Soul Bone

When Tang Hao appeared, Qin Chuan did not stop. Instead, he suddenly darted forward, scooped up Tang San—whose breath was growing weaker by the moment—with one hand as casually as swatting a fly, and grabbed the still-living Yu Xiaogang with the other.

Just like that, both of them fell into his hands.

Yu Xiaogang was horrified. He struggled to open his swollen, bruised eyes and shouted indistinctly, staring excitedly at the newcomer.

"Ha... Hao... Mianxia... save... me—"

"Xiao San!" Tang Hao paid Yu Xiaogang no attention. The moment he saw Tang San's battered state, he flew into a rage. His icy gaze fixed on Qin Chuan as if he were staring at a dead man, brimming with murderous intent.

The sight of Tang Hao's concern for Tang San also left the Shrek students astonished. Their emotions lurched wildly, rising and falling in great waves.

No one had expected that this quiet, low-profile Blue Silver Grass boy had such a terrifying backer!

"You brat! I let you escape once through carelessness. I never thought you would dare show your face before me again, much less injure my son!"

"Today, even if a god descended from the heavens, no one could save you!"

With that, Tang Hao did not ask why or distinguish good from evil. He cut off every possible avenue of escape with a single sentence, then attacked outright.

A giant hammer appeared in the sky, smashing through the void and blotting out the blue heavens. It flashed with a ferocious light as it came crashing down.

The hammer's might was enough to make the earth crack!

Yet facing this terrifying strike, powerful enough to kill a Soul Saint in an instant, Qin Chuan only curled his lips into a cold, mocking smile.

"Heh!"

As the giant hammer was about to strike him, he abruptly flung Tang San onto the ground, raised his right leg high, then brought it down hard. Before the hammer could fall, he stomped down on Tang San with tremendous force.

"Ah!"

"AAAH—!!"

Tang San, who had already been breathing his last, let out a heart-rending, agonized scream. Several of his ribs snapped beneath Qin Chuan's foot.

His body curled up on the ground, convulsing all over. He clearly wouldn't last much longer.

Everyone present felt their scalps explode as they stared at Qin Chuan in horror!

He was crazy! This guy was absolutely, unquestionably crazy!

He actually dared to brutally beat the son of a Titled Douluo—a man standing at the very peak of the continent—right in front of him! This was nothing less than a brazen provocation!

Tang Hao's pupils contracted. The Clear Sky Hammer, suspended in midair, froze in place instead of coming down. A towering fury clogged his chest, nearly burning away his reason.

He gritted his teeth, speaking each word with murderous intent that made everyone nearby tremble: "Let him go! Otherwise, I'll slaughter your whole family, down to the last chicken or dog!"

"Heh, slaughter my whole family?"

Qin Chuan put three times as much pressure beneath his foot. Looking at Tang San's face, twisted in pain as he struggled to breathe, he gave a cold sneer.

"Powerful Mianxia, have you got the situation backwards?"

His words were practically a taunt.

"Stop!" Tang Hao's brows drew tight. Fury blazed in his heart, but at that moment, he had no choice but to hold it in.

He could not help but demand angrily, "What exactly do you want?"

"You and your son are both cunning and vicious, and you both wanted me dead. So tell me, what do you think I want?"

"Kill Xiao San, and you won't survive either!"

"Then stop wasting words. Tell me, just how much does your son mean to you?"

Qin Chuan's meaning was unmistakable.

After a moment of silence, Tang Hao managed to suppress his fury and resist the urge to tear Qin Chuan apart. "One hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins!"

The moment the words left his mouth, Yu Xiaogang couldn't hold back. He hurriedly cried, "Mianxia, what about me?"

"Shut up!" Tang Hao snapped. His Soul Power surged, making Yu Xiaogang flinch in fright.

One hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins was no small sum, but neither was it a fortune. At the very least, to a Titled Douluo, it was pitifully little.

But Tang San had lived in seclusion for over a decade, spending his days in a daze. He even relied on Tang San to take care of his daily needs. How could he have any money on him?

"One hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins. How generous. Looks like you don't mean much to your father, either. I'm starting to wonder if he found you abandoned somewhere."

Qin Chuan smiled. The Gold Soul Coins he had just seized from those three Soul Saints came to almost the same amount.

Gold Soul Coins could be used on Douluo Continent, but one shouldn't forget that gold was always in short supply on Green Green Grassland, too.

Even if it turned out to be useless, he could always use it to pave the ground.

Still, the amount was too small...

"If that's how it is, then die!" Qin Chuan's eyes turned cold. He raised his fist, ready to send Tang San on his way.

"Wait!"

At last, Tang Hao lost his composure. Tang San was now his only hope; he absolutely could not let anything happen to him.

With great pain, Tang Hao took out a Soul Bone. His expression turned extraordinarily complicated—there was longing in it, and pain, but above all, a bone-deep hatred.

Hardening his heart, Tang Hao suddenly looked at Qin Chuan, murderous intent almost taking physical form in his eyes. "A Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone. We let them both go!"

With that, he abruptly hurled the Soul Bone from his hand.

Seeing this, Qin Chuan kept his word. He kicked Tang San toward Tang Hao, sending him flying like a shooting star.

Of course, before kicking him away, he worried that this damned father might have other means of dragging him back from the gates of death.

So he had planted an odorless, colorless poison on the dying Tang San, taken from Grey Wolf's Invention Vault.

A Soul Bone!

One of the most unique products of this world, it contained immense power. Ever since he first heard about them, Qin Chuan had been intensely curious.

Now that he had a chance to get one, he naturally wouldn't pass it up. His body shot forward like a fading shadow, rushing toward the Soul Bone tumbling through the air.

"Brat, you're asking for death!" In almost the same instant, the two men charged forward. Qin Chuan rushed toward the Soul Bone, trying to seize it first.

But to everyone's surprise, Tang Hao didn't go to save Tang San. Instead, he swooped toward Qin Chuan at once, murderous intent spreading from him like a chill wind.

"Just as I thought, you'd come, you old bastard!" Qin Chuan didn't retreat. He charged forward even faster, fighting Tang Hao for the Soul Bone.

In terms of speed, he couldn't compare to Tang Hao. But the Soul Bone had been thrown toward him in the first place, and with that in his favor, he managed to get to it first and take it in hand.

"To rob a Titled Douluo—this guy really has guts. But he doesn't know what's good for him. He'll probably die here today!"

Even though Qin Chuan had seized it first, no one thought well of his chances. They were convinced his fate was sealed, and that he wouldn't escape death.

"Now! Senior, attack!" The instant the Soul Bone landed in his hand, Qin Chuan leaped backward and shouted for the Scarlet King to strike.

A faint pressure suddenly intensified, sweeping in from all sides and weighing on everyone's hearts. They were seized by terror and fear.

Could it be... another Titled Douluo had joined the fight?

Tang Hao was startled. His fist had already reached Qin Chuan, but at that moment, an extreme sense of danger swept over him.

A Titled Douluo!

Without the slightest hesitation, Tang Hao immediately pulled back and retreated, dodging the attack. A bloody claw arrived in an instant, striking the spot where he had just been.

The Scarlet King's first attack missed, but he immediately followed up, blazing with scorching light as he charged at Tang Hao, intent on killing him.

Even Qin Chuan was surprised by the sight. He couldn't help wondering to himself.

After all, the Scarlet King's supposed role as his protector wasn't born of genuine goodwill. He had come for his own reasons.

But the way things looked now, it was as if the two had a deep-seated grudge. The Scarlet King seemed determined to kill Tang Hao.

However, in the next moment, the Scarlet King answered Qin Chuan's question.

"What a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone!" The Scarlet King flew into a rage. Blazing light burst forth in an endless torrent, crashing toward Tang Hao.

Compared to humans cultivating to become Titled Douluo, Soul Beasts faced far greater difficulty in reaching a hundred thousand years of cultivation. The many trials they had to endure were practically a brush with death at every turn.

For this reason, although the Scarlet King and the other Ferocious Beasts never cared about the deaths of low-ranked Soul Beasts, they still valued Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts greatly.

It would have been one thing if he hadn't seen it. But Tang Hao had actually produced a Soul Bone right in front of him—one still carrying the aura of a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast.

"Who exactly are you?" Tang Hao was shaken. He couldn't understand why the Scarlet King seemed so determined to kill him, and he was even more shocked by the Scarlet King's terrifying strength.