Going back the way he came—or rather, retreating at full speed—Tang Xiao did not forget to activate the ring detonation secret technique on his eighth soul ring.
If nothing interfered, the shattered soul ring would rematerialize in three days.
Only then could he detonate it a second time, triggering the permanent removal mechanism, allowing him to absorb a new soul ring into his eighth position.
Although Tang Xiao possessed a complete understanding of the Great Sumeru Hammer Technique and its ring detonation art, he still could not alter its fundamental mechanism. He could not permanently detonate a soul ring with a single thought.
He still had to follow the crude, inflexible method.
First detonation—
wait three days—
second detonation before the thirty-six-day cooldown ended.
Now that the target for his new soul ring had appeared, every preparation had to be flawless.
Otherwise, could he truly expect a soul beast to remain alive for three full days after being provoked?
…
Four days later.
Tang Xiao returned alone to the Ice Devil Titan King's territory, having already scouted it once before.
The ice cave before him was enormous—nearly two hundred meters tall. It was entirely possible that it had been directly excavated by the Ice Devil Titans from the frozen mountain itself.
Scattered around the main cave, slightly farther out, were numerous smaller caves.
This region was dense with Ice Devil Titan spirit beasts, far more than anywhere else in the Extreme North.
Aside from their strange facial features, their builds were no different from humans.
When speaking of Ice Devil Titans, one must understand—
They were the most powerful race of the Extreme North.
Their bodies were their greatest weapons.
Their strength and dominance were nightmares incarnate.
Legend even claimed that the blood of the Ice God flowed through their veins.
The Ice Devil Titan Clan was a descendant of the ancient Titan Giant Clan.
Even thousand-year-old Titan Giants possessed considerable intelligence, capable of understanding commands from their leaders.
Tang Xiao had no intention of targeting these thousand- or ten-thousand-year Ice Devil Titans, even though they were excellent research specimens.
His true objective was singular—
The hundred and seventy-thousand-year-old Ice Devil Titan King.
According to the plan devised with the other three, they would wait on the outskirts of the Extreme North while Tang Xiao lured the target out of the core area—just as he had promised.
There were many reasons he wanted to draw it out.
But the most important one was simple:
He did not want the Snow Empress to catch even a hint of what was happening.
As for how to lure out a spirit beast whose intelligence rivaled that of humans?
Naturally, Tang Xiao had a method.
"This will suffice…"
He retrieved the Aromatic Silk Beauty Immortal Herb from his storage tool.
Beginning at the Ice Devil Titan King's lair, Tang Xiao carefully dispersed its aura in a straight line, leading directly toward the outskirts of the Extreme North.
An Immortal Herb—
a heaven-and-earth treasure so divine that it invoked primal greed in spirit beasts.
Among all immortal herbs, Aromatic Silk Beauty was particularly notorious.
In the novel, Tang San had used it in the Sunset Forest to attract spirit beasts while hunting soul rings for the Shrek Seven Devils.
Tang Xiao did not know why it was so irresistibly attractive to spirit beasts.
But that did not stop him from using it.
After completing his preparations and laying the trail, Tang Xiao returned once more to the lair, carefully guiding the lingering aroma directly toward the Ice Devil Titan King's cave using his soul power.
Then, without hesitation—
He vanished.
If nothing went wrong, this hundred-thousand-year-level existence would soon follow the scent.
As expected, only a few breaths after Tang Xiao left, the entire cave shook violently.
A colossal figure emerged from the entrance, nostrils flaring.
"A heaven-and-earth treasure…?"
The Ice Devil Titan King sniffed repeatedly.
Seeing that none of the lesser Ice Devil Titans reacted, joy surged within him.
Only he could sense it?
He let out a thunderous roar, ordering all Ice Devil Titans to remain in place.
Then, after locking onto the direction of the scent—
He leapt.
A single jump spanned nearly half a mile.
He had to seize that treasure before any other hundred-thousand-year spirit beast discovered it.
…
hundreds of miles away, on the outskirts of the Extreme North, Tang Xiao regrouped with Tang Hao and the two elders.
"Prepare yourselves," Tang Xiao said calmly. "It will arrive soon."
Though everyone was curious how Tang Xiao had accomplished this, none of them asked.
They simply concealed themselves.
"Brother Hao," Tang Xiao reminded him,
"when the battle begins, release your Killing God Domain."
"Understood, Big Brother," Tang Hao replied, nodding heavily.
Before long, the frozen plains began to tremble, as if an earthquake were approaching.
"It's coming."
Tang Xiao had already simulated this moment countless times in his mind.
The instant the Ice Devil Titan King entered range, he summoned his martial soul.
Red lightning tore through the air.
A spatial rift opened behind him, and with a smooth, decisive motion, Tang Xiao dragged out his Clear Sky Hammer, its presence overwhelming.
There was no time to admire himself.
The Great Sumeru Hammer Technique activated instantly.
Tang Xiao leapt into the air.
Always utilize your physics knowledge,
his physics teacher's words echoed in his mind.
One by one, all eight soul rings fused together.
At the very end, a blood-red soul ring blazed into existence.
At the same time, the Ice Devil Titan King finally sensed something was wrong.
Why was a human leaping into the air while he was chasing a treasure?
The scent still led straight ahead.
Which meant—
These humans were trying to intercept him.
"Damn humans—die!"
The Ice Devil Titan King roared in fury, launching himself upward.
But before he could unleash a single skill—
Tang Hao's Killing God Domain descended, swallowing him whole.
Overwhelming killing intent crushed down instantly.
Before the Ice Devil Titan King could process what was happening—
Boom!
Tang Xiao's hammer struck.
The Ice Devil Titan King was smashed back into the ground before he could even take off.
Blood poured from his skull.
A half-meter-long crack split open his head.
It felt as though a mountain had fallen from the sky.
Driven by battle instinct honed over countless years, the Ice Devil Titan King raised his arms to shield his head and released his domain.
A raging Ice Domain exploded outward.
The temperature plummeted instantly.
Tang Hao struggled under the pressure of the domain, his soul power clearly inferior—but he endured beneath the protection of his own domain.
Tang Xiao, however, did not care.
Such cold might suppress a level 95 Titled Douluo to the strength of a level 91.
But to him—
It was nothing.
Even if Tang Hao could no longer maintain the Killing God Domain, Tang Xiao would not mind.
His objective had already been achieved.
The reason he chose ring union, rather than ring detonation, was simple—
He intended to use the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer Technique.
This technique depended entirely on the first strike.
The greater the initiative seized, the more strikes one could unleash continuously—up to eighty-one.
By ambushing the Ice Devil Titan King under the Killing God Domain, Tang Xiao had secured absolute initiative.
Under the fourfold amplification of ring union, his Clear Sky Hammer now weighed one hundred and twenty thousand jin.
Each strike carried the force of a level 95 Super Douluo's full-power attack.
Enough to shatter even the Ice Devil Titan King's terrifying defenses.
Boom.
The second strike landed—stronger than the first.
Third.
Fourth.
Fifth.
The Ice Devil Titan King, having lost the initiative, could not even properly activate his strength or skills.
Even if he could—
Tang Xiao did not care.
Without ice energy attacks incapable of harming him, the Titan's soul power force alone was no different from a Soul Douluo in Tang Xiao's eyes.
Sixth.
Seventh.
Eleventh.
Each strike surpassed the last.
By the twentieth, the power had reached level 96.
By the fortieth, it reached level 97.
By the sixtieth—
There was no sixtieth.
By the fifty-ninth strike, the Ice Devil Titan King's head no longer existed.
At the level of Titled Douluo, every action occurred in less than a second.
Only when two sides possessed comparable strength would battles drag on for days and nights.
But when one party held an overwhelming advantage—and exploited it perfectly—
The battle would end within mere breaths.
From beginning to end, the Ice Devil Titan King was never given the chance to fully unleash its strength.
Under the continuous, mountain-crushing hammer strikes that shattered its body piece by piece, it did not even have the opportunity to self-destruct before death claimed it.
This was precisely why even after discovering a hundred-thousand-year soul beast, most humans still failed to obtain its soul ring.
When faced with inevitable death, such spirit beasts would choose self-destruction, preferring annihilation over allowing these detestable humans to benefit from their soul ring and soul bone.
Tang Xiao understood this perfectly.
That was why he had exploited every advantage without restraint.
With his evolved Clear Sky Hammer, the Great Sumeru Hammer Technique's ring union, the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer, and absolute initiative already in hand—
Tang Xiao unleashed power that surpassed even what could be achieved through the ring detonation secret art.
Had he wished, he could have activated ring detonation from the very beginning.
But that would have given the spirit beast a chance to choose death.
After all, ring detonation allowed for only eight strikes in total.
And between each detonation, there existed a brief interval—
More than enough time for a hundred-thousand-year Ice Devil Titan to end its own life.
Tang Xiao would never permit that.