A Humiliation Beyond Compare

"Sorry. I said one punch, but I got carried away and threw two."

Wriothesley had not been surprised by his victory in the slightest.

So what if it was the Clear Sky Hammer?

Unfortunately, Wriothesley's physical strength far surpassed Tang Hao's, leaving the latter with no way to fight back. The outcome had been expected from the start, nothing remarkable. Even if Tang Hao's physical attributes were exceptionally tyrannical, they were only tyrannical within Douluo Continent.

Still, Wriothesley smiled apologetically over breaking his word.

As a Duke, one had to dare to admit one's mistakes. That was what a qualified Duke should be like.

Upon hearing those words, Tang Hao could no longer endure the violent twisting pain in his chest. He abruptly opened his mouth and began coughing violently.

He had been angered to the point of exploding.

At the same time, his body slowly began to turn red—the color of blood.

"Clear Sky Hammer..." Looking at the fragments of the Clear Sky Hammer dispersing across the ground, his heart ached beyond measure. Yet there was nothing he could do but watch as it slowly shattered, becoming a pile of scrap metal before disappearing from heaven and earth along with his Martial Soul.

At that moment, Tang Hao felt utter despair.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, hoping to calm himself. Yet the searing pain within his body could not be suppressed no matter what he did.

He knew this would become the greatest nightmare of his life.

At that thought, he could not help looking up at Wriothesley. His eyes were filled with desolation and helplessness.

But that was not even the most painful part. Wriothesley felt no guilt whatsoever over Tang Hao's plight.

If he truly did, after fighting so many life-and-death battles in Meropide, the number of people who had died by his hand was far more than just a fraction!

If he had to feel guilty for everyone who died at his hands, Wriothesley would have long since been drowned in an endless storm of hatred and ceased to exist.

However, that was only a hypothetical.

From the day he killed his foster parents, there had been no washing the blood from his hands.

Nothing in this world was absolute, and nothing was unchangeable. As long as he could survive, anything was possible.

Thinking of this, a faint smile appeared on his face.

To Wriothesley, Tang Hao was merely a passerby in his life.

Thus, Wriothesley turned his head expressionlessly and cast Tang Hao a cold glance.

Sigewinne also released Dugu Bo from the water bubble.

"Tang Hao, Tang Hao. I never thought you would have a day like this." Though he felt somewhat sorry for Tang Hao's fate, Dugu Bo said nothing more. In this world where the strong preyed on the weak, the weak were destined to be eliminated.

Besides, Tang Hao had just used his granddaughter to threaten him. That fleeting bit of sympathy had vanished completely.

"Hmph!"

Dugu Bo snorted coldly, his expression turning much uglier.

If Wriothesley had not been here, Dugu Bo would have dearly liked to poison Tang Hao to death and be done with it.

If you did not pull out weeds by the root, they would grow again when the spring breeze came. That was the principle.

If he wanted to kill Tang Hao, he had to force out all of Tang Hao's trump cards in one go.

Otherwise, if he left behind future trouble, he might end up losing his life.

But the Duke had said not to kill him, so he would not kill him.

Tang Hao also understood that if he wanted to survive now—and preserve his son's life and that rabbit's life—he had to give up something.

Therefore, in that instant, Tang Hao did not hesitate to throw a wooden box from his storage Soul Tool toward Wriothesley. His movement was crisp and decisive, as though he had thrown all the hesitation and unease in his heart behind him.

"Duke, this should be enough to trade for that rabbit, shouldn't it?"

There was a trace of urgency in his voice, and his gaze was as sharp as a blade, yet filled with uncertainty.

Fortunately, Dugu Bo and the others did not know about Tang San. Fortunately, he had not taken Tang San to awaken his bloodline beforehand. Otherwise...

That rabbit was the Soul Ring reserved for Tang San, carrying countless expectations and hopes. Nothing could happen to it. Tang Hao understood that, at such a critical moment, how could the unprotected rabbit bear such a risk? He prayed silently in his heart, hoping the god of fate would grant him a sliver of hope.

Wriothesley looked at the box in his hand and casually tossed it up and down.

He knew what was inside. For Tang Hao to use this to exchange for Tang San and Xiao Wu's lives, it naturally had to be something extraordinary.

Among the "valuable" treasures in Tang Hao's possession, apart from those inherited soul bones of the Clear Sky Sect, there was only one other thing.

His wife's soul bone.

With a wave of his hand, Wriothesley easily stored the wooden box in the God's Eye space, his expression calm and composed. Seeing him accept the box, Dugu Bo said no more. The air seemed to fill with tension, as though the scales of fate had quietly tipped at that moment.

"Let's go," Ning Fengzhi said with a sigh.

He understood in his heart that today's matter probably had to be put behind them.

Unless Tang Hao no longer cared about his life, he would definitely have to yield. After all, he could not fight Wriothesley to the death; the price was too great.

Moreover, given what had just happened, even if Tang Hao used the Clear Sky Sect's so-called Ring Detonation, he probably still would not be able to defeat Wriothesley.

And with his Martial Soul damaged, even if he used Ring Detonation, he would have trouble sustaining it for long.

However, if Tang Hao had used Ring Detonation from the beginning, perhaps the outcome...

No. Seeing how easily Wriothesley had blocked those two hammer strikes just now, the outcome would probably have been the same.

Their group truly needed to leave as well. At the very least, they needed to leave this place before they could find the time to discuss their next plans.

Ning Fengzhi did not know why Tang Hao had appeared here, but with his intelligence, it was not difficult to guess that it must be related to what had happened at Heaven Dou Royal Academy today.

His daughter's group had just been expelled from the academy, and Tang Hao had come knocking immediately afterward.

Who would believe that was merely a coincidence?

Sword Douluo shook his head slightly and said in a relaxed tone, "What a pity. If the Duke were not a little too old, he would definitely be the best possible husband for Rongrong."

"But the young lady by his side probably would not agree, would she?" Ning Fengzhi smiled as well.

It was no longer a secret in Heaven Dou City that Wriothesley and Sigewinne were inseparable. Ning Fengzhi and the others had noticed long ago that Wriothesley and Sigewinne's relationship was far from ordinary.

Sword Douluo merely shrugged calmly. "Still, that Yu Xiaogang..."

To Title Douluo like them, those so-called theories Yu Xiaogang had copied and compiled were the sort of things that were useless to read—and even more useless to study carefully.

"For Yu Yuanzhen to have a son like him, he must have suffered eight lifetimes' worth of misfortune." Ning Fengzhi shook his head. "Wait, Yu Xiaogang's disciple is called Tang San?"

"That's right, Fengzhi. What is it?" Chen Xin looked at Ning Fengzhi beside him. He knew that Yu Xiaogang had accepted a child with Blue Silver Grass as his Martial Soul and Innate Full Soul Power as his disciple.

But what did that have to do with Tang Hao? What connection could there be?

Tang Hao and Tang San—what relationship did they have?