In Douluo Continent, he tricked Xiao Wu into giving him a soul ring.

“Father-in-law, Grandpa Sword, Grandpa Bone, where is…” Oscar couldn’t help but ask.

Ning Fengzhi did not answer, but said calmly, "Xiao Ao, you and Rongrong stay in the sect and don't go out. Uncle Gu, I'm leaving the sect in your care. Uncle Jian, let's go to Tian Dou Imperial City."

As soon as he finished speaking, Sword Douluo summoned a flying sword, took Ning Fengzhi on it, and flew rapidly towards the Heaven Dou Imperial Palace.

...........

Tian Dou Imperial Palace Square.

"Damn it, how can this guy be this strong? Little monster, are you alright...?" Dugu Bo clutched his chest as he climbed out of the rubble and dug Tang San out, who had also been shoved into the rubble by Lan Ji.

"I'm fine. Old Poison Master, what happened to you?" Tang San, struggling to his feet with Dugu Bo's help, stood up despite his injuries.

Dugu Bo gave a bitter smile. "Little monster, I'm afraid I'm doomed this time. That kid Lan Ji already has strength comparable to a Title Douluo, and I'm being suppressed by him. I'm afraid we'll never be able to leave the Heaven Dou Palace again."

"Looks like you two are quite self-aware." As soon as he finished speaking, Lan Ji appeared behind the two of them.

Tang San turned to look at Lan Ji, who was inside Xiao Wu's illusory form, his gaze filled with complex emotions. He stood up and questioned, "Why...why are you targeting me like this?"

"Why..." Lan Ji laughed, a cold and handsome laugh. "You should know that from the moment you first tried to take my life during the Soul Battle in Soto City, it was all destined. You don't naively think I'd let someone who has repeatedly tried to kill me go, do you? Not to mention your father, Tang Ritian, tried to kill me in the Papal Palace last time."

"Then why did you treat Xiao Wu like this? What did she do to offend you?" Tang San questioned again.

"It's simple, the strong prey on the weak. Just like you hunting spirit beasts to increase your strength, having such a fine spirit ring here, it would be foolish not to take it. I think the reason your dead father waited until you reached level 60 before sending you to the Star Dou Great Forest to find Xiao Wu was probably because he wanted to absorb her spirit ring and spirit bone." Lan Ji sneered, turning his gaze to Dugu Bo: "Alright, that's enough of the conversation, you old poisoner. Considering your granddaughter's past relationship with me, I can give you a chance. Leave now, otherwise... stay here and die with Tang San."

"Haha..." Dugu Bo laughed, a relieved laugh. He put his hands behind his back, staring coldly at Lan Ji, and said in a deep voice, "Lan Ji, I must say, I underestimated you, or rather, everyone in the world underestimated you. No one expected that in just five years you would grow to this level, and with such deep cunning. You were even able to devise a scheme to kill with a borrowed knife, clearing the obstacles for Xue Qinghe's ascension to the throne. I must say, you are truly clever; almost nothing escaped your control."

The Great Luo of All Worlds

"But you've miscalculated one thing: we're on different paths, so we can't work together. I will never associate with a treacherous and cunning person like you. If you have the guts, then bring it on."

"Using someone else to do your dirty work? I don't understand what you're talking about at all. If you think you can clear your name like this, you're sorely mistaken." Lan Ji shrugged slightly, and his first and second soul rings lit up. Forty-nine blue lotuses appeared out of thin air and then transformed into three hundred and ninety-two sharp blades, raining down on Tang San and Dugu Bo.

Orange-red flames rose from each blade, leaving trails of fire in the air.

"You brat, how dare you hurt my son?" A deep voice suddenly rang out, as if it exploded in the air. Although the voice was not loud, it exuded an aura of dominance.

Upon hearing this voice, Tang San, who was on the verge of despair, suddenly raised his head, his eyes gleaming with hope. Lan Ji, on the other hand, showed no surprise whatsoever, as if he had expected it all along.

A massive black iron hammer, as thick as a water vat, descended from the sky. The hundreds of sharp blades, wreathed in orange-red flames, were instantly deflected, spun a few times in the air, and finally scattered neatly around Tang San and Dugu Bo, without harming them in the slightest.

A black figure appeared silently at the top of the hammer handle, as if he had always been there.

This was a burly old man with white hair, one arm, and sallow skin. Coupled with his beard that hadn't been groomed for who knows how many days, he was incredibly slovenly.

Upon seeing the white-haired old man appear, Tang San's mind and body instantly collapsed. Tears welled in his eyes, and he managed to utter two words with difficulty, "Dad..."

Yes, this one-armed old man is Tang Ritian. Five years have passed, and due to the loss of his arm, his cultivation has greatly decreased. With only eighty-one levels of soul power, he has completely aged.

Ever since Tang San left Sunset Forest, he had been secretly following him out of concern. Even when he witnessed Tang San being framed at the gathering of the four major single-attribute sects, he didn't intervene. He knew that if he did, things would only get worse.

After all, he had seen the resentment that the other three major single-attribute sects harbored towards him, apart from the Power Clan.

He wouldn't have shown up if Tang San hadn't been in dire straits.

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Chapter 390 The End of Yu Xiaogang

—Updated at 10:00 AM—

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................................In front of the Emperor's palace on a snowy night.

The four titled Douluo—Chrysanthemum Pass, Ghostly Demon, Porcupine, and Serpent Spear—are currently observing from the shadows.

The four of them stared in disbelief at the rising flames and clouds, their eyes wide and mouths agape in an "O" shape.

"Hey... Old Ghost, I didn't see wrong, did I? That Tang Hao was defeated by Lan Ji so easily... By the way, does a Martial Soul True Body created by a 100,000-year-old Soul Ring really have such great power?" Chrysanthemum Pass asked Ghost in disbelief.

"Although Tang Hao's cultivation has dropped to the Soul Douluo level, there is no doubt that Lan Ji already possesses strength comparable to a Title Douluo. Once he becomes a Title Douluo, I'm afraid that across the entire continent, apart from His Holiness the Pope and the Grand Elder, there will be very few who can rival him." Ghost swallowed hard.

"That's true, but that old poison master is far too trashy. He was so careless that he was easily grabbed by the neck by a junior. I'm afraid that after today, his title of Poison Douluo will become a joke." Chrysanthemum Pass said gloatingly.

Upon hearing the commotion, Qian Renxue, Marshal Gange, and others, who had just confirmed the death of Emperor Xueye, also hurriedly emerged from the blood-soaked palace.

Looking at the slowly dissipating Mushroom Cloud in the distance, and then at Lan Ji who was holding Tang San and Dugu Bo by the neck, his expression was indescribably interesting.

Even Qian Renxue, Xiao Maomi, and Ye Lengleng showed expressions of shock, gaining a deeper understanding of their young man's strength.

"Your Highness... oh no, Your Majesty, was that Mr. Lan Ji who was grabbing Dugu Bo's neck?" Ge Long swallowed hard. Since he had confirmed that Xue Ye, Xue Xing, and Xue Beng were dead, and that only Crown Prince Xue Qinghe remained as a direct male descendant of the Tian Dou royal family, Ge Long directly addressed him as "Your Majesty."

Qian Renxue nodded slowly, outwardly appearing bitter and resentful, but inwardly she was overjoyed. "Aji's strength is evident to all. We just need to wait for him to capture Dugu Bo and Tang San, those two traitors who murdered the emperor and usurped the throne. Marshal Ge Long, Tang San is the leader of the Tang Sect, and the Power Clan has already pledged allegiance to him. I now, as the future emperor of the Heaven Dou Empire, order you to mobilize the three members of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy's teaching committee and three thousand royal soul masters to go to the Power Clan and capture the Tang Sect traitors. Anyone who dares to resist will be killed without mercy... In addition, Tang San was once a student at Shrek Academy, so Shrek should not let him go either."

"Yes." Golong nodded respectfully, mustered his men, and headed towards the Power Clan's residence.

..............

Lan Ji slowly raised his hands above his head, leaving teleportation marks on the necks of Dugu Bo and Tang San, while lifting their bodies and then slamming them to the ground. With a loud bang, the ground instantly shattered.

*Pfft*—The two men, whose necks were being held down, spat out mouthfuls of blood.

Lan Ji sneered, "I say, old poisoner, it's one thing that Tang San is such a piece of trash with weak strength, but you, as a Title Douluo, are far too careless, actually letting a junior like me grab your neck and make you unable to move..."

"Hiccup..." Dugu Bo and Tang San were gripped tightly by Lan Ji's neck, their eyes bloodshot, veins bulging in their necks, almost suffocating, and unable to speak. They could only subconsciously grab Lan Ji's elbows with both hands, trying to pry them off, but found it impossible.

Just as the two were about to suffocate, at this critical moment, a giant black hammer suddenly swung out from the direction of the explosion, heading straight for Lan Ji in a furious smash.

Lan Ji's lips curled slightly, and without the slightest hesitation, she flung Dugu Bo's body away, sending him flying towards the black giant hammer.

Unexpectedly, the giant black hammer did not strike Dugu Bo. Instead, it bypassed his body, circled in the air, and, as if drawn by some force, returned along the same path, finally landing in front of a disheveled black figure.

The First Evolution

Meanwhile, Dugu Bo was caught by the black figure at some point.

"Hao...Haotian Douluo..." Having just narrowly escaped death, Dugu Bo was still panting heavily when he saw the giant black hammer in front of the figure and immediately cried out in horror.

"Dugu Bo, I'll leave Xiao San to you later... Today I'm going to kill this brat..." Tang Ritian didn't hesitate for a moment, bypassing Dugu Bo's figure and suddenly rushing towards Lan Ji's direction. On his body, purple, black, black, black, black, and red—his first three soul rings—shattered simultaneously, transforming into streaks of blue-gold light that enveloped his entire body, making him appear almost transparent. A surging black light erupted from the Clear Sky Hammer, transforming into a gigantic phantom fifty meters long, appearing behind Tang Ritian. That gigantic phantom was none other than the Clear Sky Hammer itself.

"Exploding the rings?" Seeing Tang Ritian's strength surge, Lan Ji murmured, his expression instantly hardening, but there was no trace of panic in his eyes. He grabbed Tang San's neck with his left hand, and with his right hand, he took out a jade bottle containing the power of the Blood Ginseng from his Qiankun bag at his waist, crushed it, and then struck Tang San's body with a palm.

Before the giant Clear Sky Hammer phantom could fall, he threw Tang San directly at it.

Tang Ritian naturally wouldn't harm Tang San. He put away the Clear Sky Hammer phantom, caught Tang San, and threw him to Dugu Bo. At the same time, he released the Clear Sky Hammer phantom again, heading straight for Lan Ji.

Boom! The earth shook violently. Centered on the illusory image of the Haotian Hammer, the entire plaza began to crack in a spiderweb pattern, and the surrounding buildings collapsed into ruins.

"Clap clap clap..." Suddenly, applause rang out from the sky. Tang Ritian looked up and saw Lan Ji standing on a green lotus, inside the green lotus body, clapping.

"As expected of the Clear Sky Hammer Douluo, if I had taken that blow head-on, I'm afraid even I wouldn't have survived. But that's enough. If you were at your peak, I would have turned around and left immediately, but now, it's different."

As he spoke, Lan Ji raised both hands above his head. Lightning flashed in his left hand, releasing the Haotian Bamboo Shoot, while orange-red flames rose in his right, and the Chaos Green Lotus appeared out of thin air. Behind him, purple light pulsed, and the Soul-Devouring Eight Spider Lances unfurled.

Seven spirit rings—yellow, yellow, purple, black, black, black, and red—soared into the sky, floated high above, overlapped together, and descended a huge orange-red pillar of light, enveloping Qinglian's true form and Lan Ji within it.

The orange-red pillar of light slowly dissipated, and Lan Ji's figure disappeared, replaced by a figure that no one except Qian Renxue, Ye Lengleng, Xiao Maomi, and the four Title Douluos of the Spirit Hall had ever seen before.

This was a young man completely shrouded in magnificent, ice-blue armor. His build was identical to Lan Ji's, with long, flowing hair, also ice-blue in color. Because his face was covered by armor, his features were obscured.

What's even stranger is his back; the original Eight Spider Lances of Soul Devouring are gone, replaced by eight purple-gold wings, closely connected to his ice-blue armor.

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Chapter 391 The sky cleared, the rain stopped, and Tang San felt he was back to normal.

—Updated at 10:00 AM—

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Just as Ning Fengzhi was sighing, Sword Douluo suddenly stopped.

"What's wrong, Uncle Jian?" Ning Fengzhi asked, somewhat surprised.

"Feng Zhi, look..." Sword Douluo turned his gaze towards the territory of the Power Clan. At this moment, the Power Clan's mansion was surrounded by fully armed armored soldiers. Inside the mansion, many soldiers and Soul Masters were fighting against the Power Clan's Soul Masters. Among them, Titan, the elder of the Power Clan, was being besieged by three members of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy's teaching committee.

ranwena.net

The three instructors seemed to have no intention of harming the old Titan, repeatedly showing him mercy. However, the old Titan was ungrateful, activating his Martial Soul True Form to unleash a deadly attack. For a time, the three Soul Douluo instructors were on the defensive. Helpless, they had no choice but to go all out.

Looking at the Power Clan, now reduced to mere puppets, Ning Fengzhi couldn't help but sigh, "Tang San is the leader of the Tang Sect, and the Power Clan has joined the Tang Sect. Now, Tang San is carrying the name of a regicide and has been rescued by Dugu Bo. After today, I'm afraid the Power Clan will become history. Let's go, Uncle Jian, this has nothing to do with us."

Sword Douluo nodded solemnly and continued flying towards the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School.

..........

The Tang Clan—the residence of the Force Clan—is now a ruin.

Facing three Soul Douluo instructors, three thousand Heaven Dou Empire Soul Masters, and five thousand Royal Knights led by Golong, the Tang Clan and its Power Clan were outnumbered and outmatched.

Apart from a very small number of clansmen who went out, the rest of them either died in a beating or were captured. Even Titan, the patriarch of the Power Clan, was severely injured and exhausted, and was bound by Zhilin Soul Douluo Tian Qing Teng, one of the three teaching committee members of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy, and could not move an inch.

Of course, the Heaven Dou Empire also suffered heavy losses. With the entire Power Clan equipped with the Zhuge Crossbow, the Heaven Dou Empire's royal knights and low-level soul masters were killed or wounded. It can be said that conquering the Power Clan was almost entirely achieved by paying with human lives.

"Alas, old Titan, why did you do this?" The three education committee members were old acquaintances of the old Titan, belonging to the same generation of Soul Masters. Seeing the Power Clan reduced to this state, they couldn't help but feel regretful; such a promising sect had been destroyed just like that...

"Enough nonsense. The Power Clan would rather die standing than live kneeling. The Heavenly Dou Royal Family has offended my Tang Clan and invaded my Power Clan without any regard for right or wrong. Even if I see Xue Qinghe in person, I will still say the same thing." Old Titan was as stubborn as ever.

"Sigh, I don't believe Tang San and Poison Douluo would kill His Majesty, Prince Xue Xing, and Prince Xue Beng either. But Marshal Ge Long and many royal guards witnessed it with their own eyes; the evidence is irrefutable. Why can't you understand? At first, I explained the crux of the matter to you: you only needed to lead your clan to surrender and then declare your separation from the Tang Sect. With the guarantees of the three of us old guys, the Li Clan would be safe from repercussions. But you insisted on doing it your way. Now look at you, because of your incorrigible bad temper, so many people have died... What are we going to do..." Meng Shenji, one of the three teaching committee members, sighed.

Upon hearing this, the old Titan fell into a brief silence. He looked at the few remaining members of his tribe, all of them bound hand and foot and their soul power sealed. He then looked at the corpses of his tribesmen that had been cleared away and felt a pang of regret.

Suddenly, he recalled the scene when the Power Clan was abandoned by the Haotian Sect.

How similar it is to that now!

It was the same situation of being abandoned, except this time the target changed from the Clear Sky Sect to the Tang Sect, and to Tang San.

He hesitated for a moment, then softened his tone and said to the three education commissioners, "My three old friends, would it be possible for me to see Xue Qinghe... oh no, to see His Majesty?"

"Want to see His Majesty? Too late." Just then, Marshal Goron walked over. He held an imperial edict in his hand. "Old Titan, we're old acquaintances. We tried to persuade you with kind words, but you wouldn't listen and insisted on going your own way. Look... look closely. Just because of your word 'launch,' nearly a third of the three thousand Soul Masters I brought have been lost, and the Royal Knights have suffered heavy casualties. These are the foundation of the Empire. His Majesty is now aware of what happened here and is extremely furious. He has ordered that anyone in the Power Clan who participates in the resistance be killed without exception... and all their property confiscated."

As soon as he finished speaking, the old Titan's eyes went vacant, and he stood there dumbfounded, as if struck by lightning.