Just one glance was enough to make Tang Hao's imposing aura falter.
Qian Xunji had acted this way because she was following the example of her own disciple.
Bibi Dong had already laid out the template. As her teacher, she not only had greater strength but also a bigger advantage. If she still lost, Qian Xunji felt she'd truly have no face left to live in this world.
But Tang Hao was, after all, a heaven-blessed prodigy. Under Tang Chen's constant praise and encouraging education, he'd developed the full-blown air of a reckless bruiser.
Even in this situation, anyone with eyes could see at a glance that he was bound to lose.
Yet Tang Hao remained supremely confident. So what if his opponent was a Titled Douluo?
It wasn't as if she couldn't be defeated.
Tang Hao's aura surged at once.
"How could this be?"
Unlike Tang Hao, who was full of confidence, Tang Chen, watching from below, was overcome with shock and disbelief.
He'd been wrong. Wrong about everything.
He'd thought of everything except that Qian Xunji's strength could improve so rapidly, rising from Soul Saint to Titled Douluo in just a few short years.
It was simply unbelievable.
Most importantly, he knew all too well how powerful the Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul became once it reached the Titled Douluo realm.
Upon becoming a Titled Douluo, she would gain complete control over the Angel Domain. With her already overwhelming advantage in strength, the gap would be even more pronounced when the wielder of the Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul unleashed her Domain to its fullest.
This was a gap that neither sheer conviction nor secret techniques could bridge.
"Was this a divine blessing?"
Tang Chen looked at Qian Xunji on the Soul Fighting Arena, his eyes filled with complicated emotions.
He'd thought that once Hao'er and Xiao'er had grown up, the Clear Sky Sect's foundation would surpass Spirit Hall's.
But now it seemed that even if they reached that point, Spirit Hall would still have the upper hand.
Even if he could stand shoulder to shoulder with Tang Chen, what then?
As long as the Clear Sky Sect had no god, it could not pass down its legacy for ten thousand years.
"Ascend to godhood!"
The moment that thought crossed Tang Chen's mind, his eyes sharpened.
Only by becoming a god could he truly lay a foundation that would sustain the Clear Sky Sect's legacy for ten thousand years.
The problem was, how could he become a god?
At his current level, advancing any further was incredibly difficult.
Even with a divine inheritance in Spirit Hall, Qian Daoliu had remained at level 99 for so many years, unable to take that final step and become a god at level 100.
The path was even harder than he'd imagined.
"Becoming a god?"
"Now that's a challenge worth taking on!"
Tang Chen's resolve grew ever firmer.
He knew how difficult it was to become a god, yet nothing could shake his will.
The outcome of this battle had been decided the moment Qian Xunji revealed her Soul Rings and her true level.
But Tang Hao on the arena simply wouldn't accept it.
"Ring Detonation!"
"Detonate all seven rings!"
Sensing that the loathsome woman before him was toying with him, Tang Hao was thoroughly enraged.
At that moment, he didn't care about anything anymore.
Young and hot-blooded, he was determined to compete.
Though he'd only mastered Ring Detonation a short while ago, he risked severe injury and even damage to his Martial Soul Origin, detonating all seven Soul Rings at once.
At that moment, though he was only a Soul Saint, Tang Hao unleashed an attack that could rival a Titled Douluo's.
"Should I dodge?"
Sensing the force packed into Tang Hao's hammer strike, Qian Xunji knew that evading it would be the easiest and wisest choice.
With her cultivation and speed, she could dodge it with ease.
But she wanted to try it for herself.
With such a vast gap in their levels and strength, she had complete confidence in her victory.
So why not experience it firsthand?
She decided to take the blow head-on, wanting to find out just how powerful this strike really was.
She didn't just think it. She did it.
"Rumble!"
A muffled explosion rang out as Tang Hao, using Ring Detonation, clashed with the Angel Holy Sword in Qian Xunji's hand.
Bibi Dong really wanted to curse.
What was wrong with all of them?
Did the Clear Sky Sect's hammers really have some kind of magic? Whenever anyone fought them, they just had to go head-to-head and test their skulls against them.
You weren't even a strength-type Soul Master.
And it wasn't as if you couldn't dodge.
Had all her demonstrations been for nothing?
"You're all insane!"
Bibi Dong couldn't help muttering a curse.
Still, she trusted Qian Xunji's strength completely.
If Qian Xunji couldn't win with her current setup and strength, then she might as well dig herself a hole and bury herself in it.
Even as the overwhelming force erupted, Qian Xunji remained where she stood. She was simply no longer as composed as before.
After taking Tang Hao's Ring Detonation head-on, she had clearly been struck by a considerable force.
As expected, this is extremely dangerous. I must never do anything like this again.
Qian Xunji warned herself.
The next time she encountered someone with the Clear Sky Hammer Martial Soul, she couldn't clash head-on with them again.
If Tang Hao hadn't been weaker than her, she might have capsized in the gutter this time.
Compared to Qian Xunji, whose clothes were only slightly dirtied, Tang Hao had already fallen unconscious.
It was clear that using Ring Detonation at his current level had caused considerable damage to his body.
"I want to see whether Ring Detonation really has no side effects for Tang Hao."
Bibi Dong looked at the unconscious Tang Hao, her eyes full of curiosity.
If she remembered correctly, Ring Detonation was supposed to severely damage and weaken the Soul Rings themselves each time it was used, while also repeatedly harming the user.
In the original story, Tang Hao seemed to suffer none of these side effects. He kept using Ring Detonation, and some said it was because Ah Yin had provided him with a Soul Ring that let him detonate his rings recklessly.
This time, she was determined to take Ah Yin for herself, no matter what.
Without the Blue Silver Emperor's Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring, could Tang Hao still be an unkillable little cockroach in battle?
If things still turned out the same, then he absolutely would not go to a place like Slaughter City.
This was a test.
A test of the Asura God King.
"Before long, the Clear Sky Sect's secret techniques will be sent over."
"Let's go!"
Tang Chen saw this and didn't linger. He rose and left.
Not only had he failed to get what he wanted, he'd also lost the Clear Sky Sect's secret techniques. For Tang Chen, this was deeply humiliating.
But it wasn't Tang Hao's fault.
Ultimately, the blame lay with him for not knowing Qian Xunji's level, which had led to this outcome.
Tang Chen couldn't understand it. With his cultivation and strength, how had he failed to see through Qian Xunji's level?
He didn't know that Qian Xunji was undergoing a God Trial, and divine power concealed her level. Combined with the Angel God's Head Soul Bone, this had kept him from discovering her true strength.
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