[If this can't be deleted, I'll revise it in the early hours.]
"No, I have to run!"
Tang Hao's face instantly turned deathly pale in the firelight, and cold sweat poured down.
From the stunning woman before him, he truly sensed the scent of death!
And the one who had once given him that same feeling...
Was Qian Daoliu, Spirit Hall's Great Enshrined, one of the world's three great Peerless Douluos, who had pursued him for ten thousand miles!
Qian Daoliu was a Level 99 Limit Douluo who stood at the very pinnacle of the continent!
Could this red-haired woman who had appeared out of nowhere also be a Level 99 Limit Douluo?
Tang Hao's heart pounded like a drum.
Aside from Tang Chen of his Clear Sky Sect, Bo Saixi of Sea God Island, and Qian Daoliu of Spirit Hall...
How could a fourth Level 99 Limit Douluo possibly exist in this world!
Although shocked, Tang Hao's ability to accept the unknown far surpassed that of ordinary people.
After all, he was someone who had been to Sea God Island.
Before Tang Chen, who had known that a terrifying power like Sea God Island lay hidden in the ocean?
With Sea God Island as a precedent, the appearance of another Level 99 Limit Douluo now...
Was not necessarily impossible to accept.
But the desperate situation before him left Tang Hao with only two choices.
Ring Detonation plus the Great Sumeru Hammer: fight desperately to drive Leng Yaozhu back, then flee immediately.
Yet Tang Hao's severe injuries had not healed. His battered body could not withstand the backlash of even a single Ring Detonation.
Moreover, he knew nothing about Leng Yaozhu's Martial Soul, what abilities she possessed, or her Soul Ring configuration...
He knew only that she had a fire attribute.
That made things difficult.
As for the other choice...
Tang Hao stared fixedly at Lu Xuan, who was hiding behind Leng Yaozhu with Old Jack in his arms.
This mysterious Limit Douluo seemed to obey the boy's every word.
Moreover, he had heard it perfectly clearly just now: that boy Lu Xuan had specifically instructed her, "Don't beat him to death."
If he gave up resisting, perhaps he really could scrape through with his life?
Meanwhile, as Lu Xuan watched Tang Hao dripping with cold sweat, a barely perceptible cold glint flashed through his eyes.
Why, after Tang Hao had threatened Lu Xuan like this...
Would Lu Xuan still leave Tang Hao a way to survive?
It certainly wasn't out of tenderhearted mercy.
In this fantasy world, the strong preying on the weak was the true law.
Mercy toward others was cruelty toward oneself.
There was another crucial point: old Asura had watched over Tang San and brought him into this world.
Barring anything unexpected, Tang Hao was the guardian the Asura God had arranged for Tang San.
That meant he had to take the Asura God into consideration.
He had absolutely no way of knowing whether that old bastard of an Asura God was watching this place.
What if old Asura disregarded fair play and intervened?
Once he had tested the waters and confirmed that the Asura God would not interfere, he would kill him outright, then kill Tang San.
During the few short seconds Tang Hao spent weighing his options...
Leng Yaozhu did not care what Tang Hao was thinking. Losing focus in battle was a grave taboo!
Her stunning face was covered in frost as she swept her delicate hand.
In an instant, crimson flames filling the sky roared toward Tang Hao like an enraged dragon awakening.
The terrifying heat scorched even the surrounding space until it warped slightly.
"I am the mighty Clear Sky Douluo, the Clear Sky Sect's greatest genius! Even death holds no fear for me!"
Faced with that sea of flames that could destroy heaven and earth, the ferocity and pride in Tang Hao's bones were fully ignited.
His eyes turned bloodshot, and he let out a beastlike roar.
His right hand abruptly clenched around empty air, and a deep black light flashed.
An enormous, incomparably heavy black iron hammer appeared, gripped tightly in his hand.
"The Clear Sky Hammer?"
Looking at the black hammer, Leng Yaozhu raised her slender brows slightly, her expression turning somewhat strange.
Naturally, she recognized Tang Hao's Martial Soul. Twenty thousand years later, although the Clear Sky Sect had withdrawn from the world, it still held considerable sway in the Douluo World.
Hum-!
Accompanied by a deep rumble, two yellow, two purple, four black, and one red.
Nine Soul Rings in all flew out from the Clear Sky Hammer one after another, circling Tang Hao's burly body and pulsing up and down.
That final, dazzling Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring in particular dyed the surroundings blood-red.
Immediately afterward, the seventh black Soul Ring behind Tang Hao blazed with light!
"Martial Soul Avatar!"
The Clear Sky Hammer swelled explosively in the black light.
In the blink of an eye, it became a colossal hammer a hundred meters long!
The giant hammer blotted out the sky and sun, like a small black mountain suspended in midair.
With the terrifying might of Mount Tai crashing down, it smashed savagely toward Leng Yaozhu!
Lu Xuan's expression changed dramatically. He had not expected that madman Tang Hao to unleash his Martial Soul Avatar outright.
He had no need to worry about Leng Yaozhu.
What he worried about, however, was Holy Soul Village.
If that hammer landed, all of Holy Soul Village would turn to dust in an instant.
"Sister, don't let him destroy the village!"
"All right! What can a mere ordinary Titled Douluo, still gravely injured and with less than thirty percent of his strength remaining, possibly do to me?"
Leng Yaozhu snorted coldly, her exquisite face filled with pride that looked down upon the world.
Rather than retreating, she advanced, facing that falling black mountain head-on.
Screee-!
With a clear phoenix cry that pierced the clouds...
A pair of incomparably dazzling crimson wings unfurled from Leng Yaozhu's back!
An enormous Heavenly Phoenix phantom appeared proudly behind her, sacred and noble, radiating an aura that could burn the heavens and boil the seas.
Then a sight appeared that nearly split Tang Hao's eyes with fury.
Six black, three red!
[Note: Leng Yaozhu comes from the era of Douluo Dalu III: The Legend of the Dragon King. In that era, Soul Masters absorbed Soul Spirits, and Soul Spirits could be upgraded. As the Spirit Pagoda's deputy pagoda master, Leng Yaozhu naturally enjoyed priority access to upgrades, so this Soul Ring configuration is normal, perhaps even a little low.]
Nine terrifying Soul Rings in all, a configuration beyond all common understanding, circled Leng Yaozhu's body!
Those three dazzling Hundred Thousand Year Soul Rings illuminated the entire sky as though it had fallen into a sea of blood!
Faced with Tang Hao's attack, she could have relied on her agility to dodge with Lu Xuan.
Then she could have turned around and suppressed him.
But because of Lu Xuan's request, she chose the most forceful, most domineering approach!
The fifth Soul Ring behind Leng Yaozhu suddenly shone.
The Heavenly Phoenix phantom threw its head back and cried, transforming into a crimson pillar of fire that pierced heaven and earth and slammed into the Clear Sky Hammer with the force of smashing rotten wood!
BOOOOM-!!!
The deafening explosion resounded through the clouds.
Violent ripples of energy rampaged wildly through the air.
Yet when that seemingly invincible Clear Sky Hammer Martial Soul Avatar collided with the Heavenly Phoenix phantom...
It actually shattered inch by inch like fragile ice and snow!
"Pfft-!"
His Martial Soul Avatar was forcibly dispersed.
Tang Hao felt as though he had been struck by lightning.
He violently spat out a large mouthful of blood mixed with fragments of internal organs.
His burly body flew backward like a kite with its string cut, crashing heavily into the muddy ground in the distance.
He lay limp and twitching like a dead dog, new injuries piled atop severe wounds that had yet to heal.
He had completely lost the ability to resist.
The firelight dispersed, and Leng Yaozhu slowly folded away her wings, her breathing not even slightly disturbed.
"Sister, let's go."
Lu Xuan spoke softly, without so much as glancing at Tang Hao on the ground.
"All right." The coldness in Leng Yaozhu's eyes instantly melted into tenderness like a spring breeze.
She stepped forward and gently gathered Lu Xuan into her arms with her right hand.
With her left, she casually picked up the unconscious Old Jack by his collar.
After safely delivering Old Jack to the bed in the village chief's house...
Without the slightest lingering attachment, Leng Yaozhu held Lu Xuan and transformed into a streak of crimson light.
Before you continue