Caught completely off guard, Titan felt as though the tip of a needle had just pierced his brain. A wave of dizziness surged through his head, and his eyes burned with a fierce, searing pain. If not for the fact that he had been projecting his pressure outward—warping the air around him and thereby refracting Tang San's gaze to a certain degree—the situation would have been far worse.
Titan had been using the pressure of his aura to bear down on Tang San, but what Tang San had just unleashed on him was a mental assault. In that instant, Tang San finally understood what had changed in his Purple Extreme Demon Eye after consuming the Autumn Water Gazing Dew. The change was this: his gaze had become a physical attack. His refined Purple Extreme Demon Eye had transformed into a unique form of spiritual shockwave, and at this critical moment—when he was on the verge of collapse—it had made an enormous difference.
With his brain under direct assault, Titan could no longer control the pressure he was releasing. With a muffled grunt, he actually took a step backward.
The pressure in the air vanished in an instant. Tang San felt the space around his body go suddenly empty, and the massive weight that had been crushing him disappeared. His body swayed violently—had the Four Eight Spider Spears not been driven into the ground behind him, he would have collapsed the moment the weightlessness hit.
He spat out another mouthful of fresh blood. Tang San's face had gone deathly pale, his whole body swaying as though he might topple at any moment. And yet, it was precisely at this moment that he clearly felt a tearing sound coming from the Yang Wei Meridian among the eight extraordinary meridians within his body. The Mysterious Heaven Skill's internal energy, surging at tremendous speed, had already ripped open a crack in that channel. Although it was not yet fully opened, as the saying goes, a thousand-mile levee can be destroyed by an ant hole. With this crack now present, a breakthrough was no longer far off.
But Tang San could not feel even the slightest joy. The incense stick still had a fifth of its length left to burn, and he had already exhausted his ability to launch another Purple Extreme Demon Eye spiritual shockwave—let alone use his internal energy to support his body. Even if Titan were to unleash just a third of the pressure he had applied before, Tang San's only possible fate was defeat.
Was he really going to become someone's household slave, to join their clan? Tang San understood that this was not due to carelessness on his part—it was an absolute gap in strength. A feeling of humiliation surged through him, and he forced himself to stay alert, straightening his chest. No matter what, he had decided to hold on until the very last moment. As long as he had not fallen, this contest was not over.
Titan shook his head vigorously. The Titan Giant Ape needed a full several seconds of dizziness before his vision cleared and he could see what was in front of him again. The youth was still standing there, unbowed and defiant—battered, but with eyes as resolute as ever. What had that been just now? Some kind of soul skill?
"Do you still intend to keep going?" Titan's voice was low and grave. "You should know that doing so may cause irreparable damage to your body." He did not want to destroy a genius. What he needed was for that genius to join him. How could he not see the state Tang San's body was in?
Zhao Wuji's voice also came through urgently at that moment. "Little San, concede. Don't ruin your future. Everything else can still be negotiated."
"No." Tang San spoke that single simple word, but blood still trickled uncontrollably from the corner of his mouth. "Please continue."
He did not say much, but in that moment, every teacher and student watching from the academy could not help but be moved simultaneously. What kind of perseverance and pride could support a person to say such a thing?
Even Titan's face showed a flash of astonishment. This youth was simply too extraordinary—and it was precisely because of this that he absolutely could not let him go. If he could not secure his loyalty, then the only option left was to destroy him.
With that thought, Titan's gaze gradually sharpened, and the air around his body began to fluctuate once more.
Tang San completely withdrew his Blue Silver Grass. Slowly but with unwavering resolve, he raised his left hand. His five fingers spread open. He did not look at Titan—his gaze was fixed entirely on his own left hand. Whether he could endure this final stretch would depend on you.
Rich black light surged from his palm, gradually condensing into shape.
A small black hammer materialized silently in Tang San's hand. The hammer was not large, its surface patterns deep and dim.
But the moment it appeared, Tang San seemed to recover a measure of his strength. A heavy, pressurized aura enveloped his entire body.
Titan's body suddenly shuddered violently. The pressure that had been bearing down on Tang San instantly weakened. Tang San's body swayed, but he shielded the hammer against his chest, using it to forcibly block the diminished pressure. His determined eyes shone with an unyielding light.
"That is—" Not only was Titan struck with shock, but Tai Nuo, standing beside him, also widened his eyes and cried out.
It was at this very moment that seven brilliant streams of light descended from the sky, swirling toward Tang San's body like a seven-colored rainbow.
In that instant, Tang San's entire body began to tremble violently. The luster that had drained from his skin rushed back. He let out a low groan and slowly closed his eyes.
At the same time, a deep and powerful voice rang out from every direction at once. "Old gorilla, what kind of achievement is it to bully a child? It's been a long time—why don't we have a little spar instead?"
Between the flickering of light and shadow, no one—not even Zhao Wuji—could clearly see what happened, but three new figures had already appeared in the arena.
Standing at the center was an elderly man, his left and right hands each supporting the arm of the person beside him. On his left was an exceedingly beautiful young girl who appeared to be fourteen or fifteen years old. The moment her feet touched the ground, she immediately sprinted toward Tang San.