Tang Feng took the longsword with both hands. He stood before the King Kong Baboon's enormous head, the sword tip trembling slightly as he aimed it at the crimson beast eye that reflected his own figure.
This was not training, nor a sparring match, but true slaughter-the first bloodstained step taken for strength, for the future.
Tang Feng closed his eyes, drew a deep breath, and, with a low shout, drove the longsword in with all his strength!
Squelch!!!
Scalding beast blood, thick with a pungent, bloody stench, sprayed out like a fountain, splashing all over Tang Feng's head and face. The King Kong Baboon's massive body convulsed violently once, letting out one last feeble whimper.
Tang Feng released the sword hilt and staggered a step back. Looking at the blood on his hands and body, he felt his stomach churn.
This was the first time Tang Feng had ended a life with his own hands, even if it was a Soul Beast. But he immediately thought of his parents' bloodstained remains, and that discomfort was swiftly suppressed.
He silently repeated to himself, I have no choice. I need strength.
Meanwhile, bright yellow motes drifted out of the King Kong Baboon's corpse, swiftly gathering and condensing in the air until they formed a large golden Soul Ring that hovered silently.
Tang Feng hesitated no longer. He immediately sat cross-legged where he stood, his palms, soles, and crown facing heaven, held his breath, focused his mind, and summoned his Martial Soul, the Clear Sky Hammer. Concentrating his will, he carefully drew over the Soul Ring that represented both immense strength and enormous risk. The instant the Soul Ring finally settled around Tang Feng's Clear Sky Hammer-
Boom!!!
Tang Feng's entire body jolted as though struck by lightning! Pain! Indescribable agony swept through every nerve in an instant!
The berserk energy contained within the Soul Ring flooded madly into every limb and bone! Caught up in this foreign torrent, his Soul Power surged and crashed through his body at an unprecedented, frenzied speed, as though it would burst him apart from within!
Tang Feng's skin instantly flushed red, then purple. Countless tiny beads of blood seeped from his pores, and every bone in his body gave brittle, creaking cracks under the unbearable burden, as though his skeleton might fall apart at any moment. His meridians felt as though red-hot branding irons were repeatedly scorching and stretching them, sending waves of tearing agony through him.
Tang Feng clenched his teeth so hard that blood seeped from his gums, its salty, metallic taste spreading through his mouth. Relying on his powerful will, he forcibly preserved the last thread of clarity in his mind, frantically driving his Soul Power to break down, guide, and fuse with that violent energy, strand by strand. Every inch his Soul Power traveled was like walking on a knife's edge.
Tang Ding stood guard nearby, desperately tense, his eyes fixed on Tang Feng without blinking. He watched blood constantly seep through Tang Feng's skin and his body tremble. Several times, Tang Feng reached the brink of collapse, nearly driving Tang Ding to intervene and forcibly interrupt this suicidal absorption.
The consequences of interruption would certainly be severe-losing all his cultivation or being unable to advance another inch for the rest of his life-but that was still better than bursting apart and dying on the spot!
Time crawled by in extreme torment.
Two hours later, Tang Feng's body finally withstood the onslaught of that berserk energy and began to settle down. The pained expression on his face gradually eased as well.
Tang Ding let out a long breath he had held for a long time, his taut shoulders and back relaxing slightly. He knew Tang Feng had actually endured the most dangerous, most critical stage of the energy's assault! The refinement and fusion that followed would still be difficult, but his life was no longer at risk.
Tang Feng dared not relax in the slightest either. He continued running his meditation method with all his strength, tempering, absorbing, and fusing with the vast remaining energy within the Soul Ring little by little.
Nearly another four hours passed.
By the time the Clear Sky Hammer devoured the final wisp of energy, Tang Feng was drenched from head to toe, and a puddle of dark red blood and sweat had collected beneath him.
Tang Feng opened his eyes. A dark golden gleam of bestial ferocity actually flashed through his pupils before they returned to calm.
It worked!
Tang Feng slowly stood. A series of soft, satisfying pops and cracks sounded throughout his skeleton. Tempered by the Soul Ring's energy, he had actually grown a full three inches taller, reaching 1.4 meters!
His coarse hemp clothes, which had originally fit him, were now a little short, leaving his wrists and ankles exposed and revealing limbs with increasingly clear, flowing contours.
Tang Feng briefly examined himself. The Soul Power within him surged like an unceasing tide, having actually reached the peak of rank twelve, only half a step away from rank thirteen!
Compared with Tang Jin and the others, who had only reached rank eleven after absorbing three-hundred-year Soul Rings, his increase in Soul Power was fully more than three times theirs! The rewards of absorbing beyond his limits were plain to see.
With a thought, he summoned the Clear Sky Hammer. Its head was noticeably larger than before, and its handle had lengthened by two inches. In his hand, its heft felt even more pronounced.
Tang Feng briefly weighed it in his hand. The Martial Soul's weight in his grasp had soared by over fifty percent, from just over fifty jin to roughly eighty jin! This meant that the actual weight of Tang Feng's Clear Sky Hammer had already reached an astonishing eight hundred jin!
Tang Ding's anxious heart finally settled completely. Looking at Tang Feng, who seemed to have been reborn, he smiled in gratification. "You little rascal! You've... truly created a miracle!"
He took two steps forward and asked with concern, "How does your body feel? Any discomfort anywhere?"
Extremely excited, Tang Feng moved his limbs and gave a few light hops, feeling an unprecedented sense of strength throughout his body. "Uncle Ding, I feel great! My whole body is full of strength!"
Tang Ding nodded, his eyes burning as he looked at him. "Then what's your first Soul Skill?"
"My first Soul Skill is called 'King Kong's Wrath.'"
Tang Feng closed his eyes and sensed it for a moment, then said clearly, "Its effect is this: it consumes twenty percent of my current total Soul Power. Once activated, it increases my strength by fifty percent for the next hour, while also increasing my defense and speed attributes by ten percent each."
At those words, Tang Ding's pupils abruptly contracted, and he could not help drawing in a sharp breath!
A fifty-percent strength boost! That was more than double the effect of Tang Jin and Tang Yong's Berserk Bull Charge!
Even more astonishingly, it also came with additional boosts to defense and speed! This was simply a top-quality Soul Skill anyone would dream of obtaining from their first Soul Ring!
Not only did it perfectly suit the Clear Sky Hammer's pursuit of ultimate strength, it also compensated for a Clear Sky Hammer Soul Master's relative shortcomings in speed and defense, making them more well-rounded and harder to deal with in battle.
"Come!" Tang Ding suppressed his shock, intense anticipation flaring in his eyes as he pointed at an ancient, towering tree nearby, its trunk as thick as a water vat. "Use your first Soul Skill and try hitting it once with all your strength!"
Tang Feng drew a deep breath, stepped forward, and planted his feet before the enormous tree. With a thought, the Soul Power throughout his body instantly surged, and the richly colored, bright yellow Soul Ring beneath his feet lit up!
"First Soul Skill, King Kong's Wrath!"
With that low shout, Tang Feng felt the strength within him erupt like a volcano. His arm muscles bulged, veins faintly emerging. Even his vision seemed to grow clearer and sharper, and his body's reactions became more agile.
Tang Feng used no hammer techniques at all. He simply poured that surging strength into the Clear Sky Hammer in his hands, then brought it down on the trunk before him in a plain, unadorned blow!
Boom!!!
The instant the hammer's striking face met the trunk, a tremendous sound like muffled thunder erupted! The hard bark burst apart, and wood chips shot in every direction!
A hammer imprint over half a foot deep, with clean edges, was stamped deeply into the trunk!
Tang Feng withdrew his hammer and stepped back, equally shaken. With the terrifying fifty-percent boost applied to the hammer's base weight of eight hundred jin, the force of this blow had already exceeded twelve hundred jin!
In his shock, Tang Feng marveled inwardly, The power system of a fantasy world really is... wondrous beyond words.
If he compounded this base striking power of twelve hundred jin through the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer... given Tang Feng's current mastery of thirty-six strikes, the final burst of power could likely approach a tenfold increase, reaching a staggering total of over ten thousand jin!
"Good! Good! Good!" Tang Ding praised him three times in succession, letting out a rare, hearty laugh filled with exhilaration before saying in gratification, "Little Feng, this risk you took was worth it! With your current foundation of strength and this Soul Skill, you're fully qualified to challenge an ordinary low-level Soul Grandmaster!"
Nearby, Tang Jin and Tang Yong had long since been left gaping, their eyes filled with undisguised envy and even a trace of awe.
Having just experienced Soul Ring absorption themselves, the two could better imagine the terrifying energy assault Tang Feng had endured.
They knew they could never withstand pain and risk of that magnitude. Now, beyond envy, they felt an added measure of wholehearted respect for Tang Feng's choice and success.
Having exceeded their Soul Hunting goals, the five delayed no longer. After briefly gathering their things, they set off on the journey back to the sect.