Douro Continent

Chapter 672 God-level Pursuit in the Earth

Qian Renxue raised her angelic sword high, and the sun's rays once again focused solely on her. Simultaneously, her angelic armor glowed, frantically absorbing the sun's true fire. Every pattern on her originally brilliant gold armor lit up, turning a shimmering crimson gold, its radiance flowing like lava. A divine light flashed in Qian Renxue's eyes as she fixed her gaze on a point on the ground. The next moment, she shot towards the ground like a meteor.

With a soft hiss, as if encountering no obstacle, Qian Renxue's body pierced directly into the earth and disappeared. Where she entered, she left a crater less than a meter in diameter, its edges melting in the crimson-gold light, just like the deep crater previously created by the Sun Holy Sword.

Qian Renxue was indeed highly skilled and daring. The method she chose to pursue Tang San was extremely domineering. She actually used the True Fire of the Sun and her own Angelic Divine Power to make the temperature of her Angelic Divine Armor reach an extremely terrifying level. Wherever she passed, the earth melted. While the earth was melting, she burrowed into the ground and launched her pursuit.

Undoubtedly, Qian Renxue's actions consumed far more energy than Tang San's. Tang San manipulated the power of the earth, while she directly destroyed it, facing far greater pressure and resistance. However, in her fully-fledged state, the Angel Goddess was far stronger than Tang San. Her divine power recovery speed also far exceeded Tang San's soul power. While being underground would undoubtedly create significant obstacles for Qian Renxue, greatly weakening her strength, she remained a terrifying Angel Goddess. Surrounded by the True Fire of the Sun, she closed the distance with Tang San almost instantly.

"Damn, this even works?" Even with his usual composure, Tang San couldn't help but curse when he sensed how Qian Renxue was approaching him from behind. His mental energy was completely suppressed beneath the ground, and he was now sensing Qian Renxue's pursuit through the fusion of his mental energy and the power of the earth. The astonishing speed and scorching energy fluctuations had already told Tang San what method Qian Renxue was using. Originally, Tang San's fusion of mental energy and the power of the earth was only to sense the direction of Qian Renxue's attacks so he could dodge them, but now it had become his eyes once again. This was the reason Qian Renxue was restricted underground; if she were outside, Tang San's mental energy would be completely useless.

"Come on then. I might not have a chance on the surface, but who knows what might happen underground." A cold smile appeared on his face as Tang San accelerated his progress, delving deeper into the underground.

His actions were undoubtedly self-defeating and harmful to others; the deeper he went underground, the greater the pressure on his body became. The earth was not like the sea; its immense compressive force was extraordinary, and the places he passed through would immediately collapse. And as he continued to go deeper, the earth's compressive force would only increase.

With the power of the earth controlling his surroundings, Tang San has not yet been affected by the speed, but there is no doubt that the deeper he dives, the faster his soul power is consumed.

Tang San had a clear plan: he wanted to outlast Qian Renxue. Regardless, Qian Renxue, who had forcefully broken into the ground using her Solar Flame, was expending far more energy than him. The deeper she went, the faster her energy would increase. As the earth pressed downwards, her Solar Flame needed to continuously melt the soil. The deeper she went, the faster the compression, and the more soil she needed to melt. Moreover, the deeper she went, the greater the pressure. While the greater the energy expenditure for Tang San, it was exponentially greater for Qian Renxue. At least with the help of gravity control and the power of the earth, Tang San's speed wouldn't be affected for the time being, but Qian Renxue's speed would definitely be impacted.

Of course, Tang San's method was also very dangerous for him. Once his soul power was exhausted and could no longer support the control of the earth's power, he would undoubtedly be squeezed deep underground and would have no chance of survival.

Soon, Tang San's deep dive took effect. When he had dived to about a thousand meters below the surface, Qian Renxue had caught up to within two hundred meters of him, but Qian Renxue's speed had also slowed down at this point.

This wasn't purely due to the depth; more importantly, Qian Renxue's Solar True Fire, which she had drawn upon from the sunlight, had been completely exhausted. Her original plan was to use the power of the Solar True Fire to instantly plunge underground and launch a fatal attack on Tang San. However, Tang San's speed underground was much faster than she had anticipated. After her sudden dive, she couldn't immediately approach him. Attacking underground is different from attacking outside. Even with her god-level strength, she couldn't launch a large-scale attack. While a large-scale attack might allow her to catch up to Tang San in an instant, the soil and rocks above would immediately press down, helping Tang San neutralize her attack power. Therefore, Qian Renxue could only launch single-target attacks, minimizing the attack area as much as possible to ensure sufficient attack power. This gave Tang San the opportunity to dodge. Unless he was within a certain distance, and given enough space, it would be extremely difficult for Qian Renxue to kill him in one strike. After all, with the Trident of Poseidon in hand and relying on the pure power of Poseidon, Tang San could barely avoid being locked onto by Qian Renxue's divine sense underground.

At this moment, with the True Fire of the Sun exhausted, Qian Renxue had to rely on her angelic power to break through the soil and rocks to pursue Tang San, which naturally reduced her speed. Although she was still slightly faster than Tang San, the difference wasn't significant.

Qian Renxue was already feeling somewhat irritated. The mud and rocks posed no threat to her; even if buried underground, she didn't need to worry about dying like Tang San. Her god-level vitality was enough to keep her from breathing for a long time, and with the protection of her Angelic Armor, she could crawl out. However, this relentless pursuit, where she had no outlet for her strength and was constantly draining her resources, was incredibly frustrating. Tang San's cunning was truly a headache.

With two hundred meters to go, Tang San accelerated at full speed. He knew that Qian Renxue was about to catch up. Once she got within a hundred meters of him, it wouldn't be impossible for her to kill him instantly with her powerful god-level strength.

Faced with a life-threatening crisis, Tang San went all out. Ignoring the increasing drain on his soul power caused by the earth's power, he desperately dived deeper, simultaneously consuming several large recovery sausages to replenish his depleted soul power. The Mysterious Heaven Skill circulated rapidly within his body like a giant vortex, fully utilizing the earth's power and gravity control.

Tang San had another advantage in diving deeper: the weight of his Clear Sky Hammer and Poseidon Trident. The Clear Sky Hammer wasn't in its true form, so its weight wasn't a significant issue, but the Poseidon Trident's immense weight of 108,000 jin meant he only needed to break through the soil; he didn't need to consciously control his body to descend rapidly.

The distance between the two quickly closed to 180 meters, and at this moment, Tang San had already led Qian Renxue to a depth of 1,200 meters below the ground. This was a depth unimaginable to ordinary humans. The pressure from the earth increased, and more rocks and soil were mixed together, causing their speed of breaking through the soil to continuously decrease.

Suddenly, Tang San's heart skipped a beat, as if he had thought of something, and his expression immediately became strange. The light of the first spirit ring flashing on the Clear Sky Hammer suddenly subsided. Gravity control and the power of the earth also withdrew at the same moment. His body paused briefly deep within the earth.

Qian Renxue, who was chasing after them from a short distance away, was overjoyed. She was already faster than Tang San, and she clearly sensed that Tang San paused for a moment. The distance between the two of them closed to within a hundred meters in an instant.

Finally reaching a position where she could attack, Qian Renxue didn't hesitate for a moment. The exertion underground had been too great, and her divine power was insufficient. Pointing her angelic holy sword forward, the patterns on her angelic divine armor simultaneously erupted with intense light. The six wings that had previously retracted behind her instantly expanded. Although this would cause her to bear more pressure from the earth for a moment, she couldn't care less about that in order to unleash the full power of her attack.

Intense golden light instantly condensed into a massive golden flame. At that moment, all the soil within a five-meter diameter centered on Qian Renxue's body vanished within the golden flame, and even the immense pressure from 1200 meters underground couldn't penetrate this area. A dazzling golden halo seemed to appear around Qian Renxue's body. Pointing her Angelic Holy Sword forward, all energy instantly converged on the blade. With a flick of her wrist, Qian Renxue unleashed four consecutive sword strikes. Four golden beams crossed in the air, forming a cross shape, and instantly shot through the earth, chasing after Tang San's body.

Tang San, who had paused, turned around in the mud. He swung his Clear Sky Hammer in his left hand, protecting his chest. The eighth spirit ring on the Clear Sky Hammer instantly shone, and a layer of intense red light rolled back, completely enveloping his body. This red light, almost tangible, condensed into a shell-like substance covering his entire body, clinging tightly to his skin. It didn't appear to be an energy-based defense, but rather a physical one. At the same time, Tang San raised his right hand. Although he no longer had the power of the earth to control the surrounding mud, his spirit power remained, allowing him to move without any problems.

The Trident of Poseidon shone with golden light. At this moment, Tang San also exerted all his strength, relentlessly pouring the light of Poseidon into the trident. His wrists trembled continuously, and one golden halo after another materialized from the main blade of the trident. Nine golden halos formed in front of Tang San, which was the defensive stance of the Unstable Storm.

The rice-shaped slash reached Tang San almost instantly. The nine layers of defense set up by the Unstable Wind was broken by the terrifying rice-shaped light slash in an instant. However, it was clear that the attack power of the rice-shaped light slash would be weakened by a few points for each Unstable Wind that it broke. After all nine Unstable Winds were broken, its attack power was less than half of what it was before.

At that moment, Tang San turned around and used his back to meet the remaining attack.

The eight spider spears were neatly folded behind him, and outside the eight spider spears was the soul skill released by the eighth soul ring on Tang San's Clear Sky Hammer.

With a deafening roar, the entire earth trembled violently; anyone on the ground would have thought it was an earthquake. Tang San's body was blasted through the mud like a cannonball, traveling over a hundred meters. His protective shell-like energy layer was completely shattered, even his god-level Eight Spider Lances broke apart inch by inch, and the clothes on Tang San's back were reduced to ashes.

However, Tang San's physical body was not seriously injured. If Qian Renxue were beside him, she would see that the skin on Tang San's back was completely golden, a result of the overall defense provided by the Eight Spider Lances. After breaking through the Unstable Wind, the armored defense, and the eight spider spears, they ultimately failed to penetrate the defenses on Tang San's back. They only blasted him away, but did not kill him.

Tang San felt a heat on his back, and with a "whoosh," he spat out a mouthful of blood. He felt as if the blood in his body was burning, and the intense pain almost made him suffocate.

At this moment, Tang San's powerful willpower was on full display. Facing immense pain, he didn't hesitate for a moment, instantly switching his spirit, transforming the Clear Sky Hammer into the Blue Silver Emperor, and directly detonating his first spirit ring. A layer of intense blue-gold light instantly enveloped his entire body, and the enormous energy generated at the cost of the detonated ring filled his body. Tang San then used this energy to instantly push aside the mud and rush forward at high speed.

The Great Sumeru Hammer has many limitations when used; once it's used, the spirit being used cannot use any spirit skills. However, as the blue-gold color enveloped his entire body, replenishing Tang San's energy and allowing him to use the power of the exploding rings to dissolve the angelic divine power invading his body, he switched his spirit back to the Clear Sky Hammer. Simultaneously, the sixth and eighth spirit rings on the Clear Sky Hammer shone brightly.

The previous armor-like shell reappeared on Tang San's body, and the Clear Sky Hammer in his hand, now enveloped by his sixth spirit ring, shone with an eerie red light. Strangely enough, after being enveloped by the shell, the pressure from the surrounding soil vanished. Even at a depth of over 1200 meters underground, Tang San felt no pressure whatsoever. He had experienced this feeling during his first use of the skill, which further solidified his confidence in his current actions. Furthermore, with the sixth spirit ring enveloping the Clear Sky Hammer, Tang San simply swung it lightly, and the soil and rocks in front of him easily broke apart, splitting open on their own. Tang San's speed was even greater than when he had used the Earth Power and Gravity Control skills. Most importantly, although using these two spirit skills consumed a considerable amount of spirit power, the continuous consumption of spirit power afterward was much less than before. This allowed him to accelerate without restraint, diving deeper and further underground.

How is that possible? After Qian Renxue launched her attack, her body was immediately compressed by rocks and soil. The angelic divine armor released a layer of intense golden light, but it could only block these rocks and soil a short distance from her body.

With her divine sense, she knew that Tang San hadn't been killed by her attack. However, her attack had already unleashed the true essence of the Angel God. Although she dared not use the strongest Angel God skill here deep underground, judging from her previous battle with Tang San, it should have been enough to kill him! What she couldn't understand was that after being hit by her attack, Tang San not only didn't slow down at all, but instead burst forth with enormous energy, rushing forward at an even faster speed than before. Combined with the hundred-meter distance her attack had sent him flying, the distance between them had actually increased to over two hundred meters.

Don't say Qian Renxue didn't understand; in fact, Tang San himself only realized that he had a better way to travel underground during that moment of inspiration. This is why he suddenly withdrew the power of the earth and gravity control, preferring to stop and take Qian Renxue's attack.

That brief pause might slow Tang San down, but if he wanted to quickly recover, he wouldn't have allowed Qian Renxue to get within a hundred meters. He did it intentionally.

Unleashing a soul skill underground undoubtedly consumes several times more energy than attacking on the surface. The power is also reduced by the pressure of the earth, that much is certain. Tang San used the Unstable Storm to weaken Qian Renxue's attack as much as possible. He then used the 100,000-year soul skill from his eighth soul ring on his Clear Sky Hammer for defense, and the god-level Eight Spider Lances as his final defensive weapon. No matter what, he didn't believe Qian Renxue could kill him in a single blow.

As it turned out, Tang San's guess was completely correct. When he was being attacked, the most effective weapon was naturally the Unpredictable Storm of the Sea God Trident, but the second most important weapon was not the shattered Eight Spider Lances, but his eighth soul skill.

After hunting down the three brothers of the Thousand-Pound Ant King, Tang San obtained three 100,000-year spirit rings, located in the sixth, seventh, and eighth positions of his Clear Sky Hammer. The seventh spirit ring, in addition to granting him the Martial Soul True Body, also bestowed upon him a spirit skill, while the sixth spirit ring naturally granted him two. However, the most peculiar was the eighth spirit ring; despite being a 100,000-year spirit ring, it only granted Tang San one spirit skill. Furthermore, none of the four spirit skills that the three Thousand-Pound Ant King brothers granted Tang San were duplicates.

The eighth spirit ring granted Tang San a spirit skill called Thousand-Pound Barrier, a purely defensive spirit skill. Tang San was initially quite frustrated when he discovered this skill, as his primary focus was attack and control, and he rarely needed to defend. Having such a powerful defensive spirit skill was practically useless. However, the importance of this purely defensive spirit skill became apparent during his escape.

What does it mean that a 100,000-year soul ring only brings one soul skill? It means one less option, one less soul skill. But it also means that the power of this single soul skill is greater than that of an ordinary 100,000-year soul skill; it's equivalent to two soul skills fused into one.

The Thousand-Pound Ant King's strongest abilities are speed, strength, and defense. Their carapaces are so strong that even Tang San couldn't break them with his Clear Sky Hammer, and even the Sea God's Trident, without using the Golden Thirteen Halberds, couldn't harm them. In the end, it was only thanks to the powerful corrosive toxins of the God-level Eight Spider Lances, combined with the Eight Spider Lances' attribute suppression of the Thousand-Pound Ant King, that the three creatures were finally defeated.

Tang San's eighth spirit skill with the Clear Sky Hammer granted him the defensive power of the Thousand-Pound Ant King. Moreover, it was even stronger than the defensive power of the three Thousand-Pound Ant King brothers at the time. This wasn't just because Tang San's spirit power was stronger than those three spirit beasts, but also because the spirit skill's level increased as his spirit ring evolved to 100,000 years. There's only a 10,000-year difference between 90,000 and 100,000 years, but the actual effect is vastly different, much like the difference between a 90,000-year spirit beast and a 100,000-year spirit beast.

Therefore, after using the Thousand-Pound Barrier skill for defense, Tang San's defensive power reached an unprecedented level. Even Qian Renxue's god-level attack was greatly reduced after breaking through it. In addition, the Eight Spider Lances blocked the attack, which prevented Tang San from being seriously injured.

This wasn't the solution Tang San had come up with. The reason he decided to withstand the attack was partly because he remembered this powerful defensive skill, but also because he remembered the other wonderful uses of his Clear Sky Hammer soul skill.

What is the Thousand-Pound Ant King? It's an insect, best known for building anthills underground and living deep underground. Their earth-based attributes are even purer than those of the Titan Giant Ape, Erming. At least Erming lives on the surface. The Thousand-Pound Ant itself is adept at moving on the ground. When Tang San released the Thousand-Pound Barrier, he immediately noticed that the pressure on the soil disappeared, clearly thanks to the Thousand-Pound Ant King's characteristics. The sixth soul skill he used was one of the two skills granted by his soul ring, called Earth Ant King Slash. Its principle is similar to the way a Thousand-Pound Ant swings its front claws as it breaks through the soil. The attack power is linear, somewhat similar to the Orca Demon Axe. However, Tang San realized the difference between it and the Orca Demon Axe. Putting aside the fact that it's used with the Clear Sky Hammer, the fact that it comes from the Thousand-Pound Ant King gave Tang San a significant clue. At this moment, Tang San's ability to traverse rapidly deep underground was thanks to the burrowing ability of the Thousand-Pound Ant King. Using his sixth soul skill, Earth Ant King Slash, to clear a path, and then relying on the Thousand-Pound Barrier for protection, it was undoubtedly much easier and more effortless than when he previously used the power of the earth and gravity control. The consumption of soul power was also greatly reduced; without the pressure, his soul power recovery speed increased accordingly. With this balance, he could naturally survive longer deep underground.

Tang San lured Qian Renxue into attacking, making thorough preparations, which was far better than being caught off guard and launched a surprise attack. This also significantly depleted Qian Renxue's angelic power. Furthermore, when he detonated his spirit rings, he chose the Blue Silver Emperor instead of the Clear Sky Hammer spirit soul, which would allow him to fully utilize the Clear Sky Hammer spirit soul skills.

To make such a decision in just a few breaths, Tang San had fully unleashed his potential. Ever since encountering Qian Renxue, he had been teetering on the brink of death, and this immense pressure had inadvertently spurred his rapid progress. Now that his ingenious plan had succeeded, even Tang San himself was somewhat pleasantly surprised. He knew that his overall strength had increased further under Qian Renxue's pressure.

For any living being, when faced with adversity, it's either adapt or perish. Tang San absolutely did not want to perish, so he had to constantly improve, constantly approach that god-level realm, and use his various advantages to gain a chance to survive.

Sensing Tang San's descent deeper into the depths, Qian Renxue frowned, relentlessly pursuing him. When she caught up with Tang San today, she had already made up her mind: no matter the difficulties, she would never let Tang San see the sun tomorrow. Although her own energy was also greatly depleted, having reached the God-level realm, her divine power was many times greater than before. While her current energy expenditure was immense, it was not enough to deter her from pursuing Tang San.

However, as they continued to delve deeper underground, Tang San's soul power consumption remained constant due to the effects of the two Thousand-Pound Ant King soul skills, while Qian Renxue's consumption increased. She could disregard the rate of divine power consumption, but she couldn't ignore the fact that her speed was constantly decreasing. The distance between her and Tang San was closing more and more slowly. At this moment, they were still 160 meters apart, but closing the gap further was becoming increasingly difficult. What angered Qian Renxue the most was that this distance seemed to be gradually widening. If this continued, there was no doubt that she would not be able to kill Tang San before he entered the sea. She didn't know how long Tang San's soul power could last, but she absolutely could not allow this situation to continue. Once in the sea, who knew what methods Tang San would have to deal with her? She possessed both light and fire attributes, and in seawater, fire attributes would be greatly suppressed, potentially making her strength even more suppressed. Tang San, with the Trident of the Sea God, obviously did not have this disadvantage; for him, it was actually an advantage.

Tang San was moving forward quickly when suddenly he noticed that Qian Renxue behind him had stopped. Just like when he had stopped earlier, it was extremely abrupt.

Tang San should have been excited that Qian Renxue had stopped, allowing him to create distance. Instead, he felt his heart clench violently. He vaguely sensed something was wrong. As a god-level expert, Qian Renxue wouldn't have exhausted her divine power so quickly. Even though they were already 1500 meters underground, she wouldn't give up her pursuit so easily. Her stopping meant only one thing: she was about to unleash some kind of divine technique.

But no matter what, Tang San has no choice now but to accelerate forward at full speed. With the Thousand-Pound Barrier to assist in defense, plus his own adaptability and the Trident of the Sea God, Tang San is confident that he will at least not be instantly killed by Qian Renxue in such a deep underground place.

Qian Renxue stopped, hovering deep within the earth. Intense golden flames reappeared around her body, once again pushing aside the soil. Six wings unfurled behind her, and layers of intense golden light erupted from her angelic armor and wings. Qian Renxue roared from the ground, raising her angelic holy sword high. A phantom of her true form flashed from behind her, instantly merging into the angelic holy sword. The next moment, intense golden light burst forth from the angelic holy sword.

Wherever the golden light reached, the soil within a one-meter diameter instantly trembled, and the intense golden beam of light pierced through the soil, shooting towards the ground.

What is she going to do?

Qian Renxue quickly provided the answer. The terrifying power of a god-level being was unmistakable at this moment; the powerful golden beam of light pierced through a distance of 1,500 meters, forcefully breaking through the ground and soaring into the sky. Qian Renxue had actually carved a tunnel underground, allowing herself to see the sky again.

The passageway appeared, and the pressure from the earth directly above vanished instantly. Although it was only one meter in diameter, it was enough for Qian Renxue to stand in. With the pressure gone, Qian Renxue's divine power began to recover at a rate exponentially higher than before. The recovery ability of a god-level expert was beyond the comprehension of human soul masters. In just three deep breaths, half of the divine power Qian Renxue had previously expended had been restored.

But that wasn't the reason she broke through the ground. Even without this method of recovery, her divine power could sustain her underground combat for a very long time. There was an even more important reason why she did this.

The sky darkened again, for the sun's rays could only reach an area one meter in diameter. The blazing true fire of the sun poured down from that one-meter-diameter area, and for the true fire of the sun, this distance was no problem at all, thanks to this passage and the attraction of the angel's holy sword.

A crimson gold hue instantly spread across Qian Renxue's entire body. This time, she not only used the Angelic Holy Sword to attract the True Fire of the Sun, but also activated the attributes of her Angelic Divine Armor. She forcefully absorbed the energy contained within the True Fire of the Sun, like a vast ocean absorbing all rivers. Gradually, her Angelic Divine Armor completely turned crimson red. Even her long hair was dyed the same color.

Two flames seemed to burn in her beautiful eyes. Qian Renxue snorted coldly: Tang San, let's see where you can run this time.

A crimson figure, leaving a phantom afterimage, pierced directly into the earth. Intense solar fire erupted instantly, and Qian Renxue's speed increased at least threefold compared to before. Like a blazing meteor emerging from the depths of the earth, she frantically pursued Tang San. The three-thousand-meter distance was closed in an instant.

Enraged, Qian Renxue unleashed the full power of the Angel God. Even deep underground, she was determined to prove that her strength far surpassed Tang San's and to utterly destroy him.

Qian Renxue took eight seconds to charge up her power. In those eight seconds, Tang San was already three thousand meters away, deep underground. His spiritual power couldn't extend too far, and without the assistance of the earth's power, he had lost track of Qian Renxue. At this moment, Tang San even wondered if Qian Renxue was really going to let him go.

However, the next moment, an intense sense of crisis instantly spread throughout his body. Tang San made the most correct choice almost instinctively.

The trident mark of Poseidon on his forehead shone brightly, instantly completing the communication process with the Heart of Poseidon. The soul skill "Raging Waves of the Vast Ocean" brought by the Heart of Poseidon instantly transformed into a layer of blue ripples that spread throughout his body. At the same time, Tang San instantly switched his martial soul back to the Blue Silver Emperor state. Without hesitation, he unleashed all eight remaining soul rings of the Blue Silver Emperor.

This was all Tang San could do at that moment, because the deep-seated fear—a fear that even made the Trident of the Sea God tremble—knew that his life might end there. Therefore, he dared not hold back in the slightest, unleashing the full force of his abilities.

Boom— In an instant, the blue-gold light completely enveloped Tang San's body. Without the assistance of the two great soul skills of the Clear Sky Hammer, Tang San's speed on the ground immediately slowed down.

At this moment, Tang San's body had completely turned blue-gold. Simultaneously detonating eight spirit rings was something even the Clear Sky Sect's ancestor, the creator of the Great Sumeru Hammer, had never attempted. But at this moment, Tang San had no choice but to try; otherwise, he wouldn't feel any sense of safety. And as the energy exploded, he poured all this almost frenzied energy into his Sea God Trident.

At that moment, an incomparably terrifying red light appeared around Tang San's body, like a black hole that could devour everything, opening its hideous maw.

(End of this chapter)