...
Having realized the enormous gap in pure power between himself and a true peak Title Douluo, Xuan Hao lost the will to continue fighting.
Although if he used those powerful ten-thousand-year and one-hundred-thousand-year soul skills, he could definitely have another fierce exchange with Tang Hao, but that would be meaningless.
The trump card is for saving your life and killing enemies, not for wrestling with an old madman who doesn't intend to kill you for the time being.
"Alright, that's enough for the warm-up."
Xuan Hao emerged from the deep pit, casually brushing away the golden light surrounding him and retracting his martial spirit.
He looked at Tang Hao in mid-air and said bluntly,
"What do you want in the middle of the night?
Speak up. If you're going to continue fighting, I'm not playing along and I'm running away."
Upon hearing this, Tang Hao laughed in exasperation, as if he had heard an absurd joke.
"Run away? Do you think you can escape from me, a Title Douluo?"
Tang Hao sneered, and a massive amount of spiritual power instantly locked onto Xuan Hao, his tone filled with absolute confidence.
Xuan Hao remained silent.
The next moment.
There was no sign of any fluctuation in soul power, nor any prelude to the starting action.
Xuan Hao's figure vanished into thin air right under Tang Hao's nose!
"What?!" Tang Hao's pupils suddenly contracted.
Before he could react, Xuan Hao's voice drifted leisurely over from a hilltop two hundred meters away.
"This isn't high-speed movement; it's teleportation."
Xuan Hao stood atop the mountain and waved to Tang Hao below.
"No pre-cast delay, no post-cast delay, and minimal energy consumption.
I know your Title Douluos have fast straight-line speeds, but my teleportation mobility is another matter entirely.
If I just randomly find some deep mountain forest to hide in, are you sure you can catch me without me fighting back?"
Tang Hao's expression changed as he looked at Xuan Hao, who was 200 meters away.
He naturally recognized this extremely rare and unscrupulous spatial skill.
This kid's combat power was already abnormal; if he was determined to escape, with this teleportation technique, he really wasn't confident he could stop him in this complex wilderness.
Considering that he was there tonight to question the boy, if he really scared the kid away, then Tang San and Xiao Wu's situation would become even more troublesome.
"snort."
After weighing the pros and cons, Tang Hao reluctantly put away the Clear Sky Hammer, and the nine spirit rings on his body also disappeared.
He flashed, covering two hundred meters, and landed on the hilltop opposite Xuan Hao. Without further words or probing, Tang Hao stared coldly at Xuan Hao:
"Since you don't want to fight anymore, then answer my question."
"I saw through that Xiao Wu was a 100,000-year-old soul beast in human form a long time ago.
What exactly is your relationship with her?"
Xuan Hao was not surprised when Tang Hao directly revealed Xiao Wu's identity.
"Relationship?" Xuan Hao stroked his chin, looking at Tang Hao with a half-smile.
"They could be friends who would share life and death, or siblings with a deep bond.
If you're willing to think about it more deeply, you could even say they're lovers.
It doesn't matter how you look at it, it doesn't change the fact."
Tang Hao frowned deeply: "You knew her true identity all along?"
What do you think?
Xuan Hao not only didn't answer directly, but instead pointed to the spot where his third spirit ring had just appeared beneath his feet, his tone filled with undisguised mockery:
"Don't you have eyes?
Guess how I got that 100,000-year-old red third spirit ring?
It was a sacrifice from Xiao Wu's own mother!"
Xuan Hao looked at Tang Hao's face, which was gradually changing color, and sneered, "With our relationship, do you think I wouldn't know Xiao Wu's background?"
"You..." Tang Hao was speechless for a moment, choked by Xuan Hao's arrogant answer, but then, a dangerous glint flashed in his eyes as he pressed, "So, you're keeping her by your side just so you can use her as your future 100,000-year soul ring after she matures?!"
Upon hearing this malicious speculation, Xuan Hao was so angry that he laughed.
"Tang Hao, do you think all men in the world are as selfish and despicable as you?"
Xuan Hao met Tang Hao's murderous gaze without flinching, his tone filled with contempt:
"Do you think I'm like you? For power, you'd even cling to your own wife!
I, Xuan Hao, may not be a good person, but I would never do such a despicable thing as sucking the blood and flesh of my lover!"
"What...what do you know?!"
The words "wife of many years" and "hanging on one's body" seemed to touch the deepest, most hidden, and most festering scars in Tang Hao's heart.
He took a sudden step forward, his voice unusually tinged with undisguised panic and rage.
"I know far more than you can imagine."
Seeing Tang Hao's emotions threatening to spiral out of control, Xuan Hao didn't back down; instead, he pressed on relentlessly:
"For example, the earth-shattering conflict between the Spirit Hall and the Clear Sky Sect back then.
For example, the former Pope Qian Xunji's relentless pursuit of you across the continent.
And for example... why exactly did your transformed spirit beast wife's whereabouts get exposed!"
"I've always been curious about one thing."
"Tang Hao, you knew perfectly well that the Spirit Hall coveted the 100,000-year-old spirit beast, that your union was unacceptable to the world, and that your wife, the Blue Silver Emperor, would be weakened during childbirth..."
"Why don't you take her and escape this mess completely?
Even if it's just to hide overseas, in a desolate place where the Spirit Hall's reach can't extend!"
"As a husband, as a man about to become a father, why haven't you even seriously considered this most basic safety issue?!"
"Did your brain get smashed by a hammer?
You really didn't expect this? Or is it..."
Xuan Hao drew out his words, his tone chilling to the bone: "You...did this on purpose?!"
"If it's the former, then I'll not only question your responsibility as a man, but I'll also question whether you're even a complete idiot. But if it's the latter…" Xuan Hao sneered, "then everything makes sense!"
"Shut up!!!"
Stripped bare by Xuan Hao's vicious yet soul-searching analysis, Tang Hao's initial sense of guilt was instantly consumed by a violent rage.
Without making any initial move or even summoning his martial spirit, he acted entirely on instinct, delivering a powerful punch accompanied by a terrifying gale, which struck Xuan Hao's chest without warning!
"Bang!"
Xuan Hao was still talking animatedly, completely unprepared for the old madman's sudden attack.
The punch landed squarely on his chest, the immense force sending him flying backward and embedding him hard into the solid stone wall behind him.
"cough..."
Xuan Hao struggled free from the rubble, spitting out a mouthful of blood.
This time, he had truly suffered serious internal injuries.
But instead of getting angry, he looked at Tang Hao, who was panting heavily and had bloodshot eyes in the distance, and laughed heartily.
"Hahaha... What?
Did I touch on your deepest, most shameful secret?
Are you angry and embarrassed now?"
Xuan Hao wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, using his soul power to heal his injuries while continuing to verbally torment Tang Hao's mental defenses:
"Don't get agitated, Tang Hao. Actually, from another perspective, I can understand your extremely distorted mentality back then."
"After all, you are the young sect master of the Haotian Sect, the number one genius that Haotian Sect has only seen once in a hundred years!
Your cultivation talent is even more terrifying than Tang Chen, who led Haotian Sect to its peak back then!
You have mastered the Great Sumeru Hammer at a young age, and even the most extreme ultimate technique, 'Ring Explosion', has been completely mastered."
"You should have had a bright future. You should have naturally taken over the position and led the Haotian Sect to regain its former glory and stand proudly in the world."
"However, just because you fell in love with a 100,000-year-old soul beast, the Blue Silver Emperor, your life trajectory has completely gone astray."
"You angered your father, who had placed high hopes on you, to his death.
You caused the entire Clear Sky Sect to be relentlessly targeted and suppressed by the Spirit Hall.
All the elders and brothers in the Clear Sky Sect who once admired you are now filled with resentment and hostility towards you.
You have gone from being the pride of the sect to its sinner!"
"Amidst that immense psychological blow and the condemnation of the entire sect, didn't you... secretly think in the dead of night: if you hadn't acted so recklessly for a woman, if the Blue Silver Emperor didn't exist, perhaps things wouldn't have escalated to this irreversible dead end?"
"Perhaps, once she's gone, you can return to the Haotian Sect with a clear conscience and make amends for the colossal mistake you've made?"
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