Two days later, Nuoding City.
"Couldn't you slow down a little?"
Wang Qiu'er and Lin Changgeng descended from the sky, though Lin Changgeng looked rather pale.
"You were the one who wanted to come back." Wang Qiu'er rolled her eyes.
Wang Qiu'er had originally planned to head straight for Heaven Dou City, but Lin Changgeng had insisted on turning back to Nuoding City, saying something about someone running away if they arrived too late. She had no choice but to turn around and pick up speed.
"All right, let's go." Lin Changgeng sighed. He had asked for this, after all.
As for why they stopped at Nuoding City instead of landing directly in Holy Soul Village-wasn't it obvious? If they landed in Holy Soul Village and Tang Hao sensed them, wouldn't he flee immediately?
The two then set off toward Holy Soul Village.
Meanwhile, in Holy Soul Village.
Inside a shabby blacksmith's shop, Tang Hao jolted awake.
He gulped down breath after ragged breath, cold sweat covering his forehead and his heart pounding.
"What's going on...?"
Tang Hao wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, his face pale.
Over the past few days, he had felt constantly on edge, as though some danger were drawing closer.
The feeling was vague, impossible to put into words, yet it refused to go away.
At first, he had paid it no mind.
Generally speaking, the higher one's cultivation, the keener one's sense of danger.
As a rank ninety-five Titled Douluo, Tang Hao's sense of danger was highly accurate. But he was the Clear Sky Douluo. Even injured, he was not someone any stray cat or dog could provoke.
So he had dismissed it.
But today was different.
That sense of impending danger had suddenly become unbearably intense, like a basin of ice water poured over his head, chilling him to the bone.
It was as though his time to die had come.
He had only felt anything like it when facing Qian Daoliu all those years ago.
No, this was even stronger.
"Impossible..." Tang Hao muttered to himself. "I've been living in seclusion in a tiny place like this. How could anyone find me?"
"Could it be Spirit Hall?"
He lowered his head and looked at his hands.
His old injuries made them tremble slightly.
Back then, to take Ah Yin away, he had single-handedly confronted three Titled Douluos from Spirit Hall. Though he had ultimately gravely wounded Qian Xunji, he had suffered severe, irreversible injuries himself.
Over the years, his injuries had not improved. Instead, they had grown steadily worse.
Although his cultivation was still at rank ninety-five, the strength he could actually wield was only that of someone who had just become a Titled Douluo.
"Should I leave?" Tang Hao's brows knitted tightly. He had no idea who was coming, but judging by what he sensed, they were most likely an enemy rather than a friend.
But his grandfather had personally chosen him as the Clear Sky Douluo. If word spread that the Clear Sky Douluo had fled without a fight, wouldn't that tarnish his grandfather's mighty reputation?
Yet if he stayed, what would happen to Tang San? Tang San was his son, and his hope for revenge.
"Little San. That's right, I still have Little San." Tang Hao's gaze hardened with resolve. As long as the green hills remained, there would be no fear of running out of firewood. As long as Tang San lived, he still had hope of taking revenge.
Gritting his teeth, Tang Hao sprinted toward the Back Mountain.
He was fast. Though gravely injured, he still had the foundation of a Titled Douluo, and he reached the foot of the Back Mountain in just a few breaths.
Just as he was about to run up the mountain, two figures stepped out of the woods ahead.
A woman and a child.
The woman had long golden hair and golden eyes. Tall and dressed in a fitted golden outfit, she bore a faint golden marking on her forehead.
The child looked only about six years old, with dark gold hair, gilded golden eyes, and sharp features. An aura of lethal menace surrounded him.
The instant Tang Hao saw them clearly, he said nothing. With a turn of his right hand, the Clear Sky Hammer appeared in his grip.
The dark red hammer radiated a terrifying pressure.
Nine Soul Rings rose from beneath his feet: yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black, red.
Hundred Thousand Year Soul Rings were so rare across the continent that they could be counted on one's fingers.
Even gravely injured, he would not allow the name of the Clear Sky Douluo to be trampled upon.
Spirit Hall.
Only Spirit Hall could find such a remote place, and only they would send an expert of this caliber to hunt him down.
After he killed Qian Xunji back then, Qian Daoliu had pursued him for a long time. In the end, because of a promise to his grandfather, the matter had been left unresolved.
Now, they had finally come knocking.
Without wasting a word, Tang Hao attacked Lin Changgeng directly.
It was obvious: of the adult and the child, the younger one had to be a core disciple of Spirit Hall. Now that Tang Hao had been expelled from the Clear Sky Sect, Tang San's resources would certainly be no match for this child's. Better to kill him early.
His figure darted forward, and the Clear Sky Hammer smashed toward Lin Changgeng with a shriek of displaced air.
That strike contained the insights Tang Hao had gained over half a lifetime. Even an ordinary Titled Douluo would not dare take it head-on.
Tang Hao was already imagining what would happen after he killed Lin Changgeng. But as he reached the boy, Wang Qiu'er moved.
She simply reached out and lightly tapped the Clear Sky Hammer.
Clang!
A crisp metallic ring rang out.
Tang Hao felt as though he had struck a mountain. A tremendous recoil surged through him, sending him flying backward.
"Pfft-!"
He spat out a mouthful of blood.
But he twisted in midair and landed steadily, the Clear Sky Hammer still gripped in his hand, his gaze icy.
"Since when did the mighty Clear Sky Douluo stoop so low? You've truly disgraced the reputation Tang Chen built." Wang Qiu'er withdrew her hand and gently blew on it.
"A Peak Douluo? Spirit Hall certainly thinks highly of me, sending you to kill me." Tang Hao's voice remained calm, betraying no sign of his severe injuries.
"You have a decent eye." Wang Qiu'er looked at Tang Hao. "Unfortunately, I'm not from Spirit Hall."
Not from Spirit Hall? Tang Hao tightened his grip on the Clear Sky Hammer, his nine Soul Rings slowly revolving.
Across the entire continent, experts above rank ninety-five could be counted on one hand. Yet this woman claimed she was not from Spirit Hall. Which faction did she belong to, then?
Tang Hao could not work it out, but he knew this fight was now unavoidable.
"Anything else you want to say?" Wang Qiu'er loosened her muscles and joints. "If not, you can die now."
Seeing this, Lin Changgeng silently positioned Wang Qiu'er in front of himself as a shield, then backed away from her.
Tang Hao watched, his gaze as still as water.
In his current condition, he stood no chance against a Peak Douluo. For the past six years, he had drowned himself in drunken oblivion, neither tending properly to his injuries nor cultivating.
And Wang Qiu'er had just casually blocked his attack without even releasing her martial soul. Her cultivation had to be at least rank ninety-seven.
But he could not simply wait to die.
Tang San was still in Nuoding City. He had to survive, at least long enough to get a message to Tang San.
Tang Hao drew a deep breath, and the soul power within him began circulating wildly.
"Great Sumeru Hammer-Ring Detonation!"
His first four Soul Rings exploded with a thunderous roar.
Yellow, yellow, purple, purple.
All four Soul Rings burst apart at once. Terrifying power surged from within him, his aura instantly swelling severalfold. His injuries were forcibly suppressed, and a black radiance coiled around the Clear Sky Hammer.
Ring Detonation was a secret technique passed down within the Clear Sky Sect. By sacrificing Soul Rings, it unleashed power far beyond the user's own for a short time.
As the four Soul Rings exploded together, Tang Hao's aura changed in an instant.
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