Boom!
Tang Hao's dark-red hammer smashed down again, the ground splitting beneath Snake Lance Douluo and Dolphin Douluo.
They looked to the side—and saw Lucien easily dodge away with his strange soul ability. His movement slid right past Tang Hao's lock, slipping free of the hammer's crushing trajectory.
Their jaws dropped.
He can just phase around the Haotian hammer… but us? We can't!
A chill filled their stomachs. Now Tang Hao's aura locked directly onto them, suffocating like a cage of death.
Gan! He's coming straight for our heads!
Boom!
The next instant they were smashed aside, slamming into rock walls, blood spraying from their lips.
But Tang Hao… had stopped.
His hammer froze midair, his massive body stiffening abruptly.
Those muddy eyes widened—like copper bells—staring unblinkingly at Lucien.
"That aura… A Yin?"
For the briefest moment, he'd felt it—A Yin's breath on the boy's body.
Impossible!
Tang Hao's hands trembled on his hammer. His A Yin had hidden here for more than ten years, carefully nurtured—how could her aura suddenly appear from this outsider?!
His mind raced.
During the clash just now, the sword boy had slipped away for a time… and come back smelling of her.
Could it be—
Cold sweat trickled down Tang Hao's back.
A Yin… had she been taken?
"Boom!"
Spirit power erupted like a storm. The chilling Killing God Realm exploded around him, swallowing the battlefield in an oppressive blood-red haze.
"Bastard!" Tang Hao's roar shattered the air. "What did you do just now?!"
Snake Lance and Dolphin Douluo swallowed hard, their throats dry as sand.
In this murderous realm, their fighting spirit withered instantly. They'd been outmatched before—now, they could hardly breathe.
We're dead. This time we're definitely dead…
Boom!
Lucien's aura surged in answer. Black flames roared out, cloaking his entire body. His eyes darkened into twin pits of shadow, sword qi circling wildly around him.
Stepping forward, he met the hammer head-on.
Clang!
The sword and hammer struck.
The collision rang like piercing silver bells.
And shockingly—Tang Hao's hammer… stopped mid-swing.
Lucien was slammed back from the air, smashing earthward, yet utterly unbroken. Already he was rising to attack again.
Tang Hao froze, eyes narrowing sharply.
That sword… that flame… This boy reeks of evil aura. And yet, I wasn't holding back much just now. He still stands? Even planning to fight again?
For the first time in decades, a faint ripple of unease trickled down Tang Hao's spine.
Snake Lance and Dolphin Douluo just stared, eyes wide, completely shaken.
What happened to the idiotic drunk we knew? When did he turn into this demon?
The battlefield hung a heartbeat in silence.
And then—it tore.
The sky itself flickered, warping weirdly as though space was being ripped apart.
A black-cloaked figure appeared, silent, sudden, standing directly in front of Lucien before anyone even registered how they'd arrived.
Friend… or foe?
"You're not his opponent," the figure rasped, voice hoarse, inhuman, impossible to tell if male or female. "Leave him to me."
Lucien blinked. "Eh? Who the hell—"
But before he could finish, Snake Lance and Dolphin practically dragged him back by the arms.
"Lucien, retreat! Please, just give us two old codgers some peace!"
At this point they nearly cried. If this cloaked monster wanted to fight Tang Hao, let them fight! For half an hour the two of them had been beaten half-dead trying to protect Lucien. They could hardly move their bones.
If someone else wanted to step in—by all means, let them!
Tang Hao's face twisted when Lucien was pulled back.
That breath—the aura of his wife—had radiated from that drunkard! How could he let him leave?
He rushed forward like a storm, hammer lifted high.
But before he reached Lucien, the black-cloaked figure blocked his path.
"Your opponent is me," the rasping voice growled.
"Courting death!" Tang Hao roared.
Hammer in hand, he erupted into the Disorderly Cloak Hammer Technique.
Each swing heavier, faster, fiercer than the last. In moments, thirty-six hammers smashed down in a chain, shaking earth and heavens.
From the cloak, a thin shriveled arm stretched forth unnaturally—yet with it bloomed a vast black hand of condensed spirit power, expanding thirty meters in an instant.
It crashed out to meet Tang Hao's furious assault.
As palm and hammer slammed together, the mountains themselves trembled.
Behind them, Lucien calmly sat cross-legged, cracking open another jar. Glug-glug.
Snake Lance stared at him, veins bulging. "Lucien, for heaven's sake, could you NOT drink when Tang Hao's about to kill us?!"
But Lucien's mind was elsewhere. He rolled his wrist, feeling an icy sharpness crawling across his Martial Soul. That icy herb his blade had devoured left its mark.
His head buzz that usually dulled under drink… felt clearer.
His sword now bore dual attributes—deathly aura, and cold.
Lucien grinned stupidly into his wine. Well, whatever the reason—it's a good thing.
Half an hour later.
The battlefield dissolved in smoke and ruin. Scarred forest painted with craters.
Amid swirling black mist, Tang Hao's figure emerged battered and bloodstained.
But his face was twisted in sheer horror.
Because when the shadowed cloak vanished—so too had A Yin's presence.
Gone.
"A Yin!" he roared, his voice splitting mountains.
He vanished in a single step, streaking toward the valley… too late.
On the field remained only his ragged breath and the wreckage of the forest.
Tang Hao's roar tore through the land, filled with despair.
"My A Yin—was dug up! Stolen by those Martial Soul Hall dogs!"
Blood filled his eyes. Memories of her sacrifice tore into his chest afresh, burning into madness.
"Spirit Hall! SPIRIT HALL!"
With a deafening swing of his hammer, Tang Hao smashed into the mountain itself, splintering it with a crack that shook the valley.
"No matter the years, I will never rest until Martial Soul Hall lies destroyed!"
His howl of fury echoed for miles, rattling beasts and men alike.
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