He stared in horror at the bones in Jiang Li's hand, his voice trembling.
"Senior, what... what are you going to do?"
"Give you new bones," Jiang Li said confidently. "Make you stronger."
With that, he swept his hand, and Er Ming's body appeared beside him, beyond Er Ming's control.
The Demon Emperor Bone in Jiang Li's hand forced its way into Er Ming's body.
A few minutes later.
The creature standing in the courtyard was no longer the black-furred Titan Giant Ape from before.
A pair of broad, dark-golden bone wings suddenly unfurled from his back. Every wing bone was sharp as a blade, and patterns like flowing lightning shimmered across the wings.
His build was leaner and stronger than before, his muscles as sharply defined as if carved with knife and axe. A faint dark-golden sheen showed beneath every inch of skin.
His arms hung at his sides. The moment he clenched his fists, lightning leaped and flashed between his fingers.
With every breath, the aura of lightning poured from his nose and mouth, as though he were breathing thunder.
Now, he had become a demon ape with a pair of wings growing from his ribs.
Er Ming lowered his head to look at his hands, feeling the surging power within him, so immense it was almost impossible to control.
Jiang Li looked him up and down, then gave a slight nod, a hint of regret in his voice.
"Though I had to make the changes in a hurry, so they're not working at peak efficiency, you should still be stronger than Tang Hao, right?"
Tang Hao.
Er Ming had of course heard that name: the Clear Sky Douluo, one of the strongest Titled Douluo in the world.
Yet Jiang Li's tone made it sound as if he were using a Titled Douluo as the bare minimum for a passing grade.
And this wasn't even peak efficiency.
Er Ming didn't dare think about it any further.
Jiang Li brushed the bone dust from his hands, turned toward the wicker chair, and lay back down.
He took out a stone wreathed in spatial energy and crushed it in his fist. A temporary teleportation array opened at once.
"Go to Spirit Hall."
"Bring my daughter back..."
Spirit Hall.
Inside the magnificent great hall, the final battle of the Soul Master Tournament had just ended.
Several of Spirit Hall's young competitors lay scattered across the ground, each with several shards embedded in their bodies.
Spirit Hall had lost this battle.
And only one youth remained standing in the center of the arena.
His clothes were soaked through with blood and sweat. His face was pale as paper, his chest heaving violently, every breath weighed down by a barely suppressed rasp.
Yet no one noticed the faint smile hidden deep in his lowered eyes.
"Finally..."
Tang San's gaze drifted toward the slender figure behind him, and the voice in his heart nearly spilled from his throat.
"Is the plan about to succeed?"
Xiao Wu stood not far behind him, her beautiful eyes full of worry, longing to rush forward and support him.
Anxiety was written all over her delicate little face, which had even flushed faintly.
Seeing her like this, Tang San could barely keep the smile from his lips.
Everything was unfolding just as he had planned.
As long as he earned Xiao Wu's complete trust this time, as long as he made her utterly devoted to him, no one would ever be able to stand in the way of his rise again.
The Soul Ring of a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, the Soul Bone of a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast—these were all things Xiao Wu could give him.
Trust was the only obstacle. And now, with one self-sacrificial ploy after another, he was shattering that obstacle completely.
With that thought, Tang San took a few steps forward.
No one noticed how precisely he adjusted his footing. He positioned himself so his back was perfectly exposed to Xiao Wu's view, while keeping just the right distance from Ning Fengzhi in the Spirit Hall viewing stand.
He silently circulated the Mysterious Heaven Skill, sending a stream of internal energy crashing backward through his meridians, straight toward his heart.
"Pfft!"
A mouthful of blood burst from his lips and splattered across the hall's bluestone floor, a shocking sight.
Gasps rose from the surrounding stands.
Xiao Wu went deathly pale. Almost against her will, she rushed forward two steps, her voice trembling. "Third Brother!"
At the same moment she rushed out, Ning Fengzhi rose from his seat in the viewing stand.
The sect master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect looked grave. He turned his right hand over, and a seven-tiered pagoda glowing with brilliant colors appeared in his palm.
Light shimmered across the pagoda. A majestic halo shot from its spire, straight toward Tang San.
The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, the greatest support-type Martial Soul on the Douluo Continent.
Ning Fengzhi's Soul Power was deep and unending. The instant that Healing Halo enveloped Tang San, powerful waves of Soul Power rippled outward.
Xiao Wu, rushing forward with worry plain on her face, and Oscar beside her were both caught by the edge of the halo. A gentle force of repulsion shoved them back, sending them stumbling apart in opposite directions.
It was that very instant.
A sharp glint flashed in Tang San's eyes.
His right hand, concealed beneath his clothes, silently formed a hand seal.
Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon!
It was an extremely subtle Hidden Weapon technique. Its force was almost imperceptible, yet its aim was dead-on.
A wisp of invisible energy flicked from his fingertips, striking the Lovesick Heartbreak Red hidden deep in Xiao Wu's clothes.
Xiao Wu had kept the flower close to her body, protecting it with the utmost care. Under normal circumstances, it could never have fallen out.
But with that single flick, the dazzling Lovesick Heartbreak Red slipped from her clothes, traced a heart-stopping arc through the air, and fell onto the bluestone floor.
Xiao Wu's expression changed abruptly.
She bent down almost reflexively and snatched the Lovesick Heartbreak Red back into her hand, moving as fast as lightning.
But the instant her fingers touched the petals, her heart sank.
Too late.
Even a moment's exposure was enough for certain people to see it.
On the high platform of Spirit Hall, several gazes converged at the same instant, sharp as blades, pinning Xiao Wu in place.
They belonged to the strongest people in Spirit Hall.
How keen were the senses of Titled Douluo? In the brief moment the Lovesick Heartbreak Red had fallen from her, they had already detected the aura of that immortal treasure.
More importantly, they had sensed the trace of beastly aura escaping from Xiao Wu once the flower's concealment was gone.
A Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast.
There was no longer any way to hide that identity from the Titled Douluo.
Xiao Wu's face turned deathly pale in an instant.
Her gaze passed over the crowd and settled on the graceful, imposing figure seated on the high platform. Deep resentment welled up in her eyes.
Bibi Dong.
The Pope of Spirit Hall.
To Xiao Wu, there was no way this could be a coincidence.
She had hidden the Lovesick Heartbreak Red so carefully. How could it have fallen out for no reason?
Why had the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda's halo happened to knock her away?
Everything had linked together, tightening around her step by step. Someone had to have painstakingly arranged this deadly trap.
And in Spirit Hall, who else could have set such a scheme besides Bibi Dong?
Xiao Wu clenched her teeth, her eyes reddening as she stared at the woman on the high platform.
Bibi Dong sat upon the Pope's throne, her resplendent robes making her seem majestic and untouchable.
She looked down at the young girl's resentful gaze, unable to contain the wild joy in her heart.
Spirit Hall had lost the Soul Master Tournament.
It had lost in the most humiliating fashion.
Nearly all its young elite had fallen to Tang San alone, and Spirit Hall's dignity had been ground to dust.
She hadn't expected such an unexpected boon.
A Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast had taken human form and remained hidden in Spirit Hall for so long, only to have her identity exposed at precisely this moment.
This was a gift from the Angel God!
Before you continue