Tang Hao Is Dead!

The Fire Thunder Seed struck with the full force of a mid-level Dou Emperor. The destruction it caused was staggering.

The clearest proof was right before Chu Chen's eyes: the hill behind Notting City Junior Soul Master Academy... was gone!

Yes. Gone!

The blast had gone off halfway up the slope, yet it had turned an entire hill into something resembling a meteor crater.

And the Fire Thunder Seed had been made from highly compressed flame. Its terrifying heat could melt earth and stone with ease.

That left the crater walls unnaturally smooth, as though lined with a single sheet of glass.

"Damn. Did I set off a nuke?"

Chu Chen had just climbed out of the Artificial Lake, grimacing. He was in bad shape himself.

To be precise... he was in a wretched state.

There was no better word for it. Wretched.

Chu Chen had thought his carefully made Wooden Shield would protect him. Instead, it had burned away on contact.

Still, the Wooden Shield had not been useless. It had blocked the first wave of flames, and the shock wave had driven it back hard enough to send Chu Chen tumbling into the Artificial Lake.

Even so, once the Wooden Shield turned to ash, Chu Chen had endured the terrifying heat with his own body.

That was the cause of his current condition.

He looked down at his arms.

His once-fair skin was gone, replaced by patches of blackened, curling flesh. In places, the blast had peeled the skin away, exposing red, twitching muscle beneath.

That was the power of the Fire Thunder Seed.

Even the edge of a mid-level Dou Emperor's attack was an apocalyptic disaster for someone at the Sixth Stage of Dou Qi, a mere mortal who was not even a Soul Master.

If he had not dived into the lake at the crucial moment and used his Soul Force, far greater than that of anyone his age, to protect his Heart Meridian, he would have been reduced to ash.

The good news: Chu Chen felt no pain at all.

The bad news: his nerve endings had burned away.

Shit. I went way too far.

Fear lingered in Chu Chen's chest. He was glad he had not thrown the Fire Thunder Seed at Tang Hao's head back in the village.

Tang Hao might or might not have died, but Chu Chen and everyone in Holy Soul Village certainly would have.

"But... I can't go down yet..."

Chu Chen gritted his teeth. Blood kept spilling from the splits in his lips, staining his chin crimson.

A savage, almost crazed resolve burned in his deep black eyes.

Was Tang Hao dead?

He was the youngest Titled Douluo on the entire continent!

Even after Chu Chen had used a weapon as devastating as the Fire Thunder Seed, who could say Tang Hao did not have some life-saving Forbidden Technique for a moment like this?

What if Tang Hao still had a breath left?

What if a Titled Douluo's vitality had kept him alive?

Leave the roots, and the weeds would grow back!

If Tang Hao got a chance to recover, Chu Chen would not be the only one in danger. The hundreds of villagers in Holy Soul Village would be doomed too!

Get up... Now!

A beastlike growl rose inside Chu Chen.

He forced his nearly exhausted Sixth Stage Dou Qi into motion and, with the help of his immense Soul Force, suppressed the trembling running through his body.

His fingers, with bone showing through the flesh, dug into the dirt. Inch by agonizing inch, he dragged himself up from the lakeshore.

One step. Then another.

Each step split his charred skin open, sending pale yellow fluid and blood seeping from the wounds.

Sweat and blood had blurred his vision, but Chu Chen kept his eyes fixed on the vast crater where the hill had stood. Heat billowed from it, along with thin curls of smoke.

The once-lush hillside had vanished. A sharp sulfurous smell and the stench of burned flesh hung in the air.

Dragging his ruined body, Chu Chen slipped and stumbled down the smooth slope. The ground had melted in the heat and hardened into glass, and he inched toward the crater's deepest point.

A wave of heat struck his face. His already-charred skin sizzled, but he did not even blink.

At last, he reached the center of the blast.

The earth there was a strange dark red, like a pit of lava in hell.

At the very bottom lay a corpse so badly burned it no longer looked human.

Chu Chen's pupils contracted sharply. His breath caught.

It could hardly be called a person anymore.

Under the Fire Thunder Seed's devastating heat, even a Titled Douluo's clothes, hair, and flesh had been vaporized without a trace!

All that lay before Chu Chen was a cold, ghastly skeleton.

Yet it gave off a terrifying surge of energy that made even Chu Chen struggle to breathe!

At the joints of its blackened bones, six distinct bones gleamed faintly.

Their surfaces had been scorched black by the raging flames, but beneath the char, shimmering energy flowed slowly through them like blood.

Left leg bone, right leg bone, left arm bone, right arm bone, torso bone, skull!

Six!

Six Spirit Bones in all!

Every one remained attached to the skeleton, radiating an oppressive force and a soft glow!

"Six... All six Spirit Bones..."

Chu Chen swallowed, tasting blood. Shock surged through him.

This was everything Clear Sky Douluo had accumulated over his lifetime, a treasure that would drive every major power on Douluo Continent to slaughter for it!

Tang Hao... really was dead.

He had desperately used Ring Detonation at the last moment. He had unleashed the Great Sumeru Hammer. But against the overwhelming destructive power of Dou Qi and the Fire Thunder Seed's heat, his body had been utterly destroyed, his soul obliterated!

Phew...

The moment Chu Chen knew the greatest threat was gone, the tension holding him together finally broke.

He let out a breath. Pain and exhaustion surged through him like a flood.

Dizziness washed over him. His legs buckled, and he dropped heavily to one knee.

His vision narrowed rapidly. Everything around him faded into darkness and confusion.

"No... The Spirit Bones..."

Chu Chen bit the tip of his tongue. Clinging to his last shred of will, he raised his trembling right hand.

Hum!

The Flame Ji Ring flashed faintly. Soul Force poured out and wrapped around the six blackened Spirit Bones on the remains.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The six precious Spirit Bones flew through the air and vanished deep into the Flame Ji Ring's storage space.

With that done, Chu Chen's strength finally gave out.

An instant before his consciousness sank into endless darkness, one puzzled thought crossed his mind.

With a blast that big... why hasn't anyone come?