"Thanks!" Yan turned and said to Xie Yue, wiping the sweat and bloody spittle from his face.
Xie Yue gave a slight nod without speaking. He put away the Moon Blade and stepped aside.
Yan walked up to the Soul Ring, sat cross-legged, rested his hands on his knees, and began absorbing it.
The purple-black Soul Ring slowly descended, settling around him before beginning to rotate in circles. Its light enveloped Yan, and his expression gradually grew solemn.
Yue Guan walked over from beside the rock wall and stood near Yan, hands clasped behind his back as he watched the absorption.
"Excellent. This Magma Behemoth's Soul Ring is perfect for Yan. It'll increase both his fire-attribute attacks and his defense."
Hu Liena withdrew her Martial Soul and went to stand beside Yue Guan. A fine sheen of sweat covered her forehead; using Nine-Tailed Charm had taken a lot out of her. Her skirt was caked with dust, leaving patches of gray across the purplish-red fabric.
She brushed the dust from her skirt, tucked the loose strands of hair beside her cheek back into place, and looked up at Yan.
"Exactly, Chrysanthemum Elder. A Ten Thousand Year Magma Behemoth Soul Ring is practically made for the Flame Overlord. Yan should have no trouble breaking through this time."
Xie Yue walked over too and stood to Hu Liena's right. He said nothing, but kept his eyes fixed on Yan, his brow faintly furrowed.
Qin Chuan watched closely from a distance. The Six Paths Reincarnation Eye could observe every last detail with pinpoint precision.
Sweat began to bead across Yan's forehead, then ran down along his temples. His teeth were clenched, the muscles in his jaw bulging. His body began to tremble slightly.
The crucial stage had arrived.
The energy of a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring was immense. A Soul Master at level 50 who tried to absorb it by force would put their body under tremendous strain.
Qin Chuan watched from the shadows, silently assessing the situation.
Hu Liena was level 52, Xie Yue was level 54, and Yan was at level 50 and breaking through.
Yue Guan was level 95.
This was no weak lineup. The fact that Spirit Hall had sent a team like this to help Yan hunt for a Soul Ring showed how highly they valued the boy.
As Qin Chuan pondered this, the Six Paths Reincarnation Eye suddenly picked up an unusual ripple.
It was approaching at incredible speed from the north.
The Soul Power fluctuation was on par with Yue Guan's.
Level 95—a second Titled Douluo.
Qin Chuan's heart leaped into his throat.
The speed was unbelievable. Less than three seconds passed between sensing the fluctuation and the figure entering his field of vision.
A figure shot across the northern sky, so fast the air seemed to tear around him, leaving a long white trail behind.
Qin Chuan fixed his gaze on the figure and swept it with the Six Paths Reincarnation Eye.
"Hm?"
He knew that figure all too well.
Tall and powerfully built, with unruly black hair whipping wildly in the wind.
He wore a gray coarse-cloth robe, wrinkled as if he hadn't changed it in days. His face was covered in stubble, his eyes were sunken, and his lips were cracked. He looked like a disheveled, down-and-out middle-aged man who drank himself into a stupor.
But the Soul Power pressure bursting from him was enough to make every Soul Beast within several miles flatten itself to the ground in terror.
It was Tang Hao!
Qin Chuan's fingers clenched of their own accord, and a sheen of cold sweat broke out across his back.
He instinctively suppressed his presence to the bare minimum and narrowed the Six Paths Reincarnation Eye's range to cover only the valley. The Heavenly Dao Power completely masked his Soul Power fluctuations, making him indistinguishable from an ordinary stone.
Tang Hao was after Yue Guan.
Qin Chuan understood almost instantly.
Tang Hao must have returned to Holy Soul Village and discovered that someone had broken into the cave. The energy barrier had been broken, the Blue Silver Emperor was gone, and the Soul Bone was gone.
That madman had probably turned the entire village upside down before following their trail here.
Qin Chuan put it all together in an instant.
The situation in the valley had changed drastically.
Tang Hao was incredibly fast. Less than five seconds passed between his appearance and his landing at the valley entrance.
The immense Soul Power pressure arrived a moment before he did.
Yue Guan's expression changed.
He had been standing leisurely beside Yan, watching him absorb the Soul Ring. Now his whole body tensed, and he whipped around to look north.
"Hm?" Xie Yue felt the pressure too. His right hand instinctively closed around the Moon Blade at his waist.
Hu Liena took a step back, her pupils contracting.
Bang!
A figure dropped from the sky and slammed into the rocks at the valley entrance. The stone cracked in several places, sending fragments flying.
Tang Hao stood atop the rubble, sweeping his gaze across everyone in the valley before fixing it on Yue Guan.
His bloodshot eyes were filled with murderous intent.
Yue Guan immediately stepped in front of the three young people and faced Tang Hao.
"Tang Hao, what do you mean by this?"
"What do I mean?" Tang Hao forced a cold laugh from his throat. "I followed your trail here. Tell me, were you lot in Holy Soul Village a few days ago?"
Yue Guan was taken aback.
"Holy Soul Village? You must have made a mistake." Yue Guan's tone was fairly calm, a faint smile playing at the corner of his mouth.
In Tang Hao's eyes, that smile took on a different meaning.
Mocking me? You stole my things and still have the nerve to smile?
"Hmph. Yue Guan, looks like you won't come clean. Then I'll make you." He flipped his right hand, and a huge pitch-black hammer appeared in his palm.
The Clear Sky Hammer, the strongest weapon-type Martial Soul under heaven.
The hammer was black as ink, with faint dark-red patterns flowing across it. Its head was as large as a water vat, and the moment the Clear Sky Hammer appeared, a crushing pressure that made it difficult to breathe swept over the entire valley.
Even the air grew heavy.
Hu Liena felt as if a boulder were pressing down on her chest, her breaths turning shallow and rapid. Her legs began to buckle. The Soul Power pressure was terrifying—far beyond what someone of her level could withstand.
Xie Yue had gone pale too, but he gritted his teeth and held his ground. His hand was already on the Moon Blade. He knew he was no more than an ant before two Titled Douluo, but at least he had to take a stance as if ready to fight.
Yan was still absorbing the Soul Ring and couldn't react.
Yue Guan's smile vanished. "Tang Hao! You—"
Before he could finish, Tang Hao had already charged.
Tang Hao moved faster than anyone expected.
The full-force charge of a level-95 Titled Douluo was too fast for ordinary people to see even as a blur. Yue Guan could follow him only because he was a peer of equal rank.
The Clear Sky Hammer came crashing down toward Yue Guan's head, its tremendous force warping the air.
Yue Guan had no time to think. His first instinct was to draw the battle away.
The three young people were behind him, and Yan was still absorbing the Soul Ring. If they fought at this distance, the shock waves from two Titled Douluo would be enough to injure the three of them.
Yue Guan's figure blurred. He raised his arm and instantly released the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum Martial Soul. A massive golden chrysanthemum bloomed before him, its sharp petals spinning like blades as he took Tang Hao's first blow head-on.
"Boom!"
The golden petals flew in all directions. Half embedded themselves in the rock wall nearby, while the rest crumbled into fragments and vanished into the air. A massive shock wave spread outward, spiderweb cracks appearing across the cliffs on both sides of the valley.
Yue Guan was thrown back more than ten meters, carving two deep furrows into the stony ground beneath his feet. His palms went numb, and the muscles in his arms trembled.
One hammer strike, heavy as a mountain.