Identity Exposed

The Second Elder swept his gaze across the devastated forest. Seeing Tang Xiao and Tang Hao, he said:

"What are you two doing here?"

"A battle between Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts broke out here just now. I was accompanying Seventh with Third as he searched for his Ninth Soul Ring in the Star Dou Great Forest. We sensed something amiss and came to investigate."

The Seventh Elder, Tang Lie, laughed beside him:

"That's right. After I broke through to Level 90, I asked Second Brother and Third Brother to accompany me, sorry for the trouble. I never expected to encounter a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast. Heaven has treated me well, hahaha!"

As he spoke, the Second Elder's gaze swept past Tang Xiao and Tang Hao and landed on the two women-or, more precisely, on Xiao Wu.

Shock appeared on his face.

How keen were a Titled Douluo's senses?

Ah Rou had long since entered the Mature Stage, and her presence was no different from an ordinary human's. Even a Titled Douluo standing before her could detect nothing amiss.

Xiao Wu was only a Soul Grandmaster and was still in the Infancy Stage.

Before a Titled Douluo, she could not hide her presence at all. The hundred-thousand-year-old rabbit stench wafted straight into their nostrils.

"Something's wrong. That scent?"

The Second Elder's pupils contracted sharply. He stared fixedly at Xiao Wu, his voice chilling:

"A transformed Soul Beast?"

Tang Lie, who had been wondering how to hunt down the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast they were about to find, followed the Second Elder's gaze and fixed both eyes on Xiao Wu.

Though he was only a Quasi-Titled Douluo and could not smell Xiao Wu's rabbit stench from a distance, he trusted his second brother completely.

"A transformed Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast? Did I hear you right?"

Tang Lie grinned broadly:

"Good! Now I won't even have to fight. A Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring and Soul Bone delivered right to my door-could I really be a child of destiny?"

Xiao Wu's pretty face went deathly pale, and her legs grew somewhat weak. For a Soul Beast in the Infancy Stage, having a Titled Douluo see through her true identity was no different from being sentenced to death on the spot.

Sensing her daughter's predicament, Ah Rou stepped sideways in front of Xiao Wu, shielding her behind her as she met the three elders' gazes with icy eyes.

Immediately afterward, another figure stepped forward, standing in front of Ah Rou and Xiao Wu.

Tang Hao's face was as dark as still water. Xiao Wu was not only the woman he had chosen, but also the Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring and Soul Bone he had reserved for when he broke through to Level 90.

Although he still hadn't fully made up his mind whether, after breaking through to Level 90, he would carry out the grand plan of "Sacrifice yourself, my love" and scheme for his little sister Xiao Wu's Soul Ring and Soul Bone.

But the problem now was that he had even sacrificed his Eighth Soul Ring for Xiao Wu. How could he let the sect's old bastards swoop in and snatch her away?

"If you want to touch her, you'll have to get past me first," Tang Hao shouted coldly.

Tang Xiao was taken aback. He hadn't even grasped what was happening before he said instinctively:

"Second Brother, why are you protecting her? No matter how pretty she is, she's still only a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul-"

Before he could finish, Tang Xiao saw Ah Rou shielding Xiao Wu, her whole body tense, as she looked at him with a scrutinizing gaze.

Tang Xiao's heart skipped a beat.

Wait!

What did Xiao Wu call Ah Rou just now?

Their faces were seventy to eighty percent alike, and their rabbit stench was identical.

If Xiao Wu was a transformed Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast...

Then what did that make Ah Rou, who gave birth to Xiao Wu?

Tang Xiao finally understood. Tang Hao had figured it out at the same time. The brothers exchanged a glance, and cold sweat broke out on their backs.

Ah Rou was also a transformed Soul Beast, and she had already entered the Mature Stage.

On this continent where love came above all else, Tang Xiao watched his beloved desperately protecting her young. Secretly gritting his teeth, he flashed forward and stood in front of the two women as well.

The Seventh Elder, Tang Lie, stared at the two men in disbelief. "What evil has possessed you brothers? You're actually protecting a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast?"

The Second Elder, however, did not immediately grow angry. He studied Ah Rou and Xiao Wu in turn, and the longer he looked, the more suspicious his gaze became.

"If my eyes do not deceive me... why do this transformed Soul Beast's features look seventy to eighty percent like hers?"

"Could she also be a transformed Soul Beast?"

Tang Xiao's heart skipped a beat, and he hurriedly protested:

"Second Elder, don't talk nonsense. Third Sister is a human Soul Master. This little girl... must have caught a glimpse of Third Sister's peerless beauty while wandering the Star Dou Great Forest years ago, then fashioned her appearance after hers when she transformed."

Ah Rou was, after all, Tang Hao's former lover. Even though he had once been half a wronged party, unable to obtain the love he sought, Tang Hao still backed him up:

"That's right. I've heard that Soul Beasts can shape their appearance according to their own preferences when they transform."

The Third Elder sneered beside them:

"Appearances can be copied, but what about Martial Souls? If I sensed it correctly, the little one's true form is a Soft Bone Rabbit, isn't it? And this Third Sister of yours hasn't released her Martial Soul, but..."

"Without this little rabbit for comparison, I really couldn't have determined her Martial Soul from her presence. But now, her presence is identical to this little rabbit's. Do you two take us for three-year-old children?"

"She's clearly a transformed Soul Beast too."

"It's just that she passed through the Infancy Stage long ago and entered the Mature Stage."

Her lie exposed on the spot, Ah Rou's gaze turned cold. She stopped concealing herself altogether. The presence of a Quasi-Soul Douluo erupted from her, and she activated Soft Bone Rabbit Martial Soul Possession.

Tang Lie's eyes lit up. These were two whole Hundred-Thousand-Year Transformed Soul Beasts!

"Heaven blesses our Clear Sky Sect! Not only is my Ninth Soul Ring secured, but the sect can also gain a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone out of thin air. What a harvest-this is simply a heaven-sent windfall!"

Seeing that the two men still refused to back down, the Second Elder's face darkened completely, and the pressure of a Titled Douluo bore down on them.

"Tang Xiao, Tang Hao, you are the sect's geniuses, entrusted with its future rise and fall. Yet now you've let two beasts cloud your minds? Do you know what you're doing?"

"Right now! Immediately! Stand aside! Let us kill those vile beasts and take their rings and bones. Otherwise, don't blame us for showing no mercy."

"Bullshit!" Tang Xiao roared against the pressure. "Ah Rou is the woman I've chosen. Touching her is the same as touching my life. Whoever dares touch her, I'll fight them to the death!"

Tang Hao said resolutely, "Xiao Wu is my woman. I said that if anyone ever tried to hurt her, they'd have to step over my dead body first."

Hiding behind Tang Hao, Xiao Wu felt a blush spread across her pretty face, which had been pale with fright just moments ago. The whole rabbit was moved beyond words.

Listen to that. These were the most touching words of love. This was her Brother Hao.

At the moment of life and death, only her Brother Hao was willing to risk his life for her, refusing to yield even an inch before his sect's elders.

Xiao Wu's eyes sparkled, her heart already melted by the sight of Tang Hao's back, still coated in the stench of the black water and Lone Bamboo.

Even Ah Rou, who had originally only wanted to find a man to take her on and live a stable life as a wealthy man's wife, without giving him so much as a shred of genuine affection, could not help seeing Tang Xiao in a somewhat different light now.

Tang Xiao summoned the Clear Sky Hammer, and eight Soul Rings rose around him in unison.

Not to be outdone, Tang Hao summoned his own Clear Sky Hammer to protect Xiao Wu.

As Soul Power surged, only a single flash of white light emerged from his body.

During his earlier encounter with the Titan Giant Ape, Tang Hao had detonated his first seven Soul Rings. They could not manifest for the three-day cooldown period, so the only one that could appear now was his newly absorbed Eighth Soul Ring.

The three elders knew Tang Hao's background all too well. His first seven Soul Rings had been arranged as two yellow, two purple, and three black.

Now that they saw his Soul Power had reached the Soul Douluo level, the lone ring that appeared was naturally his Eighth Soul Ring.

At the sight of Tang Hao's white Soul Ring, the atmosphere, which had been taut with drawn swords and bent bows, fell eerily silent. Even the breeze brushing through the dense forest seemed to come to a standstill.