Standing Guard Alone

Xiao Wu nodded without the slightest hesitation. "I'm willing. This is exactly what I came out here for!"

Tang Hao and Tang San spoke up then as well.

"Me too. Count me in," Tang Hao said.

"I want to see a world like that too," Tang San added.

Lan Changsheng smiled. "All right, keep going. I won't see you off. Ah Yin still isn't completely safe, so I have to go back."

"Aren't we waiting for Teacher?"

"No need. He knows the way. We'll go ahead," Tang Hao said first. "Brother-in-law, go to Ah Yin. I'll be here with the children. Even if it costs me my life, I'll keep them safe."

"If anything comes up that you can't handle, have Xiao San contact me."

Tang San nodded and waved to Lan Changsheng. "Then we'll be going, Uncle. Stay safe, both you and Mother."

After Tang San and his companions disappeared from his sight, this "Lan Changsheng" broke apart into several strands of Blue Silver Grass, swaying in the wind.

This completely unscathed Lan Changsheng was merely a clone he had woven from Blue Silver Grass. In a way, he had Bibi Dong to thank for teaching him this trick.

Lan Changsheng's real body was in a tree not far away. He closed his eyes and, in that silence filled only with fallen leaves and the sound of wind, quietly waited for his injuries to recover a little more before continuing on.

Night had already fallen over Sunset Forest.

Tonight was darker than usual. Moonlight spilled down, passing through the glasslike layer of crystallized poison gas above the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, breaking into patches of cold white light that fell to the ground and illuminated the corpses lying there.

Those corpses still wore Spirit Hall uniforms, and they had all fallen facing forward.

Dugu Bo shook the blood clinging to his hands away. He had already lost count of how many waves he had killed. From dusk until now, people from Spirit Hall had surged forward like the tide, wave after wave.

They were cut down by him, retreated, then surged forward again.

He straightened and withdrew the Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor into his body. Moonlight shone on him, reflecting a chill. He put his hands behind his back, clutching an Immortal Herb leaf in his palm and rapidly refining it to restore his Soul Power.

Spirit Hall's Titled Douluo was still watching from a distance. He could not show any sign of weakness.

Hammer Douluo, Tang Zong.

Sitting in a crooked tree, he smiled faintly and summoned a cup of fine wine with a wave of his hand. He raised it slightly toward Dugu. Moonlight shone on the rim, casting an amber glow, before he lifted the cup and drained it in one gulp.

His movements were unhurried, as though applauding a marvelous play.

Although his surname was Tang and his Martial Soul was also a hammer, he was not from the Clear Sky Sect. That was why he hated the people of the Clear Sky Sect most of all, hated that he had not awakened the world's greatest Tool Martial Soul when his surname was Tang too!

Especially after he became a Titled Douluo and could only be honored as Hammer Douluo, his hatred grew even stronger. He refused to accept it! He had taken part in several of Spirit Hall's previous operations against the Clear Sky Sect, more eager than anyone else.

But after his hammer clashed with the Clear Sky Hammer, he had proved only one thing: why the Clear Sky Hammer was the world's greatest Tool Martial Soul.

At that thought, Tang Zong crushed the wine cup in his hand. Its fragments were ground to powder in his palm, and the remaining wine spilled to the ground, but he noticed none of it.

He looked at his chest, where four clearly visible claw marks remained, wounds Dugu Bo had left on him.

Thinking of this, Tang Zong's gaze darkened. The claw marks on his chest were still oozing blackish-green, tainted blood. Dugu Bo's half-human, half-snake form had sent him flying with a single strike. Had he not retreated quickly, he might already have been torn in two.

"Poison Douluo certainly lives up to his name. So many have been poisoned before they could even get close," Tang Zong murmured. There was no particular anger in his voice, only a cold patience.

So he sent the Soul Saints and Soul Douluos under his command forward first to wear Dugu Bo down.

"Attack."

Tang Zong waved his hand again. He said nothing more, but the Soul Saints and Soul Douluos who had long been waiting behind him filed out.

The light of Martial Souls and Soul Rings flared one after another in the darkness. Tang Zong stood at the rear, his hands tucked into his sleeves, watching his subordinates charge into that dark green mist once again.

He was still waiting, waiting for reinforcements to arrive.

After another charge, many more corpses littered the ground. Unlike before, however, a gash had been cut across Dugu Bo's back.

"Heh, old fool, how much longer can you hold on?" Tang Zong's contemptuous laughter rang out.

Dugu Bo did not look back. He had to seize every moment to recover his Soul Power. But this time, time was not on his side.

"Old Tang, still haven't dealt with him?" A flat, hoarse voice sounded as a man dressed like a white-robed scholar appeared beside Tang Zong. On his back was an unsheathed sword, blood-red from end to end and mottled with rust.

Another unfamiliar fluctuation of Soul Power belonging to a Titled Douluo reached Dugu Bo, making his expression darken. This Soul Power was sharp and cold, carrying the metallic smell of rust.

His entire body tensed as he watched the two Titled Douluos, ready to begin fighting at any moment.

But the two opposite him stood together casually and began chatting, as though they already had him in the bag.

"Of course. Otherwise, would I need to wait here for you?" Tang Zong spread his hands.

"So you piled up this many lives? These are all men of our Spirit Hall," Li Hanshuang declared righteously.

"Heh, you think that applies to him but not you? I learned this from you."

Exposed, Li Hanshuang was not annoyed. He smoothly changed the subject. "Tell me, then. How did a level ninety-two old poison monster hold you up for so long?"

"The intelligence was wrong. Dugu Bo is level ninety-five now, and he's mastered a new method. It's extremely powerful."

As he spoke, he pulled open the front of his clothes, revealing the four claw marks.

"Hiss, that really is vicious. No wonder you waited until now."

"Then shall we attack together?"

"Together!"

The sword on Li Hanshuang's back gave a low, metallic hum and flew into his hand on its own. Taking a sword-drawing stance, he leaned forward and charged at Dugu Bo.

Tang Zong also summoned his Martial Soul, the Xuan Iron Hammer, leaping high into the air and smashing it toward Dugu Bo.

Dugu Bo took a step back and extended both hands, palms upward, before abruptly bringing them together. The Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor's mark lit up, his Seventh Soul Ring flashed, and he once again assumed that form with a human torso and a snake's tail, dozens of zhang long.

His aura surged, whipping his hair into a wild dance. His molten-gold, slit-pupiled eyes were fierce without any show of anger.

Human-Snake Aspect!

He had given this move a simple, direct name.

Dugu Bo's eyes held only Tang Zong. Before either opponent could close in, his snake tail sprang against the ground. Broken stones flew in an instant as Dugu Bo shot straight toward Tang Zong like a bolt of jade-green lightning.

Only then did Li Hanshuang finally understand what Tang Zong had meant by a new form. Dugu Bo's aura was now stronger by far more than a mere notch.

But for now, it was all right. Dugu Bo's target was Tang Zong.

He gritted his teeth, changed direction, and swung his sword down onto Dugu Bo's serpentine body!