"Bzzz—CRACK!!!"
This time, there was no Kakkō.
Only a streak of deep-blue lightning, instantly bridging the distance between the basement and the sky.
Accelerated by an extremely powerful electromagnetic field, the specially made tungsten-alloy bullet broke the sound barrier five times over.
The air tore open, forming a visible white shockwave trail.
Time seemed to stop.
The Clear Sky Hammer in Tang Hao's hands had yet to come all the way down.
The blue light was already right in front of him.
Fast.
Too fast.
Fast enough that even a Titled Douluo's spiritual power could barely catch a glimpse of it.
Relying on his combat instincts, Tang Hao only had time to angle the Clear Sky Hammer slightly, bringing it up in front of his chest.
"CLANG!!!!!!"
A clash of metal rang through the night sky, loud enough to shatter eardrums.
Even the Clear Sky Hammer, a top-tier tool-type Martial Soul, let out a pained wail when faced with such a pure, concentrated impact of physical force.
The tremendous impact was like a meteor strike.
Tang Hao felt an irresistible force travel down the hammer's shaft.
The web of his hand split open, and blood sprayed everywhere.
His whole body was blasted backward as if a speeding Soul Guidance Train had slammed straight into him!
"BOOM!"
Tang Hao's body traced an arc through the air, snapping more than a dozen trees before crashing hard into the mountainside behind the academy.
Rocks tumbled down as dust billowed everywhere.
The whole of Notting Academy shook.
In the basement.
The tremendous recoil sent Qin Feng flying backward. He slammed hard into the wall, pain shooting through his shoulder as if the bone had cracked.
The barrel of the newly assembled, modified Barrett was glowing red, and smoke curled from its coils. It was clearly ruined.
"Cough, cough..."
Qin Feng pushed himself up from the floor and clutched his shoulder, a fierce grin spreading across his face.
"Awesome!"
"That shot really packed a punch!"
Grey Wolf crawled out from under the control desk, his fur and clothes covered in dust. A chunk of his battered top hat had been singed off.
"Madman! You're a complete lunatic!"
"Do you realize that blast nearly killed us too?"
"But..."
Grey Wolf glanced at the ruined barrel, and to everyone's surprise, his face lit up with excitement.
"That thing packs way more punch than my Frying Pan! Now that's what I call a man's kind of romance!"
In the corner, Yu Xiaogang had gone completely rigid.
He stared blankly at the figure on the screen, blasted through the air.
That was the Clear Sky Douluo!
A pinnacle figure in the Soul Master World!
And he'd been sent flying by a kid with no trace of Soul Power, using a strange metal tube?
Had the world gone mad?
Behind the academy.
Amid the rubble.
A bloodied hand suddenly emerged, shoving aside a massive boulder.
Tang Hao staggered to his feet.
He was in a wretched state.
His black robe had been reduced to rags, and a large bruise covered his chest, caused by the Clear Sky Hammer's recoil.
Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, and his right hand, gripping the hammer, continued to tremble uncontrollably.
And on his supposedly indestructible Clear Sky Hammer...
There was a dent, barely the size of a fingernail but half an inch deep!
The bullet hadn't pierced it, but it had definitely left a mark.
As Tang Hao stared at the dent, the fury in his eyes gradually faded, replaced by deep wariness—and even a trace of fear.
That shot...
If he hadn't reacted in time and blocked it with his Clear Sky Hammer...
If it had struck his head...
Tang Hao couldn't bring himself to finish the thought.
He might have been arrogant, but he wasn't stupid.
This seemingly weak young man wielded a power he couldn't begin to understand.
It required no Soul Power and no windup, yet it could inflict lethal damage.
And if that sound-wave weapon that had made him vomit were used again, he might not be able to defend against it.
This was Notting Academy.
If the fight really escalated and he used the Great Sumeru Hammer, the entire academy would be flattened.
His son, Tang San, might not survive, either.
Besides, people from Spirit Hall were nearby.
The commotion from that shot had been enormous. It must have alerted the Spirit Hall branch.
If they cornered him now...
Tang Hao forcibly suppressed the churning blood in his body.
He gave the basement entrance, still belching smoke, a long look.
His gaze was complicated.
It held killing intent and confusion, along with a trace of something he himself would never admit to... retreat.
"Fine."
"Very well."
"Qin Feng, was it?"
"I'll remember you."
Tang Hao's voice remained cold, but it had lost some of its earlier domineering force.
"I'll admit defeat over this shot today."
"But this isn't over."
After delivering that parting threat...
Tang Hao didn't hesitate. He flashed away as a black blur, vanishing into the night.
He ran.
The haughty Clear Sky Douluo had actually run!
In the basement.
Watching the red dot disappear from the screen, Qin Feng let out a long breath.
The cold sweat on his back had soaked through his clothes.
"That was close."
He dropped onto the floor, his hand still trembling slightly.
That shot had used up all their stored electrical energy.
If Tang Hao had held out for even one more minute, Qin Feng would have had no choice but to send Grey Wolf into hand-to-hand combat with his Frying Pan.
"We won... We actually won?"
Yu Xiaogang murmured in disbelief.
The way he looked at Qin Feng had changed. He no longer saw a genius—he saw a monster.
They'd driven off a Titled Douluo!
A feat worthy of being recorded in the history books!
"Don't get too excited."
Qin Feng got up and rubbed his shoulder.
"That old man just didn't want to make a scene, and my new weapon caught him off guard."
"Once he's had time to think it over, or gets ready for us, it won't be so easy next time."
"So..."
Qin Feng's eyes sharpened again.
"We have to get stronger."
"Our firepower still isn't enough."
"Just driving him off won't cut it. I want to... crush him."
He turned to Grey Wolf.
"Brother Wolf, we're out of materials."
"No more tungsten alloy, and no more high-strength alloys."
"If we want to build stronger weapons and make your inventions something better than junk, we'll need better materials."
The moment Grey Wolf heard they were out of materials, he sprang to his feet.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go buy some! Or steal some!"
"We don't have any money, and there's nowhere to steal from."
Qin Feng shook his head.
"But I know a place with good stuff."
He looked at the map of the Douluo Continent hanging on the wall and jabbed his finger at a patch of green.
"The Soul Hunting Forest."
"It's full of Soul Beasts."
Yu Xiaogang asked without thinking:
"Are you going there to hunt Soul Beasts for Soul Rings? But you don't have a Martial Soul..."
"Who said I wanted Soul Rings?"
Qin Feng cut him off, a cruel smile curling his lips.
"Soul Beast bones are natural, high-strength biological alloys."
"Soul Beast sinew is the best material for elasticity."
"Some rare Soul Beasts even contain precious metallic elements in their bodies."
"To a scientist, that's no forest."
"That's..."
"A huge, walking stockpile of materials."
Qin Feng turned, ambition blazing in his eyes.
"Brother Wolf, pack your things."
"We leave first thing tomorrow morning."
"Our destination: the Soul Hunting Forest."
"We're going shopping!"
Grey Wolf's eyes lit up green, and he ran his tongue over his sharp fangs.
"Shopping? I'd call it an all-you-can-eat buffet!"
"Little sheep... I mean, little Soul Beasts, your king is coming!"
Watching the man and wolf stride off like bandits heading down the mountain, Yu Xiaogang suddenly had a feeling.
The Soul Beasts in the Soul Hunting Forest were in for a terrible time.
No.
The rules of this world were in for a terrible time.
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