The rugged, verdant mountain passes leading into the heart of Seven Treasure City had completely transformed into isolated rivers of blood and shattered stone. Because the defending forces of the Seven Treasure Glaze Tile Sect stationed above the Spirit Saint realm had been meticulously divided across the seven distinct entry points, there was absolutely no way for the separate garrisons to communicate with one another. Each commander stood alone, relying entirely on their own martial prowess and the defensive Spirit Tools planted in the earth to hold back the overwhelming tide of the Star Luo Empire's vanguard.
At the eastern pass, the air was thick with the suffocating scent of ozone and freshly turned earth. Breaking Douluo Yang Wudi stood at the forefront of his clan, his imposing figure cloaked in a chilling, pitch-black aura. In his hands, the Soul Breaking Spear hummed with an absolute, unyielding intent to pierce through all obstacles.
Charging up the steep, rocky incline to meet him were the towering, heavily muscled elites of the Strength Clan. The earth trembled beneath their synchronized footsteps.
'Their physical momentum is tremendous,' Yang Wudi analyzed internally, his sharp eyes locking onto the massive figure leading the charge. 'Tai Tan relies purely on raw, unadulterated physical strength. If I allow him to close the distance and bring that weight to bear against our defensive formations, the barricades will splinter in an instant.'
"Eighth Spirit Ring Ability: Frenzied Breaking Piercer!" Yang Wudi roared, his eighth black spirit ring expanding with a blinding radiance.
He did not wait for the enemy to strike first. Yang Wudi thrust his Soul Breaking Spear forward. A massive, concentrated beam of black, armor-piercing spirit power erupted from the tip of his weapon, tearing a deep trench through the mountainside as it shot directly toward Tai Tan.
Tai Tan's eyes widened at the sheer, terrifying penetrative force of the incoming attack. "Seventh Spirit Ring Ability: Vigorous Ape Avatar!"
The patriarch of the Strength Clan bellowed as his body expanded exponentially, thick, coarse brown fur erupting across his skin as he merged with the massive phantom of the Vigorous Ape. His muscles bulged to grotesque proportions, radiating a heavy, earthly pressure. He crossed his massive, tree-trunk-like arms before his chest, channeling every ounce of his spirit power into a pure, physical blockade.
The black spear beam struck Tai Tan's crossed arms with a deafening crash. The surrounding elite Spirit Saints of the Strength Clan were blown backward by the resulting shockwave, their eardrums ringing. Tai Tan was pushed back ten full paces, his boots carving deep grooves into the bedrock, but the Vigorous Ape Avatar held firm, successfully absorbing the piercing strike through sheer, monstrous physical density.
'His defense is entirely rooted in his muscle fibers and spirit power condensation,' Yang Wudi noted coldly, retracting his spear and spinning it into a defensive guard. 'He lacks agility. I will dismantle him piece by piece.'
While the eastern pass devolved into a brutal contest of piercing intent versus immovable strength, the northern pass was drowning in a sea of blinding, destructive lightning.
Yu Luomian, his face twisted in a mask of long-held vengeance, soared above the battlefield. As a Titled Douluo standing at Level 93, his mastery over the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon spirit was a terrifying spectacle to behold. Deep blue scales coated his entire body, and a pair of crackling, draconic wings kept him aloft.
"You crippled me decades ago! Today, the Seven Treasure Glaze Tile Sect will burn to ash!" Yu Luomian shouted, his voice amplified by the roaring thunder that accompanied his presence.
He stared down at Inferno Douluo, the Level 92 defending commander stationed at the northern pass.
'His elemental affinity is pure lightning, bolstered by the supreme draconic bloodline,' Inferno Douluo thought rapidly, his fiery aura flaring as he assessed the aerial threat. 'The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon is hailed as the absolute apex of beast spirits. I cannot engage him in a drawn-out battle of raw elemental output; his lightning will inevitably suppress my flames.'
"Seventh Spirit Ring Ability: Blazing Demon Ape Avatar!" Inferno Douluo chanted, his body engulfing in roaring, crimson flames as he transformed into a towering, molten ape.
"Eighth Spirit Ring Ability: Dragon's Wrathful Thunder Tribulation!" Yu Luomian countered immediately without a shred of hesitation.
His eighth black spirit ring pulsed violently. The storm clouds gathering above the northern pass swirled into a massive, terrifying vortex. Countless thick, jagged bolts of deep blue lightning rained down from the heavens, completely bypassing the physical barricades to strike directly at the defending Spirit Saints and Spirit Douluos below.
Inferno Douluo leaped into the air, crossing his fiery fists to intercept the thickest bolts of lightning aimed at his subordinates. The clash of absolute fire and tyrannical lightning resulted in massive, localized explosions of steam and scorched earth. The defending Spirit Tools—specifically the Profound Light Aegis Pillars—hummed wildly, their arrays overheating as they desperately attempted to ground the ambient electrical discharge.
At the southern pass, the atmosphere was entirely different, shrouded in a haunting, oppressive silence.
Elder Xu Xing, a seasoned Titled Douluo representing the mysterious Star Crown Sect, hovered gracefully above the rocky terrain. A radiant, multi-pointed crown composed of pure, condensed starlight rested atop his head. He was engaged in a fierce, tactical suppression against the defending Gale Douluo.
"Seventh Spirit Ring Ability: Star Crown Avatar," Elder Xu murmured, his body dissolving into a blinding, ethereal silhouette of pure starlight. "Sixth Spirit Ring Ability: Starlight Annihilation Array."
Beams of searing, localized starlight shot down from the sky, forming a complex, inescapable geometric prison around Gale Douluo. The starlight carried a profound, heavy suppression effect, actively dulling the surrounding air currents and severely restricting the wind-attribute Titled Douluo's maneuverability.
'The starlight ignores physical wind barriers,' Gale Douluo analyzed, his Storm Hawk Avatar screeching as the light burned its spectral feathers. 'He is aiming to trap me and slowly roast my spirit power away. I must break the array's anchor points.'
Meanwhile, at the western pass, a brutal, highly coordinated assault was overwhelming the defensive lines. The Defense Clan, led by Niu Gao, and the Speed Clan, led by Bai He, had combined their forces to perfection.
Niu Gao unleashed his Seventh Spirit Ring Ability, transforming into a massive, impenetrable Diamond Mammoth. He led the charge, acting as an indestructible, moving fortress that simply ignored the elemental attacks rained down upon him by the defending Spirit Douluos. Tucked safely behind his massive, armored bulk, Bai He and the elite members of the Speed Clan utilized their Swift Radiant Swallow Avatars. They darted out from behind the mammoth's protection like blinding flashes of light, striking the defenders' vital points with razor-sharp wing blades before instantly retreating back behind the impenetrable shield.
Iron Wall Douluo and Echo Douluo, stationed at the western pass, found themselves pushed to their absolute limits, forced to continuously deploy wide-area defensive and sonic-disruption abilities just to prevent the swift assassins from completely overrunning their lines.
Every single pass was a raging inferno of specialized, high-level combat. The Imperial Guards of the Star Luo Empire, clad in heavy, spirit-resistant armor, clashed with the auxiliary Spirit Masters of the Seven Treasure Glaze Tile Sect. The elders of the Lower Seven Sects unleashed a chaotic flurry of obscure, highly specialized spirit abilities, testing the durability of Zhang Tian's defensive Spirit Tools to their breaking points.
Yet, the true, apocalyptic heart of the war raged far beyond the mountain passes, directly above the central palace of the Seven Treasure City.
Tang San stood amidst the swirling chaos of the central battlefield, his deep purple eyes coldly tracking the movements of the surrounding Spirit Hall elders. The sickly, pale violet mist of his Deathly Poison Domain had already blanketed a massive portion of the central courtyard.
The terrifying effects of the evolved domain were undeniable. The elite Spirit Hall members caught within the mist found their complexions turning a ghastly, ashen grey. The pure Death Attribute woven into the neurotoxin actively rotted their spirit power from the inside out, forcing even the mighty Titled Douluos to constantly expend a significant portion of their foundational strength just to purge the encroaching decay from their meridians.
'The domain is highly effective, but it requires continuous, massive spirit power to sustain over such a wide area,' Tang San thought, feeling the steady drain on his own reserves. 'I must capitalize on their weakened state before the high-tier elders manage to condense their own domains to neutralize it.'
In the distance, Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan, Fifteen Ton Douluo, and Falling Devil Douluo were hovering together, their faces grim. Yue Guan had fully unleashed his Odd Velvet Chrysanthemum Domain, creating a brilliant, golden barrier of swirling petals that actively filtered and pushed back the pale violet mist, creating a safe zone for the heavily wounded Spirit Hall experts to recover.
However, the remaining elders of the Spirit Hall—Ghost Douluo, Ghost Leopard Douluo, and several others—were heavily engaged in brutal, high-speed clashes against the eight Titled Douluo elders of the Clear Sky Sect, their forms blurring across the sky in streaks of shadow and iron.
This left Tang San besieged by three highly lethal, specialized opponents: Spirit Kite Douluo, Blue Turtle Douluo, and Devil Bear Douluo.
"Burn this poisonous weed to ash!" Spirit Kite Douluo shrieked, her Seventh Spirit Ring lighting up. She transformed into a massive, flaming kite, diving toward Tang San from above, a torrent of searing, crimson fire trailing from her spectral wings.
Simultaneously, Devil Bear Douluo unleashed an earth-shattering roar, his colossal, heavily armored ursine body charging forward, his massive claws glowing with a dark, crushing physical force.
'A coordinated elemental and physical strike,' Tang San analyzed seamlessly, his combat instincts sharpened to a razor's edge by the Slaughter City. 'If I attempt to block the bear, the flames will engulf my blind spot.'
Tang San did not retreat. The pale violet vines of his Deathly Spirit Grass erupted from the soil around him. "Fifth Spirit Ring Ability: Demon Centipede's Rotting Miasma! Sixth Spirit Ring Ability: Deathly Vine Cataclysm!"
The thick vines instantly transformed into conduits of extreme, concentrated decay. They whipped upward, striking the descending torrent of crimson fire. The highly corrosive venom carried within the vines sizzled and reacted violently with the heat, creating a massive, localized explosion of toxic black smoke that completely obscured Tang San's position from the diving Spirit Kite Douluo.
Simultaneously, dozens of massive, reinforced vines burst from the ground directly beneath Devil Bear Douluo. The thick roots wrapped tightly around the charging giant's ankles, halting his momentum instantly.
"Fragile weeds!" Devil Bear Douluo sneered, flexing his massive legs to snap the bindings.
But Tang San was already moving. Within the cover of the toxic smoke, the Deathly Spirit Grass melted back into his palms. Black lightning crackled fiercely as he summoned the Clear Sky Hammer.
He activated the profound power of his Sky Azure Right Arm Bone. 'Sky Azure Slowing Divine Claw.'
An untraceable, phantom claw manifested directly upon Devil Bear Douluo's chest. The Super Douluo's eyes widened in horror as his physical movements and his perception of time were instantly, forcefully slowed down tenfold. His attempt to snap the vines became a sluggish, agonizingly slow crawl.
Tang San leaped from the smoke, the massive Clear Sky Hammer raised high above his head. His second, deep black spirit ring—acquired from the Slaughter City—pulsed with an intimidating, bloody light.
"Second Spirit Ring Ability: Asura's Mountain-Crushing Might," Tang San chanted softly.
He manipulated the profound death attribute to exponentially multiply the physical mass of the hammer head. The weapon instantly became heavier than a mountain peak, carrying a terrifying, concentrated gravitational pressure that warped the air around it.
He brought the hammer down with devastating force directly upon Devil Bear Douluo's armored skull.
BOOM!
The impact generated a shockwave that shattered the courtyard tiles for a hundred meters in every direction. Devil Bear Douluo let out a muffled, agonizing groan as the sheer, mountain-crushing pressure shattered his defensive spirit barrier, driving him face-first into the crushed stone.
Before Tang San could finish the grounded elder, a massive, spinning shell composed of dark blue ice slammed into his flank.
Blue Turtle Douluo had arrived, utilizing his Seventh Spirit Ring Ability to transform into a massive, impenetrable aquatic fortress, spinning like a deadly buzzsaw to repel Tang San.
Tang San was knocked backward, his boots sliding across the debris. He quickly stabilized his stance, his purple eyes locking onto the spinning shell.
'Blue Turtle Douluo's defense is focused purely on physical repulsion and absolute elemental resistance,' Tang San analyzed, ignoring the dull ache in his ribs. 'Blunt force alone will not shatter that shell before Spirit Kite Douluo regroups. I must bypass the physical medium entirely.'
Tang San shifted his grip on the haft of the hammer. His first, deep black spirit ring flared with a sinister radiance.
"First Spirit Ring Ability: Asura's Tremor," Tang San commanded.
He swung the Clear Sky Hammer, striking not the spinning turtle shell, but the empty air directly in front of it.
A highly concentrated, invisible shockwave of pure, spiritual killing intent erupted from the hammer's strike. This invisible tremor completely ignored the formidable physical thickness of the spinning shell, passing through the dark blue ice as if it were mere air. The spiritual shockwave struck Blue Turtle Douluo directly in his spiritual sea.
The effect was instantaneous and catastrophic. Blue Turtle Douluo let out a shrill, agonizing scream from within the shell. The spinning momentum broke completely as the Titled Douluo suffered an instant, paralyzing brain hemorrhage, the pure killing intent scrambling his cognitive functions. The massive shell crashed heavily onto the courtyard, skidding to a halt.
'Two incapacitated. The aerial threat remains,' Tang San noted, his deep black third spirit ring lighting up.
"Third Spirit Ring Ability: Asura's Execution!"
He swung the Clear Sky Hammer in a wide, upward arc. Bolts of dark, blood-red lightning, infused heavily with the suppressive power of the death domain, shot upward from the hammer head, striking the bewildered Spirit Kite Douluo out of the sky. The red lightning bypassed her fiery aura, boiling her internal meridians and sending her crashing down into the toxic mist.
Tang San stood tall amidst the fallen Titled Douluos, his breathing steady, entirely focused on maintaining the pressure of his domain while rapidly switching between his dual spirits to control the flow of the battlefield.
While the younger generation proved their terrifying worth, the older titans were engaged in battles that defied mortal comprehension.
A few miles to the east of the central palace, the air itself seemed to be screaming in agony.
Tang Xiao, the majestic Sect Leader of the Clear Sky Sect, stood his ground against the elusive, deeply frustrating tactics of Bone Douluo Gu Rong.
"Your spatial parlor tricks will only delay your demise, Gu Rong!" Tang Xiao roared, his heavy, muscular frame coated in a dense, oppressive blue aura.
He had realized that chasing the teleporting skeleton was a fool's errand. Tang Xiao planted his feet firmly, gripping the massive haft of his Clear Sky Hammer with both hands. He drew upon the deepest reserves of his Level 96 spirit power.
"Eighth Spirit Ring Ability: Clear Sky Earth-Shattering Smash!"
Tang Xiao did not swing at empty air. He raised the hammer high and slammed it directly into the ground beneath his feet with absolute, apocalyptic force.
The earth shattered. A massive, directed shockwave of pure, condensed physical force rippled outward through the bedrock, targeting the very spatial coordinates of the entire battlefield. The profound vibration forcefully destabilized the spatial fabric, making it incredibly difficult and dangerous for Gu Rong to open spatial tears without risking being crushed by the erratic dimensional pressure.
Gu Rong was forced to materialize a hundred meters away, his skeletal Bone Dragon Avatar shedding a few shards of jagged bone from the ambient pressure.
"A blunt solution for a complex problem, Tang Xiao," Gu Rong rasped, his eerie voice carrying no hint of panic. "But brute force burns brightly and fades quickly."
Gu Rong raised his skeletal hands. "Sixth Spirit Ring Ability: Bone Dragon's Spatial Void. Ninth Spirit Ring Ability: Bone Dragon's Profound Annihilation!"
His sixth black ring flared, creating multiple, swirling portals of absolute darkness around Tang Xiao. From within these portals, thousands of razor-sharp, dense bone fragments shot outward like a relentless, inescapable storm of shrapnel. Simultaneously, his ninth black spirit ring pulsed with a horrifying, dark radiance. A massive, localized black hole manifested directly above Tang Xiao's head, generating a terrifying, pulling suction that attempted to rip the Sect Leader from his anchored stance and tear his flesh from his bones.
'He aims to restrict my movement and consume my defenses simultaneously,' Tang Xiao analyzed, his eyes narrowing against the pulling force. He was forced to continuously swing his hammer in rapid, tight circles, executing the defensive forms of the Clear Sky Nine Absolutes to shatter the incoming bone shrapnel, while heavily expending his spirit power to resist the gravitational pull of the profound annihilation void.
The exchange of catastrophic abilities was taxing, but the stark difference in their internal foundations soon became glaringly apparent.
Tang Xiao's chest heaved, sweat pouring down his rugged face. The Clear Sky Earth-Shattering Smash and the constant, high-speed defensive swings were draining his profound reserves at an alarming rate.
Conversely, Gu Rong stood calmly in the distance. Resting securely within his dantian, his fully forged Spirit Core rotated with a steady, mesmerizing rhythm. This profound, internal engine continuously drew upon the chaotic, ambient energies of the shattered battlefield, filtering and feeding pure, refined spirit power directly back into Gu Rong's meridians.
Gu Rong was effortlessly outlasting the Sect Leader. His spatial attacks never slowed, his bone shrapnel never ceased, and the profound annihilation void remained perfectly stable. He was slowly, methodically suppressing Tang Xiao, trapping the mighty hammer-wielder in a cage of attrition he could not possibly win.
Yet, the true pinnacle of mortal martial combat was taking place on the western edge of the city.
Tang Hao stood tall, his tattered cloak billowing around his imposing frame. He held the massive, pitch-black Clear Sky Hammer, his eyes locked in a fierce, unwavering glare with Sword Douluo Chen Xin.
The two warriors were locked in a completely even, terrifyingly high-stakes clash.
Chen Xin's Sword Domain permeated the air, an invisible, omnipresent field of absolute sharpness that constantly sought to slice through Tang Hao's defenses. The Sword Douluo moved with the fluid, peerless grace of flowing water.
"Sword Intent: Flowing Water, Severing Clouds," Chen Xin murmured softly, his voice carrying the calm clarity of a master.
He flicked the Seven Kill Sword. The blade did not emit a massive, flashy beam of energy. Instead, a series of invisible, razor-thin lines of sword intent carved silently through the air, completely bypassing the loud, roaring shockwaves generated by Tang Hao's hammer strikes.
Tang Hao felt the sudden, deadly chill of the incoming intent. He twisted his torso violently to the side, but the invisible blade still managed to slice a deep, bleeding gash across his right shoulder pauldron.
'His sword intent is formless yet ever-present,' Tang Hao analyzed internally, ignoring the stinging pain. 'I cannot rely on brute force alone to break his domain; I must utilize the earth's natural weight and my own foundational endurance to anchor my stance. If I allow him to dictate the rhythm, he will cut me to ribbons before I can land a decisive blow.'
Tang Hao knew he needed to sustain this elongated battle. He could not afford to carelessly burn his rings in a desperate explosion.
His eyes hardened, and he began to actively utilize the profound, legendary abilities hidden within his integrated Spirit Bones.
His chest glowed with a deep, pulsing amber light. He activated his Torso Spirit Bone.
"Titan's Earthly Rejuvenation," Tang Hao commanded silently.
The unique ability of the torso bone flared to life. It acted as an incredibly powerful, secondary energy reservoir. It extended invisible, spiritual roots deep into the shattered bedrock beneath his feet, actively absorbing the dense, natural earth energy of the mountains and forcefully converting it into pure spirit power. While it was not as flawlessly efficient or perfectly autonomous as a true Spirit Core like that possessed by Sword Douluo, it still provided a massive, continuous influx of recovery that allowed Tang Hao to maintain his exhausting, high-intensity assault without burning out.
With his reserves stabilizing, Tang Hao went on the offensive.
"Let us see your sword block the wrath of the heavens, Chen Xin!" Tang Hao roared.
His right arm erupted with a blinding, crackling blue radiance. He activated the offensive capability of his Sky Azure Destructive Thunder right arm bone. He swung the Clear Sky Hammer not at Chen Xin, but directly into the sky. A massive, concentrated pillar of blue, destructive lightning shot upward, only to immediately rain down upon the Sword Douluo's position in a relentless, chaotic barrage of thunderbolts.
Simultaneously, Tang Hao activated his left leg bone. "Wind Pursuit Agility."
A swirl of vibrant green wind wrapped around his legs, momentarily nullifying his massive bulk and granting him an explosive, phantom-like burst of speed. He closed the distance instantly, appearing directly behind Chen Xin while the swordsman was focused on deflecting the falling thunder.
Tang Hao channeled the profound, earthly magnetism inherent to the Clear Sky Hammer. He increased the gravitational pressure around the hammer head, making it heavier than a falling meteor, and swung it in a devastating, horizontal arc aimed at Chen Xin's spine.
Chen Xin did not panic. His perception, heightened by his Level 98 cultivation and his deep sword insight, detected the shift in the air currents behind him.
"Sixth Spirit Ring Ability: Myriad Swords Return to Origin," Chen Xin chanted calmly, spinning on his heel with preternatural grace.
Thousands of spectral, silver swords instantly materialized in the air around him, forming a swirling, impenetrable vortex of cutting force. The heavy, magnetically-infused Clear Sky Hammer smashed into the vortex of swords. The sheer, blunt physical impact ground against the thousands of slicing spectral blades, generating a deafening screech of grinding metal that echoed for miles.
The collision resulted in a massive, localized shockwave that blew both men backward.
Tang Hao slid to a halt, his boots carving deep trenches into the earth, his breathing heavy but steady thanks to the constant rejuvenation of his torso bone. Chen Xin landed gracefully, the tip of his Seven Kill Sword lightly touching the ground, his white robes unblemished but his eyes reflecting a deep, serious respect for his opponent.
Neither man had gained a decisive upper hand. The clash between the ultimate blunt force of the hammer and the supreme, formless sharpness of the sword raged on, a perfectly balanced, high-stakes duel where a single miscalculation would result in absolute annihilation.
The war for Seven Treasure City was a grinder of flesh and spirit, a chaotic, shattered earth where the legends of the continent fought desperately for supremacy, completely unaware of the true, dark puppeteer pulling the strings from the freezing shadows of the north.
~~
A/N: Check out my other novels [Villain: Manipulating The Heroines Into Hating The Protagonist] and [Harem Master: Seduction System].
Also, check out 20 Chapters Ahead for this fanfic on my P.atreon.
Patreon link: https://www.patreon.com/c/evildragon04