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Tang Xiao's pupils contracted as he hadn't expected Li Luochen to attack while he was still charging his power—and at such incredible speed. He was still a few seconds away from completing his charge.
But there was no other choice. Even without finishing his charge, he had to attack; otherwise, he would be in grave danger.
Boom!
The overwhelmingly powerful Hao Tian Hammer struck out, but Li Luochen nimbly dodged it. Li Luochen directly targeted the left side of Tang Xiao's body.
Seeing that his attack had failed, Tang Xiao tried to evade, but his left arm was still struck by Li Luochen, instantly turning into a bloody mist.
With no other options, Tang Xiao detonated his last soul ring. Swinging the Hao Tian Hammer with his right hand, he created a whirlwind and hurled it toward Li Luochen before quickly fleeing from the Spirit Hall.
When Li Luochen saw the Hao Tian Hammer hurtling toward his face, he gathered all his strength and swung his Atlas Divine Dragon Staff with full force, smashing the Hao Tian Hammer to pieces.
Already outside the boundaries of Wuhun City, Tang Xiao spat out another mouthful of blood. He could feel that his spirit weapon had been shattered, his left arm severed, and his soul power had dropped by ten levels.
He couldn't stay any longer. He needed to leave quickly, or his life would be in danger.
Li Luochen stood in the sky, sneering coldly. "Hmph, the Hao Tian Sect sure knows how to run fast."
Suddenly, a crystal clear bone appeared in the sky. Upon noticing it, Li Luochen gestured with his hand, drawing it into his grasp.
It was Tang Xiao's left arm bone. Li Luochen could sense that this was a seventy-thousand-year left arm bone with partial thunder attributes, likely dropped by a lightning-element sub-dragon species.
Li Luochen speculated that this was one of the three legendary inheritance spirit bones of the Hao Tian Sect. Tang Hao had possessed the right arm bone and left leg bone, while Tang Xiao had the left arm bone.
"Not bad, quite a gain," Li Luochen muttered quietly.
All the Title Douluos present had seen the spirit bone, but none harbored any thoughts of seizing it. After all, those who couldn't defeat Tang Xiao wouldn't dare challenge Li Luochen, who had beaten Tang Xiao so decisively.
Those who didn't need it simply ignored it, tacitly accepting that the spirit bone now belonged to Li Luochen.
Li Luochen stored the spirit bone away and descended from the sky. The gentle breeze lifted his crimson elder robes and navy blue overcoat, making him look exceptionally handsome. Especially with the Atlas Divine Dragon Staff in his hands, he resembled a god of war.
The female soul masters on the field were utterly mesmerized, especially Dugu Yan and Qian Renxue, whose hearts raced and emotions surged. It was rare to see their man in such an awe inspiring state.
They hadn't witnessed Li Luochen slay Tang Hao, only heard about it. But this time, seeing him directly defeat Xiao Tian Douluo Tang Xiao and sever his arm left them breathless.
From this moment on, Li Luochen's reputation would soar. Having slain a Hao Tian Douluo and severely wounded Xiao Tian Douluo, a rising star had successfully stepped onto the pinnacle of the soul master path by crushing the Hao Tian Twin Stars.
Clang—
Bibi Dong slammed her scepter, silencing the restless Pope's Palace.
"The farce has ended. The finals of the Continental Advanced Soul Master Tournament must continue. Due to multiple violations by Tang San of the Tian Dou Imperial Team, their results are hereby disqualified, and they are banned from participating for ten years!
Prince Xue Qinghe, do you have any objections?"
Bibi Dong announced the verdict publicly. A ten year ban meant missing two consecutive tournaments.
"I have no objections. I defer to Your Eminence's decision. From this day forward, Tang San and Yu Xiaogang are no longer members of the Tian Dou Imperial Academy. They have brought shame to the Tian Dou Empire! Henceforth, they are criminals of the empire, and Tang San is branded as a fugitive!"
Xue Qinghe calmly delivered the verdict. From this moment on, Tang San and Yu Xiaogang would become outcasts in the Tian Dou Empire, veritable rats in the streets.
"Your Eminence is wise! Prince Xue Qinghe is wise!..."
"Very well. The finals of the Continental Advanced Soul Master Tournament will commence in two days. At that time, the Spirit Hall Academy team will face off against the Shrek Academy team. Carry your honor and march toward victory!"
Bibi Dong declared that the finals would be held in two days.
"Hail! Hail! Hail!..."
Meanwhile, Li Luochen was contemplating what to do after the finals.
After all, it was highly likely that Shrek Academy would emerge victorious. As long as they quickly dealt with Xie Yue, they would win. Perhaps he should knock Hu Liena unconscious? That would make things easier.
But no, if he acted here, his mother-in-law might beat him to death. Better not risk it.
Afterward, the members of Shrek Academy would enter a period of rapid development, each achieving significant progress. Meanwhile, during his battle with Tang Xiao, Li Luochen had felt his bottleneck loosen slightly. He needed to enter seclusion for a while.
After breaking through his bottleneck, Li Luochen planned to condense his soul core and transform his Dragon Pearl into his ninth soul ring. This period of seclusion might take some time.
Once he broke through to become a Title Douluo, Li Luochen intended to obtain the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud and have Dugu Yan gain its recognition. Then, he would send the members of Shrek Academy to follow her to the Sea God Island for training.
As for himself, he would head to the City of Slaughter to eliminate Tang Chen and obtain the nine trials of the Asura God. By then, annihilating the Hao Tian Sect would pave the way for unifying the entire Douluo Continent.
Li Luochen immediately wanted to share this plan with his mother-in-law. After all, during his interactions with Bibi Dong, she was the only one who shared a similar dream.
To overthrow the old aristocracy and unify the entire Douluo Continent!
This was why, despite calling him a brat outwardly, Bibi Dong inwardly acknowledged this "son." Because this "son" was truly her own, even without blood ties.
His thoughts aligned closely with hers, and he understood her true goals, along with the determination, confidence, and patience required to achieve them.
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Meanwhile, outside Wuhun City—
After sensing that there were no pursuers, Tang Xiao began to rest on the spot. The damage he had sustained was immense.
Not only had he endured the backlash of detonating all nine soul rings, but his left arm was permanently severed, losing the Hao Tian Sect's inheritance spirit bone. His soul power had plummeted to level eighty six, and his meridians were severely damaged, requiring prolonged recuperation.
All of this was to protect his nephew. For Tang San, he had dared to confront the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda Sect and the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect, and even provoked the Spirit Hall into taking action against him.
But he had succeeded in retreating and saving Tang San, a genius with twin spirit weapons. Everything was worth it. Speaking of Tang San—
Tang Xiao immediately released his nephew from the storage type soul tool. He began examining Tang San's body, only to discover that all of his bones were shattered, his meridians severely damaged, and his body riddled with countless hidden injuries.
Moreover, Tang San's Blue Silver Grass spirit weapon was on the verge of collapsing. Any misstep could cause it to shatter completely.
"How could his injuries be so severe? Damn it! That bastard's attacks were so ruthless! Damn it! It seems there's no other choice."
After assessing Tang San's condition, Tang Xiao realized that healing him would be incredibly difficult. Thus, he retrieved a jade green pill from a soul tool and fed it to Tang San.
Then, from another soul tool, he took out a piece of emerald green spirit bone—it appeared to be a torso bone! Tang Xiao placed the spirit bone onto Tang San's torso.
"I hope this life saving pill from the Breaking Clan and this forty-thousand-year Life Tree torso bone can help you survive this calamity."
Tang Xiao sighed deeply and began tending to his own wounds. Although the backlash from detonating his soul rings was severe, it was manageable with treatment. The only permanent loss was his severed left arm, the extracted spirit bone, and his soul power permanently capped at level eighty six.
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