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Yu Xiaogang felt like a drowning man catching a final straw. His voice turned sharp and sounded distorted from a mix of wild excitement and a deep, unspeakable humiliation. He pointed a shaking finger at the maggots on the rotting corpse and roared at the top of his lungs. He told Erlong to move quickly and grab those maggots right now.
Liu Erlong looked in the direction he was pointing. She froze when she saw the white worms wriggling all over the decaying meat. It only took a second for her to realize what Yu Xiaogang was planning to do. Her face turned pale and her stomach churned with a strong sense of disgust.
However, she looked back at Tang San, who was on the verge of dying. She gritted her teeth and a determined look filled her eyes. She whispered to herself that she didn't care anymore because it was better to live a bad life than to die a good death.
With a low shout, she let her spirit power surge just enough to reach out. Using an invisible force, she snatched the dozen or so plump white maggots from the corpse. They struggled in the air as she levitated them directly in front of Tang San's face. Yu Xiaogang's voice was filled with tears and a kind of desperate madness. He begged Tang San to wake up and kill them. He told the boy to absorb their insignificant ten-year spirit rings as fast as he could.
But Tang San had completely lost consciousness by now. His breathing was so faint it was like a thin thread that could snap at any moment. He didn't have the strength to lift a finger, let alone kill the wriggling spirit beast maggots floating before him.
Yu Xiaogang saw that Tang San wasn't moving and the last bit of color drained from his face. He told Erlong that they couldn't worry about the rules anymore. He knew the iron rule that a spirit ring could only be absorbed by the person who killed the beast, but Tang San was almost gone. He urgently told her to pry the boy's mouth open.
Liu Erlong trembled at the insane command. She looked into Yu Xiaogang's frenzied eyes and then back at the dying boy. She understood his plan. He wanted to force those white spirit beasts into Tang San's mouth so the boy would kill them in the most primitive way possible. By doing this, the spirit rings would belong to him. Even with her fierce personality, she felt a wave of physical sickness and hesitation. She started to say his name, but Yu Xiaogang didn't let her finish.
He roared at her that it would be too late if they waited any longer. He asked her if she really wanted to watch Tang San die. Without waiting for her answer, he pushed his wheelchair forward with all his strength and lunged toward his disciple.
Meanwhile, on the other side of Sunset Forest, a thick emerald green poisonous mist acted like a giant wall. It completely cut off the noise and chaos of the forest from the quiet area inside. Outside this poison array, spirit beasts were running in a panic like waves crashing against a rock.
The moment any beast touched the green mist, they let out piercing screams. Their bodies rapidly dissolved into a mess of pus and blood. This sight was so terrifying that the beasts behind them stopped in horror. They paced around the edge of the poison, roaring in frustration but not daring to cross the line.
Dugu Bo stood with his hands behind his back at the edge of the mist. He looked at the scene and stroked his green beard with pride. He smiled at Tang Chen and told the kid that his poison array was perfect. He bragged that even a Titled Douluo would have to think twice before trying to break in. He assured Tang Chen that the two boys inside were perfectly safe while they absorbed their spirit rings.
Tang Chen looked at the Shi brothers, who were sitting safely inside the array, and finally nodded. He knew Dugu Bo was a master of poison and that the defense was very strong. However, he did not look relaxed. His brows were furrowed tightly.
He looked up, his eyes as sharp as an eagle's as he peered through the dense trees toward the center of the riot. He could still hear the faint, uneasy roars of the beasts.
After thinking for a moment, Tang Chen told the Old Poison to stay and guard the area in case anything else happened. He said he was going to go over there and take a look for himself. Dugu Bo's relaxed face turned serious. He asked if Tang Chen suspected there was a real problem with the riot.
Tang Chen nodded. He told the old man that a riot involving so many different species at once did not seem like a natural event. It didn't look like a normal conflict between spirit beasts either. He said he felt like this was likely something caused by a person.
Dugu Bo understood. He knew Tang Chen was very strong and careful, so he didn't try to stop him. He just told him to be careful because the deep parts of Sunset Forest were full of hidden dangers. He reminded Tang Chen to send a signal flare if he found a strong enemy or if things changed, promising to rush over immediately. Tang Chen gave a short answer and prepared to leave.
A bright blue and gold light burst from his right leg. Suddenly, he seemed to ignore gravity and hovered in the air. This was the flying skill from his Blue Silver Emperor right leg bone. Without any delay, his body turned into a streak of light. He looked like a meteor flying through the dark trees as he shot toward the source of the trouble.
Back at the other site, the air was heavy with the smell of blood and a faint, gross scent of decay. Tang San let out a weak groan. His eyelids shook as he tried to open them. At first, everything was a blur, but then his vision cleared. He saw Yu Xiaogang and Liu Erlong pacing back and forth nearby, looking very anxious.
His throat felt incredibly dry and itchy, and he coughed lightly. The sound made Yu Xiaogang and Liu Erlong turn their heads instantly. Their faces were full of worry, tension, and a hint of panic. They rushed to his side. Yu Xiaogang told him how happy he was that he was finally awake, but there was a deep unease hidden in his voice. He watched Tang San's face very closely.
Tang San felt very weak, as if all his energy had been drained away. However, the terrible pain of feeling like he would explode was gone. He shook his head to clear the fog and asked his teacher if he had successfully absorbed the first spirit ring for his Clear Sky Hammer.
When he asked that, both Yu Xiaogang and Liu Erlong froze. They looked at each other with very strange expressions. Their lips moved like they wanted to say something, but they stayed silent. Tang San noticed the weird atmosphere and the grim looks on their faces. He felt a bad feeling in his heart and asked them what was wrong. He wondered if something had happened to his spirit.
He stopped talking as the memories of the intense pain came back to him. He remembered the feeling of trying to swap the rings before he fainted. His face turned pale and his pupils got small. He quickly held out his left hand and let his spirit power flow.
A surge of dark light appeared, and the heavy Clear Sky Hammer came out. But when Tang San looked at his hammer, he felt like he had been struck by lightning. His entire body went stiff with shock.
The hammer was supposed to be black and powerful. But now, there was a pale, dim, and almost transparent white spirit ring around it. The light coming from it was so weak it barely looked like a spirit ring at all. It looked more like a blurry white halo. Inside the white light, there were hints of a nasty grayish aura.
What made him feel truly sick was the surface of the hammer itself. There were streaks of ghostly white light that looked just like wriggling fat maggots flashing on the dark metal. These lights moved around like they were alive, making the whole hammer look bizarre, evil, and dirty.
Tang San gasped for breath and cried out in horror. He asked what that thing was and why his Clear Sky Hammer had become so filthy.