Chapter 294: Defeating Hamao

With just that one punch, Hamao Douluo was equivalent to having withstood the full-force strike of a 100,000-year Spirit Beast.

Bright red blood spilled from the corner of Hamao Douluo's mouth, staining the seawater around him red. "Is this kid a complete monster? Is he even human?"

He had never seen a human break his defensive soul skill with a single punch based solely on soul power; even the strongest of the Seven Sacred Pillars Guardian Douluo, Hailong Douluo, could not do this.

"I've lost all face; I must regain my standing." A bright white light erupted in the eyes of Hamao Douluo, who was in the seawater. He crossed his fingers and raised them to his chest, palms facing downward. At the same time, his Ninth Soul Ring lit up.

He chose to release his strongest Ninth Soul Skill directly, preparing to end the battle quickly.

The Ninth Soul Ring shone brightly. A black halo expanded rapidly, forming a circular black curtain that surrounded him in the center. Massive energy fluctuations surged wildly, dyeing the seawater of the Ring Sea black. As the energy erupted, the black seawater boiled violently, carrying his figure straight up to a height of one hundred meters.

Hamao Douluo's black Ninth Soul Ring represented a skill called Whirlwind Giant Wave Extinction Fist, which unfolded with soul power. By utilizing all the water elements in the surroundings to form a giant wave vortex, it produced area-of-effect damage. Being in the center of the Ring Sea was undoubtedly the best place for the Whirlwind Giant Wave Extinction Fist to be unleashed. The towering waves had already begun to spin crazily, and the charging of Hamao Douluo's soul skill was rising rapidly. When his charging was complete, it would be the moment for this terrifying Ninth Soul Skill to debut on its best stage.

A hundred-meter giant wave?

During the year and a half in the Nulang Juejing, the number of such giant waves Shi Quan had encountered was already beyond counting.

Shi Quan's figure rose directly from the flat surface, as if he had returned to the Nulang Juejing. Looking at the hundred-meter giant wave before him, he slowly raised his fist.

Past thoughts and intentions gathered into a single punch. His entire body's muscles moved in unison, and surging Internal Energy gathered within. The moment the punch was thrown, the shadow of the fist roared out like a Raging Wave, landing straight upon the layer of black light in front of Hamao Douluo.

This layer of black light was the protection manifested when Hamao Douluo used his Ninth Soul Skill. Its defensive capability was even greater than his Sixth Soul Skill, Ripple Shield.

But what he faced was the punch with which Shi Quan had shattered tens of thousands of giant waves; it was something Shi Quan had comprehended while confronting the Raging Waves, so it was also named after the Raging Wave.

This punch gathered all of Shi Quan's strength, fused the power of yin and yang, hardness and softness, and concentrated the power of layers of Raging Waves.

Different from the hard-to-defend force of the Nine-Level Crushing Fist, the Raging Wave roared out with majestic power like giant waves, one wave after another, layering upon each other, and then erupting. The strength of the attack was such that in the Nulang Juejing, this punch of Shi Quan's was enough to make the Raging Waves in the Nulang Juejing enter a state of calm for a short time. In terms of attack, it was absolutely terrifying.

With a muffled boom, the black light curtain surrounding Hamao Douluo's body suddenly solidified. The next moment, the black light mist shattered directly, just like a broken mirror.

Having shattered the light curtain with one punch, Shi Quan's figure instantly turned into several phantoms, as if using Teleportation. In the blink of an eye, he appeared in front of Hamao Douluo, and then threw another punch.

Seeing that the outer defensive energy had been broken by Shi Quan, Hamao Douluo hurriedly mobilized the surrounding seawater to block, but Shi Quan's speed was clearly beyond his expectations and could not be stopped at all.

If he were to be hit by that punch from Shi Quan, he feared his bones would fall apart.

However, the pain he imagined did not arrive. Looking down, he discovered that the fist Shi Quan had thrown had stopped right in front of his chest.

Shi Quan withdrew his fist and said, "I concede, Senior."

Hearing this, Hamao Douluo's expression immediately softened. He coughed lightly and hurriedly gathered back the condensed energy, and the huge vortex around the Ring Sea also slowly fell back into the Ring Sea.

If Shi Quan had actually landed that punch just now, besides the injuries caused by the punch itself, his Ninth Soul Skill would have been directly interrupted, and he would have suffered the backlash of the Ninth Soul Skill; Hamao Douluo would certainly have been seriously injured.

Since it was only a sparring match, there was naturally no need to strike so heavily; stopping at the point of contact was enough.

Hamao Douluo naturally knew this as well. After a long sigh, he cupped his hands and said, "No need for formalities, thank you for showing mercy."

Shi Quan said, "Senior, could you give me a map of the Seven Sacred Pillars?"

Hamao Douluo was stunned for a moment, then understood Shi Quan's meaning. "I don't have a map, but if you keep going in this direction, at your speed, you can reach another Sacred Pillar in at most half an hour."

"Thank you, Senior. Then this junior will not disturb you further." Knowing the location of the next Sacred Pillar, Shi Quan had no need to continue lingering. He bid farewell to Hamao Douluo, turned around, and flew off in the direction Hamao Douluo had pointed.

Hamao Douluo watched Shi Quan's departing figure and murmured softly, "This kid is truly fierce; he actually intends to challenge all seven of us."

Half an hour later, Shi Quan crossed over the yellow-robed and purple-robed Spirit Masters guarding the outer perimeter of the Ring Sea and flew directly to the outside of the Ring Sea.

As far as his eyes could see, the size of this Ring Sea was not much different from the one at the Haima Sacred Pillar before, only the form was slightly different.

"Hailong?" Shi Quan's gaze landed on the center of the Ring Sea.

In the center of the platform stood a pillar at least one-third taller than the Haima Sacred Pillar, with golden light soaring into the sky. Just by looking at the form of this Sacred Pillar, one could feel a piercing sharpness. The entire Sacred Pillar stood there like a giant spear, exactly as described in the original work.

Under the Sacred Pillar was a beautiful man with light golden long hair; this person was Hailong Douluo. As soon as Shi Quan landed, Hailong Douluo had already stood up and raised his eyes to look at Shi Quan. A golden spear appeared in his hand, and the nine soul rings—two yellow, two purple, and five black—on the spear displayed his true strength.

"Make your move," Hailong Douluo spat out three words indifferently.

Shi Quan was not surprised. He knew that there was a special way of communicating between the Seven Sacred Pillars. He figured Hamao Douluo had already told Hailong Douluo about his arrival and purpose in advance, which was why Hailong Douluo had released his martial soul so directly.

"I trouble Senior to instruct me." Shi Quan still politely performed a salute.

As he spoke, he reached back with his hand. A golden light, even more brilliant than the golden spear, emerged from Shi Quan's back. The next second, Dragon Spine Xuanyuan was drawn by Shi Quan from his back.

"Weapon-type External Spirit Bone?!" Hailong Douluo looked at the Dragon Spine Xuanyuan in Shi Quan's hand with burning eyes, and he could not help but feel a bit of envy. External Spirit Bones were already hard to come by, let alone a Weapon-type External Spirit Bone; this single soul bone was almost equivalent to a martial soul.

"An accidental gain," Shi Quan said with a smile and nodded.

"Luck is also a form of strength." Hailong Douluo shook his head and then said, "You know how to use a sword?"

"I have a little bit of insight." Shi Quan brushed Xuanyuan lightly and stood with the sword. The next second, his entire aura changed; his upright posture was like a sharp sword unsheathed, and his sharp gaze seemed capable of piercing through everything.

(End of chapter)