Seeing Tang Hao descend from the sky, murder radiating from his every pore,
Stelle merely glanced at him with her deep, dark eyes.
The images on the Sky Screen had already left her feeling heavy-hearted.
And now someone actually had the nerve to come after her.
Wasn't this just a punching bag delivering itself to her door?
Tang Hao swung the thousand-jin Clear Sky Hammer, bringing it down hard toward her.
Stelle stepped forward and swung the baseball bat in her hand to meet it.
"Clang!"
The deafening crash of metal on metal made all of Heaven Dou City tremble.
The bat collided savagely with the Clear Sky Hammer.
The result was predictable. Tang Hao's supposedly indestructible Clear Sky Hammer, before Stelle's bat,
shattered on the spot into a sky full of fragments, like a shoddy construction of tofu!
Tang Hao spat out a huge mouthful of blood. His eyes were bloodshot, his face full of disbelief.
He hadn't even had time to shout, "Impossible!"
After smashing the Clear Sky Hammer, Stelle's bat swept forward with a gust of wind and slammed into him.
"Boom!"
A muffled thud.
Tang Hao flew away like a kite with its string cut, sent hurtling into the distance as a streak of blood before vanishing beyond the horizon.
Everyone who witnessed the scene sucked in a sharp breath, their faces deathly pale.
Stelle had knocked Tang Hao into an unknown state with a single swing.
Her strength was so terrifying, it defied all reason!
It also left everyone certain beyond a doubt that Stelle's so-called Demigod strength was on a level that none of Douluo Continent's Titled Douluo could even hope to match.
In the distance, Qian Renxue and the two people beside her, Cixue and Snake Lance Douluo, stared in shock, their pupils contracting.
That was Tang Hao!
The Clear Sky Douluo of the Clear Sky Sect!
And Stelle had beaten him so effortlessly that he hadn't been able to fight back at all.
No, it was more accurate to say she had beaten him into a cripple!
Qian Renxue looked toward the direction where Tang Hao had fallen.
His body was twisted and deformed, his limbs swollen. He no longer looked remotely like a Titled Douluo.
His torso, especially—the spot at his waist where Stelle's bat had struck.
That precious Torso Soul Bone had been shattered completely, its light dimmed, all its power gone.
Qian Renxue's heart trembled as she secretly resolved never to provoke a god of slaughter like this.
In the hotel, Tang San saw his father get sent flying with a single blow.
His eyes flew wide open, bloodshot, as resentment nearly poured out of him.
With his Purple Demon Eye, his vision was far superior to ordinary people's, letting him see things both far away and in fine detail.
He saw clearly that the instant Stelle's bat struck Tang Hao,
Tang Hao's entire chest had caved in and deformed, the bones inside splintering one after another.
The shattered bone shards had pierced through his chest, damaging his internal organs.
Tang San knew all too well that unless a miracle saved him, his father would never survive!
He let out a heart-wrenching roar.
That was the only family he had in this world!
He had finally reunited with his father after all this time.
How could he just stand by and watch his father meet such a fate?
Killing intent surged in Tang San's eyes. He wished he could rush out at once and kill the little grey-haired girl who had dared to hurt his father.
But before he could take a step,
Xiao Wu realized how serious the situation was.
If Tang San really charged out, he'd be walking straight into a tiger's den. He would die for sure!
So she hurriedly lunged at him, wrapped both arms tightly around his waist, and used all her strength to hold him in the room.
Tang San was consumed by rage.
But Xiao Wu held him back, and he couldn't charge out to fight Stelle to the death.
"Whew... that felt great!"
Stelle shook her wrist and looked toward the direction where Tang Hao had vanished, her mood suddenly much lighter.
The gloom she'd been carrying over Firefly's situation had also eased.
The story of Penacony still had many regrets.
But after the story of Amphoreus ended, Dahlia had taken her to see a sliver of Terminus's divine body.
Stelle had also borrowed Terminus's power to make up for every regret.
Firefly had already awakened.
She didn't need to be sad anymore.
After all, this wasn't the ending Firefly wanted to see.
Meanwhile, voting on the Sky Screen continued.
Deep in Star Dou Forest, the many Soul Beasts glared furiously at Xiao Wu on the Sky Screen.
This Xiao Wu had actually chosen to sacrifice herself for a human!
She was a traitor to all Soul Beasts!
Two thousand years ago, the entire Douluo Continent had basically belonged to the Soul Beasts.
Then two supreme powerhouses had emerged among the humans: Poseidon, who would one day become the Sea God, and the first Angel God.
They led humanity in a brutal war against the Soul Beasts.
The Soul Beasts were driven back step by step until they could only huddle in Star Dou Forest and a few other places where their kind lived.
Countless Soul Beasts had died beneath human blades back then.
Over the years, how many times had human powerhouses invaded their homes and slaughtered their kin?
Soul Beasts and humans were enemies to the death!
How could the Soul Beasts who had gained intelligence vote for Xiao Wu?
Besides, Soul Beasts had always worshipped the strong.
Although Xiao Wu was a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, her true form was only a Soft Bone Rabbit.
She probably couldn't even beat some ten-thousand-year-old battle-type Soul Beasts.
Firefly's strength, on the other hand, was there for all to see.
With strength like that, who would vote for anyone but Firefly?
Soul Beasts were simple by nature.
They chose Firefly almost without hesitation.
That was why Firefly's vote count had led by a wide margin from the very beginning.
Seeing how high Firefly's vote count was,
many people who were still undecided began to follow the crowd.
They saw everyone voting for Firefly and decided her story was more moving, her sacrifice greater.
So they joined in and voted for Firefly.
The final result spoke for itself.
[Firefly's three deaths vs. Xiao Wu's sacrifice] [Firefly's three deaths decisively defeat Xiao Wu's sacrifice] [Genius Ranking PK Winner Top 1: Stelle wins] [Top 3 Tang San loses] [Tang San loses. Accept your punishment: Eight Spider Lances will be taken away!]
The Sky Screen's cold, merciless voice rang clearly across every corner of Douluo Continent, reaching the ears of every living being.
The images on the Sky Screen suddenly shifted.
The camera focused on a hotel room in Heaven Dou City.
On screen, Xiao Wu had Tang San pinned firmly to a sofa. His face was twisted with rage and frustration, as if he were struggling to do something reckless.
At that moment, the Sky Screen's punishment descended right on schedule.
An invisible force locked onto Tang San's body and slowly lifted him into the air.
Though Tang San had just been consumed by madness, he had still been keeping an eye on the Sky Screen.
When he heard that his External Soul Bone, the Eight Spider Lances, was going to be taken away, his heart broke. He let out a hysterical roar, full of fury and unwillingness.
But the Sky Screen ignored his shouts. Its cold power acted directly upon him.
The Eight Spider Lances External Soul Bone on Tang San's back extended against his will, glimmering with an eerie black light.
Then it felt as if eight invisible hands had seized his Eight Spider Lances and were wrenching them away.
"Riiip—"
A sound that set teeth on edge rang out.
The Eight Spider Lances were torn bodily from Tang San's back!
Tang San let out a shrill scream, his whole body convulsing violently. He nearly passed out on the spot.
Outside the Sky Screen, everyone saw the horrifying sight of Tang San's Soul Bone being torn out while he was still alive.
Many were chilled to the bone by the Sky Screen's merciless decisiveness.
Of course, plenty of others were delighted, secretly cheering it on.
A Soul Bone played a crucial role for any Spirit Master.
Now that Tang San had lost his Eight Spider Lances Soul Bone, becoming a god in the future would be immeasurably harder.
Inside Spirit Hall, Bibi Dong watched the scene and let out several relieved breaths.
Once the Sky Screen's punishment ended,
Tang San's body crashed heavily to the ground.
Although his Soul Bone had been torn out, the parts of his ribs that the Eight Spider Lances had replaced grew back into ordinary bones.
But these new bones no longer held any of their former power. They could never become Eight Spider Lances again.
Tang San still hadn't passed out. He was exhausted and covered in blood,
yet he summoned the last of his strength and screamed toward the Sky Screen:
"You trash-picker..."
But his furious shout couldn't even get out of the tiny room.
Elsewhere, Stelle lifted her head and stared up at the Sky Screen, eyes shining with anticipation.
Now that Tang San had been punished, was it her turn to get her reward?
What would her reward be?
Stelle couldn't imagine anything in this world that could make her heart stir.
Would it be a few more Astral Express tickets?
Another ten-pull?
Let's see who would get pulled over this time.
Beside her, Castorice was also full of anticipation.
So much had been sacrificed on the Journey of Flame-Chasing.
How she hoped her old battle companions could appear here,
so they could live carefree lives together
and enjoy this different kind of peace.
The Sky Screen didn't keep them waiting long.
After punishing Tang San without delay, it immediately displayed new content.
Stelle's eyes flew wide open. Her face filled with surprise and disbelief.
Happiness had come so quickly that she was caught off guard, unsure what to do.
Her lips trembled slightly. From her parched throat, she softly breathed just two words:
"Firefly..."
[Genius Ranking PK Winner Top 1: Stelle] [Reward: Completely cure Firefly's Entropy Loss Syndrome]
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