Douluo Continent: The Underworld Emperor Halosa Lets Three Fly

Chapter 129 The Swan Song of a Level 10 Soul Master

Just before Ji Bochang's soul-guided storm, powerful enough to tear through space, was about to engulf the throne, Harosa remained seated, only casually raising his right index finger as if brushing away dust.

Metaphor!

An invisible spatial fluctuation instantly enveloped Yuan Hua, Yuan Feng, and all the Soul Masters present! Before they could even cry out in alarm, their figures vanished as if erased by an eraser, precisely teleported to a place far removed from the herb garden.

A sufficiently safe area.

The next moment, a devastating light completely engulfed the location where Harosa was!

Rumble, rumble, rumble—!!!

A deafening roar of energy echoed throughout the entire herb garden! The blinding light, like a miniature sun erupting, turned this once vibrant area a ghastly white!

The raging energy turbulence raged wildly, tearing apart the air and scorching the earth! Those delicate immortal herbs swayed violently in the aftershocks of the energy, their petals withering and their leaves curling up. If it weren't for the remnants of Harosa's rebirth power instinctively protecting their roots, they would probably have already turned to ashes!

Flames, rays, cutting blades, mental storms, high-energy particle streams, and space-tearing shuttles—all kinds of destructive energies intertwined, collided, and annihilated, forming a chaotic death domain that completely swallowed Harosa and his gray-brown energy throne!

This terrifying attack lasted for more than ten breaths! Ji Bochang, like a madman, traced afterimages in the void with his withered fingers, unleashing his mental power without regard for cost, manipulating all the soul tools to push their power to the limit! His eyes burned with the flames of madness and destruction, wanting to tear that high and mighty god to shreds!

"Die!"

Finally, the energy storm subsided. The blinding light faded, revealing the ground, ravaged by the storm—scorched, cracked, and riddled with deep, crisscrossing trenches. The air was thick with the smell of ozone and the acrid odor of molten metal.

The original throne of energy had vanished without a trace.

However, in the place where the throne originally stood, a figure still stood proudly!

Harosa!

His gray divine robe had long since turned to dust in the violent energy impact, revealing the Netherworld Child Battle Armor that covered his entire body, radiating a deep gray-brown metallic luster, and engraved with mysterious life and death runes!

The surface of the battle armor shimmered with a resilient gray light, easily isolating the remaining turbulent energy flow without causing any damage! Only at the joints of the battle armor, there seemed to be extremely subtle energy ripples slowly subsiding.

Harosa slightly twisted his neck, making a soft "click" sound, as if he were just stretching his muscles after sitting for a long time. A slightly amused smile appeared at the corner of his mouth on his face, which was mostly covered by his battle armor mask.

"Pfft pfft pfft—" Harosa's voice came through the mask, with a hint of lazy teasing, "Not bad, little Ji Ji. Is this the full power of a level 10 Soul Master? Hitting someone—it really hurts a bit." He even symbolically rubbed his chest (even though it was through the battle armor).

With the defensive power of a peak level two god, withstanding this level of attack was naturally no problem. However, Harosa deliberately restrained most of his divine power to protect himself, relying solely on the defensive power of his battle armor and his physical body to withstand the attack, just to truly experience the "firepower" of the pinnacle of mortal technology.

The conclusion is: it did indeed reach the threshold of godhood, enough to threaten ordinary third-level gods, and even scratch the surface of second-level gods (provided the opponent stands still and withstands it). The shock and heat of that energy impact, transmitted through the battle armor, did indeed make him feel a trace of—long-lost "pain"? It was like being hit hard with a hair clipper.

"No—impossible!!!" Ji Bochang screamed as if he had seen a ghost, his voice distorted by extreme shock and fear! His all-out attack, which he was so proud of and had poured all his energy into, hadn't even scratched a hair on his opponent's head?! This completely overturned the limits of his understanding of power! Fear, like an icy tide, instantly overwhelmed his reason!

My attack, the culmination of thirty years of skill, was actually blocked?!

But the instinct for survival and the madness in his bones kept him from giving up! All that remained in his eyes was hysterical despair and a resolute determination to die together with others!

"You forced me to do this! Harosa!!" Ji Bo roared like a wild beast, his withered right hand suddenly raised, his five fingers forming a claw, with a chilling determination, he fiercely plunged it into his right chest!

puff!

The sound of flesh tearing was clearly audible! Blood instantly stained his clothes! To everyone's horrified gaze, Ji Bochang's hand pierced through his own chest, and then he yanked it outwards!

A mechanical artifact, the size of a fist, gleaming with a cold metallic luster, its surface covered with intricate soul-guiding circuits, pulsating like a mechanical heart, and flashing with a ghostly blue energy, was forcibly ripped from his chest cavity! Blood gushed from the artifact's tubes and crevices, dripping onto the scorched earth!

Pfft!

Ji Bochang's breath deflated instantly, like a punctured balloon; his face turned deathly pale, and his body swayed precariously, sustained only by a frenzied will. With trembling hands, he raised the still-beating mechanical heart, radiating powerful energy fluctuations, high above him!

"With my lifeblood—I refine—the ultimate Soul Guide!" He spat out blood, his voice hoarse and crazed!

That's just a superfluous, pointless statement.

Buzz!

With his will, the numerous level nine and ten soul tools that had been scattered around and whose light had dimmed, along with all the soul tools he had released before, seemed to be summoned by the core. Instantly, they transformed into streams of light and began to rotate and arrange themselves at high speed, with the pulsating mechanical heart as the core!

This time, it was no longer an outbreak of individual battles, but the formation of a huge soul guidance matrix with an extremely complex structure, distinct layers, and yet a unified whole!

Countless energy circuits lit up in the void, like a sophisticated neural network, tightly connecting all the soul tools to that mechanical heart! A terrifying energy fluctuation, far exceeding the previous ones and seemingly about to completely crush space, like a primordial beast awakening, frantically gathered and surged at the center of the matrix!

Harosa watched this scene quietly, his eyes gleaming with curiosity and assessment beneath his gray-brown battle armor mask.

He had countless opportunities; with just a thought, a single sword strike, he could have easily interrupted Ji Bochang's suicidal, slow process of building up power. But he didn't.

He wanted to see.

He wanted to see what kind of brilliant, or rather, desperate light a mortal could unleash after abandoning his life and sacrificing everything, using the soul-guided technology he had pursued all his life.

The matrix might have formed extremely quickly in the eyes of mortals, but to Harosa's divine perception, it appeared as if it were in slow motion.

Let's wait and see.

Finally, the enormous soul-guiding matrix, radiating an aura of destruction, was fully formed! It hovered in front of Ji Bochang, its dark blue core (mechanical heart) pulsating like a dying engine, causing the entire matrix to emit a low and dangerous hum! The energy fluctuations it emitted were infinitely close to the full-force attack of a third-level god! It even faintly carried a trace of characteristics from the level of rules!

Harosa was all too familiar with this rule; had he stolen the essence of rebirth? No wonder it possessed such power.

Sure enough, they still upheld the old traditions of the Tang Clan.

"Hahaha—Harosa!!" Ji Bochang bled from all seven orifices, looking like a madman, as if he had been pulled from a pool of blood, yet he let out a maniacal laugh. "You inhuman, murderous, and imprisoning Holy Spirit, shameless evil soul master! You dare to sit on a divine throne?! Today! I will use the wisdom of mortals to forge the Spear of God-Slaying! To send you, this blasphemous villain—to hell! To act on behalf of Heaven! To rid Douluo of this scourge!"

His voice was hoarse and full of resentment, as if he wanted to shout out all of Harosa's "crimes".

Harosa's playful smile deepened, and he even leisurely beckoned to Ji Bochang with a finger, his tone laced with a lazy provocation: "Come on, little Ji. Let me see what this 'mortal wisdom' you speak of, this soul-guided technology, is all about?"

"Death!!!"

With the last ounce of his life force, Ji Bochang roared! The massive core of the Soul Guidance Matrix, its pulsating mechanical heart, suddenly erupted with a blinding, eerie blue light! A terrifying pillar of energy, over three meters in diameter, condensed to its extreme, its interior seemingly filled with countless tiny spaces collapsing and annihilating, shot forth like a divine spear of divine punishment, carrying the force to tear everything apart and annihilate all things, towards Harosa—no, towards the Netherworld Chant in his hand!

Wherever the beam of light passed, space violently distorted and collapsed, groaning under its unbearable weight! This was Ji Bochang burning his life force...

A final strike, a sacrifice of souls, a culmination of a lifetime's technological expertise! Its power is enough to instantly vaporize a city.

Faced with this devastating attack, Harosa finally made a move.

He didn't dodge, nor did he unleash any immense divine power. He simply raised his right hand calmly, and the ghostly scythe, entirely gray and imbued with the aura of death and rebirth, appeared steadily in his grasp. The sword tip pointed straight ahead, its blade perfectly aligned with the trajectory of that pillar of destructive light!

Buzz!

The devastating beam of dark blue light struck the seemingly plain sword tip of Netherworld Chant without any fancy moves!

The anticipated massive explosion did not occur!

There was no loud bang from the energy collision, and no destructive shockwave spreading!

There is only one kind—a heart-stopping—devouring!

The sword tip of the Netherworld's lament was like a bottomless black hole! The terrifying beam of light, capable of annihilating everything, was sucked into the sword tip the instant it touched it, like a hundred rivers flowing into the sea. It was frantically and continuously drawn in by an incomparably powerful devouring force carrying the meaning of ending and reincarnation!

Egg!

The azure beam of light was as if bitten and swallowed by an invisible giant maw, its energy being devoured by the sword at a visible speed! The sword, chanting of the underworld, lit up with a deep gray-brown light, and the mysterious runes on its surface seemed to come alive, flowing and flashing, emitting a joyful hum! It was enjoying this "feast"!

In contrast, the beam of destructive light, though still continuously outputting power, was visibly weakening! The mechanical heart forming the core of the matrix began to beat wildly and rapidly, its eerie blue light flashing violently, emitting an overloaded wail! The soul guidance circuits connecting to it began to turn red, heat up, and even emit blue smoke!

Ji Bochang collapsed in a pool of blood, staring in despair at this scene that shattered his understanding of the world! His ultimate attack, which he had sacrificed his life for and was so proud of, had been so casually used by the other party as an energy replenishment?!

"No, impossible—stop—stop now!" Ji Bochang let out a weak, desperate wail. He wanted to sever the connection, but he was already exhausted and didn't even have the strength to lift a finger. The soul-guiding matrix was like a runaway train, frantically squeezing the last bit of energy from the mechanical heart, just to maintain that futile attack!

This process lasted a full half minute! In Ji Bochang's despairing gaze, the light of the beating mechanical heart grew dimmer and dimmer, and the beating became weaker and weaker. Finally, with a soft "poof," it went out completely like a candle that had burned out. The soul guidance circuit on the surface broke apart inch by inch, turning into a pile of charred scrap iron, which fell helplessly to the ground from the air.

With the destruction of the core, the entire massive soul-guiding matrix instantly lost its light. All the suspended soul-guiding devices, as if devoid of souls, fell from the sky, clattering and scattering across the ground, their light gone, as if they had become a pile of broken copper and scrap iron. Ji Bochang collapsed completely to the ground, his eyes unfocused, uttering unconscious, maniacal laughs: "Heh—? Heh—Great Sea God, do you see this? Your faithful followers are calling upon you—The evil soul master stole the divine position and poisoned living beings, why don't you send down divine punishment? Kill him, kill him quickly—" He seemed to be trapped in some kind of hallucination, praying to the gray sky.

Harosa sheathed his Netherworld Chant, savoring the satisfaction emanating from the sword, and slowly walked to Ji Bochang, who lay sprawled on the ground like a rag doll. Looking down at the blood-soaked, dying old man, a mocking smile played on his lips:

"Pfft, little Jiji, you've really turned yourself into a pretty powerful 'power bank'." His tone was full of mockery.

Ji Bochang's unfocused gaze seemed to refocus, staring intently at Harosa, filled with resentment and unwillingness.

Harosa leaned slightly forward, his voice low, yet like a demon's whisper, clearly reaching Ji Bochang's fading consciousness:

"Don't worry, old man. You're dead today, and the next one—" He paused, his tone icy cold, "is that Sea God Tang San you admire!"

Extreme terror and disbelief instantly erupted in Ji Bochang's cloudy eyes!

A mysterious and cruel smile appeared on Harosa's face, as if he were sharing a shocking secret, his voice carrying a seductive power:

"Oh, right, I'll tell you a secret before I die, so you won't die with regrets—"

"Actually—," Harosa's voice seemed to come from the depths of hell, "that glorious and righteous Sea God Tang San you speak of is actually the greatest evil soul master in the history of Douluo Continent!"

"I must respectfully address him as the patriarch."

"You—you let it go—" Ji Bochang roared like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, trying to refute with his last bit of strength, but blood rushed to his throat, choking him and causing him to cough violently, "Cough—cough—pfft!" Large mouthfuls of blood mixed with fragments of internal organs spurted from his mouth, "Bullshit—bullshit—" The last two words were as faint as a mosquito's buzz, full of resentment, anger, and a rebuttal that was both faith and blasphemy.

The Sea God is a radiant and majestic deity, how could he possibly be an evil spirit master? The Sea God is the nightmare of evil spirit masters!

Harosa gave him no further chance to speak.

brush!

The sword light that echoed from the underworld was like the sigh of death, flashing and disappearing in an instant.

Ji Bochang's head, stained with blood and filled with shock, anger, and the collapse of his faith, was instantly separated from his body and rolled into the scorched earth beside him. His lifeless eyes were still wide open, seemingly still silently accusing Harosa of his final "slander," and his lips seemed to be moving slightly, but no sound could be uttered anymore.

The dust has settled.

Harosa didn't even glance at the headless corpse and the rolling head. With a casual wave of his hand, an invisible force swept across the battlefield. Scattered on the ground, whether intact or severely damaged, all the soul tools—including the charred remains of the mechanical heart, the three nearly finished level ten soul tools, and numerous level nine soul tools—were drawn up as if by a magnet, flying up and precisely entering a high-level storage soul tool ring that had appeared in his hand at some unknown time.

Inside the herb garden, only the pungent smell of blood and burnt flesh remained, along with the celestial herbs that had stubbornly stood firm amidst the energy storm, emitting a faint glow. Harosa looked around at the devastation, frowned slightly, and then a surge of powerful, grayish-brown rebirth energy erupted, washing over the earth like a gentle tide, smoothing the scorched marks, purifying the blood energy, and nourishing the damaged roots of the celestial herbs.

After doing all this, he turned around and took a step in the direction where Yuan Hua, Yuan Feng, and the group of terrified and trembling Soul Masters had been transferred, and his figure disappeared.

All that remains is this medicinal garden, baptized by blood and fire, which quickly returned to calm, and a cold, headless body, silently telling the story of the insurmountable chasm between mortals and gods.