The Zhu Xian Sword Is Drawn

Yue Guan gritted his teeth, holding Tang Hao back for a dozen breaths to buy the three young people some distance to escape.

Yue Guan was struck to the ground.

Seeing this, Tang Hao retracted his Avatar of Martial Soul, his figure suddenly crouching low before he shot forward like a cannonball leaving its chamber.

"Tang Hao!" Yue Guan roared, but he was powerless to stop him!

Yue Guan's Chrysanthemum Petals flew out in pursuit of Tang Hao's back, but Tang Hao swatted most of them away with his hammer. The remaining few grazed his shoulders, leaving only a few gashes on his grey robe.

Tang Hao continued forward, his target locked on the three young people fleeing ahead.

Xie Yue was the first to notice the anomaly behind him; a scalp-tingling pressure bore down on him, as if a mountain were collapsing upon them.

Tang Hao was here, less than a hundred meters away and closing the distance rapidly.

"Run!" Xie Yue shoved Yan forward, turned around, gripped his Moon Blade, and held it horizontally before him.

He knew he couldn't stop him.

A level 54 Soul King could not even withstand a single strike from a level 95 Title Douluo.

But he had to block.

Yan had not fully recovered. Hu Liena's martial soul was spirit-based, and her close-quarters defense was practically zero. If he didn't block, Tang Hao would wipe all three of them out with one swing.

"Brother!" Hu Liena cried out at some point.

Xie Yue's Moon Blade lit up with a silver glow as he pushed his fourth soul skill to its limit. His attack speed and strength were maxed out.

But it was useless; Tang Hao simply swung his hammer, carrying the most primitive, brutal physical force.

"Bang!"

Xie Yue was sent flying, tumbling through the air several times before crashing heavily into a large tree. The tree snapped in the middle, its upper half collapsing with a roar and kicking up a massive cloud of dust upon impact.

Blood gushed from Xie Yue's mouth as he remained embedded in the broken trunk. One arm hung limp, the skin on the back of his hand torn open. His eyes were still open, but his body could no longer move.

"Brother!" Hu Liena's eyes turned red.

She stopped in her tracks, wanting to run back.

But Tang Hao's next target had already shifted to her.

Hu Liena could feel the killing intent behind her. It was the killing intent of an absolute powerhouse—unreserved and crushing everything in its path. Her body began to tremble instinctively.

She couldn't run.

Tang Hao was already less than thirty meters behind her. The Clear Sky Hammer was raised high, whistling through the air.

Hu Liena glanced back.

She saw the massive black hammer that blotted out the sky, and Tang Hao's bloodshot, crazed eyes.

"No!" Yue Guan's voice came from afar, laced with a throat-tearing desperation.

It was too late; at a distance of a hundred meters, he could not arrive before Tang Hao struck.

The Clear Sky Hammer descended.

Hu Liena's mind went blank. She didn't even have time to release her martial soul for a final stand; her body's reaction speed was nowhere near that of a level 95 Title Douluo.

Death!

Just as this thought surfaced in her mind, someone suddenly appeared in front of her.

A young man in a black robe, appearing from nowhere.

The young man held a long sword in his right hand. The blade was narrow and so thin that one could see the light through it. A black gem was embedded in the crossguard.

Zhu Xian Sword.

The sword was raised high above his head, meeting Tang Hao's Clear Sky Hammer head-on.

"Bang!!"

It felt as if the heavens and earth had been struck; all sound vanished in that instant. Then came the deafening roar, followed by a shockwave that sent dust and debris scattering in all directions.

Qin Chuan's feet sank into the ground, his calves buckling, nearly forcing him to his knees. His arms trembled, the skin between his thumb and forefinger split, and blood dripped down the hilt. A metallic, sweet taste surged into his throat, which he swallowed back with effort.

He had blocked it! His brain was buzzing, his scalp tingling, and his ears rang with a deafening whine.

Qin Chuan had used his full strength. All 56 levels of his soul power were poured into the Zhu Xian Sword, and the 25,000-year-old black soul ring flared brilliantly on the blade for a moment. Combined with the inherent quality and sharpness of the Zhu Xian Sword, he had barely managed to withstand Tang Hao's strike.

Originally, Qin Chuan had considered using [Shinra Tensei] to deflect it, but the disparity in strength was too great; if he had used that move, he would have been the one sent flying.

Tang Hao had not used his full strength.

Qin Chuan saw it clearly: the target of this strike was Hu Liena, a Soul King in her fifties. In Tang Hao's judgment, this strike didn't require much soul power.

Qin Chuan had received a blow from a level 95 Title Douluo using thirty percent of his power, and he had nearly lost his grip on his sword.

Tang Hao was also stunned for a moment.

He hadn't expected someone to suddenly intervene. And this person had actually blocked his strike. Although it was only thirty percent of his power, for a young man who looked only fifteen or sixteen to achieve this was highly unusual.

Tang Hao's gaze fell upon Qin Chuan's face.

Then, he saw Qin Chuan's eyes.

His pupils held six purple rings, nested one within another, rotating slowly. That gaze, so profound it seemed capable of seeing through everything, was something even a powerhouse as experienced as Tang Hao had never encountered before.

Tang Hao's brows furrowed; these eyes were not right.

The aura they exuded was unlike any known spirit or spirit skill. The sensation was subtle, like looking at a door leading to another world.

Hu Liena stood behind Qin Chuan, still in a daze from surviving the ordeal.

What she saw was the back of a young man.

His black long-sleeved robe fluttered in the wake of the shockwaves. His shoulders were not broad, and his build was slender. His waist-length black hair was whipped up by the wind, with faint purple light flickering between the strands.

His right hand gripped a long sword radiating an aura of death, while his left hand hung naturally at his side.

At this moment, Yue Guan also arrived.

He saw the scene of Qin Chuan standing before Hu Liena, and beyond his shock, he felt even more confusion.

Who was this young man? Where did he pop out from? Why would he help us?

The valley fell silent for about three seconds.

Then, Qin Chuan performed an action that caught everyone off guard. He sheathed the Zhu Xian Sword in his right hand, flipped his left palm, and a purple bell appeared.

It was translucent and deep purple, its surface flowing with the same Samsara Patterns seen in his eyes.

[Illusion Bell]!

Five spirit rings emerged from the Illusion Bell in succession.

[White, white, white, white, white]! Five white spirit rings.

The entire scene fell silent.

Yue Guan's mouth opened slightly, then closed again.

He had lived for so many years and seen all kinds of spirit masters, witnessing every strange and bizarre spirit imaginable. But a Spirit King with five white spirit rings was truly a first for him.

Xie Yue leaned against a broken tree trunk, blood still uncleaned from his face, his eyelids twitching at the sight of those five white rings.

Yan stood with his mouth agape, his expression shifting from tension to confusion.

Hu Liena stood behind Qin Chuan, her gaze shifting from his back to the bell in his hand, and then to those five white spirit rings.

As a spirit control master of the mental type, her perception of spirits was sharper than anyone else present.

The mental fluctuations radiating from the Illusion Bell, though faint, were of an incredibly pure quality. That level of purity was completely mismatched with the age of the spirit rings.

Hu Liena's intuition told her that this bell was not as simple as it appeared on the surface.

Tang Hao stared at those five white spirit rings, his brows knitting even tighter.

Five white ones—ten-year-level rings.

"Ridiculous." Tang Hao snorted through his nose.

He assumed this was another helper summoned by Spirit Hall. A Spirit King with nothing but white spirit rings, regardless of his background, was not worth looking at in his eyes.

"Damnable brat, you're courting death!"

Tang Hao's Clear Sky Hammer rose once more, this time aimed directly at Qin Chuan.

Qin Chuan did not dodge.

His fourth spirit ring lit up—that white ring originating from the Lovesickness Heartbreak Butterfly—emitting a soft white light.

"Fourth spirit skill: Memory Kill."

The voice was not loud, mostly drowned out in the valley by the roaring sounds and the wind.