Chapter 140: Couldn't Hold Back

Zhao Ling nodded and accepted Bone Douluo's challenge. Emperor Xue Ye hadn't expected Zhao Ling to agree so readily to Bone Douluo's request for a spar.

Still, since the first Imperial Offering was willing to display his strength, Emperor Xue Ye naturally wanted to witness it himself.

With a grand wave of his hand, Emperor Xue Ye ordered everyone to move to the royal exclusive training arena.

Once there, he issued strict instructions to the guards to secure the area and prevent anyone else from entering or exiting the training grounds.

He also commanded that no one was allowed to speak of anything they witnessed here today.

Zhao Ling hadn't expected such a measure from Emperor Xue Ye. Clearly, the old fox was a little worried that his newly appointed Imperial Offering might suffer an embarrassing defeat at the hands of Bone Douluo.

Zhao Ling found this laughable. What a joke—did they really think he could lose to Bone Douluo? Did they think his three or four hundred-thousand-year soul rings were decorations?

Not to mention, he was currently equipped with all his soul bones, including the near-unmatched-in-close-combat Amethyst Behemoth external soul bone. Lose? Please.

Most importantly, he had the sixfold physical boost of the intermediate Barbaric Battle Body. If even that wasn't enough to win, Zhao Ling might as well bash his head on tofu.

Bone Douluo strode up to the stage in a few long strides, his deeply sunken eyes fixed intently on Zhao Ling, full of battle intent.

Zhao Ling merely shook his head with a faint smile. He tapped the ground with the tip of his foot and drifted lightly onto the arena platform. His expression remained calm and indifferent, showing no signs of the fierce clash about to erupt.

Bone Douluo didn't hesitate. He instantly released his spirit—Bone Dragon. A massive skeletal dragon emerged behind him, radiating an overwhelming dragon might in all directions.

At the same time, two yellow, two purple, and five black rings rose from the ground—a total of nine soul rings.

Bone Douluo locked eyes with Zhao Ling, only to be baffled when Zhao Ling didn't even bother to release his spirit. Instead, he stood there watching with a mocking gaze.

Bone Douluo instantly felt insulted. Arrogant! The man didn't even think he was worthy of him releasing his spirit?

Burning with the desire to teach Zhao Ling a lesson, Bone Douluo activated his first soul ring—Bone Dragon Thrust.

The skeletal dragon behind him transformed into a phantom and shot toward Zhao Ling with a speed that defied the eye.

Yet Zhao Ling didn't even bother to block. He simply clenched his fist and stepped forward.

When the phantom bone dragon struck him, it dissipated instantly, vanishing into smoke without leaving a scratch. Everyone present looked on in disbelief.

Before Bone Douluo could process it, Zhao Ling was already less than two meters away.

Panicking, Bone Douluo quickly activated his second soul skill—Bone Dragon Armor, which boosted his defense fivefold. He refused to believe Zhao Ling could break through it.

The massive bone dragon appeared again and wrapped around Bone Douluo, forming a bone armor that enveloped him completely and significantly enhanced his defense.

At that moment, Zhao Ling's fist connected.

Bone Douluo crossed his arms in front of him, hoping to block the attack with his reinforced bone armor.

"Bang—!" A deep thud echoed across the arena as Zhao Ling's fist smashed against Bone Douluo's forearms, layered in the dragon armor. A terrifying force exploded from the impact.

Bone Douluo spun as he was flung from the stage like a ragdoll, crashing into a wall thirty meters away with a thunderous boom.

Dust billowed. Everyone present stood wide-eyed and slack-jawed.

What the hell had just happened? Bone Douluo had used his spirit and reinforced his defense—and still got blown away by one punch from Demon Supressing Douluo?

A monster that could send a titled Douluo flying without even using a spirit or soul power? They couldn't believe their eyes.

And yet, here that monster stood. Barehanded, without soul power, he'd blasted a titled Douluo into a wall like it was nothing. Absolutely absurd.

Buried in dust, Bone Douluo realized he'd embedded three inches into the wall. The wall's brutal rebound force made him grunt, and he spat out blood.

"Pfft… Im-Impossible… What kind of freak is this guy? He didn't use soul power or a spirit… and just his body could punch me into a wall…"

He tried to wriggle free, but couldn't. Worse, he realized both his arms—used to block the punch—felt broken.

This terrified him even more. If he hadn't used Bone Dragon Armor, if he hadn't blocked with both arms, he didn't dare imagine the consequences.

Trying to match this freak had been a terrible miscalculation. He had well and truly kicked a steel plate. Bone Douluo coughed again in shame.

"Cough… cough…"

The sound finally snapped everyone out of their daze. Sword Douluo Chen Xin rushed into the dust cloud and eventually found Bone Douluo's embedded form.

Carefully, he pried him out of the wall. But the moment he touched Bone Douluo's broken arms, the man hissed in pain.

"Don't—Don't move me! My arms are broken, and I think my back has several cracked ribs too…"

Sword Douluo gasped. That seemingly effortless punch had broken Bone Douluo's arms and cracked ribs?

No wonder Demon Supressing Douluo had such a fearsome reputation. His strength was monstrous.

As the dust began to settle, Sword Douluo called for Emperor Xue Ye to send in some aides with a stretcher. They gingerly placed Bone Douluo on it.

He then asked with concern, "Old Bone, are you okay? Don't tell me one punch did you in…"

"Cough… Don't talk nonsense! I'm not that fragile."

Bone Douluo grumbled in reply, but deep down he knew the truth—Zhao Ling's punch had been terrifying. A true 24K gold-tier freak.

Fortunately, the palace had a few high-level healing-type soul masters on standby. Upon receiving Emperor Xue Ye's order, they rushed into the training ground to begin treating Bone Douluo.

Zhao Ling walked over to Bone Douluo, scratching his head with an awkward smile.

"Sorry, Bone Douluo. My strength's grown so fast recently, and I rarely spar with anyone. Honestly, I didn't realize how strong I'd become. I… didn't hold back in time."