A Visitor from the Consecration Hall

Tang Hao was afraid. Completely afraid.

He had feared neither heaven nor earth his entire life, but before Ning Yao this time, he had utterly cowered.

At this moment, the way he looked at Ning Yao was no longer as if he were looking at a person, but at a monster.

Tang Hao even had a premonition that if he did not flee now, he would soon die!

The instant the thought arose, Tang Hao did not dare ask any more questions. He turned and fled into the sky at top speed.

Only when he saw that Ning Yao was not pursuing him did he finally let out a breath of relief.

As for Ning Yao, aside from his eyes dimming once more, he made no other movements throughout.

"Tsk, he ran already?"

He sighed in disappointment. He had originally wanted to try some more interesting things on this Clear Sky Douluo.

For example, just now, he had successfully confirmed one of his suspicions.

In this world, martial souls could also be regarded as a type of object. They could likewise be affected by the power of Abundance, even animated.

Until they completely broke free of their host's control.

Just like Tang Hao's Clear Sky Hammer earlier. Unless Tang Hao was ruthless enough to completely shatter his own martial soul and severely injure himself, from now on he would be a Clear Sky Douluo with neither hammer nor martial soul to use.

As for his hand, Ning Yao truly had not done that intentionally.

It was merely because he had come into contact with the hammer too often and become contaminated by a trace of Abundance's power.

Given Tang Hao's current condition, if he did not promptly resolve to deal with his own hammer and cut off the invasion of Abundance's power, Ning Yao estimated that he was not far from death.

Or rather, not far from becoming a Mara-Struck monster—a walking corpse.

But none of that had anything to do with him. It was Tang Hao's own affair.

Whether he lived or died depended entirely on a single thought of his own.

No longer thinking about Tang Hao, Ning Yao turned around and retraced his steps. Before long, he returned to the Soto Great Spirit Arena.

However, it seemed that the match had already ended.

After asking a few passersby, he learned that the Seven Monsters had won.

But since they had ultimately relied on hidden weapons to secure victory, both sides were in terribly miserable condition.

Of the fourteen competitors, ten had been seriously injured, while the other four were wounded as well. The two most severely injured were Dugu Yan and Ning Rongrong.

One had been injured by hidden weapons, while the other had suffered because the Imperial Battle Team had begun fighting desperately after being provoked by the hidden weapons. As a support soul master, she had naturally borne the brunt of it.

Ning Yao also heard that immediately after the match ended, Ning Rongrong had been taken away by the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Soul Sage guard who had been hiding in the shadows.

Shrek Academy was down another person.

After learning everything, Ning Yao did not linger any longer. He turned and left the Great Spirit Arena with the crowd.

By the time he left the Great Spirit Arena, it was already very late, so he simply returned directly to the small house he had rented.

However, the moment he arrived at his door, he saw someone seemingly standing outside his home.

"You are?"

As he drew closer, Ning Yao recognized the visitor.

Wasn't this the Spirit Hall steward he had sought out two days ago?

"Is there news?"

He asked with a smile.

When the steward saw Ning Yao, he visibly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Greetings, Senior."

He respectfully bowed to Ning Yao, unable to help feeling a lingering fear in his heart.

Good thing I agreed that day. Otherwise, I probably would not even have known how I died.

He had thought Ning Yao was merely a mentally unstable commoner and had only agreed out of kindness. Who would have expected Ning Yao to truly be an expert?

That was a Titled Douluo!

He had never seen a Titled Douluo in his entire life.

As for this young man before him, whom even a Titled Douluo called Senior, the steward did not dare imagine what identity Ning Yao possessed.

"Reporting to Senior, the Titled Douluo of our Spirit Hall has arrived. He invites you to Spirit Hall for a discussion."

The steward spoke with a respectful bow.

Ning Yao nodded lightly at that.

"Lead the way. Thank you for your trouble."

"Yes, Senior. It is my honor."

Soon, following the steward, the two arrived at the Soto City branch of Spirit Hall.

The enormous hall had already been cleared out. Even the steward stopped at the entrance after escorting Ning Yao there.

"Senior, please."

"His Excellency the Douluo is waiting for you inside."

Ning Yao nodded slightly and strode into the hall.

There was only one person inside. He had thought Qian Renxue would be the one who came.

Upon entering the branch's main hall, he found its decor somewhat similar to a church. Ahead of him sat a lean youth who looked only fifteen or sixteen, leisurely crossing one leg over the other.

"Hm?"

Seemingly noticing Ning Yao's arrival, the silver-haired youth turned curiously toward where Ning Yao stood.

But the instant he saw Ning Yao, the youth froze.

An ordinary person?

No, that was not right.

He hurriedly shook his head. How could he be an ordinary person? Qian Renxue and Snake Spear had personally confirmed that he was a healing-type Titled Douluo.

Moreover, the intoxicating aura around Ning Yao was absolutely not something an ordinary person could possess.

"Spirit Hall, Fifth Consecrator of the Consecration Hall, Guangling Douluo. Greetings, Your Excellency."

Guangling Douluo quickly composed himself. After recovering his wits, he hurriedly cupped his hands and spoke with a smile.

Ning Yao nodded lightly and returned the gesture.

"Ning Yao. No affiliation, no title."

As his words fell, Guangling Douluo's eyes visibly lit up.

No affiliation, no title!

And he was a healing-type Titled Douluo. Such a treasure had actually fallen into Spirit Hall's lap!

Although he was usually somewhat frivolous, Guangling Douluo was still serious when it came to important matters.

This time, he had come under Qian Daoliu's orders to test Ning Yao's true strength and attempt to build a relationship with him.

Now, it seemed they had truly struck gold.

"Your Excellency, have you only just entered the world, and are you alone?"

Ning Yao nodded.

Guangling Douluo immediately understood much more.

So that was it. After all, a Titled Douluo who was unmoved even by a hundred-thousand-year soul ring and soul bone, and who only accepted gold soul coins in exchange for helping others, could only be an unattached old monster who had just entered the world.

Guangling Douluo had already begun categorizing Ning Yao in his mind.

"Your Excellency, please accept this humble gift."

Raising his hand, Guangling Douluo took a storage ring from his robes and tossed it to Ning Yao.

Ning Yao caught it casually and glanced inside.

"This is?"

It was packed densely with gold soul coins, roughly a hundred thousand of them.

This was no small sum. Out in the world, it was already equivalent to the entire assets of some small and medium-sized merchant associations.

"Please do not overthink it, Your Excellency. Consider these gold soul coins a token of friendship. I represent only the Consecration Hall."

"As for your agreement with Xue'er, in a few days, she will personally come to find you with Snake Spear."

Guangling Douluo spoke with a smile.

Everyone knew that this was certainly not enough to recruit a healing-type Titled Douluo, and that it would not be a simple matter either.

Therefore, the main purpose of his trip was to first form a good connection after confirming Ning Yao's strength. They could discuss the rest at a later time.

After all, this was a healing-type Titled Douluo. They could not be careless.

According to all of Spirit Hall's records, across the entire continent today, Ning Yao was likely the only healing-type Titled Douluo.

This amount of money was nothing at all.