Slaughter City, at the end of Hell Road.
The air here was as thick as congealed blood. Boiling magma churned beneath their feet, and the stench of sulfur and death hung in the air. Tang San no longer remembered how he had made it this far. Three of his Eight Spider Lances had snapped, and the rest were webbed with fine cracks. Every step brought a stabbing pain.
"Yu Tianyu..." he rasped, each word scraping his throat like a blade.
Before coming to Slaughter City, he had once fought against the current to climb a waterfall, driven by hatred to make his Soul Power violent and cold. He had thought a year of hellish training would make him worthy of revenge. But when he saw the figure standing by the exit ahead, the fear he had suppressed once again slithered through his heart like a poisonous snake.
Yu Tianyu wore a black-and-gold robe and stood with his back to Tang San, a faint golden glow surrounding him. In this filthy, blood-soaked hell, he seemed both holy and utterly ironic. A long sword glimmering with a cold light was planted in the ground beside him, and he idly toyed with a transparent glass bottle in his right hand.
Inside, a cloud of pink mist shifted constantly, vaguely taking the shape of a little rabbit crying out in pain.
"You finally made it, Third Brother." Yu Tianyu turned around, a warm smile on his handsome face. But to Tang San, that smile looked more sinister than any demon in hell. "You took longer than I expected. Those 'little pets' on Hell Road must have given you quite a bit of trouble."
Tang San stopped. His blood-red eyes fixed on the glass bottle in Yu Tianyu's hand, and his whole body began to tremble violently. He had sworn to himself that he would save Xiao Wu. For her sake, he had been willing to risk his life under the gaze of his father, Tang Hao.
"G-give... Xiao Wu... back to me!" Tang San roared. The afterimage of the Clear Sky Hammer gathered once more in his hand. Though it was only an illusion formed from Soul Power—the real hammer had long since been shattered by Yu Tianyu—it carried the desperate force of someone prepared to die with his enemy.
"Give her back?" Yu Tianyu chuckled, gently stroking the bottle. "Third Brother, you're still so naive. You've been in Slaughter City all this time, and you still haven't learned? The weak have no room to bargain."
He casually tossed the glass bottle into the air, then caught it again with ease. His tone turned mocking. "Still, seeing how hard you worked to cross Hell Road, I'll give you a chance. See that exit ahead? If you can walk past me, I'll return this bottle of 'Soul Origin' to you."
As soon as Yu Tianyu finished speaking, an overwhelming pressure erupted. It was absolute suppression beyond the limits of rank. The domineering aura of Dragon Slayer Magic and the murderous intent of Divine Slaughter's Domain intertwined, forming an invisible giant dragon that looked down upon a lowly insect.
"AAH!!"
Tang San let out a savage roar. Without another thought, he surged forward as a streak of blood.
"Mysterious Heaven Skill, Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track!"
His figure blurred into countless afterimages across the narrow stone bridge. He pushed his Hidden Weapon technique, Thousand Hand Asura, to its limits. Countless Bone Piercing Nails and Shadowless Needles shrieked through the air, sealing off every route of escape from a blind spot.
Yet Yu Tianyu didn't even move his feet. He watched the Hidden Weapons, so exquisite in the eyes of ordinary people, with cold indifference. In his deep violet dragon eyes, the attacks looked laughably slow.
"Fire Dragon's—Roar!"
Yu Tianyu took a deep breath, then blasted it out. Scarlet Dragon Flame surged forth like a torrent of destruction, swallowing every Hidden Weapon in an instant. The poisoned steel needles, forged from fine iron, didn't last even a second in the intense heat before vaporizing.
The Dragon Flame's force didn't fade. It slammed into the afterimage of Tang San's Clear Sky Hammer.
"Bang!"
Tang San was sent flying. He skidded dozens of meters across the stone bridge before barely managing to steady himself. His arms were charred black, and blood dripped from between his fingers into the magma.
"Is that all you've got?" Yu Tianyu walked toward him, each step pounding against Tang San's heart. "You keep saying you'll save her, but you can't even protect yourself."
He stopped in front of Tang San and bent down, looking at him with pity. "Third Brother, do you know? Before Xiao Wu died, she begged me to spare you. She said that if I let you go, she would offer herself as a sacrifice."
"Shut up! Shut up!!" Tang San went completely mad. He swung his fists wildly, but Yu Tianyu caught his wrist with ease.
Yu Tianyu leaned close to Tang San's ear, his voice low as a demon's whisper. "But I refused. I told her I wanted her to watch with her own eyes as the Third Brother she loved most became a dog who could only wag his tail and beg in despair."
Yu Tianyu kicked Tang San toward the edge of the exit's light curtain. Then, right before his eyes, he slowly raised the glass bottle.
"No! Don't!" Tang San tried desperately to crawl toward it, but his gravely injured body could only drag itself along the ground.
A cruel smile curled Yu Tianyu's lips. He clenched his fingers.
"Crack!"
The glass bottle shattered.
The pink mist instantly lost its container and began to dissipate. In its final moments, it seemed to take the shape of Xiao Wu's beautiful, sorrowful smile. She silently mouthed two words to Tang San: "Third Brother..."
"No!!!"
Tang San let out the most desperate, heart-rending cry of his life. At that moment, his heart shattered completely.
As the pink mist vanished, an eerie red light shot skyward from Yu Tianyu. It was the power of a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, forcibly seized by his domineering Dragon Slayer Magic.
"What a wonderful taste." Yu Tianyu closed his eyes, wearing an expression of delight.
Tang San stared blankly ahead, his eyes empty of all life. His pride and hope had been crushed by Yu Tianyu at the end of Hell Road.
"It's not over yet."
Yu Tianyu suddenly appeared in front of Tang San and clamped a hand over his crown.
"Divine Slaughter's Domain. How could something so precious belong to you?"
A terrifying suction force burst from Yu Tianyu's palm. The Slaughter Origin gathering on Hell Road was forcibly intercepted, then drawn bit by bit from Tang San's soul. The pain of having his soul torn apart should have been unbearable, but Tang San couldn't even cry out anymore.
"From this day on, you're no longer the celebrated genius, nor the hope of the Clear Sky Sect." Yu Tianyu's voice was like a divine decree, pronouncing Tang San's fate. "You're merely a witness, living in the shadows as you watch me ascend to godhood."
Yu Tianyu casually tossed Tang San into the exit's light curtain.
"Get lost. Go back to your Shrek and live out your wretched life there."
The light curtain swallowed Tang San.
Outside the exit of Hell Road, a bitter wind howled.
Yu Tianyu stood on the mountaintop, gazing down at Slaughter City with indifference in his eyes. Behind him, a petite figure slowly approached. She wore an exquisite white dress, a specially made collar around her neck. Her eyes were clear, yet filled with blind dependence on Yu Tianyu.
"Brother Yu," Xiao Wu said softly.
That's right. Everything that had just happened was nothing more than an advanced illusion Yu Tianyu had created with his mental power. For him, toying with someone whose mind had already collapsed was child's play.
Yu Tianyu turned and patted Xiao Wu on the head. "Let's go. Our next stop is Sea God Island. I want to see whether that so-called god can stand against my Dragon Slaying Fire."
That night, Douluo Continent lost a hero and gained a madman. And a true god rose from blood and fire, ascending on Tang San's back.
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