Douluo: Martial Soul Seven Kill Sword, The Sword Opens Heaven's Gates

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The air completely froze, and then it felt as if a section of the atmosphere had vanished entirely, leaving the entire area vacuum-sealed.

An intense suffocating sensation overwhelmed Ning Tianchen, but he reacted quickly, leaping backward to retreat.

The two Wolf Kings weren't so fortunate. Their bodies seemed to plummet into an "abyss," and the suffocation threw them into disarray.

Ning Tianchen looked up to see a handsome young man standing atop the back of a Qingluan (Azure Phoenix) martial soul, hovering in midair.

"Brother Qing?"

At this moment, Ning Tianchen finally understood who the man was.

The young man chuckled lightly and leaned back, allowing his body to fall from the sky.

Upon landing, he executed an elegant somersault, touching down smoothly.

"Let me reintroduce myself: Third Worship of the Spirit Hall, Qingluan Douluo." As he spoke, he extended his hand toward Ning Tianchen.

After shaking hands with him, Ning Tianchen let out a wry smile. "Brother Qing, you..."

He knew who the seven Worships of the Spirit Hall were, but he had never met this person before.

During their acquaintance, Qingluan Douluo had never revealed his martial soul, so Ning Tianchen naturally couldn't have guessed his identity.

Moreover, the man appeared to be no older than his early thirties, and Ning Tianchen had never imagined he would be one of the Spirit Hall's Worship powerhouses.

"Young Lord, your concern for the common people brought me here to investigate the movements of the wolf bandits. I didn't expect you'd already be locked in combat with them." Qingluan Douluo spoke casually, clearly at ease.

Ning Tianchen furrowed his brow and helplessly shrugged. "I didn't expect there to be two Wolf Kings either."

"Since you're here, Brother Qing, shall we cooperate?"

Qingluan Douluo nodded. "Ordinarily, a pack of wolf bandits wouldn't have two Wolf Kings. Meeting them like this must be considered a historic moment."

As he spoke, his figure transformed into his martial soul form. "Leave the stronger one to me."

Qingluan martial soul emerged, its sharp talons seizing the male Wolf King and dragging it to another battlefield.

Ning Tianchen consumed more Dragon Ganoderma leaves, replenishing his soul power.

In a one-on-one fight, he wouldn't lose!

---

At the city gate.

Feng Xiaotian was on the verge of exhaustion.

The sheer number of wolf bandits was overwhelming. The defenders on the city walls had already exhausted all their concealed weapons, and the soldiers were now wielding whatever they could find to fight the wolf bandits scaling the walls in a desperate last stand.

The gap in strength between ordinary humans and wolf bandits was immense. Most of the soldiers had fallen, while the horde of wolf bandits remained largely unscathed.

Feng Xiaotian killed the wolf bandit in front of him and stood there, panting heavily.

Looking at the endless sea of wolf bandits before him, he gave a bitter smile, then retrieved a firearm from his soul-guiding tool.

At this point, the city gates were about to be breached. He hoped to delay the wolf bandits' advance for as long as possible before reinforcements arrived.

After all, once the wolf bandits entered the city, it would spell disaster for the civilians.

Back in the day, when the Wind God slew the evil god, wasn't it also to protect the safety of the city's people?

As the inheritor of the Wind God's legacy, if he abandoned the city and fled, he felt he wouldn't deserve this trial.

Pulling the trigger, the firearm spat flames, mercilessly devouring the lives of the wolf bandits. The deafening roar echoed across the battlefield like the howl of a demon, eliciting cries of agony from the wolf bandit ranks.

On the city walls, Oscar and the others, who were rushing to support him, heard the sound of the firearm and grew increasingly anxious.

"Xiaotian must be in dire straits. Let's hurry!" Oscar urged.

Before the battle began, Ning Tianchen had warned them not to use firearms unless absolutely necessary.

If the concept of firearms were to spread across the continent, it would plunge the world into endless chaos.

The fact that Feng Xiaotian had been pushed to this point illustrated just how perilous the battle was.

Before the battle, Ning Tianchen had left a drop of his blood with Oscar.

Now, Oscar created a Mirror Image Duplicating Sausage, consuming it immediately. He summoned the Seven Kill Sword martial soul and, along with Chen Huayu, Ning Rongrong, and Zhu Zhuqing, rushed to the battlefield.

Not long after, the firearm ran out of ammunition. Feng Xiaotian regained a small amount of soul power and was preparing to engage the wolf bandits in melee when a dark shadow flashed past him.

Overjoyed, he turned to see Oscar and the others arriving as reinforcements.

"Xiaotian, there are only small groups of wolf bandits in other parts of the city. The defending forces there are sufficient to handle them."

Oscar explained to ease Feng Xiaotian's concerns.

Feng Xiaotian responded, "Good timing. Use the firearms to suppress them for a round and conserve as much soul power as possible."

A faint smile appeared on Oscar's lips. It seemed Feng Xiaotian had forgotten that both he and Ning Rongrong possessed soul skills that could restore soul power.

With their cooperation, they essentially formed a perpetual motion machine.

Oscar raised the Seven Kill Sword martial soul in his hand, and his sixth soul ring lit up.

"Sixth Soul Skill, Traceless Flying Swords."

Thousands of soul-powered swords formed behind him.

Though the power of Oscar's execution of the skill was far inferior to Ning Tianchen's, it excelled as an area-of-effect attack. Moreover, most of the wolf bandits were soul beasts with cultivation levels in the thousands or tens of thousands of years.

The rain of swords poured down, instantly slaughtering a large number of wolf bandits.

In terms of killing efficiency, the sixth soul skill of the Seven Kill Sword far surpassed firearms.

Feng Xiaotian chuckled bitterly and temporarily retreated to the rear of the battlefield to recover some soul power.

---

"Eight Soul Skill, Fragmented Shadow Sword Song."

Ning Tianchen's figure vanished from its original position, reappearing as ten identical sword-energy clones.

The Wolf King he was fighting was already injured and hadn't recovered any soul power—it was nearing exhaustion.

At this moment, staring at the sky dyed red by the hundred-thousand-year soul ring, its fur bristled as it prepared for a desperate final stand.

"Futile effort!"

Ning Tianchen roared, and the ten clones transformed into streaks of light.

In the blink of an eye, the ten clones simultaneously charged at the Wolf King's body.

The flashes of swordlight illuminated the entire forest with blinding brilliance.

When the soul skill ended, Ning Tianchen stood firmly in place. In the distance, the Wolf King collapsed, and a black soul ring tinged with crimson floated out of its body.

Ning Tianchen inspected its corpse and sighed. "What a pity—no soul bones."

This Wolf King's strength was close to ninety thousand years. If it had dropped a ninety-thousand-year soul bone, it would have been a huge windfall.

However, Ning Tianchen didn't feel too regretful. This Wolf King's innate ability was berserk rage, and even if it had dropped a soul bone, it would have been related to berserking.

Soul masters with weak mental fortitude who absorbed such a soul bone might easily be overwhelmed by negative emotions when activating the soul skill.

Meanwhile, the battle with Qingluan Douluo had reached a fever pitch.

This stronger Wolf King possessed two innate abilities: berserk rage and gale speed.

After entering a berserk state and activating its gale speed, the Wolf King's speed became unimaginably fast.

Though Qingluan Douluo was stronger, he still couldn't subdue it in a short time.

With both innate abilities activated, this Wolf King's strength had reached the level of a hundred-thousand-year soul beast.

Such occurrences were extremely rare on the continent, and no one knew whether defeating it would yield a hundred-thousand-year soul ring or soul bone.

Thus, Qingluan Douluo proceeded cautiously.

After finishing his battle, Ning Tianchen quickly arrived and quietly asked through telepathy, "Do you need help?"

Qingluan Douluo didn't refuse but instead shared his concerns.

Ning Tianchen paused to think.

If it truly mutated into a hundred-thousand-year soul ring, his second martial soul could fully absorb it.

Normally, the first soul skill of the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda provided either strength amplification or speed amplification.

A hundred-thousand-year soul ring could grant two soul skills. Even if it inherited both berserk rage and strength amplification, it wouldn't affect the cultivation of his second martial soul.

With this in mind, he said, "Brother Qing, let me deliver the final blow. This soul ring might be useful to me."

"Oh?" Qingluan Douluo glanced back at him.

He was aware of the increase in Ning Tianchen's soul ring years.

As allies, and given his favorable impression of Ning Tianchen, he decided to do him this favor.

"Ninth Soul Skill, Eternal Cry of the Azure Phoenix at the Eastern Suburbs."

Qingluan martial soul emitted a piercing shriek, its sound reverberating throughout the mountain forest.

The terror of a sonic wave-type soul skill lay in its unparalleled penetrative power.

Within the range of the soul skill, the damage inflicted was uniform. Nearby wolf bandits had their internal organs shattered by the intense sonic waves.

Even the Wolf King, whose cultivation had reached the level of a hundred-thousand-year soul beast through its innate abilities, struggled to withstand it.

"Now is the moment."

Qingluan Douluo gave a warning.

Ning Tianchen gripped the Seven Kill Sword martial soul, lightly tracing something in front of him.

Wherever the tip of the sword passed, trails of sword energy were left in the air, and a massive "kill" character slowly emerged.

Having broken through to the Sword Heart Realm, Ning Tianchen could easily execute this technique without relying on the Seven Kill Domain.

The "kill" character flew forward, pressing down on the Wolf King.

An explosion rang out. The Wolf King, which had been fully focused on resisting the sonic wave attack, had no energy left to defend against Ning Tianchen's strike.

As expected, with the smoke from the explosion clearing, the Wolf King was covered in wounds. It staggered a few steps before collapsing to the ground.

A crimson soul ring emerged from its body, quickly dyeing the entire night sky red.

"So, when the cultivation years are increased through innate abilities, the soul ring changes accordingly," Qingluan Douluo murmured softly.

He was already a Title Douluo, so soul rings were useless to him.

However, hundred-thousand-year soul bones still held appeal.

After the Wolf King's death, a strong surge of soul power emanated from its right leg.

This was a sign of a soul bone appearing.

Qingluan Douluo arrived at the corpse first. After sensing the soul power, he immediately lost interest.

"How is it?" Ning Tianchen arrived shortly after and asked.

Hundred-thousand-year soul beasts always dropped soul bones corresponding to vacant slots on the killer's body. However, this Wolf King was a special case and might not follow that rule.

Qingluan Douluo sighed regretfully. "The soul bone isn't at the hundred-thousand-year level—it's a ninety-thousand-year right leg bone. What a pity."

Clearly, he already possessed a right leg soul bone.

Soul masters couldn't replace the soul bones on their bodies—though this wasn't absolute.

In extreme cases, a soul master could sever the limb containing the soul bone and reabsorb it.

For a Title Douluo, however, the cost would be too great.

Cutting off the limb with the soul bone would result in a ten-level drop in strength, and even after reabsorbing the soul bone, there was no guarantee of returning to their original power.

If it wasn't a hundred-thousand-year soul bone, it simply wasn't worth the risk.

After all, the source of a Title Douluo's strength was their vitality. Losing a significant amount of vitality would severely hinder their future growth.

"I think my assistance may no longer be necessary. A hundred-thousand-year soul ring won't disappear within an hour and will likely last for a full day."

"You go deal with the remaining wolf bandits, and then come back to handle this soul ring later."

With that, Qingluan Douluo activated his martial soul and soared away on the wind.

---

After hiding the Wolf King's corpse, Ning Tianchen went to support the sisters.

After dealing with the nearby wolf bandits, the three of them moved to reinforce the battle at the city gates.

Without the leadership of the Wolf King, the wolf bandit horde descended into chaos.

But their sheer numbers still placed immense pressure on the city's defenses.

Civilians who had been hastily recruited continued to pour into the battlefield. Lacking weapons, they could only pick up those dropped by fallen soldiers.

Most of these civilians were killed by the wolf bandits while trying to retrieve weapons.

Feng Xiaotian and the others fought desperately but could only barely prevent the wolf bandits from entering the city.

Ning Tianchen, possessing numerous area-of-effect soul skills, joined the battle, and the situation instantly turned in their favor.

"Soul Bone Skill of the Fire Dragon King's Left Arm, Descent of the Fire Dragon!"

Upon activating the soul skill, a massive fire dragon rose into the air, its body completely enveloped in flames as it soared across the battlefield, igniting the entire sky.

The fire dragon's breath, combined with Ning Tianchen and the others' soul skills, decimated most of the wolf bandits within a quarter of an hour.

The remaining wolf bandits scattered in all directions. Ning Tianchen and the others armed themselves with firearms and used flight-type soul skills to pursue and hunt them down.

Wolf bandits were naturally pack-oriented soul beasts, and when fleeing, they instinctively formed a line.

Ning Tianchen reminded everyone, "Prioritize killing the wolf bandits at the end of the line. Avoid targeting the middle, and don't attack the leader."

If the wolf bandits ahead saw their comrades fall, they would feel threatened and scatter, making them harder to pursue.

---

Following Ning Tianchen's strategy, by noon the next day, ninety percent of the wolf bandit horde had been eliminated.

The remaining ten percent were no longer a threat and had long since fled, leaving no trace behind.

The divine trial only required them to eliminate eighty percent of the wolf bandits, so their mission was already complete.

Exhausted, the group returned to the city.

Zhao Yi personally welcomed them inside.

"Seniors, you are the heroes of Xingnan City. On behalf of all the citizens of Xingnan City, I thank you." Zhao Yi bowed deeply in gratitude.

Ning Tianchen helped him up. "We'll discuss thanks later. First, tally the casualties. Also, don't let ordinary people touch the wolf bandit corpses—Xiaotian will lead a team to clean up the battlefield."

Such a large number of wolf bandits inevitably meant the appearance of soul bones.

With the battle just over, Ning Tianchen didn't want the townsfolk to trigger a serious internal conflict over the soul bones.

Understanding his concerns, Zhao Yi nodded earnestly and agreed.

After giving instructions, Ning Tianchen decided to absorb the hundred-thousand-year soul ring.

Ning Rongrong couldn't help but ask, "Brother Tianchen, can you really add a soul ring to the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda martial soul now?"

Her concern was understandable. The example of the continent's first twin martial soul stood as a precedent.

Before understanding how to cultivate twin martial souls, rashly adding a soul ring to the second martial soul was an extremely dangerous move.

As someone who had transcended worlds, Ning Tianchen naturally understood the prerequisites for cultivating twin martial souls.

The first requirement was whether the body's strength could withstand the pressure of multiple soul rings.

Ning Tianchen already possessed two hundred-thousand-year soul rings, and his physical strength had long reached the level of a Title Douluo, so withstanding the pressure of soul rings was no issue.

The second requirement was balancing the two types of soul power.

Within Ning Tianchen's body flowed the power of the Asura God, which naturally mediated between the two forces. He didn't even need to consciously cultivate, as balance formed spontaneously.

All in all, he wouldn't face any danger and could gain a suitable hundred-thousand-year soul ring.

"Big Brother, Miss Rongrong and I will guard you while you absorb the soul ring. Leave the cleanup work to Xiaotian and the others," Chen Huayu volunteered.

Ning Tianchen didn't refuse. "Very well. Everyone go about your tasks—I may need quite some time to fully absorb the soul ring."

After all, this was his first time actively absorbing a hundred-thousand-year soul ring, and its difficulty far surpassed that of sacrificial offerings or divine-bestowed soul rings.

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