Tang Hao's words shocked everyone. Someone who could defeat Tang Hao in a single move, even after withstanding his ring detonation and Sumeru Hammer, was beyond comprehension.
Who could possibly be that strong? Even the legendary Twin Peaks of the past might not manage that.
No one could think of a likely candidate.
Tang Hao shook his head. "I can't guess who that mysterious person was. But what worries me now is Jun Tianlin. Judging by his aura just now, his strength isn't much less than mine at my peak—and my ring detonation is useless against him. Worse, I killed someone very important to him. If he finds out, he will come for revenge. I was reckless this time."
"Father, don't say more—you're badly hurt. Let me take you to a healer!"
Tang San hurriedly took Tang Hao for treatment. Tang Hao already had many old injuries; now, with fresh wounds on top, it was uncertain whether he'd survive.
Unlike the original story, Tang Hao hadn't forced the blood out to break his arm or leg, nor returned the sect's soul bones, since Tang San no longer had the Blue Silver Emperor, nor did he have the external or wisdom skull. His physical and mental strength was far from the requirements for twin martial souls. He still needed his power to help Tang San grow.
The result was that Tang Hao's injuries worsened, and now, after this latest blow, he was likely not long for this world.
…
Meanwhile, outside the garden, Tianlin received a soul message from Skydream Ice Silkworm.
"Xiao Tian, just now, I sensed three soul bones over thirty thousand years old on Tang Hao."
Tianlin was surprised. "Brother Skydream, you must be mistaken. Tang Hao has six soul bones—how can there be only three?"
"No, I mean three he hasn't absorbed yet. And for some reason, one of them feels very familiar."
"What?" Tianlin was shocked. He knew Tang Hao was searching for soul bones for Tang San, but how did he get three in such a short time?
It had previously taken nearly three years to repay his debt to their sect. Now, less than a year later, how did he collect so many spirit bones?
"Not only that, I sensed countless soul beast grudges on him, and even a trace of Di Tian's aura. If I'm right, he must have been hunting soul beasts for their bones—maybe even angering Di Tian himself," Skydream Ice Silkworm said angrily. Though it no longer considered itself on the soul beast side, it still felt a pang of sympathy.
"Exactly, that's what I thought too. There's no other way to gather soul bones so quickly," Tianlin agreed.
He didn't believe Tang Hao would treat soult beasts as equals just because of Ah Yin or Xiao Wu. In his eyes, only Ah Yin and Xiao Wu were special—one was his wife, the other his daughter-in-law.
In the original story, Tang Hao got two soul bones from the sect at ages twenty and thirty, then went adventuring with Tang Xiao.
He was over level seventy, but by level eighty, he had six soul bones. He'd told Tang San that the other four were gained during his travels.
Tianlin wondered, how did Tang Hao get four bones between level seventy and eighty, with just one soult ring difference? Did he just pick them up? Soul bones weren't that common.
Otherwise, Tang Hao wouldn't have gone to such lengths to repay the sect—begging subordinates, joining smithing contests, and hunting bandits.
So Tianlin could only conclude that Tang Hao hunted soul beasts en masse. Maybe that's why Ning Fengzhi demanded the sect's soul bones be repaid, not with those obtained from random slaughter.
Now, Tang Hao was collecting soul bones for his son, not for the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, so he had no reason to keep his promise.
The Tang family has always thought this way: if others kill their soul beasts, it's evil, but if they kill soul beasts, it's justified.
"That bastard Di Tian—how could he let Tang Hao escape? With his power, he should have killed Tang Hao. Did he forget the Dragon God's Claw the Dragon God taught him?" Skydream Ice Silkworm fumed.
It didn't really mind humans killing soul beasts. In ancient times, when soul masters didn't exist, humans were helpless against soul beasts. Even a Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear ate countless people.
Now, the Dragon God was dead, the divine realm ruled by human gods, and humans had become powerful—hunting soul beasts was just the cycle of cause and effect. It understood that.
Back then, soul beasts ate humans to survive, and now humans hunted soul beasts for cultivation. Both sides had an unspoken agreement: fight, but don't kill wantonly.
After Spirit Hall was founded, they and the two empires established hunting forests. To enter, one had to be tested by Spirit Hall to ensure they'd reached the required level. This was to prevent the indiscriminate killing of soul beasts.
What Skydream Ice Silkworm didn't know was that Di Tian was even angrier.
Di Tian had been searching for the killer of the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear, always looking for someone with the Blue Silver Emperor soul ring.
He never expected Tang Hao to attack his home directly.
In half a month, Tang Hao killed more than thirty soul beasts over ten thousand years old, plus seventy or eighty thousand-year-old beasts.
He wasn't interested in hundred-year beasts (too low a chance of soul bones), so those escaped.
Di Tian, seeing the corpses, was enraged. He was sure the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear was killed by this man.
With a Blue Silver Emperor ring, ring detonation rivaling the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear, and rampant slaughter, the motive was clear: soul bones. What could be more precious than a four-hundred-thousand-year soul bone from the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear?
The evidence was clear. Di Tian immediately began a deadly pursuit of Tang Hao.
Unfortunately, he underestimated Tang Hao, not using his full power or his signature Dragon God Claw, just an ordinary claw that wounded Tang Hao. He didn't expect Tang Hao's Sumeru Hammer.
Caught off guard, Di Tian was forced back by a single blow.
By the time he recovered, Tang Hao was gone. Tang Hao was a master at escaping—even Di Tian couldn't find him.
In rage, Di Tian launched a beast tide to hunt Tang Hao, but it was repelled by Spirit Hall, and Tang Hao used the chaos to escape back to the Heaven Dou Empire.
He wouldn't dare return to Star Dou Forest soon. He never knew such a terrifying monster lurked there.
Even the four Ultimate Douluo might not be able to defeat Di Tian.