Tang Hao: As long as my child and sect survive, what does it matter if I die?

An Yi stopped and dispersed some of the purple-gold light around his hands. "I come from Sea God Island. My original intention in coming here today was actually to kill Qian Xunji alone."

"You and I have no grudge. Honestly, I never originally intended to attack you either, but for the next stage of my plan to proceed cleanly and efficiently, you have to die."

"How about this? If you're willing to voluntarily strip away that Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring of yours, I can fulfill one last wish for you. For example, delivering your child safely back to the Clear Sky Sect."

Tang Hao gritted his teeth, veins bulging on his forehead. "What exactly are you trying to do?!"

An Yi shrugged. "Didn't I just make that perfectly clear? I want to see whether those two old bastards, Tang Chen and Qian Daoliu, will take each other down if they fight to the death."

"I think there's a very good chance they will."

"But the prerequisite is that both of them must completely lose their reason. That's why Qian Xunji has to die, and so do you. Can you follow that logic?"

"I really do have no grudge against you, but only your death can bring this performance to a satisfying close."

An Yi pointed toward the valley's exit, his tone casual. "Of course, you can also choose to run for your life now. I can tell you're still holding on to one last bit of strength. If you really throw everything into escaping, I can't be bothered to chase you."

"But think it through. Every Spirit Hall Soul Master here today is dead. If you escape, then you can only be the one who killed Qian Xunji."

"Given Qian Daoliu's temperament, he'll definitely come down the mountain himself to settle accounts with the Clear Sky Sect. Do you think the Clear Sky Sect as it stands now can withstand a rank ninety-nine Peerless Douluo? How many of your clansmen will survive?"

Tang Hao stiffened all over, his face instantly turning as white as paper.

An Yi raised two fingers. "Now, you have only two paths before you."

"First, you escape, Qian Daoliu wipes out the Clear Sky Sect, and then I awaken Tang Chen and have him fight Qian Daoliu to the death."

"Second, you die here, and I go straight to awakening Tang Chen to stop Qian Daoliu. The Clear Sky Sect survives."

"Choose for yourself."

Tang Hao panted heavily, turning to look at Tang San, still swaddled in a distant corner, and the Blue Silver Emperor Soul Bone and golden seed beside the swaddling clothes.

After a long silence, Tang Hao spoke hoarsely. "Can you... really guarantee that my child will live and the Clear Sky Sect will survive?"

"Of course. Like I said, there's no grudge between us. There's no reason for me to lie to you about something like this," An Yi said candidly.

Tang Hao closed his eyes and let out a heavy, turbid breath. When he opened them again, they were utterly ashen. "How do I strip away my Soul Ring?"

With a thought, An Yi directly stirred the Sea God's Divine Sense deep within his brow.

Hum!

Dazzling azure light shot into the sky, and a towering blue figure of light took shape in midair, radiating the vast pressure of a god.

It was none other than the phantom manifestation of the Sea God Poseidon's divine sense.

An Yi looked up and greeted him. "Lord Sea God, sorry for the trouble, but could you lend a hand and strip the Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring off this fellow?"

Poseidon's phantom fell silent for a moment in midair, sounding rather speechless. "I left that divine sense to save your life, and you're using it for something like this?"

An Yi shrugged. "It's a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring. Doesn't that count as something important?"

Poseidon said helplessly, "To strip away an already absorbed Soul Ring, the person in question must open himself completely, body and mind, and relinquish it willingly. Otherwise, this mere strand of my divine sense cannot forcibly remove it."

An Yi turned toward Tang Hao and lifted his chin. "Hear that? This is the real Sea God. Even if you don't trust me, surely you can trust a god?"

Tang Hao stared blankly at the blue divine figure in the air. "You're really from Sea God Island?"

"What else? Would I come looking for revenge on Qian Xunji because I had nothing better to do?" An Yi spread his hands. "Hand over your Soul Ring, and I'll keep your son safe and save the entire Clear Sky Sect while I'm at it. That's a pretty good deal for you, isn't it?"

Tang Hao took a deep breath and hesitated no longer. "Fine, I agree!"

With that, he voluntarily dispersed all his defenses, allowing his ninth Soul Ring to emerge from within him.

Poseidon's phantom in the air wasted no time either. He raised a hand and pointed, sending a shaft of blue-gold light down to instantly envelop the scarlet Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring.

With Tang Hao's full cooperation, the removal went exceptionally smoothly.

In just a dozen or so breaths, the Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring completely separated from Tang Hao.

The instant he lost his ninth Soul Ring, Tang Hao let out a muffled groan. His Soul Power, originally at rank ninety-two, plummeted like water bursting through a broken dam, dropping back to rank eighty-eight in the blink of an eye and continuing to drain away.

He had already suffered severe backlash from Ring Detonation, and only the Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring's power of origin had kept him clinging to life. Now that the Soul Ring had left his body, his suppressed injuries collapsed out of control.

Even if An Yi did nothing more, he would not live past today.

With a wave of his hand, Poseidon compressed the removed Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring into a small golden-red orb and tossed it to An Yi. Then his entire phantom turned into a streak of light and slipped back into the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud.

An Yi caught the orb and put it away. He looked at the dying Tang Hao, then at Qian Xunji, who was still squirming on the ground in the distance, and suddenly suggested, "Since you don't have much time left anyway, why don't you finish Qian Xunji off yourself?"

"I shattered half the bones in his face just now, so I've vented my own anger."

"He brought men to force you into the desperate ruin of your family. Having you personally take him along on your final journey would make a fitting ending."

Bracing himself against the ground, Tang Hao struggled to his feet and looked at An Yi. "My child, and the Clear Sky Sect-I'll leave them in your hands!"

An Yi nodded. "Rest assured. I keep my word. I'll deliver your child back to the Clear Sky Sect completely unharmed and place him in Tang Xiao's hands."

Hearing that promise, Tang Hao finally set his worries to rest. Dragging his ruined body, he walked toward Qian Xunji, one step at a time.

At the sight, Qian Xunji was scared out of his wits. He forced himself to try to crawl up and flee for his life.

But how could Tang Hao, wholly resolved to die, possibly give him that chance?

Dark light flashed, and the damaged Clear Sky Hammer formed in his hand once more. Summoning the last of his strength, Tang Hao charged forward, raised the massive hammer, and smashed it down viciously, blow after blow!

Dull impacts echoed through the valley.

Moments later, the once-insufferably arrogant Pope of Spirit Hall had been beaten alive into an unrecognizable puddle of flesh by Tang Hao.

Two golden Soul Bones radiating a rich, sacred presence emerged from Qian Xunji's remains.

Though they had not reached the hundred-thousand-year level, their quality was extremely high. They were clearly inherited Soul Bones passed down through generations of the Angel Clan.

An Yi walked over, picked up the two Soul Bones, and put them away.

Beside him, Tang Hao discarded the Clear Sky Hammer and dropped straight onto his backside next to Qian Xunji's corpse, his chest rising and falling so faintly it was barely perceptible.

An Yi did not disturb him. He turned and walked to the corner of the valley, picked up Tang San, who was sleeping soundly in his swaddling clothes, and also pocketed the right leg bone left behind by the Blue Silver Emperor along with the golden seed.

Having done all that, he stood quietly to one side with the child in his arms and waited.

The setting sun sank behind the mountain ridge little by little. When the last trace of its glow vanished entirely from the horizon, Tang Hao, sitting in a pool of blood, also lowered his head and lost every last sign of life.

An Yi walked over, dark-purple destructive energy surging from his palm, and completely erased Tang Hao's body. Only two inherited Soul Bones of the Clear Sky Sect, likewise of considerable quality, remained, and he put those away as well.

At this point, not a single survivor remained in the entire valley.

As for what would happen next, that was for Qian Daoliu to guess.

Spirit Hall's entire entourage had been wiped out, Qian Xunji had been smashed into mincemeat by the Clear Sky Hammer, the Angel Soul Bones on his body had vanished without a trace, and Tang Hao had disappeared as well.

No matter what Qian Daoliu thought, he would lay this debt at the feet of Tang Hao and the Clear Sky Sect.

When the time came, what would that Great Enshrined do?

An Yi took a deep breath, dismissed his Purple Brilliant Heaven Destroying Dragon possession, and switched to the Great Yin Heaven-Devouring Dragon. A layer of fine silver-black dragon scales rapidly covered his body.

As spatial power surged, his figure melted into the night, vanishing from the deathly silent valley in an instant.

The show was about to begin.