Back when Tang Hao challenged the Hell Road,
the Slaughter King personally intervened.
The result?
Well—
Tang Hao is still standing here.
That said it all.
"Enough!"
The Slaughter King's voice thundered.
"You two have come to MY City of Slaughter—"
"What exactly do you want?"
Tang Hao's response was casual.
"Isn't it obvious?"
"I'm here to help my son obtain the Slaughter God Domain."
"What else—catch up on old times?"
The Slaughter King had expected this.
Instead of flaring up,
he calmly withdrew his blood-red flames.
He nodded.
"Very well."
"For the next few days, as long as you can still fight—"
"I will personally arrange opponents for you."
"Once you achieve 100 consecutive wins,"
"I will open the Hell Road and send you on your way."
"Until then, you are not to cause any further disturbances."
"Do we have a deal?"
Surprisingly cooperative.
But this also proved—
The Slaughter King was just a weakling pretending to be strong.
Since he was being so considerate,
Tang Lan figured he might as well play along.
With a flick of his wrist,
he pulled out a Golden Earth Dragon Gourd.
Back when he fed the Ironback Dragon,
he had only used one-tenth of it.
Tang Lan smiled.
"This is an immortal herb, the Golden Earth Dragon Gourd."
"Immortal herbs absorb the essence of heaven and earth, the sun and moon—"
"They are treasures beyond normal medicinal plants."
"This particular herb grants control over the power of the earth—"
"—while also strengthening the body."
"I'd like to trade it for a small favor."
Though the Slaughter King tried to remain composed,
his eyes stayed glued to the Golden Earth Dragon Gourd.
His beast instincts screamed for it—
it was impossible to resist.
More importantly—
This body, despite belonging to a 99th-level Peerless Douluo,
had been severely corroded over decades.
Until he found a better replacement,
he needed to maintain it.
However—
The Slaughter King remained cautious.
"How do I know you're telling the truth?"
His tone carried suspicion.
"You've been stirring up quite the commotion these past few days."
He was implying—
Tang Lan was probably trying to scam him.
Tang Lan grinned,
then tossed the Golden Earth Dragon Gourd over.
The Slaughter King caught it effortlessly.
The moment he touched it,
he confirmed its authenticity.
His heart settled.
"What's the favor?"
The Slaughter King restrained his eagerness.
"As long as it doesn't threaten the foundation of the City of Slaughter, I may consider it."
Tang Lan smirked.
"I assume you're aware that my father has been feeding the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger?"
The Slaughter King nodded.
Tang Lan continued.
"Exactly. That's my request."
"Once I leave, I'd like you to take over and continue feeding the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger—"
"Helping it evolve as much as possible."
"I'll return for it in about a year."
"As payment, this Golden Earth Dragon Gourd is just a deposit."
"When I come back, depending on how much it has evolved, I'll pay you another immortal herb suited for you."
"Deal?"
Feeding the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger?
That's it?
The Slaughter King found it laughably easy.
The City of Slaughter had no shortage of corpses.
"Fine."
The Slaughter King immediately agreed.
"From now on, every fallen soul master will become its food."
He wasn't just doing this to help Tang Lan—
He was sending a message.
"Bring more immortal herbs next time."
A Successful Trade
"Pleasure doing business."
Tang Lan extended his hand.
The Slaughter King didn't hesitate—
he shook hands with Tang Lan.
The deal was sealed.
As they walked out,
Tang Hao couldn't help but grumble.
"Son, I could've handled feeding the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger myself."
"Did you really need to waste an immortal herb?"
"That was an IMMORTAL HERB!"
"You just handed it over to that thing?"
"That's a MASSIVE loss!"
Tang Lan chuckled.
"This wasn't about freeing you up—"
"It was about letting you spend more time with Mom."
Tang Hao: "…"
His heart ached, but…
Fine.
That made it a little more acceptable.
But Tang Lan smirked secretly.
The real reason he handed over the Golden Earth Dragon Gourd
wasn't to free up Tang Hao.
It was—
To strengthen Tang Chen's body.
Tang Chen had been parasitized by the Blood-Red Nine-Headed Bat King for decades.
His body was riddled with poison and falling apart.
In the original story—
He regained his 99th-level Douluo strengthHe completed the Asura God's Eight TrialsHe gained massive divine power
But—
His body couldn't handle the strain.
He collapsed and died after visiting Bo Saixi.
This time,
Tang Lan wouldn't let that happen.
He needed Tang Chen to recover properly—
So he could continue being a reliable backer!
After returning to their residence,
they were immediately visited by the same Slaughter Messenger from earlier.
She respectfully handed over a storage ring.
"My lord commanded me to deliver this to you. Please inspect it."
Tang Lan took the ring and scanned it with his spiritual power.
A Ring Full of Corpses
Oh?
Inside—
The ring was packed with dead bodies.
An entire storage ring's worth—
At least a hundred corpses.
And not just any corpses—
They were all Soul Sages or stronger.
Thanks to the vacuum preservation effect of storage rings,
it was impossible to tell how long they had been dead.
But one thing was clear—
These weren't recently killed fighters.
Tang Lan's eyebrow twitched.
Why did the Blood-Red Nine-Headed Bat King
have an entire collection of high-level corpses?
Some weird fetish?
But whatever.
Tang Lan casually tossed the storage ring to the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger.
Then, he handed another storage ring to the Slaughter Messenger.
He instructed—
"In the future, just deliver these directly to the tiger."
The Slaughter Messenger bowed.
"Understood, my lord."
She then added—
"Tomorrow's opponents have already been arranged for you."
"Please simply eliminate them."
"Afterward, their bodies will be delivered to you."
The implication was clear.
The Slaughter King was asking Tang Lan to play along—
To respect the Hell Slaughter Arena and stop farming side kills.
Tang Lan found it amusing.
But since it made things easier,
he nodded in agreement.
"If there's nothing else, I shall take my leave."
With that,
the Slaughter Messenger bowed again and exited the Tang Clan Inn.
The entire time, Tang San watched the scene unfold.
Seeing the Slaughter Messenger acting so respectful,
his eyes gleamed with ideas.
"Big Bro!"
"Did you guys strike some kind of deal with the Slaughter King?"
There was no reason to hide it,
so Tang Lan gave a brief explanation.
The moment he finished—
Tang San's eyes sparkled even brighter!
He was just about to speak…
"SMACK!"
Tang San was once again slapped into the floor.
Tang Hao lectured him without mercy—
"Don't get any funny ideas, brat!"
"The Slaughter King is only arranging fights—"
"But you still have to WIN those fights yourself!"
"With your weak ass, even a random five-ring Soul King would destroy you."
"Forget six-ring Soul Emperors or seven-ring Soul Sages!"
"If you really want to die that badly, just sign up yourself."
"Nobody's stopping you!"
Tang San rubbed the back of his head in pain.
Not just from the slap,
but from pure frustration!
"If the Slaughter King can arrange matches—"
"Why can't he just set me up against opponents at my level?!"
Tang Hao's eyes narrowed.
This little punk was really delusional!
But before he could yell at him again…
(To be continued in the next chapter!)