Chapter 258
You think you've got me cornered?
Tang Hao's body seemed to have become even more solid, and the shadow under his hood undulated slightly.
He was silent for two seconds, and that silence itself was a form of acknowledgment.
"good."
He said in a deep voice, his tone carrying a hint of the vicissitudes of time.
"That small town, that academy, was as calm as still water. Until... you appeared. A person with a unique detached martial soul and good talent in soul power. Your existence itself was like a stone thrown into still water, creating ripples... that no father who cared about Tang San's safety could ignore."
Tang Hao readily admitted to the surveillance and investigation he had conducted back then.
Time!
Tang Hao's voice carried a deep sense of emotion, as if he were savoring the bitterness and changes of the past.
"Six years have passed in the blink of an eye."
He slightly raised his left hand, the one that had once shattered mountains, and his gaze seemed to pierce through layers of night, seeing the mottled brick walls of Nottingham and the taciturn child with exceptionally calm eyes.
"That little guy who was almost ignored during the Martial Soul Awakening Ceremony, who would have thought..."
His gaze refocused on Lin Xia, carrying a complex emotion that was hard to describe.
"How could someone rise to such a height in just six years at such an astonishing speed? A level 58 Soul King... controlling an ancient behemoth that even Title Douluos take notice of... possessing the power of the entire city of Gengjin. This speed is nothing short of miraculous."
Lin Xia's smile remained calm, as if no amount of praise in the world could move him in the slightest.
He simply shook his head slightly, his gaze suddenly becoming sharp as a knife, instantly piercing through the previous somber atmosphere.
"No need for further flattery, Your Majesty Haotian."
Lin Xia's voice remained steady, yet it possessed an undeniable penetrating power.
"You didn't bring me here tonight just to reminisce or lament the passage of time, did you?"
Lin Xia took a step forward. The step seemed light, but the cracked earth beneath her feet silently spread out with even finer lines.
"Is it to... completely eliminate future troubles?"
The air suddenly tensed up!
An invisible pressure emanated from Lin Xia like a tide, no longer the domineering rage of Tang Hao, but a deeper, more vast, and seemingly resonant will that echoed the boundless earth beneath his feet.
The surrounding rubble, broken branches, and even the blood droplets that Zhao Wuji shed in the rocky hollows all trembled slightly under this will.
Tang Hao suddenly lifted one corner of his hood, revealing his weathered, rugged jawline.
His pupils, hidden in the shadows, suddenly contracted, like a tiger eyeing its prey, and a chilling killing intent, originating from mountains of corpses and seas of blood, erupted instantly!
This killing intent was more refined and purer than when it was directed at Zhao Wuji earlier, filled with a resolute determination to destroy everything!
"Not bad!"
Tang Hao's voice was resolute, without the slightest hesitation or concealment.
"That's definitely the plan!"
He admitted it with extreme decisiveness, carrying the domineering air unique to Haotian Douluo.
"But not entirely for that reason."
He paused, but the chilling killing intent did not subside. Instead, it was like a peerless weapon unsheathed, locking onto Lin Xia from afar.
"Moreover, because you chose the Spirit Hall!"
"The Spirit Hall?"
Lin Xia raised an eyebrow, seemingly unsurprised by the answer, a hint of understanding and...mockery flashing in her eyes. "Yes! The Spirit Hall!"
Tang Hao's voice suddenly rose, filled with deep-seated hatred and fear, a hatred that temporarily overshadowed his killing intent towards Lin Xia.
"Geng Jincheng's technology! Your smelting and forging methods that are ahead of their time! And those exquisite soul tool blueprints that are enough to change the nature of warfare!"
"They are like the most deadly poison, frantically nourishing the Spirit Hall, this greedy beast! With your support, that madwoman Bibi Dong's ambition will be unbridled! Her claws will become even sharper!"
"With this shift in power, the future path for me and my mistress... will be fraught with thorns and abyss!"
Every word seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth, filled with fear of the future and a deep-seated hatred for the Spirit Hall.
"If we don't deal with you and cut off the ever-growing arm of the Spirit Hall, it will be a catastrophe for both me and Xiao San!"
"Ah……"
Faced with this blatant declaration of murderous intent and overwhelming hatred, Lin Xia suddenly chuckled softly.
The laughter echoed through the deathly silent forest, carrying an indescribable ease and...amusement, as if it were the funniest joke in the world.
He stroked the Tyranitar that had somehow crept onto his shoulder and was now coldly scrutinizing Tang Hao with its dark golden eyes, his demeanor as composed as ever.
"Deal with me?"
Lin Xia stopped laughing, tilted her head slightly, and looked at Tang Hao with a playful gaze, as if she were sizing up an opponent who had made an absurd bet.
"Your Majesty, do you really think... you've got me cornered?"
His tone was calm, yet it contained absolute confidence and power.
As he spoke, a deeper, heavier, earthy-yellow aura, like flowing lava, silently spread out from him.
The earth beneath our feet seemed to come alive, emitting a deep and long hum.
The surrounding space instantly became viscous and stagnant, as if gravity had been invisibly amplified several times over!
Tang Hao's icy killing intent, which was locked onto Lin Xia, was actually pushed away and diluted by this vast will originating from the earth!
Tang Hao's burly body swayed very slightly under the sudden pressure of the earth.
The shadow beneath his hood rippled violently, and for the first time, shock and extreme solemnity were clearly reflected in his cold pupils!
He felt it!
This power!
It's definitely not just a simple Soul King level!
It is as deep as an abyss and as vast as the sea, as if it were connected to the lifeline of the planet!
This is the pure, unadulterated power of the earth!
It is another primordial power that is sufficient to contend with or even suppress Haotian!
The woods fell into a deathly silence.
Only two invisible wills are colliding and vying fiercely.
On one side is the Killing God's Domain, forged from mountains of corpses and seas of blood, cold, sharp, and capable of cutting down anything.
On the other side is the vast, boundless pulse of the earth, profound, majestic, and capable of bearing all things.
The two realms clashed silently. In the void between Lin Xia and Tang Hao, even the light was strangely distorted, as if space itself was groaning under the strain.
The broken tree remains silently turned into finer powder, and the rubble on the ground was compressed into thin sheets.
The deathly silence lasted for what felt like an eternity.
Finally, the boiling, murderous aura emanating from Tang Hao, which seemed ready to tear everything apart, slowly receded like the receding tide.
His body, which was as taut as a bowstring, relaxed slightly.
A heavy, complex sigh escaped from beneath the hood, sounding more like the sound of a difficult decision.
"I don't think so." (End of Chapter)