The battlefield still roared with the aftershocks of chaos. Snake Lance Douluo and Swordfish Douluo, both seasoned warriors who had survived countless battles, stared blankly after Lu Yuan's retreating figure.
He slipped away so easily!
Their emotions twisted into disbelief and outrage.
"Damn it!" Snake Lance Douluo spat, clutching his chest.
That brat had a soul ability that made him impossible to lock down, a skill that even Tang Hao's Clear Sky Hammer couldn't cage. Naturally, Lu Yuan could escape.
But what about them?
No such luck.
Locked in place by Tang Hao's suffocating aura, they could only brace themselves for the impact of his hammer.
"Boom!"
The oppressive weight crushed down. The Clear Sky Hammer's strike blasted both of them through the air like ragdolls. They smashed into the rocks with bone-shaking force, coughing up blood as the world tilted sideways.
Tang Hao didn't give them another glance. His keen gaze locked onto Lu Yuan—no, not Lu Yuan. Something else.
He froze.
His enormous pupils constricted like copper bells.
"…A Yin?"
That familiar, long-lost aura brushed against his senses.
Unmistakable.
Lu Yuan—how could Ah Yin's breath possibly be lingering on his body?
Tang Hao's mind raced, his heart slamming painfully against his ribs. Memories surged back unbidden: Ah Yin's sacrifice, her transformation, and her slow recovery over the years.
It was impossible. It had taken her more than a decade to grow back to her current state. If Lu Yuan carried her aura… did it mean she—
A cold sweat broke out along Tang Hao's spine.
No. He refused to believe it.
And yet, the thought gnawed at him, relentless and cruel.
The killing intent within him soared.
"Asshole!" Tang Hao's voice thundered across the battlefield. "What did you do?"
His killing god domain flared to life, a torrent of suffocating murderous intent flooding out. Spirit power burst from his body, sharp and suffocating as if the heavens themselves had turned hostile.
Snake Lance Douluo and Swordfish Douluo felt their throats seize. Their spirits faltered, nearly crumbling under the oppressive weight of Tang Hao's fury. Even before, they had struggled to withstand him. Now, with his rage fully unleashed, it was unbearable.
Was this truly where they would die?
"Boom!"
Black flames crackled suddenly, burning into existence around Lu Yuan's body. The aura was heavy, oppressive, and almost demonic. His entire form was engulfed in dark fire, sword qi thrumming sharply at his side.
Those eyes—dark, bottomless, terrifying—snapped up to meet Tang Hao's.
The suffocating pressure rose higher.
The instant Tang Hao's hammer descended again, Lu Yuan pushed forward against the impossible force. His feet dug into the ground, the black fire roaring as his sword intent sharpened into something wild and primordial.
"Clang!"
The cry of metal against metal rang out.
The Clear Sky Hammer's descent halted mid-strike. Shockwaves ripped through the air as the collision sent tremors rolling across the battlefield.
Though pushed down violently, Lu Yuan had endured.
Tang Hao's frown deepened. His grandson-level opponent, still only at Soul King stage, stood unyielding even under his hammer. The aura clinging to Lu Yuan was sinister, alien, and wrong.
Snake Lance Douluo and Swordfish Douluo exchanged horrified glances.
Was this really the same brat they doubted just moments ago?
It felt like an entirely different person stood there—inhuman, chilling, monstrous. Those black flames and cold eyes made even Title Douluo like them shudder.
The battle paused only briefly, silence stretching over the ruined clearing.
Then, the sky itself began to ripple.
A distortion spread overhead, like the fabric of reality tearing. From the void stepped a figure cloaked in black, face hidden, aura unreadable. With unnatural silence, he moved, appearing in front of Lu Yuan as if no space existed between.
Enemy? Or ally?
No one could tell.
And then came the low, hoarse voice, impossible to distinguish as male or female.
"You cannot defeat him. Leave. This one is mine."
The figure's words sliced through the tension.
Snake Lance Douluo and Swordfish Douluo seized their chance, grabbing Lu Yuan by either arm.
"Lu Yuan, withdraw! Now!"
"We're too old for this—let us escape alive, boy!"
The two mighty Titled Douluo looked half ready to fall to their knees.
They had been locked in combat against Tang Hao for over fifteen minutes. Their bodies screamed in protest; their reserves were nearly dry. Without Qian Renxue's strict command to protect Lu Yuan, they would have fled long ago.
Now, with this cloaked stranger stepping forward, they finally glimpsed their chance at survival.
Tang Hao, however, couldn't let it go. Rage and desperation consumed him.
The aura of his wife still lingered on Lu Yuan. It was impossible to release him without answers.
He surged forward, Clear Sky Hammer in both hands. The weight of his fury made the earth shatter under his feet.
But before he could reach Lu Yuan, the cloaked figure blurred again, blocking his path.
"Your opponent," came that rasping growl, "is me."
Tang Hao's face twisted with pure killing intent.
"Then die!"
Spirit power erupted. The Clear Sky Hammer swept forward in a frenzy, Tang Hao launching into the furious cycle of his chaotic cloak hammer technique. One strike after another, each blow faster than the last, heavier, more violent, thirty-six hammers unleashed in the blink of an eye.
The cloaked figure lifted a withered hand, fingers like shadows. Black spirit power surged outward, condensing into a titanic hand of darkness. With a single downward motion, the shadow hand mimicked his gesture—colliding with Tang Hao's hammer in a violent explosion.
The mountains trembled from the impact, boulders tumbling and trees shattering like twigs under a storm.
…
…
Off to the side, Snake Lance Douluo and Swordfish Douluo exchanged panicked words in hushed voices.
"Kid, listen. We know you're powerful. We know you're reckless. But could you please stop trying to fight Tang Hao head-on? Spare us, alright?"
Their pleading almost sounded pitiful, but there was no denying their relief. In truth, they had barely survived until now—they weren't about to tempt fate by sticking around any longer.
Lu Yuan himself, however, felt… strange.
He clenched his fists, confusion dancing across his expression.
Why did his martial soul feel different?
The icy chill that gripped his sword spirit wasn't there before. His mind felt sharper, clearer, never again clouded like it had been when trapped in Shi Nian's illusions. And his sword aura now carried another element entirely—cold.
It seemed to stem from the immortal herb he had consumed, merging seamlessly into his martial soul. He couldn't explain it, but he didn't need to.
The power was undeniable.
…
Half an hour later, the silence of the forest returned. The black mist which had engulfed Tang Hao dissipated, leaving only the ruined land and Tang Hao himself standing amid the wreckage, chest heaving with fury.
His hand trembled as he clutched the Clear Sky Hammer, his bloodshot eyes burning with grief and rage.
"A Yin…"
The name tore itself from his throat like a curse. His figure blurred and vanished, speeding toward her location.
But deep down, he already knew.
When he arrived, the truth lay bare before him.
She was gone.
His A Yin, his wife, the woman who had sacrificed herself for him so long ago—her body had been taken, dug up by the Martial Soul Hall.
Her young Blue Silver Grass form had vanished without a trace.
"No!"
His roar shook the mountains. His anguish echoed endlessly across the forest skies.
"Martial Soul Hall!" Tang Hao howled, spiritual power flaring wildly, crackling through the air like thunder. "You dare steal her from me? You dare defile her again?!"
His voice ripped apart the heavens, infused with hatred so consuming it bordered on madness.
"I swear on my life—Tang Hao and Martial Soul Hall will never coexist!"
He lifted the Clear Sky Hammer, unleashing its fury in an earth-shattering blow. The mountain before him split apart, a jagged crack marking the beginning of his vengeance.
Blood-red eyes glared into the distance.
From this moment forward, only one truth mattered.
The war between Tang Hao and the Martial Soul Hall had become a death oath.
--
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