The Bell of the Universe, suppress! (Happy New Year!)

Shen Wen looked at his "I have been very magnanimous" expression.

He could only feel that this person's ability to overthink and his degree of self-satisfaction were truly unparalleled.

He twitched his lips, too lazy to even bother explaining.

"If you want to fight, then fight; why so much nonsense?"

"Arrogant!"

Yang Hao's last shred of reason was crushed by this nonchalant statement.

He let out a low roar, green light surged around his body, and the footwork beneath him suddenly became strange and unpredictable!

Seeing his figure twist, he was like a spirit snake emerging from its hole, or a startled Dragon, his footsteps silent on the ground, yet so fast that he left trails of afterimages in the air, his trajectory erratic and elusive.

This was none other than a famous movement Dou Technique of the ancient clan's Black Annihilation Army.

Dragon-Snake Steps!

In the blink of an eye, he seemed to transform into a bolt of green lightning, piercing through several zhang of distance, his right hand's five fingers curved into claws, his fingertips wrapped in sharp Dou Qi wind, bringing with it a piercing sound of breaking air, as he fiercely clawed at Shen Wen's face!

This claw, seemingly simple, sealed off the space for Shen Wen to dodge left or right.

Before the claw wind even arrived, that sinister and sharp intent had already rushed toward his face, displaying his solid foundation and ruthless combat style.

Even suppressing his cultivation to the Three-Star Dou Zong, the power of this strike far exceeded that of ordinary people at the same Realm, clearly intending to make Shen Wen embarrass himself in one strike!

In the courtyard, Cao Ying and the others' expressions changed slightly; this Yang Hao's attack was indeed ruthless.

Xiong Tao's muscles tensed, and he was almost about to rush forward.

However, Shen Wen, who was at the center of the claw wind, did not even lift an eyelid.

Just at the moment when the sharp claw was about to touch the tip of his nose—

Shen Wen's figure, like a reflection in water broken by a pebble, swayed slightly and actually shifted half a step backward out of thin air.

It was precisely this half-step that allowed Yang Hao's sure-fire claw to graze past his lapel by a hair's breadth, grabbing nothing!

The strong wind ruffled Shen Wen's hair, but he had already taken advantage of this gap, his right hand forming a sword finger, with no massive Dou Qi attached to his fingertips.

It was only wrapped in a very faint, almost invisible layer of Chaos luster, lightly poking at Yang Hao's wrist, which was slightly tilted forward and exposed due to the missed claw.

The movement looked slow, but it was actually as fast as lightning!

Yang Hao was startled; he did not expect the opponent's movement technique to be so strange, and in his haste, he wanted to change his Move to defend.

But Shen Wen's seemingly casual finger seemed to have anticipated all his subsequent changes, precisely striking his Neiguan acupoint on his wrist!

"Puff!"

With a soft sound, not of bones breaking, Yang Hao felt the Dou Qi circulation in his entire right arm suddenly stall.

A strange, sour, and numb sensation instantly spread up along his arm's Meridians, and half of his body went soft, the follow-up Move that was ready to be unleashed was abruptly interrupted!

He let out a muffled groan, forced his body to twist using the momentum of his forward charge, and slapped his left palm toward Shen Wen's ribs with anger.

However, Shen Wen seemed to have anticipated this long ago; the finger he had poked out slid downward, the back of his hand like a nimble whip tip, lightly tapping and guiding, actually diverting the force of Yang Hao's angry palm by thirty percent, sliding past his waist.

The two clashed and separated instantly.

Yang Hao retreated two steps before steadying his figure; the sour, numb feeling in his right arm had not yet faded, and his face was already alternating between blue and white.

He stared fixedly at Shen Wen, who was still standing in place, as if he had only brushed his sleeves, his eyes full of disbelief.

In one encounter, he had initiated the attack and used a sophisticated movement technique, yet it was so nonchalantly resolved by the opponent, and he even suffered a small loss?

Shen Wen withdrew his hand, still with that calm appearance, looking at Yang Hao, and shook his head slightly:

"Is this the Prodigy of the ancient clan? It seems the Black Annihilation Army is nothing more than this!"

On Yang Hao's face, which was originally just gloomy, the last shred of arrogant disguise was also completely torn to shreds.

Shen Wen's calm but needle-like evaluation was like a loud slap, fiercely striking his face.

It was also a slap to the ancient clan's Black Annihilation Army that he was so proud of.

"You—you are courting death!!!"

A furious roar was squeezed out from the depths of his throat.

Yang Hao could no longer care about any promises to suppress his cultivation; the majestic Aura belonging to a Douzong Peak erupted like a long-suppressed volcano!

A deep green beam of Dou Qi soared into the sky from his crown, stirring the air above the courtyard to emit a whimpering scream.

The powerful pressure caused the ground to tremble slightly, and several ornamental flowers and plants in the distance were instantly ground into powder.

His eyes were blood-red, his hands were rapidly forming seals, and complex and profound seal techniques circulated at his fingertips, inducing the surrounding heaven and earth energy to gather crazily.

Shen Wen's eyes moved slightly, recognizing this familiar opening Move.

Emperor Seal Technique!

One of the ancient clan's top Dou Techniques: Mountain Opening Seal, Sea Turning Seal, Earth Covering Seal, Heaven Annihilation Seal, Ancient Emperor Seal; each seal stronger than the last.

Judging by this momentum, Yang Hao, in his rage, was afraid he was going to directly use at least the power of the Earth Covering Seal level.

"Tsk." Shen Wen clicked his tongue lightly, his brows slightly furrowed, not because of fear, but with a bit of disdain, "I can't let you destroy this courtyard. It hasn't been long since I cleaned it up."

Just at the moment before the seal in Yang Hao's hands was about to take shape, and the terrifying energy capable of razing half a mountain to the ground was about to pour out.

Shen Wen moved.

He did not form any seals, did not build up momentum, just a slight movement of his mind.

"Hum—"

A hum so low that it almost did not exist in reality's hearing seemed to resound from the end of time and space.

Immediately after, with Shen Wen as the center, an indescribable, absolute-control-like Space Power quietly descended!

This was not a simple spatial blockade or compression, but a higher-level, near-rule-level "solidification."

Yang Hao's boiling Dou Qi, the energy light seals leaping at his fingertips, and even the ferocious expression on his face, his flying hair, all froze at this moment!

It was not completely still, but became incomparably slow, slow as if trapped in the most viscous amber.

Yang Hao could feel the violent Dou Qi in his body still circulating, and the veins of the Emperor Seal Technique still connecting.

But everything felt like it had been slowed down a thousand times, and every tiny change required him to expend unimaginable mental energy and power.

What was even more terrifying was that almost simultaneously with the spatial solidification, an ancient, vast, and seemingly time-stopping bell chime rang directly in the depths of his Soul!

"Clang—"

cosmic clock!

Shen Wen's vast, sea-like Soul Power at the Late Stage of the Heavenly Realm condensed into this profound strike involving the meaning of time.

For Yang Hao, whose Soul Realm was far inferior to his, this bell chime was no different from Nine Heavens thunder exploding in his Sea of Consciousness.

Thought, stagnated.

It was not unconsciousness, but a pure "blank."

At that instant, all of Yang Hao's anger, killing intent, combat instincts, and even self-consciousness were shaken into a blank by this bell chime.

He could not "see," could not "hear," could not "think," leaving only a boundless, despair-inducing sense of stagnation.

To outsiders, the scene was even more bizarre. They saw Yang Hao, who was aggressive and about to erupt.

Suddenly, it was as if he had been cast with the highest level of immobilization technique.

The whole person froze in place, unable to even Move his eyeballs.

The terrifying Dou Qi fluctuations around his body were also strangely "frozen," maintained in a dangerous state of being about to be released but not yet released, yet making no further progress.

And Shen Wen, in this frozen scroll of time and space, took a step forward as if strolling in a courtyard.

He didn't even use a decent Move.

He simply raised his right hand, clenched his fist, and then printed it onto Yang Hao's stiff chest, neither lightly nor heavily.

The movement was clear, the trajectory distinct, and it even seemed a bit... slow.

"Bang!"

The fist reached the body, emitting a solid, muffled sound.