Tang Hao stood where he was, his gaze crossing the deep, bottomless sword mark and landing on Chen Xin.
He had never expected that less than three days had passed since he revealed his identity.
Under normal circumstances, traveling from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect to Suo Tuo City by carriage would take at least twenty days.
To arrive within three days, there was only one possibility.
Chen Xin had activated his martial soul and flown the entire way here, traveling day and night without stopping.
The soul power of a Titled Douluo was not inexhaustible.
Three consecutive days of flying at full speed would place an enormous burden on one’s meridians.
Even he, the Clear Sky Douluo, was not certain he could endure it.
Yet Chen Xin had come anyway.
He now stood before him, his white robes fluttering lightly, his aura as steady and deep as still water.
There was not the slightest trace of exhaustion from the long journey.
Tang Hao fell silent for a moment.
The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect’s concern for these two juniors far exceeded his expectations.
A Titled Douluo had been dispatched in full force simply to bring two children home.
Such a display could no longer be explained with the words “protecting their own.” The situation was already decided.
Tang Hao glanced at Ning Que on the other side of the sword mark.
The golden-haired youth was still standing there.
The blood at the corner of his mouth had yet to be wiped away, but his hand was already resting on the black-clad girl’s shoulder again.
The three people’s radiance had yet to completely merge, but the three lights were already faintly connected.
Even if Chen Xin had not come, this battle would have been difficult.
Now that Chen Xin was here, there was even less reason to continue fighting.
“Since you’ve come…” Tang Hao spoke in a deep voice as the phantom of the Clear Sky Hammer slowly faded from his palm.
“This matter ends here.” He turned around and began to leave.
“Tang Hao.” Chen Xin’s voice came from behind him.
It remained as calm as before, yet it made Tang Hao’s footsteps stop.
“We haven’t seen each other in so long.
Why don’t we have a little spar?” Tang Hao turned his head, his brows lifting slightly.
“I already said this matter is over.
The matter between the juniors has been settled.
I was merely teaching the younger generation of your Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect a lesson for being ignorant of their own limits so that they wouldn’t…” He never finished.
Because Chen Xin had already attacked.
There was no warning.
No declaration of battle.
Not even the slightest trace of killing intent leaked out.
The instant the Seven Kill Sword left its sheath, there was only a streak of sword light descending straight from the heavens to the earth.
Tang Hao’s pupils contracted.
The Clear Sky Hammer instantly appeared in his hand, its dark-golden phantom sweeping upward to meet the attack.
“Boom—!!!” The collision between sword and hammer erupted into a visible ring of airwaves.
The shockwave swept outward in all directions.
The remaining trees in the forest were uprooted, while the ground cracked apart inch by inch.
Within a radius of several li, countless birds were startled into flight!
“Chen Xin!” Tang Hao shouted angrily as he retreated several steps.
“You really intend to fight?” Chen Xin did not answer.
His answer was a second sword.
The sword light was faster and more fierce than the first.
The edge of the Seven Kill Sword tore through the silence of the night.
Every ripple of sword qi was powerful enough to flatten a mountain peak.
A full-power battle between Titled Douluo was nothing short of a natural disaster.
Even the shockwaves produced by their collisions were enough to wreak havoc.
At Shrek Academy, Li Yusong was supporting Zhao Wuji as they made their way toward the infirmary when a heaven-shaking explosion suddenly came from behind them.
He abruptly turned around.
His pupils reflected a fleeting streak of sword light in the distant sky, followed immediately by dark-golden lightning exploding across the horizon.
“That is…” Zhao Wuji supported himself with his injured arm.
His voice was hoarse, and the shock in his eyes could not be concealed.
“A Titled Douluo?!!” Suo Tuo City.
The guards stood there with their mouths hanging open.
Countless lights throughout the city flickered on, one after another, as countless people pushed open their windows and looked in the same direction.
There, sword light and lightning intertwined and collided, illuminating half of the night sky in alternating flashes of light and darkness.
At the edge of the forest.
Zhu Zhuqing supported Ning Rongrong, her pupils reflecting the two distant figures.
Simply witnessing a battle between Titled Douluo was enough to make her martial soul instinctively tremble.
She subconsciously looked to her side.
Ning Que stood beside her, having already taken Ning Rongrong back into his arms.
He glanced only once toward the distant battlefield before withdrawing his gaze.
He did not watch.
He did not comment.
He did not even linger for half a breath.
He turned around, took a step, and walked toward Suo Tuo City.
“Let’s go.” Just two words.
They were delivered lazily, tinged with sleepiness, as though being struck by the Clear Sky Douluo five times had merely been part of his morning irritation.
Zhu Zhuqing was stunned for a moment before quickly following him.
In the sky, the battle continued.
Tang Hao knocked away the edge of the Seven Kill Sword with a hammer strike and retreated a hundred zhang.
A shallow bloody mark had appeared across his chest.
“Those two little brats are arrogant and reckless!” Tang Hao suppressed his anger.
“You, as their elder, refuse to discipline them and instead indulge and protect them!” Chen Xin hovered in midair, the Seven Kill Sword angled toward the ground.
Blood still dripped from its tip.
It was Tang Hao’s blood.
“Arrogant and reckless?” Chen Xin repeated the words, his tone calm.
“I know exactly what kind of person Rongrong is.
That girl certainly has quite the temper, but from childhood until now, she has never taken the initiative to bully anyone.” He raised his eyes, his gaze calm yet razor-sharp.
“As for Ning Que…” “That boy is even less capable of such a thing!” As soon as his words fell, sword light erupted once again.
Tang Hao gritted his teeth and charged forward to meet it.
The lightning surrounding the Clear Sky Hammer and the sword radiance of the Seven Kill Sword collided once more in midair, illuminating the entire night sky.
Out of the corner of his eye, Tang Hao could not help glancing toward the direction of Shrek Academy.
Then he fled in the opposite direction.
…
Suo Tuo City Grand Hotel, top-floor suite.
Ning Rongrong was half-reclining against the headboard.
Her face was still somewhat pale, but her spirits had improved considerably.
She held a bowl of hot soup and gulped down two mouthfuls.
After wiping her mouth, she was just about to say something to Ning Que when the door suddenly opened.
Chen Xin stood in the doorway.
A few inconspicuous bloodstains dotted his white robes.
His hair and beard were slightly disheveled, but his aura remained as deep and steady as an abyss.
The Seven Kill Sword had already been sheathed and was resting behind his back.
“Grandpa Sword!” Ning Rongrong’s eyes lit up.
She set the bowl aside and threw off the covers, about to get out of bed.
But before her feet touched the floor, she suddenly remembered something.
Her movements froze in midair.
She blinked, somewhat guiltily pulled her foot back, and shuffled toward the corner of the bed.
“Um… why are you here…?” Strictly speaking, she had still run away from home without permission.
Although Grandpa Sword usually doted on her the most, she wasn’t sure whether he would actually be angry about her sneaking out.
Chen Xin did not answer.
He walked to the bedside and placed his hand on Ning Rongrong’s head, gently and slowly ruffling her hair.
It carried the unique affection of an elder.
“It’s good that you’re all right.” Ning Rongrong’s eyes suddenly felt a little hot.
Then Chen Xin looked toward Ning Que, who was leaning against the wall and lazily dozing off.
With a meaningful tone, he said, “Don’t worry.
At worst, he’s seriously injured.” “Hmph!” Ning Rongrong gave a smug little snort.
Zhu Zhuqing had already told her everything.
That idiot had actually dared to come looking for trouble again.
He really didn’t know when to stop!
Zhu Zhuqing stood by the window.
From the moment Chen Xin entered the room, her back had been ramrod straight.
Her hands hung at her sides, her fingertips slightly pressed together—a respectful posture befitting a junior meeting an elder.
She kept her breathing as quiet as possible, so quiet that it was almost inaudible.
Only the faint rise and fall of her chest proved she was still standing there.
A Titled Douluo.
The person standing before her was one of the most powerful Sword Dao Titled Douluo in the world and a pillar of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
Chen Xin’s gaze fell upon Zhu Zhuqing.
Not because of her posture.
Nor because of her appearance.
But because of her martial soul.
The moment he had arrived at the edge of the forest, he had clearly seen three pillars of light shooting into the sky.
Rongrong’s Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda.
Ning Que’s light.
And this black-clad girl’s Hell Spirit Cat.
The three had used Ning Que as their axis, twisting together into a force he had never seen before.
It was not a simple martial soul fusion skill.
It was a three-in-one martial soul fusion skill!
One had to understand that the two-person martial soul fusion skill between Ning Que and Rongrong was already enough to leave the vast majority of soul masters helpless.
Overwhelming speed, strength that surpassed their cultivation level, and the penetrating power of light.
Most soul masters simply could not withstand it.
But if another person were added to the combination, then the upper limit of this formation… Even he, a Titled Douluo, found it difficult to estimate.