"Lin Hao, if you have any spine, face Tang Chen for a fair duel instead of resorting to petty tricks!" Mei Shiyun was practically bristling with fury.
Petty tricks?
Lin Hao cast a downward glance at this blundering, screeching idiot, too lazy to even dignify her with a response.
Hearing Mei Shiyun's words, Tang Chen instantly regained his confidence. "Indeed! How could a bumpkin cultivator from the Northern Wasteland ever hope to defeat me? Lin Hao, I never imagined you were such a despicable person!"
Despicable?
Lin Hao stood with his hands behind his back and chuckled. "Why don't you try again?"
The Nether Penetration Realm.
Perhaps it seemed formidable in the eyes of others.
Yet in his eyes, it was nothing at all!
"If you want a try, you shall have it!"
Tang Chen pressed his hands together, spiritual light enveloping his body. As his aura surged and climbed relentlessly, the phantom of a massive silver hammer abruptly materialized behind him.
"Look! That is his Soul Art!"
Mei Anjiu cried out, raising a hand in astonishment.
The Soul Art.
It was a power that only cultivators who had reached the Nether Penetration Realm could manifest.
Once the Soul Art appeared, it meant he was beginning to take things seriously and would unleash his full strength.
The nature of one's Soul Art determined the strength of their innate talent.
The Heaven-Shaking Hammer Soul Art of the Tang Sect ranked among the top three supreme Soul Arts on the Starstorm Continent. Brought to the Northern Wasteland, it was more than enough to awe both ancient and modern times!
The emergence of the Heaven-Shaking Hammer Soul Art caused the storm in the air to rage wildly, accompanied by ten thousand bolts of roaring thunder.
Although Tang Chen's aura still remained at the Nether Penetration Realm Late Stage Peak, his power had clearly risen to a whole new level.
"Compared to the Heaven-Shaking Hammer Soul Art, even my Thunder Beast Soul Art pales in comparison. Young Master Tang is truly unfathomable. He is indeed born of a prestigious Zhongzhou clan!"
Mei Anjiu was immensely excited, his eyes welling up with tears of emotion.
With such a terrifying Soul Art, Young Master Tang was destined to be a king upon the Starstorm Continent in the future.
Lin Hao was bound to lose!
...
A sky full of spiritual light surged turbulently beneath the phantom of the giant hammer Soul Art.
At this moment, Tang Chen stood as if amidst a sea of illusion, lofty and unapproachable.
"Lin Hao, I don't care what magical treasures you possess. If you can block this single strike, I'll gladly call you grandfather!"
Tang Chen gripped the dark iron heavy hammer with both hands, hoisting it high above his head. The surface of the heavy hammer emitted a scarlet glow, its terrifying murderous intent soaring across heaven and earth.
Looking up at the haughty Tang Chen, Lin Hao casually flicked his robe's shoulder and, with utter nonchalance, raised his middle finger at him.
"Hm?"
Tang Chen was entirely unfamiliar with this gesture.
He was completely bewildered.
The other Northern Wasteland cultivators couldn't understand it either.
"You aren't qualified to be my grandson."
Lin Hao smiled, but his words caused Tang Chen's expression to sink to the absolute abyss.
"Save your glib tongue for when you manage to survive!"
"Great Sumeru Hammer!"
Tang Chen suddenly stamped his foot in mid-air and spun rapidly, driving the massive Qi pool around him to rotate in tandem.
After completing eighty-one revolutions, he finally smashed the heavy hammer in his hand downward with devastating force!
This single strike shattered the heavens and split the earth, eclipsing the sun and moon!
The fiery red shadow of the hammer rapidly swelled to ten thousand zhang in size, plunging toward Lin Hao with the unstoppable momentum of Mount Tai pressing down from above.
"Dad, save the First Senior Brother! He can't withstand this blow!" Ye Ling cried out in panic.
Hearing this, Ye Liuyun moved to intervene, but unexpectedly, Mei Anjiu suddenly appeared right in his path.
"In-law, what are you doing?"
Ye Liuyun's face darkened violently.
Mei Anjiu offered a gloomy, sneering smile, his tone tinged with disdain. "Who is your in-law? After today, our Daotian Sect is moving to Zhongzhou."
"You!"
While he was arguing with Mei Anjiu, the ten-thousand-zhang hammer shadow, capable of crushing the heavens and earth, had already crashed down fiercely.
Boom—
A deafening explosion rocked the firmament!
Countless people instinctively covered their ears.
Amidst the shocked gazes of the crowd, the raging tempest whipped through the high altitude, completely swallowing Lin Hao's figure...
"Hahaha, hahahahaha!"
"Lin Hao, this is the gap between you and me. Do you see it?!"
"Daring to fight me for a woman, go straight to hell!"
Believing he had finally crushed Lin Hao to death, Tang Chen lost his composure and burst into wild, arrogant laughter.
Ye Ling stumbled and fell to her knees, tears breaking through her eyelids and spilling down. Every single moment she had shared with her First Senior Brother in the past flashed before her eyes like a revolving lantern, filling her gaze with blood-red murderous intent as she looked up at Tang Chen.
"This pathetic dog is finally dead."
"Wanting to marry this fairy? Why didn't she take a piss to check her reflection and see if she was worthy of me? Hmph!"
Mei Shiyun crossed her arms and let out a proud, soft snort.
The howling wind whipped against her bright red wedding gown, causing it to flutter and ripple, outlining her perfect curves and prompting endless imagination.
"Hao'er!"
Ye Liuyun wept in bitter grief.
He never expected that because of a woman, Lin Hao would throw away his own life.
How utterly worthless.
Had he known it would come to this, he never should have yielded to Hao'er's wishes and gone to the Daotian Sect to propose marriage.
Had he known it would come to this, he should have used his authority as sect master to forcefully make Hao'er marry his daughter, and then Hao'er wouldn't have died here.
Yet everything was already too late.
...
"Mei Anjiu, are you willing to give your daughter's hand in marriage to me?" Tang Chen asked with a condescending smile.
Hearing this, Mei Anjiu hurriedly plastered on a smiling face. "I am willing! I am most willing!"
Winning the favor of the Tang Sect was an opportunity the Mei family hadn't encountered in dozens of generations; it was an honor that would bring glory to their ancestors. How could he possibly be unwilling?
Tang Chen nodded slightly, then abruptly changed the subject. "I must state this in advance, however. She can forget about being my principal wife, but there is a place for her as a concubine."
A concubine?
Mei Shiyun raised her head in disbelief, her eyes filled with extreme disappointment. "Tang Chen... are you saying you want me to be a concubine?"
Tang Chen: "What, are you unwilling?"
Seeing the young man's tone turn slightly displeased, Mei Anjiu hurriedly flashed to his daughter's side and clamped a hand over her mouth. "No, no, she is willing!"
With that, he even gave her thigh a vicious pinch behind the scenes to keep her from acting rashly.
Being able to become even a concubine to Tang Chen was enough to alter the entire future of the Daotian Sect. How many people could only dream of such luxury?
How could she still be unsatisfied?
Yet Mei Shiyun had always fancied herself the number one beauty of the Northern Wasteland.
The number one beauty, marrying into Zhongzhou only to become a concubine... That sounded terrible.
Seeing the lingering reluctance in Mei Shiyun's eyes, Tang Chen said indifferently, "Yunyun, you must understand that Zhongzhou is a land of outstanding people and countless prodigies. Beauties whose looks do not lose to yours and whose talents far exceed yours are everywhere..."
"I... I understand. I will marry!"
Mei Shiyun finally hesitated no longer.
If she kept throwing tantrums and Tang Chen rejected her entirely, her reputation in the Northern Wasteland would be utterly ruined.
No one would want her anymore.
"Hahahaha, this is too hilarious!"
Right at that moment, a clear and resonant laugh suddenly rang out from the midst of the billowing storm.
"It's Lin Hao!"
"He's not dead?!"
Mei Shiyun covered her red lips, her eyes widening in disbelief.
The entire crowd was struck dumb with shock.
Hearing that familiar voice, Ye Liuyun, his daughter, and the disciples of the Xuantian Sect were all overjoyed, their gazes snapping back toward the sky.
They saw the storm suddenly blasted apart by an overbearing force. Lin Hao reappeared in everyone's field of vision—not only was he completely uninjured, but even the red robe he wore remained utterly pristine...
"You, how could you..."
Tang Chen pointed a trembling finger at Lin Hao as if he had seen a ghost.
Having just watched such a fine show, Lin Hao was in an excellent mood. "Mei Shiyun, you truly are a once-in-a-millennium bitch."