"Dugu Bo, I respect you as a talented man. Why don't you leave the darkness, embrace the light, and return to our Spirit Hall?"
Guangling Douluo dodged the star-drawing technique from the Second Elder, drew his bow, aimed at the Fourth Elder behind, and released an arrow radiating icy sharpness, only to be blocked by the Star Guardian.
Seeing this, Guangling Douluo's youthful face showed signs of difficulty. Though he spoke confidently, the pressure was immense.
Dugu Bo's poison was truly troublesome, and his spirit bone skill, Medusa's Gaze, was also difficult to counter.
In addition, the coordination from the Second Elder and assistance from the Fourth Elder meant that although Guangling Douluo could hold his own against all three, he had no way to support other parts of the battlefield.
Just as the four were locked in a stalemate, Guangling Douluo suddenly saw Golden Crocodile Douluo blasted into a mountain by Xu Mingxi's Solar Flame Cannon.
Though he knew Golden Crocodile Douluo wouldn't be defeated so easily, Guangling still felt uneasy.
He stopped evading and prepared to fight head-on. His eighth and ninth spirit rings lit up simultaneously, pouring a large amount of soul power into the Guangling Ice Bow.
His left eye, with built-in targeting and locking abilities, suddenly opened, locking directly onto the Fourth Elder, who was recovering star light using two bursts of soul power.
Just as the arrow was about to fire, Guangling Douluo suddenly felt he wasn't aiming at the enemy. How could this be?
The arrow was already nocked, and it had to be released. He chose to trust his left eye, which had never failed him, and pulled the bowstring fully.
Eighth soul skill: End.
Ninth soul skill: Soul-shattering Roar that Slays the Heavens.
At that moment, the Fourth Elder felt time and space freeze around him. Seeing Guangling Douluo's move, he tried to activate the Star Guardian, but he couldn't move.
A blue arrow shot out from Guangling's hand, freezing everything in its path.
Dugu Bo and the Second Elder, now free from Zhijing's control, could only watch helplessly as the arrow, charged with massive soul power, flew past them—straight toward the Fourth Elder. Or into the void near him?
The Fourth Elder, wearing a level-7 soul-trigger shield, wasn't fatally struck because the arrow didn't hit him directly.
Dugu Bo and the other two quickly launched a fierce counterattack at Guangling Douluo, who had spent much of his soul power and was momentarily distracted by the missed shot.
Seeing the starlight and poisonous gas rush toward him, Guangling Douluo snapped back to focus and quickly drew his bow to counter both attacks.
He couldn't understand how his left eye failed—he had no choice but to trust his instincts.
He closed his left eye, observed with his right, and followed his intuition. Sure enough, the arrow didn't miss this time.
However, after exchanging two waves of soul skills, he saw the Star Crown Sect title holder, who had been struck by his ninth skill, fly out of the dust cloud.
Not only had the opponent recovered quickly, but the starlight soul power regeneration of the two in the sky resumed as well.
Guangling Douluo wanted to repeat his previous tactic, mobilizing his soul power swiftly. This time, he trusted his instincts completely.
"Guangling, be careful!"
Just as the bowstring was fully drawn, Qingluan Douluo's warning reached his ears. Guangling then realized a star-forged arrow had silently approached.
Two arrows, both brimming with powerful energy, collided, triggering a massive explosion. The deafening sound drew the attention of all titled Douluos on the battlefield.
They saw another brilliant red 100,000-year spirit ring appear in the sky. Judging by the attire, the owner was also from the Star Crown Sect.
Earlier, when Xu Mingguang saw he couldn't influence Guangling Douluo's shot, he changed strategies with Xu Mingwei.
Xu Mingwei snuck onto the battlefield, while Xu Mingguang used his sixth soul skill, Star Concealment, to suppress fluctuations in soul power and stay hidden.
The battlefield was chaotic, so Xu Mingwei successfully stalked Guangling Douluo without being noticed.
Star Arrow, Xu Mingwei's eighth and most powerful attack skill, had average power but extreme speed.
Qingluan Douluo, who had been watching over Guangling, noticed it—but too late. He could only watch Guangling be engulfed in the explosion, his fate uncertain.
Dugu Bo and the others seized the chance. Poison gas filled the air, and countless star-drawing techniques rained down.
"Guangling!!!"
Qingluan Douluo wanted to rush to save him but couldn't break free from his opponent.
The same applied to Golden Crocodile Douluo. He realized he had used all his strength but still couldn't break through.
"Star Douluo, move aside. The High Priest has already won. If anything happens to Guangling, Spirit Hall will eliminate you first."
"Golden Crocodile Douluo overthinks. We won't harm Guangling Douluo. We're only inviting him to visit the Star Crown Sect."
Seeing Dugu Bo bring Guangling out from the smoke, Golden Crocodile Douluo could sense his life force was still weak.
He frowned, then seemed to hear something. His expression changed as he looked down at the battlefield, where a Spirit Hall Soul Douluo had just arrived.
Following his gaze, Xu Mingxi also saw a familiar face from his vision and smiled at Golden Crocodile Douluo.
"Senior Golden Crocodile, if you don't leave now, it will be too late."
Now fully aware, Golden Crocodile Douluo saw the battlefield situation and nearly lost control.
With Guangling Douluo down, the Star Crown Sect could gang up on Qingluan Douluo and also confront the other Spirit Hall titleholders.
"Retreat! Spirit Hall, retreat to Spirit City!"
Golden Crocodile Douluo looked at the captured Guangling and Qingluan and was about to take away Lion Douluo, but Xu Mingxi stopped him.
"Senior Golden Crocodile, you're free to leave. But Senior Lion must go to our Star Crown Sect with the other two."
"You're going too far."
"Thank you for the compliment, Senior Golden Crocodile. You're always welcome to visit our Star Crown Sect."
Golden Crocodile Douluo had no choice but to leave first. If Lion Douluo fell, he wouldn't be able to escape.
As he left, Xu Mingxi and the sect master quickly subdued Lion Douluo and let Dugu Bo poison him, placing him with Qingluan.