Boom!
Tang Hao's colossal dark-red hammer fell, shaking the earth. Cracks more than a meter wide spread like veins beneath Snake Lance Douluo's feet.
"Drink!" Snake Lance Douluo roared, his eighth spirit ring flaring. Spirit power surged through the massive snake spear in his hands as he braced against the descending Clear Sky Hammer.
Rumble!
The clash sounded as if the sky itself were tearing apart.
Snake Lance Douluo's body was hurled backward, flipping through the air before slamming dozens of meters away. His arms trembled violently, his face pale, breath ragged.
This is insane! This… this is Tang Hao!
Against his raw force, Snake Lance Douluo was utterly helpless—whether in strength or skill.
If this continues, we'll end up as corpses hammered flat! Snake Lance thought bitterly. And that drunk brat Lucien—had he fallen asleep somewhere after getting drunk? Where was the signal they were waiting for?
Another deafening boom! Porcupinefish Douluo's grotesquely swollen body was sent flying into a rock wall, blood spraying from his mouth.
"Old Snake, I—I can't hold anymore!" he wheezed, his organs writhing in agony.
Tang Hao's voice thundered coldly. "Exploding ring!"
The first of his nine spirit rings shattered with a crisp crack! His aura spiked higher, exploding like fire.
Snake Lance and Dolphin Douluo both swallowed hard, throats going dry. Now he was even stronger, his pressure suffocating.
"Die!" Tang Hao bellowed, his hammer descending with the weight of a mountain, aiming straight for their skulls.
Chi-chi-chi…!
A sharp screech cut through the battlefield as the strike was stopped cold.
Between the hammer and their heads, a long black sword had wedged itself in the ground, icy mist rising off its blade. Sword qi shimmered, golden threads along its edge flashing.
Snake Lance and Dolphin Douluo gawked.
Lucien.
He was the one holding the sword.
"Boom!"
The clash sent Lucien flying backward like a cannonball, crashing away under Tang Hao's immense strength. But in that single instant, he'd bought both Titled Douluo their lives.
Tang Hao's eyes narrowed, truly surprised. "You're good," he admitted.
For this so-called "Soul King" to block even briefly what a Contra could not? Impossible.
Yet as his hammer had descended, Tang Hao had felt it — the strange sword itself exuded a suppressive force, weakening him.
Who was this kid?
Lucien staggered to his feet, shaking his head, his grin plastered across his drunk face. "Really? Heh. I think I'm pretty good."
The corner of Tang Hao's mouth twitched. Is this brat drunk on fake wine?
Snake Lance and Dolphin Douluo flushed white. A Soul King blocks Tang Hao and then calls it "pretty good"? Are you mocking us, calling us trash?
"Try this on!" Lucien launched forward again, pressing off the earth, black sword flashing cold.
The two Titled Douluo nearly fainted. This idiot—shouldn't we be running?! Why are you charging AGAIN?!
But they knew the truth. In their battered states, they couldn't escape Tang Hao anyway. All they could do was throw in with Lucien.
"Wind-Dust Final Slash!"
Lucien's fifth ring flared, his form vanishing into a streak of sword qi that slashed toward the Clear Sky Hammer.
Chi-chi-chi! Sparks shrieked as black sword qi clashed against the hammer's metal.
Tang Hao twisted nimbly, waist snapping, redirecting his massive blow.
"Clang!"
The impact shook the earth, fragments of shattered rock whirling through the air.
Lucien's body was hurled fifty meters, black mist rippling faintly across his frame. Tang Hao stumbled back a step, eyes narrowing further.
Looking down, his right arm and hammer were coated in frost crystal-white.
"This is… extreme cold?" Tang Hao's pupils shrank.
Lucien's sword not only pulsed with deathly aura—it carried an extreme ice attribute strong enough to slow even the Clear Sky Hammer.
Tang Hao roared, surging soul power through his veins to shatter the frost.
But even before he could catch his breath, a fresh storm whipped in. Countless blades of sword qi poured like rain from the sky, each humming with deadly edge.
Tang Hao lifted his hammer, spirit power erupting in a dome of crimson energy around him.
Ding-ding-ding-ding! Metallic chimes rang as Lucien's storm of sword rain clattered harmlessly against his defense.
And then—Snake Lance and Dolphin struck in tandem with their ultimate ninth abilities.
Snake Lance's body merged with his weapon, spear spitting crescent light blades in a tidal wave.
Dolphin swelled to monstrous size, belching circles of purple venom until even rock hissed and melted around him.
The scout squads watching from afar gaped in awe and terror.
This is no human fight… this is a battle of gods. Only monsters could clash like this.
And yet in the center of it all, a Soul King—Lucien—was trading blows with Haotian Douluo himself. Just the sight made the Soul Emperors doubt their entire existence.
"Rings explode!"
"Big Sumeru Hammer!" Tang Hao roared, bursting two of his rings at once. The Clear Sky Hammer swelled, titanic, its haft thicker than a man's leg, the head larger than any boulder.
Majestic force locked onto Lucien, Snake Lance, and Dolphin simultaneously.
Tang Hao's whole body twisted, swinging the hammer in a terrifying arc. The very air roared, wind tearing trees apart around them.
Lucien's eyes sharpened. His sword qi ignited once more. "Wind-Dust Final Slash!"
Again he blurred—a streak vanishing just as the hammer's shadow swept down like the wrath of heaven.
And this time, he slipped clean past.
--
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