Tang Hao severed his own leg and arm to beg for mercy, but Lin Chuan took out an Image-Recording Stone: "Tell me about Ah Yin?"

Tang Hao wasted no words.

He drew a harsh breath and snatched up the rusty woodcutting blade from the ground.

Gritting his teeth, he hacked straight down at his own thigh.

The lousy blade was far too dull.

It did not even have an edge. Cutting flesh with it was like fucking sawing wood.

Tang Hao's eyes reddened, veins bulging on his forehead as he forced himself to hack more than a dozen times.

With a crack, the bone finally broke.

His right leg came off at the hip.

Blood gushed out.

Pain.

Heart-piercing pain.

"Aah!"

Tang Hao could no longer hold it in. He let out a beastlike roar, cold sweat soaking his entire body, his clothes plastered against his skin.

Even in that wretched state, he still did not pass out.

Lin Chuan watched from a short distance away, a smile appearing on his face as he clicked his tongue in wonder.

"As expected of the Clear Sky Douluo. Those bones really are tough. You hacked yourself more than a dozen times and still didn't pass out from the pain."

"But although you've lost a leg now, don't forget, there's still an arm."

Hearing Lin Chuan's words, Tang Hao began trembling uncontrollably.

His eyes were bloodshot as he stared fixedly at Lin Chuan's face, his teeth grinding audibly.

Fucking hell.

I'm the great Clear Sky Douluo. When have I ever had to swallow this kind of shit?

It was far too humiliating.

He was now meat on the chopping block, without even the strength to struggle, left at another's mercy.

He could not accept it.

But what could he do about that?

A miserable life was better than a good death.

He would swallow today's loss.

As long as he had a breath left, he could settle this debt eventually.

Once I find a way back to the Clear Sky Sect, I'll make you little bastard repay today's severed leg and arm a hundredfold.

And Grandfather.

Right, as long as I find Grandfather...

Who doesn't have a Peerless Douluo backing them?

At that thought, Tang Hao drew a deep, harsh breath.

He forcibly swallowed back the humiliation surging into his head.

Endure.

I'll endure it!

As long as I get out of here alive today, there's still a fucking chance to turn the tables.

[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle-no one deserves that title more than you...]

"Save your breath. I know there's still an arm."

Tang Hao clenched his back teeth and forced out each word.

This time, he did not use that rusty woodcutting blade again.

He had not thought it through at all earlier.

The lousy blade was covered in rust, too dull to split even a piece of wood.

Was he supposed to hack his arm more than a dozen times, just as he had chopped off his thigh?

Even if Tang Hao was a Titled Douluo, with thick skin, tough flesh, and an iron will.

He still could not withstand the pain of being flayed alive like this.

Tang Hao gritted his teeth, reached out with his right hand, seized his left arm in a death grip, then jerked violently.

With a dull sound that set teeth on edge, he tore the arm clean off his body.

But this time, Tang Hao did not let out a single scream.

His teeth ground audibly, his face deathly pale, as he forcibly swallowed the agonizing pain that could have made him faint.

Tang Hao panted heavily and tossed the severed arm and the previously severed leg in front of Lin Chuan. His eyes bloodred and his chest heaving violently, he stared fixedly at him and said in a low voice:

"I've removed my arm and my leg myself... surely you should keep your promise and let me leave now?"

At those words, one corner of Lin Chuan's mouth lifted into a mocking smile.

He turned to Zhang Lexuan in front of him and asked with a grin:

"Sister Lexuan, I did just promise to spare Tang Hao, but what do you say? Do you want to spare him?"

Zhang Lexuan froze slightly, several question marks popping into her mind. She could not quite figure out what medicine Lin Chuan was selling in his gourd.

After all, she was following Lin Chuan's lead now. If he intended to let Tang Hao go, she naturally would not have the slightest objection.

But at that very moment, Lin Chuan's voice suddenly rang out in Zhang Lexuan's mind.

Yes, it was voice transmission.

But this method had absolutely nothing to do with spiritual power. It relied entirely on the Heaven and Earth Great World's mark inside Zhang Lexuan.

Using the mark, Lin Chuan held a private conversation directly across the distance. Never mind anyone else overhearing-even if a deity arrived in person, they could only grope blindly in the dark.

"Sister Lexuan, I never intended to leave Tang Hao alive. Next, do as I say..."

A while later, Zhang Lexuan turned her head, an indescribably strange look in her eyes as she gazed at Lin Chuan.

The wicked schemes in this brat's belly could probably sustain a whole pond of fish.

If Tang Hao really learned the full extent of this plan, even his last shred of will to live would probably be crushed.

But she quickly put those thoughts aside and did not dwell on them.

Zhang Lexuan nodded slightly, then turned toward Tang Hao, who lay slumped on the ground nearby, his breath faint as a thread. Her voice was cool and clear:

"He said he would spare you. That's his business. I haven't agreed."

At those words, the last trace of color instantly drained from Tang Hao's face.

He stared fixedly at the two before him, his teeth grinding, his voice hoarse with extreme rage and weakness:

"You... you faithless, despicable, shameless bastards. I agreed to sever my own leg and arm. What more do you want?"

Humiliation gnawed at his nerves like a venomous snake.

If he still had Soul Power, he would have taken these two bastards down with him, even if he had to self-destruct.

Unfortunately, he could not even move a finger.

Even taking ten thousand steps back, if he really did have Soul Power, would he still dare attack now?

He would not.

When that arm and leg had been forcibly removed, even the Soul Bones inside them had been stripped out completely.

He could clearly feel his cultivation plummeting.

His Soul Power had already fallen into the seventies. If he did not receive treatment soon, that number would keep dropping.

Recovering in the future?

If he sought treatment, perhaps he still could.

But if he delayed too long, he would truly be crippled.

So Tang Hao was very anxious now, desperate to retrieve Ah Yin's Soul Bone.

Seeing Tang Hao's utterly broken state, Lin Chuan could not help the corners of his mouth lifting.

Then he raised one finger, a rare measure of sincerity entering his tone as he said:

"It's not impossible to spare your life."

"Don't panic. Just one condition. It's quite easy. Relax, I definitely won't trick you this time."

Of course, Tang Hao did not believe a word of it.

But that was how the world worked. With a blade at his neck, standing beneath another's eaves, he had no choice but to bow his head.

Whether he believed it was not up to him. He no longer had any bargaining chips.

He clenched his fist tightly. Only after a long while did he utter a single word:

"Speak."

Seeing Tang Hao act so sensibly, Lin Chuan nodded and asked with interest:

"I know roughly what happened back then, all that dirty business where you schemed against Ah Yin by any means necessary for her Soul Ring."

"But I have this little quirk. I don't like reading case files. I prefer hearing it straight from the person involved. Come on, tell me about your glorious deeds back then."

As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Chuan secretly bought an Image-Recording Stone from the system shop.

Then he took out the Image-Recording Stone and secretly hid it in his sleeve, ready to record everything that happened next.

Moreover, this Image-Recording Stone had another feature.

It could be copied endlessly. Even making tens of millions of copies would be no problem.