"Outlander, Your Journey Ends Here!"

"What other world? Aren't I just escorting two people out?"

Before Jialing Pass, Tang Hao's voice still echoed through the air, but he had already stepped into the Teleportation Gate.

As soon as he entered,

the voice of the Heavenly Dao from earlier rang in everyone's ears!

[Tang Hao, a Spirit Master of the Heaven Dou Empire, has entered the Teleportation Gate and successfully accepted the mission. The Teleportation Gate is now closing!]

Soon,

the glowing crimson gate dimmed in an instant.

"What?"

The people of the Spirit Hall Empire looked at one another in dismay, and Rakshasa God Bibi Dong's expression immediately darkened.

The personal and national fortune rewards mentioned in the Heavenly Dao's announcement earlier had been extraordinary, and she had been quite tempted by them.

After all!

This was merely a Teleportation Gate, yet it had been able to block Asura God's attack. If she could obtain a reward from the Heavenly Dao, then...

Wouldn't unifying the continent be a piece of cake?

But she had never expected

Tang Hao to move so quickly!

On the Heaven Dou Empire's side, Emperor Xue Beng's face flushed with excitement. He could hardly keep himself from dancing for joy. "Wonderful!"

"Clear Sky Douluo is personally stepping in!"

"This escort mission is sure to be completed perfectly!"

One had to know,

back on the battlefield at Jialing Pass, Tang Hao had driven back Golden Crocodile Douluo, the Second Worship of the Spirit Hall Empire, with a single swing of his hammer!

His power was so awe-inspiring that it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call him the Heaven Dou Empire's strongest Titled Douluo!

But

Chen Fan, who was in the Spirit Hall Empire, watched the scene with a strange look on his face. "This..."

"I've never seen anyone so eager to throw their life away!"

Others might not know, but how could he, a transmigrator, not know how dangerous the mission to escort the twins was?

Forget someone as insignificant as Tang Hao—even the original God of Goodness and God of Evil might not have been able to complete it!

In fact, it might take the Dragon God's resurrection for there to be any chance of completing this mission!

After all, that was...

the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles!

Asmoday, the Space Archon, one of the Four Shades of the Heavenly Principles!

Her mastery over space was unmatched. Even the other three Shades of the Heavenly Principles couldn't detect her presence!

He'd seen people eager to meet their deaths, but never anyone in such a hurry!

Just as Chen Fan's thoughts churned,

the two Teleportation Gates suddenly shimmered. Their radiance converged high in the sky, forming a vast screen of light.

The screen was strange. Though it hung above the battlefield at Jialing Pass, everyone on the continent could see it simply by looking up.

The image on the screen showed a magnificent architectural platform,

floating high in the sky, with a clear azure expanse beneath it, dotted with fluffy white clouds. Bright, abundant light filled the scene, lending it the vastness and holiness of a place far removed from the mortal world, perched atop the clouds.

At a glance, it gave one the same sense of vastness and holiness, as though it were far removed from the mortal world and perched atop the clouds.

"Boom!"

Soon,

a pitch-black fissure tore open,

and Tang Hao's figure dropped heavily from the sky, landing on the boundless platform.

The enormous impact smashed a deep crater into the platform.

He held the Clear Sky Hammer in his hand. Behind him, two yellow, two purple, four black, and one red Spirit Rings revolved as he warily scanned his surroundings, his spiritual power spreading out fully to search the area.

However,

no matter how he looked around, from side to side, he couldn't find a thing.

At that,

Tang Hao froze. "What's going on?"

Still at a loss, he looked around again. "Wasn't I supposed to protect the twins and help them leave this place called Teyvat?"

"Where are they?"

There was nobody here. What was he supposed to escort?

Was he supposed to escort the air?

Was this supposed to be a joke?

As Tang Hao wondered about this, an ethereal voice suddenly rang out behind him. "Who are you?"

Hmm?

Someone was here?

The unexpected voice made Tang Hao freeze. He turned around instinctively and saw two figures dressed in clothes completely unlike anything from the Douluo Continent.

A man and a woman.

The man had tousled, soft, pale golden hair and warm brown eyes that held a grave expression.

His Traveler's clothes, mainly black, gold, and white, gave him the distinctive handsomeness and spirit of a young man.

The girl beside him had similarly soft, pale golden hair, though hers was longer and fell to her shoulders in gentle waves. Her elegant white Traveler's dress gave her an air of grace.

They were Aether and Lumine!

Tang Hao stared at the two of them, momentarily dumbstruck.

That made the twins, who were preparing to flee Teyvat, furrow their brows. After exchanging a glance, Lumine snapped, "Who are you?"

"Are you trying to stop us?"

Her sharp question brought Tang Hao back to his senses.

He took a deep breath, looked at the two before him, and asked solemnly, "Are you the twins?"

The mission given by the Teleportation Gate didn't offer much detail. It only said to help the twins leave Teyvat, so that was all he could ask.

The twins?

At Tang Hao's words, Lumine and Aether froze and looked at each other. Aether asked, "What do you want?"

"I'm here to escort you out of Teyvat."

Escort them?

Out of Teyvat?

Wait!

How did this man know they were leaving Teyvat?

At those words, the twins' eyes widened in shock, and they became instantly wary.

After all, Tang Hao's outfit didn't make him look like a good person.

And now he'd appeared right in their path. He was probably here to stop them... At that thought, Aether's gaze sharpened.

He knew all too well what he'd done in Teyvat over the past five hundred years. Being intercepted was unexpected, but it wasn't unreasonable!

"You..."

Lumine was still confused and had just begun to question him when the azure sky suddenly flickered with a reddish-brown light. A pitch-blackness followed, spreading across the entire sky in an instant!

The sudden turn of events made the twins and Tang Hao all look up instinctively.

Beneath the crimson light, a huge cross-shaped gate suddenly opened.

A woman, her face expressionless yet possessing peerless beauty like a reader's, slowly emerged from the rift in the gate.

Her emotionless, indifferent gaze first settled on Tang Hao, then drifted lightly to Lumine.

Her detached, contemptuous voice rang in everyone's ears!

"Outlander, your journey ends here!"

The unexpected turn of events made all three of them tense!

Back on the Douluo Continent,

everyone watching the images on the screen froze.

"Holy crap! What continent is that? That entrance was so damn cool!"

"My goodness! She just ripped open a gate and stepped through? Even a deity couldn't do that, could they?"

"Wait, this other world has gods too? Isn't that ridiculous?"

The Heaven Dou Empire's reaction was even more intense.

They had never imagined that the mission Tang Hao had finally managed to claim would involve a deity!

Judging by the aura and bearing of the woman who'd torn open the gate, she was every bit as impressive as Angel God Qian Renxue—if not more so!

To put it simply, Qian Renxue was practically a nobody by comparison!

And

Emperor Xue Beng, who had been overjoyed just moments ago, now froze. His face turned visibly pale.

What the hell!

That damn Heavenly Dao hadn't made it clear that the opponent was a deity!

If he'd known, he should've let the Spirit Hall Empire take the mission and send someone to their death!

What good was losing Tang Hao now?

"Your Majesty, there may still be room to turn things around!"

However,

Ge Long, who stood beside Xue Beng, suddenly spoke up.

"Hmm?"

Ge Long's words not only snapped Xue Beng out of his daze, but also drew the attention of several nearby Titled Douluo.

"The fact that she appeared by tearing open a spatial gate doesn't mean she's a deity!"

Marshal Ge Long said solemnly, "I've seen Bone Douluo of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect use a similar method before!"

"She may simply have a profound mastery of space!"

At that, everyone's eyes lit up!

Right!

How had they not thought of that?

Back when Bone Douluo Gu Rong was alive, hadn't he often used this sort of entrance?

The only difference was that the woman in the image made a much grander entrance. That was all!

It didn't mean she was necessarily a Titled Douluo, did it?

Thinking this, the people of the Heaven Dou Empire breathed a sigh of relief.

By contrast,

the people of the Spirit Hall Empire also relaxed a little.

"I didn't expect this other world to have experts of this caliber!"

Rakshasa God Bibi Dong watched the golden-haired woman on the screen with a grave expression. "She must have an extremely profound mastery of space. Even if she isn't a deity, she's certainly close to one!"

Behind her, Qian Renxue, who had received some treatment and recovered a little, gazed at the woman on the screen with longing and yearning in her eyes.

Before,

she hadn't known what kind of person she wanted to become.

But now, seeing her...

she felt...

that woman was her ultimate goal!

She, too, wanted to become someone like that!

But...

her Martial Soul had already fallen from the Six-Winged Angel to the level of the Holy Angel.

Forget becoming a god—becoming a Titled Douluo would already be a climb up a sheer cliff. How could she ever become a god again?

"Who are you?"

Tang Hao gripped the Clear Sky Hammer, stared at the woman suspended in the air, and asked solemnly.

Under the reach of his spiritual power,

he couldn't sense even the slightest trace of aura from the woman before him.

She was like a blank space.

Yet his eyes clearly showed a person standing there.

Strange!

Truly strange!

Tang Hao took a deep breath and spoke solemnly. "My friend!"

"Neither of us has any reason to fight!"

"I only need to escort these two out of here."

"If you have something to discuss, why not let me pass now? Once I've completed my mission, we can talk?"

"How does that sound?"

Tang Hao didn't notice that Lumine and Aether had quietly put some distance between themselves and him, leaving him in front as their shield.

The two Travelers from another world were on edge!

Because...

the four words that golden-haired woman had spoken moments earlier had shaken them to their core!

Outsider!

Wasn't Teyvat supposed to be able to accommodate people from other worlds?

How could this...

Ignoring Lumine, whose expression kept shifting, and Aether, who looked confused,

"Outlander, you who overstep your bounds."

The blond woman's face was expressionless. Her indifferent gaze drifted lightly onto Tang Hao, and her tone was cold and scornful. "You, too, will go no farther!"

Tang Hao's face darkened. She really didn't know when to quit, did she?

"Who are you?"

Aether drew a deep breath and shouted, "Who are you?"

"I am the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles. Here, I shall bring an end to the transgression of mankind's children!"

As her words fell,

the blond woman who called herself the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles lightly raised her hand. A Deep Red Cube formed within it. With a gentle flick, it suddenly grew to the size of a fist.

In an instant,

Tang Hao, Lumine, and Aether all felt alarm bells ringing in their hearts.

Almost by reflex, all three leaped into the air.

And

the moment they moved,

a huge Deep Red Cube abruptly formed beneath each of them.

"Looking for death!"

Tang Hao had always been proud and unyielding. When had he ever endured such humiliation?

He gave a cold snort. "You don't know when to quit!"

"To borrow Xiao San's words, you've already earned yourself a death sentence!"

"Behold my Clear Sky Hammer!"

As his words fell, the Clear Sky Hammer in his hand abruptly swelled, and the Seventh Soul Ring behind him flashed in the same instant.

In practically the blink of an eye,

the Clear Sky Hammer in his hand became like a towering mountain range, crashing toward the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles.

"Whoosh!"

As fast as lightning, the Clear Sky Hammer came crashing down.

"Whoosh!"

The Sustainer of Heavenly Principles remained expressionless. She raised her arm before her, and the moment her palm opened, a Deep Red Cube suddenly appeared, hanging in the air.

"Clang!"

Tang Hao gripped the Clear Sky Hammer and slammed it down onto the cube. The immense difference in size gave him tremendous confidence. In his eyes, this little cube would surely be crushed to pieces!

And yet!

The instant the Clear Sky Hammer struck the Deep Red Cube, he felt his chest shudder violently. Both arms went almost completely numb, and he flew backward like a kite with its strings cut, crashing heavily onto the platform from before.

The Clear Sky Hammer clanged as it hit the ground, its color dull and its imposing aura seeming to wilt.

"What!?"

This sudden turn of events left the many people beyond the light curtain aghast. They stared at one another, eyes wide with disbelief!

How could this be!?

Everyone knew that Tang Hao had previously defeated Golden Crocodile Douluo of the Spirit Hall Empire with nothing but a basic attack!

Before he had even become a Super Douluo, Tang Hao had once stood against seven opponents at once in Spirit City!

How could he fail to last even a single exchange against this so-called Sustainer of Heavenly Principles?

How was this possible!?

"W-what's going on?"

Xue Beng, who had finally begun to feel a little more at ease, stared with eyes wide open at the scene.

She had casually blocked the Clear Sky Hammer Martial Soul Avatar, then sent Tang Hao flying?

"Didn't you say that spatial abilities aren't enough to prove someone is a god?"

"With Clear Sky Douluo's Level 97 Soul Power, even if Qian Daoliu, that executioner of Spirit Hall, came back to life, he couldn't possibly leave him in such a sorry state, could he!?"

Grand Marshal Ge Long kept his mouth shut, his expression awkward.

The other Titled Douluo beside him exchanged glances, not daring to speak.

Any Titled Douluo capable of matching Qian Daoliu had long since returned to dust. Who knew how strong Qian Daoliu really was?

But...

Everyone had indeed seen Tang Hao drive back Golden Crocodile Douluo, who was Level 98, with his Level 97 Soul Power!

By all rights, once he unleashed his Martial Soul Avatar, even a Level 99 Limit Douluo shouldn't be able to catch it barehanded, should he?

This...

"Hiss!"

Unlike the Heaven Dou Empire's side,

the Spirit Hall Empire's side was filled with the sound of people drawing sharp breaths!

Especially Rakshasa God Bibi Dong!

Back in Spirit City, she had personally felt the sheer force of Tang Hao's Clear Sky Hammer, a weapon that broke through all obstacles with brute strength!

It possessed immense power!

Brute force that broke through everything!

So!

She had been astonished when Golden Crocodile Douluo couldn't withstand its force, but she could still understand it!

But this...

Such tremendous power had actually been deflected, sending him flying?

Could this other world called Teyvat really be so terrifying?

Chen Fan, however, wasn't surprised in the slightest. "She wasn't even focusing on Tang Hao. Otherwise, she would've killed him in a second!"

He knew very well

that Asmoday had come specifically for Lumine and Aether.

It was just that he still couldn't tell which of them belonged to the Abyss and which had only woken up after sleeping for five hundred years, so he couldn't say for sure.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"

Sure enough,

after treating Tang Hao like some nobody on the roadside, the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles didn't spare him another glance.

Countless Deep Red Cubes burst out from behind her in an instant, like carved building blocks, and howled toward Lumine and Aether.

However,

Lumine and Aether were quick to react, too.

Wings of light instantly unfurled behind them. Legendary six-star weapons appeared in their hands, and they nimbly dodged the Deep Red Cubes, which resembled Tetris blocks.

The two began weaving back and forth, dodging one Deep Red Cube after another as they rapidly closed in on the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles.

"Cough, cough!"

On the platform, Tang Hao struggled to his feet and gasped for breath, his face flushed and his expression dark as water.

He had never imagined

that one day he, the mighty Clear Sky Douluo, would be kicked away like some nobody on the roadside!

How could he swallow this humiliation?

"Great Sumeru Hammer, Ring Detonation!"

Taking a deep breath, Tang Hao hefted the Clear Sky Hammer. The nine Spirit Rings behind him all exploded, transforming into countless pink rays of light that poured into the now-dim Clear Sky Hammer.

Then,

he leaped into the air and swung the hammer fiercely toward the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles!

"Die!"

Tang Hao's movement this time did indeed draw the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles' attention.

And yet,

faced with this all-in attack from a Level 97 Titled Douluo,

the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles merely raised her palm, still expressionless.

But

a Deep Red Cube spread across her palm, then slowly rose as Tang Hao approached...

"Bang!"