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"System, activate the Lan Minghua Peak Combat Experience Card!"
In an instant, Lan Minghua's aura surged.
Two beams of light—one golden, one black—collided against his body.
Boom!
A deafening explosion rocked the air, leaving a scorched scent in its wake.
The ensuing shockwave rippled like furious ocean waves, spreading mercilessly in all directions.
Below, the forest seemed struck by a cataclysm: towering trees were uprooted, crashing down in chaotic heaps.
Within a hundred meters, dust billowed everywhere.
Yue Guan and Gui Mei had targeted Tang Hao, so their strikes were devastating. Had Lan Minghua not used the Experience Card, he'd have been grievously wounded.
Yet before Peak Lan Minghua, their attacks merely stirred up some dust.
Still puzzled why they'd attacked him, he heard a soft, effeminate voice.
"Damn it—where did Tang Hao run off to?"
"That voice… could it be Chrysanthemum Douluo, Yue Guan?"
Lan Minghua tore aside the smoke with a single motion and fixed his gaze on the two figures not far off. His aggressive stare made Yue Guan and Gui Mei shiver.
A prickling sense of doom crawled up Yue Guan's spine. "Old Ghost, why do I have such a terrible premonition?"
Before he could dwell on it, Gui Mei, his face grave, was already staring at Lan Minghua.
"Stop looking—he's right ahead. I think we've run into someone tough!"
Seeing Lan Minghua standing there, seemingly full of openings yet exuding immense pressure, filled them with an inexplicable fear.
Yue Guan, following Gui Mei's line of sight, finally spotted Lan Minghua. His earlier attention had been so focused on Tang Hao that he'd missed his presence entirely.
Lan Minghua scowled at being ambushed by a chrysanthemum and a ghost—he'd been forced to expend an Experience Card.
Now down to only one card in stock, he felt dangerously exposed.
"I know you were duped by Tang Hao, but you made me waste an Experience Card—how do you intend to compensate me?" he demanded, his eyes sharp.
With a single step—practically teleporting—he appeared before Yue Guan and Gui Mei, startling them.
"Who are you? Why obstruct the Spirit Hall's hunt for Tang Hao?" Yue Guan barked, trying to seize the initiative.
Lan Minghua's tone was calm: "Obstruct you? It was you two obstructing me from hunting Tang Hao."
"And on top of that, you attacked me. What, do you want to fight?"
"Hunting Tang Hao?!" Yue Guan and Gui Mei's pupils snapped wide as realization struck.
This ragged vagrant before them was the one who defeated Tang Hao!
Someone capable of besting Tang Hao head-on could not be weak. Yet Lan Minghua stood there casually, and they felt an immense, invisible pressure.
They had only experienced such oppressive might once before: from High Priest Qian Daoliu, one of the only three 99th-level Limit Douluo on the continent. Only two could rival him.
And Lan Minghua's pressure was every bit as formidable as Qian Daoliu's.
No wonder they were stunned.
They'd assumed Tang Hao had grown feeble after years in hiding—but it wasn't that Tang Hao was weak, it was that Lan Minghua was overwhelmingly powerful.
Yue Guan and Gui Mei exchanged shocked glances.
"Old Ghost, what now? Did we anger him?" Yue Guan asked.
"Of course we did! We got tricked by Tang Hao and attacked the wrong person—if you were in his shoes, wouldn't you be furious?!" Gui Mei snapped back.
Lan Minghua's eyes narrowed, an icy light flashing within them. Though he knew they'd been deceived, their carelessness was their own fault.
If not for the Experience Card, he'd likely have been seriously injured.
He forced himself to feign ignorance. "Enough chatter. Tell me—why did you attack me?"
Yue Guan swallowed hard. "Senior, we meant no offense. For the Spirit Hall's sake, could you let this matter go?"
"And if you would, we'd gladly recommend you to Her Holiness, the Pope, to become an elder of the Spirit Hall."
Yue Guan spoke confidently—after all, the Spirit Hall was the continent's mightiest power, beyond even the two great empires.
Their control over the low-level spirit hunting forests proved that they stood above the empires.
He believed Lan Minghua would jump at the chance to join—but that was just his wishful thinking.
Lan Minghua had already sent people to found the Tianlong Gang. Why would he join the Spirit Hall?
"Hmph. That aside, if you want to let this go, it's simple: take one blow from me," he said.
Sensing Tang Hao's distance growing, Lan Minghua had no patience to bicker.
"Senior, must you hold onto this? Offending the Spirit Hall is not a wise choice!" Yue Guan protested.
When softness failed, he tried force. After all, they weren't weak, and they had a Martial Soul Fusion Skill.
Lan Minghua's voice cut cold: "Enough nonsense. If you won't accept a single blow, then we can have a proper fight!"
Instantly, his terrifying pressure bore down on Yue Guan and Gui Mei. Forest beasts sensed the danger and scattered in panic.
The Titan Giant Ape, contacted earlier by Xiao Wu, arrived at the outskirts. Feeling the distant aura, it froze, not daring to even roar—knowing the owner of that power could crush it easily.
Deep within the Star Dou Forest, the Azure Sky Bull Python also sensed the pressure and lifted its head from the lake, its eyes filled with concern.
Meanwhile, Wu Song was dragging the carcass of a fifty-thousand-year Swordback Tiger through the undergrowth. He paused, noticing the presence.
"Huh—Master's aura? Whoever crossed him is in for it." He casually tore a leg from the tiger and began roasting it. He didn't believe anyone on this continent could truly threaten Lan Minghua.
In a flash, Lan Minghua's aura hurled Yue Guan and Gui Mei hundreds of meters away.
"Choose," he called. "Otherwise, I'll choose for you. Don't say I didn't give you a chance."
Yue Guan and Gui Mei's hearts sank—they knew that even united, they stood no chance.
But accepting a single blow still left a glimmer of hope.
"Alright—we choose the first option! We'll take one blow. After that, this matter is settled!"
Lan Minghua glanced at them indifferently. "Since you've decided, then prepare yourselves."
His gaze blazed as the golden light around his body liquefied, coalescing in his palm.
In an instant, a golden Holy Spear, crackling with world-shattering power, took shape.
Without hesitation, he hurled it.
The air seemed to tear apart as a golden streak, too swift for the eye, shot toward Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo.
(End of Chapter)