Flender: Clear Sky Hammer?

"Wait, wait!"

Just as the two stood with swords drawn and bows bent, a middle-aged man's voice came from behind Zhao Wuji. Flender slowly walked to his side, his eyes fixed on the Clear Sky Hammer in Han Yu's hand.

"Flender, what are you up to now?"

Zhao Wuji was startled to see Flender emerge; clearly, he hadn't known Flender was there too. Then he cursed angrily.

"Old Zhao, look at the Martial Soul in his hand."

Flender didn't answer. His gaze remained fixed on the Clear Sky Hammer in Han Yu's hand.

"I see it. It's a hammer. So what?"

Zhao Wuji was baffled and answered in a muffled voice.

"Is that a Clear Sky Hammer?"

Ever since the Clear Sky Sect had closed itself off, the Clear Sky Hammer Martial Soul had not been seen on Douluo Continent for a long time. Flender had been hiding nearby, carefully examining the Martial Soul in Han Yu's hand, and was now almost certain that it was a Clear Sky Hammer.

"You recognize it?"

Han Yu glanced at Flender, hefted the hammer in his hand twice, and answered casually.

Flender gave the Clear Sky Hammer a long look but didn't reply to Han Yu. Instead, he cupped his hands slightly toward the surrounding forest and called out.

"Might I ask which senior of the Clear Sky Sect is here? Old Zhao was rash today. Please don't take offense."

Silence fell over the forest, as though nature's breath had suddenly been strangled. An oppressive feeling hung in the air. Leaves swayed gently in the breeze, rustling like murmured whispers. No one made a sound.

"May I ask which senior of the Clear Sky Sect is here? Please come out and speak with us."

Flender didn't grow anxious. He merely called out again.

But the forest remained quiet, and no one responded.

Even the thick-skinned Zhao Wuji understood now. A genius like Han Yu traveling across Douluo Continent was sure to have an elder from the Clear Sky Sect accompanying him. He released his Martial Soul Possession, then stood behind Flender and cupped his hands as well.

The moment Zhao Wuji released his Martial Soul Possession, Han Yu felt the heaviness vanish from his body, replaced by a lightness he had never felt before.

"No one is following me. If you have something to say, say it."

Han Yu put away the Clear Sky Hammer and rubbed his aching wrist. He had fought too little and hadn't known how to apply his strength, leaving his wrist sore from the impact.

Flender didn't believe him, assuming instead that the person from the Clear Sky Sect was unwilling to show themselves. With things having grown so tense, he could only walk up to Han Yu.

"Here are three hundred Gold Soul Coins. Consider them my apology on Old Zhao's behalf."

Looking pained, Flender took a cloth bag from his robes, the Gold Soul Coins inside clinking against one another, and handed it to Han Yu.

Only now did Han Yu finally recover from the fight. He took the bag, weighed it briefly in his hand, and put it in his Soul Tool. Only a bastard would turn down money. If he hadn't possessed the Clear Sky Hammer Martial Soul today, and if Flender hadn't believed that a Clear Sky Sect expert was following him, he would truly have had to risk his life to escape, both to protect his Soul Tool and to avoid being forcibly dragged to Shrek.

They had merely met once in Suotuo City and failed to make things clear, yet it had brought this kind of trouble down on him.

Han Yu sighed inwardly. He seemed to have thought things were too simple, but he hadn't realized that it wasn't just Tang Hao and Tang San whose thoughts were complicated. Everyone's were.

He still had too little combat experience.

Thinking back on the fight, he seemed not to have thought everything through. He had known full well that Zhao Wuji had Soul Rings for tracking and restricting movement, yet he hadn't escaped in time. Worse, he had carelessly been sent flying by Zhao Wuji's First Soul Ring, then deliberately exposed his ability to fly.

When did I become so foolish and naive?

Han Yu didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Everything had seemingly gone his way since his Martial Soul Awakening, giving him the impression that this world was nothing special and making him forget that he was only a Soul Grandmaster in his twenties.

This was Douluo Continent, a Douluo Continent where the strong reigned supreme.

Han Yu had already put the money bag in his Soul Tool, and no other sound had come from the forest. Only then did Flender breathe a sigh of relief and ask a question.

"May I ask what your relationship with Xiaogang is?"

"He's my younger brother's teacher. He gave me the belt."

This time, Han Yu didn't keep him guessing. A setback brought wisdom; it was better to say whatever needed saying, and also for the sake of future trouble.

"Where is Xiaogang now?"

Hearing that Han Yu really did know Yu Xiaogang, Flender asked anxiously, his eagle-like eyes fixed on Han Yu.

"Nuoding City."

Han Yu tossed out an answer, bade the two farewell, and hurried away. He didn't want to stay there a moment longer. Having lived two lives, he felt somewhat ashamed that his first fight had ended so hastily.

Actually, he couldn't be blamed. After all, unlike Tang San, who had lived in the Tang Sect from childhood in his previous life and been exposed to the ways of the martial world from a young age, fighting and the like naturally came easily to Tang San.

In his previous life, he had been an ordinary person. How could he have experienced a fight like this? It was already excellent that he hadn't shown fear in his first fight, and that confidence had come from his various trump cards.

If he had fought Zhao Wuji one-on-one, Han Yu believed that, with the help of his various trump cards, he could have worn Zhao Wuji down to death. He didn't know any insidious methods of using poison and could only rely on the Blue Silver Domain's restorative power and the Clear Sky Hammer in his hand.

When he returned to Nuoding City, he had to build up his combat experience.

After Han Yu left, Zhao Wuji scratched his head, walked over to Flender, and asked a question.

"We're just letting him go like that? He's a real promising talent. With a genius like him in the Clear Sky Sect, perhaps it won't be long before they stop keeping the sect closed."

Flender rolled his eyes at him and spoke in a low voice.

"With a genius like that, do you think the Clear Sky Sect would let him travel Douluo Continent alone? They must have been using you as his stepping stone. Fortunately, no one's life was put in danger."

Hearing that he had been used as a stepping stone, Zhao Wuji was somewhat annoyed. After a long while, he let out a deep sigh.

"Disciples of great sects like that..."

He didn't finish, but Flender could naturally guess the rest. Disciples of great sects like that received treatment vastly different from what commoner Soul Masters like them received. Even their Soul Ring configurations were different. Back then, they had risked life and limb for a Hundred-Year Soul Ring, while a disciple of a great sect only had to give the word, and countless people would naturally search for a suitable Soul Ring for him.

"I really don't know how the Clear Sky Sect raised him. Two Ten Thousand Year Soul Rings."

Remembering Han Yu's Soul Rings, Flender clicked his tongue inwardly. A First Soul Ring of at most a hundred years was already the limit for people on Douluo Continent. Someone like Han Yu, whose first two Soul Rings were both ten thousand years old, was absolutely unprecedented.

The two were silent for a long while. Just as they were about to leave, a figure stepped out of the shadows nearby. The killing intent emanating from the figure made their expressions grow grave, but when they saw the Soul Rings on the figure, their faces filled with despair.

Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black, red. (The original first said it was black tinged with red, but at Spirit Hall it was red, so this book will simply use the setting from the Spirit Hall scene: red.)