Tang Hao's brows were knitted together as he stared fixedly at the Blue Silver Grass braced against his hammerhead.
This aura...
It was of the same kind as Ah Yin.
But Ah Yin had sacrificed herself long ago and lost all her power. It was even less possible that she would attack him.
Was it another Blue Silver Grass?
A flicker of disdain and brutality passed through Tang Hao's eyes.
A mere Trash Martial Soul dared to stop his chariot with a mantis's arms?
How laughable!
With a furious shout, the muscles in his arm bulged. He poured all his Soul Power into the Clear Sky Hammer and slammed it down!
He would grind this blade of grass—and the being behind it—into dust!
Yet the instant the Clear Sky Hammer fell, the arrogance on Tang Hao's face abruptly froze.
From the hammer came a terrifying force, vast as the sea and unceasing!
Supple yet unyielding, that power seemed to bear the weight of all life in the world. It raced along the hammer's handle and surged wildly into his body!
Tang Hao's face turned deathly pale in an instant!
"Crack—"
A crisp, faint snapping sound rang out. In the battlefield's sudden silence, it was especially piercing.
Tang Hao looked down in shock.
On the pitch-black surface of the Clear Sky Hammer, the world's greatest weapon-type Martial Soul—the one he had always been so proud of—a web of cracks had appeared, centered on the point where the Blue Silver Grass's tip pressed against it!
"Crack! Crack, crack!"
The fractures spread at a visible speed, covering the entire hammerhead in the blink of an eye!
"Pfft—!"
His Martial Soul damaged, Tang Hao was struck as if by lightning and spewed out a mouthful of blood.
The next moment, the enormous Clear Sky Hammer exploded before his eyes, scattering countless black fragments in every direction!
An irresistible recoil struck him. Tang Hao flew hundreds of meters like a kite with its string cut, snapping countless trees along the way before crashing heavily to the ground and kicking up a cloud of dust.
Silence fell over heaven and earth.
She Long and Pufferfish, the two Titled Douluo, stood gaping, dumbstruck.
What had they just seen?
The Clear Sky Hammer...
The Clear Sky Hammer, hailed as the continent's greatest weapon-type Martial Soul...
Had been smashed apart by a blade of Blue Silver Grass?
H-how could this be?
It completely overturned everything they knew about Martial Souls!
Qian Renxue was just as stunned.
She stared blankly at the Blue Silver Grass retracting slowly into the ground before her, her mind utterly blank.
Blue Silver Grass...
Could it really be this powerful?
"Cough... cough, cough..."
In the ruins in the distance, Tang Hao struggled to his feet and spat up another mouthful of blood.
He looked as if he had seen a ghost.
Staring at his empty right hand and feeling the agony of his shattered Martial Soul, he was swept by a storm of shock.
That Blue Silver Grass... its power was beyond all reason!
That wasn't Soul Power!
It was a kind of life-origin force he had never encountered before, one from a higher level entirely!
What terrified him most was that, from beginning to end, he hadn't seen who had attacked.
A strike from afar had crushed his Clear Sky Hammer true form!
If that mysterious expert arrived, he would surely die here today!
Escape!
He had to get away at once!
That was the only thought left in Tang Hao's mind. He didn't dare linger for even a moment, nor did he dare look at Qian Renxue. Forcing down his injuries, he burned his Soul Power and turned into a streak of black as he fled into the distance, not looking back.
Faint footsteps sounded.
A tall figure slowly emerged from the woods outside Holy Soul Village.
The newcomer wore a green robe, with black hair falling over his shoulders. His features were handsome, and his air was so ethereal he seemed not to belong to this mortal world.
It was Chen Xuan.
Chen Xuan's gaze fell on the thriving patch of Blue Silver Grass nearby, and on the Blue Silver Emperor among them. It was noticeably taller than the others, its leaves marked with golden patterns.
He set off toward it, unhurried.
Only then did Qian Renxue, She Long, and Pufferfish notice Chen Xuan's arrival.
They immediately understood: this young man before them was the one who had just saved them!
A storm of shock surged through all three of their hearts.
The peerless expert who had gravely wounded the immensely powerful Clear Sky Douluo Tang Hao with a single strike and driven him into a wretched escape...
Was actually a young man who looked no older than twenty?!
Qian Renxue stared blankly at Chen Xuan as he approached.
His face was so beautiful it seemed otherworldly. His eyes were deep as the starry sky, as if they held the secrets of the universe.
What stirred her most was the dense, overwhelming aura of life around him. It filled her with an intimacy and dependence that seemed to rise from the depths of her soul.
"Thank... thank you, senior, for saving me."
Qian Renxue struggled to steady herself and tried to step forward to offer her thanks.
But as soon as her taut nerves relaxed, the internal injuries caused by Tang Hao's pressure flared up.
Her vision went black. Her strength gave out, and her soft body tilted helplessly forward.
Just as she was about to fall, a warm hand reached out in time and caught her.
Only... it seemed to have caught her in a rather inappropriate place.
That hand had landed squarely on her full chest. Even through her disguise, its ample shape was hard to conceal.
A startling softness and elasticity passed clearly through layer upon layer of clothing into Chen Xuan's palm.
Chen Xuan's movement paused slightly as he steadied her.
He raised an eyebrow, a flicker of surprise in his eyes.
A woman?
And dressed as Xue Qinghe, the Heaven Dou Crown Prince...
So this was Qian Renxue?
An unusual sensation came from her chest, and Qian Renxue stiffened all over.
In all her life, when had a man ever touched her like this?
A surge of heat rushed into her head, and her already pale, lovely face instantly flushed a captivating red.
Shyness, panic, helplessness...
All kinds of emotions tangled in her heart.
She instinctively wanted to pull away, but her body was too weak to muster even the slightest strength.
Besides, he was her savior, a terrifying existence who had defeated Tang Hao with a casual gesture. How could she dare offend him?
"I... I..."
Qian Renxue's lips moved, but she couldn't get a single word out. She was so embarrassed she could have cried.
"Young Mistress!"
She Long and Pufferfish were alarmed and instinctively started forward.
But after taking a single step, they stopped short, their faces full of apprehension.
This young man could crush the Clear Sky Hammer with a casual gesture.
They didn't dare act rashly.
Just then, Chen Xuan made another move.
His expression remained calm, as if he hadn't noticed anything unusual beneath his hand. He lifted his other hand and placed it against Qian Renxue's back.
His thick, warm palm pressed against her back, and another strange sensation passed through her. Qian Renxue's heartbeat skipped, then began to race uncontrollably.
The next instant,
A vast, surging blue energy, brimming with boundless vitality, flowed from Chen Xuan's palm and gently entered her body.
Wherever that energy passed, the turbulent blood and qi within her settled at once, and her damaged meridians healed at an unbelievable speed.
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