Clear Sky Douluo, Tang Hao! This Time, He Was Truly Doomed!

The air fell silent for several seconds.

It was so deathly quiet that even the wind seemed to have stopped.

The black-robed man's shoulders tensed like a fully drawn bow.

"Boom!"

The aura of a Titled Douluo erupted like a tsunami.

The pressure was utterly real.

All the leaves within several dozen meters came crashing down, forcibly shaken loose by that aura.

The grass on the ground flattened in sheets, pebbles rolled, and dust rose.

That pressure weighed down like a mountain.

"Urgh!"

Xiao Wu sat on the ground, her chest feeling tight, struggling even to breathe.

Instinctively, she wanted to release her Soul Power to resist.

The instant her Soul Power began circulating, it was forced back down, as though an invisible giant hand had pressed it into place.

Her face turned pale, and sweat beaded on her forehead.

But Lin Qing seemed completely unaffected.

He landed lightly, without even a corner of his clothes stirring.

"Using your aura to bully others? That won't work on me."

An equally immense aura spread from his body.

A golden glow flowed across the surface of his skin like a thin layer of armor.

The two forces collided in midair.

The air twisted, like heat waves rising in the summer.

Only then did a rumble like muffled thunder erupt from the point of impact, rolling across the ground and making Xiao Wu's ears buzz.

"Crack!"

Several fissures split open across the ground.

Crack, crack, they spread like a spiderweb.

Tang Hao's eyes, hidden in shadow, stared fixedly at Lin Qing.

He slowly descended. At that moment, the sunlight shifted slightly, illuminating half his face—

Weathered beyond measure, with a ruthless severity carved into it by time.

"You know me?"

His voice grew colder, every word like an icicle.

"Are you from Spirit Hall?"

"Tch, don't go slapping labels on people right away."

Lin Qing waved a hand, as casually as if he were swatting flies.

"I'm just an Independent Cultivator, an idle nobody."

He paused, then added, "As for knowing you, who in the Soul Master World doesn't know the name Clear Sky Douluo?"

Tang Hao said nothing.

But his gaze swept over Lin Qing, then over Xiao Wu sitting on the ground in the distance.

That look was impossibly complicated.

There was wariness mixed with something else—irritation, as if someone had exposed some secret, and perhaps a trace of confusion?

Xiao Wu's mind was a mess.

But her instinct to survive made her seize upon one crucial point.

This black-robed man, Tang Hao, was a Titled Douluo.

And Lin Qing, who could confront a Titled Douluo without falling behind, was at least a Titled Douluo himself.

Two Titled Douluos!!!

And she was a Hundred Thousand Year Transformation Soul Beast, a Soft Bone Rabbit. In the eyes of Titled Douluos, she was a walking gift package of Soul Rings and Soul Bones.

It was over!

She was truly done for!

Xiao Wu curled up, wrapping both arms around her knees, wishing she could shrink into a ball and hide in a crack in the earth.

She thought of Mom.

She remembered Mom's warning: "Xiao Wu, the Human World is very dangerous."

Back then, she had not taken it seriously.

Now she believed it.

She believed it completely.

"Your Excellency Tang Hao, did you stop me because you knew this girl was a Hundred Thousand Year Transformation Soul Beast and wanted to keep her as a Soul Ring for your son, Tang San?"

Lin Qing said with a smile.

There was no warmth in that smile. His golden eyes glinted coldly.

"?"

Tang Hao froze for a moment.

For an instant, shock flashed across his face at having his thoughts exposed. But that shock lasted only a tenth of a second before becoming pure Killing Intent.

Thick, inescapable Killing Intent spread from him like tangible ink, blending into the aura of a Titled Douluo and crushing Xiao Wu until she nearly suffocated.

"What?"

Xiao Wu's lips trembled. Her voice was as faint as a mosquito's buzz, shaking beyond control.

What had she just heard?

This Titled Douluo's son was Tang San!

His father was a Titled Douluo! He had known all along that she was a Soul Beast! And he even wanted her to sacrifice herself for his son?

Why?

On what grounds?

Just because she had cultivated for a hundred thousand years and taken human form, was she supposed to become a stepping stone for someone else's path to becoming stronger?

Xiao Wu felt as though her mind were about to explode.

A sour heat surged from her heart and clogged her throat. Her eyes burned, and her vision blurred.

She bit her lip hard, until she tasted blood.

I can't cry.

If I cry, I lose.

And at last, Tang Hao moved.

He took one step forward.

"Boom—crack!"

The ground split open in a wide stretch, cracks spreading like lightning.

His black robe fluttered without wind, snapping loudly. As its hem rolled aside, it revealed the lean, powerful body beneath.

He stared at Lin Qing and said word by word, each one forced through clenched teeth, "No matter who you are, since you know so much, you will not leave here alive today."

Knowing that his son was Tang San and knowing of Xiao Wu's existence, Tang Hao could not allow Lin Qing to live.

As soon as the words fell—

He clenched his Right Hand, and a pitch-black Heavy Hammer appeared from nowhere and dropped into his grasp.

That hammer was enormous.

Its Hammer Head was larger than a human head, completely black and without the slightest sheen.

Its handle was as thick as an adult's forearm.

Ferocious patterns coiled around it like some ancient runes.

"Oh-ho, so this is the number one Tool Martial Soul under heaven, the Clear Sky Hammer? It does look pretty imposing."

Lin Qing had read descriptions of it in books, but seeing it with his own eyes was another matter entirely.

The instant the hammer appeared, the surrounding air grew several degrees heavier.

Then, nine Soul Rings rose from beneath Tang Hao's feet.

Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black—and the last one, red!

A blood-red color appeared, and every wild beast in the forest fell silent.

The birds stopped chirping.

The insects stopped buzzing.

Even the rustling of wind passing through leaves ceased.

A Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring!

Xiao Wu stared wide-eyed, her entire body turning cold.

That Red Soul Ring was as glaring as blood. It slowly revolved beneath Tang Hao's feet, radiating a terrifying pressure.

It reminded Xiao Wu that this was the final fate of Soul Beasts—to be killed and turned into Soul Rings, turned into Soul Bones, turned into stepping stones for others to become stronger.

Just like... Mom.

She was done for.

Completely done for.

Two Titled Douluos.

One wanted to use her as a Soul Ring. What about the other?

Would Lin Qing save her?

Impossible.

There was no such thing as a free lunch in this world.

He surely had a purpose too. Maybe he wanted to absorb her Soul Ring himself...

"Waaah... Mom..."

Xiao Wu curled into a ball, her fingers digging into the grass, dirt packed beneath her fingernails.

Tang Hao's gaze was icy. "Today, you will die beneath my Clear Sky Hammer."

"Now that's more like it."

Lin Qing grinned excitedly.

"I also want to see whether Your Excellency Tang Hao's Clear Sky Hammer truly deserves to be called the number one under heaven."

Light glimmered in his golden eyes, like a child who had spotted a new toy.

He licked his lips and rolled his wrists. His Cervical Vertebra cracked loudly.

The next second, golden light exploded.

From within Lin Qing's body to every inch of skin, every muscle, every bone... everything was glowing.

Xiao Wu watched Lin Qing's limbs begin to transform.

They lengthened, swelled, and became covered in golden scales.

Every scale was the size of a fingernail, with sharp edges and a metallic gleam flowing over their surfaces.

His fingers turned into Sharp Claws. The five finger bones lengthened, their tips curving like hooks and flashing with cold light.

His feet transformed into dragon claws, the toes likewise turning into Sharp Claws and digging deeply into the ground.

"Hiss!"

A thick Dragon Tail lashed out from behind him, a full two meters long. Its tip bore bony spikes, and when it struck the ground with a boom, it smashed out a shallow crater.

Golden Dragon Martial Soul possession!

Dragonification, complete!