Those palms were covered with wrinkles everywhere. The owner of the hands was clearly quite old, but his strength was not as frail as those wrinkles might suggest.
With just one palm strike, Lin Xiao felt an overwhelming force surging up from underground, causing his body to uncontrollably leap into the air.
"Moo—"
Only then did a sound that was like a cow yet not quite a cow resound. A pair of earthy-yellow giant horns emerged from the ground, followed by a figure completely enveloped in earthy-yellow light that appeared exactly where Lin Xiao had been standing.
Taking several deep breaths, Lin Xiao steadied the slightly chaotic soul power within his body. He finally saw clearly who this sudden newcomer was.
It was none other than Xuan Zi, the rank 98 Super Douluo of Shrek Academy.
"Ah—"
A piercing scream suddenly came from the spectator stands around them.
Earlier, Shangguan Wei'er and An Litong had been concerned about the ordinary people on the ground and had risen into the air to fight, but when Xuan Zi suddenly appeared in the center of the arena, his powerful aura instantly overwhelmed the front rows of spectators, causing them to faint on the spot.
Although the spectators farther away were not substantially affected, the aura of a rank 98 Super Douluo still instinctively amplified the fear deep within their hearts.
The entire spectator area instantly fell into chaos. People from all three major powers were more or less affected by Xuan Zi's presence.
The seven judges nearby had already stood up the moment Xuan Zi's aura appeared from underground. Various martial souls and soul tools were released, and soul rings of different colors flashed alternately.
The Dark Lightning Douluo even soared into the air and flew toward Lin Xiao's side. Thunder-like wailing cries rang out around him, and the lightning net he wielded was already gripped tightly in his hand.
However, before he could get close, another phoenix cry resounded. Bright light burst forth from beneath Xuan Zi's feet, and yet another figure shot up from underground. Flame-like radiance illuminated the entire night sky and surged directly toward the Dark Lightning Douluo.
In just a few short breaths of time, several figures appeared one after another. Judging by their aura, every single one of them possessed cultivation above rank 90.
Lin Xiao looked around, his brows suddenly furrowing tightly.
It seemed Shrek Academy had mobilized quite a number of experts. Besides Xuan Zi, as many as four other auras belonged to Super Douluos.
It was unknown whether they had noticed some special detection method used by the Sun Moon Empire during last night's operation, but this group had all come through the ground using Xuan Zi's ability, and they had not triggered any warning from the Sun Moon Empire at all.
Xuan Zi, on the ground, slightly turned his head and glanced toward Huo Yuhao, who was hidden under a cloak to the side. Then he looked up into the air, the surprise in his eyes no less than that of Lin Xiao, who had been suddenly attacked.
Although he had not used his full strength, the palm strike Xuan Zi had just unleashed was still not something an ordinary soul master could easily withstand. He hadn't expected that when it landed on Lin Xiao, it would only force him back without causing any obvious injury.
Xuan Zi was about to speak when a familiar spiritual power suddenly spread from behind him. Sensing it, he slightly relaxed his own spiritual force. Immediately afterward, the world before his eyes transformed into a completely different scene.
It was Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Detection Sharing. It felt as though another brain was helping him process all the surrounding information. Even though there was a huge gap in soul power between him and Huo Yuhao, it still provided considerable assistance.
Xuan Zi suddenly felt a wave of relief in his heart.
After bringing the others back to Shrek Academy last night, he had been unable to stop worrying about Huo Yuhao and the others who had not yet returned. After discussing it with Mu En, without taking even a moment of rest, he immediately led several experts and turned back.
Before they even entered Mingdu, he had sensed a familiar aura in the western suburbs outside the city.
At first, he thought it was just an illusion, but now that he was experiencing the effect of Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Detection Sharing, Xuan Zi knew that Huo Yuhao had not met with any misfortune.
"Elder Xuan, Second Senior Brother, and Wang Dong are still at the Holy Spirit Cult's stronghold in Mingdu."
Before Xuan Zi could speak, Huo Yuhao's voice came pouring into his mind along with his spiritual power.
Hearing this, Xuan Zi felt even more at ease. He gave a nearly imperceptible nod and raised his head to look at Lin Xiao in the air.
The soul ring configuration of six black and three red caused Xuan Zi's expression to darken. It seemed that the icy cold sensation from that brief contact still lingered in his palm. That feeling of utter dead silence was so chilling that even he felt a slight palpitation in his heart.
An evil soul master like this absolutely could not be allowed to continue existing. Since they had already revealed themselves here because of Huo Yuhao's aura, they might as well take this opportunity to weaken the Holy Spirit Cult's strength.
"Moo—"
Another roar erupted from his throat. Xuan Zi stomped heavily on the ground, and his figure instantly shot into the air. Earthy-yellow light carrying the immense weight of the earth itself surged straight toward Lin Xiao's face.
It looked slow, but in reality, it happened in only an instant. Before Lin Xiao could clearly see exactly who from Shrek Academy had arrived, he already saw Xuan Zi leaping into the air and charging straight toward him.
Lin Xiao had once exchanged a palm strike with Long Xiaoyao, but at that time, Long Xiaoyao had not used his full power and was only testing him.
But the Xuan Zi now before him was attacking with genuine killing intent. The power contained within this sudden attack even felt stronger to Lin Xiao than Long Xiaoyao's had been back then.
At the Titled Douluo level, a gap of seven ranks in soul power was far from comparable to the difference at lower levels.
With his thoughts racing, Lin Xiao suddenly threw off the cloak covering his body, revealing the black robe underneath, adorned with dark red patterns.
From within his dantian, the power of the entire plane converged from every direction and then spread through his meridians to every part of his body.
Soul power surged violently within him. Behind Lin Xiao, dazzling light suddenly burst forth. The sounds of metallic mechanisms clanking rang out continuously. Countless parts seemed to come alive, following the dark red patterns on his body and covering every inch of him.
A streak of blood-red color spread out from his waist. A pair of bone claws made of some unknown alloy unfolded from behind him like wings, reflecting a chilling cold gleam under the illumination of the lighting soul tools.
Then, the "wings" closed. Those bone claws wrapped around Lin Xiao from behind like a lover's arms embracing him, interlocking ten fingers in front of his chest to form a solid chest plate.
Xuan Zi was not a soul engineer and, for a moment, could not discern exactly how exquisite the changes on Lin Xiao's body were. Even Huo Yuhao, who was sharing his spiritual perception, could not fully understand many parts of it at first glance.
But this did not prevent them from realizing just how terrifying this soul tool was. Lin Xiao seemed like an entirely different person. His aura suddenly soared, and the deathly aura emanating from him made even Xuan Zi's breathing become rapid, as though he had instantly aged several years.
Since obtaining this rank 9 soul tool, "Embrace of the Nether River," this was the first time he had fully unleashed its power. In that instant, it felt as though endless power was pouring forth from within his body like an unending Nether River.
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