Chapter 147: The HaoTian Hammer Confronts the Pope (Part 2)

Chapter 147: The HaoTian Hammer Confronts the Pope (Part 2)

"You shouldn't have come."

"And yet, here we are. Hand over the 100,000 year soul beast, Tang Hao, or we won't be merciful."

"Then come and try! A brat, a flower, and a bird dare to act presumptuous in front of me, the HaoTian Hammer!"

"Presumptuous? You are!"

The battle erupted.

Knowing he couldn't afford to hold back, Tang Hao immediately unleashed the HaoTian Nine Techniques, aiming to distance the battle from the house where Ah Yu was giving birth.

With the full force of the HaoTian Clan's supreme techniques, Tang Hao, even without a ninth spirit ring, held his ground against the three Title Douluo under level 96. But strength has limits, and though Tang Hao fought fiercely, facing three seasoned Title Douluo was a taxing endeavor.

Then, the cry of a newborn pierced the night.

Hearing the sound, Tang Hao felt a surge of joy but the distraction allowed Qian Xunji and his two aides to strike a vulnerable spot, sending Tang Hao flying with a mouthful of blood.

In the dim light, Ah Yu, still weak from childbirth, stepped outside holding her baby and saw the bloodied Tang Hao. She glanced at the three approaching Title Douluo, the familiar configuration of two yellow, two purple, and five black rings ominous in their display of power, and a sense of hopelessness washed over her.

Realizing that if the battle continued, not only she and the child but Tang Hao too would perish, Ah Yu looked down at her crying child, her eyes filled with love and resolve.

In that moment, she recalled her encounter five years ago the mysterious god who had granted her a life saving technique in a moment of grace.

"Please, let that god's promise be true. My child, forgive your mother for leaving you behind."

With tears streaming down her face, Ah Yu took one last, loving glance at her child before lunging toward Tang Hao.

"Tang Hao, I'm entrusting our child to you!" she called out. In an instant, a column of red light soared into the sky as Ah Yu sacrificed herself.

Tang Hao's heart ached at the sight, though his face feigned raw, agonizing sorrow.

"No! Ah Yu!" he cried.

Ah Yu, however, didn't look back. Handing the newborn to Tang Hao, her body began to dissolve, her form fading as she transformed into a 100,000 year spirit ring with two golden lines, wrapping itself around Tang Hao's HaoTian Hammer.

A tremendous aura burst forth from him.

Through Ah Yu's sacrifice, the energy contained within her soul allowed Tang Hao to leap from level 90 to level 93 instantly.

Outside the sacrificial light, Qian Xunji seethed with rage. His goal in leading this hunt personally was to obtain a 100,000 year spirit ring for his daughter, one that would elevate her future above all others.

The thought of his daughter filled him with pride: born with an innate spirit power of level 20, a prodigy destined to inherit the Angel God's position. Now, Tang Hao had ruined his carefully laid plans.

"Curse you, Tang Hao! Wasting the spirit ring I'd prepared for my daughter! Very well, then I'll take the spirit bones from your body to repay this debt."

Unbeknownst to Qian Xunji, Tang Hao had a full set of spirit bones a fact that would prove crucial years later when Qian Xunji failed to absorb Ah Yin's spirit bone.

The sacrifice completed swiftly. Tang Hao held his newborn child close, and as his hand brushed over the small seed that Ah Yu had left behind, a complex mixture of joy and desolation washed over him. In those final moments, he had felt Ah Yu's profound love, filling him with an unexpected wave of guilt and grief that tore through his heart.

"Ah Yu!" Tang Hao cried, his voice raw and broken. His eyes, now a blazing red, turned toward Qian Xunji and his aides with an intense hatred.

"Give her back to me!" he roared.

Driven to the edge of madness, he swung the HaoTian Hammer in a frenzy. This time, arcs of crackling purple lightning, channeled from Ah Yu's power as the Thunder Hell Prison Vine, coiled around the hammer, enhancing its devastating force.

Qian Xunji, Chrysanthemum Douluo, and Ghost Douluo felt a cold dread ripple through them. Sensing the force of Tang Hao's blow, they dodged instinctively, knowing that a direct hit would be catastrophic.

But Tang Hao's sorrow and rage drove him to release the powerful Exploding Ring technique, which forced him past the constraints of their Yin Yang Stillness Domain. Tang Hao's reckless surge of power inflicted serious injuries on all three Title Douluo.

Qian Xunji, especially, bore the brunt of his assault.

It seemed, as some would later jest, that every generation of the HaoTian Hammer had a destiny to crush the Spirit Hall's Pope. Qian Xunji, who had once competed with Tang Hao's father, Tang Wei, now found himself at a humiliating disadvantage against Tang Wei's son. Shame and anger burned within him.

Although Qian Xunji's talent ranked lower than most Angel Douluo, he retained his Angel pride and recklessly engaged Tang Hao head on.

But without the mastery of unique skills and spirit bones that Tang Hao possessed, Qian Xunji was no match. Layer upon layer of the HaoTian Nine Techniques pummeled his defenses, shattering his ribs and leaving him bleeding from his nose, mouth, and ears. Even the six wings of his martial spirit, the Seraphim, could no longer hold him aloft as he crashed to the ground, staining his once pristine robes with dirt and grime.

But as the Pope of Spirit Hall, and a Title Douluo, Qian Xunji held firm, using his spirit power to reinforce his broken bones, ignoring the excruciating pain as he struggled to rise.

"Damn it," he cursed inwardly. "My father was humiliated by the HaoTian Hammer, and now I, too, bring shame to my ancestors by failing against Tang Chen's grandson."

But his indignation held little power against the reality of the situation he had been born with a weaker talent than Tang Hao, a difference made insurmountable by the nature of cultivation in Douluo. Here, innate spirit power and lineage were everything.

While the Seraphim was indeed a powerful martial spirit, the HaoTian Clan's formidable martial skills and techniques gave it a lethal edge. Under the strength of the HaoTian Hammer, the Spirit Hall's prestigious Seraphim spirit was crushed yet again.

Consumed with rage and grief, Tang Hao raised the HaoTian Hammer, prepared to finish off Qian Xunji. But at the last moment, reason reasserted itself, stopping him in his tracks.

I can't kill him, Tang Hao thought grimly. If I kill the Pope, Spirit Hall will wipe out HaoTian Clan in retaliation.

His grip on the hammer slackened, fury giving way to cold calculation.

"Count yourself lucky to have a powerful background," he spat. "Otherwise, I'd end you here and now."

Struggling against the pain radiating through his body, Tang Hao cast one last furious look at Qian Xunji before leaping away from the battlefield.

In the aftermath, Ghost and Chrysanthemum Douluo, also badly injured, slowly regained their senses. The sheer force of Tang Hao's attack had left both of them reeling.

With a mixture of anxiety and fear, Chrysanthemum Douluo moved to Qian Xunji's side.

"Your Holiness," he said cautiously, "are you all right?"

Ghost and Chrysanthemum Douluo could accept their own injuries, but if something happened to Qian Xunji, both of them would surely be held accountable.

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