Gu Tian slowly walked into the center of the arena.
With each step he took, the air around him seemed to grow heavier. The pressure emanating from deep within his soul left everyone present feeling as if they were suffocating. Xiao Chenyu looked as though he'd been granted a reprieve, and retreated into the crowd, his face deathly pale.
"If your Bind is only this strong, I'd advise you to cripple your own Martial Soul before you go out and make a fool of yourself."
Gu Tian looked up at Tang San, and a flash of nine-colored divine light flickered in his eyes.
"Boom—!"
A supreme, imperial pressure erupted with Gu Tian at its center.
Behind Gu Tian, a majestic Nine-Colored Dragon Shadow appeared for an instant. A layer of dark golden dragon scales faintly surfaced on his arms, and his muscles bulged slightly, radiating a primal, violent beauty.
The absolute suppression stemming from the Dragon God Bloodline actually made the Blue Silver Grass inside Tang San shrink back of its own accord in fear.
Tang San felt a danger unlike anything he'd ever experienced. Under the lock of Gu Tian's aura, he found that the Mysterious Heaven Skill inside him had become incredibly sluggish.
"What... what's going on? Why won't my Martial Soul obey me?" Tang San was utterly shocked.
He stopped hesitating. If he couldn't overpower Gu Tian with Soul Power, then he would use the Tang Sect Secret Arts!
"Hundred Explanations of Tang Sect Hidden Weapon Techniques!"
Tang San once again used Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, circling Gu Tian at high speed as he searched for a fatal opening. His fingers swiftly brushed the Twenty-Four Bridge Moonlit Night at his waist, and his eyes glinted with ruthless intent.
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"
Three streaks of black light suddenly shot from Tang San's sleeve. They were three Sleeve Arrows coated in deadly poison, aimed at Gu Tian's throat and eyes in a triangular formation!
These Sleeve Arrows were extremely vicious. Not only were they incredibly fast, their arrowheads were barbed; once they entered the body, even the gods couldn't save their victim.
"Watch out for the Hidden Weapons, Brother Gu Tian!"
Xiao Wu couldn't help crying out from afar. Her face had turned deathly pale from the tension. She'd thought this was just an ordinary spar, but she'd never imagined that Tang San would use such deadly, underhanded Hidden Weapons against a fellow student in full view of everyone!
Looking at the arrowheads glinting with a purplish-black light, Xiao Wu felt a chill unlike any she'd ever experienced rise within her.
"To win... he actually wants to kill someone?" Xiao Wu cried out in despair inside. How could such sinister, ruthless methods befit a six-year-old child? At that moment, Gu Tian's earlier theories about Tang San's schemes seemed terrifyingly real.
Gu Tian gave a cold laugh. Locked on by the Dragon God's divine consciousness, the Hidden Weapons that seemed as fast as lightning to ordinary people moved as slowly as snails crawling through a swamp to him.
Gu Tian shifted slightly to one side, leaning his head back at an incredibly perilous angle. The three Sleeve Arrows whizzed past, almost grazing the tip of his nose. The gust of cold air they brought sliced off a few strands of hair at his temple.
"You're resorting to such underhanded tricks?" Gu Tian's gaze turned utterly cold, and he vanished from where he stood.
So fast!
Tang San's pupils contracted violently. He hurriedly used the Purple Demon Eye, his eyes turning a lustrous purple as he tried to track Gu Tian's movements.
"There!"
Tang San twisted to the side, barely avoiding Gu Tian's heavy punch, which came with the force of wind and thunder. The punch struck an ancient tree, and with a tooth-grating crash, the tree was smashed clean in two, sending wood chips flying.
The two fought fiercely among the trees. Tang San used Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon to redirect the force of Gu Tian's blows, repeatedly trying to neutralize his monstrous strength. Yet every punch Gu Tian threw carried a surge of nine-colored elemental energy. Under the unrelenting pressure, the skin between Tang San's thumb and forefinger split, and blood ran down his palm.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Gu Tian's heavy stomp shattered the rocks beneath him. Tang San was forced backward again and again. He realized that the Hidden Weapons and movement techniques he'd been so proud of looked utterly powerless in the face of Gu Tian's sheer, overwhelming superiority.
"Didn't you want to see my Martial Soul?" Gu Tian closed in again. "Then take a good look!"
Gu Tian's sweeping kick lashed out like an iron whip, and a sharp sonic boom rang through the air. Tang San summoned all his strength to raise his arms and block. The Mysterious Heaven Skill in his body surged to its limit, and a brilliant white light shone from his Mysterious Jade Hand.
"Crack!"
The crisp snap of breaking bone sounded especially grating in the silence of the back hills. Tang San let out a scream as he was kicked flying, crashing hard into a distant cliff and sending a cascade of rocks tumbling down.
Tang San struggled up from the rubble, his right arm bent at a grotesque angle. As he looked at Gu Tian walking slowly toward him, an extreme madness, indignation, and humiliation flashed in his eyes.
He couldn't lose! If he lost here, his pride as a Tang Sect disciple would be utterly destroyed! Besides... Xiao Wu was watching him!
"You forced me to do this!"
Tang San roared in his heart. He forced himself to endure the agony, his eyes bloodshot. He withdrew his broken Blue Silver Grass, and all the Soul Power in his body surged toward his left hand.
A small, pitch-black hammer slowly appeared in the palm of his left hand.
The hammer was entirely black, its handle about half a foot long. A faint band of dark markings had been carved around the surface of its head.
The moment the small hammer appeared, the air grew oppressive, and it seemed as though even the plants and trees on the back hills had stopped swaying.
"That's..."
The moment Xiao Wu saw the hammer from afar, she froze in place, her pupils contracting into slits. Her instincts as a Soul Beast told her that the hammer carried an aura of plunder and bloodshed.
It was... the Clear Sky Hammer!
The most domineering tool-type Martial Soul on the entire continent, the totem of the Clear Sky Sect, and the Martial Soul belonging to the enemy who had killed Ah Yin and caused her mother's death!
"Tang Hao... Tang San..."
Xiao Wu's body trembled violently, every hair on her body standing on end. She recalled every word Gu Tian had said to her beside the Lake of Life. At that moment, his theories about schemes to hunt Soul Rings became the sharpest of knives, stabbing her heart until it was riddled with wounds.
"Xiao San, so your surname really is Tang..." Xiao Wu's voice was as faint as a mosquito's, full of endless disappointment and self-mockery.
She remembered the so-called promise they'd made to be siblings on that narrow little bed. She remembered Tang San's seemingly awkward yet gentle smiles. She remembered how Tang San had promised her amid the sea of flowers, "If one day lots of people try to capture you, and they're all stronger than me, I'll make them step over my corpse!"
So it had all really been an act. For her Soul Ring, for her Soul Bone, the father and son had played their parts so convincingly.
The bone-deep chill of betrayal made it impossible for her to stay there another second.
The person before her was no longer the person she'd once known. As they looked at each other, all that remained was disappointment.
"Lady Gu Yue, take me away." Xiao Wu closed her eyes as two lines of tears slid down her cheeks. "I don't want to watch anymore. I... never want to see that person again."
Gu Yue tenderly steadied Xiao Wu's trembling shoulders. She shot a cold glance at Tang San, who was swinging his Clear Sky Hammer in the arena, her eyes filled with contempt.
Gu Yue's voice was cool but firm. "Since he deliberately deceived you, you owe him nothing anymore. Stay with us. The young master will give you a real home, one without lies."
At that moment, the last line of defense in Xiao Wu's heart crumbled completely. She gave one final look at Tang San, whose face had been twisted beyond recognition by jealousy, then resolutely turned away and vanished into the shadows of the trees, supported by Gu Yue.
At the center of the battlefield, Tang San had completely lost control.
"Die! You're dead!"
Tang San growled. Paying no heed to his injured arm, he swung the Clear Sky Hammer wildly. With every blow, the gravity around him seemed to grow heavier.
"Chaotic Cloak!"
He planted his feet and swung the small black hammer, driving it with the strength of his waist and hips. Each strike came faster than the last, its force building with every blow. Waves of oppressive black light surged around him as he tried to break through Gu Tian's defense.
It was said that when Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer was mastered to its peak, one could swing the hammer eighty-one times in an unbroken sequence, with each blow building power for the final strike. Although Tang San's Clear Sky Hammer Martial Soul had no Soul Rings attached, the hammer still weighed five hundred pounds, and the threat it posed could not be underestimated.
However, Tang San's hammer technique was far from skillful, and worse still, his opponent was Gu Tian. Gu Tian merely watched him coldly, as if looking at a clown.
"If you think this hunk of scrap can save your life, you're dead wrong."
Brilliant nine-colored divine light gathered once more around Gu Tian's right fist. Unlike Tang San, Gu Tian didn't choose an array of exquisite techniques to redirect his opponent's strength. Instead, he used the most domineering method of all: he met Tang San's blow head-on, a strike powerful enough to split mountains and shatter rocks!
Boom—!
A terrifying wave of Soul Power blasted outward in every direction, sending the senior students nearby tumbling.
In full view of everyone, the supposedly indestructible, number-one hammer beneath heaven let out a cracking sound under Gu Tian's nine-colored iron fist, as if it could bear no more. Dense cracks rapidly spread across it, and then, with a sharp, mournful cry, it shattered completely into countless black specks of light.
Tang San was struck as if by lightning. His primary Martial Soul had suffered devastating damage. He spat out three mouthfuls of blood, then collapsed limply onto the ground, staring blankly up at the sky.
He had lost. He'd been utterly and completely defeated.
"Xiao Tian, your First Trial of the Dragon God was just completed."
Ao Linxi's voice rang out in his mind, carrying a hint of smugness and satisfaction. Gu Tian was slightly taken aback.
"Looks like Xiao Wu already hates Tang San to the bone. The poor little thing is probably crying in the dorm right now!" Gu Tian withdrew his Martial Soul and didn't spare Tang San, who lay on the ground like a dead dog, a glance. He left with Na'er, walking off in style beneath the silent gazes of everyone present.
Night fell.
Inside Gu Tian's apartment, the glow of the Soul Guidance Lamp fell across the solid wood table, filling the room with a warm, cozy light.
Gu Tian pushed open the door and saw Xiao Wu sitting quietly on the edge of the bed. Her school uniform was still a little rumpled, her eyes were swollen and red, and her once-lively rabbit ears drooped listlessly.
Gu Tian sighed softly and went over to sit beside her, not rushing to speak.
"Brother Gu Tian, am I stupid?" Xiao Wu suddenly raised her head, her voice hoarse. "I actually believed he'd protect me for the rest of my life. If you hadn't blocked that arrow today, if I hadn't seen that hammer... would I really have become his Soul Ring one day?"
Gu Tian reached out and gently stroked her warm rabbit ears.
"It wasn't your fault. Hunters are always good at disguises, and a rabbit's kindness isn't a crime. But I promise you, from today on, no one will ever treat you like a pawn."
Gu Tian took an exquisite food box from behind him.
"You haven't eaten yet, have you? I brought you your favorite spicy carrots from town, and this." As if by magic, Gu Tian produced a necklace. It was made of Dragon God Refined Gold, set with a tiny ruby that gave off a faint, steady ripple of Soul Power.
"This is my gift to you, and a token of our love."
Xiao Wu looked at the bright red carrots, then at the priceless necklace, and tears spilled from her eyes again. This time, though, her tears weren't from the pain of betrayal. They came from the warmth of being cherished.
"Thank you... Brother Gu Tian."
Xiao Wu took the carrots and let Gu Tian put the necklace on her. Beneath his warm gaze, she showed the first smile she'd had in days—and the brightest one of all.