Tang Hao Gravely Wounded, a Pink Figure

Tang Hao's fifth black soul ring flickered faintly beneath his feet. Then he transformed into a shooting star and charged toward Huang Quan.

Huang Quan, meanwhile, slowly walked toward the shooting star. Only when it drew near did she leisurely raise the sheathed Wu in her hand.

With a single slash, she struck Tang Hao's Clear Sky Hammer, sending him flying backward.

It seems ordinary soul skills won't be enough to take her down quickly.

Tang Hao thought as he flew back. However, he was already injured, and the power of the Nine Clear Sky Absolutes would be greatly reduced. It would be better to use soul skills.

The Great Sumeru Hammer could only reach its maximum power when used alongside Ring Detonation. Given his current condition, even if he detonated all nine rings, he likely would not last long before suffering grievous injuries.

While Tang Hao hesitated, Huang Quan had already walked over with Wu in hand. With a step, she vanished from where she stood.

Tang Hao immediately dodged to the side, but the slash still struck his right shoulder.

If he had reacted any slower, his right arm would likely have been severed. That one strike made Tang Hao realize that he was probably no match for Huang Quan. If he did not go all out, he might truly be leaving his life here today.

Tang Hao stopped hesitating. With a thought, he directly activated Ring Detonation. "First and fifth soul rings, detonate!!"

Seeing this, Huang Quan retreated to Lu Mingchuan's side, while Lu Mingchuan curiously watched Tang Hao detonate his rings.

Tang Hao still felt it was not enough. Gritting his teeth, he shattered every soul ring except for the red one.

The Clear Sky Hammer in his hand rapidly expanded, and his aura became ever more overwhelming. Even the people in distant Nuoding City were crushed by this pressure, jolting awake from their sleep.

Huang Quan remained expressionless as she watched Tang Hao, as though the Clear Sky Douluo before her was nothing more than a stray dog by the roadside.

Tang Hao knew that the longer this dragged on, the worse it would be for him. Without another word, he swung the Clear Sky Hammer in his hand down at Huang Quan.

"Great Sumeru Hammer!!"

Lu Mingchuan stood beside Huang Quan, facing Tang Hao's attack together with her.

Seeing power that seemed capable of bringing down the heavens, Lu Mingchuan turned to look at Huang Quan. Determination flashed in his eyes. At that moment, faint lightning began to flicker around Huang Quan's body as she watched Tang Hao's attack, and she placed her right hand on the hilt of her sword.

She slowly drew Wu.

The instant even a tiny portion of the blade was exposed to the air, the air itself seemed to freeze. Only Lu Mingchuan felt nothing.

Even the city lord and others far away in Nuoding City felt as though their throats were being strangled.

If those in distant Nuoding City felt this way, Tang Hao, who stood right before her, felt it even more keenly. He gritted his teeth and roared, "Detonate!!"

That crimson soul ring shattered as well and fused into the Clear Sky Hammer. Ignoring the condition of his body, Tang Hao unleashed the Great Sumeru Hammer with all his strength.

Unfortunately—

"Like morning dew, this life and name shall vanish."

A murmuring voice seemed to echo beside Tang Hao's ears. Then he saw a colorless blade flash. Along with the shattering of the Clear Sky Hammer, Tang Hao's right arm vanished as well.

Feeling the pain at his shoulder, Tang Hao gritted his teeth and swiftly fled. Huang Quan calmly sheathed her sword.

"What a pity about that Soul Bone."

Seeing that the dust had settled, Lu Mingchuan spoke regretfully. He had already told Huang Quan to hold back, but who could have expected Tang Hao to be so weak in Huang Quan's eyes?

"Do you need me to pull out his Soul Bone?"

Huang Quan said this as though she truly intended to chase after Tang Hao, so Lu Mingchuan hurriedly stopped her.

"They're only a few Soul Bones. There's no need to go that far."

Huang Quan nodded, then returned to Nuoding Academy with Lu Mingchuan.

Nuoding Academy.

Lu Mingchuan sat cross-legged on his bed, looking at the system panel.

Name: Lu Mingchuan

Servants: Huang Quan, Volberli

Age: 6 Martial Soul: Imperial Bow Level: 24 (converted to Soul Power)

Items: Gaze of the Hunt, Steel Wheel Bow, several iron arrows, several soul coins, miscellaneous items, Earth Dragon Golden Gourd ×1, Broken Crystal Flower ×1 Soul Ring: Purple (4,300 years) Soul Skill: Stellar Patrol Light Arrow Skills: Archery Expert lv2, Energy Manipulation

Points: 32400

Looking at the number in the Points column, Lu Mingchuan became excited. He opened the system shop and looked at the Broken Crystal Flower (1/10), priced at 20,000.

Without hesitation, he tapped it. As a crystal flower suddenly appeared in his hand, the smile of that girl seemed to appear before his eyes.

"My, my. What an adorable person."

Suddenly, a pleasant voice seemed to sound beside Lu Mingchuan's ear, snapping him back to his senses.

He placed the crystal flower by his bedside, meditated for a while longer, then pulled up the blanket and prepared to go to sleep.

No one knew how much time passed before the crystal flower by Lu Mingchuan's bed gave off a faint pink glow. A translucent pink figure then appeared in the room.

The figure reached toward Lu Mingchuan's face, but its hand passed straight through. The figure then visibly fell into dejection.

However, it did not take long for it to recover. It bent down to look at Lu Mingchuan's sleeping face, opening its mouth as though saying something. Strangely, no sound came out.

Huang Quan, who was meditating in the next room, opened her eyes and glanced toward the adjacent room the moment the pink figure appeared. Then she closed her eyes again.

The next morning.

Lu Mingchuan opened his eyes, got up, stored the crystal flower in the System Space, and went to wash up.

After washing up, he sat down at the dining table in the living room. Huang Quan had already prepared breakfast. After the two enjoyed their meal, they went out for a walk.

Classes had not yet begun at Nuoding Academy, and students were walking around in groups of two or three. Seeing Lu Mingchuan holding Huang Quan's hand, they could not help but feel a little envious.

Without realizing it, the two arrived at the teaching building. After walking inside for a while, they saw a group of students gathered together, seemingly discussing something.

Among them, words like Tang San and Grandmaster drifted over from time to time.

Curious, Lu Mingchuan moved closer. Huang Quan watched him from where she stood and waited for him.

"Hey, hey, did you hear? Yesterday, someone named Tang San took Grandmaster as his teacher."

"Seriously? That Grandmaster actually accepts disciples?"

The student who had spoken first could not help glaring at the student who interrupted.

"I'm not done yet. Interrupt again and you can tell it yourself."

The student who had interrupted hurriedly nodded. Then another student continued, "I heard that Tang San has Innate Full Soul Power. It's just a pity that his martial soul is Blue Silver Grass."

As he spoke, he shook his head regretfully.

Lu Mingchuan stopped listening after that, since he had already learned what he needed to know.

He turned and returned to Huang Quan's side, telling her the news.

"I don't know what happened, but those two actually got together again. No wonder the system only gave me 3,000 Points."

Huang Quan shook her head as well, indicating that she did not know. Lu Mingchuan pondered for a moment, then slapped his thigh.

"This is probably the world correcting itself. After all, flies and Big Fen can't be separated."