The Grand Era Begins (Part 1)

"Ah—"

"Tang Hao, what the hell are you going crazy for?!"

On the battlefield, Angel Douluo Qian Xunji stood in the sky and frowned as he watched Tang Hao below suddenly clutch his head and scream for no apparent reason.

He actually dares to lose focus while fighting this Pope...

Is he looking down on me?

Then I'll wake him up first!

With that thought, Qian Xunji showed Tang Hao no mercy. He pointed the Holy Sword in his hand straight down and began chanting a Soul Incantation...

Although Soul Incantations could be silently recited in one's mind, the Soul Master world generally believed:

Shouting them out was cooler—and more exhilarating!

It was a feeling ordinary non-Soul Master mortals could hardly imagine.

Enough digression.

"Sixth Soul Skill, Angel's Roar!"

With a sharp cry, Qian Xunji's angelic Soul Power instantly transformed through his sixth Soul Ring into incomparably powerful Spiritual Power. The invisible spiritual attack surged grandly toward Tang Hao.

This mighty blow was enough to shatter a Soul Douluo's head into pieces. Even a Titled Douluo would suffer grievous injuries if caught off guard!

Clearly, Tang Hao was in no condition to react in time.

"Pfft..."

Under Angel's Roar, blood flowed from Tang Hao's seven orifices. One hand clutched his head tightly while the other gripped the Clear Sky Hammer. His expression was pained, but clarity had returned to his eyes.

Naturally, Qian Xunji's attack had not killed Tang Hao. Though it had severely injured him, it had also brought him back to his senses.

Was that worth it?

At least in Qian Xunji's eyes, it absolutely was.

First of all, so what if Tang Hao had regained consciousness? He could do nothing but rage impotently.

Second, as a Super Douluo, Qian Xunji had his own pride. He believed capturing Tang Hao would be effortless.

He would not need to exert much strength at all.

But events often developed beyond expectations.

Once Tang Hao regained consciousness, he stopped screaming and merely spat out two cold words:

"Ring Explosion!"

Boom! Boom!

In an instant, the two yellow hundred-year Soul Rings rotating at the bottom of his ring set suddenly exploded.

At the same time, Tang Hao's aura faintly swelled by a small measure.

He did not stop there.

"Explode again!"

Boom! Boom! Boom!

This time, two purple thousand-year Soul Rings and one black ten-thousand-year Soul Ring exploded in succession.

Tang Hao's aura rose noticeably.

In the sky, Qian Xunji frowned slightly at the sight.

Tang Hao's current level was still not enough to make him take the matter seriously. Otherwise, if Peerless Douluo Tang Chen had used this move back then, he would not merely have been able to hammer angels—he might have been able to hammer even true gods.

Ring Explosion was not actually that overpowered. At the Soul Douluo realm, it might allow someone to contend with an ordinary Titled Douluo. But at the Titled Douluo level, where each rank was a world apart, trying to use this move to leap across several ranks and hammer someone...

It could only be said that it would require a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring—and that ring would have to be exploded.

Unfortunately, Tang Hao happened to have one right now.

Qian Xunji himself did not possess a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring, so he had no idea just how great a boost Tang Hao would gain by exploding one.

To play it safe and nip any danger in the bud, Qian Xunji waved his hand.

Ju and Ghost Douluo immediately understood. They instantly appeared above Tang Hao and unleashed their Martial Soul Fusion Skill—

"Polarity Stillness Domain!"

Eighteen Soul Rings overlapped one another. From that moment on, this stretch of space was filled with endless white, and Tang Hao's movements came to a complete halt.

Qian Xunji's gaze sharpened. The Holy Sword in his hand vanished, replaced by the more powerful Angel Holy Sword as he began gathering Soul Power.

He was going to unleash a fatal strike!

"Your future is boundless, but..."

"Blame yourself for being born into the Clear Sky Sect and falling for someone you should not have loved. From this moment onward, you officially become a grave threat to Spirit Hall."

"It's time to end this!"

In an instant, the Angel Holy Sword swept toward Tang Hao with incomparably terrifying might.

Boom!!!

Dust and smoke filled the battlefield.

At that moment, no one noticed a violet-black light and a blood-red light silently descend from the void into the dust.

Just as Qian Xunji thought everything was over, his brow suddenly twitched. He looked down and sensed an aura within the smoke that made even his heart tremble.

"Explode... for me!"

A domineering roar filled with unstoppable momentum rang out. At that moment, Tang Hao seemed to have his own background music playing as every Soul Ring on his body, including the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring, shattered in an instant. The Polarity Stillness Domain shattered along with them.

Ju and Ghost Douluo suffered the backlash of their broken Martial Soul Fusion Skill. Both could not help spraying mouthfuls of blood, and from then on, the name "Tang Hao" cast a shadow over their hearts.

He raised his head...

Chaos and battle never ceased!

He looked back...

Ahem.

Watching this scene from somewhere beyond the battlefield, where he was hiding with Bibi Dong and Die, Wang Zhao could not help humming that tune in his heart.

This... is seriously ridiculous!

Look at Tang Hao's domineering appearance right now. Was that really a physical state he could maintain after taking Qian Xunji's full-force attack?

Was Qian Xunji secretly named Greninja, and had he just used a Golden Healing Shuriken?

What a goddamn screwed-up world!

It was not as though Wang Zhao desperately wanted Qian Xunji to win this battle. He was simply worried that if he did not figure out where Tang Hao's inexplicable power came from, he might one day die miserably beneath the Clear Sky Hammer as well.

At this moment, the aura Tang Hao radiated had unquestionably reached the level of a true Super Douluo.

Yet even as he fought Qian Xunji, he still failed to gain the upper hand.

After all, the difference in the quality of their Martial Souls had always been there.

Not to mention that Tang Hao had to deal with Ju and Ghost Douluo's harassment from time to time, all while protecting the little brat in his arms.

He was nowhere near as endlessly glorious as the original story described, leaving after the deed was done with a flick of his sleeves.

"Great Sumeru Hammer!"

"Angel's Glory!"

"Withered chrysanthemums, wounds all over the ground; petals fall, and hearts break!"

"Hellish Specter!"

This battle ultimately lasted a long time.

Wang Zhao had already lost count of how many times he had screamed holy shit in his heart.

For now, never mind just how absurdly powerful Ring Explosion and the Great Sumeru Hammer were.

At least they were short-term burst techniques, right?

Then what the hell was Tang Hao, who looked like a god and demon on the battlefield and was still brimming with vitality?

How long had this battle been going on? Did Tang Hao not have any idea himself?

Was this the kind of endurance he could possibly possess?

He had already exploded his Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring, and he was not even absorbing the Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone. How the hell was he doing this?

You're the real goddamn cheat!

"Waa—"

At that moment, an earth-shaking infant's cry suddenly rang out across the battlefield.

Tang Hao finally seemed to realize that he should not continue fighting. He tightened his hold around the crying little brat in his arms and exerted a little force. The little brat immediately shut his eyes and went limp again.

After swinging one final hammer at Qian Xunji...

Tang Hao regretted it.

In that instant, it was as if all his intelligence had suddenly emerged from his brain.

He abruptly realized what he had swung was—

Hammer of Death!