Fifth Trial, fifth test passed. Soul power increased by one level. All Black Level Fifth Trials completed—extra reward: one more level. Current level: 80 (81). Granted Sea God Island Black Level authority and a god-bestowed soul ring."]

Having exhausted all her soul power, Dugu Yan passed the trial. She knew she'd used a clever trick. Had Sea Star Douluo used full power, she would have died when caught by the ninth soul skill. Titled Douluo were indeed formidable—her win was extremely close.

After the trial, Dugu Yan helped suppress the poison in Sea Star Douluo so he wouldn't die—though she didn't remove it entirely, for Ning Rongrong's sake.

Just then, Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing arrived—she'd just easily defeated Sea Spear Douluo, and her next target was Sea Star.

This battle hardly needed to be fought—Sea Star Douluo was full of ice-fire and poison, and the match was decided in less than ten seconds.

With intelligence on the seven Sea Douluo gathered before the trials, they had long prepared a plan.

Of the seven Sea Douluo, four—Sea Dragon, Sea Spear, Sea Illusion, and Sea Star—had to be beaten with clever tactics. Otherwise, for support-type Ning Rongrong to win seven consecutive matches within thirty-six hours was impossible; she only had three combat soul rings.

But if all seven were beaten by tricks, it would displease the Sea God. So for the other three—Sea Horse, Sea Ghost, and Sea Maiden—Ning Rongrong decided to take them head-on. This way, she could pass and not disappoint the Sea God.

She'd clear the trials and keep the Sea God from being too displeased.