Tang Hao beat Yu Xiaogang brutally!

The vast underground space was deserted.

There was no brutal slaughter arena as imagined, nor any bands of degenerates.

The enormous Blood Pool originally used to hold yellow springs dew was now boiling, its scarlet blood churning wildly.

And in the very center of the Blood Pool.

An unmistakable Dark Gold "pillar," dozens of meters thick, towered there!

This pillar extended from the rock overhead all the way to the bottom of the Blood Pool. Ancient patterns covered its surface, and it radiated terrifying heat that made hearts tremble.

Tang San stared blankly at the behemoth.

He pushed his Purple Demon Eye to its limit, trying to see through to the thing's true nature.

"This is..."

In a flash of inspiration, Tang San instantly recalled his teacher Yu Xiaogang's lessons.

"This must be the core formation that keeps Slaughter City running!"

"This pillar is the formation's energy hub!"

A flicker of fervor flashed in Tang San's eyes.

No wonder those black-armored knights had sealed this place off.

Something must have gone wrong with this core formation, causing energy to leak out. The King of Slaughter could not handle it himself, so he had sealed off the inner city.

"As long as I can destroy or control this hub, won't Slaughter City's Divine Slaughter's Domain be mine for the taking?"

At that thought, Tang San did not hesitate.

He took a deep breath and poured every last bit of his soul power into the Clear Sky Hammer in his hand.

The jet-black Clear Sky Hammer swelled in the wind, instantly becoming a massive hammer the size of a water vat.

"Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer!"

Tang San drove against the ground and leaped into the air.

Using the strength of his waist in midair, he swung the enormous Clear Sky Hammer and smashed it straight at the Dark Gold "pillar" in the center of the Blood Pool.

"Shatter!"

Tang San roared, his eyes brimming with confidence that victory was certain.

With the Number One Tool Martial Soul in the World and the Tang Sect Secret Art, Chaotic Cloak, he refused to believe he could not smash a pillar!

But in the next second, the confidence on Tang San's face froze.

He felt as though his hammer had struck not a pillar.

But an immovable meteorite from the stars!

Forget shattering that Dark Gold surface—not even a single spark flew from it.

Instead, the instant the supposedly all-conquering Clear Sky Hammer in his hand touched the Dark Gold surface.

A crack appeared right across its head!

Immediately afterward, an utterly unreasonable, terrifying recoil surged back along the handle and flooded into Tang San's body like a tsunami.

"Pfft!"

Tang San did not even have time to scream.

The bones in both his arms broke inch by inch, and he flew backward like a shell fired from a cannon, embedding himself violently in the rock wall behind him.

Blood sprayed wildly.

Even his Clear Sky Hammer martial soul was jolted straight back into his body, leaving him unable to summon it again for the time being.

"H-how is this possible..."

Tang San slid down the rock wall and collapsed on the ground, his face filled with shock.

My strongest blow actually cracked the Clear Sky Hammer?

What kind of formation is this?!

Just as Tang San thought he was certain to die.

A blood-red figure came scrambling out of the darkness.

It was none other than the King of Slaughter, who had heard the commotion and been frightened out of his wits!

The King of Slaughter looked at Tang San coughing blood on the ground, then at the perfectly intact dragon whisker in the center of the Blood Pool. He nearly went mad.

He rushed forward, seized Tang San by the collar, and sprayed spittle everywhere, his eyes so red they seemed ready to drip blood.

"You blind little beast!"

"Do you have any fucking idea what you just hit?!"

Meanwhile.

At an inn in a small town on the outskirts of Star Dou Great Forest.

The people from Shrek Academy had rented an entire courtyard, and the atmosphere was oppressive.

Yu Xiaogang lay in bed. Though his face was still deathly pale, he had recovered somewhat.

Beside the bed, Liu Erlong held a bowl of medicine, her face full of heartache.

"Xiaogang, drink your medicine."

Yu Xiaogang pushed the bowl away, trembling with anger.

"I won't!"

"That ungrateful disciple! That white-eyed wolf!"

"I taught him my life's work, the Ten Core Competencies, without holding anything back, and he actually dared treat me like this!"

The more Yu Xiaogang thought about it, the angrier he became, until his face flushed red.

"Wasn't it just one tiny theoretical mistake?"

"Even gods misjudge things sometimes! He actually defied me in public over a woman and even severed ties with me!"

Hearing Yu Xiaogang's complaints, Liu Erlong beside him was also filled with anger.

"Exactly!"

"That Tang San simply doesn't know what's good for him!"

"Xiaogang, you treated him like your own son, and what did he do? For a woman, he threw away even respect for his teacher and his teachings."

"When he comes back, I'll break his legs!"

Standing by the window, Flender sighed.

"Erlong, ease up. Xiao Wu was taken by the Titan Giant Ape. It's only natural that little San is upset."

"Natural, my ass!" Liu Erlong's brows shot up.

"If Xiaogang hadn't been directing them, they wouldn't even have caught sight of the Titan Giant Ape!"

"Wasn't Xiaogang doing it for everyone's good?"

Just as the three in the room were subjecting Tang San to a barrage of condemnation.

Boom!

An immensely heavy, terrifying pressure descended over the entire inn without warning.

The air in the room instantly froze.

The teacups on the table were crushed straight into powder by that pressure.

Flender's and Liu Erlong's expressions changed drastically. Before either could even release their martial soul, the force pressed them down onto one knee.

Yu Xiaogang, lying in bed, rolled his eyes back and nearly passed out again.

"Who?!" Flender raised his head with difficulty and roared.

Bang!

Someone kicked the inn's main door to pieces.

A burly man draped in a ragged cloak walked inside with heavy footsteps.

Beneath his tangled hair was a pair of eyes filled with killing intent.

"One tiny theoretical mistake?"

"You used my son's life to test those worthless, nonsensical theories of yours."

"Yu Xiaogang, you've got some nerve."

At that voice, Flender shuddered, cold sweat instantly soaking his back.

"Y-your Excellency Haotian?!"

The newcomer was none other than Tang San's father, Clear Sky Douluo, Tang Hao!

Without so much as a glance at Flender, Tang Hao walked straight to the bedside, seized Yu Xiaogang by the throat, and lifted him off the bed like a chick.

"Cough, cough..."

Yu Xiaogang kicked wildly, his face flushed red and his eyes filled with terror.

Before this man, he did not dare utter so much as a fart about the theories he took such pride in.

"Back then, I entrusted little San to you only because you had some theoretical ability."

Tang Hao stared at Yu Xiaogang, cold light shooting from his eyes.

"And this is how you taught him?"

"Taking a useless rank-twenty-nine martial soul to provoke a hundred-thousand-year soul beast?"

"If you fucking want to die, don't drag my son and his wife into the grave with you!"

"Let Xiaogang go!"

Seeing the man she loved seized by the throat, Liu Erlong instantly became frantic.

She already had a fiery temper, and now she could not care whether the man facing her was a Titled Douluo.

"Seventh Soul Skill, Crimson Dragon True Body!"

Liu Erlong shouted, terrifying flames erupting all over her body.

An enormous phantom fire dragon expanded inside the cramped inn, opened its jaws, and lunged at Tang Hao.

"Erlong! Don't!" Flender's expression changed in horror, but it was already too late to stop her.

Facing this all-out attack from Liu Erlong.

Tang Hao did not even turn his head.

He merely freed his left hand and casually swept it outward.

Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black, red!

Nine dazzling soul rings lit up instantly.

Immediately afterward, an enormous jet-black iron hammer appeared out of thin air.

There were no flashy soul skills at all.

Tang Hao simply swung the Clear Sky Hammer with one hand, casually smashing it toward the phantom fire dragon.

Bang!

The Fire Dragon Avatar did not even last a second before collapsing on the spot!

"Pfft!"

Liu Erlong sprayed a great mouthful of blood and flew backward, smashing heavily through the inn's wall and falling onto the street outside.

One blow.

With just one casual hammer blow, a Soul Saint-level expert was severely wounded and rendered unable to fight.

Such was the overwhelming might of the Number One Tool Martial Soul in the World!

Flender swallowed, kneeling on the floor without daring to move a muscle.

Tang Hao returned his gaze to Yu Xiaogang and tossed him onto the floor like trash.

"Cough, cough, cough..."

Clutching his throat and coughing violently, Yu Xiaogang scrambled backward.

"Your Excellency Haotian, please let me explain..."

"That really wasn't the Titan Giant Ape's territory. It was an ancient formation..."

Slap!

Tang Hao stepped forward and mercilessly slapped Yu Xiaogang across the face.

The slap was so heavy that it sent half of Yu Xiaogang's teeth flying.

"A formation?"

Tang Hao sneered repeatedly.

"I happened to be near Star Dou Great Forest a few days ago!"

"I know perfectly well just how extraordinary that blood energy shooting into the sky that night was."

"A useless rank-twenty-nine like you actually dared take a group of children treasure hunting in a place like that?"

"If he hadn't been lucky, there wouldn't even be ashes left of little San now!"

Growing angrier with every word, Tang Hao raised his foot and kicked Yu Xiaogang viciously in the stomach.

Yu Xiaogang screamed and curled up like a shrimp on the floor, in too much pain to speak.

His mental defenses collapsed completely.

Even Clear Sky Douluo said that place was terrifying, yet he had foolishly thought it was a formation where he could scoop up a bargain!

"Where is my son?"

Tang Hao planted a foot on Yu Xiaogang's chest and demanded an answer, looming over him.

"If he's missing so much as a single hair, I'll level you and the whole of Shrek Academy today!"

"Who dares cause trouble at Shrek Academy?!"

An angry roar rang out from outside the inn.

Then, with a boom, the inn's already battered entrance was smashed apart completely.

Zhao Wuji charged in menacingly, his muscles swelling and a phantom Great Strength Vajra Bear accompanying him.

Following him were Li Yusong, Lu Qibin, and several other academy teachers.

Liu Erlong being knocked out into the street had caused such a commotion that it had alerted them all.

"You dare hit our vice dean? Tired of liv-"

His face full of bulging flesh, Zhao Wuji was just about to erupt.

But when he made out the scene inside the room, especially the slovenly man standing with one foot on Yu Xiaogang's chest and a massive black hammer in one hand...

Zhao Wuji's voice cut off abruptly.

He was like a crowing rooster suddenly seized by the throat.

"Y-Your Excellency Haotian?!"

Cold sweat sprang up all over Zhao Wuji's head, and his legs went weak. He nearly dropped straight to his knees.

This very man had once given him some private "instruction" in a grove.

He would never forget that terror as every punch struck flesh, leaving even his Martial Soul unable to tell which way was north.

"Zhao Wuji, you're just in time."

Tang Hao glanced at him, his foot still planted on Yu Xiaogang, his tone icy.

"Tell me, where did my son go?"

Zhao Wuji swallowed, hurriedly dismissed his Martial Soul, and cautiously approached with a placating smile.

"Your Excellency, please calm down first."

"Tang San... he's all right. He was hurt a little, and he ran into the forest himself to save that girl called Xiao Wu..."

"What?!"

At those words, Tang Hao's voice rose sharply, the murderous intent in his eyes almost solidifying into substance.

"You useless trash!"

"Do you know what kind of place the inner ring of the Star Dou Great Forest is? With those two hundred-thousand-year soul beasts going berserk, even I couldn't claim I'd get out unscathed!"

"And you actually let my son go in there alone to die?!"

The tremendous roar, laced with a Titled Douluo's Soul Power, sent Zhao Wuji staggering several steps back, his blood and vital energy churning.

Flender hurriedly crawled over as well and knelt before Tang Hao, tears streaming down his aged face.

"Your Excellency, every last fault is ours!"

"But Xiaogang really meant well! He just wanted so badly to prove himself and find a good opportunity for the children."

"Please be magnanimous and let him go like a fart! With that frail body of his, he really will die if you keep stepping on him!"

Flender pleaded desperately.

Just then, bricks and rubble rattled in the hole in the inn's outer wall.

Covered in blood, Liu Erlong crawled back from the street, her hair hanging loose and disheveled.

Clutching her chest tightly, she watched Yu Xiaogang beneath Tang Hao's foot, drawing more breath in than he let out, her eyes filled with venomous resentment and unwillingness.

"Boss Fu, why are you begging him?!"

Liu Erlong gritted her teeth and stared fixedly at Tang Hao.

"Tang Hao, don't think you can kill people as you please just because you're a Titled Douluo!"

"Xiaogang isn't just the Horn of Wisdom of our Golden Iron Triangle. He's also a direct descendant of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan!"

"If you dare kill him today, that old dragon Yu Yuanzhen of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan will never let you off!"

"When that happens, even if you are the Clear Sky Douluo, you'll have to face the wrath of the entire Upper Three Sects!"

Liu Erlong directly invoked Yu Xiaogang's background, trying to use the world's second-greatest sect to pressure Tang Hao.

At those words, the room fell silent for a moment.

Zhao Wuji's and Flender's hearts both lurched.

It's over. This madwoman is pouring oil on the fire!

Sure enough.

When Tang Hao heard the words "Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan," rather than restraining himself, he suddenly burst into loud laughter.

"Ha ha ha ha!"

His laughter was filled with disdain and unbridled arrogance.

"You're trying to pressure me with that old dragon Yu Yuanzhen?"

Tang Hao stopped laughing, his gaze abruptly turning utterly imperious.

"Never mind Yu Xiaogang, that piece of trash his clan threw out!"

"Even if Yu Yuanzhen himself stood here today, if he dared speak to me in that tone, I'd smash him too!"