After nearly an hour of fierce fighting, the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear's movements gradually slowed, and its breathing grew heavy. Its massive claws no longer struck as fiercely.
"An opening!" Tang Zheng's eyes lit up. He lunged forward, his Clear Sky Hammer carrying all his Soul Power as it smashed toward the vulnerable spot on the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear's flank.
The Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear roared and swept its massive claw across, but this time, it was half a beat too slow. Tang Zheng's Clear Sky Hammer struck squarely against its side.
Bang!
With a dull crash, the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear's enormous body staggered several steps, and it let out a howl of pain.
Tang Zheng and Tang Lan pressed their advantage, their two Clear Sky Hammers smashing viciously toward the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear's head and back from opposite sides.
Though the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear resisted with all its might, it finally buckled under the combined attacks of the three men. Its enormous body crashed to the ground with a deep, thunderous impact.
The four gathered around it. The Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear was already at death's door, the light in its dark gold eyes dim and its breathing faint.
The Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear truly was terrifying. With a cultivation of only close to a thousand years, it had fought the four of them for so long-and two of them were powerful Soul Emperors wielding Clear Sky Hammers.
Slightly out of breath, Tang Zheng said, "Finish it, Tang Feng."
Tang Feng nodded, looking at the powerful Soul Beast with a complicated expression.
He then took a refined-steel longsword from his storage soul tool. A cold gleam flickered at its tip as he aimed it at the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear's eye, its only weak point.
With a flick of his wrist, he drove the sword precisely into the bear's eye, ending its life.
A yellow Soul Ring tinged with purple slowly floated up from the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear's corpse, radiating powerful energy fluctuations.
Delight appeared on Tang Zheng's face. "This Soul Ring is already over nine hundred years old, with quality approaching a thousand years!"
Without further hesitation, Tang Feng immediately sat cross-legged and began absorbing the Soul Ring.
The Soul Ring's energy surged into his body, savage and scorching, carrying the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear's overbearing presence that could tear through everything.
Tang Feng's brows knitted tightly, and fine beads of sweat seeped from his forehead. The energy rampaged through his body, trying to burst free of his meridians, causing a distinct swelling pain.
"Hold on!" Tang Zheng reminded him in a low voice.
Tang Feng gritted his teeth and circulated his Soul Power, guiding and refining that savage energy bit by bit.
Time ticked by. Tang Feng's face went from pale to red, then from red to pale again. Although the process was painful, he could fully withstand it, remaining conscious throughout without being swallowed by that immense energy.
Tang Feng could clearly feel the energy gradually merging with his own Soul Power and becoming docile.
After about an hour, the Soul Ring's energy was finally absorbed completely.
Tang Feng slowly opened his eyes. A dark gold light flashed through them, and his presence abruptly intensified.
"It worked!" Tang Yun cheered, delight spreading across his face.
Tang Feng stood up and stretched his limbs, feeling the surging strength within him. His Soul Power had reached rank twenty-three. Accounting for the four months he had spent cultivating after breaking through rank twenty, this Soul Ring had probably raised his Soul Power by two ranks.
"As expected of the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear. It's an excellent match for the Clear Sky Hammer Martial Soul," Tang Feng could not help marveling.
Tang Zheng also gave a gratified smile. "You really are lucky. Who would have thought we'd encounter such a powerful Soul Beast in a place like this? Although this Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear hadn't reached a thousand years, its Soul Ring's quality and compatibility far surpass those of ordinary thousand-year Soul Beasts. It will greatly help improve your strength."
Tang Lan nodded as well. "Yes. Top-tier Soul Beasts like this are extremely rare-something you can encounter but never seek out. Once we return, you must keep cultivating diligently to consolidate your gains."
Tang Feng nodded firmly. More challenges still awaited him in the future, but with this Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear's Soul Ring, he had already taken a solid step forward.
Tang Feng turned and began inspecting the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear's corpse. He did not know whether his luck had run dry, but this Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear had not produced a Soul Bone either.
According to the statistics in the sect's historical records, top-tier Soul Beasts with such exceptionally powerful bloodlines should have a much higher Soul Bone drop rate than ordinary Soul Beasts.
Perhaps his good luck really had run out. Tang Feng could only sigh and begin studying his newly acquired second Soul Skill.
His second Soul Skill, "Dark Gold Berserk," came from a nine-hundred-and-fifty-year Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear. Each activation consumed twenty percent of his current total Soul Power. For half an hour after activating the Soul Skill:
First, enhancement: it increased his body's base strength and defense by one hundred percent, and it could grow. For every ten ranks his Soul Power increased, the enhancement would rise by ten percent, up to a maximum enhancement of one hundred and fifty percent.
Second, armor penetration: upon activation, a layer of dark gold terrorclaw energy would coat the Clear Sky Hammer's surface. A phantom claw blade formed from pure destructive energy would extend from each side of the hammerhead. The terrorclaws had a tearing effect, allowing the Clear Sky Hammer's attacks to ignore thirty percent of the target's physical defense.
This Soul Skill perfectly compensated for the Clear Sky Hammer's weakness of "insufficient defense penetration as a blunt weapon."
Against Soul Beasts or Soul Masters with high physical defense, such as the Black Tortoise or Diamond Mammoth, Dark Gold Berserk's thirty-percent armor penetration could be called a divine skill. Combined with the stacking effect of Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer, it could deal true damage.
A top-tier Power Attack System Soul Skill combining burst power and armor penetration, it had extremely high compatibility with the Clear Sky Hammer despite falling short of a thousand years. Its actual effects rivaled the Soul Ring of an ordinary five-thousand-year Soul Beast, giving Tang Feng the means to challenge opponents above his level.
The weight of his Clear Sky Hammer Martial Soul also surged from over eight hundred jin to over fifteen hundred jin.
If he used his first and second Soul Skills simultaneously, the total strength enhancement of one hundred and fifty percent would give even a normal attack nearly four thousand jin of striking power.
Then, if he stacked Chaotic Cloak to sixty-four strikes, increasing it a full twentyfold, that would be an attack of seventy thousand jin. Tsk, tsk, tsk!!!
Still, an enemy certainly would not let him keep using Chaotic Cloak without interrupting him, much less let him execute it freely and trade blows with him-unless they were an idiot.
"Hehehehe!!!" After learning the effects of his Soul Skill, Tang Feng could not help grinning foolishly.
Seeing Tang Feng grinning foolishly there, the other three guessed he must have obtained an extraordinary Soul Skill, but they did not ask further.
Tang Zheng patted Tang Feng's shoulder, interrupting his foolish grin. "All right, stop that weird cackling. There'll be plenty of time to celebrate when we get back."
Just as the four were about to leave the valley, more than a dozen figures suddenly materialized like specters at its entrance.
They all wore black scale armor beneath deep purple robes, with gold-thread Six-Winged Angel emblems embroidered on the hems.
One glance at their clothing made it clear they belonged to Spirit Hall. Their presences were all as deep and solid as mountains, with even the weakest at the Soul Ancestor level.
The two leaders were even more terrifying, eight Soul Rings slowly pulsing around each of them. Their Soul Rings showed that the two leaders were Soul Douluos. There were also two Soul Emperors, along with ten Soul Kings and Soul Ancestors.
Seeing Tang Feng and the others preparing to leave, one of Spirit Hall's Soul Douluos immediately spoke in a sinister voice. "Still thinking of leaving? Remnants of the Clear Sky Sect, you dare openly violate your agreement with our Spirit Hall and secretly set foot on the continent. What, do you want our Spirit Hall to raze the Clear Sky Sect completely?"
He took a step forward, and a suffocating pressure instantly enveloped the entire valley. "You're surrounded. Surrender obediently and confess your sins, and His Holiness the Pope might spare your lives. Otherwise, this valley will be your burial ground today."
The expressions of Tang Feng and the other three changed drastically. Tang Zheng hissed urgently, "Damn it! It's those villains from Spirit Hall!"
Then he said to Tang Feng and Tang Yun:
"Don't get bogged down fighting them! Tang Lan and I will hold them off for a while. You two, flee toward the other side of the valley immediately. Once you're out, split up at once. If you stay together, sooner or later they'll surround and kill you. After shaking off your pursuers, head straight for the rendezvous point agreed upon with the Fifth Elder and send a distress signal."
"Yes!" Tang Feng and Tang Yun answered together, their voices taut. They knew this was no time to argue.
Tang Zheng abruptly turned, his eyes blazing like torches as he fixed the two boys with a piercing stare. "Remember this: the Clear Sky Sect has no cowards! Death before surrender!"
"If we're captured alive, Spirit Hall will have ironclad evidence to use against the sect. When that happens, every member of our clan will be buried along with us! Either return alive, or die and leave them no living witness. There is no third path!"
"Go!"
Before his voice faded, Tang Zheng and Tang Lan released their Martial Souls simultaneously. Two enormous Clear Sky Hammers appeared out of thin air, and six Soul Rings-yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black-rose around each of them at once.
Tang Zheng led the charge, his Clear Sky Hammer wrapped in the radiance of a black Soul Ring as it smashed toward the oncoming attackers like Mount Tai bearing down upon them. His furious roar rang throughout the valley. "If you want to capture us, first ask whether this hammer of mine agrees!"
"Go, now!" Tang Lan also shouted sharply, his hammer shadows weaving a dense web that blocked Spirit Hall's pursuit route on the other side.