DD Spiritual Sword [548-550] (Patreon)

Chapter 548: The Appearance of the Evil Spirit Pearl, Evil Emperor Domain

The confrontation between the four top Ultimate Douluo powerhouses was so tense that it suffocated the weak even before the battle began.

"Chen Xin, this time you're not bringing Ning Fengzhi to support you? Do you really think you can beat me? Or are you planning on dying together?" Qian Daoliu mocked with three consecutive questions.

The huge gap in the quality of soul rings and martial souls was clear. Even among Ultimate Douluo, there were differences in strength, and Qian Daoliu's meaning was obvious: unless Chen Xin used a life-burning technique to kill them both, he couldn't possibly be a match.

"Qian Daoliu, don't worry. This time, I won't rely on outside help, nor will I fight you to mutual destruction. I'll defeat you head-on. As for whether I can do it, we'll only know after the fight." Chen Xin replied calmly, completely unaffected by Qian Daoliu's words.

Having cultivated Daoist swordsmanship, his level was even higher than Qian Daoliu's, who was the High Priest.

Seeing that Chen Xin was now completely immune to his taunts, Qian Daoliu stopped talking, condensed a sword of light in his hand, and said, "In that case, let me see what you've got."

The two of them flashed away, heading a hundred miles away to fight.

Tianlin and Bibi Dong, on the other hand, had nothing to say to each other. They only had killing intent. Bibi Dong wanted to sever Qian Renxue's hope, knowing her and Tianlin could never be together—the cleaner the break, the better, and the best way was for Tianlin to die.

Tianlin, although he looked down on Bibi Dong, did not hate her. Killing her would only help unify the continent and benefit his sect.

It would also greatly affect the Evil Sword Immortal hidden in the shadows.

A light flashed on Tianlin's forehead as the Asura God Seal was replaced by the Holy Emperor Seal. With the Holy Emperor Seal, the Evil Sword Immortal could not hide from him. Given Bibi Dong's importance, the Evil Sword Immortal might show up, so Tianlin needed to guard against being ambushed.

He also did not plan to use the Asura Demon Sword for now, reserving his strength for the possible appearance of the Evil Sword Immortal. He was confident that his original power was enough to deal with Bibi Dong.

'Boom!'

The two suddenly erupted without a word, their fists colliding. Even though it was just a probing blow, the shockwave shook the entire Heaven Dou City and the surrounding dozens of miles.

Low-altitude fighting would cause mass casualties, so Tianlin shook Bibi Dong away with a punch and soared into the sky.

Bibi Dong understood Tianlin's intent perfectly and flapped her Purple Cloud Wings to follow.

Before reaching the highest point, Bibi Dong attacked first. Her flying speed was slightly slower than Tianlin's, so as she lagged behind, eight spider spears protruded from her back, replacing the original Six Purple Light Wings, which vanished—not retracted, but became illusory when her martial soul was in use.

It was a perfect external soul bone, maintaining her strength without affecting her martial soul use.

"First Soul Skill: Crescent Moon!"

Bibi Dong's eight spears slashed forward, sending out arc-shaped, dark green energy blades, which could change direction at her will.

This was the first soul skill of her second martial soul, the Soul Devouring Spider Emperor. Each crescent blade was as powerful as an ordinary Title Douluo's eighth soul skill, and Bibi Dong's immense soul power allowed her to unleash eight such blades at once.

"Second Soul Skill: True Essence Body Protection!" Tianlin summoned the Holy Spirit Pearl with his left hand, and his earth-elemental immortal arts greatly increased his defense.

Even with all eight blades landing, they left no mark on Tianlin.

"That pearl is indeed formidable." Bibi Dong thought warily, but she was not afraid—she had come prepared to face Tianlin.

At that moment, the second, third, and fourth soul rings on Tianlin's Holy Spirit Pearl flashed simultaneously. Today, he had no intention of holding back; he wanted to end Bibi Dong as quickly as possible.

"Summoning Art—Martial God, Mountain God, Fire God!"

After reaching level 97, Tianlin could summon three gods at once, quadrupling a Ultimate Douluo's strength and able to kill Bibi Dong in the shortest time.

Even if Bibi Dong was immortal, she could not withstand the power of three gods.

A black, yellow, and red light appeared before Tianlin, turning into three giants, each radiating an aura no weaker than Bibi Dong's, their oppressive presence making it hard for her to breathe.

Bibi Dong had to admit that, at least among humans on the Douluo Continent, Tianlin was the strongest today. She could not defeat his Holy Spirit Pearl.

But, facing Tianlin, she was not unprepared. Bibi Dong took out a treasure she had hidden for years—the Evil Spirit Pearl, the most evil object in the Immortal Sword World, formed from all the world's evil thoughts—which finally appeared.

Tianlin was shocked. Although it was his first time seeing the Evil Spirit Pearl, he recognized it instantly. What surprised him was that, although the Holy Emperor Seal could sense even the Evil Sword Immortal, he could not sense the Evil Spirit Pearl on Bibi Dong. The degree to which the pearl concealed its power was astonishing.

No wonder, aside from its fleeting appearance when it first arrived in this world, even the Asura God couldn't find it after scanning the entire plane with divine power.

Bibi Dong held the pearl, her gaze complicated. Ever since the pearl mysteriously came to her, she had felt the immense evil within, so powerful that even she, inheritor of the God of Rakshasa, was afraid.

She had even considered destroying it, but could not bring herself to do so. The pearl had a huge allure, tempting her to give it everything in exchange for overwhelming power.

Fortunately, after the ordeal with Qian Xunji, Bibi Dong had a firm mind and, over the years, only used the pearl's power to stabilize her Rakshasa God trial, never delving deeper.

She was afraid that using it even once would become as addictive as a drug.

But today, facing Tianlin, she could no longer care.

"Evil Emperor Domain!" Bibi Dong shouted, and the Evil Spirit Pearl released a vast, dark domain that covered the sky. This domain, even higher than an ordinary domain, instantly suppressed the Holy Spirit Pearl, turning its four soul rings gray and making the pearl itself as dull as plain glass.

The Evil Emperor Domain was the bane of all righteous divine weapons. Within it, the more righteous the martial soul or divine weapon, the more suppressed it became, while evil power was enhanced—such as Bibi Dong's two spider emperor martial souls.

Tianlin's three gods vanished instantly, and the Holy Spirit Pearl's power was sealed for the first time.

"Be careful. That pearl's power is on par with your Holy Spirit Pearl, but it never became a martial soul and retains its original might. It far surpasses an ordinary super divine weapon. Unless your Holy Spirit Pearl also returns to being a super divine weapon, it cannot counter it." Skydream Ice Silkworm warned anxiously.

"It's fine, Brother Skydream, don't worry. I can sense Bibi Dong hasn't truly become the pearl's master. She can't use its deeper powers. Since I can't use the Holy Spirit Pearl, I'll use the Demon Sword." Tianlin remained calm, his battle experience allowing him to stay composed in any situation.

Bibi Dong was surprised to see that Tianlin's Demon Sword was not suppressed by the Evil Emperor Domain.

Tianlin smiled. The "Demon Suppressing Sword" was actually an evil weapon, forged after slaughtering countless people and sealed in the Demon Locking Pagoda for a thousand years, absorbing endless baleful energy.

If an ordinary person held it, they would be drained of life unless they had deep cultivation. Fortunately, Tianlin obtained it in martial soul form, so its power was manageable.

Whether Murong Ziying or Jing Tian had used it to fight evil with evil, it was still an evil weapon.

Thus, the Demon Sword was completely unaffected by the Evil Emperor Domain.

Chapter 549: The Divine Realm Committee and the Silver Dragon King's Decision

As the endless evil aura from the Evil Spirit Pearl spread, the entire Douluo Continent began to change.

Animals and soul beasts sensed the great threat—cats arched their backs, hair standing on end; dogs barked non-stop; swallows flew low; wild geese migrated; and sea creatures hid deep underwater.

Qian Daoliu, fighting Chen Xin, stopped attacking, staring in shock at Tianlin and Bibi Dong's battlefield. "What is this evil energy? I know Bibi Dong has started inheriting the Rakshasa God, but is its divine power really this great? This evil is about to envelop the entire plane."

As High Priest of the Angel God, Qian Daoliu felt a natural aversion and vigilance toward such evil.

"Qian Daoliu, now isn't the time to be distracted. I'm your opponent," Chen Xin reminded loudly, not willing to take advantage of his distraction.

"Chen Xin, your disciple is over there. Don't tell me you don't sense this massive evil? Aren't you worried?" Qian Daoliu questioned.

"I'm not worried. My disciple is there, and he's already surpassed me. I believe he can overcome any hardship. My job is to defeat you, become stronger, and go help him." Chen Xin remained calm—this wasn't coldness, but absolute confidence in his disciple.

He couldn't help Tianlin now, so he focused on defeating Qian Daoliu and becoming a god himself.

In terms of level, he had already surpassed Qian Daoliu.

…

In the Divine Realm Committee, the five God kings once again sensed the evil power from over twenty years ago. The Asura God said, "This is what my inheritor mentioned—the Evil Spirit Pearl, the fleeting evil power I sensed twenty years ago."

"The Evil Spirit Pearl! It really exists?" The Kindness God frowned. Her super divine weapon, the Heart of Kindness, was the Evil Spirit Pearl's complete opposite.

But even the Heart of Kindness couldn't possibly envelop the lower realm the way this evil power did.

"Destruction, do you believe me now? When someone ascends and the Divine Realm's gate opens, take your Seven Deadly Sins and hide in the Divine Realm's core, lest the being in the Evil Spirit Pearl causes disaster." The Asura God warned.

Destruction, however, was intrigued. "Asura, I think the opposite. We shouldn't hide. We should have my Seven Deadly Sins set up the Original Sin Array in advance, absorb the evil aura, and refine it. If we succeed, our power could rise to a whole new level—maybe even become Supreme God Kings or God Emperors."

"Kindness, Evil, Asura, I once proposed expanding the Divine Realm, but you all opposed it, worrying about being devoured by cosmic forces. But if we're strong enough, we can avoid disaster. Expansion would only benefit us."

"That's not impossible!" The Evil God King was tempted. "Refining this super divine weapon could both strengthen us and destroy the monster inside—two birds with one stone."

"Wait, I object," Asura said. "Such massive power might exceed even the combined Seven Deadly Sins. If it backfires, what then?"

"The Evil God King can control some evil power, and if you're still worried, add Rakshasa. There's no way we can't control a mere pearl with so many gods. As for collusion with Rakshasa, that's just speculation—and with us five God Kings, we can keep an eye on him." Destruction was confident.

"I agree. Let's decide on this," said the Evil God King.

With three out of five in favor, the matter was settled, even if Kindness and Asura disagreed.

Asura God finally realized what he and Tianlin had overlooked—the greed of other gods. When the Evil Sword Immortal coveted them, they too coveted his power.

Even if Destruction and Evil weren't entirely selfish, their method was too risky in Asura's eyes.

"By the way, today's meeting is confidential—especially you, Asura. Don't tell your inheritor," the Evil God King warned. He had heard that Asura's inheritor was very capable and troublesome; if he found out, things could get out of hand.

"Hmph, I know." Asura God replied helplessly. The five God Kings' decisions were law in the Divine Realm, and as the God of Law, he couldn't break it.

…

In the Star Dou Forest, most people and beasts only felt a chill, but a few, including the Silver Dragon King and Di Tian, could clearly sense the Evil Spirit Pearl's power.

"Lord, did you feel that? Such terrifying power—even the Dragon God's super divine weapon couldn't emit such a terrifying aura," Di Tian said in shock.

"I feel it. Not only is it terrifying, but also evil. This is one of the forces that once fell into my Lake of Life. Though fleeting, I'll never mistake it," the Silver Dragon King confirmed. "The man who visited my Lake of Life last time seems to be fighting this power. The continent faces disaster—we must act."

"Lord, but human disasters have nothing to do with us, right?" Di Tian asked.

The Silver Dragon King shook her head. "It's not just a human disaster. We soul beasts cannot escape. Do you think such evil would spare us?"

Di Tian realized the logic. If he had that power, he would not only retaliate against the Divine Realm, but also wipe out humans who worshipped the gods.

"Then, Lord, what should we do?"

The Silver Dragon King fell silent. Although she wanted to help, her injuries made her powerless.

Just then, she felt a huge power trembling behind her.

Boom!

A giant rock exploded, revealing a sword—the Demon Suppressing Sword sealed by the Silver Dragon King.

"The divine sword has a soul. Do you want to help your master?" The Silver Dragon King reached for the sword, but remembered it was extremely repellent to soul beasts—touching it could kill, and she had once been injured trying to seal it.

"I heard that man call you the Demon Suppressing Sword. Do you see us soul beasts as monsters to be purged?" the Silver Dragon King asked. "Humans have good and evil, so do soul beasts. I am no monster. I want to pick you up to return you to your master. If you trust me, suppress your divine power."

The sword gradually stopped trembling. The Silver Dragon King mustered her courage and grabbed the hilt. This time, she wasn't hurt—her heartfelt words had been accepted by the sword.

Overjoyed, she handed the sword to Di Tian. "Di Tian, take this sword to the battlefield, give it to that man, and help him vanquish evil!"

"Yes!"

Chapter 550: Bibi Dong VS Tianlin

Bang, bang, bang!

Thunderous explosions echoed 5,000 meters above Heaven Dou City.

Tianlin and Bibi Dong were evenly matched. With the Holy Spirit Pearl sealed, Tianlin could not summon gods for help, and his attributes fell, but the Demon Sword's absorption of evil energy compensated somewhat.

Tianlin realized he had underestimated Bibi Dong. Her understanding of twin martial souls far surpassed his. Although she lacked a yin-yang complement soul core, making it impossible for both spirits to share power, she could instantly switch between them in true body state.

Unlike Tianlin, who had to deactivate his true body to switch between the Demon Sword and Holy Spirit Pearl.

Thus, Bibi Dong could fully utilize her twin martial souls, using the Soul Devouring Spider Emperor for offense and the Death Spider Emperor for defense, switching almost without delay and even controlling the timing to break Tianlin's Wind-Water Rotation technique.

If Tianlin tried to use this counter true-body move, Bibi Dong would switch martial souls in the 0.1-second gap, rendering the move ineffective.

It was the first time Tianlin had encountered someone breaking Wind-Water Rotation by manipulating timing. Bibi Dong's use of twin martial souls was perfect, unmatched by anyone including Tang San.

Bibi Dong, like Tianlin, could use external soul bones to form a complete bone armor, though hers were lower in age, so Tianlin's incomplete armor wasn't at a disadvantage.

Tianlin's Demon Sword Domain could not suppress the Evil Emperor Domain, but it could neutralize Bibi Dong's double domains and Killing God Domain—though hers were enhanced by the Evil Emperor Domain, so he could only suppress, not reverse as he did with the Slaughter King.

"Third Soul Skill: Demon Spider Summon!" Bibi Dong unleashed another skill. Dark green halos spread from her feet, spawning half-meter-wide toxic spiders that filled the sky like locusts. These spiders, empowered by the Evil Spirit Pearl, were mainly for tracking and locking onto enemies.

This meant all of Bibi Dong's subsequent attacks would be unavoidable, like Poseidon's Sea God's Gaze.

"You have a hundred thousand spiders, I have a hundred thousand swords—Afterimage Sword, Myriad Sword Art!" Tianlin threw out his Demon Sword, which split into 100,000 swords.

Both attacked at once. The spiders and swords clashed, many swords vanished, but even more spiders died. In this contest of skills, Bibi Dong was still outmatched.

Bibi Dong didn't care; the spiders were only there to guarantee a hit.

"Sixth Soul Skill: Eternal Wound!" Two spider legs on Bibi Dong's back transformed into giant jade sickles, slashing out a huge green cross-shaped wave—her most domineering single-target move, ignoring physical defense (true damage).

She meant to break through Tianlin's seemingly indestructible armor and body.

With the spider summon's effect, this attack was guaranteed to hit. No matter how fast Tianlin was, he couldn't dodge. But he didn't plan to—he would trade blows.

Eternal Wound was melee, so when Bibi Dong struck Tianlin, he would also definitely hit her.

"Second Soul Skill: Ice-Fire God Seal." Ice and fire energy gathered on Tianlin's sword as he charged at Bibi Dong.

Bibi Dong was surprised—she didn't expect Tianlin would risk everything.

"Soul Bone Skill: Blood Armor!" Bibi Dong's torso bone was a 100,000-year soul bone. In her fight with Di Tian, she had used its attack skill Blood Slaughter; now she activated its second skill, Blood Armor, forming a dark red armor that even a Title Douluo's ninth skill couldn't break.

With both armor and Blood Armor, she was confident Tianlin couldn't hurt her.

The two clashed in midair. Bibi Dong's sickles went through Tianlin's body, but she wasn't pleased—her chest, in turn, was truly pierced by Tianlin's Demon Sword.

"How is this possible?" Bibi Dong was horrified.

The spot where Tianlin was pierced turned to flowing blood—this was the Bat King soul bone's skill, Blood Transformation.

It wasn't defense, but let physical attacks pass through as if they struck air.

Tianlin smiled, "What's wrong, Bibi Dong? You think only your soul bones are high-level? Mine are even better."

He kicked Bibi Dong away, and his wound gradually healed, not even tearing his clothes. This was the Bat King soul bone's second skill, Blood Rebirth.

"Bibi Dong, your true damage is impressive, but it's your ultimate move while mine is passive. No matter how much armor you stack, I can always pierce you."

"True damage by default, damn, worthy of a god-tier martial soul; its quality far surpasses my two top-tier martial souls. Ninth skill!" Bibi Dong gritted her teeth, switched to the Death Spider Emperor, and activated its ninth skill, Undying Body, healing her wound.

But while her wound could heal, the ultimate fire and ice left inside could not be expelled. Her soul power dropped sharply—from peak ninety-nine to a pseudo-limit, the weakest within her level.

Less soul power meant weaker overall attributes. The Evil Emperor Domain had let Bibi Dong match Tianlin, but now, the situation was completely reversed.