A Changing Continent: Tang Hao Fights Three Titled Douluo to the Death

"You gave me quite a scare back there, Xiao Wang. Honestly..."

On the way to Spirit Hall in Nuoding City, Su Yuntao gave the guard an exasperated pat.

Xiao Wang smiled awkwardly. He had not expected to cause such a huge misunderstanding. It was his first time carrying out a task for the hall master, and in his excitement, he had thought only of getting it done quickly. He had never imagined that the message he delivered while catching his breath could be taken so badly.

"Did the hall master say why he wanted us there?"

The young man shook his head. He did not know either.

Before long, Spirit Hall came into view. At the entrance, a young woman of about eighteen was looking around. When she spotted Tang Shan's group in the distance, she hurriedly waved.

"Big brother, is Sisi looking for you?" Tang Shan nudged Su Yuntao teasingly.

Su Yuntao looked embarrassed, but he still stiffened his neck and muttered, "What a troublesome woman." His actions told another story. He broke away from the group first, quickening his pace without thinking as the young woman ran toward them.

Tang Shan kept his unhurried pace and arrived at Spirit Hall two minutes later. Brother Tao had evidently finished making up for lost time. He wore a perfectly calm expression, as though nothing had happened.

"Little brother, Dad wants to see us."

Tang Shan saw through his big brother's attempt to act casual but said nothing. He merely nodded and followed him upstairs.

On the top floor of Spirit Hall, they had just opened the door when Ma Xiunuo, white-haired and white-bearded, stepped out. He gave them a kindly nod before heading downstairs.

"Shanzi, Yuntao, come in."

Su Haichao's booming voice came from inside. Tang Shan let out a nearly imperceptible breath and finally put his fears to rest.

Inside, Su Haichao sat stiffly in his chair, tapping his fingers against the desk. He was plainly agitated.

"Dad, what happened?" Seeing Su Haichao so unlike himself made Tang Shan nervous too.

"A few days ago, something momentous happened on the continent. A battle broke out between top-tier experts. The entire situation at Spirit Hall may change because of it."

Several days earlier, cries of pain had sounded again and again from a modest yet carefully kept wooden house. Simple as it was, the place felt safe.

Outside, a burly middle-aged man with granite-hard muscles and a rugged face paced anxiously by the door. More than once he nearly rushed inside, but each time he forced himself to hold back.

Ah Yin, please be all right. Tang Hao was sick with worry.

He knew his wife was powerful. She was also a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast in human form, with an extraordinarily strong body. But how could he not worry while she was giving birth?

A heart-rending cry rang out, and the room fell silent. Tang Hao's heart lurched. He almost broke down the door, but managed to stop himself.

He could clearly sense that no life inside had faded. Instead, there was one more presence. Mother and child were safe.

Some time later, the door opened, and the midwives he had hired filed out. Their elderly leader approached him with a wrinkled newborn in her arms.

"Congratulations. Mother and son are safe. You have a fine boy."

Tang Hao barely glanced at the baby. He gave a token nod, then went straight into the room. The old woman took his peculiar behavior in stride.

She had seen plenty of fathers like him. "The parents are the true love story; the child is just an accident" was commonplace. She had even seen cases where neither parent wanted the child and abandoned it outright.

Inside, a woman lay pale and exhausted, yet neither her stunning beauty nor the vibrant life in her could be concealed. Tang Hao clasped her hand nervously, his eyes full of concern.

"Ah Yin, are you all right?"

She managed a smile. "Brother Hao, bring me the baby. Let me see him."

Tang Hao nodded at once. He hurried outside, took the child from the midwife, listened to her instructions, and paid the women for their silence before sending them away. Back in the room, he carefully placed the baby in Ah Yin's arms. "Look, Ah Yin. This is our son."

"He looks so wrinkled." Despite her words, she gazed at him with boundless affection and gently pressed her soft cheek against his skin.

Meanwhile, high above in the Divine Realm...

A blood-red screen showed the scene unfolding on Douluo Continent. A figure shrouded in crimson robes stroked his chin and laughed smugly. "The child of destiny has arrived. The show is about to begin."

Having said that, Asura God stopped watching. As a God King, he already had what came next well in hand. There was no need to pay it further attention.

Elsewhere, in the Sea God Palace, Poseidon watched the baby's birth thoughtfully. A sly smile crossed his face. "Asura, you secretly brought someone across worlds to raise a successor. Well played. But since you've produced such a promising candidate, don't mind if I take advantage."

With that, Poseidon altered a token of his inheritance in the Heaven Dou Empire. Satisfied, he nodded and closed his own screen overlooking the mortal world.

Tang Hao had barely spent any time reunited with his wife and son when his expression changed. He sprang to his feet.

"Brother Hao, what is it?" At his wife's worried look, Tang Hao waved a hand. "Nothing. Some old acquaintances have probably come to visit."

He told her, "Ah Yin, get some rest. I'll be right back."

He turned, stepped through the door, closed it softly behind him, and strode into the distance.

"Tang Hao, come out!"

The cold voice echoed through the entire forest. Figures radiating formidable power appeared among the trees, gradually surrounding the area.

Tang Hao's body tensed. A black hammer appeared in his hand, swallowing every glimmer of light. Its immense weight seemed to twist and tear the air around it, while white patterns across its head gave off a chilling aura. At the sight of the three pairs of wings and nine Soul Rings behind the man leading them, his heart sank.

Two more figures stood beside that man. One wore white robes and had a striking face that made his gender hard to discern. The other lurked in darkness like a ghost.

Tang Hao's heart sank further. "What brings the Pope here?" he asked in a low voice.

He could already guess the worst, but he had to try.

"Hand over the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast you've been hiding, and you may leave." Qian Xunji looked down on him with naked disdain.

"Never. She's my wife!" Tang Hao's answer rang out, firm and clear. He was ready to die for her.

"Tang Hao, think carefully. There are three Titled Douluo here. You're a mere Soul Douluo. Do you really dare refuse?" The white-robed Titled Douluo spoke in a languid voice, but his words were cold and cruel.

Soul Rings flashed. Tang Hao answered with action. His black hammer suddenly grew tenfold, and power surged through his body. Bearing down with a crushing gale, he swung it straight at Qian Xunji in the air. "Pope, you brat! Die!"

"A pointless struggle." Qian Xunji looked unconcerned, but he still chose to end things quickly. His seventh Soul Ring flashed. A vast angel appeared behind him, and he merged with it.

The hundred-meter Angel God Statue took solid form upon the battlefield, towering over everything.

Boom!

The hammer struck the angel's palm head-on. Waves of force exploded outward, uprooting trees and shredding them in midair.

Crack!

Tang Hao drove the tremendous recoil into the earth. Fissures more than ten meters long spread across the ground.

"An insect trying to topple a tree." A cold smile touched the Angel God Statue's face. Light gathered in its hand as the sun poured down radiance from above. A huge sacred sword took shape, its keen edge carving cracks into the ground.

"I declare anyone who shelters a Soul Beast and betrays humanity guilty!" The commanding voice sounded like that of a true god, passing judgment on sin.

Overwhelming pressure enveloped Tang Hao. It was as though a mountain rested on his back, leaving him unable to advance an inch.

"Detonate!"

Tang Hao roared with all his strength. His first four Soul Rings flashed together, then exploded. Blood burst from his body in a fine mist, but at the same time, incomparable power filled him. The black hammer swelled again. Its hundred-meter head blasted through the air, warped space, and threw the Soul Power of heaven and earth into chaos.

"You two, attack with me. Finish him quickly! The rest of you, search inside. Don't let that Soul Beast escape!" Qian Xunji felt the pressure of Tang Hao's sudden surge in strength. He could no longer afford to leave Chrysanthemum Guan and Gui Mei on the sidelines.

"As you command, Pope!" they answered in unison.

A giant chrysanthemum erupted from the ground. Its petals circled Tang Hao, seemingly slow but closing in with frightening speed to slice into him. The sky darkened. Ghostly figures appeared all at once, and hundreds of icy claws reached out to drag him into a bottomless hell.

"A miserable flower and a little ghost? The two of you can't kill me!"

With that taunt, Tang Hao detonated his fifth Soul Ring as well. His body suffered another grievous blow, but an even greater torrent of power poured into him. The hammer expanded once more and swept toward the three attacking Titled Douluo with world-shattering force!

The sacred sword collided with the hammer. Violent waves of energy ravaged the area. Had Qian Xunji not sent his subordinates away, no one on that battlefield below the rank of Soul Douluo could have survived.

Tang Hao showed no fear of the chrysanthemum and Gui Mei. He gathered immense Soul Power into his fists and struck at the lethal attacks coming from either side.

This was no ordinary battle between Titled Douluo. It was a clash between a divine martial soul and the world's foremost Tool Martial Soul, empowered by the secret art of Ring Detonation;

it was also a clash between the descendants of two Peerless Douluo.

P.S. The protagonist is born, and Tang Hao fights for his life. In this novel, the theory that Tang Hao plotted everything is not entirely true: he did not force Ah Yin to sacrifice herself, though he knows there is something unusual about Tang San.