Awakening After the Beating: Tang Hao-"The World Has Changed. I Need to Hold On Tight to This Powerful Backer!"

"Yellow—purple—purple—black—black—red—red—red—red!"

One yellow, two purple, two black, and four red!

Nine dazzling Spirit Rings emerged around the black-robed man, and waves of soul-stirring pressure radiated from him!

That pressure made Tang Hao tremble with fear!

Especially those final four blood-red Hundred-Thousand-Year Spirit Rings!

"Impossible!"

"How could this be possible?"

The black-robed man's surging Soul Power roiled freely, crashing toward Tang Hao in wave after wave.

"What terrifying Soul Power fluctuations! We're not even on the same level."

That was right. This man was the level ninety-nine invincible bodyguard, a Limit Douluo arranged by the system. He was currently the strongest combatant on the continent, without question. Even Sea God Douluo Bo Saixi was no match for him! You wanted proof? Mm~~ That was what the system said.

At that moment, Tang Hao completely lost the will to fight. The gap was simply too vast. The suffocatingly dense pressure and overwhelming Soul Power left him unable to breathe. Forget fighting—he could barely even move!

Compared to that, his single Hundred-Thousand-Year Spirit Ring and level ninety-six Soul Power amounted to nothing at all!

"Who exactly are you, sir?"

In response to Tang Hao's question, the black-robed man merely sneered. "What, is the mighty Clear Sky Douluo afraid? Show me the same arrogance you used when you intimidated my young master during the day. My young master treated you politely, but what did you do? You ignored him and treated him coldly! If your son Tang San weren't my young master's friend, you'd already be a corpse! Still, while death may be spared, punishment cannot!"

The next second, the black-robed man's Spirit Rings vanished.

"I won't bully you either. I won't use my Martial Soul. One incense stick—whether you can endure it depends on yourself!"

As he spoke, the black-robed man lunged forward, sending Tang Hao's heart into a panic.

"Ah!!!"

In the dead of night, miserable screams echoed through the sky. Anyone who did not know better might have thought someone was slaughtering pigs.

After the time it took for one incense stick to burn.

The black-robed man looked at the battered and bruised Tang Hao before him.

"Get lost. If you dare disrespect my young master again, it won't be as simple as beating you up."

Listening to the black-robed man, Tang Hao felt utterly stifled and miserable. Honestly, he had never dreamed that he, a level ninety-six Title Douluo with a Hundred-Thousand-Year Spirit Ring, would one day be pinned to the ground and utterly humiliated.

But that was not even the worst part. The worst part was that he had never expected a tiny place like Holy Soul Village to contain such a terrifying expert besides himself. Most importantly, he had given attitude to someone who had such an expert as a subordinate.

A child had toppled an eighty-year-old mother! What a sin!

Tang Hao lay on the ground, staring blankly at the sky. Scenes from the past replayed in his mind one after another. Pain surged into his heart, accompanied by a trace of self-mockery.

"A Hundred-Thousand-Year Spirit Ring?"

"Level ninety-six Soul Power?"

"Clear Sky Douluo?"

"Heh. What use is all this strength? In the end, am I not just a piece of trash at the mercy of others?"

A cold wind swept over Tang Hao's body, and pain gradually rose from every part of him. It made him frown. How long had it been? How many years had it been since he had felt pain like this again?

But then he discovered something that left him stunned. After that brutal beating, more than half of his old injuries had actually healed, and the lingering internal blockages had loosened considerably!

"Th-this!!"

At that moment, Tang Hao looked at the black-robed man before him, his eyes filled with disbelief.

During the day, not only had he treated his son's friend coldly, he had even doubted his identity and entertained thoughts of killing him to silence him. Fortunately, the system did not know about those thoughts. Otherwise, the system would have made Tang San burn incense for his father on this day next year.

"Senior, what is this...?"

At this moment, Tang Hao had begun addressing him as Senior. Although Tang Hao did not know which faction the other man belonged to, he was certain that he was not from Spirit Hall. If he were from Spirit Hall, Tang Hao could not possibly still be alive, nor would he have helped heal his old injuries.

"Heh heh. Seeing as you've shown a proper attitude in admitting your mistake, I gave you a hand. But remember this: if there's a next time, I guarantee the grass on your grave will be at least three feet tall—and no one will even burn incense for you." (He had taken a beating without resisting for the time it took one incense stick to burn.)

"Also, don't compare me with that trash from Spirit Hall. If I wanted to, I could wipe out all of Spirit Hall overnight! Even Qian Daoliu would still call me daddy after I beat him!"

Tang Hao understood the implication in the black-robed man's words. Somewhat ashamed, he forced his aching body up from the ground and cupped his hands. "Thank you, Senior. This junior understands. Tomorrow, I will personally come to apologize."

"As you wish."

With that, the black-robed man's figure vanished into the night.

"Whew... He's terrifyingly strong. Wipe out Spirit Hall overnight? What kind of terrifying faction is that?"

Tang Hao's heart was far from calm. He had stayed in Holy Soul Village for twenty years, ignoring all news from the outside world for twenty years. He had never expected such heaven-defying super experts to emerge outside. After all, this was someone with four Hundred-Thousand-Year Spirit Rings.

Setting aside the faction itself, any clan capable of hunting Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts was naturally terrifying. Yet the most frightening part was that someone capable of absorbing Hundred-Thousand-Year Spirit Rings at the Soul Emperor level was merely another person's subordinate?

What kind of concept was that?

"The world is about to change! Tang San becoming his friend... I don't know whether that's good or bad, but it probably won't be a bad thing. Tomorrow, I still need to go and offer a proper apology."

At this moment, Tang Hao made up his mind. He would make sure his son latched onto this powerful backer. Perhaps this could become an opportunity for him to take revenge on Spirit Hall.

Tang Hao sat cross-legged where he was and began circulating his Soul Power to heal his injuries. There was no need to worry about the external wounds; they would recover soon enough. The internal injuries were what mattered most. With the black-robed man's help, he only needed to recuperate for a while, and his injuries would certainly recover completely.

By then, he would surely return to the peak of his strength! Just thinking about the Clear Sky Douluo without internal injuries felt incredible.

Xiao Feng knew nothing of all this. If he had known, he would definitely have said, who the hell cared? With Tang Hao's rotten personality, ptooey! Even dogs would not bother with him. (System: Am I a dog? Then I'm leaving?)

However, as Xiao Feng's system, it believed that one more friend meant one more path. There was absolutely no need for it, but in order to let its host experience life happily, the necessary arrangements still had to be made~~

The mighty Sun-Grass Douluo coming to offer a thorny branch and plead guilty? Just imagining that scene felt satisfying!

The next morning.

When Tang San woke from his dream, he discovered something that left him dumbfounded. At that moment, he even thought he was still dreaming.

Early in the morning, Tang Hao had tied on an apron and stood in front of the kitchen preparing breakfast.

"Dad... Dad?"

"Yo, Tang San, you're awake. If you are, come give me a hand."

Tang San was even more bewildered after hearing Tang Hao's words. But when he saw Tang Hao's face, mottled with purple and green bruises, he froze. The next second, an invisible killing intent surged from him as he asked in a low voice, "Dad, who did this to you?"

Tang Hao was also startled by the killing intent emanating from his son. He immediately smiled gently. "I did it to myself."

This was the first time Tang San had seen his father smile. Yet for some reason, seeing that smile made his heart ache, and he could not help choking out, "Dad..."

"Enough, brat. Your father went through some things before and never managed to move past them. But today, I have. These past years, you've suffered, Tang San."

Tang Hao spoke as he rubbed Tang San's head. At that moment, Tang San felt an unprecedented warmth in his heart, feeling Tang Hao's rough hand.

Is this family affection?

It's so warm.