"Rest in peace."
Yun Chuan raised his hand, once again summoning his dazzling golden hammer martial soul. This time, rather than unleashing a calamitous blow, he simply let the little hammer drop softly onto the Titan Giant Ape's head.
Boom!
The ground rumbled, though not with the tremendous force of his previous strike.
But this simple thud was all it took—it was the final straw for the dying Titan Giant Ape. Its head caved in under the impact.
A blood-red spirit ring slowly rose from the ape's body…
Just then, Yun Chuan felt a sudden pulse from the rune at his brow, a strange vibration drawing his gaze to the ape's left arm. "Is this… a reaction to a soul bone? How is that possible?"
He was baffled—he'd tried soul bones before, but his rune always repelled them. Now, however, the reaction was intense.
Following instinct, Yun Chuan grew a golden fingernail and sliced open the ape's left arm, quickly extracting a luminous soul bone. He immediately sensed that his body didn't want to merge with it, but rather to devour it—as if it was a rare tonic.
Why could he consume this one, but not others? He realized: perhaps only ten-thousand-year soul bones were pure enough. Anything less, and the rune would reject them as inferior, potentially harmful.
Pressing the Titan Giant Ape's soul bone to his left hand, he watched as it merged and, instead of fusing with flesh and bone, began to dissolve under the rune's strange vibration—breaking down into a mysterious energy.
The energy diffused throughout his body…
Yun Chuan instantly felt his physique strengthen dramatically!
His soul power climbed swiftly from level 79 to 80—one more ring, and he'd break through to Soul Douluo.
"An unexpected boon, indeed!"
With newfound confidence, he prepared to absorb the ten-thousand-year soul ring.
Without hesitation, he sat down cross-legged, drew the blood-red soul ring to his summoned Clear Sky Hammer, now shining with seven deep black rings.
Watching in secret, Tang Hao was stunned—not just by the hammer, but by the seven black soul rings!
"A twin martial soul… He has twin martial souls! And he's advanced this far, even mastering backlash!"
Black soul rings all the way up—this was Tang Hao's dream for his son Tang San. His plan had always been for Tang San to cultivate Blue Silver Grass first, then attach only ten-thousand-year rings to the Clear Sky Hammer for all nine levels.
But now, here was this "other son" achieving exactly that—full black rings on the hammer; it was both a shock and a source of pride.
If twin martial souls are supported by Spirit Hall's limitless resources, reaching Soul Saint at a young age becomes not just possible, but probable. Tang Hao realized that this child, taken by Spirit Hall, had likely not suffered as he'd feared—instead, he'd been nurtured powerfully.
And those seven full-black rings proved it.
Just as Tang Hao watched "his other son" absorb the Titan Giant Ape ring with pride, he felt a powerful beast aura rushing toward their location.
His face changed. The slain ape was known to be inseparable from the other mighty beast—the Sky Azure Bull Python. If one had died, the other would come charging, surely not with peaceful intentions.
Knowing Yun Chuan couldn't be disturbed while absorbing a soul ring, Tang Hao summoned his martial soul and charged toward the approaching aura, determined to block the monster and buy Yun Chuan time.
—
A gigantic bull-headed snake, head four meters wide, eyes gleaming like lanterns, scaled body thicker than barrels—none other than the fabled Sky Azure Bull Python!
It released a terrifying aura as it stared down the burly man in its path, coldly intoning, "Out of my way."
Moments ago, the python had sensed the Titan Giant Ape's aura fading and rushed to help, only to be intercepted by Tang Hao.
Nine luminous rings hovered around Tang Hao, his own aura a match for the beast's.
"You shall not pass!"
Clear Sky Hammer in hand, Tang Hao barred the monster's way; though small compared to the python, his own formidable presence was undiminished.
"Human, you court death!"
The python unleashed its unique talent, a Slowness Domain; Tang Hao responded instantly with his Killing God Domain.
Boom!
The two domains collided.
—
Meanwhile, Yun Chuan remained deep in absorption, drawing in the ten-thousand-year ring.
At last, Tang San and the others began to wake, groggy and clutching their aching heads. The first sight to greet them was the massive corpse of the Titan Giant Ape—a shock, until they realized the beast was dead.
And atop its head, a dazzling hammer radiated—seven magnificent, soul-shaking black spirit rings circling it!
Seven black rings!
The sight overturned everything they thought they knew.
(End of Chapter)