Chapter 199: The Broken Clear Sky Hammer
"Ahhh!" A wretched scream tore through the arena.
Tang San clutched his head, trembling in agony.
A soul master and their martial soul were one—the damage to the soul was the damage to the body. When Yu Xiaogang's Luo Sanpao used to be injured, the backlash would ripple back into him. And now, Tang San's Clear Sky Hammer had literally been chipped apart!
Even Luo Ling looked mildly surprised at the result.
He had only meant to test it—he hadn't expected it to actually work.
Beast-type spirit masters fused with their spirits, plant-type spirits could grow back, but weapon spirits—true weapon spirits—were dead matter, mere constructs.
Luo Ling's logic had been simple: if his ability, Soul Scythe Reaping, could wound the soul directly… then why couldn't it wound a martial soul as well?
As Tang San's screams echoed, the spectators still hadn't understood what was happening.
Luo Ling's blade gleamed once again, striking down toward the Clear Sky Hammer.
One strike.
Two.
Three.
Each blow landed unopposed. The more he attacked, the more Tang San writhed helplessly, screaming in pain.
Finally, the truth dawned on the crowd—Tang San's seemingly indestructible Clear Sky Hammer was cracking apart before their eyes.
The higher-ranking spirit masters watching all widened their eyes, especially those with weapon-type spirits of their own.
In the spirit master world, to have one's spirit destroyed meant ruin. Once broken, an instrument-type martial spirit could be slowly restored through careful cultivation—but this, this was different.
Luo Ling wasn't simply shattering its shape. He was erasing its very essence.
Before the horrified crowd, his scythe continued.
With a single, ringing crack like shattering glass, one of Tang San's spirit rings—the fifth one—exploded into dust.
Gasps rippled through the arena.
Tang San's aura plummeted instantly, the once-radiant aura of his hammer dimming to shadow.
It wasn't over.
Luo Ling kept swinging.
Piece by piece, the Clear Sky Hammer fractured further, its rings trembling, breaking one after another.
Soon, only one remained.
The so-called strongest weapon under heaven now looked like nothing more than a splintered stick.
"Stop! How dare you destroy his martial soul!"
Yu Xiaogang's furious roar came from the Shrek rest area as he finally snapped out of his shock.
Others were just beginning to react too.
The destruction of a spirit ring was an exceedingly rare event—it could only happen if the martial soul could no longer sustain the energy it bore.
Normally, that only befell the weakest, most unstable spirits.
But the Clear Sky Hammer, the number-one weapon under heaven? Reduced to a shattered handle?
"Impudent whelp! How dare you!"
A roar filled with fury thundered across the sky. A crushing wave of spirit pressure descended straight toward Luo Ling.
He stopped his attack just in time, activating Displaced Shadow Mirage as his form flickered from sight.
A moment later, a colossal golden hammer slammed into the spot where he had stood, gouging a huge crater into the ground.
The shockwave from that single strike dwarfed even the chaos Luo Ling and Tang San had caused throughout their entire fight.
At the edge of the ring, Luo Ling reappeared, smiling faintly as his eyes turned toward the newcomer.
And there he was.
"Who dares act so wantonly in Spirit Hall?" the red-clad archbishops shouted in unison, faces darkening.
The oppressive aura that filled the arena could only belong to one being—a Titled Douluo.
The shadowed figure rushed to Tang San's side and froze at the sight before him.
Tang San was ashen and shaking uncontrollably, his famed Clear Sky Hammer reduced to nothing more than a broken handle.
Then—the air trembled.
Nine spirit rings rose behind the intruder in a towering column: yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black, red.
A hundred-thousand-year ring as the ninth.
Tang San struggled to lift his head, eyes filling with tears. "Father…"
He hadn't seen Tang Hao since the battle with the Phantom Spirit Master in Soto City.
Tang Hao's eyes burned crimson when he saw his son's condition. He had secretly watched every battle from the shadows. When Tang San resorted to devouring his comrades' energy, Tang Hao had known that Spirit Hall would never let him go.
He had been prepared to break into the tournament and take his son by force—but he had not expected this… this monster named Luo Ling.
Before he could even intervene, his son's spirit had been destroyed.
Tang San, regaining his breath, looked down at the ruined remains of the Clear Sky Hammer in his hand. The sight froze him completely.
"What… what happened? Why—why is my hammer like this?"
His body shook violently. His spirit rank plummeted, dropping from peak-level Soul King to barely level 51. Had his Blue Silver Grass spirit not held his fifth ring steady, he would have fallen even lower.
"Tang Hao! You dare show your face in Spirit City?"
Bibi Dong's voice cracked like thunder from the Pope's throne. Her sharp gaze bore down as the six Titled Douluos of Spirit Hall surrounded the battlefield in an instant.
Six Titled Douluos—the weight of their combined pressure left the spectators breathless.
The entire stadium erupted in chaos.
Tang Hao's appearance shocked them all. The Clear Sky Douluo—feared assassin, traitor, and murderer of countless prodigy spirit masters—had appeared here of all places.
And even more startling—Tang San… was his son.
"I, Tang Hao, go wherever I please!" he bellowed, his aura flaring defiantly.
But his gaze wasn't fixed upon Bibi Dong or the Douluos who surrounded him. It locked squarely onto Luo Ling.
"You little animal," he snarled, voice trembling with fury. "Who gave you the courage to cripple my son's spirit?"
Facing the crushing might of a Titled Douluo, Luo Ling only smiled—serene, unflinching.
"Clear Sky Douluo, why such anger?" he replied easily. "Your so-called son used forbidden methods, devouring his comrades' life and power. That act is a stain upon all spirit masters."
"I merely did what you should have done long ago. I spared you the shame of slaying your own blood. Consider it… a favor."
His voice rang through the silent coliseum, every word echoing with infuriating calm.
The crowd gaped in disbelief—Luo Ling, facing perhaps the most powerful man alive, and not only unafraid—mocking him outright.
"Oh, don't thank me," Luo Ling added lightly, his tone dripping with irony. "Such a small matter hardly deserves gratitude. I was simply doing my duty as a righteous spirit master."
The entire audience froze in stunned silence.
Even the Titled Douluos of Spirit Hall burst out laughing, their amusement echoing through the air.
Tang Hao's expression twisted. His veins bulged, his eyes turning blood-red.
"You little brat—you court death!"
And with a roar that shook the heavens, Tang Hao raised his Clear Sky Hammer and charged straight at Luo Ling.
(END CHAPTER)
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