Douluo: Manifesting the Black Abyss and White Flower at the Start-Chapter 334 - 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.