Tang Hao, More Wicked Than an Evil Soul Master; Heaven-Slaying Sword Intent Striking from Beyond the Heavens

Ning Rongrong could not help glancing at Fang Fan several more times, the curiosity and scrutiny in her bright eyes growing stronger.

Having unleashed that sword strike, Fang Fan was now drunken again.

He tilted his head and nuzzled into Zhu Zhuqing's shoulder, parting his lips slightly as he slurred a single word:

"Wine."

Zhu Zhuqing immediately uncorked the flask and held it to his lips.

The liquor slid down his throat.

Fang Fan's Adam's apple bobbed as he let out a satisfied sigh.

His eyes drooped half-closed again.

He returned to his harmless drunken appearance.

Zhu Zhuqing lowered her head to look at him.

For a moment, she could not tell whether the peerless sword immortal who had split heaven and earth with a single strike just now,

and the drunkard currently leaning against her shoulder begging for wine,

were truly the same person.

[ Ding! Zhu Zhuqing fed you a mouthful of wine. Drunkenness Value +10! ]

Fang Fan closed his eyes and took stock of the expenditure.

He had still underestimated the power of the Heaven-Slaying Sword Intent.

He had only planned to use half a percent and test its strength.

But the instant it erupted, he realized something was wrong.

The power unleashed by half a percent of Sword Intent was nearly twice what he had estimated.

Fortunately, he had forcibly held back some of its force at the very end.

He shifted the sword's edge by an inch.

This allowed the Sword Intent to skim past Flender rather than strike him head-on.

Otherwise, more than just one arm would have been severed.

Even so, the expenditure was considerable: nine percent.

The Heaven-Slaying Sword Intent he had painstakingly accumulated now stood at only seventeen percent.

A third of his Soul Power had also been drained, leaving the meridians within his body slightly weakened.

What annoyed him even more was how slowly the Heaven-Slaying Sword Intent accumulated.

Before meeting Zhu Zhuqing, he had only saved up ten percent in half a year.

After meeting her, it had risen by more than ten percent in a single day.

Then it slowed down again. It seemed the Heaven-Slaying Sword Intent accumulated even more slowly than he had imagined.

His Drunkenness Value was not much either, only fifty points, far from the eight hundred and eighty-eight needed for a draw.

Drinking more while the alcohol's effects had yet to be digested would not increase his Drunkenness Value.

He had to wait until the alcohol had been absorbed and converted before he could drink another round.

At the edge of the Star Dou Forest, the night was thick as ink.

The branches and leaves of towering ancient trees intertwined into a deep green canopy, while moonlight filtered through in patches of silvery white.

A pink figure shot into the forest's edge like an arrow released from a bow.

Xiao Wu's scorpion braid stretched straight behind her.

The Soul Power beneath her feet was pushed to its limit.

Every step stamped a deep footprint into the layer of fallen leaves.

Her eyes were swollen red like peaches, the tear tracks on her face not yet dry as fresh tears continued to well up.

The night wind blew them from the corners of her eyes and scattered them behind her.

Her breathing was hurried and ragged.

Her heart pounded as though it would explode.

Not because she was exhausted from running.

But because of the faint yet ever-present terror behind her.

Almost there. If she ran deeper, she would reach the heart of the Star Dou Forest.

There, she knew the terrain, could command low-level Soul Beasts, and find tree hollows and underground caves to hide in.

As long as she entered that place, even a Titled Douluo might not be able to find her easily.

This vast forest was her home.

It was where she had been born.

It was where, before she became Xiao Wu, she had lived for countless years as a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soft Bone Rabbit.

Yet the instant she stepped into the forest's edge,

her footsteps abruptly stopped.

Her pupils constricted violently, and the blood throughout her body seemed to freeze into ice in an instant.

Moonlight passed through gaps in the canopy, illuminating a spot less than twenty paces away from her.

A figure in tattered black robes leaned against the trunk of a towering ancient tree.

His posture was casual and lazy, as though he had been waiting there for a long time.

Moonlight fell across him, outlining his burly, weathered frame.

His messy hair hung over his shoulders, and an unkempt beard covered his face.

A polished wine gourd hung from his waist, and a heavy smell of alcohol surrounded him.

Tang Hao slowly raised his head. Beneath the shadow of his bamboo hat, his murky eyes now shone like two clusters of dark red flames.

He looked at Xiao Wu as though he were looking at a rabbit that had already stepped into a trap.

"You run pretty fast."

His voice was hoarse and low, echoing through the silent night forest.

"But do you think you can escape from the palm of my hand?"

Xiao Wu's legs felt as heavy as lead. She wanted to retreat, but her body would not obey her.

Her lips trembled, and Tang Hao's steadily approaching figure was reflected in her swollen red eyes.

Despair surged in from every direction like an icy tide, drowning her completely.

"Y-you... what exactly do you want?"

Xiao Wu's voice trembled as her hands clenched the corners of her clothes.

Her lively eyes were now filled with fear.

"Stay obediently by Tang San's side. Keep him company and take care of him, and I will ensure you remain safe."

Tang Hao's voice was hoarse and low, leaving no room for negotiation.

A dark red aura spread outward like a tangible tide.

Fallen leaves were swept into the air.

The branches and leaves in the canopy drooped, rustling and groaning.

Xiao Wu instinctively wanted to flee, but her body would not obey her.

The pressure of a Titled Douluo was like invisible shackles.

It locked down her limbs.

She only managed to retreat two steps. She could no longer take a third.

She knew what Tang Hao wanted.

Stay by Tang San's side?

He merely wanted to keep her as a reserve Soul Ring.

When Tang San cultivated to the seventieth or eightieth rank and needed his seventh or eighth Soul Ring,

her hundred-thousand-year cultivation, red Soul Ring, and precious Soul Bone would all become stepping stones for his son's advancement.

She would be killed, just like her mother.

Tang Hao had been watching her from the shadows since the first day she entered Nuoding.

He had treated her like livestock kept in a pen, waiting to fatten her before slaughtering her.

How disgusting.

Anger overwhelmed her fear.

A defiant flame ignited in Xiao Wu's swollen red eyes.

She was not livestock, not a reserve Soul Ring, and not anyone's stepping stone.

She was Xiao Wu.

She was the king of the Star Dou Forest.

She had only been a little short of reaching the depths of the forest.

Then she could have called the Sky Azure Bull Python and Titan Giant Ape to come for her.

But Tang Hao had blocked her path and cut off every hope.

The night wind blew tears from the corners of her eyes.

Who could come save her?

She cried out silently.

If someone could save her,

she was willing to sacrifice herself to him.

Willingly.

That would be her own choice.

Tang Hao saw her eyes and knew she had not yielded.

He slowly raised his hand, and nine Soul Rings rose from the darkness.

Two yellow, two purple, four black, and one red. The terrifying pressure of a Titled Douluo swept through the surroundings.

The Clear Sky Hammer Martial Soul appeared in his hand.

The pitch-black giant hammer glinted with cold light beneath the moon.

Dark red lightning crackled explosively.

"Then I can only place you under house arrest."

His voice was calm and cold.

At this moment, he was more wicked than an Evil Soul Master.

Just then,

a thunderous hum erupted from the distant sky.

A sword cry shook heaven and earth.

An invisible Sword Intent seemed to descend from beyond the heavens.

Or perhaps it had slashed over from the direction of Suotuo City.

It crossed an unknown distance.

It tore through the night sky and shattered the clouds.

Wherever the Sword Intent passed, ancient trees crashed to the ground.

Their severed surfaces were smooth as mirrors.

Tang Hao's Soul Power pressure shattered inch by inch before the Sword Intent.

The dark red killing intent was ground into wisps of mist and scattered.

His expression changed drastically. He swung the Clear Sky Hammer before him, pouring every last bit of Soul Power into it.

Clang!

A heaven-shaking crash rang out as the Sword Intent collided with the hammer's surface, dazzling light illuminating half the night sky.

Tang Hao's arms went numb, his palms split open, and his body was pushed backward.

His legs plowed two deep trenches through the ground as he retreated more than a dozen steps.

Clear Sky Avatar!

His seventh Soul Ring suddenly enveloped him, activating his Martial Soul Avatar.

His body swelled as his muscles bulged.

A dark golden sheen covered his skin.

The Clear Sky Hammer grew as massive as a mountain, every dark golden pattern upon it lighting up.

Yet the Sword Intent was far too tyrannical. Even with the Martial Soul Avatar's enhancement,

his arms still trembled under the pressure, veins bulging on his forehead.

A storm raged in his heart.

This Sword Intent seemed to have crossed dozens of miles from the direction of Suotuo City?

And it still possessed such power.

Its aura was somewhat similar to the Sword Intent surrounding that white-robed youth on Shrek's grassy field this afternoon.

But back then, it had been in a defensive form, nowhere near as tyrannical or sharp as it was now.

Fang Fan?

That damned drunkard?

T-this, this, this, this plot,

this plot was far too cliché.

Your love was like slow poison.

Without realizing it,

bit by bit each day, it destroyed me.