Zhang Lexuan sneered, casting Tang Hao a contemptuous glance as she said disdainfully:
"Not keeping my word? Indeed, my earlier promise rested on the premise that you and I were both human. But you could put even your own wife on the scales and weigh her worth. Someone who can so casually discard human decency and his bottom line-what right does he have to demand that others treat him by human rules?"
"Measuring you by morality and human decency is itself a mistake. You're worse than a beast. Do you really think the promise not to deceive people applies to you?"
At these words, Tang Hao's chest heaved violently, and he spat out a mouthful of blood in fury.
He stared fixedly at Zhang Lexuan, those twisted concepts churning through his mind as absurdity and rage engulfed him completely.
He had never imagined that such logic could exist in this world, stripping away a person's bottom line before trampling it underfoot with righteous conviction.
Unconvinced, Tang Hao demanded, "I refuse to accept this! I only did something utterly normal on this continent. Why should I be branded like that? Tell me, on this Douluo Continent, who wouldn't want to get their hands on a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast?"
"I schemed. There's nothing I can't admit about that. But if you were in my position, could you really have made a different decision? You know better than I do what a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring represents. One more Soul Skill means one more trump card for survival. Anyone else would probably have had no choice but to take this path."
Zhang Lexuan fell silent.
Tang Hao's words did seem to make some sense.
After all, who wouldn't be interested in a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast?
Anyone who possessed a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring would gain formidable combat strength, along with another Soul Skill.
Seeing Zhang Lexuan fall silent, Tang Hao burst into deranged laughter and said:
"See? You've gone quiet."
"Doesn't your silence mean you accept that reasoning in your heart too? That girl named Xiao Wu in Dorm Seven is also a transformed Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, isn't she? Since you're already a Peerless Douluo, you must have seen through her long ago."
"Since you saw through her identity, have you really never felt even the slightest temptation? Didn't you send Lin Chuan to approach her because you wanted to win that little girl's trust? Once the time is ripe, won't you start weighing how to count her Soul Ring among your assets, just like me?"
Indeed.
Within Tang Hao's twisted understanding, Lin Chuan must have approached Xiao Wu with the same covetous intentions as his own.
After all, what normal person would sleep with a girl he had just met on their very first night?
He absolutely refused to believe that any Soul Master in this world could keep their heart as still as water before the temptation of a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast.
At these words, Zhang Lexuan instantly came back to her senses, a trace of killing intent flashing through her eyes.
Had Tang Hao been making baseless assumptions about anyone else, she could have watched coldly without saying a word.
But the person Tang Hao had touched upon was Lin Chuan.
Lin Chuan had resurrected her and could even defy heaven to raise her cultivation rank and the ages of her Soul Rings. His origins were already unfathomable, so why would he covet the Soul Ring of a mere Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast in the slightest?
Not only would he remain unmoved by Xiao Wu's Soul Ring, but he would never trample another person's feelings with schemes and deception as Tang Hao had.
For Tang Hao to demean Lin Chuan like this, in Zhang Lexuan's eyes, meant he had already courted death.
"You almost tangled me up in that argument of yours."
"You're right. On this continent, no one would remain unmoved by a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring. But once tempted, they should hunt it openly and honorably through their own ability, rather than using affection to carry out despicable schemes like you."
Zhang Lexuan spoke coldly.
After saying that.
Zhang Lexuan no longer intended to engage in any further verbal entanglements with Tang Hao.
Continuing to converse with someone who cast aside human decency and his bottom line like worn-out shoes would simply sully her mouth.
Immediately afterward, an intense pressure descended directly upon Tang Hao.
That pressure instantly forced Tang Hao flat onto the ground.
He looked at Zhang Lexuan with bloodshot eyes, wanting to speak.
But Zhang Lexuan had clearly anticipated this. With a wave of her delicate hand, she sealed Tang Hao's mouth with Soul Power, leaving him unable to utter a single word, only muffled whimpers.
A look of anticipation appeared on Zhang Lexuan's face as she said with a smile:
"Tang Hao, you should consider yourself fortunate. After all, you're the first Titled Douluo to die within my domain. To grant you that insignificant measure of respect, I'll personally detonate this domain and send you off with a grand funeral of death."
Lying on the ground, Tang Hao heard these words, and his whimpers grew rapid and violent.
Had Soul Power not sealed his mouth, he would have screamed at the top of his lungs, Fuck your grand funeral!
You two despicable scoundrels who can't keep your word-what you've done makes you more than a hundred times worse than beasts compared to me!
Unfortunately.
Tang Hao's mouth was already sealed with Soul Power.
He could only indulge in those words in his mind.
At that very moment, Zhang Lexuan's domain began to tremble violently, and even the blood-red moon hanging high overhead began to split with cracks.
This was Domain Detonation, a method that surpassed Ring Detonation.
In an instant, the breath of death coiled around Tang Hao's entire body, and fear appeared in both his eyes and his face.
He was indeed the Clear Sky Douluo, whose name resounded across the continent, but ultimately, he was still mortal flesh that could bleed.
Before absolute destruction, once the so-called dignity of the strong had been stripped away, all that remained was the human instinct to fear annihilation.
Tang Hao lifted his head, his gaze falling upon Zhang Lexuan's figure not far away.
The blazing fury in his eyes had been washed away completely, leaving only an almost abject terror.
Muffled whimpers escaped Tang Hao's mouth. His psychological defenses had long since collapsed entirely, and he begged only that she spare his life.
Yet when Zhang Lexuan's gaze met the plea in his eyes, not even the slightest ripple stirred within it. She merely raised her hand slowly.
Then, her hand instantly clenched into a fist.
Boom!
A deafening explosion erupted in an instant, its sound waves and energy shock waves tearing directly through Tang Hao's hearing.
The world reflected in his pupils was swallowed by an all-encompassing blood-red light, and the surface of his skin began to endure an irresistible heat.
This was no ordinary heat. Every inch of his muscles suffered the torment of being roasted, and all his internal organs spasmed and contracted in temperatures nearing boiling point.
With his mouth sealed, Tang Hao could only let out faint whimpers as he struggled helplessly amid the searing pain.
The passage of time stretched out endlessly. The intense physical torment pushed him to his limit, and two streams of bloody tears welled uncontrollably from his eyes and slid down his cheeks.
Before long, that mass of blood-red light abruptly contracted inward, wrapping his entire body within it without leaving a single gap.
After that, there was not another sound.