167: Venus vs. Hades

Through Leng Yulai's memories, it was known that Harosa had lived in loneliness since childhood, with a very dark personality. Back then, having just slaughtered the orphanage, watching those who usually mocked or ignored him die, a twisted pleasure arose in his young heart.

Thus, Harosa walked out of the orphanage. At that time, he was still young and fearless, not knowing the meaning of fear.

He only hoped for the pleasure in his heart to grow stronger—the twelve skeletons brought by the Netherworld Rebirth Domain began to continue the slaughter outside, causing his Domain, which could originally only cover a dozen meters, to gradually expand to thirty meters.

Shortly after, the city defense army finally arrived. Seeing the hellish scene, they immediately treated him as an Evil Child and unhesitatingly crushed his twelve skeletons on the spot, killing him as well.

However, no one expected that under the effect of the Netherworld Rebirth Domain, Harosa was resurrected seven days later. He crawled out of the soil that buried him and his skeleton warriors and began his path of destruction and slaughter, specifically seeking out remote mountain villages to massacre.

The twelve skeletons were resurrected with him, growing together, becoming more powerful, and also more cruel and evil.

Harosa's growth rate was too fast. By the time the crisis he brought was discovered and the Federation began to take it seriously, he suddenly vanished without a trace.

No one knew where he went until he reappeared ten years later. What he slaughtered was no longer a village, but a small city.

More than sixty thousand people died in that disaster. After that incident, he had already broken through to the Titled Douluo level. At that time, he was only nineteen years old!

The destructive name of the Netherworld Douluo Harosa was thus established. He disappeared once again, and despite the Federation's best efforts, they could not find him.

In that era, Harosa was almost a synonym for terror. He did not appear often, appearing only once every five to ten years, but every time he appeared, it was inevitably accompanied by horrific slaughter. It should be noted that the area where the Holy Spirit Cult headquarters was located was near the Frozen Sea.

Ultimately, Shrek Academy still found Harosa. The Master of the Sea Gods Pavilion at the time, who was also the teacher of Sky Pillar Douluo Yun Ming, personally took action and finally found this Pluto Douluo in a remote coastal city.

It turned out that during the time Harosa had vanished, he had been slaughtering in the great ocean. The creatures in the ocean were nearly endless, and while slaughtering these marine creatures, he continuously improved. After each large-scale slaughter, he had to spend some time to digest and absorb, so his frequency of appearance was naturally not as high as other Evil Soul Masters.

After that battle, Harosa fled with heavy injuries, which even damaged his Origin. Yet he still did not die. Years later, he became a Limit Douluo and came seeking revenge.

The two sides fought until the sky turned dark and the earth grew dim, both suffering losses. Finally, with the help of outside reinforcements, Harosa was killed in the sky above Shrek Academy.

From then on, Pluto Douluo Harosa was considered to have completely disappeared. However, the Master of the Sea Gods Pavilion at the time was certain that Harosa was still alive, even though the combined power of three Limit Douluos had caused his Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering.

As time passed, Harosa's story was gradually buried. Due to Federation political considerations, his deeds also faded from people's memories.

But what no one could have imagined was that this Pluto Douluo was still alive and standing before Shen Guyan.

Judging from his past Rebirth speed, Harosa shouldn't have recovered this slowly... What secret was hidden behind this guy's immortality? And why the century of dormancy?

Shen Guyan could only temporarily suppress these questions in his heart; now was not the time to find answers.

The Pluto Douluo wanted to compete with him in swordsmanship? Shen Guyan thought for a moment and quickly reached a conclusion—

In a duel between experts, Martial Skills are certainly important, but having only technique without Soul Power as support is equally meaningless.

Just like the Jianghu where Shen Guyan lived in his previous life, people always said the most terrifying person was the one who refined their technique ten thousand times. The reality, however, was that when a Martial Forest expert released a shock of Internal Energy from a distance, the opponent would be killed instantly.

This point was also applicable on the Douluo Continent where Soul Power was cultivated. Shen Guyan had always converted the methods of cultivating Internal Energy into Soul Power cultivation, improving and adapting various Cultivation Techniques and martial arts to the cultivation system of this World.

Soul Power and technique, neither can be missing.

After coming to this World, Shen Guyan discovered that most Spirit Masters released Spirit Abilities, especially energy-type offensive Spirit Abilities, by simply releasing them—for example, breathing fire, firing ice cones, blowing wind, and so on.

Why were Spirit Masters from great powers and academies like the Tang Sect and Shrek stronger? Leaving talent aside, in terms of how to perform Spirit Abilities and utilize Spirit Abilities to unleash Spirit Abilities, Spirit Masters from these places undoubtedly did better.

Harosa wanted to compete with him in swordsmanship, not just to test him, but likely also intending to use this opportunity to research a Self-created Spirit Ability.

However, were the martial arts that Shen Guyan brought to this World really that easy to learn?

Looking at the standing Shen Guyan, Harosa had just gripped the pluto sword in his hand when a strange feeling inexplicably rose in his heart.

For some reason, that feeling was like facing his own father... "Let's begin." Harosa spoke very little, drawing his slender pluto sword and charging over.

His figure flashed like a bolt of black lightning, closing in on Shen Guyan in an instant. The longsword in his hand traced several sword flowers, stabbing directly at Shen Guyan's throat. This strike seemed simple but contained subtle changes; the flickering sword flowers made it difficult to discern the true direction of the attack.

"In that case, I'll let you experience the mystery of the Taibai Sword Dao." Shen Guyan made up his mind, calmly moving his steps and performing the Taibai Sect's "Flying Swallow Chasing the Moon."

Meteor-white feathers flash as they leave the sheath; a single traceless strike, and snow blankets the mountains—

His figure was light, tracing an arc in the air like a flying swallow, skillfully avoiding Harosa's attack. At the same time, the canglang sword pierced out following the momentum, its strike sharp and heading straight for Harosa's chest. This Move used the opponent's strength against them, breaking clumsiness with skill, vividly demonstrating the agility of the Taibai Sect's swordsmanship.

Harosa was slightly surprised. He hadn't expected Shen Guyan to neutralize his attack so easily and counterattack so quickly. He hurriedly dodged to the side, while turning his longsword to use the "Return of the Falling Goose" form, the blade slashing diagonally at Shen Guyan's arm.

Shen Guyan's wrist flicked, and the canglang sword wriggled like a spirit snake, responding with the "Five-hit Sword." Five consecutive strikes, each connected to the next, every strike containing a different force—some fierce, some soft—making it difficult for Harosa to withstand for a moment.

"You indeed have some skill."

Harosa stepped back, widening the distance between himself and Shen Guyan. He thought to himself that Shen Guyan's swordsmanship was indeed extraordinary, the Moves exquisite and peerless, each seemingly containing a unique Sword Intent. He decided to change his strategy, no longer rushing to attack, but first observing the flaws in Shen Guyan's swordsmanship.