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As for why Xiao Wu still followed him, Tang San could only suspect that he was merely picking up Ye Lan's leftovers. He surmised that Ye Lan's pursuit of Xiao Wu had been nothing more than a calculated scheme. With Ye Lan's striking appearance, it was all too likely that Xiao Wu had fallen for him during the periods when Tang San wasn't by her side.
In his mind, he wove a dark narrative: Ye Lan had deceived Xiao Wu, taking both her body and her heart, only to manipulate her into sacrificing the hundred-thousand-year Titan Giant Ape to him. Once Ye Lan secured that coveted red spirit ring, he had simply cast her aside. Only then, broken and abandoned, did Xiao Wu remember Tang San's devotion and crawl back to him.
The more he dwelt on this possibility, the more livid Tang San's expression became. While he had spent every grueling day and night cultivating under the freezing pressure of the waterfall, had Xiao Wu been behind his back, trysting with Ye Lan?
Seething with a mixture of rage and desperation, a dark impulse to force himself upon Xiao Wu surged within him. However, as the spirit beast sacrifice had already commenced, he suppressed the fire in his heart and commanded hoarsely, "Xiao Wu, protect me while I absorb the spirit ring."
Hearing his request, Xiao Wu wiped away her tears and nodded blankly, utterly unaware of the toxic thoughts swirling in Tang San's mind.
A long while passed. After Tang San finished absorbing his second hundred-thousand-year spirit ring and the right arm bone of the Sky Azure Bull Python, the resentment in his heart dissipated slightly. However, images from the past—the illusions created by Shi Nian where the thug Bu Le repeatedly defiled Xiao Wu—flashed through his mind. He coupled this with the fact that Xiao Wu had refused to let him touch her over the years.
His mind bridged the gap to a single conclusion: he had been cuckolded by Ye Lan. The mental image of Xiao Wu seeking pleasure at Ye Lan's feet made his face turn an even deeper shade of green.
Once the absorption was complete, Tang San snapped his eyes open, his pupils glowing with a sickly, verdant light. In an instant, he lunged, pinning Xiao Wu to the ground. His gaze was so terrifyingly predatory that Xiao Wu froze in fear, crying out, "No! Third Brother, stop!"
The sound of her frantic cries struck a chord deep within his soul. Perhaps it was the memory of their childhood innocence, or the sacred vow he had once made to protect her forever, but Tang San's spirit jolted. His fingers, which were a second away from tearing her garments, went limp.
He stood up and remained silent for a long moment before saying coldly, "Let's go, Xiao Wu. We're going to find my father."
Xiao Wu wiped the tears from her face. Because he had stopped his assault, she allowed herself to believe that the old Tang San had returned. She grabbed his hand, pleading, "Little San, take me with you to become a god, okay?"
She thought of her body, which she believed had been tainted by Ye Lan. She didn't want to give a "broken" self to her Third Brother. She hoped that by attaining godhood, she could reshape her physical form—that way, her "first time" would truly belong to him.
Tang San didn't respond. He felt a hollow emptiness. Aside from his grandmother, everyone seemed to demand that he become a god. With a single strike of his hammer, he blasted open the collapsed cave and led Xiao Wu back toward the regions of human activity. He intended to scout for news of his father and gather intelligence on the Abyss.
Along the way, they encountered several low-level abyssal creatures, such as Gnolls and Centaurs. Tang San didn't hesitate; he deployed his Eight Spider Lances, ruthlessly draining the life force from any creature that crossed his path. Feeling the surge of spirit power within him, he closed his eyes, savoring the sensation before continuing their journey.
Hours later, they stumbled upon a vast expanse of farmland. Seeing the golden wheat fields heavy with grain, Tang San felt a flicker of relief. He led the way down a narrow path between the furrows.
Before long, a group of children caught their attention. They had surrounded three boys who stood with resolute expressions. The crowd of children shouted, "The big villains are finally back!"
One of the boys, Li Hezi, roared back, "My brother and I are not villains! We are heroes of the Douluo Empire!"
A frail boy with a mushroom-style haircut yelled back, "Liar! You're both bad guys who awakened the Clear Sky Hammer! You're enemies of the God of Life and Destruction!"
"Hezi, that's enough," the eldest, Li Zhuang, said calmly. "Don't stoop to their level. Be careful not to hurt them. We still have to attend the Douluo Academy training camp."
Li Mo and Li Hezi looked to their leader. After clearing the Second Abyss, they had reached Level 30 and obtained their third hundred-thousand-year spirit rings. Subsequently, they had assisted a group of Level 39 Spirit Elders—who possessed Blue Silver Grass Spirit Souls—in clearing the Third Abyss. Their duty on the front lines was done for now. After training at the imperial academy, they would be deployed to handle the low-level monsters emerging from random spatial rifts.
As the three brothers tried to push through the crowd, two people blocked their path: a plain-looking black-haired man and a very cute young woman. The girl's appearance immediately earned the boys' favor.
"Are you travelers? I haven't seen you in the village before," Li Zhuang noted.
Tang San spoke, his voice trembling slightly. "They said you awakened the Clear Sky Hammer? Are you... members of the Clear Sky School?"
He could hardly contain his excitement, thinking these three might be survivors from the sect's destruction years ago.
"Don't go slandering us!" Li Mo retorted. "Our family has been named Li for generations!"
"Brother Mo is right!" Li Hezi added loudly. "How could we be part of those villains from the Clear Sky School?"
Tang San's pupils constricted. He reached out and snatched Li Zhuang by the collar, demanding, "Then how could you possibly awaken the Clear Sky Hammer? Only those of the Tang family can possess it!"
Li Zhuang's breath hitched; the grip was so tight he couldn't speak. Seeing Tang San's sudden violence, the other children scattered in terror.
"Third Brother! They're just children!" Xiao Wu urged, trying to pull him back.
Tang San threw Li Zhuang to the ground. "I want a reasonable explanation! Now!"
"Big Brother!" Li Mo and Li Hezi panicked. The pressure emanating from the black-haired man was suffocating.
Li Zhuang coughed violently, then looked up at Tang San with a mocking sneer. "Where did this country bumpkin come from? You don't even know about the Douluo Empire's Tool Spirit Armaments?"
"It's not just us three," Li Zhuang continued. "According to the empire's statistics, tens of thousands of people have awakened the Clear Sky Hammer. There's even a natural-born Rank 10 genius named Yang—the son of the current Breaking Soul Douluo!"
"Tool Spirit Armaments? Tens of thousands? Even the son of Yang Wudi, a mere servant of the Clear Sky School, has awakened it?" Tang San shook his head in disbelief, his world tilting on its axis.
The Clear Sky Hammer—his greatest pride, the world's number one tool spirit. And now he was being told that tens of thousands of commoners possessed it?
"Impossible! Impossible!"
"How could mere peasants like you awaken the Clear Sky Hammer? 'Tool Spirit Armaments'? Nothing but a clown's trick!"
A wave of dark spirit power erupted from Tang San, pinning the three Li brothers to the earth. He roared, "Summon your spirits! You must be lying to me!"
Faced with his explosive rage, Xiao Wu opened her mouth but didn't dare to intervene again. Under Tang San's crushing pressure, the boys turned pale. This man was more terrifying than any abyssal monster they had ever faced. The children behind them had already been knocked unconscious by the sheer force of his aura.
In the face of death, Li Zhuang bellowed, "Fight him! There are no cowards in the Li family!"
With a roar of defiance, black light flashed in their palms. Three pitch-black Clear Sky Hammers appeared. Then, their spirit rings manifested in a blinding display: Red, Red, Red!
Three boys. Nine hundred-thousand-year spirit rings.
The crimson glow reflected in Tang San's eyes, followed closely by the appearance of three thick, vibrant stalks of Blue Silver Grass. Tang San stood frozen, staring at the approaching vines with a hollow expression.
These were just children from an obscure village. By their dress, they were clearly commoners from a line of people who likely never possessed spirit power. Yet here they were, wielding the "world's number one tool spirit" and draped in the glory of hundred-thousand-year rings.
Tang San thought of the unimaginable hardships he had endured just to obtain four ten-thousand-year rings and two hundred-thousand-year rings. His mental state finally fractured.
He, Tang San, a once-in-a-millennium genius with innate full spirit power and twin spirits, supported by the Mysterious Heaven Skill and the Eight Spider Lances—even with all those "cheats," his spirit ring configuration was inferior to three random peasant boys.
The moment he saw the Blue Silver Grass, he understood. The person who had turned him into a laughingstock was Ye Lan. Only Ye Lan could create these strange "Tool Spirit Armaments." Only Ye Lan could grant commoners hundred-thousand-year Blue Silver Spirit Souls.
"Ye Lan, I'll... #E@$!@#@!"
With a maddened howl, Tang San unleashed his six rings: Black, Black, Black, Black, Red, Red. The Clear Sky Hammer in his hand ballooned in size, and he swung it with genocidal fury at the three boys.
Facing a hammer dozens of meters wide, the brothers saw only despair. But after seeing Tang San's inferior spirit ring configuration, they actually smiled as death approached.
That smile was the final straw. Realizing he had become the ultimate clown, Tang San began to vent his insanity upon their corpses, striking again and again until nothing remained.
It was only when three glows of Blue Silver light drifted from the remains that Tang San calmed down.
"Hundred-thousand-year spirit bones? Has Ye Lan gone mad? What did he do to be able to just give these away?" Wearing a dark expression, Tang San picked three spirit bones out of the carnage. He decided to store them; if he couldn't find anything better later, he would be forced to settle for these Blue Silver Grass bones.
"Third Brother..." Xiao Wu's face was ghostly pale, terrified by his brutality.
Tang San looked back at her with a threatening glint. "Xiao Wu, not a word of this to my grandmother. If you dare say a single thing..."
"Third Brother! I won't! I won't say anything!" Xiao Wu shook her head frantically, her heart aching as she looked at the massive crater. The Li brothers and the other children were all dead—gone in an instant for such a senseless reason.
She took a deep breath and tried to reason with him. "Third Brother, you can't keep killing like this. If we're exposed, it's over!"
Tang San's lips curled into a sinister smirk. "Exposed? I'll kill anyone who sees me. Let's see who's left to report back to the Spirit Hall!"
The other residents of the village had heard the commotion. Some hid, while others peeked out with morbid curiosity. To Tang San, who possessed the Spirit Abyss realm of mental power and the Purple Demon Eye, they were as conspicuous as signal fires in the dark.
Moving like a blur, Tang San snatched a Spirit Hall deacon by the throat. "Where is the Clear Sky Douluo, Tang Hao? Why has he vanished?!"
The deacon didn't flinch. He spat, "You beast! You didn't even spare the children! You're a monster!"
Tang San smiled coldly. "I'll count to three. If you don't answer, I kill someone."
"Three..."
"Two..."
"One..."
Bang! A villager's head exploded like a melon.
Tang San retracted the pressure from his Purple Demon Eye and continued, "I'll count to three again. This time, I kill ten."
"Three..."
"I'll talk!" the deacon cried out. He saw the pleading eyes of the villagers and knew he had no way to stop this madman. "Three or four years ago, after Tang Hao killed the Heaven Dou Emperor, Xue Ye, he disappeared for a while."
"After the Clear Sky School was wiped out, Tang Hao reappeared. He slaughtered several villages and then vanished completely."
"Vanished? No other clues?" Tang San pressed.
"None! No matter who you ask, they only know that he killed people and then disappeared!" the deacon shouted. "Please, my lord! Have mercy! These villagers are just unarmed commoners. They know nothing of the world of spirit masters!" He pleaded, desperately trying to find a spark of humanity in Tang San.
Nearby, two men named Li Da and Li Shan realized that the scraps of clothing in the pit belonged to their children—the three "Li Sovereigns" who had been the pride of their family.
"You animal! They were just children!"
"You're so strong, why don't you go kill the Abyssal monsters instead of bullying us?!" Driven by grief, Li Da swung a futile fist at Tang San.
Watching the fist approach, Tang San chuckled. "You can all die now."
In the next heartbeat, countless strands of pitch-black Blue Silver Grass erupted from the ground. Every commoner and low-level spirit master was ensnared and drained until nothing was left. The once-bustling village of Li Village, which had been celebrating its wartime achievements, fell into a sudden, horrific silence.
The deathly quiet made Xiao Wu's soul tremble.
After a moment of thought, Tang San said, "Xiao Wu, set a fire. Burn this place to the ground. Don't leave a single trace."
Xiao Wu looked at him with a complex expression, but she silently helped him start the blaze. She felt the distance between her and Tang San growing into an unbridgeable chasm. Long ago, Tang San hadn't been like this. She couldn't pinpoint exactly when he had changed so drastically.
As Li Village was consumed by the inferno, the two took to the sky and departed. After flying for a while, Tang San murmured, "Xiao Wu, where do you think my father is?"
Xiao Wu thought for a moment. "According to the hints from that man, Father appeared for a short time after traveling from Sea God Island to the Douluo Continent. After that, he vanished. That means something must have happened to prevent him from showing himself."
"Even if..." She hesitated.
Tang San frowned. "Even if what?"
"Even if Father was truly discovered and killed, the Spirit Hall would have surely announced it to the world to claim credit," Xiao Wu explained.
"Hmm... that makes sense. So he's not dead." Tang San's eyes lit up. "I know! He must be there!"
"Where?"
"The place where he first met my mother! He'll definitely be there!" Tang San said excitedly.
"Tang San's mother? The Blue Silver Empress?" Xiao Wu whispered to herself.
"Mother..." Tang San murmured.
The two had no way of knowing that long after they left, in the forest near the ruins of Li Village, three stalks of Blue Silver Grass were slowly beginning to regrow.
(End of Chapter)