One had to understand that the Angel God's Divine Armor was a godly artifact bound to the Angel God's very life. Though it could be restored after being shattered, doing so would gravely deplete the Angel God herself. With this single strike, Qian Renxue's strength would be reduced by ninety percent—it was truly a do-or-die gamble. Moreover, for the next three days, her power would remain at only ten percent.
If, at this moment, Tang San had recklessly unleashed the Sea's Sun, Qian Renxue's desperate attack was locked only onto his body—she would certainly have died at Tang San's hands. But Tang San had no way of dodging this last-ditch strike either. The most likely outcome would be mutual destruction. Qian Renxue had waited so long for precisely this opportunity. After launching this attack, she could no longer sustain her flight, and her entire body plummeted toward the city below. She poured every last shred of her remaining power into her voice, fully unleashing her divine sense as she shouted toward Jialing Pass: "All forces of the Spirit Empire, abandon Jialing Pass! Retreat!"
Compared to Tang San, she was far more reluctant to lose the Spirit Empire's nearly total military strength. The Soul Masters had already suffered over eighty percent casualties, and Jialing Pass could no longer be held. She also knew she lacked the remaining power to neutralize those deadly poisons. All she could do now was hope to preserve some seed of the Spirit Empire. In her heart, she had already made her peace—in the next moment, she would likely be swallowed by Tang San's attack.
But the attack Qian Renxue had anticipated never came. Her body plummeted straight toward Jialing Pass. Struggling to right herself, she thought: He didn't attack me? Why? She absolutely refused to believe Tang San could have dodged her final strike.
In truth, Qian Renxue had originally intended to skirmish with Tang San for a while before launching her ultimate attack, searching for a better opening. She had drawn inspiration for this technique from Tang San's Limitless Hammer soul ring detonation. But from the very first exchange, Tang San had wounded her. Seeing him charge forward, she knew that if she didn't act now, she would never get another chance. That was why she had launched her assault without hesitation, unleashing all her divine power and her Divine Armor simultaneously, condensing every strand of gathered solar true fire into one devastating release.
Indeed, Tang San could not dodge Qian Renxue's desperate blow. Facing the Sun Angel, which had shifted from red back to gold in midair, its temperature reaching a truly terrifying degree, Tang San smiled. All this time, he had refused to engage Qian Renxue in direct confrontation—hadn't it been precisely to guard against a mutual destruction attempt? How could he possibly make such an enormous mistake?
Amidst the deafening roar of clashing energies, Qian Renxue watched in disbelief as Tang San's body actually shattered in midair—more precisely, it was his Sea God's Divine Armor that broke apart. But unlike her, who had detonated her Angel God's Divine Armor entirely into energy, his armor split into individual pieces that scattered and then reassembled. Tang San's own body transformed into a streak of blue light, becoming part of that reassembly.
A brand-new Sea God's Trident materialized in midair, more than double the size of the original. The original blue had vanished, replaced by the purest, most translucent gold. Yes—this was the true Sea God's weapon, the Golden Trident in its original form.
"Body and trident become one—stars shift their course." The final strike of the Golden Thirteen Strikes was unleashed.
A blinding point of golden light erupted from the tip of the Golden Trident's central blade. It slashed downward toward the Sun Angel, and just as the Angel's scorching energies enveloped it, the Golden Trident suddenly circled, coiled, and flung—three movements that were the most direct yet devastatingly effective.
The Sun Angel was compressed into a ball within a strange cocoon of golden light, then hurled instantaneously toward the higher heavens.
A moment later, far above in the sky, a layer of golden-red radiance instantly transformed the color of the entire sky.
BOOM—Qian Renxue's body smashed heavily into the battlements. Her descent had already drawn the attention of the powerful fighters on both sides below. Unsure of the specifics, Tang Hao immediately issued the order to retreat. After all, the battle's outcome was irreversible—there was no need to fight to the bitter end.
Amidst the thunderous detonation, the combatants on both sides separated simultaneously. The Tian Dou Empire forces withdrew from Jialing Pass.
Falling from ten thousand meters—such was the horrifying impact. Before Qian Renxue had even landed, Golden Crocodile Douluo had already seen that without her Angel God's Divine Armor, her body radiating golden-red light could barely maintain control. This Second Enforcer had devoted his entire life to Spirit Hall. At this moment, he slammed both fists into his chest, his body instantly swelling as his skin turned completely blood-red. With a deafening explosion, he detonated himself on the spot.
Fortunately, Tang Hao's retreat order had come quickly enough that they were not caught in the self-destruction of this peak Douluo. An enormous mist of blood detonated across the sky, and Qian Renxue felt her body cushioned by a tremendous force just before it crashed into the city wall. Despite the sacrifice Golden Crocodile Douluo had made to soften the blow, the impact still tore a massive gash in Jialing Pass's fortifications.
Qian Renxue was, after all, a god. In that critical moment, thanks to Golden Crocodile Douluo's sacrifice, she managed to catch her breath. The violent collision was nothing to her. But fierce grief and rage surged through her heart. Her resolve to die vanished in an instant. She thought—even if only for Golden Crocodile Douluo, she could not simply perish here.
She sprang to her feet and shouted: "Retreat!"
The Six Enforcers—now only four remained alive. Two more Titled Douluo-level fighters had been killed in the earlier battle, leaving only six in total. The surviving Enforcers quickly gathered around Qian Renxue, and together they charged back inside Jialing Pass. The order to retreat spread rapidly throughout the fortress.
High in the sky, the Golden Trident separated, and Tang San resumed his human form. A flicker of fatigue and pallor crossed his face. Although he had used the pre-prepared final strike of the Golden Thirteen Strikes to neutralize Qian Renxue's desperate blow, the drain on his own power was considerable. The Sea God's Eight Wings behind him had turned completely blue, frantically absorbing power from the ocean below.
After steadying his divine energy, Tang San began his descent. Through his god-level Purple Extreme Demon Eye, he could clearly see Qian Renxue and the Spirit Empire's fighters retreating at full speed.
"Think you can just leave like that?" Tang San snorted coldly. Though his own divine power was heavily depleted, his recovery speed was extremely fast. He swept the Sea God's Trident forward, and the Thousand Years of Emptiness strike was launched.
An overwhelming wave of pressure struck from behind. Qian Renxue clenched her silver teeth. Under the sun's illumination, her divine power could barely maintain itself at around ten percent. But she knew full well that if Tang San chose to pursue her now, she had no hope of escape.
At that moment, years of Spirit Hall's careful planning bore fruit. The Fourth Enforcer and Fifth Enforcer—brothers both—roared in unison, spun around, and simultaneously unleashed their Martial Souls. All their energy exploded outward, detonating two massive clouds of blood in the sky.
The golden cloud of light that erupted in the heavens devoured the energy of the two Enforcers' self-destruction almost instantly. But their sacrifice had bought Qian Renxue precious time to flee.
The power of the Thousand Years of Emptiness was not so easily neutralized, however. Of the six fleeing Titled Douluo, three were caught in the blast and instantly obliterated into mist. Including the Enforcers, this single strike had claimed half of ten Titled Douluo-level fighters.
Yet Tang San did not continue the pursuit. At this point, had he pressed the attack, Qian Renxue would have had zero chance—death was the only possible outcome for her. But even as he launched the Thousand Years of Emptiness, Tang San had clearly seen that over a third of the area within Jialing Pass had already been consumed by that green miasma. Every second, countless lives were perishing within those emerald clouds.
Retreat? This massive fortress held over half a million people—how could they possibly evacuate in time? He could see corpse after corpse bursting open to release fresh waves of poison, the toxic fog already spreading beyond the city walls. Tang San sighed inwardly: Qian Renxue, I'll let you live a little longer.
In Tang San's eyes, the Spirit Empire had no chance of turning the tide. Jialing Pass was finished, and Qian Renxue had been grievously wounded by him—the Angel God's Divine Armor could not possibly recover in such a short time. In her current state, her divine sense couldn't evade his detection either. There was no urgency in hunting her down; dealing with the poison crisis came first.
A combination of mercy and strategic judgment led Tang San to temporarily abandon his pursuit of Qian Renxue. But he had no way of knowing that this momentary compassion would bring him a grave crisis of his own.
Hovering above the battlements of Jialing Pass, Tang San cast a helpless glance toward Poison Douluo, who had already retreated to their side and stood there with a vacant expression. Old monster, old monster—you're the one who decided the outcome of this entire war. I doubt even you imagined it would come to this. As for the aftermath, let me clean up your mess.
Floating in midair, Tang San's entire body blazing with sapphire-blue radiance, he immediately became the focal point of the entire battlefield—especially for the Tian Dou Empire's forces. They had clearly witnessed Qian Renxue plummet like a blazing meteor, slamming into Jialing Pass's battlements, while Tang San had descended under his own power. That alone told them everything about the outcome of the battle between gods.
Despite the green toxic fog billowing from within Jialing Pass, the million-strong army cheered as if they were fanatical devotees of the Sea God. In their eyes, there was apparently no problem Tang San could not solve. This frenzied adoration was felt even by the Tian Dou Emperor Xue Beng himself, let alone the ordinary soldiers.
"Sea—God—, long—live—the—Sea—God! Sea—God—, long—live—the—Sea—God!" Everyone knew the outcome of this battle had been decided. The Spirit Empire had no power left to resist. While it could not be said they had won without losing a single soldier, the Tian Dou Empire's army had not yet been fully committed to the battlefield, and the war was already over. Life was precious—who wouldn't be thrilled to achieve victory without real danger?
The diamond-shaped gem at the center of the Sea God's headband lit up. Its radiance seemed to ignite the power Tang San drew from the ocean. The Heart of the Sea God embedded in the Sea God's Trident, and the gem with vortex-like energy on the Sea God's chest armor, illuminated simultaneously.
When Tang San raised the Sea God's Trident above his head, the light from these three gems formed a straight line in the air. Turbulent blue radiance rapidly coalesced around his body into a colossal blue vortex over a hundred meters in diameter, spiraling skyward.
The bright, sunlit sky instantly darkened. Visible to the naked eye, massive banks of dark clouds gathered above Jialing Pass. The air grew heavy with oppressive pressure. Large raindrops began to fall—first sparsely, but within moments they had become a torrential downpour, crashing down upon Jialing Pass with thunderous force.
As the saying went, water and fire showed no mercy. The Emerald Phosphor Serpent Emperor poison was fearsome indeed, but under the deluge of rain, the green miasma rapidly faded, gradually dissolving into the downpour. A layer of blue-tinged light descended from the heavens, shrouding all of Jialing Pass. Then Tang San's calm yet absolutely authoritative voice rang out.
"All forces of the Spirit Empire within Jialing Pass—surrender now and your lives will be spared. Resist and you will be executed without mercy. Attempt to flee and you will be executed without mercy."
No one doubted Tang San's words. At this point, no Spirit Empire soldier still inside Jialing Pass could escape. The blue water barrier had taken the place of the opposite wall, sealing their exit completely. As for the Tian Dou Empire's army on this side—the earlier poison had caused too much panic, and who dared approach? Besides, even if they somehow made it out of Jialing Pass from this side, what then? A million Tian Dou soldiers awaited outside.
After speaking, Tang San pointed the Sea God's Trident downward. The torrential rain that was washing away the deadly poison did not flow toward the direction where Jialing Pass's defenders had retreated—instead, it poured outward toward the moat. At this moment, had Tang San wanted to annihilate the garrison completely without harming the Tian Dou Empire's forces outside, it would have been trivially easy. He merely needed to direct the rainwater into the defenders' midst, and Jialing Pass would truly become a city of the dead.
The Emerald Phosphor Serpent Emperor poison was truly terrifying. When any living creature died from it, their body became poison itself—even their bones would be corroded without a trace. Under the assault of this downpour, not a single corpse remained visible, a testament to the poison's horrifying potency.
Guided by the Sea God's power, the rainwater scoured every corner near Jialing Pass's walls clean. Poisons feared water—this was self-evident. And of course, the water that had washed away the poison and gathered in the moat was now thoroughly laced with Emerald Phosphor Serpent Emperor poison.