In terms of aptitude and learning ability, he excelled even beyond his own father, and the Qiangu Family and the higher-ups of the Spirit Pagoda could see that he was destined for great things.

However, why was it that even after becoming the Spirit Pagoda chairman for so many years, Qiangu Dongfeng was still unable to catch up to his father and reach the quasigod level? The issue wasn't a lack of aptitude or effort. Instead, it was his personality.

He possessed the Coiling Dragon Staff martial soul, but he didn't have the will and resolve to set aside his own safety when it mattered, which was required to unleash the full power of the Coiling Dragon Staff. He wasn't exactly a coward; it was just that he excessively cherished his own life, so he had never been able to make that breakthrough.

There was a significant gap in aptitude between him and Qiangu Qingfeng, but in the end, Qiangu Qingfeng was able to catch up to him, and it was precisely because Qiangu Dongfeng had never been able to capture the true spirit of the Coiling Dragon Staff.

In the past, Qiangu Dongfeng had never regretted this.

In his eyes, if he did possess that type of drive and resolve, perhaps he would be able to reach the quasigod level, but it was much more likely that he would've perished at a young age before reaching his full potential. After all, over two-thirds of the Qiangu Family's powerful beings from Qiangu Dieting's generation had perished during various types of training expeditions; only Qiangu Dieting was blessed by fortune and emerged as a quasigod.

As the chairman of the Spirit Pagoda, there weren't actually many opportunities for Qiangu Dongfeng to go into battle himself.

He was also pursuing godhood, but he wanted to pursue it safely.

However, on this day, he regretted everything for the very first time.

He discovered that he had been wrong all along. He wanted to give it his all, but the fear in his heart prevented him from being able to capture the true essence of his Coiling Dragon Staff.

Here in this grid, he had no companions to protect him, and the only thing that he could rely on was his own power. However, his heart was entirely filled with fear; how much of his power could he unleash at a time like this?

Risk and reward came hand in hand, and in order to pursue ultimate power as a wielder of the Coiling Dragon Staff, self-sacrificial resolve was a mandatory trait. In the end, he had been wrong all along!

However, understanding was one thing, but executing was another thing entirely, and it was all too late for him.

The reddish-black color in the grid formed a massive water-droplet-shaped body of energy that hovered in mid-air, and Dark Blood Demon's body melted away, fusing into that mass of energy.

Within the reddish-black liquid, a pair of dark red eyes suddenly emerged to appraise Qiangu Dongfeng, and in that instant, Qiangu Dongfeng found that even his own soul was unable to move.

The Coiling Dragon Staff that he had hurled through the air with all his might swept up a violent energy storm, but the mass of reddish-black liquid merely fused into every single corner of the grid like mercury spilling onto the ground.

Dark Blood Demon's cold voice then rang out. "Blood Demon Curse!"

A peculiar cracking sound rang out, and Qiangu Dongfeng was immobilized on the spot in a very strange posture.

In the next instant, the entire grid disintegrated, alongside all of the reddish-black energy and Qiangu Dongfeng's body.

Everything inside the grid, as well as the grid itself, had completely disappeared without a trace.

Thus, two more Limit Douluos left this world forever.

"Grandfather!" An anguished wail suddenly rang out, and Qiangu Zhangting shot forth directly toward the battlefield.

Tang Wulin's brows furrowed slightly as he reached out and made a grabbing motion with one hand, releasing a burst of immense suction force that wrenched Qiangu Zhangting back toward the human camp.

At Tang Wulin's current level of power, Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon alone was enough to forcibly pull Qiangu Zhangting back.

Qiangu Zhangting roared with fury, "Let me go, you bastard! I'm going to avenge my grandfather! I'm..."

All of a sudden, Qiangu Zhangting gave a muffled groan before falling unconscious. Gu Yuena had appeared behind him and knocked him out with a brisk chop to the neck. 

Under different circumstances, Tang Wulin would've perhaps been unable to hold back from killing Qiangu Zhangting. After all, he was also a member of the Qiangu Family, and he was also a love rival, but in the face of this formidable foe, he could only set aside his personal differences with all other members of the human army.

Gu Yuena passed Qiangu Zhangting to the powerful beings of the Spirit Pagoda, then returned to Tang Wulin's side.

A grave and somber atmosphere had settled over the entire human army.

Even though many of the powerful beings of the abyssal plane and the Holy Spirit Cult had been killed, the human army had also suffered extremely heavy losses.

Of course, Tang Wulin couldn't care less about Qiangu Dongfeng's death, but he was still very much reeling from the demise of Yali. Even though Yali had managed to preserve her own soul to be reunited with Yun Ming's soul in the Divine Atlas Spear, it still didn't change the fact that she had passed away.

Right at this moment, Lan Muzi was finally unable to hold on any longer.

He had ignited his own flames of life, which manifested itself as dazzling green flames, and his Yang Wood Saber transformed into a giant fiery blade that slashed through the air.

Finally, sound escaped from his grid for the very first time, and it was a bloodcurdling cry from the Sage Sovereign as he was inundated by the green flames.

Within the flames, Lan Muzi took one final look at Tang Yinmeng, and his eyes were filled with deep passion, as well as many other complex emotions.

In the next instant, the grid shattered, and the green flames and the Sage Sovereign disappeared in unison, leaving only a cloud of abyssal energy in the air.

Thus, another pair of combatants perished.

"Brother Lan!" Tang Yinmeng let loose a heartbroken cry before falling into Zheng Yiran's arms.

Shrek Academy had lost another cherished member, and Tang Wulin closed his eyes with a pained expression. His fists were tightly clenched, but there was nothing that he could do.

It was clear that the human camp was going to win this match. Right as Lan Muzi perished, Tong Yu had already taken care of his opponent and emerged from his grid. Thus, there were three Limit Douluos and A'Ruheng from the human camp gathered around the final two grids; even if any other member of the enemy camp could emerge alive, there was no way they would be able to escape from the four of them.

At this point, the only two battles that remained were the ones between Qiangu Dieting and Harosha, and Wu Zhangkong and his opponent.

In the recently concluded battles, the three Limit Douluos and A'Ruheng had all defeated their opponents, while Lan Muzi, Yali, and Qiangu Dongfeng had taken down their opponents with them; and those were truly heavy losses.

Harosha's situation was deteriorating by the minute as Qiangu Dieting had made up his mind to go all-out from the very beginning, whereas Harosha had made the same mistake as Qiangu Dongfeng in that he was always hoping to find a way out and create a backup plan for himself.

However, he quickly discovered that there was no possible backup plan. The Nine Palace Grids were absolute, and only the victor of each battle could emerge alive, so Harosha also began to focus fully on the battle at hand.

Both combatants were fighting extremely recklessly, and both their suits of battle armor were already ruined.

The main problem that the Nine Palace Grids presented was the lack of space, and that affected agility attack system Soul Masters the most. Harosha was perhaps the most powerful agility attack system Soul Master alive, but he was still an agility attack system Soul Master nonetheless, and after a series of direct clashes, his aura was already on the wane.

However, Qiangu Dieting refused to let up, continuing to attack like a madman without any regard for his own safety.