Neuvillette: No Noise in Skywater City! The Seventeenth Name on the Golden Ranking List Revealed!

The reward inside that beam of light was simply too tempting.

A God-Given Soul Ring.

And a top-tier reward that could automatically replace an existing Soul Ring with one of a higher age.

What did that mean?

It meant there was no need to hunt Soul Beasts or risk one's life absorbing a ring. You could obtain a Soul Ring perfectly suited to your body's limits.

It might even be a hundred-thousand-year Soul Ring.

Add Martial Soul Evolution to that, and it was practically a chance to defy fate.

Outside Skywater City, the golden light faded.

The burly old man who had been there was gone.

In his place stood a terrifying being covered in dark golden scales, with a dragon's tail several zhang long trailing behind him.

Golden Crocodile Douluo threw back his head and roared.

The sound rolled across the area, shaking the surrounding rocks and hills.

He felt a hundred years younger.

The blood and vitality in his body, which had begun to wane, now surged like a mighty river.

His ninth Soul Ring was the most astonishing change of all.

It had once been an ordinary black, ten-thousand-year Soul Ring.

Now, it had turned a scarlet red.

A hundred thousand years!

The God-Given Soul Ring had raised his ninth Soul Skill to the hundred-thousand-year level.

"Tang Hao!"

"Take another one of my attacks!"

Golden Crocodile Douluo was brimming with confidence.

He raised both hands, and a pair of Golden Dragon Twin Halberds appeared out of thin air. With a shrill whistle that tore through the air, they came crashing down toward Tang Hao.

This strike was several times stronger than his previous tail attack.

The Golden Dragon Crocodile's strength boost was a genuine two hundred percent.

Faced with this savage blow, Tang Hao merely snorted.

His disheveled hair whipped in the wind, and the killing intent in his eyes had not diminished in the slightest.

"You fool."

"So what if your Martial Soul evolved?"

"Before my Clear Sky Hammer, all are equal."

The Clear Sky Hammer in Tang Hao's hands swelled again. The red lines across it throbbed like veins.

The Clear Sky Sect had received generous rewards after appearing on the Power Ranking List.

Tang Hao's body had long since surpassed that of an ordinary mortal.

And with the terrifying boost from Ring Detonation, he had no need for fancy techniques.

He simply smashed his hammer down.

Boom!

The Golden Dragon Twin Halberds collided violently with the Clear Sky Hammer in midair.

This clash was even more violent than the last.

A visible shock wave swept outward, scraping three feet of soil from the ground.

The wild grin on Golden Crocodile Douluo's face froze.

He felt as though he had crashed into an erupting volcano.

That overwhelmingly domineering force ran from the halberds through his entire body, making every bone in him creak.

Even with the Golden Dragon Crocodile's three-hundred-percent defense boost, his chest still felt tight.

"Urgh—"

Golden Crocodile Douluo was sent flying. His feet carved two deep furrows into the ground, and he skidded back more than a hundred meters before regaining his footing.

Tang Hao merely rolled his shoulders.

The difference between them was clear.

Everyone watching was stunned.

Golden Crocodile Douluo had just received Heaven's reward and evolved his Martial Soul into a super-divine one!

And he still wasn't a match for Tang Hao?

Just how powerful was Clear Sky Douluo?

Tang Hao strode forward, each step making the ground tremble.

"If Qian Daoliu were here, perhaps he'd be worth my attention."

"But you, you old crocodile?"

"You're still far from good enough."

Tang Hao raised his hammer again. This time, the killing intent around him had almost taken on a physical form.

He was going to put an end to this nuisance once and for all.

At the City Lord Mansion in Skywater City,

Neuvillette set down his teacup with a hint of resignation.

The commotion outside was simply too loud.

The shock waves from those clashes of pure strength had sent ripples across the tea in his cup.

For a Water Taster, it was terribly distracting.

"How noisy," Neuvillette murmured.

His voice was quiet, but everyone present could hear the displeasure in it.

Shui Bing'er, who was standing nearby to attend to him, was quick to catch on.

Though she was technically a resident of Skywater City, she thought of herself as Neuvillette's maid much of the time.

That, too, was a form of cultivation.

Seeing Neuvillette frown, Shui Bing'er immediately stepped forward and bowed respectfully.

"Lord Neuvillette."

"There's no need for you to trouble yourself over something so trivial."

"Let me handle it."

"The conflict between Spirit Hall and the Clear Sky Sect is their own business, but fighting right outside the gates of Skywater City is disturbing your peace."

Neuvillette looked up at the blue-haired young woman.

Shui Bing'er had good talent.

After his guidance last time, in particular, her control over Cryo had made a qualitative leap.

"Very well."

Neuvillette nodded slightly and picked up his teacup again.

"Go on."

"Tell them to fight somewhere else."

"This is a residential district. No noise."

Shui Bing'er was delighted to receive his permission.

This was a chance to prove herself, and an opportunity to test her cultivation.

"Yes!"

Shui Bing'er turned, her gentle manner instantly giving way to a fierce air.

She lightly tapped the ground with her toes, and her whole body shot toward the outskirts of the city like a streak of blue light.

Outside the city,

Tang Hao's Clear Sky Hammer had gathered power to its peak.

"Die!"

The enormous black hammer came crashing down toward Golden Crocodile Douluo, carrying the force to destroy everything in its path.

Golden Crocodile Douluo's expression darkened as he prepared to fight for his life.

Just then,

the temperature plunged.

Snowflakes began to fall from the previously clear sky.

A blast of extreme cold shot in between them, arriving faster than the attack that had come before it.

Crack—!

The Clear Sky Hammer, powerful enough to shatter mountains, stopped for an instant in midair.

A thick layer of ice rapidly spread from its head. In the blink of an eye, half of the enormous hammer was frozen solid.

Tang Hao shattered the ice with a single shake.

But that brief pause had been enough.

Shui Bing'er hovered in midair like a goddess of ice and snow.

Her blue robes fluttered in the wind as a pair of crystalline Ice Phoenix wings slowly unfurled behind her.

Her Extreme Cold Domain burst outward, forcefully pushing back Tang Hao's savage Divine Slaughter's Domain.

"How dare you!"

Shui Bing'er's cool voice rang across the area.

"Private fights are forbidden within Skywater City's territory."

"If you want to cause trouble, go back to your Clear Sky Sect!"

Tang Hao stared at the young woman before him, surprise flickering in his eyes.

Then came open disdain.

"So this is who they sent."

"Just a little girl from Skywater Academy."

"What? Is there no one else in Skywater City?"

"Did they really send an inexperienced little girl like you out here to die?"

Tang Hao pointed his hammer at Shui Bing'er, his voice cold and threatening.

"Get out of my way."

"I won't kill you, since you're young."

"Bring Neuvillette out. I have questions for him."

Shui Bing'er wasn't cowed by Tang Hao's imposing presence.

She simply gave him a cold look, a mocking smile at the corner of her mouth.

"You think you're worthy of meeting Lord Neuvillette?"

"In his eyes, you're nothing but a brute who knows how to swing a hammer."

"If you won't leave, then you'll stay here as an ice sculpture."

The two sides faced off, on the verge of battle.

Just then,

the enormous Golden Ranking List in the sky rumbled once more.

Its grand, celestial voice interrupted everyone.

[Announcing the seventeenth name on the Golden Ranking List!]

[Name: Tang Hao!]

[Title: Clear Sky!]

[Martial Soul: Clear Sky Hammer!]

[Level: Rank 97!]

[Affiliation: None (formerly the Clear Sky Sect)!]

At the sight of those words, Tang Hao's gloomy expression shifted.

He raised his head and looked at his name.

Seventeenth place.

Meanwhile, in the direction of Jialing Pass,

Tang San stared fixedly at the Golden Ranking List, his fists clenched.

"It's Father!"

"Father's on the list!"