Among the opposition, every Soul Master capable of flight was an agility-attack type, and four of the five agility-attack types had already been eliminated — at most, a single flying Soul Master remained. A Soul Master's attack range was limited. As long as he could hold out long enough to escape into the sky, he and Xiao Wu had a strong chance of breaking through the encirclement.
The Killing God Domain itself was attached to the Clear Sky Hammer. Erupting at this moment in concert with the Clear Sky Hammer's domineering aura, it shattered the enemy's lock-on in one burst. Under the domain's influence, Tang San's own fighting spirit surged back to its peak, while the pursuing opponents found their cultivation suppressed.
In this instant, every last drop of Tang San's potential exploded outward. He knew that the most dangerous moment would be the fifty-meter zone above the ground the instant he leapt. Within that range, he would have to endure the combined assault of every enemy. If he couldn't survive it, then this would be the end for both him and Xiao Wu.
So, at the very instant of his leap, he cupped his hands beneath Xiao Wu's arms and hurled her upward with all his strength. No matter what attack he had to face, he would absolutely not let Xiao Wu bear it alongside him.
A Soul Saint's reflexes were naturally swift — even at full-powered jump, Tang San couldn't possibly escape their attack range in a single instant, let alone after he had flung Xiao Wu, which caused his own body to stall momentarily. A powerful thrust erupted from the Blue Silver Emperor's right leg bone, propelling his body after Xiao Wu's airborne form. At the same time, Tang San gripped the hammer in both hands and smashed it downward with everything he had.
This blow carried nearly all the strength he could muster.
Eight Soul Saints plus Yan — with the encirclement already tightening, how could they let Tang San and Xiao Wu escape so easily? The sudden rupture of their aura-sealing lock triggered nothing short of a frenzied barrage.
The sole surviving agility-attack Soul Master was already high in the air, charging in from the side. The other eight unleashed eight Soul Skills simultaneously.
So many of Spirit Hall's people had already died in this encounter. If Tang San slipped away, none of them could escape punishment. Added to that was the sheer terror Tang San had inspired — they were now fighting at their absolute limit. In an instant, every ounce of offensive power converged on Tang San alone. And aside from Yan, whose strength fell short, every one of them had activated their Martial Soul True Body.
The Martial Soul True Body undoubtedly consumed enormous amounts of Soul Power, but it also pushed a Soul Saint's strength to its absolute ceiling. At this level, their methods of attack became almost simple. Seven Soul Saints struck upward simultaneously, each pouring the most concentrated and pure Soul Power shockwave they could produce into a single devastating volley.
Yet though the method was the same, their Martial Souls differed — and so did the Soul Power waves they unleashed. Some were domineering, some insidious and yielding, some eerie and mysterious, others freezing cold or searingly hot. In a flash, seven formidable pillars of Soul Power surged skyward, converging directly on Tang San.
The remaining seven Soul Saints were all assault-type specialists. Their greatest asset was raw offensive power. Concentrating the full might of seven Martial Soul True Bodies on a single target — even a Titled Douluo would struggle to withstand such a blow. And Tang San's Soul Power was already severely depleted.
"No — Brother —" Xiao Wu's composure finally shattered. The moment Tang San had flung her away, she had sensed the danger. Watching herself recede from him in an instant, helpless to do anything, she could only stare as countless dazzling halos of light surged to devour him.
Tang San knew Xiao Wu's temperament well. When he had thrown her, he had already pinched her numbness acupoint, preventing her from using Instant Transmission to return and share the blow.
Facing the onslaught from below, Tang San had grown utterly calm — even the Killing God Domain could no longer sway his emotions.
Both the Killing God Domain and the Blue Silver Domain opened to their maximum extent simultaneously. Blazing white light poured downward, weakening the Soul Saints' power as much as possible. At the same time, the Clear Sky Hammer, having been struck, was retracted, and Blue Silver Emperor vines erupted in a frenzied torrent.
Tang San curled his body into a tight ball, hugging his knees. Behind him, the Eight Spider Spears folded up like a shield guarding his back. The rushing Blue Silver Emperor vines quickly enveloped him into a massive cocoon, its entire surface shimmering with a blue-gold luster.
Tang San's reaction had reached the absolute limit of speed. Faced with mortal peril, he finally broke through. The bottleneck between rank fifty-nine and rank sixty was shattered in a single explosive surge. That sudden, modest increase in Soul Power became his vital bargaining chip for survival.
Boom — the first thing to make contact with the enemy's assault was the Clear Sky Hammer's strike.
Undoubtedly, the Clear Sky Hammer was one of the most powerful Martial Souls in the world. But Tang San's Clear Sky Hammer was far from its full strength — without a single Soul Ring attached, and given his current Soul Power level, he simply could not unleash the hammer's true might. The moment of impact, it was instantly obliterated by the Soul Saints' overwhelming force.
Tang San had never intended to use the Clear Sky Hammer's strike as a shield. What he wanted was the recoil.
Sure enough, before the seven pillars of light could engulf his body, the counterforce generated by the Clear Sky Hammer's collision with the enemy's attacks launched him even higher into the sky.
The longer the attack traveled, the more its power was diminished. In this moment, even a slight reduction in the enemy's assault meant a few more precious chances of survival for Tang San.
Boom —
The very first Martial Soul True Body Soul Power blast shattered every Blue Silver Emperor vine surrounding Tang San. The sheer destructive force of a Martial Soul True Body eruption was simply beyond what someone at his current level could hope to withstand.
"No —" High in the air, Xiao Wu watched Tang San being tossed about in the violent bombardment like a tiny boat caught in a raging storm. Tears streamed uncontrollably from her eyes. Yet the moment Tang San had thrown her, he had infused the vast majority of his own Soul Power into her — her body continued flying upward.
Boom —
The second blast struck the Eight Spider Spears on his back, precisely where he had maneuvered. In a piercing crack of shattering, all eight spider legs fractured, and Tang San could no longer maintain his curled posture. A thick mist of blood erupted from his mouth, tinting the very air a faint crimson.
Boom —
The third blast landed almost immediately after the second, striking his back once more. This time, even the Eight Spider Spears — refined and strengthened through countless trials — could endure no longer. They disintegrated instantly, scattering into countless blue-gold shards. Another spray of blood mist burst from Tang San's mouth. His face had turned the color of yellowed paper.
At this moment, nothing could shield him any longer. The Blue Silver Grass on the ground could not even draw close under the combined Martial Soul True Body eruption of seven Soul Saints. And all Tang San himself could manage was to summon the Clear Sky Hammer.
The fourth blast came. It was a beam of pure, deep emerald green.
And at the very instant it arrived, Tang San, suspended in midair, executed an inconceivable maneuver — forcing his body into a mid-air twist, his right leg lashing out like a whip to meet that emerald beam head-on.
Even the Spirit Hall forces could not understand why he would do this. For Tang San, the ideal scenario would naturally have been to block with the Clear Sky Hammer — even if the hammer couldn't stop it, it would minimize the shockwave hitting his body. After all, the Soul Power bombardment from those Martial Soul True Bodies was so terrifying that even the agility-attack Soul Saint hovering in the air dared not draw near.
Boom —
"Ah —" A piercing scream tore from Xiao Wu's throat. What flowed from her eyes was no longer tears — it was blood. And in that same instant, she finally forced open the numbness acupoint Tang San had sealed.
Tang San's right leg vanished — completely vanished into thin air. Yet his expression remained terrifyingly calm. Blood still gushing from his mouth, his right hand darted into the crimson mist, his internal Soul Power pouring out wildly as his fingers closed around a luminous blue bone — the very bone his right leg had become.
He spun around without so much as glancing at the three remaining blasts bearing down on him from behind, and with all the strength left in his body, he flung that severed leg bone in Xiao Wu's direction.
"Xiao Wu — Soul Bone skill, fly, get out of here —" Tang San's voice was completely shredded, as though torn apart. He poured every last shred of power his body possessed into that final throw.
From the very instant he had launched himself upward, Tang San had calculated everything. He had never once entertained the hope that he and Xiao Wu could escape together. His Soul Power was depleted, the enemies far stronger than him — a clean getaway was nothing but a fool's dream.
He had leapt up, using himself as Xiao Wu's shield, flung her to safety, and when he could no longer withstand the onslaught, sacrificed his right leg as a last barrier — all while employing the same method Tang Hao had once used to forcibly sever the connection between the Blue Silver Emperor's right leg bone and his own body.
Tang San was not a Titled Douluo. He naturally did not possess the power to willingly extract his own Soul Bone without consequence. What he was paying in this moment was his life.
The instant his right hand plunged into the blood mist, his left hand had already gripped a shard of the Eight Spider Spears and driven it savagely into his own heart. Only by offering his life could he force the Blue Silver Emperor's right leg bone to separate from his body.
His final burst of life energy was the act of flinging that Blue Silver Emperor leg bone skyward. As he shouted those words, dark purple-black blood surged from his mouth in torrents.
But he was smiling. The only thing his face showed was a smile.
He refused to die at the enemy's hands. He had promised to protect his Xiao Wu and hers alone. He knew he had kept that promise. Once she caught the Blue Silver Emperor's right leg bone high in the air, Xiao Wu would surely escape to safety.
The Sand-Shooting Shadow embedded in his chest activated. Countless tiny needles shot toward the agility-attack Soul Master hovering nearby. Even in this final moment, Tang San would do everything in his power to buy Xiao Wu time, to ensure her safety.
On the ground, two figures were racing toward the scene. They arrived at precisely the instant those seven pillars of light erupted skyward to chase after Tang San's body.
Xie Yue's pupils contracted sharply. Beside him, Hu Liena had gone completely rigid.
She watched Tang San's body shatter under beam after beam of light. She watched him mutilate himself, drive the blade into his own heart to extract the bone. She watched him call the name of his truest love and hurl the chance of life to her. Hu Liena's vision blurred entirely. Her legs gave way, and she collapsed into Xie Yue's arms.
Through Xiao Wu's eyes—
The Blue Silver Emperor's right leg bone flew toward her. Tang San's right hand gripped the Eight Spider Spear shard and drove it into his own heart. The three remaining beams of blinding light were about to swallow his body whole. He had paid the price of his life to give her the chance to live.
In that moment she understood completely — every last part of it had been Tang San's plan. Their hearts seemed fused as one.
Brother, I'm sorry. This time, I can't let your plan play out.
Xiao Wu's eyes had turned a deep, bloody red — just as they had when Tang San could not find her all those years ago. Looking at his broken, about-to-be-consumed body, she — suspended in midair — raised her head sharply.
"Ah ——————" An impossibly shrill, grief-stricken wail erupted from Xiao Wu's throat. That piercing sound seemed to make the entire Star Dou Forest tremble.
Blinding red light burst from the center of Xiao Wu's forehead, spreading outward as a crimson halo that expanded in an instant. Wherever the red light passed, everything was saturated in the color of blood — and everything, in that same moment, froze.
…
Roar ——
The Titanic Giant Ape and the Azure Bull Python erupted with simultaneous bursts of light. Two thick plumes of blood sprayed from their throats. In that instant, the Martial Soul Fusion Technique jointly unleashed by Ghost Douluo and Chrysanthemum Douluo could no longer restrain them. The interlocking gold and silver light shattered like glass.
With twin grunts, Yue Guan and Ghost were hurled apart, coughing blood as they crashed heavily onto the riverbank. At this moment, if the two great forest kings wished to kill them, it would require nothing more than a casual swipe.
Yet neither of the two forest kings made such a move. From their throats erupted a grief-stricken roar like mountains collapsing and seas boiling, and both of them charged wildly in the same direction. Everything in their path was ground to powder.
…
Sunset Forest, the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well.
Tang Hao sat quietly on the ground. Before him, the lush Blue Silver Emperor had grown several times larger, every blade of grass gently swaying.
The Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well was one of the greatest natural treasure troves in all the world — a paradise for plants. The Blue Silver Emperor's growth rate here could only be described as terrifying, and she had further been nourished by her son's blood.
Though she could not speak, her consciousness was slowly recovering along with the growth of her body.
Suddenly, Tang Hao's closed eyes snapped open. Before him, the Blue Silver Emperor convulsed violently, countless blades of grass winding rapidly around Tang Hao's hands.
Tang Hao's face instantly drained of color. "A-Yin, you — you felt it too?"
The Blue Silver Emperor trembled fiercely, every blade of grass quivering as though desperate to say something.
Disbelief filled Tang Hao's eyes. "No — it can't be — our Xiao San is so extraordinary, how could he — how could he be facing mortal danger…"
Though Tang Hao was no longer the Clear Sky Douluo, his former cultivation had left his spiritual sense extremely acute. The bond of blood made him acutely aware of the life force fading rapidly in the distance.
"Hm —" Tang Hao's expression suddenly shifted. The Blue Silver Emperor stopped trembling. Tang Hao stared wide-eyed into the distance. "What — what is that… How can it be — Xiao San, could it be — could it be that you've met the same fate as your father?"
Tang Hao's lips trembled. His son might not die after all — but would that feeling of agony worse than death, the very same torment that had once befallen himself, now descend upon his son as well?
…
Stillness. Everything had been reduced to absolute stasis within that crimson light — even the Soul Power attacks the Soul Saints had unleashed into the air hung motionless, frozen in place.
The only thing that could still move was the core of the red light itself.
Xiao Wu's entire body had turned red — a deep, translucent crimson. Her clothing had crumbled to ash and vanished, revealing her flawless, luminous form. She glowed like a ruby, crystalline and pure.
No one could see her, because in that same instant, the consciousness of everyone nearby had also been frozen.
This was the true power of a hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast — especially one that had begun burning its own life energy.