Martial Soul Shattered

Sigewinne shook her head and sighed.

Oh no, the Duke was getting fired up again.

There was nothing to be done. The people of Douluo Continent, even Title Douluo, simply lacked enough substance. None of them could withstand a single punch from the Duke.

So over the years, the Duke had been constantly trying to learn how to control his strength.

In other words, how not to kill people.

Wriothesley raised a hand and blocked Tang Hao's incoming Clear Sky Hammer.

Tang Hao grew somewhat excited!

He had just used gauntlets to block it, yet now he was catching the Clear Sky Hammer barehanded. It seemed this fellow was truly incomparably confident in his own strength.

Wriothesley's arm swiftly turned into a streak of icy light, and he seized Tang Hao's Clear Sky Hammer.

"Don't struggle!" Wriothesley's icy words made Tang Hao involuntarily halt all movement. Then, he felt a chill sweep over him, as though he had fallen into a bottomless abyss. He abruptly vanished from above the gloomy thunderclouds blanketing the sky...

At that moment, the sky returned to how it had been before. The overcast heavens once more shrouded the earth, thunderclouds rolled and obscured the moonlight, making the conditions at the horizon impossible to see.

Faint snowflakes even began to drift down.

If this had been Teyvat, Wriothesley absolutely could not have achieved such a thing. At most, he could have used a God's Eye to cross a river.

Changing the weather with a God's Eye was basically impossible. Perhaps only those Archons could do it?

Or a Dragon King.

Just like his superior—when she was in a bad mood, Fontaine rained.

Damn it! Tang Hao cursed inwardly.

The Wriothesley before him no longer looked as he had before. He appeared...

He looked like a god!

Tang Hao had never seen a god, but he had seen the imposing might of his grandfather, Tang Chen, when he fought.

Compared with Wriothesley, even the aura of his grandfather Tang Chen, invincible on land, seemed like nothing much...

"Seventh Soul Skill, Clear Sky True Body!"

A massive Clear Sky Hammer descended from above, smashing straight down at Wriothesley.

"Hm?" Wriothesley gave a quiet snort, spreading the fingers of his right hand and pressing them against the surface of Tang Hao's Clear Sky Hammer.

Boom!!!

With a deafening explosion, the entire sky seemed to darken.

Chen Xin, watching from afar, secretly clicked his tongue in astonishment.

Catching the Clear Sky Hammer barehanded—even he would not dare do such a thing...

Because it was far too dangerous!

His body was nowhere near that durable.

If he took that hammer head-on, it would be enough to fracture his arm. If Tang Hao went all out, his entire arm might even be crippled.

What terrifying strength!

That was the thought in everyone's mind at that moment.

Yet Wriothesley looked as if nothing had happened.

If not for the forceful wind from the descending Clear Sky Hammer causing the ground beneath Wriothesley's feet to cave in slightly, everyone might have thought it had all been an illusion.

As the smoke dispersed, Tang Hao's tiger-like eyes widened as he stared at Wriothesley in disbelief.

Wriothesley was gripping one corner of his Clear Sky Hammer with his right hand, his expression utterly calm and completely uninjured.

This was a Clear Sky Hammer enhanced by a Martial Soul Avatar!

Even a Moon Riding Realm Title Douluo like Qian Daoliu would be injured if struck head-on like that.

Why had Wriothesley been unaffected?

What exactly was going on?

Just as Tang Hao was bewildered, he suddenly felt that the Clear Sky Hammer was slipping beyond his control.

"You..."

The moment Tang Hao spoke, a wave of unease surged in his heart.

At that instant, Wriothesley's right hand suddenly exerted force. A shocking power burst from his palm and rushed straight toward Tang Hao. His Clear Sky Hammer—the number one Tool Martial Soul in the world, the symbol of invincibility—actually let out a low, mournful crack in that instant. A corner of the hammerhead developed fine cracks beneath the overwhelming pressure!

Crack!

Tang Hao's heart was instantly overwhelmed by shock and disbelief. He could scarcely believe his eyes.

This was the number one Tool Martial Soul in the world!

And it was even under the effects of a Martial Soul Avatar!

Crushing off a corner of the Clear Sky Hammer with bare hands—what kind of horrifying strength was that?! Countless questions flashed through Tang Hao's mind, while intense shock and fear welled up within him. He realized that the opponent before him was no ordinary man, but an existence like an ancient beast, possessing power beyond all reason!

"Wrioth..."

Tang Hao wanted to speak, but found his throat seemingly clogged.

Crack!

At the same time, a crisp sound rang out.

Wriothesley gripped the other corner of the Clear Sky Hammer with his left hand, crushed it outright, then tossed it onto the ground beside him.

"...sley..."

Tang Hao still wanted to speak, but a punch smashed him into the ground.

He tried to rise, only to discover that his entire body was powerless. After all, his Martial Soul had been damaged, and this was an injury to the soul itself.

On Douluo Continent, a Martial Soul was like a person's soul. Generally speaking, the higher a Soul Master's level, the tougher their Martial Soul was and the harder it was to destroy. High-quality Martial Souls were tougher still, which was why Martial Souls were extremely difficult to damage.

If a Martial Soul was damaged, the body would suffer injuries at best, though the Martial Soul could recover after sufficient rest. But if it was completely destroyed, one's vitality would be severely damaged, their level would fall, and they would never again have any chance of advancing.

For someone like Tang Hao, who had lost two chunks of his Martial Soul, recovery would take at least several decades.

"This..."

Although Ning Fengzhi knew Wriothesley was powerful, he had never imagined he was powerful to this extent.

He had crushed a Title Douluo's Martial Soul with his bare hands.

Even if Tang Hao was not at his peak now, he was certainly no ordinary Title Douluo!

And this was while he had activated his Martial Soul Avatar!

"Fengzhi." Even Chen Xin did not know what to say.

"The Duke can only be a friend, never an enemy." After pondering for a moment, Ning Fengzhi sighed. "Uncle Bone did not lose unjustly."

Now that he thought about it, Gu Rong had actually been rather fortunate back then.

Compared with Tang Hao now, Gu Rong's injuries could practically be called minor!

"Yes..." Chen Xin nodded, then turned to look down at the ground.

"As for the Clear Sky Douluo..." Ning Fengzhi slowly turned around, his gaze falling upon that nearly collapsed figure. A casual smile curved his lips, as though he were discussing something utterly insignificant. "For the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect to rise to the top and become the foremost of the Upper Three Sects as soon as possible, Mr. Tang Hao, I'll have to trouble you to endure a little hardship."

Help?

He gently shook his head, a faint mockery in his gaze.

Helping was impossible. If he truly made a move, it would only be to help Wriothesley deal with Tang Hao.

Ning Fengzhi knew perfectly well who was strong and who was weak.

The fact that Chen Xin had not stepped forward to deliver Tang Hao a fatal blow was already out of consideration for the Clear Sky Sect. Otherwise, he would not have held back.

"Pfft..." With a dull thud, Tang Hao suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood. Scarlet blood bloomed in the air like brilliant plum blossoms. His Martial Soul and body were connected like bloodlines; if the body was injured, the Martial Soul might not escape harm. Yet now that his Martial Soul had suffered grave damage, the inevitable backlash brought agonizing pain that nearly suffocated him.

Pain!

It hurt too much!

The severity of the backlash, like raging waves, depended on how badly the Martial Soul was injured. If Tang Hao had not possessed level 95 Soul Power, the shattering of his Martial Soul alone would have been enough to turn him into a cripple on the spot.

Yet at this moment, even Tang Hao did not notice a faint red glow protecting his heart meridians.

Otherwise, that last blow would have killed him outright.