Uncle Hao, Are You Touching the Wrong Place?

"Since we're already here."

"Give it a touch."

After Tang Hao spoke, he pressed his right hand onto the Black Ancient Book.

The courtyard instantly fell silent.

Zhao Tiezhu stopped talking.

The crowd outside the gate stopped shoving.

Even Luo Sanpao, who had just climbed up from beside the wall, forgot about gnawing on his carrot and flapped his wings as he hurried over.

This was Tang Hao.

A level ninety-five Title Douluo.

Zhao Tiezhu's breakthrough from level nine to level ten could still be explained as him already being at a bottleneck and happening to get lucky.

But if Tang Hao could level up too, it would not be luck.

That would be a miracle.

By then, forget Holy Soul Village—even the priests of Spirit City would have to come line up.

Tang Hao closed his eyes and carefully sensed the Soul Power within him.

One breath.

Two breaths.

Half a minute passed.

Nothing happened.

"How was it?"

Xu Yan could not help asking.

Tang Hao opened his eyes and slowly exhaled.

"No feeling."

A burst of discussion immediately erupted outside.

"How could there be no feeling?"

"Did he touch it for too short a time?"

"How long did Zhao Tiezhu touch it earlier?"

"Didn't notice. I was too busy looking at his butt."

Zhao Tiezhu was still sitting in the basin of chicken soup. He had been so excited by his breakthrough that he stumbled and fell in.

Hearing that, his face darkened, and he hurriedly climbed out of the basin.

"What are you all looking at me for?"

"What did the breakthrough feel like?"

"My whole body got hot, and then my Soul Power went up."

Niu Dali lay across the top of the wall and began analyzing seriously.

"I get it."

"What do you get now?"

Xu Zhou's head hurt whenever he heard those four words.

Tang San had just said "I get it" and decided that Xu Zhou had a system.

If Niu Dali got something too, who knew what would spread through Holy Soul Village by tomorrow.

"Uncle Zhao really wanted to break through at the time, so that's why he succeeded."

Niu Dali looked at Tang Hao.

"Uncle Hao, were you not sincere enough just now?"

Tang Hao raised his head.

"Say that again?"

"I didn't say anything."

Niu Dali immediately ducked down from the wall.

He might be a transmigrator, but he had not lived enough yet.

Provoking Xu Yan would at most earn him an arrow.

Provoking Tang Hao would probably leave him born with hammer marks in his next life.

"How about trying again?"

Xu Yan suggested.

"Use the other hand."

Xu Zhou glanced at him.

"Dad, it's not like whichever hand touches it more gets to level up."

"It's free anyway. Might as well try."

Tang Hao felt that made sense.

So he switched to his left hand and pressed it onto the book again.

There was still no reaction.

Refusing to believe it, Tang Hao pressed both hands against the Black Ancient Book.

After waiting a while, his Soul Power was still at level ninety-five.

The crowd outside the courtyard gradually quieted down.

Several people who had been shouting about lining up earlier also quietly took a few steps back.

"I told you it was fake."

"Zhao Tiezhu was already about to break through."

"Good thing we didn't pay."

Old Jack's expression immediately darkened when he heard that.

"Who said you didn't have to pay?"

"You damaged the Wang Family's courtyard gate by shoving around earlier. One copper soul coin each. None of you are getting away!"

"Isn't the gate still perfectly fine?"

"It's fine now. Hit it a few more times and it'll break."

"Then we'll pay when it breaks."

"The price goes up after it breaks!"

The argument outside quickly grew heated.

But Xu Zhou had no mind to listen to them argue.

The Black Ancient Book had opened on its own.

[The number of believers is decreasing.]

[Current number of believers: 92.]

[87.]

[79.]

Watching the numbers continuously drop, Xu Zhou felt a surge of delight.

It worked!

As long as everyone saw for themselves that he had no ability to help people level up, this Public Script could be completed.

He would also smoothly obtain the Script Projection uses.

It seemed Tang Hao's visit had not caused trouble. Instead, he had done Xu Zhou a huge favor.

"Uncle Hao, your words really carry weight."

Xu Zhou looked deeply grateful.

But Tang Hao did not remove his hands.

He stared at the Black Ancient Book, his brows knitting tighter and tighter.

"Just because it didn't work now doesn't mean it won't work at all."

The smile vanished from Xu Zhou's face.

"What do you mean?"

"Zhao Tiezhu didn't break through immediately after touching it either."

Tang Hao thought back.

"A few breaths passed in between."

"So?"

"I'll wait a little longer."

Xu Zhou opened his mouth.

You're a Title Douluo. Can you not be this serious?

Zhao Tiezhu had been stuck at level nine for five years. He was only one step away from a breakthrough.

You're stuck at level ninety-five. Is that something a few breaths can solve?

If a few breaths were really enough, Qian Daoliu would have ascended to the God Realm long ago from touching the Six-Winged Angel statue every day.

Tang Hao waited a little longer.

There was still no change within him.

Only then did he withdraw his hands.

"Looks like it doesn't work."

The number of believers on the Black Ancient Book began to fall again.

Seventy-three.

Sixty-nine.

Sixty-one.

Xu Zhou quietly let out a breath of relief.

At that moment, Yu Xiaogang, who had been squatting nearby the whole time, suddenly spoke.

"Perhaps it's not that it doesn't work. Perhaps certain conditions need to be met."

Xu Zhou abruptly turned his head.

"Grandmaster, don't say anything yet."

Yu Xiaogang froze for a moment.

"Why?"

"If your throat is bad, get more rest."

"My throat is fine."

"It isn't now."

Xu Zhou wished he could find a cloth and stuff it into his mouth.

He had finally managed to suppress the misconception, and Xiaogang was adding fuel to the fire again.

"When Zhao Tiezhu broke through, Xu Zhou's Martial Soul had just come into contact with my Golden Gate."

Ignoring his attempts to stop him, Yu Xiaogang continued his analysis.

"Perhaps the spatial power left some energy within the book, and that was what helped Zhao Tiezhu break through."

"Once that energy is exhausted, the ability will naturally disappear."

The crowd outside fell silent for a moment.

Then, it became lively again.

"That makes sense!"

"Grandmaster Yu really is a professional!"

"Then have Luo Sanpao open the gate one more time!"

"Open the gate first, then let Xu Zhou touch me!"

The number of believers, which had just fallen to sixty-one, shot back up to one hundred and three in the blink of an eye.

Xu Zhou's vision went dark.

A grandmaster was indeed a grandmaster.

Three sentences were enough to waste all his previous efforts.

"Golden Gate!"

The third Soul Ring beneath Yu Xiaogang's feet lit up.

Luo Sanpao opened his mouth, gathered all his strength, and spat a ball of golden light toward the center of the courtyard.

The small golden gate appeared again.

Yu Xiaogang was just about to have Xu Zhou approach it when Tang Hao beat him to it and pressed a palm against the gate.

The gate did not open.

He pushed it again.

It still did not open.

"How does this gate work?"

"For now, it can only transfer objects."

"Where is the exit?"

"Beside Xu Zhou."

Tang Hao glanced at Xu Zhou, then took a Clear Sky Hammer from his Soul Tool.

More precisely, it was a shrunken Clear Sky Hammer.

Xu Zhou's expression changed drastically.

"Uncle Hao, what are you trying to do?"

"Try it."

"Use something else!"

"Relax, I controlled the weight."

Tang Hao casually tossed the Clear Sky Hammer into the small golden door.

The hammer vanished the instant it touched the door.

Xu Zhou hurriedly covered his head and dove to the side.

Bang!

The shrunken Clear Sky Hammer fell where he had been standing moments ago, smashing a small crater into the ground.

The courtyard fell silent once more.

Xu Zhou lay sprawled on the ground, not getting up for quite some time.

This was what he called controlling the weight?

If he had been half a step slower just now, he might not have needed to finish the mission.

The village could have gone straight to holding a funeral feast for him.

Tang Hao walked over and picked up the hammer.

"Looks like the exit really follows you."

"Uncle Hao."

Xu Zhou climbed to his feet and brushed the dirt off his clothes.

"Next time you test it, could you use a radish first?"

Luo Sanpao immediately hugged its food tightly.

"Luo luo!"

"Not yours."

"Luo."

Only then did it relax.

Tang Hao returned to the Black Ancient Book.

"The door has already been opened once."

"Now we can try again."

Xu Zhou wanted to refuse.

But hundreds of eyes outside the courtyard were staring this way.

If he refused to let Tang Hao try, those people would instead think he was hiding his ability.

"One last time."

"Alright."

Tang Hao placed his hand on it.

One breath passed.

There was no reaction.

Two breaths passed.

Still no reaction.

Just as Xu Zhou was about to tell him to remove his hand, a soft sound suddenly came from Tang Hao's body.

It was as though something had broken open.

Immediately afterward, rank ninety-five Soul Power burst outward!

The courtyard walls shook.

The people outside were forced back again and again by the shockwave.

Yu Xiaogang's eyes widened.

Tang San also stood frozen in place.

Tang Hao closed his eyes and sensed himself for a moment. When he opened them again, his expression had become extremely strange.

"Although my rank hasn't changed."

"My old injuries seem to have healed."

The crowd outside instantly erupted.

"It can heal injuries too?"

"Leveling up comes first, healing comes after!"

"My back has hurt for twenty years. Let me go first!"

"That's kidney deficiency!"

"Does kidney deficiency not count as an injury?"

Xu Zhou lowered his head and looked at the Black Ancient Book.

Slowly, a new line of words appeared on its pages.

[Tang Hao has formed an incorrect understanding.]

[Tang Hao's old injuries recovering have nothing to do with the host.]

[True reason: Ah Yin regained consciousness three days ago. The Blue Silver Emperor's life aura is nourishing her partner in return.]

Xu Zhou stared at those lines and suddenly felt that something was wrong.

Ah Yin had awakened?

Wasn't this plot more than a decade early?