Dozens of golden ripples appeared behind the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger. Dozens of Martial Souls of various shapes emerged from them, applying dozens of different buffs to the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger.
Strength, agility, defense, attack power...
Under layer upon layer of different buffs, the muscles beneath the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's fur began to swell, its bones gave faint cracks, and its entire body visibly grew half a size larger.
The Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's dark red eyes fixed on what lay ahead. Its four claws gouged furrows into the ground, the growls rolling from its throat were deeper than before, and the dangerous presence radiating from its body had grown stronger.
A huge hammer hurtled toward Jing Shanshan, tearing through the air.
The Dark Demon Evil God Tiger instinctively wanted to dodge this powerful attack that it had no need to meet head-on, but feeling the surging strength within its body, it instantly filled with confidence. It abruptly stepped forward, opened its enormous jaws repeatedly, and sent several black-and-red blades of light slicing through the air to strike the huge hammer one after another.
After several dull impacts, the huge hammer was forcibly knocked back. It traced an arc through the air and crashed to the ground with an enormous boom, sending dust billowing into the sky.
The sound alone revealed just how terrifyingly heavy that hammer was.
Movement came from within the dust. Gradually, a figure could be seen carrying an enormous hammer on his shoulder, slowly walking out.
Tang San's father, the Clear Sky Douluo, Tang Hao.
He was burly, wearing a coarse cloth robe washed threadbare with age. His disheveled hair hung loose, his weathered face was covered in stubble, and his eyes, cold as ice, stared fixedly at Jing Shanshan.
He gripped the enormous Clear Sky Hammer, faint dark red patterns shifting across its body.
"What kind of Soul Beast is this?!"
Tang Hao had never expected a mere ten-thousand-year Soul Beast to withstand his Clear Sky Hammer.
He had thought this Soul Beast excelled at sensing danger and speed, but judging from what had just happened, its strength was equally astonishing.
At least after their initial exchange, he could judge that this pitch-black tiger Soul Beast's strength was not much inferior to his own!
Tang Hao knew absolutely nothing about the Soul Beast before him. In short, he would have to experience its abilities for himself.
Tang Hao tightened his grip on the Clear Sky Hammer as his Soul Power surged. He showed no intention of explaining why he wanted to kill Jing Shanshan and stood ready to face an unknown attack at any moment.
"You were rude to this king, and you still expect this king to tell you?!"
Jing Shanshan gave a cold snort. At a thought from him, the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger unleashed several black-and-red blades of light.
The Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's black-and-red light blades were not attacks one could casually withstand.
Tang Hao had no intention of taking them head-on. He moved swiftly to dodge the light blades, only to see that a black figure had already arrived just over ten meters in front of him.
The Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's sudden burst of speed left Tang Hao's face filled with disbelief. Unable to react in time, he could only respond hastily.
Boom!!!
Tang Hao was forcibly sent flying hundreds of meters like an arrow loosed from a bow. He plunged headfirst straight into the ground, producing another tremendous crash.
The Dark Demon Evil God Tiger shook its head, and the gray currents covering it slowly faded.
"You beast!"
Wild Soul Power erupted in every direction, blowing the dust away. Tang Hao no longer concealed his killing intent at all, making birds passing overhead immediately turn and flee.
He clambered awkwardly out of the bottom of the pit his own head had made and wiped the corner of his mouth. Nothing but frenzied killing intent remained in his eyes. The Soul Power surrounding him abruptly concentrated in his feet, and he kicked off the ground, leaving two deep craters.
"Beast! Take this!"
The Clear Sky Hammer trembled in Tang Hao's hand, and its dark red patterns lit up.
With its many buffs, the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger refused to back down either. It pushed off with all four limbs and charged to meet him.
This time, however, the situation was rather different.
That earlier collision had happened entirely because Tang Hao had not expected the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger to possess a charging ability with speed comparable to teleportation, leaving him unable to react in time.
Facing the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger, whose strength had already reached the level of a Titled Douluo, Tang Hao swung the Clear Sky Hammer with a fierce, whistling momentum, one blow following another. His sweeping strikes seemed wide open, but each one actually held a follow-up in reserve. His Soul Power remained concentrated without dispersing, forcing the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger to dodge repeatedly rather than confront him head-on.
The few black-and-red light blades the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger found openings to release were either dodged with a sidestep or simply smashed apart by Tang Hao's hammer.
After several exchanges, the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger showed faint signs of falling behind.
"This..."
Watching the battle, Qian Renxue kept feeling an indescribable sense that something was out of place.
It was perfectly normal for a sixty-thousand-year Soul Beast like the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger to be at a disadvantage against Tang Hao.
Yet the longer she watched this battle, the stronger that inexplicable sense of strangeness became.
"Not bad. This king thought only the Great Sumeru Hammer would be worth a look."
Jing Shanshan completely stopped directing the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger, letting it act freely.
At once, the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's fighting style changed.
The head-on exchanges between the two sides changed outright.
The Dark Demon Evil God Tiger immediately and swiftly put distance between them, no longer engaging Tang Hao at close quarters. It suddenly flung black-and-red light blades from the flank, and by the time Tang Hao raised his hammer to block, it had already darted to the other side.
Tang Hao turned to pursue it, but his speed was clearly inferior to the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's. He could only watch it retreat far into the distance again and begin releasing sudden black-and-red light blades.
Given the power and speed of those black-and-red light blades, Tang Hao could not simply ignore them. He could only stop hurriedly to dodge.
The Clear Sky Hammer was abruptly hurled toward the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger, but it was doomed to strike empty air. It blasted a huge crater into the ground without touching so much as a hair on the black tiger.
Just as Tang Hao closed the distance to the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger, it slipped away again, even turning back to fling two light blades at him.
This left Tang Hao's face ashen, the pent-up breath in his chest swelling more and more.
He was the illustrious Clear Sky Douluo. When had he ever fought such a stifling battle?!
He could neither hit it nor catch it. This beast struck once and ran, and before running, it even sent out an attack he could not afford to ignore. How was he supposed to fight this?!
At this sight, Qian Renxue's sense of incongruity finally disappeared.
Just as I thought.
According to her family's records, the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger was a cunning, greedy creature. Fighting head-on against an opponent whose raw strength clearly surpassed its own was abnormal no matter how she looked at it.
However, Qian Renxue could clearly see a hint of something amiss in the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's subsequent performance.
The attacks the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger used and the methods it employed to handle different situations all seemed somewhat inappropriate.
Was this the result of having its intelligence beaten out of it and becoming an idiot, as Jing Shanshan had mentioned to her in his spare time?
Its memories and combat experience remained, but because it had become an idiot, it sometimes failed to use the most effective response when facing different situations.
The effect of that Martial Soul called the A Dou Spiked Club truly was terrifying.
She wondered whether this effect was permanent or temporary...
Qian Renxue stopped thinking, goosebumps rising over her skin, and immediately stepped in front of Jing Shanshan.
Tang Hao, this Titled Douluo, had turned his gaze toward them!
He had changed his target.