The first Soul Ring shattered.
The second Soul Ring followed immediately after.
By the time the ninth Soul Ring exploded, the power within Tang Chen had surged to its peak.
The Clear Sky Hammer blotted out half the sky.
Tang Chen gripped the hammer's handle with both hands.
"Take this hammer strike!"
The massive hammer descended from the heavens.
The entire mountain could not withstand this force. The ground sank layer by layer, and the rocks cracked apart in succession.
Qian Daochen remained seated beneath the ancient tree.
Not a speck of dust touched his white robes.
The wine jug and teacup on the stone table had not shifted in the slightest.
He did not pick up the Ancient Sword beside the tree.
Qian Daochen merely raised his right hand and brought two fingers together.
"Your hammer has enough power."
"Unfortunately, your heart is not calm enough."
His two fingers swept forward.
A streak of pure white sword light flew from his fingertips.
The sword light was not grand.
Compared to the sky-covering Clear Sky Hammer, it even seemed minuscule.
Yet when the two collided, the Clear Sky Hammer stopped in midair.
Tang Chen's expression changed drastically.
He could clearly feel the Soul Power within the Clear Sky Hammer losing contact with him.
That sword light had not forcefully smashed through the Great Sumeru Hammer.
It had severed the Soul Power.
It had severed the power of Ring Detonation.
It had also severed the connection between Tang Chen and the Clear Sky Hammer.
Crack!
A straight fracture appeared in the center of the hammerhead.
The next moment.
The Clear Sky Hammer, condensed from Tang Chen's lifelong cultivation, split in two.
The immense power generated by the detonation of all nine Soul Rings was also cut apart by that single sword strike.
There was no explosion of Soul Power.
The two halves of the massive hammer paused briefly before turning into countless dark-red motes of light.
Tang Chen's pupils contracted.
He had dominated the continent for many years.
No matter which Titled Douluo he faced, the Clear Sky Hammer could crush their Martial Souls head-on.
Yet today, Qian Daochen had not even drawn his sword.
With only two fingers, he had split Tang Chen's Clear Sky Hammer apart.
The sword light did not stop.
It passed through the shattered hammer shadow and fell directly toward Tang Chen.
Tang Chen immediately raised both arms before him.
All his remaining Soul Power gathered at once.
"Haotian Body Protection!"
A dark-red barrier blocked the path ahead.
The sword light swept across it lightly.
The barrier split into two.
A sword mark appeared across the black robe on Tang Chen's chest.
That sword intent entered his meridians and forced all the violent Soul Power brought about by Ring Detonation back down.
Tang Chen could no longer maintain his position.
His body fell from the sky.
After his feet touched the ground, Tang Chen staggered back several hundred steps.
With every step back, a deep crater was left atop the mountain.
He stopped only when his back crashed into the mountain wall.
Boom!
A mass of rocks tumbled down.
Tang Chen stood amid the shattered mountain wall, his arms hanging at his sides.
The re-formed Clear Sky Hammer had returned to its original size.
An unhealable sword mark remained on its body.
Beneath the ancient tree.
Qian Daochen withdrew his right hand and lifted his wine cup again.
"One sword, to teach you humility and composure."
From beginning to end.
Qian Daochen had never risen to his feet.
The Ancient Sword beside the tree had never left its sheath.
Not a single drop of wine had spilled from the stone table.
Qian Daoliu lowered his gaze to the teacup.
"I knew we wouldn't need to change locations."
Beneath the Heavenly Screen.
The two continents fell silent.
No one had expected this exchange to end so quickly.
Tang Chen detonated all nine rings and unleashed the Great Sumeru Hammer.
Yet Qian Daochen ended the battle with just two fingers.
A moment later, countless comments flooded the sky.
[Rogue Soul Emperor: Tang Chen was defeated by one sword strike?]
[Elephant Armor Sect Master Huyan Zhen: That was no ordinary sword strike. Qian Daochen did not even use a real sword!]
[Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect Master Yu Yuanzhen: He split the Clear Sky Hammer with two fingers. Just what realm has his swordsmanship reached?]
[Sea Horse Douluo: Tang Chen is a Level 99 Peerless Douluo!]
[Star Luo Empire Duke of Netherworld: They are not on the same level at all.]
[Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan: Just who is Qian Daochen? Why has Spirit Hall never announced his existence?]
[Sword Douluo Chen Xin: When the sword is in one's heart, all things can become swords.]
[Bone Douluo Gu Rong: Old swordsman, do you know something?]
[Sword Douluo Chen Xin: I only know that Senior's sword cannot be measured by a Soul Master's rank.]
More and more people began questioning Qian Daochen's identity.
Strangely, everyone who truly knew him remained silent.
Qian Daoliu offered no explanation.
Golden Crocodile Douluo did not send any comments.
Ning Fengzhi, Chen Xin, and Gu Rong also did not reveal what had happened at the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect today.
Clear Sky Sect.
The sect's grand hall.
Tang Xiao stood before the sect master's seat for a long time without sitting down.
Several elders present were likewise watching the Heavenly Screen.
The Seventh Elder braced himself against the table.
"Lord Tang Chen..."
"Was defeated instantly?"
The Second Elder's expression stiffened.
"Qian Daochen did not draw his sword."
"He merely raised two fingers."
The grand hall fell silent once more.
Not long ago, they had still proclaimed that the Great Sumeru Hammer was invincible beneath the heavens.
But the result on the Heavenly Screen now lay before everyone.
The Great Sumeru Hammer, empowered by the detonation of all nine rings, had not even touched the corner of Qian Daochen's robes.
The Seventh Elder looked up at the white-robed figure beneath the ancient tree.
"Who exactly is he?"
"Why has Qian Daoliu never mentioned having such an elder brother?"
Tang Xiao's throat bobbed.
He recalled an old tale his father had once mentioned.
Tang Chen had once returned to the Clear Sky Sect alone.
That day, Tang Chen summoned none of the elders.
He merely sat before the mountain gate for three days.
After three days, Tang Chen shut himself inside a secret chamber and did not emerge for an entire year.
When he finally left the chamber, he said only one sentence.
"The strongest person on the Douluo Continent has never been me."
The elders of the Clear Sky Sect throughout the generations had always believed Tang Chen was speaking of Bo Saixi on Sea God Island.
Now, it seemed they had all been wrong.
Tang Xiao stared at the Ancient Sword beside Qian Daochen.
"Could it be him?"
Several elders immediately turned toward Tang Xiao.
"Sect Master, do you know this man?"
Tang Xiao shook his head.
"I only heard that Grandfather once lost to a swordsman."
"The other party did not release a Martial Soul, nor did he reveal any Soul Rings."
"After that battle, Grandfather sat at the foot of the mountain for three days."
The Second Elder looked at Tang Chen on the Heavenly Screen.
"So that rumor was true."
Tang Xiao did not answer.
The scene before them had already given them the answer.
The scene in the sky continued.
Tang Chen emerged from the shattered mountain wall.
His black robe was covered in dust, and the sword mark across his chest stood out sharply.
When he reached the stone table, Tang Chen recalled the Clear Sky Hammer.
The arrogance he had displayed earlier, the kind that sought to subdue every sect beneath heaven, had vanished.
He bowed to Qian Daochen.
"I lost."
Qian Daochen poured him a cup of tea.
"Sit."
Tang Chen sat beside Qian Daoliu.
He looked at the tea in his cup for a long while without drinking it.
"Where did my hammer fall short?"
Qian Daochen looked toward the longsword beside the ancient tree.
"Your hammer technique is not bad."
"Your strength is not weak either."
Tang Chen frowned.
"Then why could I not even withstand a single sword strike?"
Qian Daochen took a sip of wine.
"When you climbed the mountain, you were thinking of Bo Saixi."
"When you swung your hammer, you were thinking of surpassing Qian Daoliu."
"You claimed that you wanted to prove you were the strongest on the continent, yet in your heart, you had not even figured out why you wielded the hammer."
"When the heart was unsettled, the hammer naturally became unsettled as well."
Tang Chen fell silent.
He recalled that strike from moments ago.
Its power had already reached the pinnacle.
Yet at the moment he swung, he had indeed thought of Qian Daoliu.
Tang Chen had wanted Qian Daoliu to witness with his own eyes that he was stronger.
He had also wanted to prove that only he was worthy of standing by Bo Saixi's side.
All those thoughts had gone into the Clear Sky Hammer.
Tang Chen rose to his feet again.
"Please guide me."
"How can I calm my heart?"
Before you continue