Tang Hao Forges a Puppet, Qian Renxue is Chosen!

Under the terrified gazes of everyone present, that pillar of black light slammed down mercilessly onto Tang Xiao, the Sect Master of the Clear Sky Sect.

"It chose me?!"

Tang Xiao's pupils constricted, but as the leader of a sect, he did not lose his composure like the others.

On the contrary, the moment the golden light enveloped him, he straightened his back, the pride of the world's number one sect erupting from within him.

"Good! Good! Good!"

"Since it has chosen this old man, then I shall go and see this so-called new world for myself!"

"My Clear Sky Sect has endured in silence for many years; does the world think my Clear Sky Hammer is weak and easily bullied? Today, I shall use the Clear Sky Hammer in my hand to carve out a path in that foreign realm!"

"I will let the people of that world know what the world's number one tool spirit truly is! And what pure power means!"

As his voice fell, the floor tiles beneath Tang Xiao's feet shattered instantly. He transformed into a streak of light, vanishing into the black pillar of light under the worried gazes of the elders.

Battle Through the Heavens Plane, Central Plains, Corpse Burial Mountain Range.

This place was shrouded in black mist year-round, impenetrable by sunlight, and the air was thick with the stench of rot and death.

From time to time, shrill, ghostly wails echoed from the depths of the mountain range, chilling one to the bone.

This was the location of the Earth Fiend Hall, an important branch of the Soul Hall!

Amidst the howling of the sinister wind, Tang Xiao's figure appeared out of thin air atop a massive black altar.

The moment his feet touched the ground, a bone-chilling cold made him shudder involuntarily.

The cold here was not the chill of ice and snow, but a sinister frost that acted directly upon the depths of the soul!

"What kind of hellish place is this—"

Tang Xiao looked around, seeing countless enormous black stone pillars standing in the surroundings, each wrapped in thick, black chains.

And at the end of those chains, translucent soul bodies were actually shackled!

Those souls let out silent wails under the torture of the chains, their faces twisted in extreme agony.

"This—are they pulling out people's souls to torture them?"

In an instant, Tang Xiao felt his scalp tingle, and a surge of righteous indignation welled up within him: "What kind of monsters are you! How dare you commit such heinous acts!"

"Clear Sky Hammer! Appear!"

With a roar, two yellow, two purple, and five black—a full nine spirit rings—rose beneath Tang Xiao's feet!

Immediately following, a massive black hammer flickering with dark light appeared in his hand.

He unleashed the full pressure of a level 97 Titled Douluo, attempting to disperse the black mist surrounding him!

"Heh heh heh—"

Just then, a grating, eerie laughter echoed around the altar, sounding both near and far.

"What a powerful soul body—"

"Although your physical strength is decent, the quality of this soul is even purer than that of an ordinary peak Dou Zong—"

"Truly a gift from the heavens for this venerable one."

Accompanied by the laughter, the black mist in front of the altar churned violently. Soon, a figure wrapped entirely in black robes emerged slowly; his face was obscured, with only two points of ghostly fire flickering beneath his hood.

He stepped through the void, the surrounding space distorting slightly with his every breath.

A venerable elder of the Soul Hall, Old Man Mugu!

"Playing god!"

Tang Xiao had a fiery temper; how could he tolerate such sinister, mocking provocation?

"Whether you are human or ghost, take this hammer from me!"

"Seventh Spirit Skill: Clear Sky True Body!!"

BOOM!

Tang Xiao did not bother with any probing; he activated his Martial Soul True Body immediately!

The Clear Sky Hammer in his hand instantly swelled to a hundred meters in size, smashing toward the black-robed figure with the momentum to destroy the heavens and earth!

This strike condensed the essence of the Clear Sky Sect's Chaotic Cloak Hammer Technique, enough to level a mountain to the ground!

In the Douluo Continent, no Titled Douluo would dare to take this strike head-on!

However, facing this earth-shattering blow, Old Man Mugu only let out a cold, disdainful laugh: "Heh heh, brute force? The most useless thing of all."

"Let me show you what it means to toy with souls."

With that, Old Man Mugu flicked his sleeve.

CLANG!!

In an instant, countless pitch-black chains engraved with eerie runes erupted from the void in all directions like venomous snakes!

"Soul Hooking Chain!"

These chains did not attempt to meet the physical attack of the Clear Sky Hammer; instead, as if existing in another dimension, they passed directly through the massive phantom of the Clear Sky Hammer!

"What?!"

Tang Xiao was shocked to the core at the sight; his Clear Sky Hammer had actually failed to block the attack?

Not only that, but before he could even react, those countless black chains had already coiled around his limbs and torso like maggots on rotting flesh.

"Get off! Break for me!"

Tang Xiao roared, his muscles bulging as he attempted to shatter the chains with his level 97 soul power.

But the thing that filled him with despair happened.

These chains were completely impervious to physical attacks; it was as if they were locked directly onto his soul.

"Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!"

In an instant, the runes on the chains flared, beginning to absorb his soul power.

"Ahhhhh!"

Tang Xiao let out a miserable scream immediately.

Pain, it was too painful!

It was an excruciating agony, as if his soul were being forcibly ripped out of his physical body!

"No, my soul, don't pull my soul—"

The next second, the Clear Sky Hammer in Tang Xiao's hand clattered to the ground and dissipated into motes of light.

His entire body began to convulse violently in mid-air, his eyes rolling back as he foamed at the mouth.

Above his head, a phantom, translucent image identical to him was being forcibly dragged out by those chains!

"Heh heh, level 97? According to this world's metrics, your soul power has the potential of a Great Perfection Spirit Realm."

Old Man Mugu licked his lips, his eyes filled with greed. "Perfect. The Hall Master has been needing high-quality souls to refine the Heaven Soul Blood-Melting Pill lately."

"Just obediently become my performance quota!"

"Retract!"

With that, Old Man Mugu clenched his hand shut.

Puff!

With a soft sound, Tang Xiao's body went limp and collapsed, turning into a lifeless husk.

His soul, meanwhile, had been bound like a dumpling by the countless chains and dragged forcibly before Old Man Mugu.

"Let, let me go—"

Tang Xiao, now reduced to a soul state, had eyes filled with terror and pleading.

What world's number one sect master? What Clear Sky Hammer?

In front of the Soul Hall, which specialized in restraining and toying with souls, he was nothing but a piece of meat waiting to be slaughtered!

"Noisy."

Old Man Mugu casually produced a pitch-black jade bottle and sucked Tang Xiao's soul toward it.

Whoosh!

The Howling Sky Douluo, who had once shaken the Douluo Continent, was sucked into the palm-sized bottle just like that.

Old Man Mugu stoppered the bottle and gave it a thoughtful shake. Hearing the faint screams coming from within, he nodded in satisfaction. "Not bad. A soul filled with such resentment and arrogance tastes the most delicious."

Meanwhile, Douluo Continent.

Clear Sky Sect, Clear Sky Peak.

"Sect Master!!!"

The five elders looked at the soulless husk lying on the altar of the other world, and at the soul trapped inside the bottle, all of them beating their chests and stamping their feet in grief.

"How could this happen? That was the Clear Sky Hammer!"

"Why was the Sect Master's soul snatched away without the enemy even touching him?!"

The Second Elder slumped to the ground, trembling all over. "That man in the black robe—his chains can ignore physical defense!"

"Our Clear Sky Sect cultivates pure strength and physical attacks. Facing a monster that targets the soul, we are nothing but sitting ducks!"

"It's over. Our Clear Sky Sect is completely finished—"

On the other side, Sunset Forest.

Near the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well.

Tang Hao, who was hiding in the shadows to recover from his injuries, watched as his elder brother was stuffed into the bottle on the light screen, his eyes bloodshot.

"Big Brother—"

The next second, the Clear Sky Hammer in Tang Hao's hand manifested uncontrollably, smashing the surrounding trees into smithereens.

"Soul Hall, Soul-Snatching Chain, is it—"

"That kind of attack method is truly impossible to guard against."

"Even I might not be able to block that move if I were the one facing it."

For the first time, a profound sense of powerlessness rose in Tang Hao's heart.

The Great Sumeru Hammer could detonate spirit rings to exchange for ultimate power.

But what if the opponent didn't bother clashing with your strength, and instead threw a hook directly into your soul?

No matter how great your power, what use is it if you're hitting cotton, or even just empty air?

"What kind of hellish place is that world, anyway?"

"They don't even spare the soul, and they use it to refine medicine?"

Shrek Academy, on the playground.

"Clear Sky Hammer!"

Tang San looked at that black bottle, his face turning as pale as paper.

His Purple Demon Eye, which he took such pride in, could cultivate spiritual power, but in front of that Old Man Mugu, he felt as if his spiritual power were merely a drop of water facing the vast ocean.

"Soul attacks—is this the true terror of that world?"

Tang San said with a trembling voice, "First it was physical crushing, now it's soul harvesting."

"We spirit masters cultivate spirit power, yet we know nothing of cultivating the soul."

"In front of that Soul Hall, we are nothing but a group of infants waving big sticks around."

"If they wanted to, they could hook our souls away at any moment and stuff them into a bottle—"

As he said this, Tang San subconsciously touched his own neck, as if a cold chain were already tightening around it.

"Ah, just let it all be destroyed."

Battle Through the Heavens Plane, Central Plains.

Deep within the Earth Fiend Hall.

The pitch-black Soul Infant Pool contained no water, only countless black liquid flames condensed from resentment.

"Aaaaaah!"

Tang Xiao's soul was nailed firmly to the center of the pool by dozens of Soul Hooking Chains.

This was not physical torture, but a tearing sensation acting directly upon the origin of his soul.

The so-called Ten Thousand Ghost Heart-Devouring Fire was a secret technique used by the Soul Hall to process powerful souls.

Within the flames, countless twisted ghostly faces frantically gnawed at Tang Xiao's soul, each bite stripping away a piece of his memory and sanity.

"I am the Sect Master of the Clear Sky Sect, I am the Howling Sky Douluo."

"Let me go, if you have the guts, face me in a real fight—"

Tang Xiao's screams gradually shifted from anger to wailing, until finally, only unconscious moans remained.

The man who was once majestic and domineering, the Sect Master of the world's number one sect, known for breaking ten thousand techniques with a single hammer, was now like a piece of dough tossed into a deep fryer.

On the other hand, Old Man Mugu, standing by the pool, toyed with the small bottle of soul essence he had just extracted. A look of enjoyment appeared on his face, which was as withered as tree bark: "Tsk tsk, truly a top-tier soul from another world."

"Although they don't know how to utilize soul power, the resilience of this soul is actually several times stronger than an ordinary person's."

"If refined into a fierce soul and placed into the Ten Thousand Soul Banner, it will surely become a formidable warrior."

As he spoke, Old Man Mugu casually grabbed a handful of black powder and sprinkled it into the pool.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!

The flames in the pool instantly turned a ghastly green, and Tang Xiao's screams rose by another octave!

"Enjoy it, hehehe."

"In the Soul Hall, death is the greatest luxury."

"You will wail here for forty-nine days, until you forget who you are."

Douluo Continent, Clear Sky Sect.

Clear Sky Peak.

"Sect Master!"

Seeing this scene, the Second Elder knelt on the ground, his hands clawing into the earth so hard that his fingernails tore and blood flowed freely.

Yet he could not feel a shred of pain, for the agony in his heart was ten thousand times more intense!

"How could it come to this? How could it be like this!"

The Second Elder wept, tears streaming down his face as he watched the soul struggling and twisting within the ghost fire on the light screen.

"Our Clear Sky Sect has been sealed off for twenty years!"

"We painstakingly practiced the Chaotic Cloak Hammer Technique, we delved into the Great Sumeru Hammer, we polished our bodies day and night, all so that one day we could rule the world once more!"

"We have always firmly believed that in the face of absolute power, all those flashy tricks are nothing but paper tigers!"

"But why, why today—"

The Second Elder pointed at the light screen, his voice trembling like a candle flickering in the wind.

"They aren't even clashing with you on strength!"

"Their chains are hooking your soul directly, Sect Master!"

"What use is a level 97 Super Douluo? In front of those black chains, the body is nothing but a prop; the soul is just ripped right out!"

"They can crush you however they please!"

The Seventh Elder, usually the most hot-tempered, slumped into his chair with a face ashen and eyes devoid of focus: "It's over, it's all over—"

"The number one tool spirit under heaven? Heh, a joke, a colossal joke!"

Just as the people of the Douluo Continent were wailing in despair, the familiar voice of the Sky Screen unexpectedly rang out once more.

[Ding, Douluo Plane explorer Tang Xiao has entered the soul refinement stage and no longer possesses live broadcast variables.]

[The Sky Screen random selection mechanism has been activated again!]

[Number of slots for this selection: one!]

[Keywords: Divine, Ambition!]

Hum!

In an instant, a dazzling golden holy light descended from the heavens.

This time, it did not land in the wilderness, nor did it land at a sect's headquarters.

Instead, it fell straight onto the Crown Prince's Mansion within the Heaven Dou Imperial Palace!

At the same time, inside the Crown Prince's Mansion at the Heaven Dou Imperial Palace.

Qian Renxue, who had been sitting at her desk reviewing memorials to maintain her persona as a virtuous Crown Prince, felt the vermilion brush in her hand snap with a sharp crack the moment the golden light enveloped her!

Not good!

Seeing that she had been chosen by the Sky Screen, Qian Renxue was struck with terror.

She had been lurking in the Heaven Dou Empire for over a decade and was on the verge of successfully usurping the throne; how could she be chosen by the Sky Screen at such a critical juncture?!

I cannot go, I absolutely cannot go!

Once I go to that world, my disguise will surely be compromised! My entire plan will be ruined!

Qian Renxue's soul power surged frantically within her as she attempted to resist the suction force.

However, the rules of the Sky Screen were supreme.

Let alone a mere Soul Saint like her, even if her grandfather Qian Daoliu were here, it would be equally useless!

Whoosh!

Just like that, under the bewildered gazes of the guards and palace maids, their Crown Prince transformed into a streak of golden light and vanished from the spot in an instant!