As soon as those words left his mouth, the fist that had been poised to smash down froze dead in midair.
Tang Sam gave a jolt of hope inside, thinking his father was finally willing to stop and talk.
When he raised his head through the gap between his arms, however, he discovered that Tang Hao's entire face was so dark it looked like it was about to drip water; the fury in those eyes had not extinguished in the slightest, growing even more enraged instead!
"You... don't know who your sect master is?"
Tang Hao's voice was as low as thunder before a storm, every word dropping with a bone-chilling coldness.
Tang Sam blinked, speaking instinctively:
"I... I've spent years in deep-mountain seclusion practicing hard, so I really haven't seen..."
"Go your mother's deep-mountain seclusion!!"
Tang Hao snapped completely!
He hailed from the Clear Sky Sect, the number-one sect in the world, and what he valued most in his bones were sect rules and the hierarchy of superiors and subordinates.
Even though he despised that Tang Sect which had bamboozled his daughter into a limp, in his eyes, for a sect disciple not to even know the proper name of his own sect master was-fucking hell-simply an insult to his intelligence!
"You don't even know who your own sect master is, and you have the nerve to say you're from the Tang Sect!"
Tang Hao hoisted Tang Sam up from the ground by the scruff, spit flying straight at his face:
"A little bastard full of tall tales! A moment ago you impersonated my son, and now you're impersonating a sect disciple to pry into my words! Do you take me for some decades-old Titled Douluo who earned his rank for nothing? Are you playing me for a monkey?!"
"Bang!!"
This punch was at least thirty percent heavier than the last one!
It landed squarely on the bridge of Tang Sam's nose, instantly blasting a fountain of bloody mist as his whole body flew backward five or six meters off the ground, crashing hard into a rotten tree stump.
Tang Hao strode forward with heavy steps, his chest heaving violently with anger:
"In all my life I've hated two things the most: first, those scum from Spirit Hall, and second, swindlers who can't speak a single true word! A fake who doesn't even recognize the master of his own sect, and you still dare run up to play god and wave ghosts in front of me!"
"Bang! Smack! Thud!"
The dull thuds of fists hitting flesh echoed through the woods once more, beating Tang Sam until he rolled all over the ground and shrieked in continuous misery.
On the massive boulder nearby, Xiao Wu nibbled on a wild fruit she had picked up at random, watching the show with a swing of her feet:
"Give it to him, Uncle Tang! This swindler doesn't have a single truthful word in his mouth, he's just begging for a beating!"
As for Tang Sam in the muddy dirt, beaten until his entire body felt disassembled at the moment, his tears mixed with gushing nosebleeds as his inner self completely collapsed.
He was wronged!
He was even more wronged than Dou E!
The Tang Sect was where he had spent his time in Bashu before jumping off Ghost's Sorrow Cliff in his past life, and the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record was the inner-sect martial art he had stolen in his previous incarnation!
On this Douluo Continent, logically speaking he ought to be the sole sect master of the Tang Sect!
Where on earth was he supposed to know what kind of nonsense this out-of-nowhere sect master of this world actually was?!
"I really am the orthodox Tang Sect..."
Tang Sam curled up on the ground, hugging his head with both hands, his voice leaking wind from the beating as he roared in grief and indignation within his heart:
Who the hell is screwing with me here, dammit!
"Bang!"
Tang Hao delivered a final kick to Tang Sam's backside, launching the fellow a full dozens of meters out of the mud pit and sending him rolling all the way deep into the dense brush.
"Hah... Much better!"
Tang Hao shook out his sore wrist, picked up the wine gourd on the ground, and took a large swig, sweeping a disdainful look toward the bushes:
"You can't even answer who your own sect master is, yet you still dare run up to me and pretend to be from the Tang Sect to cozy up? Get lost! If you ever let me catch you within a ten-li radius again, next time I'll shatter your bones straight into feed for the wolves!"
Dropping that harsh warning, Tang Hao couldn't be bothered to look at the wild brat another time, sauntering back to sit beside the large bluestone to continue soaking in the sun.
Deep within the brush.
Tang Sam pressed flat against the damp, cold pile of rotting leaves, every bone in his body aching as if he had fallen apart.
That originally ordinary face of his was swollen high now, his eye sockets bruised black and blue, noseblood mixed with mud smearing his entire mouth, leaving him in an utterly wretched state.
"Cough cough... Ptui!"
Tang Sam spat out a mouthful of bloody froth, gritting his loosened back teeth with eyes burning full of fury.
Just think: in his previous life he was the Supreme God King of the Divine Realm, commanding ten thousand deities, yet now that he had relived a lifetime, he was treated as a swindler by his own biological father, held down in the mud and thrashed like a grandson!
Yet amidst the fury, what welled up in the bottom of Tang Sam's heart was a wave of puzzlement.
Just what was going on with the "Tang Sect" in his father's mouth?
Who on earth was that sect master cursed by his father and protected with unwavering devotion by Tang Sammei!
In this world where the Tang Sect shouldn't even exist, who could have stolen the ultimate techniques of the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record and even seized the lead to become the sect master!
Tang Sam endured the searing pain, circulating the Mysterious Heaven Skill to quietly pacify his roiling Qi and blood, hiding within the shadows of the dense forest without daring to act rashly.
Arrogant though he was, right now he was merely a Level 30 Soul Elder and had no business provoking a Titled Douluo.
"Thud... Thud... Thud..."
From the dense forest in the Core Area ahead, a heavy sound of footsteps that made the earth tremble suddenly traveled over.
The surrounding birds and beasts instantly fell deathly still.
Tang Sam started in alarm, instinctively parting the brush leaves before him and employing the Purple Demon Eye to gaze ahead.
He saw the sky-blocking tree canopy forcefully pushed apart by a pair of immensely thick, black-furred giant arms.
A colossal black ape, towering and solemn like a small black mountain, strode out carrying an overwhelming aura of fierce slaughter.
"Er Ming!"
Tang Sam's pupils contracted.
He recognized this One-Hundred-Thousand-Year Titan Giant Ape at a single glance!
Yet before he could recover his wits, the moment his gaze landed on Er Ming's shoulder, Tang Sam was struck as if by lightning, his entire body's blood freezing solid at that very instant!
He saw that One-Hundred-Thousand-Year overlord, usually so fiercely violent and capable of tearing apart a Titled Douluo, actually parting its maw on that ferocious giant face to wear an honest, foolish grin.
And perched upon its broad, massive shoulder stood a black-haired youth.
The youth wore a crisp black outfit, carrying a lazy and relaxed demeanor with both hands shoved into his trouser pockets, looking down upon the jungle from on high.
Clutched in the Titan Giant Ape's other enormous claw was a Ten Thousand Year Purple Spirit Civet that had been knocked unconscious!
"Uncle Tang, Xiao Wu, got it."
The youth stood atop the shoulder of the hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast.
"Older cousin! You're so fast! Good job, Er Ming!"
Down beside the large boulder, Xiao Wu bounced up happily, waving at the Titan Giant Ape.
Er Ming let out a low grunt with a parting of its jaws, carefully lowering its body to steadily return the youth back to the ground.
As for Tang Sam, hiding in the brush two hundred meters away, the instant he saw the side profile of that black-haired youth, a flash of lightning seemed to cleave across his mind!
Those deep, pitch-black eyes.
That unruffled brow and gaze.
And that trace of aloof composure deeply engraved into the depths of his soul!
"Huo... Yu... Hao!"
Tang Sam dug his fingers fiercely into the mud on the ground, his nails splitting and seeping blood while his whole body shook violently, his eyeballs instantly bloodshot and bulging!
It was him!
It was actually him!!
Before you continue