"When it comes to the student surpassing the master, that prized son of your Tang Clan, who lashes even his own father and elders without hesitation, is far more outstanding."
As Tang Chen listened to Qian Xunji's mockery, his anger swelled, and his face seemed to burn.
After all, he had neither a good temper nor any patience.
But Qian Xunji gave him no chance to speak.
In midair, the golden hand gripping the gigantic Clear Sky Hammer tightened, divine power blazing between its five fingers.
"Crack, crack, crack-"
The teeth-grating sound of splitting metal rang out. Thick, web-like cracks instantly covered the surface of the Clear Sky Hammer, which represented the pinnacle of the world's foremost tool martial soul.
In an instant, the cracks eclipsed the dark-gold demonic patterns covering the hammer, lending it a kind of shattered beauty.
"Bang!"
The next moment, the enormous hammer exploded into fragments that scattered across the sky.
With his martial soul shattered, the backlash followed their connection and surged straight into Tang Chen's meridians.
Tang Chen shuddered. Blood streamed incessantly from his seven orifices, and mouthful after mouthful surged from his lips. As though every bone had been sucked out of his body, he collapsed, his knees slamming into the rubble.
Years ago, the Blood-Red Nine-Headed Bat King had parasitized him in Slaughter City, leaving substantial hidden injuries. All this time, he had relied on his profound rank-ninety-nine soul power to barely suppress most of them.
Now that his martial soul had shattered, his new injuries detonated the old afflictions. Evil energy and the reversed flow of soul power seemed to tear relentlessly at one another inside him.
At this point, all eight Titled Douluos belonging to the Clear Sky Sect lay gravely wounded on the ground. Not one had the strength