DD Black White [333-334] (Patreon)

Chapter 333: Di Tian Strikes

"Is it coming?"

Yan Shaozhe gazed up at the sky where the surging darkness climbed, nearly devouring all light, and a trace of undisguisable bitterness tugged at the corner of his mouth.

He had long understood that Di Tian would never remain a bystander forever.

Once the Beast God who ruled the Star Dou Great Forest made a move, it would be a world-shaking, city-crushing strike of annihilation.

Yet there was no retreat—they stood with Shrek City at their backs, with millions of civilians who trusted and depended on them.

Even if death lay ahead, they had to stand up and take the blow head-on.

As the dark energy grew more violent and rampant, the omens above the battlefield changed with terrifying suddenness.

The dense clouds that had merely dimmed the sky turned pitch-black like splashed ink, enough to make one's heart quail.

Countless thick bolts of purple lightning rampaged and burst within the clouds, serpents of electricity dancing wildly, casting the sky in flickering light and gloom, as if doomsday had arrived.

Then, a terrifying dragon claw over a hundred meters across slowly reached out from the roiling sea of inky cloud.

This claw was condensed from the purest, most primordial darkness, its surface wreathed in a viscous black miasma capable of corroding space. Each talon was like black crystal diamond tempered by heaven and earth, glinting with a soul-chilling cold light.

Where the claw passed, space warped and trembled. Bearing the might to destroy heaven and earth, it came crashing down toward the Title Douluo with Yan Shaozhe at their head.

"Ki—!"

A clear, resolute phoenix cry ripped the sky. Without the slightest hesitation, golden light erupted from Yan Shaozhe, and he unleashed the true form of his Bright Phoenix spirit.

A resplendent golden phoenix with a wingspan of over a hundred meters manifested above the battlefield. Every feather burned with unquenchable holy light-flame, like a golden sun rising from the earth, radiating a heat that could incinerate all and a sanctity that purged evil. Without a backward glance, it slammed into the dark dragon claw pressing down from the firmament.

"Boom!"

Gold sun and dark claw collided head-on, and the extreme brilliance blinded every living being on the battlefield in an instant.

Light and darkness—two utterly opposed ultimate attributes—interwove madly in midair, annihilating each other with ferocity. The resulting shockwave surged in all directions like an apocalyptic tsunami.

The flood of charging soul beasts below and the defenders upon the city walls were struck as if by an invisible giant hammer; the weaker among them spat blood and collapsed on the spot.

However, the gulf of power between Yan Shaozhe and "Di Tian" was far too vast. After only a few breaths of stalemate, the dark claw clenched as if crushing a delicate glass orb, and seized the golden sun in its palm.

The Bright Phoenix let out a heartbreaking scream. Its holy flames visibly dimmed at speed, and its splendid golden feathers cracked inch by inch, scattering into drifting points of light.

"Shaozhe!"

Cai Meier cried out, soul shaken.

A cold, mocking chuckle came from within the clouds, as if ridiculing Yan Shaozhe's overestimation of himself.

"Ki—!"

Just as despair took root, a phoenix cry suffused with unyielding will—sharp and blood-tinged—rang across the battlefield once more.

Within the golden rain of light that was about to dissipate completely, a wisp of weak flame suddenly rekindled in the void.

Fanned by the wind, the flame grew rapidly. In the blink of an eye, it gathered back into Yan Shaozhe's figure.

Though his aura was clearly weak and blood stained the corner of his mouth, he had miraculously survived.

This was Yan Shaozhe's life-saving trump card: Phoenix Nirvana.

By virtue of his top-tier beast spirit, he could be reborn in flame once at the brink of death—an extra life, in effect.

But the price was great, and it could not be used again in a short span.

Forced to reveal his final measure in a single exchange, he nevertheless barely withstood Di Tian's killing blow, buying Shrek City a precious moment to breathe.

"Hm?"

A soft exclamation, tinged with surprise, drifted from the clouds.

Phantylia clearly had not expected this human to possess such a peculiar means of survival.

But the surprise was instantly replaced by icy killing intent.

The next second, the sky-blotting dark dragon claw crashed down from the clouds once more. This time, the power within it was even more frenzied and vicious, clearly intent on erasing Yan Shaozhe along with the city wall below in one stroke.

"Let's go!"

Time Douluo Shi Xing met the gaze of Elder Lin, a level 97 Super Douluo, and both shouted.

Two formidable auras shot into the sky. Each unleashed their true spirit forms and streaked like streams of light to meet the descending claw of destruction.

Yan Shaozhe forcibly roused the soul power left in his body, golden flames rising again—not bright, but unwavering—and charged alongside the two elders.

He knew with crystal clarity that alone he could never block Di Tian. Even with Shi Xing and Elder Lin, they might not hold for long.

Meanwhile, Xian Lin'er, Cai Meier, and the others were tightly entangled by the Savage King, Ten Thousand Demon King, and other ferocious beasts, unable to break free to help—Shrek City had fallen into the most perilous crisis since its founding millennia ago.

…

"Should we help?"

At the top terrace of the towering Jade Chamber in the center of Shrek City, Ganyu gazed toward the distant battlefield where energy raged and killing intent pierced the heavens. Her eyes especially fixed upon the densest, most oppressive region of cloud. Her cool voice held a hint of inquiry.

In her hands, a beautiful longbow had already drawn forth an ice-blue arrow, extreme cold coiling about the shaft; the moisture in the air around it instantly condensed into tiny crystals.

As long as Ningguang nodded, that arrow imbued with extreme frost could fly at once, at least briefly stalling Di Tian's assault and easing the pressure on Shrek Academy's side.

Ningguang folded her arms across her chest, the hem of her luxurious gold-patterned qipao stirring in the wind.

Yet her gaze did not fall upon the brutal battlefield, but passed beyond the rooftops toward Shrek City's northern districts.

There, countless civilians, supporting the old and carrying the young, moved like a migrating colony of ants along routes the Academy had long since planned, struggling yet orderly as they evacuated the city.

Clearly, Shrek Academy's upper echelon had foreseen the crisis might deteriorate to this point and had been arranging evacuations since the very start of the beast tide.

But ordinary people's pace was limited. To fully escape the danger and flee with their lives, they needed more time.

She was silent a moment, expression shifting subtly on her flawless face, before she spoke—her voice carrying a barely perceptible gravity.

"Let's probe with long-range attacks first. More importantly… the one in those clouds likely isn't the real Beast God Di Tian."

Through special channels, Ningguang had already received an urgent message from Lu Jingming: the mastermind behind this sudden beast tide was a dreadful being representing destruction—the Lord Ravager, Phantylia.

The awe-inspiring "Di Tian" they faced was merely a powerful puppet controlled by that force.

With the strength she and Ganyu currently possessed, a direct confrontation with Phantylia held no chance of victory.

Lu Jingming's intent was equally clear: have them gather their strength and evacuate at once. Herta would employ the Key of Infinity to receive them across space and bring them safely back to Haiyuan City.

Ningguang drew her gaze from the northern evacuees back to the thunderous battlefield. Her eyes sharpened.

"Both our Jade Chamber personnel and the civilians retreating need more time."

In Shrek City's streets and alleys, many employees in Jade Chamber uniforms were executing emergency protocols, emerging from various branches and converging on the main building in an orderly fashion.

Most were foundational staff who kept the Jade Chamber's vast commercial apparatus running. Not combatants, but indispensable all the same.

Looking at those striving to reach headquarters, Ningguang's eyes grew resolute.

She had to extract every last one of them safely. It was an inescapable duty as the Jade Chamber's master.

At the same time, the sight of civilians in the north—supporting elders, carrying children, stumbling on—made it impossible for her to harden her heart and depart at once.

Every second won might save dozens, even hundreds, of innocent lives.

Ganyu nodded in understanding, saying no more.

She raised her longbow steadily, the ice-blue arrow nocked with precision. Soul power swirled like a vortex toward the arrowhead, and an extreme cold that could freeze souls began to spread.

The arrowhead aimed at the dark dragon claw pushing forth from the clouds again.

The extreme cold gathered madly at the tip, yet leaked not a whit—Ganyu compressed it with microsurgical control entirely within the ice-blue shaft.

The energy condensed to such an extent that the air around the arrow warped slightly, unable to bear the imminent eruption of glacial might.

This was the hallmark of an ice-type soul master's absolute control—and the bedrock of her confidence as a level 99 Limit Douluo.

Even over a distance of more than a dozen kilometers from the main battlefield, her peerless control and precise spatial sensing would ensure that arrow of extreme frost found its target hidden in the clouds.

As the charge-up continued, the ice-blue glow at the tip grew ever deeper and more restrained, as if all the cold needed to freeze an ocean had been distilled into that single point of chill.

The surrounding air quietly plunged in temperature. Fine crystalline frost layered rapidly along the luxurious white-jade railing at the terrace edge. Free moisture in the air froze into countless tiny ice motes, refracting a ghostly blue light like stardust, floating around Ganyu and setting her off like a goddess of ice and snow.

Amazement flickered in Ningguang's eyes. Ganyu was unlike her—a noncombatant. Ganyu, perfect secretary that she was, could also fight like few others.

Chapter 334: Ganyu's Power

Top of the Jade Chamber.

When the extreme frost within the arrow was compressed to the precise limit of Ganyu's perfect control, a razor-sharp glint like an ice edge flashed across her tranquil, deep-blue eyes.

She adjusted her breathing slightly, jade-white fingers steady as bedrock, and then—she lightly released the taut bowstring.

"Whoosh—"

No earth-shaking detonation, only a whisper-soft crack of air.

The ice-blue arrow vanished from the string and, in the next instant, had become a ghostly blue meteor slicing the heavens. It dragged a near-invisible trail of space-warping cold, moving faster than thought, ignoring distance, and speared toward the vague, massive dragon silhouette within the distant clouds.

Where the arrow passed, water vapor froze instantly, leaving a briefly lingering thread of delicate ice crystals, which the pursuing energy eddies then shattered to powder.

Ganyu slowly lowered her moonlit longbow, her pale-blue eyes tracking that ice-blue streak across the sky.

This shot carried over seventy percent of her refined soul power and had been compressed and tempered for minutes. The annihilating cold within could freeze a thousand km of mountains and halt the flow of great rivers.

If the real Beast God Di Tian took this arrow head-on without guard, even with his unmatched dragon physique and profound cultivation, he would suffer grievous injury in an instant—likely fatal.

After all, Ganyu was now a level 99 Limit Douluo, in full command of the ultimate laws of frost, standing at the summit of this world's power.

Even peak Di Tian facing her in a frontal, all-out clash would find the result uncertain.

Yet Ganyu's mind was clear.

This rampaging "Di Tian" was no true body—behind it stood a far more terrifying being: the Lord Ravager, Phantylia.

Phantylia's true strength was unfathomable and far beyond Di Tian. This was why Lu Jingming had repeatedly urged them to avoid a head-on fight and evacuate as soon as possible.

Ningguang's heart was equally clear.

Strictly speaking, Shrek Academy, as a representative of traditional soul master forces, might become a potential obstacle to Haiyuan City's future path.

Her intervention now was driven more by compassion for the countless helpless civilians below, and respect for life itself, than by any favoritism toward Shrek Academy.

Above the clouds, Phantylia—who had been toying with Yan Shaozhe, Shi Xing, and Elder Lin like a cat with mice—felt her massive golden dragon pupils constrict. A bone-deep crisis, enough to threaten the very existence of this black dragon body, washed over her.

Though the black dragon's body was vast and brimming with power, under Ganyu's extreme-range precision sniping it had become the most conspicuous target imaginable.

That ice-blue meteor of death ignored distance and arrived in a flash. The ultimate cold within—able to freeze all things, even the source of the soul—forced her to abandon mockery and respond with full effort.

"Dragon God Claw!"

Without hesitation, Phantylia forcibly drew upon the deepest, most hidden trace of Dragon God power within the black dragon body—at a strength and efficiency far beyond Di Tian's true self.

The massive dragon claw, once shrouded in dense black miasma, suddenly burst with dazzling gold divine light. Seven-colored flames ignited within the enormous golden pupils. A Dragon God's majesty from primeval antiquity, transcending all beings, erupted and swept across heaven and earth.

This was Di Tian's greatest trump card as the foremost of the Ten Great Ferocious Beasts: the Dragon God's inherited divine art, Dragon God Claw.

If Di Tian himself unleashed it, it would be incomparably mighty, yet still limited by his own cultivation and affinity with Dragon God power, with a ceiling to its might.

But now the wielder was the higher-ranked Phantylia. Her understanding and control of energy and law far surpassed Di Tian's. In her hands, Dragon God Claw was brutally elevated by a terrifying degree.

The gold claw, blazing with sovereign radiance, tore the void, carrying an aura that crushed laws and obliterated all things, and it seized with perfect precision the ice-blue meteor rushing in.

"Crack—!"

At the instant Dragon God Claw collided with the meteor, the terrifying cold compressed within the arrow could no longer be bound. Like an ice river breaking after ten thousand years, like a slumbering polar ocean roused to fury, it exploded as a cataclysmic glacial tsunami.

Centered on the impact, space for hundreds of meters around froze at once into a colossal, crystal-clear block of ice.

The once-turbulent black clouds locked in place midair, preserving their previous savage shapes.

The purple lightning that had been surging and roaring within them froze solid as well, becoming countless eerie, gorgeous sculptures of violet thunder.

Next, unimaginable cold poured down. Fist-sized hailstones fell like heavenly punishment, and a blizzard capable of freezing everything sprang from nothing—like a roaring white behemoth—raging out from Shrek City across hundreds of li.

On the walls, Shrek's soldiers shivered violently despite their soul tool shields; teeth chattered, soul tools bit their hands with icy pain, nearly slipping from their grip.

Below, the charging soul beast tide suffered indiscriminate punishment. Countless beasts howled as they were frozen in an instant into lifelike ice statues, locked in mid-pounce across the battlefield. The entire front seemed to hit pause, the world sealed in deathly ice.

"Di Tian!"

Emerald pupils shrinking, Bi Ji's beautiful face blanched, filled with unprecedented fear and worry.

She could clearly sense that the vast life force within the black dragon had not dissipated—but it was sealed and suppressed by a law-level, unimaginable ultimate cold.

That mountain-like body, along with a great swath of surrounding cloud, was perfectly entombed in ancient ice like a prehistoric behemoth, completely losing all mobility.

"Who… who aided us with such power?!"

Yan Shaozhe, Shi Xing, and Elder Lin froze midair together, staring in disbelief at the immense black dragon sealed solid—its Dragon God Claw unable even to break the ice. Their eyes brimmed with shock beyond words.

They had seen it clearly—the tide-turning ice-blue meteor had shot from the city center. To freeze a Di Tian capable of using Dragon God Claw in one strike—this strength likely surpassed the ordinary demi-god level.

"Protect Di Tian!"

Bi Ji was the first to recover from her shock, her anxious voice ringing across the battlefield, with a faint tremor she could not hide.

She knew too well: if their commander and soul, Di Tian, remained frozen for long, the beast tide—stripped of unified command and ultimate deterrent—would descend into chaos, and the initiative would swing back to the humans without suspense.

Her jade wings beat at full force. No longer caring for the tide's casualties, she gathered all her emerald healing and life light into one massive, hyper-condensed pillar of life, like a bridge spanning the heavens, and fired it at the frozen dragon, seeking to disperse that dreadful absolute frost with a flood of life energy.

"Roar—Sky Splitting Claw!"

Almost as Bi Ji acted, the colossal Darkgold Dreadclaw Bear—Bear Lord—let out a thunderous, violent roar.

He abruptly abandoned his clash with Cai Meier. Raising golden talons harder than fine steel, he gathered and compressed his race's ultimate power at the tips, forming five massive golden claw-lights that could shred sky and pulverize earth.

This was his innate killing art—the terrifying trump that could even tear Di Tian's scales and wound his flesh—the foundation of his dominance in Star Dou Forest.

Those long-prepared golden arcs, brimming with pure destructive will, ignored distance and slashed toward War God Douluo Xian Lin'er, who had grown slightly distracted by Di Tian's freezing.

In the earlier fighting, Xian Lin'er had harried him repeatedly with peerless speed and sharp strikes, doing little real harm but sorely trying the Bear Lord's foul temper.

Now, seizing the perfect moment when all eyes were drawn to the frozen Di Tian, he chose without hesitation to eliminate the most vexing opponent first.

"Lin'er, look out!"

Black Dragon Douluo Qian Duoduo, who had been splitting his focus across the field, went ashen, bellowing with a heart-rending desperation.

He knew all too well the terror of the Bear Lord's enraged strike. Xian Lin'er's attacks were swift and fierce, but her defense was not top-tier among Title Douluo; she could not possibly withstand Sky Splitting Claw head-on.

At the split-second brink, Qian Duoduo's body moved on instinct, thought lagging behind.

He hurled out the pinnacle eighth-tier defensive soul tool he had forged over years with countless rare materials—the Light of Spatial Aegis.

A brilliant silver spatial shield blossomed at once, like a giant energy bubble rippling with space waves, just barely enveloping Xian Lin'er before the claws struck.

It was the strongest instant defense Qian Duoduo could deploy, able to withstand the full-power strike of most Super Douluo.

And yet—

"Shrrrip!"

Those golden claw-lights, infused with the Bear Lord's berserk power and rending laws, sliced the seemingly sturdy silver shield like a hot knife through butter, tearing it into a shower of sparkling energy shards.