Tang Chen silently drove the level-ninety-nine soul power within him through the meridians of his right arm and into the hammer. Veins bulged across the back of his hand as he wrenched upward again!
The Clear Sky Hammer had accompanied him through a lifetime of battles and should have moved as easily as his own arm. Now it seemed to have grown into the ground beneath his feet.
Not only was it impossibly heavy, even the connection between him and his martial soul had been severed by force!
At almost the same moment, around the edge of the arena.
Tang Hao, Tang Xiao, and five Clear Sky Sect veterans, including the Second Elder and Third Elder, had intended to lift their hammers alongside Tang Chen and add to the pressure. They all reached for their hammer handles.
The next instant, Tang Hao's eyes went wide.
He had come today determined to win. This was nearly all the force he could think to muster.
His hand clamped around the dark hammer handle. The muscles in his right arm swelled against his sleeve, and the stone slab beneath his feet sank another half inch under his weight. Yet the Clear Sky Hammer in his hand did not so much as tremble.
Not far away, Tang Xiao's pupils contracted sharply. Fine beads of cold sweat sprang up on his forehead.
The five elders beside him exchanged stunned looks. The hot-tempered Seventh Elder even secretly put both hands on his hammer. His aged face turned crimson with effort, but he still could not pull its head a hair's breadth out of the crack in the stone.
All nine Clear Sky Hammers were locked neatly in place!
Qian Xunji withdrew his right hand, clasped both hands behind his back, and looked up at Tang Chen,