Wariness

"Fine, let's try it!"

The enormous Martial Soul Avatar raised its giant hammer, then smashed it down viciously once more.

The ground cracked open.

With Lu Yuan at the center, the soil within several miles sank slightly all at once, forcibly compacted by Tang Hao's immense Soul Power into a hard roadway resembling Yellow Mud Slabs.

Of course, factoring in the cracks across its surface, it looked more like a Yellow Asphalt Gravel Road.

Tang Hao sneered.

He refused to believe that even if he missed the brat once, would he still miss after ten or eight tries?

And if ten or eight tries were not enough, then surely one or two hundred would hit!

He could swing his hammer endlessly, but this brat could not afford even a single mistake!

"What a pain!"

The young voice brimmed with intense impatience.

"Perhaps I should have realized this long ago."

"Trying to make someone accustomed to throwing punches sit quietly and listen to reason is undoubtedly an unrealistic idea."

"So."

Lu Yuan's gaze burned like a torch. A streak of Silver Light shot straight from his eyes, piercing directly through Tang Hao's Martial Soul Avatar and landing on Tang Hao himself.

Then he crossed his hands, pressing his two index fingers and two thumbs together while interlocking his other six fingers like canine teeth, forming an irregular triangle.

"I can only use my fists to help you wake up first!"

"I believe you'll soon calm down and listen to reason!"

"Spatial Turbulence!"

In an instant, three thick silver pillars of equal length emerged from the void. Connected end to end, they formed a triangle in front of Tang Hao.

Then, another three identical silver pillars emerged from the void.

However, these three silver pillars were not connected together.

Instead, they remained separate, joining and merging with the triangle's three vertices at a pace that seemed slow but was actually fast.

Then, the other ends of the three pillars rapidly converged inward, meeting at a single point behind Tang Hao and forming a "Triangular Body" that completely enclosed him!

An imperceptible "wind" swept past.

An irregular gap instantly appeared in the enormous Martial Soul Avatar!

Although it was swiftly filled by surging Soul Power, that was merely the opening charge!

Great swathes of imperceptible "wind" frantically tore at Tang Hao's Martial Soul Avatar. In mere moments, gaps of all sizes covered it.

Of course, some Spatial Turbulence collided with each other and canceled out before they could inflict any damage.

Otherwise, Tang Hao's Martial Soul Avatar would have been far more miserable than it was now!

"Get the hell out of my way!"

His eyes narrowing slightly, Tang Hao slammed the Clear Sky Hammer in his hand directly against the Triangular Body radiating Silver Light.

"A triangle is the sturdiest structural form."

Seeing that the Triangular Body had not even rippled, Lu Yuan calmly explained.

But clearly, a brute like Tang Hao could not be bothered to listen to Lu Yuan's explanation.

Hammer blow after hammer blow crashed viciously against one face of the Triangular Body.

On the seventeenth strike, the Spatial Barrier rippled for the first time.

On the twenty-fourth strike, cracks appeared across the Spatial Barrier.

On the thirty-seventh strike, the six pillars of light forming the Triangular Body trembled slightly.

On the forty-sixth strike, the six pillars of light were already letting out cries of unbearable strain.

"The forty-seventh strike!"

Swallowing the Reverse Blood surging up from his chest, Tang Hao roared and smashed through the Triangular Body from within for the first time!

Like shattering glass, the Triangular Body exploded into pale silver fragments that drifted away on the wind.

"Very impressive."

Lu Yuan smiled and clapped his hands, putting on an admiring expression.

Honestly, Martial Souls were truly unreasonable things.

The Clear Sky Hammer's Martial Soul quality was exceptionally high.

Under Tang Hao's Soul Power amplification, it even carried a faint trace of the rule-based power of "lightning" and "killing intent"!

Lu Yuan dared to guarantee that he had not seen it wrong!

Though that trace of rule-based power was minuscule, it had indeed interfered with his ability to control space!

This also served as a reminder to Lu Yuan.

Whether it was Xiao Wu's Invincible Golden Body and Bibi Dong's Eternal Creation in the original story, the Chrysanthemum Ghost Duo's Martial Soul Fusion Skill, or Tang Hao now forcibly shattering his Spatial Barrier with the Clear Sky Hammer—

All these examples proved one thing:

Some soul skills involved clashes between rules!

After all, Xiao Wu's golden body was theoretically immune to any attack below the God-level.

And Bibi Dong's sixth soul skill, Eternal Creation, could ignore all physical defenses.

From another perspective, this was clearly the otherworldly version of "the sharpest spear and the strongest shield."

What determined the outcome was no longer the soul skills themselves, nor which of the two rules was stronger.

Rather, under the amplification of Soul Power, whoever had more power of rules contained within their soul skill had a greater chance of winning!

This also explained why Xiao Wu's Invincible Golden Body could not block Bibi Dong's Eternal Creation.

The annihilation rule had annihilated the small amount of defensive rules.

It was only natural that it could not hold.

Perfectly reasonable.

But Lu Yuan's smile soon froze on his face.

"Kid! What are you forcing yourself to endure for?"

The handle of the Clear Sky Hammer had already been dyed red with blood.

The massive Martial Soul Avatar had ultimately failed to withstand the Spatial Turbulence.

This was evident from the several bone-deep wounds on Tang Hao's body.

Yet Tang Hao's gaze was sharper than ever before.

"The Soul Power in your body is practically zero!"

"Am I wrong?"

The smile on Lu Yuan's face gradually fell away, and he returned to an expressionless state.

He raised a hand, and a glimmer of Silver Light bloomed at his fingertips.

"You can try and see whether I still have any Soul Power left."

"I'm guessing you don't."

"Then come try, and you'll find out."

"..."

After a long silence.

Tang Hao withdrew his Martial Soul.

To be honest, he did not dare to gamble.

He had already brought out roughly eighty percent of his strength, yet he still had not smashed this kid into a pulp.

If he used one hundred percent of his strength—

Tang Hao did not know what would happen to the kid.

But after this battle, he himself would be heading down to report early.

The old injuries left from his battle with the Spirit Hall Pope back then had not fully healed. Trying to use soul bone skills or the Clear Sky Sect's Ultimate Skill, Ring Detonation, would only make him die faster.

Tang Hao did not fear death.

What he feared was this:

If he went all out and still failed to leave the other party behind, then after his death, Tang San would undoubtedly face the other party's frenzied revenge!

And could Tang San withstand that revenge?

Tang Hao remained silent.

But he already had the answer in his heart.

Clinging to life and living in disgrace was not something he had done for the first time.

Before Tang San had matured, as his father, he was both Tang San's strongest support and his final trump card when facing a crisis!

And this trump card should not be wasted on a "genius" who was not worth it!

Compared to true powerhouses, the little fellow across from him was still far too immature.

"How about we each take a step back?"

Keeping his nerves taut, Lu Yuan probed expressionlessly.

"What if I don't want to take that step back?"

"I'll report you to Spirit Hall, then join Spirit Hall directly. For the rest of his life, Tang San can forget about having any peace. I'll watch him at all times, find his weaknesses, and kill him in the end!"

"...Aren't you afraid I'll kill you right now?"

"I'll repeat myself one last time. I want to leave, and you can't stop me."

Lu Yuan flicked his fingers.

"Please believe me."

"There's no need for me to lie to you over something this trivial."

Begging—

Forget it. No more begging.

Something felt off. I wanted some peace and quiet, then sort out my thoughts.

P.S.: Don't ask who Jingjing is.

P.S.: And don't ask who Siyu is.

P.S.: There will most likely only be one update today. Of course, I can't say for sure whether there'll be one tonight either, since I'm writing as I go.