Tang Hao: Longing Is a Pain That Breathes

Jiang Ming's face instantly turned deathly pale, veins bulging on his forehead.

Pain.

Excruciating pain.

But he absolutely could not give up!

Jiang Ming held on, while Ah Yin's consciousness struggled as well.

But her strength was too weak—so weak that she could not even do anything to a level-nine Soul Scholar!

After all, she was merely a plant, a plant with only the last trace of lingering will remaining.

Jiang Ming focused all his willpower within his body, suppressing that violent life force.

He felt no guilt.

This world was like that—the strong preyed on the weak, and only the fittest survived.

The Blue Silver Emperor was a Soul Beast.

He was a Soul Master.

He needed her strength, so he devoured her.

Nothing more.

After an unknown amount of time, Ah Yin's consciousness finally stopped struggling.

The Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, the Blue Silver Emperor, vanished just like that!

The Blue Silver Emperor's life force merged into Jiang Ming's meridians, bones, and flesh.

A warm current circulated through his body, merging with his originally meager Soul Power.

His Soul Power slowly rose.

From level nine to level nine and a half, then it continued rising bit by bit.

At last, it stopped at a certain threshold.

Soul Power, level ten.

With just one Soul Ring, he could officially enter the ranks of Soul Masters.

Unfortunately, devouring the Hundred-Thousand-Year Blue Silver Emperor had not given him a second Martial Soul.

In the end, he was only an ordinary person, without the bloodline of a Soul Beast.

He was still an ordinary person who could only walk a tightrope, treading on thin ice all his life, never knowing whether he would reach the other side.

Jiang Ming opened his eyes and fell into thought.

He had spent an entire year combing through every book he could read in Nuoding Academy's library.

Martial Soul theory, Soul Beast encyclopedias, cultivation methods...

He had gone through nearly every piece of knowledge related to Soul Masters.

More than anyone else, he understood that every step on a Soul Master's path of cultivation was crucial.

Especially the choice of Soul Rings.

A good Soul Ring could multiply a Soul Master's strength severalfold.

A poor Soul Ring would not only fail to bring out a Martial Soul's true power, but could even limit one's future potential.

His Soul Power had already reached level ten. It was time to consider his first Soul Ring.

Jiang Ming pulled a notebook from his clothes.

It was densely filled with records of various Soul Beasts' habitats, strength assessments, Soul Ring attribute tendencies, and other information.

He flipped to the page titled [Spatial Soul Beasts].

Spatial Soul Beasts were extremely rare. Ordinary people might never encounter even one in their entire lives.

Their greatest trait was their ability to control spatial power.

Some could teleport over short distances.

Some could tear space apart and create rifts.

Others could compress or expand space.

His Martial Soul was space.

Without a doubt, the most suitable Soul Rings for him would be those of Spatial Soul Beasts.

But that was also the problem—Spatial Soul Beasts were too difficult to find.

Within a hundred miles of Nuoding City, there were three known Soul Beast forests, but none had any rumors of Spatial Soul Beasts.

There might be Spatial Soul Beasts in the Star Dou Great Forest.

But going alone into the Star Dou Great Forest to hunt a Spatial Soul Beast?

That was madness.

Jiang Ming put away the notebook and slowly rose to his feet, his face utterly free of hesitation.

Madness it was.

It was not as though this was the first mad thing he had done.

A Martial Soul that had never appeared before, a commoner student with no background.

The road he had to walk had never been smooth from the very beginning.

Then he would take the gamble!

Holy Soul Village.

Tang Hao entered the empty house.

The forge's fire had gone out, and a thin layer of dust covered the anvil.

Everything was exactly as it had been when he left.

He had lived here for six years.

From a drunken blacksmith to a taciturn father.

In this dilapidated little courtyard, he had raised Tang San day by day in the most inconspicuous way possible.

The villagers of Holy Soul Village only knew him as a drunken old man.

No one knew that he was also the Clear Sky Douluo, whose name had once shaken the Soul Master world.

Tang Hao did not linger in the house. He turned and headed toward the back mountain.

At some point, an unease had arisen in his heart.

Ever since entering the Soul Hunting Forest, that feeling had persisted.

Originally, Tang Hao had believed the source of his unease was Tang San.

His son might encounter danger.

But after leaving the Soul Hunting Forest, that feeling had only grown stronger.

It was like a thorn lodged in his heart, causing a faint, persistent ache.

Something was wrong!

If it was not Little San, then it was Ah Yin!

The path up the back mountain felt a little unfamiliar to Tang Hao.

Over the past six years, he had come here only a handful of times.

After feeling his way around for a while, Tang Hao finally reached the waterfall on the back mountain.

After Ah Yin had turned into Blue Silver Grass, the Seed of Life and Spirit Bone she left behind had been personally placed by him behind the waterfall.

They were Ah Yin's final gift to this world.

They were also the last gifts she had left their son, bought with her life.

No matter how drunk and downcast he became, whenever he could no longer endure, he would come here and sit for a while.

He did not need to speak or do anything. He only needed to stay here and feel Ah Yin's lingering aura, and he would be able to pull himself together again!

But today...

The Seed of Life was gone.

Tang Hao stared at the Soul Power barrier behind him, then at the hollow where the Seed of Life had originally been buried.

Gone!

His wife was gone!

The Soul Power barrier was still there, but his wife was gone!

And that Spirit Bone had disappeared as well!

It was something he had left for Tang San, a treasure Ah Yin had exchanged her life for, one that could allow Tang San to go farther in the future.

Now, both were gone.

Tang Hao stood where he was, completely motionless.

At that moment, a terrifying aura erupted explosively from Tang Hao's body.

He entered the Tang Family Ancestral Buff!

His eyes were bloodshot, and he panted like a bull!

"Aah—!!"

Tang Hao burst out from behind the waterfall and let out a heart-rending roar.

That shrill roar contained far too many emotions.

Fury, grief, despair, self-blame, madness...

The emotions he had suppressed for six years turned into a soul-tearing howl at that moment.

Tang Hao summoned the Clear Sky Hammer!

The Clear Sky Hammer, known as the world's number one Martial Soul, trembled incessantly as if it sensed its master's loss of control.

Tang Hao gripped the Clear Sky Hammer with both hands and viciously smashed it toward the ancient hundred-year-old tree ahead.

Boom!

The ancient tree snapped in half, wood chips flying everywhere!

Not enough.

Nowhere near enough.

Tang Hao swung the Clear Sky Hammer, destroying the back mountain of Holy Soul Village in a frenzy.

Trees fell one after another, rocks were smashed to pieces, and the ground was struck with jagged cracks.

He was like a crazed beast, charging wildly through the forest. Nothing grew where he passed.

"Come out!"

"Come out here!"

"Who did this—!!"

Tang Hao's hoarse voice carried intense killing intent and madness, sending birds and beasts within several miles fleeing in all directions.

The Soul Power of a Titled Douluo was released without restraint, like a volcano on the verge of erupting, pressing down until the entire back mountain trembled.

But he could not find anything.

He detected no one's aura.

Whoever had stolen Ah Yin's relics had done so cleanly, so discreetly, that they had not even left behind the faintest trace of Soul Power fluctuations.

Either it was someone far stronger than him!

Or... that person had been too careful, careful enough that even a Titled Douluo could not detect them.

Either possibility drove Tang Hao even madder.