At that moment, Tang Hao saw dozens of golden ripples appear behind Jing Shanshan. Dozens of different objects flew out of them. When he sensed them carefully, he could feel that all these objects gave off fluctuations unique to Martial Souls!
These were all Martial Souls?!
In an instant, Tang Hao remembered the blades and swords that had shot toward him earlier, and a bad premonition welled up in his heart.
Before he could break free of the shackles exerting such powerful suppression, the Martial Souls behind Jing Shanshan immediately inflicted all manner of weakening effects on him!
Under normal circumstances, the absolute numerical gap in Soul Power Level would have allowed Tang Hao to completely ignore negative effects inflicted by the Martial Souls of low-level Soul Masters.
Under this suppression, however, the effects of these Martial Souls could be said to work on him with one hundred percent effectiveness.
He had originally estimated that he could break free of the shackles in three seconds. Now, weakened like this, breaking free in five seconds would count as proof that his body had not deteriorated too badly despite his neglect of physical training over the years.
Tang Hao abruptly looked toward the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger. It was a factor he knew could inflict fatal injuries on him.
Yet that Soul Beast showed no intention of approaching.
Unease slowly crept into Tang Hao's heart. He turned to look at Jing Shanshan again, only to see that Jing Shanshan had already boarded a vessel made of gold and emeralds and flown into the air.
"The next attack probably won't count as anything fatal to you, but it will serve as this king's attempt at another style of combat."
Wind howled overhead. Tang Hao saw a hammer identical in appearance to the Clear Sky Hammer plummeting rapidly toward his position.
Under the doubled gravity, the hammer falling from high above had already reached a terrifying speed.
Faint lights of various colors also shone on the hammer, each representing a different enhancement.
Strength, durability, armor penetration... layer after layer of enhancements covered the hammer, making Tang Hao's scalp prickle.
"Bastard!"
Tang Hao's furious roar was drowned out by the explosive crash of the hammer's impact.
When Tang Hao emerged from the dust, traces of blood remained at the corner of his mouth. His right hand was already twisted and mangled, its flesh a bloody mess, hanging limply and powerlessly. One glance was enough to tell that he could no longer use it.
Clearly, even with a Titled Douluo's bodily toughness, taking that blow while stacked with a pile of negative effects had made him suffer considerably.
"What exactly are you? Why do you even have the Clear Sky Hammer?"
Jing Shanshan would not bother responding to someone who showed such disrespect to a king. Golden ripples once again surrounded Tang Hao from every angle, leaving no blind spots.
At the sight, Tang Hao's expression grew several shades uglier.
Having just suffered such a heavy loss, Tang Hao would no longer underestimate Jing Shanshan, who possessed only level 16 Soul Power.
He grew wary of every Martial Soul shooting toward him. Rather than relying on his physical toughness to withstand them as before, he blocked every one with the Clear Sky Hammer.
He also diverted some of his attention to watching the shackle Martial Soul that had overloaded and suffered a backlash when he broke free of its suppression!
He waited for a gap in Jing Shanshan's attacks, ready at any moment to burst into action and destroy those golden ripples.
With part of Tang Hao's attention focused on Jing Shanshan, the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger was not about to observe martial etiquette and wait for Tang Hao to finish fighting. Dozens of black-and-red blades of light carrying terrifying power shot toward Tang Hao.
"Damn beast!"
Tang Hao failed to dodge them completely. One black-and-red blade of light struck him, and his protective Soul Power barrier shattered in the blink of an eye. The blade left a horrifying, gruesome wound on his body.
More troublesome still, a wisp of cold Evil Qi lingered stubbornly in the wound. Whenever Tang Hao used Soul Power to stop the bleeding, that bit of Evil Qi would tear the wound open again as soon as he moved his Soul Power away.
When he mobilized his Soul Power to dispel that wisp of Evil Qi, it immediately dodged his Soul Power. Dispelling it would probably take quite some time.
The blond child would not give him the time to dispel that wisp of Evil Qi, either.
The ninth Soul Ring on Tang Hao's body lit up a vivid red.
At that moment, Tang Hao's Soul Power was consumed at a tremendous rate, while the vitality within his body grew increasingly vigorous.
Under that surging vitality, the Evil Qi was actually forced out of his body bit by bit.
The wound on Tang Hao's body, so deep that bone was visible, was healing at a speed the naked eye could see.
Now, he had to admit one thing.
He, a Titled Douluo renowned throughout the world, had actually been forced by a blond child and a beast into a deadly predicament where he had no choice but to stake his life!
Surging, frenzied Soul Power erupted in every direction, instantly blowing away all the Martial Souls shooting toward Tang Hao.
The seventh Soul Ring on Tang Hao's body lit up a dangerous black.
Seventh Soul Skill, Clear Sky True Body!
The Clear Sky Hammer grew even larger, its head swelling to more than twice its previous size.
The Seventh Soul Ring lit up, and the Clear Sky Hammer grew even larger along with it.
The first through sixth Soul Rings exploded in succession, and the power stored within them instantly surged into the Clear Sky Hammer.
With that, the presence emanating from the entire hammer climbed higher and higher, so terrifying that it almost took solid form. Even the surrounding air was pressed down beneath its weight.
Tang Hao intended to use absolutely overwhelming strength to annihilate this little blond boy whose potential far surpassed his son's!
Faced with such a terrifying strike, Jing Shanshan was not afraid. Instead, his eyes lit up. He had finally seen what he wanted to see.
What do I do? What do I do?!
Qian Renxue's mind raced, and she instinctively stepped in front of Jing Shanshan. She was certain that Tang Hao had already locked on to both of them completely. Even if they fled, they could not evade this terrifying Ring Detonation strike.
"Relax. With this king here, nothing will go wrong."
Jing Shanshan's steady voice rang out in Qian Renxue's consciousness. She abruptly looked at Jing Shanshan, then turned toward Tang Hao.
Tang Hao was already looking toward the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger. A pitch-black hole that made one's hair stand on end just to look at it was hurtling toward him.
At the speed this black hole was moving, if he continued striking at Jing Shanshan, he would have no time left to dodge afterward and could only take the black hole's attack.
Tang Hao did not know exactly what effect this black hole had, but the moment he saw it, he felt the warning bells of danger ringing madly in his heart. That sense of crisis almost leaped out of his chest, pointed at his nose, and roared.
"Run!"
Fleeing meant letting this future threat go.
Not fleeing meant dying here if that black hole struck him.
If he died here...
He no longer needed to worry about Tang San.
But what about Ah Yin?
No one knew where Ah Yin was. Who would take care of her?!
The hesitation in Tang Hao's eyes instantly turned to resolve. The Clear Sky Hammer changed direction and smashed straight down at the black hole released by the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger.
The instant the black hole touched the hammerhead, it began flickering. In the blink of an eye, it dissipated into the air.
With more than half its power spent, the Clear Sky Hammer smashed directly into the ground, producing a powerful shock wave.
Amid the dust, Tang Hao saw the beast return to Jing Shanshan's side and understood that his chance to kill Jing Shanshan had slipped away. At last, he let out a long breath, turned, and left.
Jing Shanshan was completely immersed in the process of Tang Hao smashing his Soul Rings just now, ideas colliding rapidly in his mind!
Now, he wanted to go to Spirit Hall's central library immediately and search through its books!
The Vimana Martial Soul had just changed direction when Jing Shanshan suddenly remembered something and had the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger return to the ground.
Qian Renxue now had "a hundred thousand whys" in her heart, but after seeing Jing Shanshan's expression, she silently closed her mouth.
Soon, she saw the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger return to Jing Shanshan's side carrying a clod of earth stained with quite a bit of blood.
Blood...
Qian Renxue recalled that only one person had been injured in this battle.
"This is Tang Hao's blood..."