An Old Man Toying with a Child

"I haven't lost... I still have the Clear Sky Hammer, and the Eight Spider Lances!"

Tang San's mind was in turmoil as he muttered under his breath, forcibly suppressing the frustration in his heart.

With a fierce shout, the muscles on his back bulged, and eight sharp, pitch-black spider lances burst from his body, carrying a chilling savagery as they stabbed straight at Chen Ling.

Chen Ling raised an eyebrow. Had Tang San really been driven this desperate? The only thing he had yet to use was the Clear Sky Hammer, wasn't it?

Sure enough, black light flashed in Tang San's palm the next second, and a small, ancient-looking black hammer quietly condensed into shape. He still retained the last shred of reason, not fully releasing the Clear Sky Hammer's might. Instead, he kept his second martial soul tightly condensed in his palm, concealing its edge as he prepared to launch a killing blow at the right moment.

If one did not look closely, it would indeed have been difficult to notice that the thing in his hand was a second martial soul.

"That's enough."

Seeing that the outcome was already clear, Chen Ling stopped toying with his opponent. With a raise of his hand, an Azure Nether Sword, silver-white from end to end and patterned with veins resembling naturally entwined branches, appeared out of thin air and hovered quietly above his palm.

With a casual flick of his hand, he received Tang San's all-out attack in the simplest possible manner.

Pivot Severing Defense—borrowing force to disperse force, using strength to control objects.

Tang San, charging forward at full speed, did not realize at all that the immense force carried by his Eight Spider Lances had been dismantled layer by layer and completely redirected the instant they made contact.

That violent power vanished like a clay ox entering the sea, unable to shake Chen Ling in the slightest.

The instant Tang San's strength ran dry, Chen Ling casually sent out a light sword qi.

If the Clear Sky Hammer in Tang San's hand had not been ready to release at any moment, Tang San would have become one and a half Tang Sans.

The sword qi tore through the air. Tang San had no strength left to resist, and his body was instantly sent flying before crashing heavily onto the arena floor. Every bit of strength drained from him, and he completely lost the ability to continue fighting.

Tang San: Sorry I couldn't make Lord Chen Ling use his full strength.

Chen Ling looked at the defeated Tang San lying on the ground without lingering any longer. He turned and left with easy grace, his tall, solitary figure leaving the entire arena in endless shock.

Darkness surged, and the scene suddenly changed.

Tang San opened his eyes blankly. Before him was no longer the bustling Suotuo Spirit Arena, but an ancient platform that was incomparably familiar, carved deep into his soul.

He braced himself against the ground and struggled to his feet. Looking down at the Tang Sect robes on his body, then around at the familiar pavilions, rocks, and precipitous mountains, his heart shook violently.

This was actually Ghostly Sorrow of the Tang Sect from his previous life.

"I... what happened to me? Was all of that a dream?"

Tang San raised a hand to his chest. A distinct dull pain still lingered there, terrifyingly real to the touch and nothing like an illusion from a dream.

The many strange signs left him completely bewildered.

But before Tang San could think further, he sharply caught the sound of screams coming from nearby.

"What is going on?" Tang San could not care about anything else. He picked up a Buddha's Fury Tang Lotus from the ground, clenched it in his palm, and sprinted toward the screams with desperate urgency.

Yet the farther forward he went, the more horrific the scene before him became, dragging his already panicked heart completely into the abyss.

The once grand and elegant Tang Sect was now nothing but ruined walls and shattered remains.

The corpses of fellow sect disciples covered the ground. Blood had soaked into the bluestone floor, and the stench of blood filled the air, a horrifying sight to behold.

"Third Elder?"

Recognizing that familiar aged face, Tang San's entire body stiffened, and he staggered back half a step in disbelief. Scattered sounds of fighting and footsteps kept reaching his ears, jarring his nerves.

He did not dare pause. Gritting his teeth, he accelerated into a run, praying frantically in his heart.

One corpse after another of his fellow disciples flashed past him. The gruesome sight battered his mind without cease. Tang San's heart pounded like a drum, his chest felt suffocated, and he could barely breathe, yet his feet moved faster and faster.

"I have to make it! I have to!"

He rushed into the depths of the Tang Sect's most heavily guarded forbidden ground. What he saw instantly shattered every prayer he had made.

A cold, sharp silver sword had pierced straight through Elder Tang Lan's chest. Blood sprayed forth, staining the old man's clothes red.

"No... impossible! No!"

Despair instantly seized Tang San by the throat. His eyes turned bloodshot, his mind buzzed blankly, and he could only murmur and roar unconsciously.

Watching the horrific sight of his loved one falling, he completely lost control. Raising his hand, he activated the Buddha's Fury Tang Lotus in his palm and hurled it outward with all his strength.

The last thing he caught sight of was a brilliant silver-white sword qi slicing across the sky.

The next second, his vision abruptly sank, and darkness swallowed all consciousness.

Only half a ruined body remained where he had stood.

Suotuo City, a medical clinic bedroom.

"Hu—!"

Tang San, lying on the bed, jolted awake and gasped for breath. Cold sweat instantly soaked the clothes on his back.

He instinctively raised a hand to his waist, where thick bandages were wrapped around him and a distinct pain remained.

Still shaken, he turned to look around and immediately saw Yu Xiaogang standing beside the bed with a worried expression, as well as Xiao Wu, whose face was full of anxiety.

The familiar figures and safe surroundings finally allowed his tightly wound nerves to relax.

"Teacher, Xiao Wu." Tang San let out a long breath, and his heart finally settled somewhat.

That devastating destruction of the Tang Sect had ultimately been nothing more than a nightmare. Yet every scene in the dream had been far too real. The despair of his loved ones dying and his sect being destroyed still lingered in his heart, leaving him terrified and chilled to the bone.

"Little San, how are you feeling? Is anything wrong with your body?" Yu Xiaogang hurried forward, his tone filled with genuine concern.

Although the wound at Tang San's waist was not deep, the sight of him covered in blood had still given Yu Xiaogang quite a fright.

He was also extremely curious about what had happened. Someone had actually managed to injure Tang San so badly?

Earlier, he had wanted to ask Xiao Wu for the details, but Xiao Wu had been filled with rage. Other than knowing that the opponent was called Chen Ling and had a sword martial soul, she spoke incoherently and could not explain the battle at all, doing nothing but curse.

Tang San looked at their worried eyes, gradually calmed himself, and nodded lightly. "I'm fine. The external injuries aren't serious. It's just that the Soul Power inside my body feels strangely sluggish and isn't flowing properly. It's a little uncomfortable."

Chen Ling's sword had been blocked by the Clear Sky Hammer, but that strange and peculiar force still remained in his meridians, disrupting the flow of his Soul Power and refusing to dissipate.

"Tell me the entire course of the battle in detail." Yu Xiaogang's expression turned solemn. He had to understand the opponent's background and find the root cause of Tang San's defeat.

Tang San nodded slowly, then began recounting the entire battle.

As someone who had personally experienced the fight, his account was naturally countless times clearer than that of Xiao Wu, that one-track-minded rabbit.

As Tang San narrated, Yu Xiaogang's brows furrowed tighter and tighter, and his expression grew increasingly grave.

When Tang San finished the last detail, Yu Xiaogang could not help but let out a deep sigh, his eyes filled with helplessness and regret.

Seeing his teacher's disappointed look, Tang San lowered his head.

"You haven't realized the problem with this battle at all." Yu Xiaogang looked at his dejected appearance, his eyes carrying a hint of frustration at Tang San's failure to meet expectations. "Your opponent suppressed you throughout the entire fight and only summoned his martial soul at the very end. This was clearly an old man toying with a child."

He had intended to awaken Tang San, making him face the gap between them, learn from the lesson, and devote himself to cultivation.

But Tang San had already suffered a crushing defeat in the arena, his confidence taking a severe blow. He had also just experienced the nightmare of the Tang Sect's destruction, leaving his mind fragile to the extreme. Yu Xiaogang's words were undoubtedly adding insult to injury.

Under Xiao Wu and Yu Xiaogang's stunned gazes, Tang San suddenly raised his head. His eyes were red, his nose stung, and his voice carried thick tears, grievance, and collapse as he shouted toward the door:

"Get out!"