Tang Hao: If My Son-in-Law Wants You Dead, You Die!

Lightning and fire intertwined deep within the trunk in an ancient, precise rhythm. It was not a simple external overlap, but a resonance between two utterly different destructive forces at the same frequency.

Lightning was responsible for instant penetration, while blazing fire sustained the burning. The two complemented each other, like the shift between feint and substance in a fist technique, containing both piercing and explosive force within a single move.

Every pattern behind the Thunder Fire Phoenix Tree's attacks broke down into countless tiny energy nodes in Gu Qing's mind!

If he detonated two forces that repelled yet stimulated each other at the instant his fist landed, the penetrating and explosive forces could stack twice within one punch—first tearing through the outer defenses, then exploding deep within.

Gu Qing closed his eyes. His body continued dodging through the lightning and fire, while his mind, boosted by the Heavenly Heart Lotus, deduced a new fist technique at an extreme speed.

The jade-colored radiance of the Mystic Jade Body flowed across his skin. The Lotus Heart Seed's vitality continuously repaired the wounds scorched by lightning and fire, and every repair made his muscle fibers denser.

Gu Qing could feel a new power gathering deep within his dantian. It was the residual Thunder-Fire Power from the Thunder Fire Phoenix Tree, absorbed into his body during the tempering process. It collided and merged with the Soul Power of the Mysterious Heaven Skill, forming fine crimson-gold arcs of electricity within his meridians.

Gu Qing suddenly opened his eyes and clenched his right fist. Mystic jade-colored light gathered around his knuckles. Unlike the pure jade glow when he had previously used the True Meaning of Fist, this time the radiance no longer evenly covered his fist. Instead, it flowed between his fingers like two entwining dragons.

One was a silver-white lightning fist force, and the other a crimson-gold flame fist force. The two intertwined, collided, and merged across the back of his hand, releasing a dense series of faint crackling explosions.

At the edge of the basin, Dugu Bo's hand, which had been stroking his beard, abruptly froze. For the first time, near-horror appeared in his emerald snake eyes. "A Self-Created Soul Skill? He created a soul skill in the middle of battle?!"

Hearing her grandfather's cry, Dugu Yan froze. As she watched Gu Qing stand with his eyes closed amid the Thunder Fire Phoenix Tree's barrage, the two streams of fist force slowly merging over his right fist, a strange thought suddenly surfaced in her heart. How could this person shine so brilliantly? He's practically flawless!

Lightning and fire flashed in Gu Qing's pupils as he shouted excitedly:

"Try my True Meaning of Fist: Thunder Fire Annihilation!"

A fist aura woven from crimson-gold and silver-white shot from Gu Qing's fist and slammed into the Thunder Fire Phoenix Tree's main trunk.

There was no explosion and no blast wave. The instant the fist aura touched the trunk, it pierced directly through the bark and burrowed inside before detonating deep within. Lightning's penetrating force tore open cracks first, followed closely by fire's scorching force, which expanded through those fissures. The two powers repeatedly stacked and detonated within the phoenix tree, each chain reaction widening the wound in its trunk by several feet.

The entire giant tree let out an ear-splitting shriek. The flames in its crown instantly dimmed by a third, while countless burning leaves fell from its branches, turning to ash in midair. At the point of impact, a massive charred crater nearly several zhang across had exploded open. The wood around its rim still crackled as silver arcs and crimson-gold flames danced endlessly within the cracks.

"So strong!" Dugu Yan instinctively covered her mouth. Looking at the bare-chested youth standing amid the lightning and fire, her heart pounded like a drum.

Liu Erlong narrowed her eyes slightly, her arms crossed over her chest unconsciously tightening. This kid had incorporated the Thunder Fire Phoenix Tree's attack patterns into his own fist intent with just one battle! Such talent—she had not only never seen it, she had never even heard of it.

Yet after landing, Gu Qing frowned. Around the deep crater blasted into the Thunder Fire Phoenix Tree's trunk by the True Meaning of Fist: Thunder Fire Annihilation, the wooden tissue had begun slowly healing again.

Although it was much slower than before, it was still healing. Its roots were sunk deep underground, connected to the earthfire and thunderclouds of the entire basin. As long as those two powers did not run dry, it could continue regenerating.

And that punch had already consumed more than forty percent of Gu Qing's Soul Power. Even with the Lotus Heart Seed continuously restoring him, he could fire at most two more shots.

Gu Qing shook off the lingering lightning-fire embers still dancing around his fist and turned toward the basin's edge. If he could not kill it, there was no need to force the fight. The goals of tempering his body and comprehending a new technique had both been exceeded. There was no need to keep wasting energy.

"Human." A deep, hoarse voice sounded behind Gu Qing.

Gu Qing halted and turned around. Above the charred crater in the Thunder Fire Phoenix Tree's trunk, which had been blasted open by his fist intent, a huge face slowly emerged, outlined in bark and flame! Lightning and fire flickered in its eye sockets, and the whole face carried an ancient, majestic aura. But the firelight was clearly dimmer than before.

"Neither of us can do anything to the other. I cannot break your defenses, and you cannot shatter my origin. Continuing this battle will only meaninglessly drain both our Soul Power and origin. We should stop here and each take a step back."

The Thunder Fire Phoenix Tree's voice echoed throughout the basin, making the ground tremble faintly. Yet there was no threat in its tone, only an ancient bluntness.

Gu Qing looked at that face and understood. This Thunder Fire Phoenix Tree possessed even greater intelligence than he had expected. It had realized that while his Thunder Fire Annihilation could injure its origin, it could not completely destroy it!

And with the Thunder Fire Basin empowering its regenerative ability, it could practically keep going without end. If the battle dragged on, Gu Qing would be the first to exhaust his Soul Power. But once its origin had been repeatedly damaged beyond a certain point, even its regeneration would no longer keep up with the expenditure.

"Not necessarily." Gu Qing's lips curved slightly as he raised a hand and snapped his fingers toward the sky. "Uncle Hao."

From the shadows at the basin's edge, a towering figure stepped out. Dugu Bo felt a chill run down his back. He had not even noticed that someone had been standing there all along, despite his Titled Douluo-level senses.

Tang Hao cast an indifferent glance at the Thunder Fire Phoenix Tree and raised his right hand. A gigantic Clear Sky Hammer, black as ink, appeared in his palm.

The hammer bore no decorations and was entirely pitch-black, save for several dark-gold ancient patterns carved into its head. Under the glow of lightning and fire, they faintly flowed with an archaic radiance.

Nine soul rings rose from beneath the Clear Sky Hammer, spreading out in sequence—yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black, red.

The final ring was blood-red.

Dugu Bo abruptly took half a step back, his emerald pupils shrinking to pinpoints.

A hundred-thousand-year soul ring!

He had roamed the world of soul masters for decades and seen countless Titled Douluo, but in his entire life, this was the only person he had seen whose ninth soul ring was at the hundred-thousand-year level.

Though Dugu Yan did not understand what such a soul ring configuration meant, the expression on her grandfather's face—as though he had seen a ghost—told her that this man was at least stronger than her grandfather, and not by just a little.

The ancient face on the Thunder Fire Phoenix Tree's trunk twisted violently when it saw the blood-red soul ring. It had lived for nearly ninety thousand years and dealt with human soul masters countless times. It understood the weight of a Titled Douluo's soul ring configuration better than most humans did.

But what made it tremble most was not that hammer, not those soul rings, nor even the pressure emanating from that man. It was that the man stood there and, from beginning to end, said only one sentence.

"If this kid wants you dead, then you die! Decide for yourself."