Nightmare Douluo appeared behind Lin Xiao without warning, his withered palm striking toward Lin Xiao's back.
A golden barrier instantly rose around Lin Xiao, and under his control, Higanbana seeds shot toward Nightmare Douluo. Yet Nightmare Douluo paid them no heed, allowing the seeds to land on him as he fully unleashed his soul power.
The golden barrier was soon covered in a dense web of cracks. In the next moment, it shattered into specks of light, dissipating into the air. Almost simultaneously, Nightmare Douluo's palm pierced through the clothing on Lin Xiao's back.
"Pfft—"
The sound of flesh being pierced rang out. A smile spread across Nightmare Douluo's face. He could feel his arm unmistakably passing through Lin Xiao's chest, a warm sensation traveling up his arm. He could even sense the beating of Lin Xiao's heart in his chest cavity and the blood flowing gently through his fingers.
"My dear disciple, I know full well that your sixth soul skill is a defensive one. Did you think I'd let you use it so easily?"
"You've been through plenty of life-and-death battles, but you still underestimate the power of a Titled Douluo. This is likely the last lesson I can teach you."
Nightmare Douluo's hoarse voice sounded in Lin Xiao's ear, a cold breath brushing past. Pain surged from Lin Xiao's chest, making his breathing grow rapid.
"Then I truly thank you, Teacher."
At Lin Xiao's words, Nightmare Douluo's expression suddenly changed. The situation couldn't be clearer. Lin Xiao's life was in his hands. Yet, for some reason, there wasn't a trace of panic in Lin Xiao's tone.
No, I can't wait any longer.
With a stir of his mind, Nightmare Douluo exerted force through the arm, piercing Lin Xiao's chest. But this movement sent a jolt of sharp pain through his own chest, making his heart tremble.
"What's happening?"
As Nightmare Douluo spoke, he felt a sweetness in his throat, and a trickle of blood involuntarily spilled from the corner of his mouth.
"Teacher, you were a step too late."
Lin Xiao took a step forward, his sixth soul ring glowing brilliantly.
He wasn't…
Nightmare Douluo's heart jolted. Looking down, he realized, in a daze, that his arm wasn't piercing Lin Xiao's chest but was instead embedded in his own.
He snapped his head up to see Lin Xiao turning to face him, his face pale, clearly having expended a significant amount of soul power.
Having experienced many battles, Nightmare Douluo quickly understood. Lin Xiao's sixth soul skill didn't enhance his defense but instead transferred his injuries to achieve a defensive effect.
"Impossible. How could a mere ten-thousand-year soul ring have such an effect?"
"You have the Evil Emperor's bloodline to thank for that," Lin Xiao said coldly, the light of his sixth soul ring growing even brighter.
To bear another's pain and avert one's own calamity, Sixth Soul Skill, cross the Yellow River.
Time around Lin Xiao and Nightmare Douluo seemed to freeze. The Higanbana seeds clinging to Nightmare Douluo's body gradually dissolved, and even the petals at his feet began to vanish. On his chest, his right arm was lodged in an eerily twisted position, dark red blood trickling along his skin, pooling in the grooves of his flesh.
Nightmare Douluo's deduction wasn't far from the truth. Lin Xiao's sixth soul skill consumed soul power to make the blooming Higanbana flowers bear his injuries. When the Higanbana seeds successfully parasitized an opponent, the injuries would be transferred to them in the process.
Naturally, Lin Xiao had no intention of explaining this to Nightmare Douluo.
"Good, good!"
In the midst of the silence, Nightmare Douluo practically spat out these words through gritted teeth, followed by a furious roar erupting from his throat.
"Seventh Soul Skill, Nightmare Demon True Body!"
In an instant, chilling winds howled, and dark clouds, seemingly from nowhere, covered the entire sky, plunging the world into darkness as if a storm were imminent.
Goosebumps rose on Lin Xiao's exposed skin, and a chill surged in his heart. Nightmares from his childhood seemed to resurface before his eyes.
A tattered cloak slowly fell, and when he looked at Nightmare Douluo again, his human form was gone. Only a translucent black shadow drifted, with two glowing points emitting gray light aimed at Lin Xiao, seemingly his eyes.
"My dear disciple—" Nightmare Douluo's voice echoed through the air. "Forcing me to strike and then transferring a fatal injury to me if it were anyone else, they might have fallen for your scheme."
"But unfortunately, the Nightmare Demon is a formless martial soul. Under the Nightmare Demon True Body, injuries that would be fatal to you do not affect me. Your soul tool attacks can stop now, too."
Lin Xiao let out a long breath, looking up at the black shadow with a grave expression.
As Nightmare Douluo said, in the Nightmare Demon True Body state, he could even be immune to all physical attacks.
As for mental strength, while Nightmare Douluo's physical body was slightly weaker as a mental attribute soul master, his mental power far exceeded that of ordinary soul masters.
"You're indeed the disciple I admire most. Forcing a Titled Douluo to unleash their Martial Soul True Body with only seventy-five levels of soul power is remarkable enough. Fifth Soul Skill, Nightmare Shadows—"
Nightmare Douluo's tone remained relaxed, but he unleashed a ten-thousand-year soul skill right away, clearly indicating that Lin Xiao's earlier pressure wasn't as trivial as he claimed.
The surroundings grew even darker, and countless illusory shadows split off from the black shadow that was Nightmare Douluo, rushing toward Lin Xiao.
Lin Xiao knew these couldn't be countered with ordinary means; only something similar could stop them.
With a sinking heart, his first soul ring lit up again, and several remnant souls dissipated into nothingness. Soul seeds rose to meet the shadows in the air.
The moment the intangible shadows collided with the soul seeds, both seemed to gain substance, clashing repeatedly in the air.
Lin Xiao's sea of consciousness churned, his mental power pouring out. In the next moment, he lightly waved his right palm, and a shadow appeared from nowhere, wielding a short dagger and stabbing toward Nightmare Douluo.
A flash of cold light, and a gash appeared on the black shadow that was Nightmare Douluo.
"What is this?"
As Nightmare Douluo spoke, the nightmare shadows lost control. With Lin Xiao's second soul ring lighting up, branches and leaves sprouted, and the nightmare shadows quickly became nourishment for the soul seeds, vanishing into nothingness.
Seeing the assassin soul's attack succeed, the deep blue in Lin Xiao's eyes flared. One by one, remnant souls crawled out from the self-propelled soul tool cannons, lunging toward Nightmare Douluo.
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Here are the chapters for today (づ￣3￣)づ╭～
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