"Sir, the times have changed."
Zhao Wuji leaped at Li Chen, intent on killing him.
Li Chen chuckled, and a Soul Tool Hand Cannon suddenly appeared in his hand.
Its barrel was as wide as a bowl, and a fixed bracket allowed it to be worn on the arm.
Blue patterns covered its entire body, giving it a ferocious appearance.
The Thunder Sequence Hand Cannon.
It was part of a series Li Chen had designed and developed himself. It could store Soul Power shells in advance, and a compression Magic Array engraved inside compressed them to the extreme. One shot could deliver a critical strike two rings above its user's level!
Hum!
Blue light gathered at the cannon's muzzle as it charged rapidly.
"What is that thing?"
Unease surged through Zhao Wuji. He rushed in front of Li Chen and swung a fist at his head.
But Li Chen was a step faster.
He aimed the cannon at Zhao Wuji and fired!
Boom!
A blue shell slammed into Zhao Wuji, hurling him into the air before exploding!
Bang!
A dazzling burst of blue light lit the sky.
For an instant, the surrounding sky seemed to dim.
The spherical shock wave spread outward.
Trees all around toppled at once.
Dai Mubai and the others were thrown back, crashing through trees before hitting the ground.
On Li Chen's side, a wall of Soul Tool Shield rose to protect him and Huo Yuhao.
A moment later,
Zhao Wuji fell from the sky and struck the ground. Clutching his chest, he grimaced in pain, terror in his eyes.
Looking down, he saw that his chest was charred black, the wound so deep it exposed bone.
"What... what was that...?"
Zhao Wuji panted heavily. That shot had been terrifyingly powerful, comparable to an all-out strike from a Soul Douluo.
Zhao Wuji knew
that if his Mighty Vajra Bear Martial Soul had not excelled at protecting his body, someone like Flender would already have gone to the other side.
"Huh. That was stronger than I expected."
Li Chen sounded surprised.
By his calculations, one shot from the Level 5 Thunder Sequence Soul Tool Hand Cannon should only have knocked Zhao Wuji out of his Martial Soul Avatar state.
He had not expected it to leave such a massive wound.
Huo Yuhao frowned too. "Why did that happen? I remember your cannon wasn't this powerful before."
Li Chen thought it over.
"I get it. It's because of how dense the Soul Power is in the air."
"The Thunder Sequence Hand Cannon can draw on the Soul Power in the surrounding space to a certain extent."
"In this time and space, the air on Douluo Continent contains far more Soul Power than it does in ours."
"That's why it became stronger."
Huo Yuhao was startled. Soul Masters' cultivation methods had grown more advanced over time.
Yet the continent's environment had gone in the opposite direction. Its natural cultivation conditions had actually been better ten thousand years ago.
"So that's why Soul Masters in our time need a Soul Core to compress their Soul Power before they can break through to Soul Sage. The Soul Power in the world has grown thinner."
Huo Yuhao was a genius himself and understood at once.
Even so,
Soul Masters with a Soul Core were still stronger than those without one.
"An unexpected discovery. Looks like we'll have to adjust how we make our Soul Tools. We can't just copy the blueprints exactly."
Li Chen made a note of it.
He had also had a reason for using a Soul Tool so openly: Gui Mei had chased after Kong Deming and was no longer there to watch them.
Just then,
Dai Mubai and the others got to their feet, covered in dirt and stunned speechless.
"Teacher Zhao!"
Dai Mubai hurried over to help Zhao Wuji up.
"Teacher Zhao, what happened?"
Zhao Wuji sat up with a bitter expression. "Those two boys are probably from some major power. The weapons in their hands are astonishingly strong."
Dai Mubai frowned. "A major power? Spirit Hall?!"
Ning Rongrong, Zhu Zhuqing, and the others immediately thought of Spirit Hall too.
Across the entire Douluo Continent,
whenever anyone mentioned a major power now,
Spirit Hall was the first to come to mind.
"Most likely Spirit Hall," Zhao Wuji said through the pain.
"How could Spirit Hall have a weapon this destructive?!"
Panic gripped Dai Mubai.
Spirit Hall already harbored ambitions of unifying the continent. As a prince of the Star Luo Imperial Family, Dai Mubai knew that all too well.
"If they mass-produce this weapon, Spirit Hall might launch a full-scale war across the continent!"
"No. I have to go back and tell Father!"
The matter was too important.
Dai Mubai had temporarily left the Star Luo Empire because of the imperial family's rules of deadly succession, but with the empire at stake, he could not take this lightly.
"Teacher, what do we do now?"
Dai Mubai asked anxiously.
Zhao Wuji fell silent. "Split up and break out. I'll buy you some time."
"What about Xiao San?" Ning Rongrong asked.
"Xiao San... I'll find someone to save him."
Just run already, Zhao Wuji thought. At a time like this, Clear Sky Douluo will look after Xiao San.
"No! Xiao San is one of us at Shrek. How can we let them take him?"
Ning Rongrong snorted and walked toward Li Chen and Huo Yuhao.
Oscar grabbed her at once. "Let's run, Rongrong! You'll get blown to pieces!"
Ning Rongrong shoved Oscar away, frowning in disgust.
"You're useless! The moment something happens, I can't count on you at all! If you're afraid of dying, then get lost!"
Oscar withdrew his hand awkwardly.
Where was that courage when the Sky Titan Giant Ape took Xiao Wu?
Ning Rongrong looked at Li Chen.
"You two! I'm Ning Rongrong, daughter of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's master!"
"Even if you're from Spirit Hall, you can't just take Tang San away! You attacked my teacher, too, and you even dirtied my dress!"
"Let Tang San go and apologize!"
Dai Mubai was dumbstruck. So was Zhao Wuji. They all stared at Ning Rongrong.
"What the hell..."
Huo Yuhao took a deep breath. "I've lived this long, and I've never seen anyone so damn arrogant!"
Having grown up in poverty, Huo Yuhao could not stand Ning Rongrong's spoiled-young-lady attitude.
In truth,
Huo Yuhao's anger was not directed only at Tang San. He was hostile toward Dai Mubai too!
Dai Mubai was an ancestor of his, and he had even become a god alongside Tang San. Yet when Tang San tormented Huo Yuhao, that ancestor had not dared say a damn word!
What was more,
Huo Yuhao remembered the humiliation he had endured growing up in the White Tiger Duke's household.
Now the sight of anyone surnamed Dai made him sick!
"You want to save Tang San?"
"Then you can all die together!"
With that thought,
Huo Yuhao held Tang San in one hand as violet-gold patterns appeared in his eyes.
"Thought of Dong Sword—Never Forgotten!"
Sorrow welled in Huo Yuhao's eyes. A dazzling blue sword appeared and shot straight toward Ning Rongrong.
Ning Rongrong stood frozen.
A shudder from the depths of her soul and the terror of facing death nearly made her forget how to move.
The Thought of Dong Sword could grievously wound an enemy's soul from a distance!
At the Soul Emperor level, Huo Yuhao could shatter Ning Rongrong's soul with a single strike!
Just then,
a rough-looking man who seemed like a drunkard appeared.
Tang Hao stepped in front of Ning Rongrong. His Clear Sky Hammer appeared, and he blocked the blue sword with one swing.
Tang Hao gave a muffled grunt. The Thought of Winter Sword's soul attack had still struck him squarely.
Fortunately, Tang Hao's level was high enough to withstand it.
Ning Rongrong panted hard, her face pale after that brush with death.
Zhao Wuji breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Tang Hao.
They were safe now.
Clear Sky Douluo really had been following Tang San all along. With him stepping in, they were safe.
Dai Mubai and the others did not know Tang Hao, but they recognized the Clear Sky Hammer.
"Brat, that was vicious. Put Xiao San down, and I may leave the two of you with intact corpses."
Tang Hao stared grimly at Huo Yuhao and Li Chen.
Huo Yuhao narrowed his eyes. "Looks like this is Tang San's father, Clear Sky Douluo."
Li Chen nodded.
Li Chen chuckled. "Tang Hao, sever your own hands and feet and leave behind Ah Yin's Soul Bone. We might consider sparing your life."
Tang Hao was stunned.
How did these two brats know Ah Yin had sacrificed herself for me?!
Fury seized him. "You're courting death!"
Tang Hao sprang into the air and swung his hammer down at Li Chen and Huo Yuhao.
Li Chen did not panic. The Red Dust Protection Soul Tool on his body activated on its own.
It was Jing Hongchen's personal Soul Tool, left with Li Chen for protection. It could withstand an attack from a Titled Douluo.
And in the next instant,
Kong Deming arrived.
"Tang Hao, you're the one courting death!"
Tang Hao's eyes widened. To his astonishment, Kong Deming had stopped his hammer strike cold.
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