It wasn't that Tang San didn't want to use the Blue Silver Overlord Spear, which carried far greater offensive power. The truth was, he simply had no time to condense it. Even though the preparation time had been greatly reduced, the duration of his Invincible Golden Body was only three seconds. The Clear Sky Hammer didn't require a Soul Skill to be channeled, and its striking power was tremendous — it was the best choice available.
The Clear Sky Hammer shot forward, its tip blazing with white light. The Killing God Domain had been pushed to its maximum power in this suicidal strike of Tang San's.
Yang Wudi's attack may have been heavy on imposing momentum, but in this moment, he had no choice but to retreat. The Clear Sky Hammer might not have been enough to threaten his life, but the Eight Spider Lances could. That was instinct — the instinct of a Soul Douluo-level expert.
In a flash, Yang Wudi made the most correct choice available to him. His right palm slammed into his own Breaking Soul Spear, ensuring that his attack didn't weaken even as he separated from the weapon. At the same time, the fierce recoil sent him hurtling backward. From the start of the fight until now, this was the first time Yang Wudi had retreated. Of course, it was precisely because he chose to retreat that he successfully evaded the piercing strike of the Eight Spider Lances.
Both palms pressed together before his chest, Yang Wudi — still airborne — gathered every ounce of his power to block the incoming Clear Sky Hammer.
The Artifact Avatar might surpass the Martial Soul Avatar in raw power, but it lacked the Martial Soul Avatar's key advantage. The enhancement was concentrated entirely on the weapon-type Martial Soul. Having lost the Breaking Soul Spear, Yang Wudi was now using his bare body to take the Clear Sky Hammer's blow head-on.
An icily piercing aura invaded his body first. Yang Wudi felt a bone-deep chill wash over him as a surge of violent, frigid killing intent penetrated to his core. Without the Breaking Soul Spear in hand, he had no way to halt the spread of that murderous will through his body. And in the very next instant, the Clear Sky Hammer smashed heavily into his joined palms.
Under that tremendous force, Yang Wudi's palms were driven straight into his own chest. A dull thud echoed in his chest as his entire body was sent flying backward, blood spraying wildly from his mouth while still airborne. Still, he had barely managed to withstand Tang San's all-or-nothing attack.
But at the very moment the Clear Sky Hammer struck Yang Wudi, the duration of Tang San's Invincible Golden Body expired as well.
The golden light faded. Without the protection of the Invincible Golden Body, Tang San truly felt the horror of the Breaking Soul Spear's assault for the first time. A wet thud. Blood burst forth as the massive Breaking Soul Spear punched clean through his right chest. The terrifying spear, a full twelve feet long, had completely pierced his body before continuing onward, burying itself in the wall behind him and vanishing from sight.
Tang San's body swayed, his face instantly going deathly pale. The Clear Sky Hammer hovering in the air disappeared along with his focus.
"Young Master!" Titan bounded toward Tang San in huge strides. But in that very moment, two streams of incredibly dense light surged up from Tang San's body simultaneously.
A rich blue-gold radiance rose from his right leg, quickly enveloping his entire body. At the same time, a burst of red light erupted from his left arm, accompanied by countless strands of Blue Silver Emperor spreading outward in every direction.
Tang San hadn't released his Martial Soul. In the suffocating agony he was enduring, he couldn't possibly have managed such a thing. With a penetrating wound through his right chest, even breathing had become a problem. Yet under these dire circumstances, his Blue Silver Emperor had manifested on its own.
Six Soul Rings reattached themselves to his body, and the final one — a hundred-thousand-year Soul Ring shimmering with an eerie luster — blazed with sudden, overwhelming brilliance.
A phantom figure in soft pink slipped through that halo of light. In the next instant, she had already rushed to where Yang Wudi was hurtling backward.
Yes, it was Xiao Wu's phantom. Though Tang San had always suppressed himself from releasing his sixth Soul Ring, the massive wound he had sustained overwhelmed his already depleted mental strength. He could no longer restrain the impulse of Xiao Wu's soul. And so, his sixth Soul Skill — Xiao Wu herself — appeared.
In the blink of an eye, Tang San's body turned ethereal. The blood that had been spurting from his chest ceased instantly under the state of Nihililty.
The Xiao Wu who materialized in midair bore none of the gentle elegance she had shown when facing Bai He the day before. Her delicate face was taut with killing intent. Even in her phantom state, she radiated a fierce coldness and murderous resolve.
With a sharp flick of her head, her long, sleek black scorpion braid wound itself around Yang Wudi's neck. At this moment, Yang Wudi was still reeling from the Clear Sky Hammer's impact, dazed and dizzy.
Xiao Wu planted one foot against his lower back. Using her waist as a lever, she hauled her upper body upward, arched her neck back, and thrust forward with her foot. Yang Wudi's body was launched into the air. Seeing this familiar scene, even Tang San felt a sense of disbelief. He finally understood the full scope of his sixth Soul Skill's ability. Nihililty combined with the violent close-quarters Eightfold Slam.
The scorpion braid released its grip, and Xiao Wu's phantom form pursued Yang Wudi as he was flung skyward. Now transformed into Tang San's sixth Soul Skill, Xiao Wu's Eightfold Slam hadn't diminished in power — if anything, it had grown stronger. Yang Wudi was launched directly upward by her first throw, slamming hard into the ceiling before bouncing back down. And the instant he bounced, Xiao Wu was already upon him.
Her pink figure appeared directly in Yang Wudi's path of descent. Her hands seized him by the waist, and with a movement that made her slender midsection look as though it might snap, she whirled him backward in a devastating spin. Though Yang Wudi wanted to fight back, the collision with the ceiling had left him in a state of continuous dizziness. Besides the sensation of the world spinning around him, all he could do was summon his Breaking Soul Spear once more.
Xiao Wu gripped the fabric at Yang Wudi's waist and spun him through the air a full two rotations. As she descended toward the ground, the centrifugal force from her waist-powered rotation sent Yang Wudi plummeting earthward with a piercing, heart-stopping whistle. Yang Wudi tried to brace himself with the Breaking Soul Spear, but spinning wildly as he was, how could he even tell which direction was down?
Titan, Niu Gao, and Bai He — all three clan heads standing as spectators — nearly shut their eyes in unison. The force of this midair spinning slam was unimaginable. Yang Wudi was truly having a wretched day. He had gravely wounded Tang San, which had thoroughly enraged Xiao Wu's soul, causing this sixth Soul Skill to unleash its full might. Now that she had become a Soul Skill, each blow of Xiao Wu's Eightfold Slam carried a dizzying effect. Once she got her hands on you, evading was nearly impossible. And the Soul Skill consumed virtually none of Tang San's Soul Power — only Xiao Wu's own spiritual essence was expended. Each use required a full twelve-hour recovery period for her soul force. In other words, without harming Xiao Wu's soul, Tang San could only use this Skill once per day.
All Yang Wudi could do now was spread his Soul Power across his entire body as best he could, protecting his vitals. But in the very next instant, the violent impact shattered the defensive layer of Soul Power he had gathered. After all, the patriarch of the One Broken clan was not known for his defensive prowess.
BOOM — Yang Wudi's body slammed into the ground flat, like a full-body belly flop. Xiao Wu had driven him straight down in a completely horizontal slam, full frontal contact. Yang Wudi let out a muffled grunt as blood streamed from his nose. His entire body was dazed from the impact, and the dizziness effect descended again. But this was only the beginning.
Without a moment's pause, Xiao Wu pressed both hands on Yang Wudi's waist, flipped backward, and clamped her feet on either side of his head. She hurled his body forward in another devastating slam, releasing her hands but gaining even greater leverage with her legs. Yang Wudi's body was flung skyward again as Xiao Wu completed yet another backflip, smashing him into the ground once more.
Using the recoil from this second slam, Xiao Wu flipped backward again, hurling Yang Wudi back to where he had started. The patriarch of the One Broken clan was like a sack being wielded by Xiao Wu's legs — six consecutive slams, three forward and three back, each one accompanied by the crackling sound of bones throughout his body.
Titan, Niu Gao, and Bai He all swallowed hard in unison. They could vividly imagine the force hammering through Yang Wudi's body. Aside from Niu Gao, who still had some confidence in surviving impacts of this magnitude, even Titan had to admit he would be in trouble.
Yang Wudi's blood had already splattered to their feet. Finally, when Xiao Wu launched his body into the air one last time, she didn't slam him straight into the ground. Instead, she flung him skyward, bringing the six consecutive slams to an end. Including the initial midair spinning slam, that made a full seven blows.
Xiao Wu leaped up again, pursuing Yang Wudi's airborne body, and clamped her feet around his neck once more.
"Xiao Wu, show mercy!" Tang San's anxious shout saved Yang Wudi. Midair, Xiao Wu turned to look at Tang San, and the killing intent in her eyes instantly melted into tenderness. Her feet released their grip on Yang Wudi's neck, and her right leg chopped downward, driving him back into the ground. Then she swooped toward Tang San like a swallow returning to its nest.
BANG —
The hapless Yang Wudi crashed into the ground once more. By now, his face was swollen and bruised beyond recognition. Were it not for his eighty-plus levels of Soul Power continuously reinforcing his body, and were it not for the fact that Xiao Wu had not completed the final move of the Eightfold Slam — that terrifying 1,080-degree midair spinning execution slam — he would have been lucky to survive, let alone keep half his life. After all, as a Soul Skill, seventy percent of the power in Xiao Wu's Eightfold Slam was concentrated in that devastating final blow, built up through successive accumulations. The preceding seven slams existed solely to break down the opponent's defenses.
The scene before them had completely exceeded the expectations of every onlooker. Yang Wudi lay on the ground, fully unconscious, while the grievously wounded Tang San stood there looking perfectly fine. If Yang Wudi being slammed into unconsciousness was shocking, then what was happening to Tang San now filled everyone with utter astonishment.
Once his body entered the state of Nihililty, the bleeding from his wound ceased entirely. The blue-gold radiance spreading from his right leg surged rapidly across the wound in his chest. Under the stimulation of that light, the muscles around the injury could be seen writhing and regenerating at a visible rate. In a miraculous fashion, the wound was closing at incredible speed.
By the time Tang San shouted and stopped Xiao Wu from delivering the final blow, the wound on his right chest had already closed completely. Even the bone beneath the skin was gradually reforming. Apart from the hole torn through his clothing — which could not be mended — there was not a single trace of injury to be seen. It was as though the Breaking Soul Spear had never pierced through his chest at all.
Xiao Wu's phantom looked at Tang San's slightly reproachful expression, then glanced at his healed chest. She raised her right hand, patted her own chest in a gesture of relief, and gave him a radiant smile. Then she pointed at the Hundred Treasure Purse at his waist before flickering away and dissolving back into the sixth Soul Ring on his body.
How had Tang San's severe wound healed so quickly?
The hundred-thousand-year Soul Bone that Xiao Wu had bestowed upon Tang San carried two formidable skills: Instant Teleportation and Invincible Golden Body. But Tang San's hundred-thousand-year Soul Bones numbered more than just that one. The first he had obtained was the Blue Silver Emperor Right Leg Bone, inherited from his mother.
His mother, it should be known, had only sacrificed her Soul Rings to Tang Hao after reaching maturity. How could the quality of her Soul Bone possibly be inferior to Xiao Wu's? This was the Blue Silver Emperor Right Leg Bone's second hidden skill, beyond the ability of flight.
Tang San had named this skill himself. He had discovered it not long ago. Otherwise, how could he have placed himself in a position where he might be killed, all for the sake of subduing the One Broken clan?
However, even Tang San himself didn't know the full extent of the healing capacity this Blue Silver Emperor skill could achieve. What he could be certain of was that the Blue Silver Domain and areas abundant in Blue Silver Grass gave this Soul Skill a tremendous boost.
At the moment, though his face was still pale and his vitality had taken a considerable hit, what were these compared to a penetrating chest wound? A few days of rest and his condition would recover naturally.
The two young men who had accompanied Yang Wudi had already rushed to his side and helped him sit up. Fortunately, Yang Wudi's Soul Power was formidable. Though he had been battered and bruised by the slams, and further injured by the Clear Sky Hammer's tremors, his bones were at least still intact. Internal injuries, however, were unavoidable.
One of the young men supported Yang Wudi back to his seat while the other quickly produced a porcelain bottle from his breast pocket, shook out several pills, and pushed them into Yang Wudi's mouth. He then drew clean water from his own Soul Guide to help wash them down.
Tang San recalled the gesture Xiao Wu had made toward the Hundred Treasure Purse before disappearing, assuming she had been telling him to take some restorative medicine. Seeing Yang Wudi taking pills, he instinctively reached into his own Hundred Treasure Purse. He still had some Dragon Fungus Leaf remaining — a single piece would be more than enough to help him recover his vitality quickly.
But the moment Tang San's hand entered the Hundred Treasure Purse, his expression turned peculiar in an instant. He jerked his hand back as though he had been electrocuted.
Titan had already crossed over to Tang San in huge strides, while Niu Gao and Bai He gathered around Yang Wudi, channeling their Soul Power to help circulate the medicinal effects. Seeing Tang San's abrupt reaction, Titan quickly asked, "Young Master, are you all right?"
Tang San shook his head and said to Titan, "Senior, I'm a bit tired. I'd like to go rest. When Senior Yang Wudi wakes up, please let him know that I'd like to have a proper conversation with him this afternoon."
Looking at Tang San's ashen face, Titan nodded hastily. "I'll walk you back."
Tang San shook his head. "No need. Senior Yang Wudi has likely sustained some internal injuries — you should stay with him. I'm fine. You can see for yourself." He gestured toward his chest, where the penetrating wound had been.
Titan's expression turned odd. He could clearly see that Tang San's miraculous healing was no mere Soul Skill effect. If it wasn't a Soul Skill, then it had to be a Soul Bone. Soul Bone abilities were taboo knowledge for any Soul Master. Though curiosity burned within him, he knew better than to press further.
Ma Hongjun didn't share Titan's reservations. After Tang San refused the escort, the fatty had already latched onto Tang San's arm, supporting him out of the reception hall. The moment they stepped through the doorway, he couldn't help but ask, "Third Brother, what was with that wound of yours? You scared the life out of me just now."
Tang San smiled faintly and transmitted his voice to the fatty: "It's a Soul Bone skill. I named it: 'Wildfire Cannot Burn It Away — When the Spring Breeze Returns, It Grows Again.'"
Tang San and Ma Hongjun had barely departed when, moments later, Yang Wudi let out a retching sound and spat out a mouthful of dark purple-black stagnant blood. He exhaled a long breath and finally regained consciousness from his faint.
The medicine refined by the One Broken clan was remarkably effective. Though his insides still felt as though they were on fire and his entire body ached, his injuries had at least been stabilized.
Yang Wudi's eyes opened, and the first thing he looked toward was the spot where Tang San had been standing. All he could see, of course, was a pool of blood on the floor. Finding Tang San gone, his gaze turned vacant. He stared straight ahead in silence, but the slight trembling of his hands spoke volumes about the complex storm of emotions within him.
Titan, Niu Gao, and Bai He exchanged a tacit understanding and refrained from disturbing him. Bai He continued to channel his Soul Power into Yang Wudi's body, helping to smooth his disordered vital energy.