Tian Hao showed no mercy, kicking viciously and giving Yu Xiaogang no chance to get up and fight back.
Dealing with other Spirit Masters might be difficult, but dealing with someone like Yu Xiaogang—a Beast Spirit Spirit Master whose spirit couldn't possess his body—wasn't hard at all. His physical fitness wasn't much stronger than that of an ordinary person.
Not to mention that Tian Hao had trained since childhood. Years of blacksmithing, forging metal day after day, along with swordsmanship practice, had given him a powerful physique. His arm strength and explosive speed were especially astonishing. Even without Spirit Rings, he could still pin Yu Xiaogang to the ground and beat him senseless.
As for Spirit Power suppression, it wasn't impossible to avoid. Powerful spiritual strength could offset it—and even if Yu Xiaogang managed to suppress his Spirit Power circulation, Tian Hao could simply not use Spirit Power at all and rely purely on physical strength.
The freshly summoned Luo Sanpao was still confused. It took a moment before it realized that the one being kicked was its own master. It hurried forward and chomped down hard on Tian Hao's arm.
Crunch!
A crisp cracking sound rang out, and Luo Sanpao almost burst into tears.
Hard!
Way too hard!
Several teeth cracked on the spot—it hurt like hell!
Tian Hao looked down at the adorable creature biting the Thousand-Forged Tungsten Steel weighted arm guard beneath his sleeve. He lifted it up by its hind legs and swung it like the number-one weapon among the Seven Deadly Weapons—the folding stool—smashing it down again and again onto Yu Xiaogang, who was curled up clutching his head.
"You can't even beat me, and you want to be with the Saintess? You want the Saintess to protect you in the future? If real danger comes, you'd only drag her down and get her killed…"
He cursed as he smashed, utterly disgusted. As a member of Spirit Hall, he despised this trash to the core.
If Yu Xiaogang weren't the son of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan Master—and therefore untouchable—he would have chopped him down long ago.
The scene was so brutal that even Ling Yuan, secretly filming from the bushes, couldn't bear to watch and turned her head away.
At the same time, she truly couldn't understand how someone as outstanding and proud as the Saintess could fall for such a piece of work.
He couldn't even beat little Haozi—wasn't that ridiculously weak?
"First Spirit Ability—Fart Like Thunder, Earth-Shattering Luo Sanpao!"
While being beaten senseless, Yu Xiaogang grit his teeth through the pain, gathered his Spirit Power, and finally activated his one and only Spirit Ring ability.
The already round belly of Luo Sanpao—still being swung in Tian Hao's hands—suddenly ballooned outward. Its entire body swelled like a leather ball, and it cooperatively twisted its body, aiming its rear straight at Tian Hao.
But Tian Hao had been prepared all along. The moment Luo Sanpao's body began to swell, he moved.
Dropping to one knee to stabilize himself, he rotated Luo Sanpao around, clamped its nearly nonexistent neck under his thick right arm, and aimed its rear end directly at Yu Xiaogang, who was still curled up on the ground.
He stood there like a solid artillery mount.
Luo Sanpao was the barrel.
And the shell was sitting right in its belly.
"Fire!"
Tian Hao roared excitedly. In his previous life, he'd dreamed of becoming a soldier, but flat feet and poor eyesight had crushed that hope. Who would've thought he'd get to be an artilleryman in another world?
Damn, this feels good!
Sensing something was wrong, Luo Sanpao tried to stop the Spirit Ability—but it was already too late.
BOOM!
A high-pressure stream of yellow gas blasted out violently, hitting Yu Xiaogang square in the face just as he was trying to get up and flee in shock and fury. His entire body was blown backward, tumbling more than ten meters away.
Under the combined impact and the stench that went straight to the soul, his eyes rolled back, and he cleanly passed out.
Tian Hao immediately flung Luo Sanpao aside, pulled out a mask, put it on, and quickly retreated to avoid the spreading gas.
"Luoluo—"
Ignoring the stench, Luo Sanpao rushed back in to check on Yu Xiaogang.
Only after the gas dispersed did Tian Hao step forward again, pulling out an oversized syringe from his storage Soul Tool.
He glanced at the scattered substances on Yu Xiaogang's body, fell silent for a moment, then took off his outer coat and wrapped it around his left hand.
Seeing Tian Hao approach, Luo Sanpao bared its teeth threateningly. Unfortunately, with its goofy appearance, even trying to look fierce only made it cuter.
"Bare your teeth again and I'll slaughter him."
Tian Hao looked over calmly. The killing intent he'd accumulated from executing numerous fallen Spirit Masters burst forth, instantly terrifying the already timid Luo Sanpao. It hurriedly shut its mouth tight, not daring to show a single tooth.
I'm not scared—this is enduring humiliation for my master!
Tian Hao stepped forward, checked Yu Xiaogang's condition, and confirmed there were no major issues. He then used a small knife to cut open Yu Xiaogang's sleeve, exposing his forearm. After a simple disinfection, he stabbed the needle into a bluish vein and drew a full tube of blood.
Losing that much blood at once caused Yu Xiaogang's heartbeat to speed up immediately.
This was the body's instinctive response—trying to accelerate circulation to supply oxygen and nutrients.
"You're not afraid of killing him?" Ling Yuan asked as she walked out of the bushes, utterly speechless.
"This won't kill him," Tian Hao replied.
He took out a water flask he'd prepared in advance, shoved the mouth into Yu Xiaogang's mouth, and poured in a blood-replenishing medicinal soup.
After all, Yu Xiaogang was a one-ring Spirit Master. His physical constitution was still stronger than an ordinary person's. Losing that bit of blood wouldn't be a problem—at worst, he'd just be weak for a while.
"What a vicious Spirit Ability!" Ling Yuan exclaimed, retreating several steps when she noticed the substances on Yu Xiaogang's body.
She'd thought it was just a fart—but who would've expected such terrifying hidden contents?
How could there be such a vicious spirit and Spirit Ability in this world?
"That's normal," Tian Hao explained while continuing his work. "He's always been feeding his spirit white radishes to stimulate the fart. Those radishes don't just disappear—they naturally get released along with the Spirit Ability."
After all, Luo Sanpao was just eating radishes, not undergoing matter–antimatter annihilation.
He injected the drawn blood into another glass bottle he'd prepared earlier, adding special medicinal liquid to prevent clotting and spoilage.
He had great use for this blood—it was a necessary medium for activating that head Spirit Bone's Spirit Ability.
After putting the bottle away, Tian Hao began searching Yu Xiaogang's body with his coat-wrapped left hand. He quickly found a necklace. After examining it, he confirmed it was a storage Soul Tool—and a very high-grade one at that.
"So feminine… and spider-shaped. Don't tell me this was a gift from her?"
Looking at the spider-shaped pendant, Tian Hao immediately thought of Spirit Hall's number-one idiot.
The necklace was exquisitely crafted, like a work of art. The spider pendant was especially detailed, with a gemstone tightly clasped by its eight legs.
There was no way Yu Xiaogang would own a storage Soul Tool with this kind of design. It was almost certainly a gift from the Saintess—after all, her spirit was a spider.
He didn't think further, tossed it into his storage Soul Tool, and decided he'd wash it a hundred times before ever touching it again.
"Huh?"
Just as he was about to stand up, he noticed blood at the corner of Luo Sanpao's mouth. Intrigued, a sudden guess flashed through his mind.
"Open your mouth. Let me take a look."
He gestured for Luo Sanpao to comply.
Intimidated by Tian Hao's tyranny and that heart-chilling killing intent, Luo Sanpao hesitated before reluctantly opening its mouth. Several front teeth were missing, blood seeping out.
"You even have blood?!"
Tian Hao was shocked—and delighted. He'd always known this thing was special, but he hadn't expected it to be special to this extent.
It could eat food to reduce Yu Xiaogang's Spirit Power consumption, recover Spirit Ability usage by eating radishes, possess the five senses like a living creature, feel pain—and now it even had blood.
What exactly are you— a spirit, or a Spirit Beast?
"Ling Yuan-jie, do you have a large container?" Tian Hao asked excitedly, rubbing his hands together, eyes glowing.
Yu Xiaogang's blood was good—but how could it compare to this thing's blood?
"How about my foot-soaking basin?" Ling Yuan replied flatly, pulling out a washbasin from her storage Soul Tool and handing it over.
She could already guess what the boy was planning. Even Luo Sanpao sensed something was wrong and retreated, even thinking about returning to its master's body on its own.
"Don't even think about going back. Cooperate and let me bleed you dry—or I'll kill him. You don't want your master to die, do you?"
Seeing Luo Sanpao's intent, Tian Hao threatened coldly, his killing intent growing even stronger.
Luo Sanpao looked at Tian Hao, then at its still-unconscious master. In the end, it could only shut its big eyes in tragic resignation.
Tian Hao didn't hesitate. He grabbed it by the hind legs again, pulled out a knife, and sliced across its nearly nonexistent neck. Blood sprayed out, pouring straight into the foot-washing basin below.
"Luoluo—"
Its big, adorable eyes flew open as Luo Sanpao instinctively struggled—but with those stubby legs, it was useless.
"Endure it. If the amount of blood you lose doesn't satisfy me, I'll kill him. You don't want your master to die because of you, right?"
The renewed threat made Luo Sanpao feel so wronged it wanted to cry. Ling Yuan once again couldn't bear to watch.
Too brutal. Too shameless.
In the end, the miserable Luo Sanpao was completely drained of blood. Tian Hao even lifted it and shook it up and down, trying to squeeze out the very last drop.
Unable to maintain its form, it finally collapsed on its own, turning into origin energy and returning to Yu Xiaogang's body.
The backlash from the spirit's collapse made Yu Xiaogang's body twitch, though fortunately his life was not in danger.
With half a basin of spirit blood in hand, Tian Hao was extremely satisfied. He dripped that special medicinal solution into it to prevent coagulation and spoilage.
"I need to process and preserve this blood as soon as possible. Tomorrow morning, we're going to the Pope's Palace."
Calling out, Tian Hao left excitedly, carrying the basin of blood.
"Remember to buy me an identical foot-washing basin," Ling Yuan called after him.
She then glanced disgustedly at the filthy Yu Xiaogang and stepped aside to wait quietly.
Not long after, an elderly man arrived. Before he even got close, he stopped, frowning deeply at the source of the stench.
"Did he fall into a latrine?" the old man asked.
"Reporting to Your Excellency, he was hit by his own Spirit Ability," Ling Yuan replied respectfully, sensing the pressure of the man's Spirit Power. "His Spirit Ability is… rather special."
"Spirit Ability?"
The old man was momentarily confused. He couldn't imagine what kind of Spirit Ability could produce such a vicious effect—something that even gods might have to avoid temporarily.
"Forget it. At least I don't have to touch him."
Too lazy to think further, the old man stopped beside Yu Xiaogang. Beneath his feet, two yellow, two purple, and five black Spirit Rings appeared—nine in total. His eighth Spirit Ring flashed as the Spirit Ability activated, his spiritual consciousness entering Yu Xiaogang's Sea of Spirit to guide his memories into forming dreams.
This was his eighth Spirit Ability. It had no offensive power, but it was perfectly suited for viewing others' memories.
While it couldn't reveal everything, any deeply ingrained memories would form dreamscapes that he could see.
Li Yunlong: F-fire—uh, no, better not fire this cannon!