In an instant, cracks spread like a spiderweb across the mirror-smooth surface of the Great Sumeru Hammer, radiating from the point where it collided with Dragon Claw Hand.
"How could this be? The Great Sumeru Hammer, strengthened by Exploding a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring, actually couldn't suppress him!"
Feeling the Great Sumeru Hammer unable to descend even an inch, Tang Hao stared with bloodshot eyes, utterly aghast.
He had been confident that even Limit Douluo Qian Daoliu wouldn't dare take that blow head-on.
And yet Lan Minghua, an obscure nobody, had blocked it.
In fact, not only had he blocked it, he had turned the tables in an instant.
Feeling the considerable pressure from the Great Sumeru Hammer, Lan Minghua got a little more serious.
After all, during the Battle of Jialing Pass, Tang Hao had been able to hold his own against Golden Crocodile Douluo at Level 98 by Exploding a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring.
Now he had Exploded a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring. His strength might have risen another level.
But his opponent was Wretched Fate Hua at the peak of his strength. Even if you were a god, he'd kill you all the same.
Lan Minghua tensed his arm. Blinding golden light burst from the cracks in the Great Sumeru Hammer.
The Great Sumeru Hammer shattered piece by piece, and in the blink of an eye, the enormous Crimson Dharma Idol crumbled along with it.
The Clear Sky Hammer in Tang Hao's hand was left in tatters, as if it would break at the slightest touch.
With his Martial Soul damaged, he also suffered the backlash.
His body flew backward like a kite with its strings cut. With a splutter, he vomited mouthfuls of blood.
Now, Tang Hao's eyes held nothing but fear.
He had only one thought: escape!
But Lan Minghua had no intention of letting him go so easily.
He pinpointed his destination and stepped into the air, appearing behind Tang Hao almost as if he'd teleported.
"You think you can come and go as you please? Do you really think I don't have a temper?"
Lan Minghua spoke calmly, but to Tang Hao, his voice sounded like the call of the Grim Reaper.
Giving Tang Hao no chance to react, Lan Minghua made a blade of his hand and brought it down, severing Tang Hao's right arm.
Tang Hao's eyes filled with terror. He watched his right arm fall away, then endured the pain and fled at once.
Lan Minghua sneered, grabbed Tang Hao's left leg, and kicked him at the root of his thigh.
With a tearing sound, he ripped off Tang Hao's entire left leg by force.
Using the momentum, Tang Hao poured everything he had into escaping into the distance, battered and humiliated.
As for Tang San and Xiao Wu, he had no time to care about them.
He was barely keeping himself afloat—how could he look after anyone else?
Lan Minghua glanced at him but made no move to pursue.
There was no need. Tang Hao was already a cripple.
Having lost his right arm and left leg, he had also lost the two high-quality Soul Bones bestowed upon him by the Clear Sky Sect.
They might not have been Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bones, but they had to be at least fifty thousand years old.
In the original story, removing those two Soul Bones had lowered his Soul Power by a full twenty levels.
After suffering such a severe blow, he would only be weaker now.
And with the damage Exploding Ring had done to his body, even if Tang Hao survived, he would be no stronger than a Soul Saint—perhaps not even that.
He would also be crippled for life.
For Tang Hao, living on in disgrace was the best punishment.
Only a few years ago, he had decided to stop living in disgrace and make a fresh start. Now, he had become a cripple.
All he could do was live on in disgrace.
Holding Tang Hao's right arm and left leg, Lan Minghua descended from the sky.
Flender, Zhao Wuji, and the rest of Shrek were all stunned.
Flender in particular knew the identity of the man in black robes.
Lan Minghua tossed the severed limbs to the ground and concealed his aura. He looked calm and carefree, as if what had just happened had nothing to do with him.
"Huh? Why is everyone up? I guess I should've kept the commotion down."
Lan Minghua glanced at those around him and spoke with a hint of embarrassment.
Flender composed himself, stepped forward respectfully, and bowed his head as he spoke.
"I didn't know Your Excellency had arrived. I offended you badly some time ago. Please forgive me."
Dai Mubai, Ma Hongjun, and the others swallowed nervously, their faces full of terror.
"Your Excellency" was the respectful title given to a Titled Douluo by anyone other than someone addressing them by their own title.
They never would have imagined that Lan Minghua, who looked like a homeless man, was a Titled Douluo.
Once Zhao Wuji and the others came to their senses, they all lowered their heads, not daring to look Lan Minghua in the eye, and greeted him in unison.
"Welcome, Your Excellency!"
Lan Minghua waved a hand, looking disgusted. "Your Excellency this, Your Excellency that. Just call me Huazi."
That title didn't suit him.
Flender finally let out a breath of relief.
But as he thought back to what he had just done, he was overwhelmed with regret.
When Tang Hao attacked Lan Minghua, he had fled.
There was no way Lan Minghua hadn't noticed his strength. Flender had missed a golden opportunity to curry favor with him.
But Flender soon thought of a way to make up for it. His voice stiff, he worked up the courage to ask,
"Um, Huazi... why did you come to Shrek?"
"Of course to Take Disciples. Didn't I tell you that already? It's so boring out there!" Lan Minghua replied in his usual calm tone.
Flender thought his chance had come and immediately started pitching Dai Mubai and the others.
"Huazi, what do you think of Mubai and Hongjun? They're both geniuses no less talented than Oscar. Would you consider taking them on as disciples too?"
Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun's faces immediately fell. They looked as if they'd swallowed shit.
They had mocked Oscar not long ago, and now they were about to become Lan Minghua's disciples. Wouldn't that make them Oscar's junior brothers?
But the two soon came around, their faces full of anticipation.
So what if they became junior brothers? The benefits outweighed the drawbacks.
With a Titled Douluo as their master, who would dare disrespect them when they went out adventuring? They were already about to kneel and beg him to take them in.
Lan Minghua glanced at them with distaste and refused outright. "I'll pass on those two. We aren't meant to be master and disciples. You'd better look elsewhere."
He phrased it politely, but his refusal was clear.
Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun froze in place, halfway through their movement.
Now they didn't know whether to kneel or not, their faces burning with embarrassment.
They were both geniuses, to be sure. Their System Talent Scores were above 80.
But Lan Minghua had said long ago that he considered three things when taking disciples.
Instinct first, character second, talent third.
No matter how talented someone was, if they didn't feel right or had poor character, he wouldn't take them on as a disciple.
Lan Minghua ignored Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun, whose faces had darkened like the bottom of a pot. He knew they wouldn't dare say anything.
Then he pointed at Oscar and Zhu Zhuqing and said softly, "You two, pick up the arm and leg on the ground and come with me."
Oscar and Zhu Zhuqing picked up the right arm and left leg, respectively, and followed Lan Minghua away.
Only after Lan Minghua had disappeared from sight did Ma Hongjun mutter resentfully,
"Tch, if you don't want us, fine! It's not like anyone wants to be your disciple!"
Flender's face changed dramatically, and he hurriedly stepped in front of Ma Hongjun.
But a slipper flew past him even faster and smacked Ma Hongjun squarely in the face.
Ma Hongjun's face twisted. As he flew backward, his teeth and blood sprayed from his mouth.
He crashed into the ruins of a collapsed house and passed out completely.
Only then did Lan Minghua's voice drift back faintly.
"Tell Little Fatty that if he does that again, I'll sew his mouth shut."
Lan Minghua wasn't someone without a temper. Ma Hongjun had provoked him again and again—did he really think Lan Minghua had no temper?
Before you continue