Tang Tian summoned the Clear Sky Hammer, with nine soul rings circling around him. He pointed the hammer at Tang Hao:
"Force you? You're the one shaming the Clear Sky Sect. For the sake of this soul beast, you harmed your own brother. For this soul beast, you ignored the honor of our sect and even produced offspring with it. And you still have the face to say the sect is forcing you?"
Left with no choice, Tang Hao also summoned his Clear Sky Hammer. He shouted at Tang Tian:
"Step aside, Father! I don't want to be your enemy, and I don't want to hurt you."
"How amusing. You want to hurt me? Tang Hao, you only have eight measly soul rings. What gives you the courage to speak like that to a Title Douluo? Today, as your father, I'll teach you a lesson," Tang Tian said coldly.
Just as the atmosphere reached the breaking point—
"Wait."
A Yin suddenly stepped forward, calling out to Tang Hao.
Her voice drew the attention of both father and son, who instinctively turned to look at her.
"You wicked enchantress," Tang Tian snarled, his eyes bloodshot and breathing heavy with rage. "It's you—bewitching both my sons to the point of fratricide. You seduced one into coupling with you, and now you dare speak?"
A Yin spoke with bitter self-mockery:
"You think I bewitched your son into mating with me?"
"Didn't you?" Tang Tian shot back.
A Yin sneered coldly:
"The truth... only that beast of a son of yours knows for sure."
She turned to Tang Hao, her gaze icy:
"You ran all over the world, provoking the Spirit Hall—the faction with the most Title Douluos—under countless self-righteous excuses. But in the end, was it not all just for my soul ring and soul bone? And yet laughably, you didn't even draw the Spirit Hall's wrath. Instead, your own sect hunts you down. What a farce!"
"A Yin, no, I didn't mean it like that!" Tang Hao tried to explain hurriedly.
"You think I don't know what you've been doing behind my back? Even though you sealed my soul power, don't forget—I am the Blue Silver Emperor. Any blade of blue silver grass can be my eyes and ears," A Yin said.
"If you want my soul ring and soul bone, then fine. I will give them to you," A Yin turned to Tang San with unwavering determination.
"No one in your sect wants him to survive. But I do. I want him to live. Take him and break out—I will sacrifice myself for you."
She looked down at the boy in her arms. She didn't know when it had started, but this child had come to weigh more and more in her heart. So much so that now, just to ensure his survival, she was willing to give up everything.
With great reluctance, she pushed the little brat into Tang Hao's arms.
"A Yin, you don't have to do this. I can take you with me and break out together," Tang Hao pleaded as he received the child.
"Heh..." A Yin gave a mournful laugh.
"Do you think I don't know what you're really thinking, Tang Hao? Promise me. Take Tang San and get out alive. If you do that, I'll give you everything."
"A Yin—" Tang Hao faltered, conflicted.
"Stop hesitating. Do you promise or not!?" A Yin snapped.
"Yes, yes, I promise you!" Tang Hao responded quickly.
A Yin didn't waste another word. A blood-red sacrificial domain burst from her body, and blue silver grass surged from the ground, twining around Tang Hao and Tang San.
Tang Hao's tears fell. In the end, he and A Yin had come to this. Once again in this lifetime, he would have to accept her final gift with tears in his eyes. It was agony—
Tang Hao let out a heart-wrenching scream:
"A Yin, no—!"
(Internally though, Tang Hao: Ah, finally... once again, I get to tearfully receive A Yin's soul ring and soul bone. A Yin, turn your love—your everything—into soul rings for me. I'll make good use of them.)
Tang Tian and the other Clear Sky Sect members watched this once-in-a-millennium soul beast sacrifice in stunned silence.
"Sect Master, should we stop them?" one sect member asked.
"Stop them? Can you even stop it?" Tang Tian shot him a look and said, "Once a soul beast initiates a sacrifice, the process is irreversible by outsiders."
Besides, now that Tang Xiao was crippled, Tang Hao was Tang Tian's only remaining son. The happenings in the Sky Valley hadn't yet reached the ears of Tang Tian or the sect.
Tang Tian naturally wanted Tang Hao to return to the sect and inherit the family legacy. As a father, how could he destroy his son's opportunity?
Tang Hao nearly spread his arms, basking in the ecstasy of receiving his ninth soul ring, when suddenly—
A voice filled with anguish rang out from a path in the valley:
"A Yin, don't—!"
That familiar voice made Tang Hao, A Yin, and Tang Tian all instinctively look toward its source.
A half-paralyzed man pushed himself out of the path in a wheelchair.
Seeing who it was, Tang Hao's face instantly turned green:
"Tang Xiao!"
"Tang Xiao, why are you here?" Tang Tian asked.
"Brother Xiao!" A Yin cried with joy. The moment she saw Tang Xiao, she suddenly felt like her son didn't matter so much anymore. Compared to Tang Xiao, that little brat felt... unnecessary.
"A Yin, stop! Don't do something so foolish!" Tang Xiao cried, staring at A Yin, who was engulfed in the sacrificial domain.
"Brother Xiao, I'm sorry. My body is no longer clean. I was defiled by that beast Tang Hao... and I even bore him that dog bastard child." A Yin spoke with grief and shame.
"It—it doesn't matter. No matter what you've become, I still love you," Tang Xiao said.
"You—" Tang Tian felt like his veins were about to burst.
What was wrong with his sons? Why did both Tang Hao and Tang Xiao like this type?
Tang Hao, meanwhile, clenched his fists in jealousy. After all this time, A Yin still had Tang Xiao in her heart.
Why? Why?!
As the sacrificial domain continued to consume A Yin, Tang Xiao tried to roll his wheelchair toward her, but was stopped by the overwhelming soul power.
Even a Title Douluo couldn't break a sacrificial barrier—what chance did a cripple like Tang Xiao have?
"It's useless, Brother Xiao," A Yin cried.
"Once a soul beast begins a sacrifice, it cannot be interrupted."
Seeing A Yin and Tang Xiao exchanging tearful gazes through the sacrifice barrier, their deep affection on full display, only twisted Tang Hao's heart further with jealousy.
When A Yin said those words, Tang Hao suddenly felt relieved and delighted. He thought smugly:
Tang Xiao, so what if you have her heart? A Yin's body belongs to me. She bore me a child, and now she'll sacrifice herself for me. When our child becomes a god, he'll make her heart mine too. And you'll still be nothing but a pathetic loser.
"But... the target of the sacrifice can be changed."
A Yin suddenly changed her tone.
The moment the words fell, the Blue Silver Grass that had been entangling Tang Hao suddenly burrowed into the ground. In the next moment, it emerged from the soil next to Tang Xiao, gently wrapping around him.
The Sacrifice Domain also ruthlessly expelled Tang Hao and gently welcomed Tang Xiao into its embrace.
Everything happened too quickly. Tang Hao's brain froze for a second or two before he realized he had just been kicked out—by Ah Yin. Ah Yin had changed the target of the sacrifice, redirecting it from him to Tang Xiao.
Within the Sacrifice Domain, Ah Yin gracefully walked over to Tang Xiao, tenderly cupped his face, and kissed him.
To Tang Hao, witnessing this was blinding—agonizing.
He thought about how much he had done to protect... well, forget it—he might as well come clean. He had been using Spirit Hall all along to force Ah Yin to sacrifice herself for him.
To achieve this unspeakable goal, he had paid a tremendous price.
Under pressure from the clan, he had no choice but to wield the Clear Sky Hammer in rebellion, carrying sins almost impossible to wash away.
He had sacrificed so much, and just when it seemed like he was about to harvest the fruits of his labor—Ah Yin had even activated the Sacrifice Domain for him—then out of nowhere, Tang Xiao appeared, did absolutely nothing, and stole the Hundred-thousand-year spirit ring.
That was Ah Yin's hundred-thousand-year spirit ring—symbolizing her love. In a past life, Ah Yin had poured all her affection into that spirit ring and sacrificed it to him. That was Tang Hao's exclusive hundred-thousand-year spirit ring.
What Tang Hao felt in that moment was a storm of jealousy, heartbreak, and rage—
A thousand thoughts churned in his heart, finally erupting in a heart-wrenching howl like a baboon—
"Ah Yin!! Aaaaahhhh!!"
Tang Hao almost imagined he could hear that man in Gotham again, the one dressed like a bat, whispering to him:
"Come back, Hao. Come back to Gotham. I promise I won't beat you to death this time."
He began swinging the Clear Sky Hammer like a madman, smashing against the Sacrifice Domain.
But inside the domain, the two were lost in each other's eyes, utterly ignoring Tang Hao's frenzied rampage.
When the kiss ended, Tang Xiao said gently, "Ah Yin, you don't need to sacrifice yourself for me. I just want you to stay by my side."
Tears in her eyes, Ah Yin replied, "Brother Xiao, thank you for not minding that I'm no longer pure. But I can't stop it now. To give my all to the one I love at the end of my life—that's the best ending I could ask for."
She tenderly reached out and caressed Tang Xiao's disabled body. "I'm sorry. I caused all this. Your talent is no less than Tang Hao's, that bastard. You shouldn't have fallen so low."
"This isn't your fault. It's that bastard Tang Hao who did all this," Tang Xiao said.
Ah Yin shook her head. "If it weren't for me, he wouldn't have done all this either. Now, let me return to you what should've been yours all along."
Tang Xiao felt a massive surge of vitality pouring into his body through the Blue Silver Grass. That life-filled spirit power began healing his wounds and fusing his shattered spine. Slowly, Tang Xiao began to feel that he could stand up again.
He stood up instinctively. He was whole once more, a normal man again. But before he could fully rejoice, he saw Ah Yin—and her figure was fading.
"Brother Xiao, may my love for you become this spirit ring and forever stay with you."
With those final words, Ah Yin's body completely transformed into a blood-red hundred-thousand-year spirit ring.
In that instant, all eyes were drawn to the ring.
Tang Tian was overjoyed. Tang Hao was on the brink of collapse. Hidden in the shadows, Qian Xuanji and others looked on with deep regret.
"Ah Yin—" Tang Xiao reached toward where she had been, but grabbed only empty air. He stared at the spirit ring Ah Yin had become—this treasure that countless spirit masters dreamed of—and knew it now belonged to him. Yet he felt no joy, for though he saw her one last time, he had truly lost her forever.
The sacrifice continued. Tang Xiao's spirit power surged within the domain, rising directly to Rank 90. Eight spirit rings appeared in sequence: yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black. Finally, the blood-red hundred-thousand-year ring attached itself beyond the last black ring. Tang Xiao officially advanced to Titled Douluo, the youngest Titled Douluo on the continent—one with a hundred-thousand-year spirit ring.
"Aaaaahhhh!! Why are you doing this to me?! Ah Yin!! Wasn't I good enough to you?!"
Realizing he couldn't break the domain, Tang Hao threw down the Clear Sky Hammer, beat his own chest with his arms like a raging gorilla, and let out an even more sorrowful howl.
Divine Realm – Asura God Palace
"You've got to be kidding me."
The Asura God was dumbfounded. What had just happened was completely beyond his expectations. After realizing what was going on, he exploded in rage:
"I told you to sacrifice yourself to Tang Hao! And you turned around and gave it to Tang Xiao instead?! You damn love-brained fool! Is your son not as important as your lover?! What's the point of that cripple?! I gave you that hundred-thousand-year ring to protect my precious boy, and you just wasted it!!"
With the end of Ah Yin's sacrifice, another of her treasures appeared—the hundred-thousand-year Blue Silver Emperor right leg bone.
It was supposed to fall into Tang Xiao's hands. But the Asura God, utterly shameless, directly interfered. With a crooked finger, he drew the soul bone into Tang Hao's hands instead.
"You useless fool. You lost the spirit ring. Don't screw up this spirit bone that was meant for my precious baby!" the Asura God roared at Tang Hao.
Divine Realm – Hall of Eternity
Just moments ago, Huo Yuhao accomplished something astonishing. Just like Ah Yin had said, he took all her love and memories of Tang Xiao and cut them away, injecting them into that hundred-thousand-year spirit ring.
After all, to Huo Yuhao, Ah Yin was still a critical chess piece. But for the next phase of his script, he needed an Ah Yin who hated Tang Hao, not one who was still in love with Tang Xiao.
So, the Ah Yin who had loved Tang Xiao—had essentially vanished with this sacrifice.
In the place where Ah Yin had sacrificed herself, a Blue Silver Emperor Seed of Life emerged. Huo Yuhao looked at it and contacted Tianmeng, who was lurking in the mortal world:
"Tianmeng, the target has appeared. Time to move."
"Got it, Brother Hao. Mission accepted, and I'll complete it for sure," Tianmeng replied.
Tianmeng then activated his sleight of hand—stealing the real seed and replacing it with a fake one he had prepared in advance.
And so, Ah Yin's sacrifice resulted in:
Her spirit ring going to Tang Xiao,
Her soul bone being hijacked by the Asura God and given to Tang Hao,
And her Seed of Life being snatched by Brother Tianmeng.
Poor Ah Yin was split three ways.
"Hahahaha, this Blue Silver Empress sure knows what's good for her." Tang Tian hadn't felt this good in ages. Tang Xiao had been crippled and was previously thought to have no hope of ever gaining a title. One of the Twin Stars of the Clear Sky Clan had fallen, and Tang Hao had disappeared.
But now, things were different. Tang Hao had been found, and thanks to the Blue Silver Empress's selfless sacrifice, Tang Xiao's talent had been restored. He had even saved years of cultivation, leaping straight to Title Douluo level—a Title Douluo with the foundation of a hundred-thousand-year soul ring, no less.
The Twin Stars of the Clear Sky Clan had returned.
Remembering what had just happened, Tang Tian stroked his chin. Who would've thought obtaining soul rings could be done like this? Perhaps disciples of the sect could learn from this in the future. Maybe they too could "freeload" hundred-thousand-year soul rings.
The poor Tang Tian was still daydreaming about the bright future of the Clear Sky Sect, completely unaware of the chaos about to unfold.
"Because a massive amount of soul power was used to heal my injuries and enhance my cultivation, my level is currently only 91." Tang Xiao, feeling the transformation in his body, summoned the long-lost Clear Sky Hammer. Thinking of the hardships Ah Yin had endured over the past decade, and of the years he had spent crippled, he stretched his limbs and said, "Ah Yin, I will make it right for you. Some debts must be repaid. Tang Hao, let's fight to the death."
In his past life, Ah Yin had loved him, willingly bearing him an adorable little rascal. It was the Spirit Hall that had hunted them down. When they had no way out, Ah Yin had willingly sacrificed herself for him. So why had everything changed in this life?
Hearing Tang Xiao's declaration of war, Tang Hao's eyes turned bloodshot. He panted like a raging bull and shouted, "Tang Xiao, it's all because of you! If it weren't for you, Ah Yin would've loved me! You want to fight to the death? I was thinking the same thing. Today, it's either you or me!"
With that, Tang Hao summoned his Clear Sky Hammer, surrounded by eight soul rings.
Their soul power clashed violently, pushing and grinding against one another, neither willing to back down.
Tang Xiao grabbed his hammer and charged at Tang Hao.
Tang Hao's blood-red eyes gleamed as he activated the Killing God Domain. Under its influence, his Clear Sky Hammer turned crimson.
A blue and a red Clear Sky Hammer collided in midair, the shockwave spreading in all directions from the point of impact.
One strike—almost evenly matched. In an instant, dozens more blows were exchanged.
At this point, Tang Tian finally snapped out of it. "Stop! Both of you, stop fighting!"
He was nearly having a brain aneurysm. The Twin Stars had just returned, and the future of the sect was finally within reach—only for them to turn on each other again.
Tang Tian tried to break up the fight, but Tang Hao yelled, "Father! This is between Tang Xiao and me. Please don't interfere!"
Tang Xiao added, "Father, you don't actually expect this beast to revive the sect, do you? You probably don't even know that over half of our Clear Sky Sect's disciples were massacred by him—including the elders Tang Qi, Tang Zhe, Tang Mie, and Tang Po. Tang Lie told me everything."
"What did you say?" Tang Tian—and even the disciples he brought—were stunned. Tang Tian turned to Tang Hao and demanded, "Is what Tang Xiao said true?"
Tang Hao wanted to deny it, but these crimes were his.
Confronted with irrefutable evidence, Tang Hao could only remain silent.
"So," Tang Xiao said coldly, "I'm cleansing the sect. You think this degenerate can lead us to glory? It would be a miracle if he doesn't drag the Clear Sky Sect into the abyss."
"You... you... you... you—you disgrace!" Tang Tian coughed up a mouthful of blood and, unable to stabilize his aura, plummeted from the sky.
But the two in battle paid no attention to their father's condition.
"Clear Sky Nine Arts—Break Technique!"
"Clear Sky Nine Arts—Shock Technique!"
"Ring Explosion—Great Sumeru Hammer!"
"Ring Explosion—Great Sumeru Hammer!"
Both Tang Hao and Tang Xiao had mastered the ultimate techniques of the Clear Sky Hammer. They fought like gods, each move breathtaking, neither giving an inch.
But soon, the tide began to shift.
Surprisingly, it wasn't Tang Xiao with nine rings who gained the upper hand—but Tang Hao.
Empowered by the Asura Domain, Tang Hao's strength and aura climbed steadily, slowly overwhelming Tang Xiao.
Despite pouring all his hatred into every strike, Tang Xiao could feel the oppressive force coming from Tang Hao's hammer. He couldn't believe it.
"Tang Hao, you only have eight soul rings. How are you—?"
"If your nine rings can't beat my eight, doesn't that just make you even more of a loser than me?" Tang Hao's blood-red eyes gleamed. "What's mine will always be mine. You only had it for a while. In the end, I'm the true winner. Go die, Tang Xiao!"
Tang Hao detonated all his soul rings, channeling the power into his Clear Sky Hammer.
Seeing this, Tang Xiao didn't dare hold back. He detonated all of his as well—including Ah Yin's—and channeled that power into his hammer.
The hammers swelled like inflating balloons, growing bigger and bigger until they were hundreds of meters wide.
Their martial soul avatars raised their massive hammers. Their eyes were locked on each other—eyes filled with murderous intent.
Neither held back. One blue, one red—two colossal Clear Sky Hammers collided in the sky.
Crack—
The blue hammer fractured like a spiderweb, cracks spreading rapidly until it shattered completely.
With his martial soul broken, Tang Xiao coughed up blood. As he looked up, Tang Hao's hammer slammed into him from the left. Unable to dodge, Tang Xiao was flung like a blood-soaked rag doll, crashing into the cliffside.
As the dust settled, Tang Xiao lay among the rubble, struggling to rise—but he couldn't. When he reached for his back, he was horrified to find that...
He had become a cripple again.
Tang Hao, not letting up, charged toward Tang Xiao. As he lay there, Tang Xiao saw eight more soul rings appear around Tang Hao—then explode once again, channeling power into the hammer.
Seeing this, Tang Xiao cursed in his heart: WTF! That's not how ring explosions work! Where's the cooldown?! You're supposed to be incapacitated for days! This is cheating!
But Tang Hao didn't care about any of that. He thought about all the chaos since his rebirth—how everything had revolved around Tang Xiao. He thought about the moment Ah Yin kissed Tang Xiao. He thought... he thought about everything, and all of it made him want to kill Tang Xiao right there.
"Go die, Tang Xiao—!" Tang Hao growled between clenched teeth.
The Clear Sky Hammer came crashing down.
Tang Xiao stared up in despair. The sky above him was completely blotted out by the size of the hammer. Not even Grandfather had wielded one this massive.
I'm done for... Ah Yin... I'm sorry... I'm coming to join you...
"STOP—YOU MONSTER!!" Tang Tian suddenly flew in from above, shielding Tang Xiao.