Seeing the Clear Sky Hammer about to land, Lin Ya—who had been motionless—suddenly stood up, the Torrential Pear Blossom Needle in her hand pointed at Tang Hao's head. Without hesitation, she activated the mechanism.
Although Lin Ya's Torrential Pear Blossom Needle contained no deadly toxins, its ability to pierce the Protective Aura had been inherited by the secret celestial ruler of a hundred transformations.
Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh—
Countless steel needles shot toward Tang Hao's face. His pupils contracted; mortal danger cleared in his mind.
But it was too late. At such a short distance, Tang Hao couldn't dodge—and someone stopped him.
'Spiritual Skill — Mental Shock!' A low cry rang out, and Tang Hao's body trembled; even the descent of the Clear Heaven Hammer slowed for an instant.
At that moment, Lin Ya only wanted one thing. A flash of desire, and her figure vanished.
All of this seems like a long time, but it happened in a single breath.
Staring intently at the empty space before him, Tang Hao's eyes flashed with reluctance and anger, before transforming into acceptance and relief.
Countless sharp, piercing needles bypassed Tang Hao's spiritual defenses, pierced his skull, and extinguished every spark of life.
When the Hammer of the Clear Sky fell, the waterfall cave collapsed under the rubble. At the instant Tang Hao died, inside the Moon Pavilion of the Imperial City of Heaven Dou, Tang Yuehua—who was fast asleep—was abruptly awakened by a nightmare.
She clutched her chest, gasping for air.
At that very moment, in the Clear Sky Sect, Tang Xiao—deeply meditating on his cultivation—pressed his hand against his chest and frowned. 'What happened? Could something have happened to Brother Hao or Grandpa?'
Besides those two, in the village of the Holy Spirit, Tang San, who was sleeping, let out a sudden lament, but this time he would never see that familiar figure again.
From that night on, 'Lin Ya' was dead.
In the waterfall cave, Lin Nuo looked at the trembling, blue-silver Emperor's face and calmly said, "He who kills, dies. If Tang Hao hadn't tried to kill me, I wouldn't have killed him."
Upon hearing his words, the sapling stopped, and tufts of black leaves curled around its foliage.
Lin Nuo shrugged. 'If you want to die, I'll bury you with Tang Hao. Only your son, Tang San, still…'
He shook his head and sighed. "Forget about it—he's no longer your son. When you die, your little family will reunite on the road to the Yellow Springs."
The dark energy interrupted its spread; the small plant swayed as if unable to process what it had heard.
"What, you don't believe me?" Lin Nuo chuckled. "Do you know why I approached Tang Hao and Tang San?"
The seedling shook itself to show that it didn't.
Lin Nuo glanced quickly. 'My word means nothing; see for yourself in the future.'
With a gesture, he sealed the Silver-Blue Emperor's sapling in the Pearl Space of Myriad Beasts.
Lin Nuo was of little use to the Blue Silver Empress; keeping her captive was not out of coveting her body.
He discovered that the Silver Blue Emperor, evolved from the Silver Blue King within the pearl of myriad beasts, could not command the Silver Blue Grass of the Douluo Star unless it was released as its Spirit.
So he wanted to study why—whether this applied only to the Blue Silver Grass or to all Spirit Beasts.
If it's the first case, there's no problem; if it's the second, it would complicate the process of reviving the Ice and Fire Dragon Kings to persuade Gu Yuena and Di Tian, seriously delaying their plans.
Whether there were darker diversions involved, only he could say.
He approached Tang Hao's corpse and ripped out all of his Spiritual Bones.
Useless to him, they were still great gifts — for Dugu Bo, for example.
'But before I offer it to them, I must extinguish their aura, or the gift will become a death sentence.'
With the task completed, he buried Tang Hao, searched for and found the hundred-thousand-year-old Spiritual Bone of Ah Yin.
Then he transformed into Tang Hao's appearance and left.
The disguise was to deal with Tang San; in reality, Lin Nuo wanted the child dead.
However, a persistent instinct warned him that killing Tang San now would bring disaster.
Although he scoffed at so-called luck, for him it was merely a support: the difference between a powerful being and a commoner.
Kill a nobody and nothing happens; kill the powerful and their power can rewind time to erase you.
That was support — something that ordinary people lacked.
Although Douluo was nicknamed the "floor" of the Xuanhuan World, it remained a Xuanhuan realm. With a weak Celestial Dao, unable to contain its experts, they spread unchecked.
Worse still, Lin Nuo couldn't tell if this was the main timeline or a parallel one. If it was the main one, great; if it was a parallel one, one day he would have to invade the main timeline.
He refused to wear a green hat. In past lives, reading fanfiction, he never understood why authors wrote parallel worlds where the hero still allowed the girls he loved to follow the original storyline—being betrayed.
The great Chinese spirit may favor the cunning of Cao-Wei, but never verdant pastures.
Lin Nuo acted quickly; when he arrived, the villagers of the Holy Spirit had already taken away Tang San, who was crying profusely.
'Tang Hao' received a severe scolding from Old Jack for that.
Now, Tang Hao held little Tang San, whose dark eyes stared back at him, and he felt torn by the delicate situation.
Thinking quickly, he lowered his head and spoke softly: 'Little San, Daddy needs to go to a very dangerous place. I can't take you with me. I'm sending you to a safe place. If I don't return in three years, keep living—and don't come looking for me.'
With that said, Lin Nuo placed the child on his back and set off for the City of Spirits.
While traveling, he reflected: 'Qian Daoliu, Bibi Dong — be interesting, or who knows how this world will turn out.'
It took half a month to finish Tang San's business.
During this time, Bibi Dong, accompanied by the Chrysanthemum Ghost Douluo, searched the Great Star Forest Dou for the hundred-thousand-year-old Mei Ying Rabbit she had once encountered—returning empty-handed.
Her failure forced her to leave, considerably delaying her progress in the Test of God.
However, other hunters in the Great Star Dou Forest have noticed a much smaller number of high-level Spirit Beasts.
Indifferent, they simply massacred with even more recklessness…