Ah Yin's Sacrifice

A village in the Heaven Dou Empire

"Ah Yin! Keep going! Almost there! The baby's almost out!"

Tang Hao watched Ah Yin lying on the bed, struggling through a painful labor. His heart ached for her, but he was excited too—and worried.

Spirit Hall had been hunting him for a month. He had spent that month hiding with Ah Yin, who was due to give birth at any moment. Now they didn't even have a midwife. All he could do was stay beside her and help.

"Ah! Hao-ge!" Ah Yin gripped Tang Hao's hand.

Just then—

"Haozi! Get out here! You wounded an elder of Spirit Hall for the sake of a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast! I've come to collect that debt today!"

The powerful voice pierced the walls on a wave of Soul Power and rang through the house. Even Ah Yin, still in labor, flinched.

Seeing her frightened, Tang Hao flared with anger and instantly summoned his Clear Sky Hammer.

"Ah Yin, wait here. I'll deal with the people outside!" With that, he rushed out.

"Hao-ge! Be careful! The baby and I will wait for you!" Ah Yin said weakly through the pain.

Tang Hao burst out of the room, looked up, and froze.

What? I'm only a Soul Douluo, and you brought three Titled Douluo to corner me? Judging by the Martial Soul of the one in the middle, he looks like Spirit Hall's pope, Qian Xunji. He's got to be at least level 94. Is this really necessary?

Tang Hao wasn't a coward, but faced with that sight, he decided to swallow his pride for now.

He put away his Clear Sky Hammer and bowed to Qian Xunji.

"Your Holiness, I meant no offense. But His Excellency Liu Hong tried to take my wife away. I had no choice but to resist."

"My wife is giving birth right now. Please show mercy and spare her and our child. I'm willing to answer for what I've done myself."

"Haozi, spare me the excuses. Consorting with a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast is already an offense against heaven. Wounding an elder of Spirit Hall over her makes your crime unforgivable!"

"Still... if you hand over that Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, I might spare you for Senior Tang Chen's sake."

"I'll take good care of your wife. Leave her to me!"

Qian Xunji narrowed his eyes and grinned lecherously.

Tang Hao had known all along that they had come for Ah Yin. Even if he surrendered, they probably wouldn't spare her. But when he heard Qian Xunji's suggestive words and saw that grin—

He felt as though Qian Xunji meant to make a cuckold of him. Fury seized him.

"Qian Xunji, you bastard! Take your men and leave, now! Otherwise, I'll drag you down with me!"

He summoned his Clear Sky Hammer again and pointed it straight at Qian Xunji in the sky.

"Haha, Haozi, don't get worked up. I promise, if you hand Ah Yin over, she won't come to any harm!"

"As for your child? I can raise that child too. Aren't you going to thank me?"

"You've killed and wounded countless people from Spirit Hall, yet I'm repaying evil with kindness. Come on, Haozi—thank me! Heh heh heh!"

Beside him, Ming Zhong and Xiao Tian struggled not to laugh. Who would have thought His Holiness, usually so proper, had a taste for this? They knew his relationship with the Saintess was strained, but they hadn't realized how much he'd bottled up.

They had wondered why His Holiness had ordered the two of them to feign defeat today. Was he afraid they might hurt Ah Yin? Or that killing Tang Hao would break her heart? But that didn't make sense. His Holiness had also ordered them to push Tang Hao to his limit so the Hundred-Thousand-Year Blue Silver Emperor would sacrifice herself. Once she did, wouldn't she be gone?

Oh, well. No point puzzling over it. They just had to follow orders.

"Xiao Tian, Ming Zhong—take Tang Hao down!"

Qian Xunji pointed at Tang Hao.

In the blink of an eye, the three were locked in combat. With his level 89 Soul Power, Tang Hao fought level 92 Ming Zhong Douluo and level 93 Xiao Tian Douluo without giving ground.

Xiao Tian and Ming Zhong remembered the pope's instructions: push Tang Hao as far as possible without killing him, wait for the Blue Silver Emperor to sacrifice herself, and force him to reveal every trump card he had.

So they gradually poured in more Soul Power, striking harder and harder.

Little by little, Tang Hao began to lose ground.

He felt his Soul Power draining fast and his strength failing. If this went on, defeat was only a matter of time. Worse, Qian Xunji was still hovering above them without lifting a finger. Tang Hao had to end this quickly!

He had already begun building momentum with the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer.

"Great Sumeru Hammer!"

Ming Zhong and Xiao Tian flew backward.

Qian Xunji watched Tang Hao overpower Xiao Tian and Ming Zhong with nothing but the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer and Great Sumeru Hammer, without even using Ring Detonation. Tang Chen truly had been a genius to create such powerful skills.

Then again, Qian Xunji couldn't help thinking that people on the Douluo Continent were a little foolish. Why don't you just dodge? The Great Sumeru Hammer is so slow. Why insist on taking it head-on? Does the Clear Sky Hammer come with its own gravitational pull?

It was one thing for Ming Zhong to fail to dodge; he was part control-type, part defense-type. But Xiao Tian was part assault-type, part agility-type. How had he failed to dodge too?

Once we get back, I'll have to improve the way Spirit Hall approaches combat. They need to play to their strengths and work around their weaknesses, not just clash head-on like fools.

Xiao Tian and Ming Zhong hadn't suffered much damage, though. They just needed a little rest to recover.

Looking at the two men panting for breath, Qian Xunji summoned his Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul. The pressure of a level 95 Titled Douluo bore down on Tang Hao.

"Haozi, stop struggling. Driving back Xiao Tian and Ming Zhong has already done your grandfather and the Clear Sky Sect proud. Hand over Ah Yin, and I'll spare you. Leave your wife to me!"

"How dare you insult me, you bastard!"

"Great Sumeru Hammer—Ring Detonation!"

Tang Hao forced his way through Qian Xunji's pressure and charged straight at him.

Qian Xunji didn't dodge. He could have evaded the attack and kept Tang Hao chasing him, but he wanted to feel the power of Tang Hao's Ring Detonation firsthand.

The two clashed. Qian Xunji saw Tang Hao gathering power and readied himself to take the blow.

"Great Sumeru Hammer—Ring Detonation!"

Several Spirit Rings shattered at once. Rather than exploding outward, they became surging waves of primal energy that poured into the Clear Sky Hammer. It swelled in an instant. Terrifying power battered Tang Hao from within, and blood spilled from the corner of his mouth as his body endured the backlash of the shattered rings.

"Angel Sacred Sword!"

Sword and hammer collided, unleashing a crushing shock wave.

Soul Power burst between them. Tang Hao was hurled dozens of meters away, while Qian Xunji staggered back several steps.

That really is powerful. I put nearly ninety percent of my strength into that strike, and he still drove me back.

Qian Xunji shook out his arm. It had gone a little numb.

Tang Chen truly was a once-in-a-generation genius. In just a few decades, he took the Clear Sky Sect from a second-rate sect to the Number One Sect Under Heaven. He developed Self-Created Soul Skills like the Clear Sky Nine Absolutes, Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer, Great Sumeru Hammer, and Ring Detonation. If Rakshasa hadn't interfered with his Divine Trial, then with the Tang family's arrogance and habit of protecting their own no matter what, the whole world would probably belong to them by now.

Qian Xunji even suspected the Asura God had secretly helped Tang Chen create those Self-Created Soul Skills. Otherwise, it was too absurd. No one could be that much of a genius!

So Qian Xunji thought to himself.

"Haozi, you've played every card you have. I'll give you one last chance. Hand over Ah Yin."

"Never!"

Tang Hao forced himself upright, leaning on his great hammer.

Qian Xunji sent his Soul Power into the house to check. Good. The baby's been born. Time to push Haozi a little harder.

"Then go to the underworld and wait for your Soul Beast wife!"

"Angel Sacred Sword!"

The huge phantom of the Six-Winged Angel swung the Angel Sacred Sword at Tang Hao once more.

"Great Sumeru Hammer—Ring Detonation!"

Tang Hao charged to meet it again.

Hm? He's detonating another ring? I remember that after Ring Detonation, the Spirit Ring disappears for three days, and you need at least thirty-six days of rest. Let's see how many rings you have left to detonate. Didn't they fight for three days and three nights in the original story? Surely Asura didn't let Tang Hao use Ring Detonation without limit?

Qian Xunji kept those thoughts to himself.

At last, after clash upon clash, Tang Hao had detonated rings three times in a row.

He knelt on one knee, breathing hard, blood streaming from the corner of his mouth.

"Tang Hao! This is the final blow! Die!"

The angelic phantom attacked Tang Hao again.

Ah Yin, our child...

Just as Tang Hao thought it was all over—

Several thick stalks of Blue Silver Grass sprang from the ground and blocked Qian Xunji's attack.

"Ah Yin! Take our child and run! I'll hold them off!"

Tang Hao saw the weakened Ah Yin emerge and forced himself to his feet again.

But Ah Yin walked toward him.

"Hao-ge... let me help you!"

Emerald-green life energy surged into the sky, even overwhelming Qian Xunji's holy angelic light.

"Ah Yin—!!!"

"No! I don't want your Spirit Ring!"

Tang Hao's eyes nearly split with anguish. He reached for her as if mad, desperate to hold her, but the sudden eruption of life energy flung him violently away.

Xiao Tian and Ming Zhong moved forward to attack, but Qian Xunji raised a hand to stop them.

"Ah, Haozi. You just had to fight, didn't you? Look at you now—you've even lost your wife. If only you'd listened to me sooner."

In the midst of receiving her sacrifice, Tang Hao heard Qian Xunji's taunt and whipped around to face him.

"Qian Xunji—!!!"

"Haozi, my condolences. I don't want Ah Yin anymore—she's gone, after all. But we still need to settle the matter of you wounding an elder of Spirit Hall..."

Before he could finish, Tang Hao cut him off with a furious roar.

"Die with my Ah Yin! Great Sumeru Hammer—Nine-Ring Detonation!"

"What the hell! When did the sacrifice finish? You're opening with a move that could blow up your wife?"

"Ninth Spirit Skill! Angel's Glory!"

"Ninth Spirit Skill! Nine Heavens' Roar!"

"Ninth Spirit Skill! Heaven and Earth Sound Seal!"

Sensing Tang Hao's power, Xiao Tian and Ming Zhong hurriedly used their ninth Spirit Skills to help block the attack.

Four mighty forces collided and struggled against one another for several seconds. Xiao Tian and Ming Zhong were blasted away first, while Qian Xunji remained locked in a contest of strength with Tang Hao.

Boom!

The explosion sent both men flying backward.

Tang Hao coughed up another mouthful of blood. Blood also trickled from the corner of Qian Xunji's mouth.

Xiao Tian and Ming Zhong lay on the ground, too drained to move for the moment.

"Tang Hao! Surrender! I know each of your Spirit Rings can only be detonated once. You're at the end of your strength! Give up! You're only level 92 now—three whole levels below me. You can't beat me."

Leaning on his Clear Sky Hammer, Tang Hao pushed himself halfway up and spat out the blood in his mouth.

"Great Sumeru Hammer! Nine-Ring Detonation!"

"What the hell! Again?!"

This time, Qian Xunji had no intention of taking the hit. Once was enough for an attack like that.

"Third Spirit Skill! Angel Charge!"

He charged backward.

Tang Hao's full-force blow struck the ground and blasted out a crater dozens of meters deep.

"His Holiness is so clever! He actually dodged! Why didn't I think of that?" Xiao Tian said in astonishment to Ming Zhong beside him.

"His Holiness truly is a once-in-a-generation genius!"

Ming Zhong gazed at Qian Xunji with admiration as he agreed.

"Qian Xunji! Coward! Why won't you take my attack?"

Tang Hao was nearly bursting with rage after his hammer struck empty air. He roared at Qian Xunji.

Qian Xunji taunted him some more, and the two plunged back into battle. Ming Zhong and Xiao Tian lent a hand whenever they could.

A day and a night later

Qian Xunji was still dodging Tang Hao's hammer, but he felt it was about time to end this. Tang Hao had reached his limit. In that single day and night, he had used Ring Detonation twenty times! Five of those had been Nine-Ring Detonations! Qian Xunji could hardly believe his eyes.

Can you even detonate rings that many times!?

Besides, if they didn't retreat soon, the future pure and noble Great God King Tang might starve to death.

Tang Hao detonated his rings one final time, sending all three of them flying backward.

"Cough, cough! You got lucky this time, Tang Hao! You won't be so lucky next time!" Qian Xunji spat out a mouthful of blood, delivered a villain's customary threat, and was carried off with Ming Zhong by Xiao Tian.

"Qian Xunji! Don't run!" Tang Hao tried to give chase, but he was no match for Xiao Tian's speed.

He watched the three flee into the distance, then collapsed to the ground.

"Waaah!"

Tang Hao was about to fall asleep where he lay when a baby's cry startled him awake.

The baby! Right! The baby's still here!

Meanwhile, in the Divine Realm

The Asura God watched Tang Hao anxiously.

"Don't let my precious baby starve to death!"