Tang Hao's Appearance

Shen Lian looked down at the crowd from above, his eyes filled with indifference.

"Just you lot think you can be my enemies? And you, Tang San—your hidden weapons are as laughable as you are."

Shen Lian's gaze then swept over Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun. A mocking curve lifted at the corner of his lips before he said to them:

"Without some special opportunity to repair your foundations, don't even dream of breaking through to Soul Emperor for the rest of your lives."

As for what that special opportunity was, it was naturally Immortal Herbs. But every known Immortal Herb on Douluo Continent was now in Shen Lian's hands. They would never obtain them.

A deathly silence fell over the forest, broken only by Zhao Wuji's heavy breathing and the groans of the wounded.

"What kind of ability is it to use such things? If you have the guts, let's fight without external aid and use Soul Power instead."

Tang San forced himself upright while leaning on his broken Blue Silver Grass. An unhealthy flush colored his pale face, and Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridges at his waist swayed with a faint, fragmented gleam. Yet his words were filled with righteous indignation.

He deliberately tucked one hand behind his back, concealing the hand clutching a Bone-Piercing Nail, as though his earlier sneak attack on Zhu Zhuqing had never happened.

Shen Lian sneered. The Star Annihilation Cannon traced a dangerous arc in his palm, while the lingering smoke from its barrel mingled with the stench of blood in the air.

"Tang San, you really are a purebred hypocrite. Are the hidden weapons at your waist just decorations?"

A cold gleam flared in Shen Lian's eyes. He pressed hard against the purple crystal with his finger, condensing three more Soul Power Bullets before shouting at Tang San again:

"Now that you've realized you can't deal with me, you're saying this?"

Amid a thunderous roar, the Star Annihilation Cannon erupted with dazzling purple light.

Tang San's pupils abruptly contracted as he watched that familiar light of destruction tear through the air. Ning Rongrong's scream and Oscar's startled cry exploded behind him.

Zhao Wuji barely managed to remain on one knee. The phantom of his Vajra Bear Martial Soul was dim as a dying candle, yet he still spread one arm in front of everyone. Beads of blood seeped from the cracks in his skin, freezing into dark-red crystals beneath the moonlight.

The first Soul Guidance Cannon shell struck Zhao Wuji's Soul Power Shield, and the dark-golden shield exploded.

The body of this seventy-sixth-rank Soul Saint flew backward like a kite with its string cut. His back slammed heavily into an ancient tree, and the muffled crack of its trunk breaking at the roots mixed with the crisp sound of his chest caving in, startling every night owl in the forest into flight.

Zhao Wuji's pupils slowly lost focus. His final glance fell upon the direction where Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun had collapsed, while bloody bubbles spilling from his throat obscured the unfinished warning on his lips.

The remaining two Soul Power Bullets chased after the others like life-reaping ghosts.

Dai Mubai's bloodstained fingers clawed futilely at the dead leaves, while Ma Hongjun's faint Phoenix Flame could not even ignite the shattered stones before him.

Meanwhile, Tang San dragged Ning Rongrong and Oscar into a frantic run. The ground beneath their feet continuously split apart from the residual force of the Soul Guidance Cannon, while the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda Martial Soul in Ning Rongrong's arms let out a mournful cry on the verge of shattering.

At that critical moment, the entire forest suddenly shook violently.

Giant trees a hundred meters away snapped in half like straw. Accompanied by a deafening roar, an enormous palm descended from the sky, blotting out the heavens.

Shen Lian's pupils shrank sharply. It was a brownish-black beast paw five meters across. Its callused palm steadily caught the two Soul Power Bullets. The explosions burst into flames against it, yet left behind only two pale marks.

As the smoke and dust dispersed, the mountain-like figure of the Titan Giant Ape appeared before them.

Its blood-red vertical pupils swept over the battlefield before finally settling on Shen Lian. The low growl rumbling from its chest distorted the very air.

On its towering shoulder, Xiao Wu, dressed in a pink gauze dress, clutched the Titan Giant Ape's fur. Her pale face was filled with terror and worry. "Er Ming! Hurry and save them!"

Shen Lian tightened his grip on the Star Annihilation Cannon, but he could feel an invisible pressure spreading from the Giant Ape.

The aura of this Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast was like a vast sea compared to the stream that had been Zhao Wuji's Martial Soul Avatar.

The Titan Giant Ape bent slightly, causing spiderweb-like cracks to spread across the ground. A dark-golden ball of energy gathered in its raised right arm, and its chilling killing intent pointed directly at Shen Lian.

Xiao Wu's bloodstained fingertips pointed at Shen Lian, her hand trembling slightly with rage. The girl's shrill voice tore through the sky:

"It was him! He injured my Shrek companions. Today, he must pay for it with blood!"

The Titan Giant Ape threw back its head and roared. The sound waves made the trees within a hundred meters tremble violently. Night owls nesting among the canopies scattered in panic, their flapping wings and the snapping branches making the battlefield even more sinister and terrifying.

Under that pressure, Shen Lian's pupils shrank to pinpoints. Shen Lian knew clearly that no matter how gifted he was now, against the terror of this Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, even if he gave everything he had, he and Zhu Zhuqing would have no chance of victory together.

So Shen Lian chose to call for backup. He directly summoned Huang Tian from his Consciousness Sea, and as Huang Tian's aura slowly revealed itself—

The Titan Giant Ape's raised right arm suddenly froze in midair.

This forest overlord, who had always feared neither heaven nor earth, now had every hair on its body standing on end. Human-like terror surfaced in its crimson vertical pupils.

Its enormous body trembled uncontrollably. The energy sphere in its palm burst apart with a soft pop, scattering into specks of starlight that sizzled as they fell upon the scorched earth.

Xiao Wu keenly noticed her companion's abnormal reaction as well. Looking down, she saw fine strands of beast fur falling from the Titan Giant Ape's callused palm. It was a physiological reaction that appeared only under extreme terror.

"Go! Take everyone and leave!"

Xiao Wu's voice trembled as her pale fingers quickly pointed north.

She knew Er Ming's reactions too well. There were only a handful of beings on all Douluo Continent capable of making this Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast so wary.

As if granted amnesty, the Titan Giant Ape scooped up the unconscious Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun with one hand like an iron pincer. With the other, it gently swept Tang San and the others onto its broad shoulder.

The earth groaned beneath its feet. Thick century-old trees snapped at the waist when it crashed through them, and the rising dust instantly blocked Shen Lian's vision.

"Trying to run?"

Shen Lian drew the Dragon-Slaying Blade and prepared to take Huang Tian after them, but Absurd's voice suddenly appeared in his Consciousness Sea.

The voice was like a great bell, making his temples throb.

"A Title Douluo's aura is approaching!"

Hearing that, Shen Lian formed his own guess and thought of who it might be.

Then he saw the thick clouds in the southwestern sky churning strangely, as though stirred by an invisible hand. Dark-purple lightning flashed from time to time within the black clouds.

Shen Lian stared fixedly at the horizon.

As a transmigrator familiar with the plot of Douluo, he knew all too well what this pressure signified.

Boom!

A thunderous explosion tore through the sky.

The jet-black Clear Sky Hammer came hurtling through the air with earth-shattering force. Wherever it passed, the air emitted piercing shrieks, while the trees along its path were ground into powder by the force of its momentum.

Shen Lian's pupils contracted sharply. Behind him, Huang Tian's enormous dragon body slowly emerged, and his palm casually met the giant hammer.

The Clear Sky Hammer was immediately knocked flying, tracing a long arc through the air before landing steadily in the hand of a tall figure.

Tang Hao wore a black cloak, and the crimson killing intent in his eyes had nearly solidified. The patterns on the hammer's handle pulsed with dark-purple Soul Power, as though it could choose someone to devour at any moment.