A great hammer, dark as night and etched with faint golden patterns, erupted into the clearing with a crushing aura.
The Haotian Hammer.
Weapon of legends. The true top-tier martial soul of the continent. Symbol of an ancient sect feared by all. Its emergence rewrote the atmosphere into pure pressure.
Nine soul rings floated in sequence, their glow crownlike around the hammer.
Yellow… yellow… purple… purple… black… black… black… black… and at the apex—scarlet.
"A… red ring… that's a hundred-thousand-year soul ring!"
Ghost Douluo froze, his voice cracking with horror.
"Haotian Hammer! He's back… He's alive?!"
His phantom body trembled uncontrollably. Even in front of the Titan Ape's rampaging force, he had never known such instinctive terror. A nightmare long buried in Spirit Hall had reared its head once more.
The hammer swelled larger than a mountain, red gleam flushing across the black metal. The strike crashed down on Bibi Dong, warping the very air, distorting time and space as a hill-sized weight plummeted.
A detonation roared across the forest. Dust exploded skyward, blotting the moon. The impact split the ground, shattering roots and trees for hundreds of meters.
"Nine rings… a scarlet Haotian Hammer… there's no mistake!" Ghost gasped, ducking instinctively. "Tang Hao!"
The figure in black gave a single guttural warning mid-slash.
"Bibi Dong, remember this—I'll reclaim every debt Spirit Hall owes. That day is not far."
Then he was gone. The hammer vanished into shadow with him, his heavy voice fading through the trees:
"When Tang returns, the continent will shake."
Seizing the moment of chaos, the Titan Ape tore free of the weakening threads of Bibi Dong's web. With a rush of displaced wind and heavy bounds, it vaulted after the black-clad man.
Its goal burned clear: the "King" of beasts had been taken. It could not let the human vanish with him.
—
"Haotian Hammer…"
Bibi Dong braced herself, her ninth red ring flaring to its absolute edge simply to withstand the exchange. Blades of her spider armor cracked visibly along her arms as she was shoved back several paces.
Even so, her fury never faltered. Her violet eyes burned with venomous rage. "Tang Hao!"
Her voice thundered through the forest.
"You dare lay hands on Xiaobei?! You dare take my disciple?! Even if I must scour every den your Haotian Sect hides in, I will raze your heritage to dust if a single hair is harmed on him!"
Gone was papal dignity, composed majesty. What remained was raw, primal wrath—Bibi Dong baring everything to protect one boy.
With a burst of speed, she abandoned Titan pursuit, veering full into Tang Hao's trail. Strong or not, she swore—the man would not escape her.
Ghost Douluo remained crouched, pale-faced. It had all returned: the nightmare clash decades ago, Tang Hao's name whispered as a curse in Spirit Hall corridors. The terror that once cracked even Spirit Hall's proud façade.
And now, he's come back.
—
…
Night crept deeper.
The moon spilled pale light through twisting branches, shadows dancing across the ground. In a cleared hollow amid strange rock walls, a fire flickered gently.
Mars rose into the air, illuminating two small figures slumped against stone.
Groaning, Tang San stirred awake, clutching his pounding head. Memories swarmed—a giant hand, a blur of black hammer, then darkness. He shot upright.
"…Teacher!!"
Panic seized him until his gaze locked ahead. By the bonfire, Subei sat upright, unhurt. Relief slammed into Tang San and he staggered to him with worry etched across his face. "Teacher, are you okay? Did the Titan Ape hurt you? That damned beast—"
"I'm fine."
Subei shook his head slowly, rubbing the sore spot on his neck. The last he remembered—a heavy palm, a chopping strike to his skull. The moment of darkness. The flickering memory of…
"Haotian Hammer," he breathed, narrowing his eyes.
Both boys turned.
A burly, disheveled man in black sat at the edge of the bonfire, still as stone. His face was aged yet stern—unkempt hair spilling across his shoulders, scraggly beard shadowing a jaw that held unyielding defiance.
The hammer was gone, but the pressure of its aura lingered still. The man turned faintly, and a pair of weathered eyes locked directly onto Subei.
They burned—not with bloodlust, but with scrutiny, puzzlement, curiosity.
"You're awake." His voice was gravel.
Tang San froze. Recognition crashed a storm through him.
"…Dad."
His face burst through emotions—surprise, joy, confusion, relief. "It's really you, isn't it? Dad!"
Tang Hao inclined his head briefly.
To Tang San, it was enough. His father wouldn't hurt him. He wouldn't hurt his Teacher either. Calm poured through him.
But confusion remained. Why now? Why reveal this strength? Why in the forest, why the ape, why the hammer of all things?
Tang San's gaze flickered to Subei. "Teacher, this is my father… Tang Hao. He came to save us. He's not our enemy."
Subei remained motionless, concealing the tempest in his chest. Tang Hao… so it truly is him.
Tang Hao's eyes stayed fixed on the boy with an angel's face. "So. You are the so-called genius my son calls Teacher?"
His gaze darted briefly to his son. "Xiao San… You chose him as master? Not the famous Master Yu? Why?"
"At first he was only a blacksmith's son in notting city, wasn't he?"
Tang San's eyes hardened almost fiercely.
"Dad. That man you call Master… he's nothing in my eyes. In mine, Northern Jiangsu is worth more than thousands of so-called masters."
"His knowledge, his power, his kindness… I believe in him more than anyone. He deserves to be my Teacher, whatever his age."
The boy's voice rang firm, unshaken even before his father's grim weight.
Tang Hao studied Subei a long moment. Then, his lips twitched with disbelief. "It is ridiculous. For one so young… impossible."
But his eyes betrayed unease.
It was harder to dismiss the boy when staring into his flawless face, when feeling the gravity of his strange aura, when hearing a disciple's loyalty echo like thunder.
The fire crackled quietly.
"Dad," Tang San asked softly, "where's Mom? Grandfather? Grandmother? They'll be worried if I'm gone from Spirit Hall for long."
Tang Hao's face shifted dark instantly. "No. You will not return. Not to Spirit Hall. Not anymore."
The bond of firelight burned sharp tension between father and son, between Tang Hao and Subei.
And the name Spirit Hall had turned into a knife.
--
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