As soon as Li Zhexian's feet touched the ground,
his figure flickered back dozens of meters.
His sharp eyes swept around.
Only after confirming that no enemies lurked nearby did his taut body gradually relax.
He looked up, surveying this strange and eerie realm.
Before him stretched a desolate landscape—
The sky hung low and dim, shrouded in a pall of purple gloom.
A crescent moon, half hidden behind drifting clouds, struggled to cast a wan, cold glow.
The earth was cracked and scarred, fissures sprawling like veins,
each glowing faintly purple and breathing out a dreadful, ominous aura.
The trees loomed with twisted branches,
their shapes merging into the shadowed horizon far away.
And at the far edge of his vision—
A ruined city, vast and silent, lay sprawled across the ground like the corpse of some ancient beast.
"As expected… a Secret Realm akin to the Slaughter City."
Li Zhexian's expression hardened.
His gaze lingered warily on that distant, desolate fortress.
"Still… this secret realm is far smaller than the Slaughter City."
"The Slaughter City stretches endlessly, even suppressing the use of Spirit Abilities—it truly functions as an independent world."
"This place doesn't even come close."
He murmured quietly to himself.
Suddenly, his brows twitched sharply.
"Someone's ahead?"
Swish—!
A streak of sword qi cut through the air, slashing toward the dense forest ahead.
At the same time—
the figure hidden beyond the trees sensed Li Zhexian's presence.
A surge of powerful Spirit Power burst forth to meet the attack.
Boom—!
The sword qi and spirit power clashed violently,
the towering trees between them shattering instantly into drifting ash.
When the dust finally settled—
the two figures faced each other at last.
"Tuoba Xi, Sect Master of the Sacred Dragon Sect?!"
A flash of sharp light passed through Li Zhexian's eyes.
He wasted not a single word—
With a flare of wind and thunder, the Qinglian Sword swept forward!
"The Sacred Dragon Sect's Command Banner—is it on you, Sect Master Tuoba?"
"Why not show it to me!"
Seeing the white-robed youth charging straight at him with unrestrained eagerness, Tuoba Xi's expression shifted—and without a thought, he turned and fled.
Swish—!
Swish—!
Sword qi rained down like a torrential storm,
bombarding his retreating back.
Towering trees crumbled wherever it touched;
dust clouds roared upward as trunks split and fell.
Tuoba Xi charged ahead, head low,
a deep dragon's roar rumbling from his throat,
his white robes and hair whipping wildly in the wind.
Thus began a chase—
one pursuing, one fleeing—
for over three miles.
...
Outside the Secret Realm, spectators watched the immense projection in the sky.
The white-robed youth hunted Tuoba Xi like a hawk chasing prey.
Everyone stared, mouths agape.
"What's Tuoba Xi doing? He's not even fighting back?"
"He's a peak-level Spirit Douluo! I thought he was one of the strongest contenders for a top position among the lower sects—why's he so cowardly?"
"The Sacred Dragon Sect is strong. Tuoba Xi was once an Elder of Spirit Hall—if only the sect had more than one Spirit Douluo, it would've already ranked among the Seven Great Sects!"
"By the way, besides Tuoba Xi, who are those two black-robed followers the Sacred Dragon Sect sent in? Why not their other elders?"
"He's retreating without a fight! Is Li Zhexian really that terrifying? Could he truly possess Titled Douluo-level power? Hard to believe without proof!"
Their voices filled the air—
until someone suddenly shouted:
"Tuoba Xi's turning around! They're finally going to fight!"
Whoosh—
A flash of sword qi grazed Tuoba Xi's cheek.
A few strands of hair floated down—
followed by a thin line of blood.
"Hmph. You've chased me long enough. Seems you truly have no Titled protector…"
Tuoba Xi suddenly pivoted, skidding to a halt,
his feet gouging twin trenches into the ground.
Behind him, an enormous draconic form surged into being.
Behind him, a monstrous dragon spirit erupted into being—
A gigantic dragon covered in white scales,
its back lined with thorny spines,
its tail a massive hammer-like club,
its body stretching over dozens of meters.
Its dragon might was overwhelming,
making the surrounding forest tremble and sway.
"ROAR—!"
The White Armored Earth Dragon slammed both claws into the ground.
Boom—!
The ground trembled violently.
Jagged cracks split open in every direction.
"So—you've no Titled Douluo shielding you!"
"Boy, did you really think I, Tuoba Xi, would fear you?"
"Titled-level strength? Don't make me laugh!"
"If you want to prove yourself—first, get through me!"
Buzz—!
Buzz—!
Eight Spirit Rings rose from beneath Tuoba Xi's feet—
Yellow, Yellow, Purple, Purple, Black, Black, Black, Black!
The White-Armored Earth Dragon roared toward the sky, its might growing even more ferocious.
"Sixth Spirit Ability – Earthshaking Dragon Hammer!"
The sixth Spirit Ring beneath Tuoba Xi flared with a deep, dazzling light.
The dragon twisted its body,
Its massive tail, like a colossal hammer, surged with the overwhelming Spirit Power of an eighty-ninth-level Spirit Douluo, crashing toward Li Zhexian with the force of a collapsing heaven.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Wind howled like thunder, the forest exploded in debris.
Towering trees shattered at the slightest touch, and boulders crumbled to dust.
Tuoba Xi was truly worthy of being called one of the strongest Spirit Douluo beneath the Titled Douluo realm.
This strike—
—was earth-shattering.
"Good timing!"
Li Zhexian let out a long roar.
Sword qi erupted from his Great Vertebra Spirit Bone.
Seven sword intents, in the form of Qinglian Swords, circled his body.
"Qinglian Sword Song, Fifth Form—Underworld's Far Shore!"
The seven Qinglian Swords slashed out one after another, meeting the incoming dragon tail head-on.
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
In an instant—
Starlight shimmered, frost and flame intertwined, and a pure wind swept across the land...
With every strike, explosions of light burst from the dragon's tail; its speed and power weakened sharply.
By the time the dragon tail reached Li Zhexian, its strength had already been spent—it was an arrow at the end of its flight.
The Qinglian Sword in Li Zhexian's hand turned from crimson to abyssal black.
As sword qi spread, the nearby grass, flowers, and trees withered and died in an instant.
He swung horizontally toward the dragon tail.
"No matter how flashy or bizarre your swordplay is!"
"Hmph! My White Armored Earth Dragon is one of the top defensive existences among the dragon species!"
"You, a mere Spirit Emperor, think you can break this old man's defense?"
Tuoba Xi's cold sneer hadn't even faded when Spirit Power suddenly went chaotic, and he spewed a mouthful of blood.
"You…"
His pupils shrank abruptly.
That pitch-black sword light had cleaved into the dragon's tail—
Sparks exploded, the sword blade sank deep, and the massive tail was severed cleanly. A deathly aura spread along the wound like bone rot, staining over ten meters of the dragon's body black in an instant.
Death qi surged out.
The blackened dragon's body began to shed its Spirit Power-condensed flesh, revealing a forest of white bones beneath.
Tuoba Xi staggered backward.
"Impossible!"
"Heh…"
Li Zhexian twirled his sword lightly.
"Your Spirit Power is vast—you used it to defend against my seven Sword Bones' sword qi."
"But you dared to meet my Qinglian Sword with your Martial Soul itself?"
"Defense? It's meaningless before me."
What could withstand the sharpest blade in existence?
Could ultimate defense truly prevail?
At least…
Tuoba Xi's White Armored Earth Dragon could not!
"An eighty-ninth rank Spirit Douluo… and that's all?"
Beneath Li Zhexian's feet,
Spirit Rings appeared one after another.
A white-gold Spirit Ring and a blood-red Spirit Ring shone together in eerie harmony.
"Fifth Spirit Ability – Vengeful Retribution!"
"Sixth Spirit Ability – Mirage Sword Reflection!"
Behind Li Zhexian, the faint roar of an ancient, ferocious beast echoed.
Seeing Tuoba Xi's face twist in horror, the black depths of Li Zhexian's eyes reflected illusory sword marks of glass-like light.
Tuoba Xi's next movements were completely seen through.
Before Tuoba Xi could even react—
To the southeast, a wisp of sword qi condensed.
Li Zhexian stepped out of that shattered sword qi.
Tuoba Xi, almost colliding with him, felt his blood run cold.
"Trying to run?"
A cold, sharp smile curved Li Zhexian's lips.
"Today, you die."