While Tang Xiao landed lightly atop the mangled corpse of the Ice Devil Titan King, Tang Hao—who had nearly frozen into an ice statue moments earlier—stood rooted in place, utterly awestruck by the divine might his elder brother had displayed.
The two elders, who had hidden far away within the snowfields to protect themselves, also slowly emerged. Their expressions mirrored Tang Hao's shock.
Is killing hundred-thousand-year soul beasts really this easy nowadays?
They didn't know.
But one thing they were absolutely certain of—
That heart-palpitating aura carried within each of Tang Xiao's strikes… if even one blow were to mistakenly land on them, they wouldn't even leave behind a corpse. They would be reduced to nothing more than butter smeared across bread.
There was no need for fifty-nine strikes.
Before the bloodline oppression of Tang Xiao's Clear Sky Hammer, they wouldn't even be able to mobilize their soul power to defend against a single blow.
In front of him, they were no different from ants.
Fear crept into the hearts of the two elders—but alongside it came desire.
Under Tang Xiao's leadership, the future of the Clear Sky Sect was beyond imagination.
If we break through to Rank 90… and encounter a hundred-thousand-year soul beast… would it really be impossible to obtain such a ninth soul ring if we begged Sect Leader Tang Xiao?
"Guard me," Tang Xiao's calm, amiable voice sounded from the front.
"Also—seal this area with your soul power."
By now, the immeasurable energy within the Ice Devil Titan King's corpse had begun to condense. A massive blood-red soul ring slowly formed above it, glowing ominously. Upon it was a single golden mark—proof that the beast had survived its first tribulation.
Tang Hao and the two elders immediately complied.
Three layers of soul power barriers rose one after another, sealing the area completely and preventing any disturbances from attracting unwanted attention. The three stood guard, eyes sharp, vigilance pushed to its limit.
The greatest hurdle—the slaying of the hundred-thousand-year soul beast—had already been completed by Tang Xiao alone.
Now, their task was simple: guard him.
Which was precisely why he had brought them.
Seeing their attitude, Tang Xiao nodded in approval and began searching the Ice Devil Titan King's corpse. Before long, he extracted a soul bone from its chest.
The soul bone was ice-blue, emitting a heart-chilling aura and a dense pressure of soul power.
"Tsk… a torso bone."
"How unlucky."
If it had been a left leg bone, he wouldn't have hesitated to absorb it alongside the soul ring. That would have further strengthened his body and allowed him to endure even higher soul ring ages for his ninth ring.
After all, the age of this soul bone was not satisfactory. Had it been a limb bone, he could later replace it with the help of Ah Yin's spirit bone after severing his limb—without any permanent loss.
But a torso bone?
That was too risky.
"Torso and skull bones are the most important among the six soul bones. For my torso bone, my goal has always been the million-year Deep Sea Demonic Whale King."
"As for this one… it shall go to Ruoyan."
Tang Xiao made his decision without hesitation.
Without explaining anything to the other three, he stored the soul bone into his storage tool and sat cross-legged atop the soul beast's chest.
Then—under their incomprehensible gazes—he summoned his martial soul and all eight soul rings.
And detonated his eighth soul ring.
He had never informed them of his plan to replace it.
Even now, as the eighth soul ring permanently shattered—its energy dispersing into heaven and earth—he didn't bother explaining.
He carried out the act as casually as if it were routine.
"Big brother—what are you doing?!"
"Sect Leader… this—!"
Facing their panic and fear, Tang Xiao offered only a single sentence:
"Don't worry. I know what I'm doing. Just guard. Nothing will happen."
Thousands of questions clogged their throats.
But as Tang Xiao closed his eyes and began absorbing the soul ring, they could only swallow their words and exchange helpless glances.
They could only pray that this new Sect Leader wouldn't make a reckless mistake and would remain safe.
Only Tang Hao—
A fleeting trace of joy flashed through his eyes before disappearing without a trace.
---
"The moment my eighth soul ring was permanently destroyed, the weight of my Clear Sky Hammer dropped drastically."
"It now weighs roughly seventeen thousand jin."
While the others were lost in their own emotional turmoil, Tang Xiao calmly examined the changes within his martial soul.
A loss of nearly thirteen thousand jin.
Converted to normal Clear Sky Hammer standards, that was equivalent to losing about five thousand two hundred jin—the improvement typically gained from absorbing an eighth soul ring, which usually increases the hammer's weight from around seven thousand jin to twelve thousand jin.
By destroying the soul ring, its enhancement vanished with it.
"So it truly can't be stacked."
"There is indeed a loss when destroying a soul ring… even for me."
Though disappointed, Tang Xiao didn't dwell on it.
This outcome had already been within his expectations.
More importantly—
His martial soul's origin remained completely intact.
There was no damage whatsoever.
With the heavy weight in his heart finally lifted, Tang Xiao drew the blood-red soul ring floating above toward himself and fully immersed in absorption.
Vast, violent soul power surged into his body.
Bones cracked. Muscles trembled.
Yet it remained well within his tolerance.
Even if another ten thousand years were added to the ring's age, he was confident he could endure it.
Then came the most difficult stage—
The spiritual battle against the Ice Devil Titan King's remnant soul.
But what threat could a remnant soul pose?
Tang Xiao's spiritual sea was already an abyss.
After three hours of careful, methodical erosion, the remnant soul was completely erased.
Though this was his first soul ring absorption after transmigration, he possessed eight such experiences from his predecessor's memories.
The process was second nature.
After nearly five hours—
The soul ring successfully settled.
Two yellow.
Two purple.
Three black.
And one glaring blood-red soul ring revolved slowly around his body.
The three guardians finally released the breath they'd been holding.
But Tang Xiao was not finished.
This is the perfect moment to form a soul core.
The massive influx of pure soul power feed back from absorbing the soul ring merged seamlessly with his original cultivation, which was already on the verge of solidification at Rank 90.
This was an opportunity that would never repeat itself.
Guided by instinct and understanding, Tang Xiao gathered all his soul power into his lower dantian.
The process was slow.
Every last strand of soul power had to be drawn inward.
But with his near-divine control over soul power, his movements were flawless.
Three hours later—
A deep crimson soul core rotated steadily within his lower abdomen.
"Success."
Tang Xiao opened his eyes, joy flickering briefly within them.
For others—even geniuses of later eras—forming a soul core was a grueling, painstaking endeavor.
For him?
It felt… easy.
"I really am a genius."
"To form a soul core without complete knowledge—guided only by vague understanding and sheer talent.."
"Who dares say I'm not one anymore?"
He snorted inwardly.
However, he also knew his limits.
He could only form a soul-power core.
The second—spiritual—soul core was likely impossible.
"Nevertheless, my main purpose in forming a soul core isn't its benefits."
"It's insurance."
"If I sever my two limbs to remove soul bones without a soul core… my cultivation would drop by twenty levels."
The main reason lay here.
In the records of the novel, Tang Hao—after reattaching his two soul bones and unblocking the Eight Extraordinary Meridians—had instantly recovered all of his lost soul power, even advancing further in cultivation on the spot.
But Tang Xiao did not know whether there were hidden details behind that event—details the novel never fully explained.
Yes.
From a purely theoretical standpoint, Tang Xiao had already unblocked the Eight Extraordinary Meridians. If he were to reattach a soul bone, he should be able to recover his lost cultivation as well.
However, there was a crucial variable Tang Hao had possessed at the time.
Tang San.
Although the probability was low, it could not be completely dismissed. Tang San possessed too many unique methods—methods that belonged to him alone. It was entirely possible that, beyond the obvious factors, he had also used the Sea God's Light to restore Tang Hao's cultivation.
If that were true…
Then blindly trusting this theory would only push Tang Xiao into a bottomless pit.
If he failed to recover those twenty levels instantly and was instead forced to cultivate again from scratch, then even with his current talent, it would take another thirty years—or more—to reach the Limit Douluo realm.
That was a risk he absolutely could not afford.
But with the formation of a soul core, everything changed.
Once a soul core existed, his foundation would be fundamentally different. Even if, one day, he were to lose a limb or suffer catastrophic injuries in battle, his cultivation would no longer regress.
"Adding an extra layer of insurance is never a bad thing…"
With that thought, Tang Xiao slowly stood up.