The Balak Kingdom.
The outskirts of Suotuo City.
Deep in the woods beside Shrek Academy.
A man was slowly heading away from Shrek Academy. His steps fell lightly, yet his figure flickered several meters in an instant, enough to show that his strength was far from ordinary.
A tattered hemp cloak concealed his face, keeping his true appearance hidden.
His coarse hemp clothing had many old tears, exposing his bronze skin.
Only after putting a considerable distance between himself and Shrek Academy did the man stop.
Raising his head slightly, he swept his weathered eyes beneath the cloak over his surroundings and frowned faintly. "Since you're here, why hide? Show yourselves!"
As his words fell, wind suddenly rose through the previously quiet woods.
A figure in white appeared, his snow-white hair floating lightly behind him.
Another figure stood clad in black armor, his physique sturdy and towering, his presence imposing.
Seeing the arrivals, the man's lips twitched. "I wondered who it was. So it's Sword Douluo and Bone Douluo of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect."
"Since both of you are here, I presume Sect Master Ning of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect is here as well!"
The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's peerless Sword and Bone duo could not possibly both leave Ning Fengzhi's side. Their simultaneous appearance here could only mean that Ning Fengzhi had come too.
As the man's words fell, Ning Fengzhi emerged from the woods as well, also dressed in fine white robes, his bearing refined.
"To think it really is you. It's been over a decade. Long time no see, Tang Hao."
After Ning Fengzhi identified him, Tang Hao slowly removed his hemp cloak, revealing a somewhat haggard face.
At the sight of his unkempt, stubbled face, even Sword Bone Douluo looked visibly moved.
Back then, as the Clear Sky Sect's most outstanding genius and the continent's youngest Titled Douluo, how high-spirited Tang Hao had been. Otherwise, he would never have gained a little fanboy like Gangzi.
Yet now, if not for the formidable presence possessed only by a Titled Douluo and the faintly familiar contours of his face, they could never have imagined that the Tang Hao of those days would end up looking like this.
Just what had happened to this man over the past decade and more?
Facing Sword Bone Douluo and Ning Fengzhi, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's strongest trio, even the utterly fearless Tang Hao could only resort to words.
"I thought Spirit Hall would be the first to find me. I never expected to run into your Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect first."
At that moment, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect rose several notches in Tang Hao's estimation.
Originally, Tang Hao had merely thought Ning Fengzhi was no simple character. Now it seemed that the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's overall influence had likely grown after the Clear Sky Sect sealed its mountain.
"So, Tang Hao, just what did Spirit Hall want to obtain from you back then?"
As Ning Fengzhi brought up the past, Tang Hao's thoughts seemed to return to that most painful time. Taking a deep breath, he looked at Ning Fengzhi and said, "That doesn't seem to concern the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, does it? Sect Master Ning, I have no intention of becoming your sect's enemy. Could the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect do me a favor today and pretend you never saw me? I will certainly remember this kindness."
Ning Fengzhi slowly shook his head. "Someone told me that what Spirit Hall coveted back then was a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast. Is that true or not?"
At this, Tang Hao's gaze narrowed slightly, instantly turning dangerous. "Sect Master Ning, I don't know what you're talking about. But does the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect truly intend to make an outright enemy of me today?"
"All the world's bustling crowds come for profit; all its jostling throngs go for gain. Tang Hao, you should understand that we are all Soul Masters. We all need to hunt Soul Beasts to obtain... Soul Rings and Soul Bones!" Ning Fengzhi replied calmly, his expression composed.
Yet the instant Ning Fengzhi finished speaking, a fierce gust came howling toward them.
Seen up close, it was an enormous dark-red hammer swelling rapidly against the wind.
Tang Hao was decisive. Upon realizing that negotiations would lead nowhere, he had struck first without hesitation.
Tang Hao was fast, but Sword Bone Douluo, guarding Ning Fengzhi's side, was no slower. Bone Douluo unleashed his Bone Dragon Martial Soul, and the Seventh Soul Ring beneath his feet lit up.
"Seventh Soul Skill, Ancient Dragon Avatar!"
The enormous Ancient Dragon Martial Soul instantly beat its wings, knocking Tang Hao's hammer away.
After his strike missed, Tang Hao steadied himself. As the others looked at him again, all their gazes fell in unison upon the Soul Rings beneath his feet.
Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black, red?!
"It really is a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring. What we were told was actually right!"
The three exchanged glances, each harboring different thoughts.
Rather than saying they had come for Tang Hao, it would be more accurate to say they had come for his Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone and the Clear Sky Sect's two inherited Soul Bones.
Such a haul naturally warranted Ning Fengzhi and his strongest trio setting out together.
Tang Hao stepped forward with his left foot and stamped heavily on the ground. Amid a thunderous boom, he pivoted around that foot, his right arm holding the Clear Sky Hammer instantly extending behind him as every muscle in his body tensed.
From his calves to his waist, then from his waist to his arm, he drove the Clear Sky Hammer into a sweeping strike with the strength of his entire body.
That hammer strike seemed to suck the air empty.
On the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's side, it was Sword Douluo who acted this time.
The Seven Kill Sword rose. His hand lifted and the sword fell, a strike so simple it had returned to its purest essence.
The Seven Kill Sword's radiance struck the descending Clear Sky Hammer head-on, stirring up a piercing roar.
After that exchange, Sword Douluo's white robes remained spotless, his snow-white hair stirring in the wind.
"Tang Hao, stop these pointless probes. Let this old man see just how much this generation's Clear Sky Douluo is worth!"
Tang Hao's expression was solemn. He too understood that today's encounter likely would not end peacefully.
The will to fight ignited in his heart. "As you wish!"
Tang Hao clenched his hand in empty air. Of the nine rings around him, the most conspicuous red Soul Ring shuddered violently, then gradually lost its radiance, turning from vivid red to utter dullness.
At the same time, the Soul Power surrounding Tang Hao surged several levels higher.
The Great Sumeru Hammer's supreme profundity, Ring Detonation!
"Ah Yin, it's my own incompetence. This time, I'll be dragging you into this again!"
Gripping the Clear Sky Hammer's handle in both hands, Tang Hao leaped into the air. At that moment, the Hundred-Thousand-Year Blue Silver Emperor Soul Ring seemed to merge completely with him. As he swung the hammer, the sleeve over his right arm burst apart, and surging dark-red radiance poured furiously into him through the handle.
Man and hammer as one, Sumeru Overwhelms the Heavens!
"Well met!"
Watching the dark-red Clear Sky Hammer swell without limit and crash down like a small mountain, Sword Douluo stood utterly fearless.
His heart had not been so stirred in a very long time.
How many years had it been since he had experienced such a thoroughly exhilarating battle after becoming a Titled Douluo?
His body transformed into a sword. Just as he had when facing Gu Yang and Bone Douluo's Martial Soul Fusion Skill that day, Sword Douluo directly unleashed his Martial Soul Avatar, his entire person becoming an enormous azure Seven Kill Sword.
Then a phantom of Sword Douluo gripped the enormous Seven Kill Sword and slashed down with overwhelming momentum. The powerful Seven Kill Sword Qi made even space tremble faintly.
This sword strike could cleave all things between heaven and earth!