"I'm not willing! I'm not willing to kill you and take your ring just like that!
I'd never be able to live with myself! So I wanted them to force you—to make you offer yourself to me willingly!"
"That way, I could get your Soul Ring and Soul Bone with a clear conscience, and earn myself a fine reputation as a man who defied Spirit Hall for love!"
"Ha ha ha ha... I, Tang Hao, really am a genius, aren't I?"
He laughed, but tears rolled down his unkempt cheeks.
"But I was wrong... I was terribly wrong..."
"All these years, I haven't slept well a single night. Whenever I close my eyes, I see you sacrificing yourself, and the faces of those Spirit Hall bastards I smashed to death!"
"They question me in my dreams. Why... why was I the one who led them there?!"
"Ah Yin, I'm in so much pain. I'm truly in so much pain..."
"Can you forgive me? Please, forgive me..."
The man sobbed uncontrollably, burying his head between his knees as his body convulsed violently.
Before him, the Blue Silver Grass known as Ah Yin had stopped trembling.
An inexpressible, profound sorrow and pain spread from its fragile leaves.
So that was how it had happened.
So the supposed meeting, the growing closeness, the love—all of it, from beginning to end, had been a carefully planned deception.
So he had been the one to lead Spirit Hall to her.
Her sacrifice, her offering—when all was said and done, had merely served his scheme to obtain a Soul Ring.
Regret.
Boundless regret overwhelmed what remained of her consciousness.
She regretted ever being taken in by that man's honeyed words.
Then came a surging hatred.
The hatred was so fierce that even the golden veins across the Blue Silver Grass dimmed, as though it might wither at any moment.
Just then.
Tang Hao, immersed in his pain, suddenly raised his head. A sharp glint flashed through his murky eyes.
He had sensed them.
Two powerful auras were approaching.
"..."
Tang Hao sprang to his feet, gripped the Clear Sky Hammer in his hand, and warily looked toward the direction the auras came from.
A green figure appeared in his field of vision, approaching at an unhurried pace. In just a few steps, he had reached the hillside.
The newcomer was a remarkably youthful-looking boy, dressed in green, with an air of otherworldly elegance.
Tang Hao's pupils contracted.
That outfit, that affinity with nature...
He was from the Heaven Dou Empire!
Tang Hao's pupils contracted again.
The newcomers weren't guards of the Heaven Dou Empire's royal family. They were Titled Douluo from Spirit Hall's Elder Hall!
The one on the left was tall and lean, like a spear standing upright. He was She Long Douluo, whose Martial Soul was the Snake Lance.
The one on the right had a strange aura. He was Porcupinefish Douluo, whose Martial Soul was the Pufferfish.
Two of Spirit Hall's Enshrined had appeared here at the same time.
And the person they both stood behind was the young man at the front.
He looked no more than twenty, dressed in a fitted suit of pale gold and wearing a purple-gold crown. His face was as refined as jade, his bearing noble and splendid, and every gesture carried the natural authority of a man born to rule.
Yet his eyes, though clear as water, held a depth far beyond his years—and a hatred that cut to the bone.
Tang Hao was certain he had never seen this young man before.
Where had that hatred come from?
At that moment.
Qian Renxue, disguised as the Heaven Dou Crown Prince Xue Qinghe, felt her heart hammering in her chest.
It was him!
This was the man!
The culprit who had killed her father, made her suffer, and robbed her of a father's love from childhood!
Though he was now unkempt and disheveled, she would never forget that face, that overbearing, domineering presence—not in a hundred lifetimes!
She clenched her fists so tightly her nails nearly dug into her palms, barely suppressing the urge to tear him limb from limb on the spot.
"Tang Hao."
Qian Renxue spoke slowly, her voice clear, but trembling with barely restrained emotion.
"We finally found you."
Tang Hao frowned, tossed the wine flask aside, and said in a low voice:
"Who are you?"
A mocking smile appeared on Qian Renxue's face.
"You don't need to know who I am."
"You only need to know that today is the day you die!"
At that, Tang Hao threw his head back and laughed, his laughter full of scorn and arrogance.
"The day I die?"
"You think you can do it with those two useless fools beside you?"
She Long and Porcupinefish's faces instantly turned livid.
"Tang Hao! Don't get carried away!"
She Long Douluo shouted, stepping forward.
BOOM!
A vast aura surged into the sky.
Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black, black!
Nine Soul Rings appeared in an instant, circling his body.
A dark-green lance appeared in his hand. Terrifying sharpness flickered at its tip, warping the very air.
ROAR!
Porcupinefish Douluo released his Martial Soul as well.
He, too, had nine Soul Rings in the standard configuration.
His body swelled at once, and sharp bone spines erupted across his skin. He transformed into a gigantic pufferfish, radiating a poisonous aura.
The full might of two Titled Douluo above Level 95 erupted. The entire hillside shuddered beneath their pressure as rocks flew and trees and grasses snapped!
Yet faced with a terrifying pressure powerful enough to change the color of heaven and earth, Tang Hao merely curled his lip in disdain.
VMMM—
A deep, muffled hum rang out.
A massive, pitch-black hammer appeared out of thin air in Tang Hao's right hand.
Its head was enormous, its handle thick and long, its surface covered in ancient patterns.
There was no dazzling light, no fearsome display of power.
But the instant the hammer appeared, the pressure released by She Long and Chi Xue together was forced back!
An even more savage, domineering will swept over the scene.
It was the kingly might of one who ruled the world!
Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black, red!
Nine Soul Rings appeared beneath Tang Hao's feet. The last one, an eerie crimson, made She Long and Porcupinefish's pupils contract sharply.
A Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring!
Although Tang Hao's Soul Power Level seemed somewhat lower than theirs, the Clear Sky Hammer—the world's number-one tool-type Martial Soul—and that crimson Soul Ring brought them undeniable pressure!
She Long Douluo was secretly shaken.
So this was the Clear Sky Hammer? Its reputation was well deserved!
Chi Xue Douluo's expression was equally grave.
Even after years of severe injury, this man's strength was still unfathomable!
Standing behind them, Qian Renxue felt it most keenly.
The instant the black hammer appeared, she felt her very soul tremble.
With Soul Power barely above Level 60, she was as insignificant as an ant in a clash at this level.
But!
The hatred of a murdered father could never be avenged enough!
Today, no matter the cost, he had to die here!
"Attack!"
Qian Renxue fixed her gaze on Tang Hao, her beautiful eyes filled with hatred, and gave the order.
Before you continue