Dead End, Killing the Heart

Facing the pillar of bloody, foul-smelling wind roaring toward him, Tang Hao's eyes were bloodshot to the point of bursting, his lids torn.

Old injuries compounded by the strange, potent poison that had infiltrated his body during the sneak attack had pushed him to the brink of collapse. Had the cultivation method of the Great Sumeru Hammer not drastically enhanced his physical constitution, he would have long since become a lamb waiting for the slaughter.

Yet, Tang Hao was still Tang Hao; even in the face of death, he would not bow his head to be executed!

"You want my life? Then pay for it with your own! Even if I die today, I will drag you, you old poisonous creature, down to hell with me!"

"Great Sumeru Hammer—detonate for me!!"

Accompanied by a shrill, desperate roar like a lone wolf at bay, the final two deep, ink-black spirit rings beneath him, along with the blood-red ninth spirit ring symbolizing one hundred thousand years, shattered in the same instant!

"Crack—BOOM!"

The moment the three high-level spirit rings burst, they transformed into the most violent, purest energy of destruction, surging madly into his broken body.

He had refrained from using his final spirit rings due to his injuries, knowing that even if he won the battle, he would not survive long afterward.

He had not yet seen Tang San grow up, nor had he seen the Clear Sky Sect rise again; he did not want to die.

But at this point, if he didn't fight with his life, he might not even have the chance to try. Thus, Tang Hao finally steeled his resolve and unleashed his strongest strike, a desperate counterattack before death.

As the energy of the spirit rings flooded back, the blood vessels all over Tang Hao's body burst one by one. The Clear Sky Hammer in his hands expanded rapidly, its head swelling in the blink of an eye until it was even more massive than Xie Biyan's True Body of the Spirit.

Tang Hao did not retreat in the slightest. Bathed in blood, he swung the mountain-like hammer with all his might, crashing it down against the blood-colored beam of light that corroded everything in its path!

"Die—!!"

"Rumble—!!!"

A sonic boom ten times more terrifying than the previous one exploded over the desolate mountain. The violent shockwaves turned into tangible ripples, spreading wildly and stripping away layers of earth for hundreds of meters around! Dust and debris mixed with pulverized powder swirled into the high sky, blotting out the sun as if the desolate mountain were facing an apocalyptic disaster.

The aftermath of the explosion, capable of easily obliterating anyone below the level of a Title Douluo, raged for over a dozen breaths before slowly subsiding in the air.

As the dust settled, the two figures at the core of the blast were revealed.

"Cough, cough... No wonder the Young Master warned me repeatedly to be careful; I actually got injured by this fellow..."

In mid-air, Xie Biyan gasped for breath.

He had already exited his True Body of the Spirit state. His tattered robes hung from his frame, and a trickle of blood spilled from the corner of his mouth.

Yet he had not fallen. With the constant supply of spirit power from the spirit core within his body, these injuries were healing at a visible rate.

In contrast, Tang Hao on the ground was in a miserable state.

Every bone in his body had shattered from the backlash. He lay limp in the rubble of the deep crater like a pile of mud, his once-vibrant life force now flickering like a candle in the wind, weak to the extreme.

"You... the Young Master you speak of... who... exactly is he?"

Tang Hao stared with his one remaining eye at Xie Biyan, who was walking toward him through the air step by step, his hoarse, wind-broken throat squeezing out the incredulous question.

He could not accept it. Back then, the former Pope of Spirit Hall, Qian Xunji, had joined forces with the two Douluos, Ju and Gui, and still hadn't fully blocked his strike when he detonated his ninth spirit ring. How could this obscure old poisonous creature survive?!

Xie Biyan looked down at Tang Hao, who lay like a dead dog, a cruel curve slowly forming on his wrinkled, orange-peel face.

He loved seeing the regret and unwillingness in his enemies' expressions.

"Heh heh, you are quite familiar with my Young Master. He is that six-year-old child you, the dignified Haotian Douluo, threatened—Bai Shu!"

Although Bai Shu hadn't told Xie Biyan the details of the previous encounter, he had roughly explained the cause of the matter so that Xie Biyan would understand his stance.

Hearing the name "Bai Shu," Tang Hao's gray, lifeless pupils suddenly contracted to the size of needlepoints. With a final burst of strength, he roared:

"Impossible, how could it be him? He is just a bastard of a lowly country peasant! You are lying to me... cough, cough, cough! You old beast, you must be lying to me!!!"

The more Tang Hao spoke, the more agitated he became, unable to stop another mouthful of black blood from spraying out.

"Insolent! At death's door, you still dare to speak disrespectfully of the Young Master!"

Xie Biyan's face darkened instantly, his killing intent surging. But watching Tang Hao's life force rapidly fading, he began to chuckle sinisterly.

Tang Hao had exhausted his last ounce of strength from his outburst and could no longer retort. His heart was filled with endless resentment and towering hatred, but in the face of absolute, crushing power, everything seemed pale and ridiculous.

He could only pray desperately in his heart: 'I hope that one day, Xiao San can uncover the truth and avenge me.'

Unfortunately, Xie Biyan seemed to see through his thoughts, his laughter growing more playful:

"Heh heh, let me guess. Are you hoping in your heart that the little brat who passed by earlier will avenge you in the future?"

Upon hearing this, Tang Hao's single eye filled with a ghostly, terrifying shock. Rage and fear intertwined, almost spilling from his sockets. But other than twitching helplessly like a fish on a chopping block, he could do nothing.

"Oh? Want to know why I know the relationship between you two? It's actually quite simple: you share a similar bloodline aura."

For Xie Biyan, who had once been the actual controller of his sect, he was not only proficient in various poison-attribute spirit skills but also mastered countless unorthodox secret arts.

Small tricks like distinguishing bloodline auras were something almost every powerhouse in their Chu Yun Empire knew; after all, their national specialty was capturing people to refine poisons, so they naturally had to focus on cutting weeds and digging up roots.

If Tang Hao's eyes had only held anger and despair before, Xie Biyan's next words completely shattered his last psychological defense as a man.

"By the way, I must thank His Excellency for his generosity. My Young Master previously absorbed a high-quality hundred-thousand-year plant-type spirit bone. Interestingly, the aura on that spirit bone was of the same origin as the bloodline aura on your son... tsk tsk, that little brat, he wouldn't be a bastard born between you, the dignified Haotian Douluo, and a spirit beast, would he?"

"Pfft—!!"

Tang Hao threw his head back and sprayed a pillar of blood, his eyes turning completely ash-gray.

Ah Yin! That was his Ah Yin!!

Tang Hao did have feelings for Ah Yin. While it was true that dragging a pregnant Ah Yin around when she couldn't fully conceal her aura might have had ulterior motives, it was undeniable that he had loved her deeply in his youth.

To learn now that the only remains left behind by his dead wife had been absorbed by the "lowly country peasant" he despised most, even becoming the nourishment for his enemy to grow stronger! The extreme regret was like thousands of poisoned blades, literally shredding his heart to pieces.

He hated it! He hated himself for giving Bai Shu a chance to breathe! And he hated himself even more for not sending Ah Yin's spirit bone back to the sect sooner!