Tang San Wants the Treasure? The Third Dowry Arrives

Tang San's mind buzzed.

A woman who had been level sixty-nine just half a month ago was clashing head-on with him now, and she hadn't lost?

Absolutely impossible.

He was the successor to the Sea God, the one chosen by the Asura God, the recognized prodigy of the entire continent—

How could he be blocked by a woman who had risen in power relying on someone else's dowry?

"Again!"

The Sea God Trident spun, its golden radiance cleaving into three afterimages that struck simultaneously from the left, center, and right.

This was a variation of the Sea God's swordsmanship—Trident Sea-Splitting.

Hu Liena's three fox tails snapped open in unison; one parried the left, one lashed out at the right, and the third coiled toward the central blade.

Clang, clang, clang—!

The three collisions sounded almost as one.

The first strike was blocked.

The second strike missed by half an inch, the radiance grazing her ribs and tearing a gash in her clothing.

The third strike—

"Ugh!"

Hu Liena let out a muffled groan as her body was sent flying sideways. A two-inch-long wound opened on her left shoulder, blood gushing out and streaming down her arm to her fingertips.

Tang San had changed his move on the third strike. It looked like a direct thrust, but the moment he launched it, he twisted the shaft, turning it into a horizontal sweep.

Combat experience.

Hu Liena had been level sixty-nine half a month ago. Although her soul power far exceeded her peers after skyrocketing to level eighty-four, her muscle memory remained in the past.

Her reactions were fast and her judgment accurate, but the instinct for on-the-spot adaptation—

That combat intuition honed through thousands of life-and-death struggles—could not be built up by soul power alone.

Tang San, however, had been rolling in piles of corpses since he was ten. Whether it was the Capital of Slaughter or the Nine Trials of the Sea God, countless brushes with death had polished his combat instincts to their limit.

After ten moves, a new wound appeared on Hu Liena's right arm.

After twenty moves, her back was caught by the wind of the trident; a large patch of her clothes shredded, and beads of blood seeped out.

Thirty moves.

Hu Liena's breathing began to grow ragged.

The purple-gold halo of her fox tails was thirty percent dimmer than at the start, the wound on her left shoulder was bleeding incessantly, and her arm was so numb she could barely lift it.

She gritted her teeth and took a step back, shielding herself with her fox tails to buy a moment to catch her breath.

Tang San did not give her that chance.

The Sea God Trident pursued, the golden light tracing an arc through the night, thrusting straight for her throat.

Hu Liena dodged to the side, but she was half a beat slower than before—the blade grazed her cheek, and a lock of black hair drifted down.

Pain. Her face burned, and warm liquid dripped down her jaw.

But she did not retreat.

Her three fox tails curled back, wrapping around the shaft of the Sea God Trident in an attempt to bind the weapon.

Tang San sneered.

He poured soul power into the shaft, and the golden light surged violently.

The purple-gold halo on the fox tails was crushed by the power of the Sea God. One, two—with a hiss, the third fox tail was shaken off, a patch of white fur on it scorched black.

Hu Liena stumbled backward.

"Nana!"

Xie Yue's scream came from the side.

He had climbed up from the ground at some point. The wound on his left shoulder was still bleeding and his right leg clearly lacked strength, yet he charged toward them, his body swaying unsteadily.

Hu Liena had no time to stop him.

Xie Yue released his martial soul, gray-white moon blades coalescing in his right palm as he struck from Tang San's rear right.

Tang San didn't even turn his head.

He freed his left hand from the trident shaft and struck back with a palm.

There were no flashy techniques, just a horizontal palm strike infused with level eighty-three soul power.

The palm wind tore through the air with a sharp whistle.

The blow landed squarely on Xie Yue's chest.

The sound of shattering bone was clearly audible.

Xie Yue's body flew out—not just knocked back, but sent flying through the air.

More than ten zhang away, his back slammed into a stone pillar of the Pope Palace, causing the pillar to crack halfway and sending debris flying everywhere.

He slid down from the pillar and collapsed to his knees, vomiting a mouthful of blood that splattered across the floor. He braced his hands against the ground, trying to stand, but his arms trembled violently, and he slumped back down.

He could no longer get up.

"Brother—!"

Hu Liena's scream tore through the night sky.

She tried to rush over, but Tang San's Sea God Trident blocked her path.

The golden blade of the trident lay horizontally before her, radiating a cold light.

Tang San stood three steps away.

The combo he had just unleashed had consumed a significant amount of his soul power, but the expression on his face was not one of exhaustion—it was gratification.

It was the twisted pleasure of finally finding an outlet for the frustration he had bottled up for half a month.

"Hu Liena."

He grinned, revealing a row of teeth.

"Hand over the Fate-Suppressing Cauldron, and I can spare your life."

He paused for a beat.

"And the life of that trash brother of yours, too."

Hu Liena stood where she was.

Blood was still flowing from her left shoulder, the wound on her cheek burned with a searing heat, and her three fox tails hung low, the white fur at their tips stained a dark crimson.

There was not a single part of her body that did not ache.

Xie Yue lay motionless more than ten zhang away.

The Fate-Suppressing Cauldron was something he had given her.

That man she had never met had placed a treasure capable of altering the landscape of the continent into her hands, not so she could hand it over at the first sign of a threat.

Hu Liena raised the back of her hand and wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth.

A streak of blood appeared on her hand, indistinguishable from whether it came from her mouth or the wound on her arm.

She looked at Tang San.

"In your dreams."

The three words were enunciated with absolute clarity.

Tang San's smile stiffened for an instant.

Hu Liena's six fox tails rose up again—though two of them were trembling.

The fur on the third tail was still smoking—but they all stood upright, assuming an attack stance.

"The Fate-Suppressing Cauldron is mine."

She said, word by word.

"Even if I die here, I will not give it to you."

The smile on Tang San's face vanished completely.

In its place was a layer of frost.

"You're courting death."

He raised the Sea God Trident.

All the remaining Sea God power in his body surged madly into the shaft, and the golden light swelled to its peak.

A visible golden vortex condensed upon the three blades—a sign that all his power was being compressed into a single point.

A killing blow.

Hu Liena did not close her eyes.

The trident was raised to its highest point, the golden light swallowing Tang San whole, the blade tilting in Hu Liena's direction—

And then.

The sky brightened.

This was not a figure of speech; it was literal—the sky, it brightened.

Ten thousand zhang of golden light poured down from the nine heavens, a hundred times more dazzling than the midday sun.

The night veil over the entire Martial Soul City was shredded in an instant, and the deep blue firmament turned into a pure, blinding gold.

Everyone's movements froze at the exact same moment.

Tang Hao's hand, holding the Clear Sky Hammer, stopped in mid-air.

Bibi Dong's Rakshasa Demon Scythe hung at her side.

Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo stood with their mouths agape, their necks stiffly twisted toward the sky.

Tang San's trident remained raised above his head, but the golden power of the Sea God appeared laughably meager before that far more vast expanse of golden light.

He stood frozen, a chill surging from the soles of his feet straight to his crown.

"Ho..."

His throat tightened, and the word he squeezed out broke off halfway.

"How is it here again?!"

Amidst the golden light, that grand, solemn Sanskrit chant, spanning across endless time and space, resonated between heaven and earth for the third time.

Hu Liena lifted her head.

The golden light filling the sky fell upon her scarred face, stinging her eyes until she had to squint, yet the corners of her mouth curled upward.

Involuntarily, instinctively, they curled up.

The Nine-Tailed Fox Seal at the center of her brow suddenly turned scorching hot, pulsing at an astonishing frequency.

She was all too familiar with this sensation—the last time it was the Primordial Spirit Bead descending, and the time before that, the appearance of the Fate-Suppressing Cauldron.

Every single time, he was protecting her.

Every single time, it was perfectly timed.

Shen Yichen... you have come again.

The Sanskrit chant echoed between heaven and earth, falling clearly and irresistibly into everyone's ears—

"Celestial Master Betrothal Gift, third layer—imminent descent!"