The Glory of the Sun and Moon in the Peerless Tang Sect

Xu Zihuang raised his right hand high, and the purple-gold Thor's Spear materialized. Under his control, the spear tip suddenly pierced towards Xu Tianran's brow.

Just then, something unexpected happened.

Another silver moon suddenly rose into the sky. Two silver moons appeared eerily in this night sky.

A burst of intense silver light erupted, transforming into a massive protective shield that completely enveloped the area. The shield and the silver moon shone brightly, and as the silver light flickered, Xu Tianran's figure vanished from his spot.

Xu Zihuang showed no surprise, his eyes narrowed slightly as he looked up at the old man suspended in front of the silver moon.

The old man was very tall, with short, gray hair standing on end, and wore a bright yellow robe.

"Kong Deming".

Chapter 411 The Mystery of Zhang Lexuan's Origins and the Light of Time and Space

Kong Deming hovered before the silver moon, and the oppressive aura he exuded was in no way inferior to that of Long Xiaoyao earlier.

The nine spirit rings pulsating around him, while not as impressive as Xu Zihuang's, were still beyond conventional understanding. They were nine jet-black, ten-thousand-year spirit rings.

Kong Deming has not shown his face for nearly fifty years, and few people know that this over 150-year-old head of the Sun Moon Empire's Royal Hall of Worship is an extremely rare twin martial soul. He is not only a powerful soul master, but also a soul master with profound knowledge and experience.

The advantages of having twin martial souls became apparent during his subsequent cultivation. By adding high-age soul rings to his second martial soul, Silver Moon, his soul power level naturally broke through to level ninety-four the moment his second martial soul also reached nine rings. After decades of secluded cultivation and research into soul tools, his soul power cultivation recently broke through to level ninety-five, thus advancing him into the ranks of Super Douluo. He also successfully created the only level ten soul tool in the world, the Silver Moon Divine Light Shield.

Based on his own martial spirit, he connected with the power of heaven and earth, and his body and soul merged completely with the Silver Moon Divine Light Shield. This Silver Moon Divine Light Shield was also Kong Deming's natal soul tool.

Others might not be able to see the power of the Silver Moon Divine Light Shield, but Xu Zihuang knew very well that the Silver Moon Divine Light Shield did not rely on the power of the moon at all, but rather on the power of space.

In fact, he had sensed Kong Deming's presence long ago, but he couldn't be sure whether this Silver Moon Douluo had completed the creation of the Silver Moon Divine Light Shield at this stage.

The situation is now clear.

Kong Deming's appearance immediately caught Zhang Lexuan's attention. The moment Kong Deming released his martial spirit, the soul power within her body surged.

Looking at the two identical silver moons in the sky, her delicate body began to tremble. A memory she didn't want to recall gradually surfaced in her mind.

That buried memory was fragmented. But one thing remained vividly in her mind: the massacre of her entire family seemed to be related to her mother's background.

Bei Bei, Xu Sanshi, and Wang Qiu'er stood guard behind Zhang Lexuan. Whether it was Bei Bei's awakening of the Holy Dragon of Light or Xu Sanshi's Xuanwu bloodline power, once unleashed, they possessed considerable combat strength and might even turn the tide of battle in a short period of time.

Therefore, the two of them, along with Wang Qiu'er, were assigned to the reserve team from the very beginning of the plan. They would be ready to provide support should the situation turn unfavorable.

Previously, the situation was very favorable, so Beibei and the other two naturally didn't have to bear any pressure. They witnessed the entire process of Xu Zihuang's assassination attempt on Xu Tianran and then Lian Deming's intervention to save Xu Tianran.

Gazing at the two silver moons shining brightly in the night sky, Bei Bei subconsciously looked at Zhang Lexuan in front of him. Not only him, but Xu Sanshi and Wang Qiu'er also looked surprised.

Zhang Lexuan and Kong Deming's martial spirits are clearly from the same source.

The rest of the assault team also noticed this. However, due to the shared mental detection capabilities and the pressure from the enemy they faced, they did not turn around.

But they all had the same extremely absurd idea.

Could Zhang Lexuan, the senior disciple of the inner court who has been almost designated as the next dean of Shrek Academy, be related to the Sun Moon Empire?

Xu Tianran looked at Kong Deming in front of him and felt reassured. Relying on his own Title Douluo-level cultivation, he stood beside Kong Deming, seemingly floating in the air.

But he noticed that Kong Deming was staring intently at Zhang Lexuan in the distance. He quickly followed Kong Deming's gaze, his pupils instantly contracting.

Previously, when Zhang Lexuan displayed her martial soul ability, Xu Tianran hadn't realized anything, only thinking that Zhang Lexuan's martial soul was an ordinary moon. But now, with Kong Deming's martial soul as a comparison, he immediately discovered the connection between the two.

The royal family of the Sun Moon Empire actually possesses three extremely powerful martial souls, with Silver Moon being the third, in addition to the Sun and Purple Emperor Annihilation Dragon. However, due to special historical reasons, currently only Kong Deming possesses the Silver Moon martial soul.

Xu Tianran, who was only in his thirties, had never seen Kong Deming use his martial spirit ability before. That's why he didn't immediately realize the connection between Zhang Lexuan and their Sun Moon Empire's royal family.

"Elder Kong?" Xu Tianran greeted Kong Deming respectfully. Even if he hadn't yet inherited the throne, and even if he had ascended to the throne as the emperor of the Sun Moon Empire, he would still have to treat this strongest man in the Sun Moon Empire with utmost respect.

Moreover, Kong Deming possesses one-quarter royal blood, making him Xu Tianran's elder in terms of blood relation.

The emotions churning deep within Kong Deming's eyes subsided, and he meaningfully withdrew his gaze, lost in thought. But the next instant, his expression suddenly turned grave, and he abruptly raised his head.

A gigantic golden eye suddenly appeared above Kong Deming and Xu Tianran's heads. The patterns within the golden eye were a fusion of the patterns from Xu Zihuang's two Golden Eye Martial Soul eyes, dazzling and wondrous. Like a golden sun, it radiated dazzling golden light, standing out conspicuously amidst the boundless silver light.

Immediately afterwards, a terrifying silver beam of light, three meters in diameter, shot out from the golden eye, engulfing Kong Deming and Xu Tianran's bodies as if a natural disaster had struck.

When the golden light from the pupils shot out silver beams, the entire sky and earth were completely bathed in gold and silver, and time seemed to stand still. Every figure fighting in the palace was briefly immobilized.

The only one still able to move was Xu Zihuang. He unleashed the full power of his left leg's spirit bone skill, Source of Lightning, transforming into a streak of purple-gold lightning that shot into the sky. At some point, his spirit rings had switched to seven.

Five black, one red, and one gold rings, with the bright gold ring ranking seventh radiating a noble golden light.

The first to regain mobility in the palace was Wang Qiu'er, a strange, thin, blood-red line glowing between her brows. Looking at the world before her, now stained gold and silver, she narrowed her eyes and exclaimed in surprise.

"The Light of Time and Space of the Evil Eye Tyrant?!"

Back when she was in the Star Dou Great Forest, she had personally witnessed the earth-shattering battle between the Beast God Di Tian and the Evil Eye Tyrant Overlord, Xie Di. She had a very deep impression of the Evil Eye Tyrant Overlord's ultimate soul skill, Light of Time and Space, which had severely injured Di Tian.

However, she soon discovered that Xu Zihuang's use of the Light of Time and Space was much weaker than that of the Evil Eye Tyrant.

The ultimate soul skill of the Evil Eye Tyrant, Light of Time and Space, is essentially a self-created soul skill. It is based on the strongest innate soul skill, Evil Eye Gaze, and then incorporates its own understanding of the power of time and space.

Xu Zihuang perfectly met these conditions. His Golden Eye Martial Soul inherently possessed both temporal and spatial attributes, making him exceptionally gifted. It was through these attributes that he replicated the Time-Space Light of the Evil Eye Tyrant.

When he fully perfects this Light of Time and Space in the future, he will be no less powerful than the original form of the Evil Eye Tyrant.

Wang Qiu'er had seen Xu Zihuang's childhood memories and knew about the deep-seated hatred between him and Xu Tianran. After a slight hesitation, she hurled a golden spear. As if traversing the void, it instantly appeared to Xu Zihuang's left side.

It was the Golden Dragon Spear.

Sensing something, Xu Zihuang instinctively reached out his left hand and gripped the Golden Dragon Spear tightly. At the same time, he turned around and his gaze met Wang Qiu'er's in mid-air.

"I've said it before, I don't owe you anything," Wang Qiu'er murmured softly, her expression complicated.

Meanwhile, Xu Zihuang had already turned around, his right hand wielding the Thor's Spear and the Golden Dragon Spear as one. As the terrifying silver pillar of light, stretching over a hundred meters, dissipated, he swept the spear horizontally towards Xu Tianran.

A silver light enveloped Kong Deming and Xu Tianran. At this moment, Kong Deming was utterly shocked.

This person's control over spatial power has reached such a level?! No, that's not all. The attack just now also contained the law of time.

If Yu Tianhuang in front of him were at the same level as him, a Title Douluo, then even with the power of the Silver Moon Divine Light Shield, he would probably not be able to escape that attack.

The essence of the Silver Moon Divine Light Shield lies in utilizing the power of space; no matter how powerful the attack, it can be channeled into space.

However, Yu Tianhuang's attack just now could not be completely channeled into the space, and both he and Xu Tianran suffered a certain degree of damage.

Protected by his natal soul tool, the Silver Moon Divine Light Shield, Kong Deming was mostly unharmed, but Xu Tianran immediately lost consciousness. After all, his defensive soul tool did not protect against mental attacks.

The spear tip traversed the void, pointing directly at Xu Tianran's chest. At the critical moment, Kong Deming activated the Silver Moon Divine Light Shield with all his might, causing Xu Zihuang's attack to deviate from its original position, but it did not save Xu Tianran from disaster.

In terms of control and understanding of spatial power, Xu Zihuang is superior to Kong Deming. The reason Kong Deming can influence Xu Zihuang is purely due to his superior cultivation level and the assistance of the Silver Moon Divine Light Shield.

"Pfft—" A flash of purple-gold spear light passed by, and Xu Tianran's right arm was severed at the root.

Whether it was the battlefield in the imperial palace or the titled Douluo powerhouses clashing in the sky, everyone's attention was captivated by this scene.

Chapter 412 Retreat and Breakout

As the Golden Dragon Spear severed Xu Tianran's right arm, a golden dragon shadow flashed by. It was as if a dragon's mouth was opening to bite Xu Tianran's right arm, causing the smooth, mirror-like cut at the base of his right arm to be covered with a layer of golden light.

Starting from the incision on his right arm, Xu Tianran's body visibly withered away. This was the effect of the Golden Dragon Spear devouring life force.

The reason Xu Zihuang was able to sever Xu Tianran's right arm with the Golden Dragon Spear was because the Golden Dragon Spear, as a divine artifact, suppressed the several level-nine defensive soul tools worn by Xu Tianran in terms of grade.

Soul tools of level seven and above possess their own sentience. If Xu Tianran had remained conscious and actively channeled his soul power to activate the level nine defensive soul tools on his body, he might not have ended up in such a miserable state. Unfortunately, those defensive soul tools were overwhelmed by the aura of the divine artifact, the Golden Dragon Spear, and had lost their ability to activate autonomously.

It can be said that Xu Zihuang's ability to sever Xu Tianran's right arm in front of Kong Deming involved many coincidences.

First, Kong Deming was momentarily stunned upon seeing Zhang Lexuan's martial soul. Second, Xu Zihuang's weakened version of the Light of Time and Space countered Kong Deming's Silver Moon Divine Light Shield to some extent. Third, the Golden Dragon Spear had a suppressive effect on soul tools.

All these conditions are indispensable.

However, Xu Zihuang was not blinded by this. A huge golden phantom appeared behind him, and amidst the spatial distortion, his figure appeared in the center of the assault team below.

The Golden Dragon Spear did not pierce through Xu Tianran's body. Xu Tianran might be severely injured, but with his Title Douluo level cultivation, he would not die.

Xu Zihuang knew very well that he couldn't continue the pursuit. Compared to a peak expert like Kong Deming, he was far too weak.

From the moment Kong Deming appeared, he knew he wouldn't be able to kill Xu Tianran this time. Being able to severely injure Xu Tianran was already a pleasant surprise.

Xu Zihuang raised his head and gazed into the distance towards the Imperial Study. The guards there had already been mostly killed by the assault team. The remaining guards were protecting the unconscious Ju Zi.

To avoid implicating Ju Zi, he had rendered her unconscious when he used his sixth soul skill, Mental Field. He also deliberately moved the battle circle away from the Imperial Study.

Just then, some strange sounds suddenly came from the imperial palace of the Sun and Moon Empire.

"Zha zha, zha zha, ga ga, ga ga, zhi zhi, zhi zhi zhi zhi..."

These sounds, resembling the clashing and twisting of metal, did not come from one direction, but rather from all directions.

The surrounding houses, protected by soul-guided shields, cracked open, and enormous cannon barrels began to emerge from within. A cold metallic luster flowed, filled with an aura of destruction.

Having anticipated this, Xu Zihuang shouted, "Retreat!"

The voice echoed throughout the entire Sun Moon Empire's palace, even containing a terrifying spiritual pressure.

The holy light receded, and Ye Guyi, who had forcefully annihilated a group of evil soul masters, immediately returned to Xu Zihuang's side. In tonight's operation, the most astonishing achievement was not that of Zhang Lexuan, Nan Shuishui, and Xing Heng, the three Soul Douluo-level powerhouses, but rather that of Ye Guyi, whose martial soul had evolved into a six-winged angel.

The elemental advantage meant that even the eight-ring Soul Masters were completely suppressed when facing Ye Guyi. The seven-ring Soul Masters were no match for Ye Guyi.

In such a short period of time, more than ten evil soul masters with a cultivation level of seven rings or above have fallen at the hands of Ye Guyi.

Ye Guyi and Xu Zihuang exchanged a glance, and she instantly understood Xu Zihuang's thoughts. They didn't necessarily want Xu Tianran to die this time. A successful assassination would be ideal, but there was no need to be overly obsessed.

As the giant cannons slowly emerged from the ground, and they felt the terrifying soul power rising from them, the assault team's expressions changed drastically. Hearing Yu Tianhuang's warning, they turned around without hesitation and quickly retreated.

However, those on the ground were actually the safest at this moment, because all these terrifying soul-guided cannons were aimed at the sky.

If a soul-guided cannon of this caliber were to attack the ground, it would directly damage the imperial palace. However, if it were aimed at the sky, there would be no such problem.

The group of Title Douluos battling thousands of meters above the ground felt it even more acutely. At the Title Douluo level, one would instinctively sense danger. And now, a deadly threat had arisen in his heart without warning.

Even powerful figures like Elder Xuan and Long Xiaoyao couldn't help but gasp in shock.

The Sun Moon Empire's palace below had been completely transformed into a metal forest, with the enormous cannon barrels beginning to gleam intensely.

"Retreat!" Elder Xuan and Poison Undying shouted in unison, making a decisive decision. At the same time, the Title Douluos from the original Douluo Continent all unleashed their powerful soul skills, briefly suppressing the ninth-level soul masters of the Sun Moon Empire and the Title Douluos of the Holy Spirit Cult. Then, they all broke away from the battle and quickly retreated.

The group of titled Douluo powerhouses streaked across the sky like shooting stars, disappearing into the distant horizon.

During the flight, Du Bu Si's expression changed repeatedly, his heart filled with mixed feelings of joy and sorrow.

To their delight, Yu Tianhuang had actually succeeded. He could clearly sense that after Xu Tianran's right arm was severed, his life force was rapidly draining away. Even if he didn't die this time, he probably wouldn't live much longer. This was undoubtedly good news for the three great empires that originally belonged to the Douluo Continent.

What worried him, however, was that the Sun Moon Empire's foundation was even deeper than he had anticipated. The old man who had rescued Xu Tianran was even more unfathomable; even if he were to face him head-on, he wouldn't be confident of victory.

"When did the Sun Moon Empire produce such a figure?" Elder Xuan was equally surprised and uncertain.