Tang San said nothing. His eyes brimmed with hatred, and his expression was icy.
He released his Martial Soul alongside the strange, disheveled man: a black-forged hammer of the same design, differing only in a few small details.
Five black Soul Rings circled Tang San's hammer.
The disheveled middle-aged man, however, had a full nine. Along with the standard configuration of two yellow, two purple, and four black, the final ring shone a deep blood-red. It was a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring.
They hadn't even started fighting, yet the aura of his immense Soul Power was already so oppressive that it was almost impossible to breathe.
He wasn't just a Titled Douluo; his Soul Power Level was at least level ninety-five.
While Xiao Wu was still reeling in shock, Huang Tian's voice rang out in her mind.
"I'll hold off the Titled Douluo. Use that thing. Break through Tang San's defenses, then don't hesitate—get to Da Ming and Er Ming as fast as you can. Only when they arrive will I have a chance of surviving."
"But..."
"No buts. Hesitating will only get us both killed here for nothing."
There was no trace of fear in Huang Tian's eyes, nor any panic on his face.
An immeasurable golden light burst from his entire body. He shot upward, transforming into a golden giant more than ten meters tall, as if he had been cast from gold.
All six Soul Rings—three purple and three black—completed their charge the instant they appeared.
The fifth ring was nothing like an ordinary black one. It was gray and hazy, exuding an intense aura of evil. Just looking at it made one feel as though their mind had been struck.
Faint, dim red light already showed through the sixth black ring, a sign that it was extremely close to becoming a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring.
Overwhelming terror gripped Xiao Wu's heart as if an unseen hand had clenched it tight.
She was terrified not only of the fate awaiting her. At that moment, what frightened her more was the thought of loss, of having to part from him.
After a brief hesitation, she suddenly fell to her knees and pleaded:
"If... if I willingly offer myself as a sacrifice, would you let Brother Tian go?"
Huang Tian's furious voice sounded in her mind again.
"What kind of stupid thing are you saying? What idiot would let an enemy like me—a freakish genius—live?
"Do you think your life's too long? Or that your entire clan is wasting food by staying alive?
"If I were them, I wouldn't spare myself either. They'd burn my corpse to ashes and scatter them from one end of the land to the other before they felt safe.
"Just do what I told you. This is our only chance."
As his words fell, a deafening explosion suddenly boomed. Endless white fog flooded the entire field of vision, leaving them unable to see even their own hands.
A powerful spiritual energy was scattered through the fog, making it difficult even for spiritual power to penetrate very far.
Before Xiao Wu could react, a ball of black-and-gray wind appeared out of thin air around her, carrying her rapidly to the side.
She knew it was the ability of her boyfriend's Second Martial Soul's fifth Soul Ring: Mastery of Wind and Thunder.
The moment she escaped the fog, Xiao Wu instinctively glanced back. She saw Huang Tian's Huang Tian Sacred Body lifted by an enormous hammer and sent flying diagonally into the air.
His left arm was twisted and broken. Blood sprayed from his mouth, and the golden light around him had dimmed by at least thirty percent.
A wave of intense regret instantly filled her heart.
She knew her hesitation had hurt her boyfriend.
If Huang Tian had used an offensive or defensive skill just now, instead of wasting his strength to send her away and giving the enemy an opening, he might have been able to hold off the Titled Douluo for a little while.
Then she couldn't help thinking that, if only she had known, she would have searched for his Seventh Soul Ring in Star Dou Forest. Pursuing the God Trial had been far too insubstantial.
If he had obtained his Martial Soul Avatar, Huang Tian's strength would surely have skyrocketed.
Daring not to think any further, Xiao Wu clenched her teeth and ran desperately toward Star Lake. But before long, she saw an ape-like figure up ahead, eight halos circling its body.
She used her secret weapon: a Soul Cannon obtained from an ancient ruin, powerful enough to unleash an attack equivalent to the full-force strike of a Soul Beast between fifty and eighty thousand years old.
But her Soul Power was too weak. At least a Soul Saint would be needed to fully activate it, and in her haste, she hadn't been able to charge it for long. She had indeed wounded the creature by catching it off guard, but she hadn't managed to rob it of its ability to fight.
The ape-like figure staggered to its feet, its savage rage seeming ready to devour anyone in its path.
Yet Xiao Wu smiled for some reason, her face completely at ease.
"Brother Tian, you can't blame me for this. I did as you said and ran.
"Here's a secret: I'd already figured it out. Invincible Golden Body and Charm are the Hundred Thousand Year skills best suited to the Huang Tian Sacred Body. They're practically made for each other.
"Void, Teleport, Explosive Eight-Stage Throw, and the others would make perfect additions, too.
"Goodbye, my love. Let me become a part of you forever. Perhaps this is the fate of Soul Beasts."
It took her only an instant to decide. This time, she didn't hesitate at all.
A dazzling red light burst from her eyes. From the deepest part of her consciousness to every corner of her limbs, her body began to crack like porcelain.
The unimaginable agony made her scream without thinking.
"Ah~~~"
Her voice rose beyond any ordinary volume, overflowing with such intense emotion that it seemed to make the entire forest tremble with her.
But before anyone could react, an even more blinding red light burst from her brow and spread outward, becoming a tangible wave of red light that swept in every direction.
Wherever the red light reached, the earth, plants, and Soul Beasts—even a tiny insect—were dyed a piercing blood-red. Everything was forced to stillness,
including Tang San and the mysterious Titled Douluo, as well as the attacks they had already launched and sent flying through the air.
A Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast's ultimate ascension, its vast Soul Power burning fiercely, formed an energy field powerful enough to suppress any force below the divine level.
At last, Xiao Wu saw Huang Tian again. In that brief time, he had endured who knew how many attacks. Both his arms were broken, and his golden body was covered in sunken hammer marks, yet his surviving gaze remained defiant.
The blood pouring from him carried a rich, pure life energy: the Soul Power of the Blue Silver Saint Emperor.
Without the Blue Silver Saint Emperor's defiance-of-heaven recovery ability, a Super Douluo would probably need only one hammer blow to kill a Soul Emperor.
Her thoughts were in turmoil when Xiao Wu suddenly remembered Yu Xiaogang.
Back then, Gangzi had been furious that Huang Tian refused to take him as his master and even argued against his theories. So he had hidden his World-Shocking Wisdom for giving Blue Silver Grass a poison attribute, keeping it as a secret technique and passing it only to his true disciple, Tang San.
The advice he gave Huang Tian was to take what he considered an ordinary, conventional, unpromising, and unremarkable path—the path of life.
Now, that choice had saved her boyfriend, while Tang San went away empty-handed.
"Sure enough, a loser is a loser."
Xiao Wu's body drifted gently down onto the cheek of Huang Tian's Huang Tian Sacred Body. She leaned over and pressed a soft kiss to his lips.
Then her cracked body melted away in an instant, and blazing bloodflame burst forth. At last, all the red light drew together, condensing into an enormous blood-red ring that slowly shrank around the Huang Tian Sacred Body.
Every broken bone and sunken wound was restored to its peak as if time itself had been turned back.
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